SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The NARC King of the West Fujitsu Sprint Car Series will kick off its sprint car campaign on Saturday with the Salute to LeRoy Van Conett at the Stockton Dirt Track.

The event is in honor of eight-time Northern Auto Racing Club champion LeRoy Van Conett.

This marks the first of 20 events at 10 different dirt track venues this season for the series. The traveling series and its teams are attempting to return to some form of normalcy after getting sidetracked by the pandemic last year. Only four of the planned 19-events were run last season and the Northern Auto Racing Club did not crown a champion for the first time in 61 years.

Officials from the sanctioning body are realistic on what is possible this season with the pandemic still looming strong in the background. A few setbacks and cancellations are expected, but a majority of the schedule is expected to be held as planned.

“We are looking to get back to the business of dirt track racing and put on some entertaining shows for the fans,” said 13-time series champion and series board member Brent Kaeding. “It’s been a rough year for motorsports in California and everybody is anxious to get back to doing what they love the most. We should have a great show at Stockton on Saturday.”

Admission is $30 per person. Seniors 65 and older and military personnel will be admitted for $25. Pit passes are $40.

D.J. Netto is the most recent series champion and he is expected to be in attendance. Others expected to participate include Dominic Scelzi, Tim Kaeding, Bud Kaeding, Justin Sanders, Sean Becker, Willie Croft, Mitchell Faccinto, Austin McCarl, Kyle Hirst, Shane Golobic, Rico Abreu, Sean Watts, Kyle Offill, Kenny Allen and Mark Barroso.

The NARC King of the West Hoosier Tire format will include qualifying, three eight-lap heat races, a six-lap Sunnyvalley Bacon trophy dash and the $3000-to-win Fujitsu feature.

Pit gates will open at noon. Qualifying is set to get underway at 5 p.m., followed by racing at 6 p.m. Also on the racing card are the NorCal Dwarf Cars.