‘Loud and obnoxious’ suits supercharged Mullins!
BUD Kaeding is the second driver to be locked into the USA v WA Sprintcar Speedweek that will kick off at the Perth Motorplex on Boxing Day.
He will be driving for the Perth-based Kendrick Racing Team and his announcement follows that recently of Shane Stewart flying in to drive for Dowling Motorsports.
Bud is the third generation of the Kaeding clan to be involved in speedway.
His grandfather Howard Kaeding set the benchmark for racing pavement and dirt supermodifieds and sprintcars on America’s West Coast.
His father Brent is the most successful racer on the USA West Coast and in a career spanning more than 25 years he has claimed more than 350 main events.
Naturally Bud started racing in various speedway classes from a young age and by the time he was 14, he had won more than 150 main events and has continued to ply his trade over the years.
The 40-year-old said the deal to come in race here in WA came about after discussions with Geoff Kendrick.
“Geoff has been a customer of ours here at Kaeding Performance for some time now,” Kaeding said.
“Usually he and I chat when he calls and this time it wasn’t for parts, he asked it I would be interested in coming over for a drive.”
Bud Kaeding after his Ocean Speedway Feature Win in June 2019
Kaeding has raced in Australia a few times, but mainly in Queensland and in 2014 he raced for Jack Lee at the Warrnambool Classic.
He is looking forward to getting his first look at the Perth Motorplex and the Bunbury and Albany tracks.
“I have never been to that part of the country before,” Kaeding said.
“Some of the names are familiar to me but I haven’t seen the tracks before, so it will be interesting.”
Despite not knowing too much about the WA racing landscape he will be aiming high as far as results go.
“My goal is always to win and think that is why Geoff asked me to come,” he said.
“But with everything being new to me, to leave with some solid finishes at the end of the week will be a success.”
Kaeding is also hoping that his experience will help him adapt quickly too, but said “time will tell that”.
“We have some similar tracks here in California, but with dirt racing you never really know what your gonna get.”
Kaeding arrives in Perth on Christmas Eve and after he quickly gets unpacked, he will be off to the Kendrick Racing Team headquarters to do his seat fitting and make sure he is comfortable with the car.
He will contest the four nights of Speedweek – the Perth Motorplex on December 26 and December 29, Bunbury on January 1 and Albany on January 4 before flying back to America on January 6.
If he wasn’t ‘Down Under’ for this quick tour Kaeding said he would probably be spending time with his family for the holidays and possibly a trip to Disneyland or south to Lake Tahoe.
However he is looking forward to getting in some off-season racing, saying it “is always good, especially when the other guys you are racing don’t have that opportunity”.
“I think it helps keep you sharp.”
Kaeding said his plans for the 2020 season were still up in the air and they were not 100 per cent sure of what they would be doing and said the season just completed was “pretty up and down for us”.
“We won six races in total but the highlight of them would have been getting my dad’s #69 back into victory lane,” he said.
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