2021 Twenty Seventh Running Of The Trophy Cup At Tulare Thunderbowl

I heard there were some complaints about us not catching all of the action at the Trophy Cup.
I was on Camera B, also known as "battle cam" hunting for close racing and incidents mid-pack while camera A, or lead cam covers the front.
We switched roles for the final race Saturday night.
Here's just some of our images.
Music by Hybrid
Song: All Torque (throwing snow remix)
Provided to KZbin by Republic of Music

[@fivecitydirttracker4776]

Thanks for putting this up......That said, this race is a 10 for fans getting great drivers plus the racing is second to none. Certainly outshines the WoO when they run ThunderBowl. This track is fast up on the fence and dose eat some equipment but, damn it's exciting to watch!!

[@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos]

Outshines WoO for sure. The format guarantees hardcore racing.

[@garyrichter8888]

This is take no prisoners racing my goodness I got all bruised up just watching.

[@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos]

The B-mains are loaded with heavy hitters who don't make it out. The Saturday heats are spectacular as the fast guys start in the rear. Cut throat.

[@Cliff_Booth]

Been waiting for this! Thanks for posting, love your work.

[@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos]

Thanks man.

[@unclebones2488]

That was awesome Thank you

[@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos]

Thank you. Much appreciated.

[@bonneman66]

wow...crazy action

[@kerrytodd3901]

Great effort mate .

[@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos]

Thanks Kerry.

[@VeNoMzxTaWsKi]

Does each race pay 85,000 to win? Cause that's a lot of junked equipment for heat races and non A-Main races.

[@markjfields8358]

Thought you did awesome .. Just saying from my point of view... Keep doing what you do LOVE IT!

[@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos]

Thanks Mark. Much obliged.

[@raymond3803]

@@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos You really did do a great job. Credits at the end need to be bigger. And brighter green.

[@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos]

@@raymond3803 I don't think it gets much brighter then that!

[@raymond3803]

@@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos Do us all a favor. Convince Kevin Swindell to hire Tanner Holmes just to save cyber space before we all get radiated to death with 6G.

[@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos]

@@raymond3803 lol

[@429thunderjet2]

Good God for the carnage!!! That was worse than stock cars at some of the local tracks I've seen where it takes 45 minutes to run a 20 lap race!

[@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos]

They run em quick here. Wrecks are cleared at record pace. No 45 min for 20 laps...

[@TassyDeval]

This track should have a giant advert all around the track, saying "Come Closer, Ill put you on your roof"

[@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos]

Like a mean dog... no go ahead, you may pet me.

[@JohnnieWalkerDread]

Between Timms and Kofoid, I cannot decide which one looks less like a race car driver. But glad to see the Okie take the checkered.

[@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos]

I think Kofoid has the look for sure.

[@raymond3803]

@@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos Kofoid has the look? If he won by a nose, it means he lapped the field. That nose jumps the start. That nose could steal your wife at the dinner table. That nose belongs on a wreaker.

[@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos]

@@raymond3803 That nose is fast becoming a National star at a young age.

[@raymond3803]

@@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos Maybe.......Maybe not. Hurt his hand dicking around on pavement. IMO - Most improved drivers of 2021 - Spenser Bayston & Ryan Timms - Most successful drivers of 2021 - Tyler Courtney & Kyle Larson (both very adaptive) - Honorable mention - Carson Macedo - Best come-back drivers 2021 - Kerry Madsen Robert Ballou Dave Blaney

[@paulhall170]

In Australia we say 'They look like they're racing for sheep-stations" Lots of expensive equipment trashed in heat races, boy the red mist certainly dropped both nights. Like one other poster said, the high line was very rewarding, but very dangerous too...

[@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos]

Its always a nail biter watching them bang the boards lap after lap.

[@josephbrown5460]

I live on the East Coast and a lot of people say the Cali sprint scene is soft, but that video will shut them up. I got high blood pressure just watching it. Great video! I'm making the road trip out there next summer. Anybody have any input as far as what tracks or races would be good to check out? Doesn't matter to me if they're winged or not.

[@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos]

I spent 8 years on the East Coast and loved the big block Mods. Grandview, Flemington, Middletown, The Grove, Port Royal etc. Also liked the URC with the small top wing and no nose wing... Norcal tracks: Watsonville (Ocean Speedway) on Friday nights put on a good show, Placerville, Bakersfield, Merced are badass. I find Petaluma is very good with its tacky hooked up black gumbo clay, I have a soft spot for Marysville as I was track photographer there, Chico on Friday nights. These are all 1/4 miles with good weekly shows. Tulare Thunderbowl of course and its sister track Hanford (Keller Auto) Speedway are slightly bigger and also a must see. If you can choose your visit The Trophy Cup is your best bet. SoCal: the half mile at Perris.

[@josephbrown5460]

@@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos Flemington was the track I first started going to when I was young, about an hour south. Middletown is an hour north and has been up and down for 30 years, but the guy that owns Halmar Racing & Stewart Friesen's truck team, Chris Larsen, has sunk a lot of money into it and it's better, but they need better track prep. The mods look like they are coming out of a fog bank by the 4th and 1st turns. Grandview is the track I like best. Mod car counts are near 40, and the size and banking make it great when the sprints come. The Grove has history, but what's been done at Port Royal is amazing. No track comes close in the northeast. WoO & All-Star sprints, WoO & Lucas Oil late models and a $50,000 to win mod race every year. The URC has had a better run the last couple of years also. When I head out that way I'm going to follow one of the sprint series so I can hit a lot of tracks. I might add another week and go into Oregon and Washington, too. Starting to get old so I have to do it while I can. I have a friend who was a big Tyler Walker fan. Is he done racing? I think of Shane Hmeil and it's sad to talent like they had get swept up in off the track issues. Thanks for the input and the videos. Both are much appreciated.

[@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos]

@@josephbrown5460 your welcome. I think Walker might be done; he's been nowhere near a track as far as I know. Sprint series to follow in NorCal are the NARC (King Of The West) 410 Sprints SCCT 360 Sprints Hunt Magneto Non-wing Sprints NARC is planning to expand their tour to return to Oregon and Skagit Washington next season. Skagit is a must see Speedway. Grandview Thunder On The Hill is my favorite East Coast track as well. Cheers.

[@josephbrown5460]

@@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos I'm familiar with the King Of The West. I'll keep an eye out for the schedule. I still have Eldora and Knoxville on the bucket list. The Thunder On The Hill series at Grandview is fantastic. 5 mid-week shows. Last year they had 3 with the 410's, 1 with the USAC sprints, and another with the USAC midgets. The mods are on the bill for all of them. Bridgeport Speedway was redone. They shortened it to a big 1/3 mile with high banking, modeling it after Lawrenceville Speedway in Indiana. The mods are pulling slide jobs on each other there! Check out the video of the High Banks Classic this year. It's wild. Thanks again, Mike.

[@davidvanbrunt4233]

Narc is the best open wheel series in the country right now...

[@littleoakey32]

😎😎😎😎

[@donb3084]

More contact here than a figure eight race

[@erich84502b]

They widened that track in 2018

[@saragrant9749]

Trophy cup or enduro cup? Good lord there were a lot of wrecked cars!

[@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos]

Hardcore three days.

[@HRMYOUTUBE]

LET’S GO BRANDON!!!

[@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos]

Indeed.

[@Cliff_Booth]

FJB🤙

[@HRMYOUTUBE]

@@Cliff_Booth yessir

[@jrobdickson8498]

Keep politics out of racing.

[@HRMYOUTUBE]

@@jrobdickson8498 no it was on a car and I like it =D

[@stevenmorrison4692]

I'm surprised motor racing in CA hasn't been banned yet.

[@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos]

Well... if the ass clowns in office have anything to do with it...

[@caseyhepler2806]

Better change the banking on the track

[@delbertmain8907]

Battle of the fittest

[@Vizzy-_-2]

Go tanner

[@joen5332]

No cushion there

[@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos]

The cushion is right up on the wall.

[@NovaPreaims]

"Yikers"

[@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos]

lol

[@dirtworxphotography245]

Go Home Mccarl!

[@JRH99]

The trophy girls should still kiss the winner! Now the driver's wife or gf would kick their ass

[@blake86303]

Pushem,flipems.........but entertaining.

[@edwardlincoln5680]

Just what all California drivers do daily.

[@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos]

You must mean NY drivers: they are the worst in the Nation by a wide margin.

[@raymond3803]

McCarl needs a gimmick. Maybe going trans-gender might make him relevant.

[@hukill7177]

This track is straight garbage.. anyone else see how terrible the surface is causing every car to fight just to stay wheels down

[@StephenThomas2]

That’s the whole point it’s Trophy Cup fans want to see carnage

[@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos]

Groove on the bottom, groove in the middle, groove up on the boards, three days of hard racing, 85 cars: you're bound to develop some rough spots. Overall it wasn't bad at all. Track does a good job grooming half way through the night...

[@libertarianman69]

Crash fest

[@holidayiv4856]

Same people wrecking in real life are the same people wrecking in iracing , absolutely zero race etiquette an nothing but torn up equipment

[@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos]

I-racing? You don't seriously call that racing do you?

[@jrobdickson8498]

Iracing? Seriously?? Ew.

[@holidayiv4856]

I drew a parallel between the two yet this is the takeaway I get nice

[@holidayiv4856]

@@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos yeah sorry I saw a bunch of wrecking maybe that’s what you call racing , and being I drew a parallel you knock me so whatever keep being so awesome at trashing people for clearly seeing dirty driving , you go to races jus for the crashes and I go for the racing that’s the difference so I’ll unsub you can trash the next person that doesn’t root for wrecking people

[@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos]

@@holidayiv4856 But that's just it about Trophy Cup: sure there are a lot of wrecks... but there's even more great racing. These are just high lights: it's always going to be wrecks in the high lights (of which there were more; I didn't catch all of them)! I would LOVE to include all the great racing but then this would turn into a two hour video. As it is it's way too long! It's a three day event with 80+ upper echelon drivers and a format that takes no prisoners: the B-mains are loaded with talent, many of which don't advance, for instance. Seeing them bang the boards lap after lap and not wreck is a sight to behold. I guess as with everything else, you have to be there to appreciate it. My passion is to try and translate that onto a tiny screen which is not easy and I often don't succeed at. But I give it my best every single time. If all you see here is a wreck fest then I reckon in your eyes I failed. No worries though. It is what it is. Btw, I was knocking I-racing, not you. I'm old school so a video game to me is just that: a video game. I raced a stock car for a couple of seasons and comparing the feel of feathering the throttle to fiddling a joystick to me has no parallel. I'm wrong all the time so maybe I am on this one too. Point is don't take me knocking I-racing personal. Cheers.

[@raymond3803]

What the hell is this? I'm out of my element. I can't watch 360s without it featuring Tanner "The Manner" Holmes. No coverage of Tanner @ a truck stop? Eating a microwave burrito? Acting all positive and shit. Talking about the "B" feature.

[@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos]

@mitch stuve staple food for Fred Adams.

[@fastfreddy14]

What crap track. The drivers should refuse to run on this and other track that just tear equipment up from all the wrecks. I want to watch racing not narrow turns full of ruts

[@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos]

The Thunder Bowl is a very racy joint: video doesn't do it any justice, you'd have to attend in person to appreciate it.

[@JohnnieWalkerDread]

@@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos I went to a race there a couple of years ago and loved it.

[@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos]

@@JohnnieWalkerDread it's kickass when it's dialed in.

[@fivecitydirttracker4776]

Stay wherever the hell you're at....we don't want your crying out here😭

[@miguelchavez5392]

@@mikedehooghblackflagracephotos yes 💯