Monday, January 12, 2015

Introducing The DCRR Racing Book

Don's California Racing Recollections:  Best Of The Blog And Beyond

Available via print on demand at Lulu in Hard Cover or Paperback




I did it.  This is my first published racing book since the last DCRR Racing News Magazine was released in 2003.  As I looked at the final PDF that would be uploaded to Lulu for Print On Demand, tears came to my eyes.  This was stressful, but I was obsessed with getting this done.  You don't even want to know what I went through yesterday to get that PDF just right.  It was beyond annoying, and I had doubts that this would get finished.  It was that bad.

When I decided to do this book in December, it was with the thoughts of putting a book together with my favorite posts from The DCRR Blog.  I've written some things here that I'm proud of, and I just thought they might make a nice book if anybody was interested.  Then, I realized there might be two or three books worth of material, all at around 120 pages each.

Oh, it will be a snap, I told myself.  Famous last words.  It sort of blew up from there.  I already had a mind to add the Antioch Speedway and Merced Speedway pieces I had written years ago.  Aquatically, Gary Jacob wrote the Merced piece in the early 1990's and shared it with me.  I updated it with new information about 12 years ago.  I even found a few tidbits from the 1950's.

Along the way, two things happened.  I decided that some season review stories I had written would be perfect for this book.  Then, there were a few other things I had run in The DCRR that I thought belonged.  Then, I decided to include the reporting I did on the Antioch Speedway bid of 1997.  I found it relevant.  These aren't part of The Blog, of course, which is why "And Beyond" is included in the title of the book. 

The problem with me is I get like a kid in a candy store as I put this stuff together.  I want to add this and that and the other.  Before you know it, there's 200 more pages than planned, and there was other stuff I wanted to include.  I had to stop somewhere. 

The other thing was, as I was putting this together and adding the Merced and Antioch pieces, I asked myself a question.  Where is Watsonville?  Petaluma?  Vallejo?  Baylands?  You get the point.  I decided to write several articles on the subject.  I wrote about 30,000 more words, but this was needed.   It's a conflicting message, however.

This is NOT the racing history book I always envisioned writing.  It does have a lot of history, but I am sitting on a lot of information.  I can do MUCH better than this.  There is history in this book.  Some point standings are included, champions lists are included and that sort of thing, but it's only a snap shot of what I have.  If anything, it is version .5 of that history book.  It would take months for me to do that book, and I wanted something sooner.

Next for me is the auto biography of my time in racing.  I need to edit the thing and put it up on Lulu next.  It stands at around 120 pages at the moment, which is fine.  I don't anticipate adding more, but I might.  Then, I may consider attacking the history book, depending on what sort of insert there is in such a thing.  I am sitting on points lists, win lists, stories and that sort of thing from several tracks, including Antioch, Watsonville, Merced and Chowchilla.

The other thing I was blessed with for this book was to have some talented photographers sending me pictures.  L&J Photography and Green Flag Photography sent the magazine pictures through the years, so we have some of their amazing pictures in there.  Stuff from Don O'Keefe Jr., Chuck Smith and my own personal photos are included as well.  It's only a sampling, really, but there are some nice shots in there.  I even got to use some vintage San Jose pictures that were sent to me about 15 years ago for the magazine.  They date back to the 1930's.  I could have included more from my archives, but that would have required hours of scanning.

This book is a snapshot of some of the things I witnessed or researched in racing at the tracks I loved, including Antioch Speedway, Merced Speedway, Watsonville Speedway, Chowchilla Speedway, Petaluma Speedway and Baylands Raceway Park.  There are controversial subjects in here, such as when I put my butt on the line covering the 1997 Antioch Speedway bid and supported John Soares Jr.

The creation of Wingless Spec Sprints as well as a look back at the early years of the NCMA are included.  My thoughts on some of the things happening in the sport are in there.  Why I left.  The NCMA point controversy of 1990 is in there.  For the first time ever, I talk about the Dirt Modified point controversy of 1999 at Antioch and what went down from my point of view.  There are some vintage Pit Stops columns.  There's so much, I can't mention it all here other than to say I am very proud of this book.  There's something for everybody within those 524 pages.

This is the First Edition, . That means nothing in particular unless I revise the PDF.  The only books that will be printed are the ones that will be ordered from Lulu.  There are some things I'd like to revise, but they may have to wait until the next big project.  For instance, there are point listings I should have included with a few stories.  I should have updated the Antioch Win List as I do have that information.  The list I used was convenient.  The Antioch and Merced stories could have been updated to the current date.  There's still a lot of cool things covered in those stories. 

This is why I say this is NOT the history book I always had in mind.  However, there is a lot of racing history covered within those pages.  It is with the satisfaction of knowing that I did my best here that I release this book to you.  I hope you enjoy it.  Putting the book together page by page brought me smiles as I recalled many of those times.  There can be more where this came from if you are interested.

I have endeavored to offer this book at a reasonable price.  Printing isn't cheap and my time is worth something, but the price tag isn't as big as some books of this type are.  This is because I want people to read this and I want people to add this to their collection of racing memorabilia.  I think it will be a worthy addition to anybody's collection.  I hope you do too.

The book is available for Print On Demand at Lulu.  I have done other books there and find that they do good work  You can get it in Hard Cover or Paperback


I leave you now with the Table Of Contents for this book


 Table Of Contents

Chapter                                                Pages
Foreword                                            5-8
What's In A Name?  DCRR                                    8-9
I Couldn't Have Done It Without Dad                                10-11
Remembering Gary Jacob                                        12-13
Don’t Look Now, But Mel Maupin Is Fifth In Dirt Modified Points                    13-16
Reid Holds Off Maupin For Victory                                16-17
Pit Stops: Kimberly Myers                                        17-18
Gone But Not Forgotten                                        18-19
Some Sad News To Report                                    19-20
Looking Back At The Tim Williamson Classic                            20-21
Looking Back At The Mike Cecil 100                                22
Pelphrey Wins Mike Cecil 100 At Watsonville                            22-23
Antonetti, Herrick Score Watsonville Victories                            23-24
Looking Back At The Ted Stofle Classic                                25
The Valley Sportsman Division Continues At Merced Speedway                    25-29
The End Of The Sportsman Division At Antioch: A What If Scenario                    29-32
Through All The Changes, Racing Has Continued To Endure                        33-36
Looking Back At Antioch Speedway Through The Years                        37-43
The 20 Most Influential Moments In Bay Area Racing During My Time In Racing            44-46  
Looking Back: The Curl Racing Family                                46-48
Back When The Stock Cars Came Back To Antioch In 1981                        48-50
Twenty Years Ago This December:  The Decision That Changed Antioch Speedway            50-52
CarQuest Late Model Feature Winners And Top Five In Points At A Glance                53-57
The Sky May Be The Limit For Limited Late Models                            58-59
Looking Back: The Creation Of The Spec Sprint Division                        59-64
The Tenth Anniversary Of Wingless Spec Sprints                            64-69
1988: A Look Back At That First Season For The NCMA                        70-71
Shirk Takes 1989 NCMA Championship Honors                            71-73
Holloway Wins Controversial 1990 NCMA Championship                        73-74
NCMA Survives 1991 Season, Shirk Dominates The Action                        74-75
Better Car Counts For NCMA In 1992 As Shirk Wins Title                        76
Why I Left The CMA After Just 1 Season                                76-79
A Little Recognition Can Be A Good Thing                                80-81
I'll Tell You What Bothers Me                                    81-82
Chowchilla Speedway Closed                                    82-84
Kennedy Wins Chowchilla Hobby Stock $500                            84-85
Record Wingless Spec Sprint Count At Chowchilla                            85-86
Ross Wins Feature, Munroe Champion                                86-87
Byrd Opens Chowchilla Shoot Out With Victory                            87-89
Stone Charges To Big Chowchilla Victory                                89-90
Stanford Wins Timmy Post 99 At Merced                                90-91
Perry Wins Shirk Memorial Race                                    91-92
Shirk Memorial Race Win Nets Berryhill Championship                        92-93
Goodwill Caps Top Five Rookie Season With Shirk Memorial Win                    93-94
Hanestad Charges To Shirk Memorial Win                                94
Jim Perry Jr. Wins Shirk Memorial Race                                95
Remember What It's All About?                                    95-98
Jumping Into The Fray For the 1997 Antioch Speedway Bid                        98-116
    The Editor’s Viewpoint                                    99
    The Editor’s Viewpoint                                    100
    The Editor’s Viewpoint                                    101-102
    The Editor’s Viewpoint                                    103-105
    The Bidding Begins For Antioch Speedway                            106-107
    West Coast Speedways Looking To Stay At Antioch Speedway            107-109
    John Soares Jr. Ready For His Next Challenge                    109
    Soares Wins Bid For Antioch Speedway                        110
    New Era Means New Title Contenders                        111-112
    The Editor’s Viewpoint                                113-114
    New Antioch Management Meets With Drivers                    113-114
    Drivers Gather For Meeting In Antioch                        114-115
    Give Soares A Fair Chance                            115-116
Lancaster, Babb Win Twin 50’s At Antioch                            116-117
O’Keefe Impresses With Double Point Victory                        118
Lady Luck Smiles On O’Keefe In Victory                            119-120
O’Keefe Ends Long Draught With Victory                            119
Baylands Raceway Was More Than A Sprint Car Track                    120-127
My Visit To Vallejo Speedway                                128-131
The Legend Of Vallejo Speedway Lives On                            132-140
Walking The Fence                                    141
I Heard The News Today, Oh Boy                                142-143
Ten Cool Facts About Merced Speedway in the Griffin Era                    143-144
Ten Cool Facts About Tom Sagmiller & Chowchilla Speedway                145-146
Looking Back: "The Big Dog" Ramie Stone                            146-147
Looking Back: What Might Have Been                            147-151
It's A Shame NASCAR Doesn't Care About Our Local Short Tracks Anymore            151-153
After Further Reflection, Brynda Bockover's Reign Over Antioch Speedway Was A Success    153-155
Looking Back:  Andy Archer                                155-160
Jim Booth:  A Big Reason For The NCMA’s Success                        161-162
Cargo Wins NCMA Antioch Championship                            163
Shirk Wraps Up Fifth NCMA Championship (1996)                        163-164
Nobody Gave Them A Chance, But NCMA Heads For 10th Season                165-168
Quinn  Wraps Up Second NCMA Championship (1999)                    168-169
Contrary To Rumors, The NCMA Lives                            169-170
Mike Conley, The Figure 8 And Antioch Speedway:  What Went Wrong?            171-174
Four Generations Watch As Hogge Wins Pacific Cost Region                    175-176
The Good Old Days: Bobby Hogge III is Antioch Champ                    176-177
A Brief Look At The Old Champion Speedway In Brisbane, CA                178-180
Watsonville Speedway Hall Of Fame                            180-181
From The Archives: Jim Bowman from 1991                        182-185
Some Of The Best Dirt Track Racing In California Has Happened At Watsonville Speedway    186-198  
Watsonville Pit Stops                                    199-202
Watsonville Pit Stops                                    203-206
Mini Stocks At Delta Speedway Truly Was A Show To See                    206-210
Petaluma Speedway Has Made Its Mark On California Dirt Track Racing            211-218
Petaluma Pit Stops                                     219-223
Antioch Speedway Pit Stops                                  223-230
Drivers Honored At Awards Banquet                            231-234
Antioch Speedway Pit Stops                                 234-237
1998 Antioch Speedway Season Recap                            238-240
Banquet Ends Successful Antioch Speedway Season (1998)                    241-243
Antioch Speedway Moments On Film (1999-2003) By Green Flag Photography            244-257
1999 Antioch Speedway Season Review                            258-260
Banquet Concludes 39th Season At Antioch Speedway                    261-262
Antioch Crowns Six Champions In 40th Season (2000)                    263-266
Elworthy’s Time Finally Comes At Antioch                            267-268
Wingless Spec Sprints Take Center Stage At Antioch Speedway                268-269
Coe Drives To Antioch Pure Stock Championship                        269-270
Brown Prevails Again In Antioch Super Stock Championship                    270-271
Dynamite David Brows Away The Competition                        271-272
Eight Champions Crowned In All Pro’s Fifth Antioch Season                    273-276
Antioch Speedway Pit Stops                                277-281
Good things Happened At The Local Race Track, Where Was The Media Then?            282
Papenhausen, Carr Double Winners On Qualifying Night                    283
Hubbard Wins $5000 In CarQuest 50                            284-285
Hogge IV, McDaniel Star In Qualifying Night At Antioch                    285-286
Scott Dominates Winter Chevrolet 100 For $6000 Victory                    286-287
Pettit Unstoppable In Altamont Victory                            288-290
Drivers Tune Up For Southwest Tour Race                            290-291
McCoun Scores Altamont Win                                291
Diaz Scores Surprise Win At Altamont                            292
Altamont Pit Stops                                    292-294
Fighting For The Cause (We're Right Behind You)                        295-298
Looking Back: Taking A Stand For Antioch Management Change                298-300
How To Kill A Division In Three Easy Moves                        301-302
Does The Local Racing History Matter Anymore?                        303-304
Photos By Jack Menges                                    305  
San Jose Speedway: Can It Be Rebuilt Once More?                        306-312
Del Quinn Memorial Race Breaks Car Count Record At Antioch                313-315
The 1990 NCMA Championship Controversy                        315-317
Remembering The 1999 Antioch Dirt Modified Point Race                    317-320
Looking Back: The Early Days Of The Street Stocks At Antioch                320-325
16 Years And Going Strong:  A Salute To The Street Stocks                    326-339
Hard Work Pays Off For Torres                                340-341
Merced Speedway:  Looking Back                                342-351
Antioch Speedway:  A Look Back                                352-361
More From The Chuck Smith Collection                            362-363
If Antioch Speedway Had A King, His Name Might Be J.D. Willis                364-365
In Memory of "Dr. Dirt" Jim Soares                            366
The Antioch Speedway Winner’s List                            367
Photos From The Don O’Keefe Jr. Collection                        368-373
Thoughts On Chowchilla Speedway's 15th Anniversary                    374
Pit Stops Visits Chowchilla                                374-376
Greer Wins 363 Sprint Chowchilla Debut                            377
More Notes From The Chowchilla Speedway Archives                    378-380  
Heaslet, Williams Win At Chowchilla                            381
From The DCRR Archives - Chowchilla Speedway 2000                    382
Chowchilla Speedway Ends Successful 2000 Season                        382-384
They Had More Fun In 2001 At Chowchilla Speedway                    385-389
Photos By L&J Photography                                390-402
Hogge Charges To $1000 Chowchilla Victory                        403
Ten Champions Crowned At Chowchilla Speedway                        404-407
Six Champions Highlight Solid Season At Merced                        408-411
Merced Fights Back For Respectful 2001 Season                        411-415
Southwest Tour Star Pettit Wins 9-11 Memorial race At Merced                415
Thomas Impressive In His 9-11 Memorial Title Defense                    416
If You Build It, They Will Come: The Search For Another Racing Field Of Dreams        417-420
A Word About Voting And A Trip Down Memory Lane                    420-422
Pit Stops:  A Look At Some Of The Families Of Racing At Antioch                422-427
What's The Point                                        428-430
Closed Tracks: Thinking About What Could Have Been                    431-432
Sacramento Raceway's Oval Has Held Many Races Through The Years                432-436
Team Cobra Finally Gets A Feature Win                            436
Cascade Hardtops Invade Sacramento Raceway                        436-437
The BCRA Made Me Do It                                437-438
The Green Flag Waves                                    439-440
Scott Storms To $5,000 Victory At Antioch Speedway                    441-442
New Tracks, Big Races And Other Cool Stuff                        442-445
The Concern Over Too Many Divisions                            446-447
The DCRR Antioch Speedway Hall Of Fame                        448
Hogge Beats Old Rival Busby For $3,500 Antioch Victory                    448-449
Thoughts On Track Unity, Hyping Racing On The Internet And Other Things            450-451  
82 Years Old? Are You Serious?                                452
Larry Damitz Speaks                                    453-454
A Visit From A Friend And A Few Thoughts About Things At Antioch                454-457
You Really Need To Come Back, Don                            458-459
What's Hurting Short Track Racing?                            460-462
Standing Up For Change In Racing                                462-467
The Editor’s Viewpoint                                    468
Looking Back: Joe & Bob And What Could Have Been                    468-470
Accused Of Playing Favorites                                470-473
The Final Straw: Why I Left Racing And Never Came Back                    474-476
It Must Be Time For The RPM Workshop In Reno Once Again                476-477
The Road To 2003 Goes Through Reno                            477-479
RPM Promoter's Workshop In Reno Turns 30                        479-480
The Editor’s Viewpoint                                    480-482
The Editor’s Viewpoint                                    483-487
After Further Review, It Was A Draw                            488-490
Remember The Good Times, Look Forward To More                        490-494

Bonus Material

What About Pearsonville Speedway Or Ernie Purssell Speedway?                495-497
Antioch Speedway Needs To Generate More Excitement For Points Racing            498-500
Prentice May Hold The Key To A Better Spec Sprint Series                    500-502
Sometimes The Smaller Tracks Can Do Big Things                        503-505
Limited Late Models Part Of Today's Big Antioch Speedway Event                506-508
Garner May Be Someone To Watch In Limited Late Models At Antioch            508-509
Chadwick, Nelson and Damitz Open 2015 Season With Antioch Wins                509-510
Foulger, Hoff Win Big At Antioch Speedway                        511-512
The Hobby Stocks Are Coming To Merced On January 3rd                    512-514
Cleveland Collects $2500 IMCA Modified Prize At Merced Speedway                514-515
McDaniel Wraps Up West Coast Nationals With $2000 Chowchilla Victory            515-516
Random Thoughts                                    516-517
Antioch Speedway’s Top Finishers From 1980 At A Glance                    518-519
Wingless Spec Sprints Have Arrived                            520-522
Hodges Wins Dash For Cash                                523