17-YR. OLD RANDEL KING SCORES “ROY” HONORS AT TOYOTA SPEEDWAY

Source: Steve Larsen
Date: 10/08/2008

RIVERSIDE, California — Riverside teenager Randel "The Rocket" King doesn’t have big sponsorship dollars to fulfill his desire and dreams to hopefully compete someday in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The 17-year old high-school junior and his father Scott, have to scratch, claw and fight their way through the weekly grind that is the NASCAR Super Late Model division at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, CA.

The Kings scraped up enough support to propel Randel to a respectable 8th place finish in the ultra tough AC Delco Super Late Model division point standings and at the same time the win coveted “Rookie of The Year” title as well.

King, who began racing karts as a 10-year-old, is competing in NASCAR’s AC Delco Super Late Model division has racked up ten top 20 finishes, six top 10 finishes and two top 5 finishes in the eighteen races he attended at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, CA. The Randel King Racing Team missed the first two events as they put the finishing touches on the racecar Randel would be driving for 2008.

“The Rocket” is no stranger to finding success on the asphalt racetracks of Southern California. King found victory lane in the ASA Speed Truck Challenge in 2007 just down the road at Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino, CA. King was also the 2006 ASA Speed Truck Challenge “Rookie of the Year”.

What is amazing about King winning the top rookie prize is how he won it on the final points night. During the first of twin 25-lap main events, Kings #35 Randel King Racing/Molecule Chevrolet broke a rocker arm, forcing him to drop out of the race which dashed any hopes of winning the ROY title. He would need to compete and gain points in both of the main events in order to finish in front of fellow competitor and ROY contender Luis Martinez, Jr. in the final point standings.

That is until David Eshleman affectionately known as the racing mayor, stepped in offering Randel the car his youngest son Matthew was scheduled to drive. Eshelman is the former Mayor of nearby Fontana and fields two Super Late Model cars for both of his young sons. King finished the first main event in the 20th spot and finished 17th in the second main event, after starting 25th, winning the Rookie of the Year award by less than ten points.

“Had it not been for David Eshelman allowing us to race his car in the second main, there is no way we would have won the Rookie of the Year, it is just phenomenal how things worked out and a big thank goes to David” said King. “I have to thank my mom and dad and my crew chief Dallas Leininger for all their support this year” King added.

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