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Modified Excitement Returns To
Antioch Speedway Saturday Night
Antioch Speedway Saturday Night
Antioch,
CA...The show continues at Antioch Speedway this Saturday night. This
will be the fifth-straight Saturday night of racing action since the
track opened following the covid-19 shut down. The IMCA Modifieds and
IMCA Sport Modifieds will be making their fourth appearance of the year
at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds oval, making this an official
point race in the eyes of the sanctioning body. The Super Stocks will
also be a part of the show. Due to the covid-19 guidelines, the
grandstands will still not be open, but management is working to make
something happen there soon. In the meantime, you can once again catch
the action at SpeedshiftTV.
We've
seen some of the best IMCA Modified drivers in the state compete at
Antioch Speedway this year. It's not too surprising to see four-time
champion Troy Foulger leading the way in the Bowers Motorsports
Modified. The reigning Merced Speedway champion has had to start deep in
the pack on all three previous occasions, but he's managed to work his
way through the pack to get good finishes. This gives him a two-point
lead over Shane DeVolder. 2018 State champion DeVolder entertained the
internet viewing crowd with his outside groove effort that got him the
lead and victory two weeks ago. Things are just getting started in this
battle.
Kellen Chadwick hasn't
had a great start, but he still finds himself just 10 points out of the
lead after three races. Last time out, he had to earn his way into the
feature by virtue of transferring from the Semi Main. The
second-generation competitor is tied with reigning State champion Trevor
Fitzgibbon for the third point position. Rounding out the Top 5 is
Merced star Ryan Porter. There should be a good group of competitors in
Antioch for this show. Some of the drivers to watch for include two-time
champion Carl Berendsen II, reigning champion Buddy Kniss, 2018
champion Nick DeCarlo, Raymond Lindeman and Frank Furtado.
The
latest IMCA Sport Modified point sheet was not available at press time,
but reigning IMCA State champion Guy Ahlwardt helped his cause
immensely after his effort last week. Ahlwardt grabbed the lead early on
and turned in a dominant performance in scoring his first win of the
year. That should shoot him up several positions in the Top 10.
Following his third-place performance last week, 2017 champion KC Keller
should also be looking good in his battle along with Todd Gomez and
Brent Curran. 2015 champion and reigning Merced champion Fred Ryland
helped his cause with a solid second place finish last week, which
should move him up into the Top 5 somewhere.
Speaking
of Top 5 performances, 2004 Four Banger champion Jason Jennings turned
in a solid effort with a fifth place finish last time out. Jason has
been working on his car for the last year and is excited to finally get
back behind the wheel again. Some of the stars to watch for this week
include West Coast Nationals winner Kenny Shrader, Mark Garner, Nick
Caughman Jr and Kevin Brown. As with the IMCA Modified class, there
should be some visitors from other tracks that haven't opened yet.
One
of Promoter Chad Chadwick's projects in taking over the speedway this
year is to strengthen the numbers in the Super Stock division, which has
been renamed this year from Limited Late Models last year. To help that
effort, it was just announced last week that drivers competing with the
Tri State Pro Stock Series are welcome to come to Antioch Speedway and
be legal according to their rules. This could see some visitation from
outside the area as that series doesn't have a race scheduled. We could
also see the return of the Tri State Series feature winner from two
weeks ago, Mitch Machado. With his home track in Petaluma moving to
Sunday this week, Machado would be available to come back to the track
that saw him win a championship in 2010.
Two-time
reigning champion, Kimo Oreta looked impressive last time out in
winning his heat race, but mechanical issues saw him retire early. Two
drivers representing the area well with Top 5 finishes on that occasion,
Mike Walko and 2013 champion Jim Freethy, are anticipated this week.
Ryan Cherezian started back in 20th that night and drove to a
respectable seventh place finish. He's still on the trail of his first
feature win. Other drivers to watch for this week include John Evans,
Chris Long, Peter Coberly and Terry DeCarlo. Work is still being done on
the cars of Jim Robbins, Chad Hammer and last year's runner-up Michael
Burch, but we hope to see them all soon.
Ocean Speedway Roars Back Into Action This Friday night
Watsonville,
CA...Racing season has been delayed due to the virus, but Friday night
will see the break come to an end. The quarter-mile clay oval at the
Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds opens with an exciting five-division
offering. The Taco Bravo Sprint Cars will be competing along with the
IMCA Sport Modifieds, Hobby Stocks, Four Bangers and the South Bay Dwarf
Cars. Since fan attendance in the grandstands is not allowed yet due to
the covid-19 guidelines, this race will be broadcast from start to
finish on SpeedshiftTV.
Last
season, the fans got treated to one of the most exciting Sprint Car
season finales ever witnessed at the speedway. You had Bud Kaeding and
James Ringo giving it their all as only a point separated them going
into the Main Event. Kaeding had just completed the pass on Ringo when
the unexpected happened. A slower car crossed his path, and Kaeding
ended up flipping. Ringo used his sixth Top 5 finish of the year to win
his first career championship. Four-time winner Kaeding ended up
settling for second by just 17 points. It's a finish they'll be talking
about for years to come.
2018
runner up Koen Shaw managed to hold onto the podium, 16 points behind
Kaeding. He also ranked third in the USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car
championship battle. Jeremy Chisum and Jake Andreotti made up the
balance of the Top 5 in the standings. The toughest driver to beat at
the speedway last year was 2015 champion Justin Sanders, who notched six
wins in 11 starts. He's always tough to beat when he's at the track,
though he isn't anticipated on Friday. Some of the regulars to watch for
include Jason Chisim, Kurt Nelson, Jayson Bright and Richard Fajardo.
There will surely be some top competitors coming to town for this show.
Last
season saw Merced area racer Jarrod Mounce made regular trips to
Watsonville in his bid to win the IMCA Sport Modified title. With an
impressive 16 Top 5 finishes in 17 starts, including three wins, he
managed to beat Adriane Frost by 45 markers to claim the honors. Frost
ran strong with a pair of wins to easily claim runner-up status. The
consistent Justin McPherson ended up third, while Kevin Johnson and Guy
Ahlwardt completed the Top 5. Ahlwardt held off Johnson in the IMCA
State championship last season. Some of the stars to watch for this week
include Charlie Hunter, last season's top rookie Kelly Campanile,
Stephen Allee, Max Baggett and Randy Miller.
Last
season saw the Hobby Stock battle come down to Rob Gallaher against his
father, Joe Gallaher. Joe enjoyed one of his best seasons yet with a
pair of victories. However, Rob proved to be just a bit too much to
handle with seven wins and a 19 point advantage on the way to his third
championship. Rob and Joe have been busy this year with three visits to
Antioch. Rob has two wins there and Joe also has a win. This duo may be
the ones to beat this Friday night.
Jerry
Skelton enjoyed one of his best seasons to date as he ranked third with
one feature win last year, holding off past champion Wally Kennedy by
just nine tallies. Kennedy was also a feature winner. DJ Keldsen had a
little bad luck derail his effort, but he still managed to hold onto
fifth in the final rundown. These five competitors could be there, and
others to watch for include multi-time champion Matt Kile, Ryan Muller,
Tony Oliveira and Bobby Huckaby Sr and Jr.
In
the Four Banger division, it's been the Beardsley family staking their
claim on the championship in recent seasons. Last year, the consistent
Kate Beardsley and Nicole Beardsley tied for the lead with identical
statistics. Though neither had a feature win, both had 11 Top 5 finishes
in 13 starts. Behind them by 49 points was past champion Bill
Beardsley, making it a family sweep of the podium. John Grilli had an
exceptional season with four feature wins as he trailed Bill Beardsley
by just five points. Some of the drivers to watch for include Ryan
McClelland, Tony Gullo, Roy Iler and Ray Bunn.
As
if this lineup wasn't action-packed enough, the South Bay Dwarf Cars
will be bringing more excitement to the show. Last season, Mark Biscardi
claimed the championship honors. Hard chargers like Eric Wiesler, past
champion Gene "Punky" Pires and Ryan Amlen certainly made it exciting.
Past champion Shawn Jones even showed up to get multiple wins. Having
won the Dwarf Car Nationals at Petaluma last weekend, it's possible we
could see Jones on this occasion. Others to watch for include Mack
Aceves, Eddy Claesson, Barry Waddell and Jimmy Damron.
We
finally get to see some racing action on the historic quarter-mile clay
oval this Friday night. There will be five exciting divisions
competing, and the action will be available on SpeedshiftTV for
everybody to enjoy. For further information, go to or go www.racepmg.com to the Ocean Speedway Facebook page.
Petaluma Speedway Will Have A Race This Sunday Night
Petaluma,
CA...On the heels of the successful running of the annual Dwarf Car
Nationals, Petaluma Speedway will be back in action again. The event has
been moved from Saturday to Sunday to enable all of the action to be
broadcast via SpeedshiftTV. Due to the strict covid-19 guidelines, the
grandstands are still not open. Fans can catch all of the action online,
and this exciting program will include the PitStopUSA.com
Winged 360 Sprint Cars, McLea's Tire Service IMCA Modifieds,
Lumberjacks Restaurant Super Stocks and Jake's Performance Hobbies Mini
Stocks.
Last season, the consistent John Clark emerged with the PitStopUSA.com
Winged 360 Sprint Car championship despite not having a win. He did
lead the division with five Top 5 finishes. With two feature wins to his
credit, Colby Johnson finished second by 18 points ahead of Joel Meyer.
Past champion Shawn Arriaga and one-time winner Brent Bjork made up the
balance of the Top 5 in the standings. The competitive division saw six
different winners in the 11 races held last year.
The
biggest win of the year went to five-time Chico champion Sean Becker,
who pocketed $5,000 for his victory in the Adobe Cup. That was his
second win of the year. Colby's brother Chase Johnson had three wins,
while multi-time division champion Bradley Terrell had two wins. Since
this is the only Winged 360 Sprint Car offering on Sunday night, it's
anticipated that the car count could increase with some top competitors
coming in from out of town. It should make for an exciting show.
In
the McLea's Tire Service IMCA Modifieds, Oreste Gonella had another
successful run at the championship. Once again, he had to battle
multi-time champion Michael Paul Jr to get the job done. Gonella used
consistency with five Top 5 finishes in the six races held, but he
didn't manage to win all season. Paul, on the other hand, won the Top
Dog Nationals and two other races to finish three points behind Gonella
in a close battle. Super Stock star Mitch Machado had a dream come true
night to open the season as he won both the IMCA Modified Main Event and
the Super Stock feature. He tied Justin Yeager for the third position
in the standings. These four competitors should be there this Sunday,
and others to watch for include Gary Zwicker, Tim Yeager, Ray Trimble
and Trevor Brady. We could see some visitors from out of town for this
race.
Last season, Mitch Machado
went undefeated in Super Stock point racing competition. He won all 11
Main Events along with all 11 of his heat races. Dating back to the year
before, Machado has won 13 straight point races. He was on his way to
the Bob McCoy Memorial win to wrap up the year when mechanical issues
sidelined him. Machado recently won the Tri State Pro Stock Series show
at Antioch Speedway. Once again, his toughest competitor in the
standings was multi-time champion Steve Studebaker. Though Studebaker
didn't get a win all last season, he only missed the Top 5 once. This
gave him a 27 point lead over another multi-time champion, Matt While,
in the standings. These two drivers could be Machado's toughest
competition in the battle for victory this weak. Others to watch for
include multi-time champion Shawn McCoy, Gary Adams, Many Avila and Tim
O'Hara. There could also be some out-of-town competition to challenge
the locals.
Last season, if you
weren't driving a Ford Pinto, you weren't winning in the Jake's
Performance Hobbies Mini Stocks. Jeremy Tjensvold won six of the nine
point events and ended the season with the win in the special non point
finale. He beat previous champion Tom Brown by just 13 points. Brown had
three wins to his credit, and neither driver failed to finish inside
the Top 5 all season. Some of the other drivers to watch for this Sunday
include third-ranked Sophie Shelly, Darien Balestrini, Roy Dearing,
Jason Grover, Roberta Broze and Cody Bolles.
Fans
will be disappointed that they can't attend this race in person due to
the covid-19 guidelines. However, they can view the show from start to
finish on SpeedshiftTV. The better news is that the season has begun at
Petaluma Speedway, and hopefully that means weekly racing from here
through October. For further information on the happenings at the
speedway, go to www.petaluma-speedway.com or check out the Petaluma Speedway Facebook page.
Keller Auto Speedway Returns To Action
With NARC/King Of The West Sprint Cars
With NARC/King Of The West Sprint Cars
Hanford,
CA...The season had just gotten started earlier this year at Keller
Auto Speedway when it was abruptly closed due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Peter Murphy had just stepped in to become the new promoter of the
speedway, and suddenly he was faced with the task of trying to get the
track open again under the strict covid-19 guidelines. After discussions
with various county health officials, Murphy found the way to get the
gates open once again, and it happens this Saturday night.
Since
the track is unable to allow fans in the grandstands at this time, you
might think that Murphy would have played it safe in what he booked.
However, he went all-in with as big a Sprint Car event as you can get.
This Saturday night, the NARC/King of the West Fujitsu Winged 410 Sprint
Cars will be competing, and they will be paid their full purse. Joining
them on the bill will be the local IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Cars and the
Wingless 360 Bandit Sprint Cars. Fans will be able to watch the race via
SpeedshiftTV.
Since pulling out
of the race they were scheduled to be a part at Kern Raceway back in
March, NARC officials have been trying to find a way to get back on the
track again. It seemed like this might not happen until sometime in
July, but negotiations between the 60 year old organization and Murphy
at Keller Auto Speedway made it happen sooner than expected. The racers
have been chomping at the bit to get back on track and are greatly
looking forward to this Saturday night.
Last
season saw one of the most exciting NARC/KWS championship battles in
history. Only 11 points separated the Top 3 drivers in the standings as
local star DJ Netto completed an amazing season by winning the title.
Netto did it through consistency as he didn't get a win with the group
all year. He beat two-time winner Bud Kaeding by just eight points and
four-time winner Dominic Scelzi by 11. Making the season all the more
sweeter was the fact that Netto also won the King of Thunder
championship series between Hanford and Tulare. He'll be hoping to find
his way to the winner's circle Saturday night.
This
race is expected to attract a full field of high-powered Winged 410
Sprint Cars. Joining his brother Bud in the field will be past series
champion Tim Kaeding. After a solid season at Silver Dollar Speedway
last year that saw him get his second career win, rising young star Kyle
Offill will be beginning his rookie effort with the group. Series
mainstays Willie Croft and Colby Copeland have signed up along with
another series rookie, Jodie Robinson. She got the attention of the
Sprint Car world with her surprise win with the Sprint Car Challenge
Tour at Merced Speedway last year.
Two
other local area competitors, Michael Faccinto and brother Mitchell
Faccinto will be part of the roster this weekend as well. Last season,
Sean Watts grabbed his first ever series win at the Stockton Dirt Track.
He'll be on hand for this show as well. Among the other drivers to
watch for are Craig Stidham, Richard Brace Jr and Spencer Bayston.
The
RaceSaver Sprint Car Series got its California start in Hanford, though
they are now traveling to several other tracks during the course of a
season. They were part of the first race back in February, won by
Brendan Warmerdam over Rob Solomon and Grant Champlin. Champlin won the
track and State championships last season. He took a consistent path to
the Hanford title with all Top 5 finishes and no wins, beating Brooklyn
Holland and Michael Pombo by six points. The popular Holland notched two
wins last season. Some of the other drivers to watch for this weekend
include Mike Schott, Colby Thornhill, Connor Dannell and Albert Pombo.
It's
been a pretty frustrating year for the USAC organization on the West
Coast. Their events have been canceled through the early part of July
due to the virus. The Bandit Wingless 360 Sprint Car event booked at
Hanford will be using USAC rules. A look at last season's championship
battle with USAC finds Tristan Guardino winning the title over rising
young star Ryan Timmons and Koen Shaw. Guardino has been Top 3 ranked
with the group for the past four seasons. Other stars of the group last
season included PJ Smith, JJ Ringo, Hannah Mayhew, 2018 champion Austin
Liggett, Austin Ervine, Slater Helt and 2017 champion Jake Swanson.
The
Bandit Sprint name is something that had its roots at Keller Auto
Speedway going back to the 1990s when they began the Wingless Sprint Car
effort prior to bringing in USAC sanctioning. Brothers Anthony Pombo
and Davey Pombo count themselves as two of the champions along with
Hanford's new Promoter Peter Murphy, Gene Manhire, AJ Burgin and Richard
Harvey Jr. In 14 seasons, only Greg Porte managed to win two
championships. The Bandit Sprint run went from 1995 through 2008 before
USAC took over. They competed at several different tracks, though
Hanford was a home track for the group.
This
is just the beginning of racing at Hanford this year. Murphy has
already booked the King of Thunder Winged 360 Sprint Car Series for June
27th along with the IMCA Stock Cars and Central Valley Mini Stocks.
Keith Day Jr and Mitchell Faccinto have won their respective Sprint Car
races, both of which happened in February. Eric Hamilton got the IMCA
Stock Car win, and Dan Myrick won the CVMS visit to Hanford. The group
brought around two dozen competitors, and Myrick also won the group's
second race at Kern Raceway.
Before
we get to the 27th, we've got an exciting lineup that you won't want to
miss this Saturday night. You can only watch it on SpeedshiftTV, but
you'll be seeing the best of the best with the NARC/King of the West
Winged 410 Sprint Cars along with the RaceSaver Sprint Cars and Wingless
360 Bandit Sprint Cars. For further information, go to www.racekingsspeedway.com or the Keller Auto Speedway Facebook page.
DeBenedetti Wins Coos Bay Speedway Opener,
More Racing Set For Saturday
More Racing Set For Saturday
Coos
Bay, Oregon...June 17...Jon DeBenedetti scored the victory in the 35
lap IMCA Modified Main Event Wednesday night at Coos Bay Speedway. This
was not only the season opener for the oval track, it was also the
first race for any outdoor oval track in Oregon this year.
After
winning their respective heat races, DeBenedetti and 2019 Late Model
champion Preston Luckman shared the front row for the Main Event.
DeBenedetti proved to be just a little bit too tough to beat on this
occasion as he scored the victory. McLain Beaudoin battled Luckman to
finish second as Luckman settled for third. Two time Cottage Grove
Speedway champion Jake Mayden finished fourth, followed by Jesse
Williamson, Raymond Bloom, Douglas Elkins, David Satterfield, Tom Elam
and Ryan Baker.
Matt
Sanders won the 30 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. Sanders started
in the second row behind heat race winners Jordan Henry and Aaron Bloom.
However, he got past both of them to take the lead and held off Bloom
for the victory. Travis Pruitt finished third, followed by Cottage Grove
Speedway champion David Schmidt, Jordan Henry, KC Scott, Hunter Bloom,
Mike Lavery and Roger Bell.
Ken
Fox won a battle of the champions to win the 25 lap Street Stock Main
Event. Fox is the 2018 Coos Bay champion, and Steve Dubisar is the
reigning champ. Fox held off Dubisar to win their 10 lap heat race and
then kept Dubisar at bay to score the victory in the feature race. Wayne
Clink, Charlie Withers and Jeff Thurman completed the Top 5.
Two
time reigning champion Griff Smith won the 15 lap Junior Stinger Main
Event. Smith also won his eight lap heat race. Chasing Smith across the
line in the Main Event was fellow heat race winner Lane Hittner. Teagan
Montgomery settled for third, followed by Vinny DeBenedetti, Drake
Vincent, Hunter Burton and Max Haga.
Having
successfully had the first oval track race in the state of Oregon, Coos
Bay Speedway Bar and Grill will be open on Saturday night for more
racing. In this case, it will be the America's Mattress NASCAR Super
Late Models, Winged Sprint Cars, Street Stocks, Sportsman Late Models,
Mini Outlaws, Hornets and Junior Stingers.
This
could be a night that sees several drivers come from out of the area to
compete. Nobody's been able to run their Late Model anywhere in the
state, and that could mean drivers coming from Willamette, Cottage Grove
and Medford. Last season, Preston Luckman picked up seven wins on his
way to the division championship ahead of four-time winner and previous
champion Brody Montgomery. Wayne Butler, past champion Toby McIntyre and
Thor Kristensen made up the remainder of the Top 5. In general, this
division averaged double-digit car count last season.
The
Winged Sprint Car division uses a similar rules package to the Limited
Sprints run at both Cottage Grove and Medford. The track's own effort
gets between a half a dozen and 10 cars on any given night. The five
race series last season was won by one time winner Donovan Prather by
just two points ahead of Austin Sause. Ricky Hulsey, past champion
Lawrence Van Hoof and Kyle Oaks were in the Top 5. Davina Jordy has
joined the ranks this year and plans to race in Coos Bay. It's not known
what drivers will be coming from out of town, but some are expected.
Though
the Street Stock division didn't see double digits on Wednesday, the
numbers could be higher as Street Stock drivers from all over the state
may have an easier time making a visit on Saturday night. As a nine time
winner last year, Steve Dubisar is going to present a challenge for
anybody to beat. We've heard there could be some movement from the
Sportsman Late Model division into the Late Models. Braden Fugate won an
impressive 12 Main Events last year in winning his championship over
three time winner Mike Taylor, who also ran a Late Model last year.
Sam
Talon has been the dominant force in Mini Outlaw racing for the past
three years as the champion. He won 11 times last year and was never
seriously threatened for the title. He was threatened for victory during
the final couple of months of the season by three time winner Rob
Lauver in his potent VW Beetle. Jason Kellam, Dan Daniels and Jason
Berrier are some of the others to watch for.
The
Hornet division is usually the most supported class at the speedway.
Veteran Hannah Robison grabbed eight wins last year on her way to the
championship over the consistent Steve Parker and four time winner time
Tyler Tullos. Tullos was the previous champion. Gabrielle Boles, Jessie
McIntyre and Dusty Shingleton are some of last year's top stars. You'll
also have the Junior Stingers as the young kids have their own race in
Hornets.
For all the information on what's going on at the Coos Bay Speedway Bar and Grill, go to www.coosbayspeedway.us or check out the Coos Bay Speedway Facebook page.
More Exciting Things Happening
At Siskiyou Golden Speedway
At Siskiyou Golden Speedway
Yreka,
CA...Following the last minute announcement on Thursday that led to
Saturday's successful opening of the 2020 season at Siskiyou Golden
Speedway, there is more good news ahead this weekend. Promoter Kevin
Barba has booked an open practice for Friday night for all divisions,
which will conclude with a special King of the Dirt tournament for the
IMCA Sport Modifieds. On Saturday, those same Sport Modifieds return
along with the IMCA Modifieds and the Outlaw Pro Stocks for another
race. Due to the covid-19 guidelines, fan attendance is still not
permitted at the track. There's no word on whether streaming services
will be offered for this show, but that could be announced via the
track's Facebook page.
Last
Saturday's hastily scheduled show would have to be considered a success.
The IMCA Modified field wasn't huge, but it was stacked full of talent.
When the checkered flag waved, it was multi-time Yreka champion Travis
Peery scoring the victory by a comfortable margin ahead of two-time
Cottage Grove Speedway champion Jake Mayden and multi-time Yreka and
Medford champion Albert Gill. The three drivers had a good battle going
for several laps before Peery gained the lead and motored ahead.
Reigning champion Duane Orsburn finished sixth. Most of these drivers
should be there this Saturday along with two-time track champion Nick
Trenchard, who was in Susanville scoring the $1,000 victory last
weekend. Word is we might see an increase in total car count in this
class on Saturday.
Meanwhile,
three-time reigning Southern Oregon Speedway IMCA Sport Modified
champion Jorddon Braaten took care of business with his feature win
wrapping up a clean sweep performance last Saturday. Often times last
season, it was one of the Sanders brothers giving Jorddon his closest
competition. In this case, Isaac Sanders followed up his heat race win
with a second in the feature ahead of a solid third place effort from
Medford competitor Joby Shields, Steven Sanders and two-time Medford
champion Mike Medel. There were 18 IMCA Sport Modifieds for this show,
and those numbers are expected to maintain if not grow this coming
Saturday with drivers like Colt Boswell, Ryder Boswell, Randy Wright and
Brionna Fuller anticipated.
The
Sport Modifieds get to take center stage following the practice session
on Friday. Barba and Peery have been brainstorming an idea, and they
come up with the 16 car King of the Dirt tournament. It is one race
elimination bracket racing. The first 16 drivers to sign up at $100 a
piece reserve their spots. Some of the drivers who have signed on for
this event include Braaten, Matt Sanders, Aaron Bloom, Branden Wilson
and past California State champion Brian Cooper. The winner will receive
$1,000 with the runnerup getting $400 and third taking home a $200
payday. It will be interesting to see how this goes.
The
Outlaw Pro Stock Association has called the Yreka track home for the
past few seasons. Last season saw longtime competitor Scott Flowers win
the second to last race of the year to gain the point lead and his first
championship. The win for Flowers was also his first feature triumph
since 2014. For the finale, his son James Flowers took the Main Event
honors to solidify a second place point effort over two-time champion
Scott Lenz. The Pro Stocks have some talented competitors in their
ranks, including 2016 champion Steve Borror, Matt Harlow, Jeff
Haudenshild, John David Duffie, Kenneth LaPlante Jr and Ginny Flowers.
There are some new drivers in the class this year, including Yreka Mini
Stock star Darek Alford and Medford Mini Stock graduate Mike McLeod.
Barba
and his team have worked hard to be able to open the speedway under the
strict covid-19 rules that are in place. Though they are able to have
racing this weekend, fans won't be able to show up to enjoy the action
just yet. If the race isn't streamed online through one of the pay
services, it's likely that Misty Buchanan will give you a glimpse of
some of the action on the track's Facebook page. Be sure to check the
Siskiyou Golden Speedway Facebook page daily for updates.
The Editor's Viewpoint
We
are going into the second to last weekend of racing for the month of
June in California, and we're still looking for the next track to allow
some fans in the grandstands. Diamond Mountain Speedway was maybe a
little bit of a surprise to be the first track to get fans, and they
also opened on the same weekend. By all accounts, the June 13th event
had to be considered a success. The fact that nobody in California
managed to get fans this weekend shows the challenge in making it
happen. They say Phase 4 is when it's supposed to happen. I don't know
how Susanville pulled this off, but you might have different counties
handling things differently.
It's
kind of hard to make the argument that average citizens should refrain
from gathering at all in light of the protesting and everything going on
in the country. It means there's a different standard for different
groups. The media is already pushing the narrative that we are seeing a
rise in cases of the virus. They want that doom and gloom narrative
going again, so we should all be nervous. I'm not saying that because I
think we're all going to die from the virus they are trying to scare us
with. What I am saying is we should beware of the fact that they can
turn around and say it's gotten worse. In that case, we may have to cut
back on some of the progress we've made in the return to normalcy. In
other words, they could use this situation to take racing from us while
the protests are still going on around the country. I'm not predicting
that will happen, but it is a possibility..
I
think it was last Friday when the governor of Oregon put a one-week
stay in the reopening of the state because Oregon was one of 22 states
that still has a higher number of reports of people with the virus. I
guess we can call that the Memorial Day Weekend bump, but we haven't
seen any protest bump in the numbers yet. That would start to happen
within the next week or so. It's crazy out there. I'm not taking the
position that I believe all the fear they've been pushing on us in the
news. I'm just saying that they may use these numbers they're pushing on
us to justify scaling things back again or locking some states down
even more. I don't anticipate that happening, but we should be aware of
that possibility.
In a racing
sense, I don't like the idea that they are deeming it safe enough for us
to get as many people in the pits as it takes to run a full race and we
still can't have a socially distanced crowd of some sort. You could
have anywhere from 300 to 500 people in the pits, maybe more in some
cases. I don't see a reason why you can't do that in the grandstands
using the social distance guidelines. Even if you're going to say we
can't have concession stands, I don't see why we couldn't have fans.
You're not going to convince me otherwise, because people in the pits
are risking it. We're not seeing anything going wrong with that. There
are fans that are willing to risk it, even sign a waiver, and they're
not getting that chance yet. One more week in June before almost all of
the tracks in California have gone racing thus far without fans. A few
tracks still have yet to open at all.
We've
been cautioning people that when we hear encouraging news on tracks
opening, bad news could still be around the corner. I'm kind of
mystified that some of the lesser populated areas, such as Hayfork,
Orland and Quincy, have had a challenge getting tracks opened. Hayfork
people are letting us know that they are trying, but we haven't heard a
peep out of Orland. We just heard the word out of Quincy on Wednesday
afternoon, and it's not good news. Apparently, their county health
officials aren't letting them do anything at the Plumas County
Fairgrounds. It's closed for the remainder of 2020.
This
means that American Valley Speedway will not hold a race this year.
Oftentimes, this track falls off the radar. They don't do themselves
much service as they don't post the results anywhere for people to see,
but they've managed to have a few big moments under the radar in recent
seasons. This usually takes the form of bigger IMCA Modified races or
the Dwarf Car Nationals. They've been known to work with Susanville on
doing bigger things between the two tracks. This year, none of that's
going to happen. I'm not sure why they can't do anything in this area of
the state, but more populated areas in the state are moving right along
towards eventually getting fans in the stands. Go figure.
Coos Bay Speedway Promoter Drake
Nelson has been trying to work the system for over a month now. Back in
mid May, he devised the idea of renaming Coos Bay Speedway Coos Bay
Speedway Bar and Grill. He was essentially designating his beer booth
and concession stands as a bar and grill. He was already doing limited
practices. His idea was simple. He would gather whatever racers and crew
he could in the pits, and they'd do whatever they do on the track.
That's only one part of the business. He was inviting people to come to
the bar and grill to enjoy an adult beverage and food. While there, they
could take a seat in the grandstands and enjoy a race.
Drake
never attempted to ignore the covid-19 guidelines when it came to
implementing social distancing measures. The people in the concession
booths would be at a minimum, all wearing masks and constantly washing
their hands. There would be a marked out trail for the flow of foot
traffic through the grandstands to keep contact at a minimum. The
bathrooms would be maintained all night long to keep them sanitary.
There would be marked out spots in the grandstands to ensure social
distancing. He would do all of that. Why go through all this trouble?
It's pretty simple. Guidelines say that you can only have 250 or less
people in a social gathering. Coos Bay Speedway as a whole is one place
for a gathering.
Therefore, if
your trying to get cars on the race track to actually have a race,
you're going to take up a good portion of the 250 people. You're not
really going to be able to open the grandstands. If you do, you won't
have enough people buying tickets to justify opening your concession
stand. Therefore, renaming the concession stand and beer booth as a bar
and grill helps create a loophole. I'm not sure if we were officially in
Phase 1 when Drake concocted the idea. If we were, we just started. The
gathering limit was 10 people at that point.
Drake
was undaunted by this. What he did was decide to open up the Coos Bay
Speedway Bar and Grill on May 15th for a drag racing event. I don't know
how many people he got there in total, adding up the people in the
stands with the people in the pits. The event went as scheduled, but the
county health people frowned on what he did. He was sent a cease and
desist letter, putting an end to the rest of the weekend's racing
activities. He had been discussing the possibility of running an IMCA
Modified, IMCA Sport Modified and other division program on Memorial Day
Weekend. It would have been a two-day event, but obviously the cease
and desist letter put an end to that. Drake vowed publicly on his
track's Facebook page that he would find another loophole.
For
the past couple of weeks, he's been opening the drag strip and the mud
drags to put on events at the facility. He's also been opening up his
concession stands and allowing fan attendance. I am not privy to how
many people in total have attended any of these events. I'd speculate
that there were over 250 people In total, but that's speculation. I
don't think he's going through all of these measures to have 250 people
or less. He's going through all this so that he can open up his race
track to have a race and bring in fans. Without fans, it's difficult to
run a race.
My main complaint
through this whole ordeal is that the states haven't clearly created
guidelines by which tracks can slowly begin to open up their grandstands
to some fan attendance and maybe even limited concessions at first.
Nothing has been drafted. You'll hear how many people or less can
gather, but that's it. Drake happened to hit on the idea that he serves
food and beverages on any given race night, so why not open up as a bar
and grill? I don't believe he's actually zoned for such a business as
this is a recreational zoning, but he wanted to get his race track open
with fans.
It's the wording. I've
been talking about this for the last few weeks. You get into legalese
and wording, and this is how you do an end around away from the
guidelines. You're given 250 people or less as a total that you can
have. We have a track in Oregon opening up a race with 250 or less
people. No grandstands, no purse for the drivers or any of that. They've
taken the guidelines literally and are not trying to get clever. Drake
isn't interested in that. He's running a business and, as I've said, has
either purchased this track from Chuck Prather or is still making
payments. He can't afford to have it sitting idle, so he's figuring out
how to open the track during this difficult time and make a profit.
What
Drake is doing is opening up his pit area to the competitors and their
crews. He has whatever covid-19 guidelines in place for all of that.
They go through whatever procedures they go through and get on the track
and do what they do. It becomes a separate entity from what's going on
on the grandstand side of things. On the grandstand side, people are
paying entry to go to the Coos Bay Speedway Bar and Grill. There they
can partake of food and drink. While there, they can grab a seat in the
grandstands and watch a race. It's basically what we do on any given
race night. Drivers gather in the pits, fans buy tickets and sit in the
grandstands and buy food if they want. But, he's being clever in order
to make this happen. The Medford Dragstrip is doing a similar thing
right now.
Governor Kate Brown
has basically said that sporting events aren't supposed to be happening
now. We're not having concerts or any of that. However, we are allowed a
gathering of 250 or less people. In a racing sense, that's enough
people to gather in the pits to have a race. However, the business side
of racing requires fans, and nothing has been put in place for that. The
only thing tracks can really do according to what's been put out there
is gather for practices, but racers will get tired of just practice.
They want to race.
If the state
isn't going to put.procedures in place to allow a track to open and get
fans and sell food to them, this leaves the promoters to be creative.
Most of the promoters have been sitting in disbelief, not sure what to
do. They don't want to get fined, and rumor has it that Drake got a nice
fine for what he did in May. However, they're all looking at Drake and
what he's doing now. If he gets away with this, the tracks will adopt
the same sort of protocol. It's still not necessarily legal, but you do
this in the hopes that you can get away with it. You're classifying it
as two different businesses. The racing business and the food business.
I'm scratching my head trying to make sense of it, and hopefully I
succeeded. I don't know. This is getting beyond ridiculous.
Wednesday
night saw Coos Bay Speedway Bar and Grill open to a four division
program. Two of the divisions aren't even regulars on the roster. They
had IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Sport Modifieds, and that meant over 90% of
the competitors who participated in those classes were from out of the
area. They also had the local Street Stock and Junior Stinger divisions.
The count came in at over 40 competitors, which isn't bad for Coos Bay
actually.
I don't know how many
people attended, and I don't know how profitable the endeavor was. I
give the man credit for being clever enough to do what he's done.
Hopefully it was profitable enough. Ultimately, he may have shown other
promoters the way to go about opening their tracks to racing in Oregon.
I
dislike this whole notion that different counties do it differently in
these states. I dislike the notion that the state couldn't give
guidelines for how to proceed as things are opened more and more. There
should have been an outlined plan for how to take smaller professional
sporting events like local auto racing and open them to fans. This could
have been something that everybody could have done. You might know that
in Phase 2 you can get 250 people or less in the stands. You could then
decide whether you wanted to do it or wait until you had access to more
fans.
In absence of that, you're
going to get promoters feeling their way through the process. In
California, the best example of that was Kenny Shepherd and how he's
proceeded from very limited practices to the current Club Race format
he's using now at Madera Speedway. Still no fans in the stands. I don't
know what Jeff Olschowka did in Susanville to get fans for his very
first race. And then you have Oregon, where the governor is being such a
pain in the butt that you've got Drake Nelson being creative and
renaming his business. He's getting around this 250 person limitation by
creative wording of what his business really is. In any event, he had a
race. Give the man credit for doing something that other Oregon
promoters haven't been able to do yet. We'll see what comes of this in
the days ahead.
The
idea of sharing the airtime to broadcast the races online is making it a
bit challenging for the promoters to open with no fans. What our local
racing scene has become is almost professional sports in terms of
broadcasting. For example, last weekend saw Marysville Raceway go to
Sunday, rather than sharing Saturday night with Placerville Speedway and
Antioch Speedway. Some of it had to do with the fact that Dean Mills
and Fred Adams were at the two other tracks and couldn't be at
Marysville. It also stands to reason that Marysville had a chance for
better revenue by moving to Sunday. You have those two factors playing
out in the scheduling for these tracks. Marysville will come back on
June 24th.
I had this come
across my desk concerning the next Marysville date being moved from June
27th to Wednesday, June 24th. This event was to include the Winged 360
Sprint Cars, Hobby Stocks, Limited Late Models and California Hardtops.
Though it's on a Wednesday, it's going to be broadcast on SpeedshiftTV.
Drivers will be able to see themselves in quality video. What I was told
was they are looking at 108 degree weather. The old guys in the Hardtop
division don't take well to the heat, and I'm told that the group could
cancel their appearance. You basically haven't had a chance to run all
year in this division, and this date may get canceled because of the
heat. I'm going to let that statement rest without making a comment, but
you can imagine where I might be inclined to go with it.
Considering
you have a track trying to get viewers, I would hope the group warns
management soon enough that they can replace the division with something
else if they so chose. They may not want to do that in order to keep
the show moving. I don't know what Dennis Gage might be thinking, so I
don't know what he would want to do in that situation.
After
we went live with our most recent post, Petaluma Speedway made the
announcement that the race that was scheduled for this Saturday will
happen on Sunday instead. Maybe this is because they will get more
viewers by moving off of Saturday and it could also be that they didn't
have anybody to run the camera for this race. In either case, the PitStopUSA.com
Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Lumberjacks Restaurant Super Stocks, McLea's
Tire Service IMCA Modifieds and Jake's Performance Hobbies Mini Stocks
will race on Sunday night. I think it helps their opportunity in getting
more cars. They will be doing their best to get done by 10 pm or
earlier if possible. That is the goal every week at that track, so some
racers can be loaded up and out the gate as early as 9 in that case.
I
know that some racers are going to voice their concern over the fact
that they are having these Sunday races or racing during the week. If we
were in normal circumstances, I don't think we'd be having this
discussion. The tracks would probably stick to their usual Saturday
night offering and count on fan support in the grandstands. When you
don't have fans, you pretty much have to do what you can to keep the
show going. If that means you move your night to go racing, you do it.
It's still going to be an adventure with scheduling for the rest of this
year, and we're going to be bracing for impact. Put another way, we're
going to be keeping our fingers crossed that we can keep opening the
gates at these tracks at all.
This
is why I am even more impressed with what Peter Murphy is doing at
Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford. You might play it close to the vest and
go conservative with your scheduling. They have put all of their cards
on the table and will open with a full purse for the NARC/King of the
West Fujitsu Winged 410 Sprint Car Series on Saturday night. It will be
live on SpeedshiftTV. If Murphy was just doing this on his own, I don't
know if he'd be able to pull this off. However, he's gotten some
sponsors. This makes all the difference in the world. I hope they get
good support via live streaming revenue as I'm sure the coverage will be
good. Due to the covid-19 guidelines, they were asking drivers to sign
up early so they knew who was coming. They don't want people showing up
at the gate that they weren't aware were going to be there.
I
speculated that they might go conservative with the rest of the lineup
that night, but they've booked the RaceSaver Sprint Cars and the 360
Wingless Sprints. These Wingless Sprints are not going to bring in the
USAC sanctioning as that organization has canceled their stuff on the
West Coast through the first or second week of July. However, the roster
will be made up of mostly regular competitors for the USAC West Coast
360 Sprint Car Series. You'll pretty much be watching a USAC race
without the sanctioning, meaning it should be a good show all the way
around. You've got to have some Sprint Car racing when you're talking
about a race at Keller Auto Speedway, and this show will have three
different classes.
The King of
Thunder Winged 360 Sprint Cars will get their opportunity the following
week. I'm guessing they might be the second highest of the four Sprint
Car divisions to pay, so Peter put them on the 27th to be the
headliners. The IMCA Stock Cars get their shot along with the House of
JuJu Central Valley Mini Stocks. Dan Myrick has been on the phone trying
to figure out when the Mini Stocks would run, and he's been making a
really good offer to the promoters in order to make that happen. Hanford
is seen by some of the drivers as their home track, so you can expect a
pretty good car count by them once again. Even the 27th will be worth
watching and will likely be broadcast somewhere on the internet if not
on SpeedshiftTV.
Peter Murphy is
in his first year of promoting that track, and he had big plans for the
future. Much like we've seen with Chad Chadwick at Antioch in his first
year, Peter's been trying to negotiate through this difficult time. The
Kings County Fairgrounds has had things a little more challenging down
there, so the path to reopening at all has been more of a struggle. I
don't take it for granted that it was an easy deal getting those gates
open again, so it's huge news that they are doing this with such a big
Sprint Car event this Saturday night. I'm not sure how the dollars will
end up falling when it's all said and done, but fans should appreciate
what's happening there and support it with a purchase of the live stream
on SpeedshiftTV if possible.
I
haven't heard the announcement on whether crowd will be allowed at
Bakersfield Speedway on June 27th. Scott Schweitzer was not a happy man.
Kern County wasn't exactly jumping at the opportunity to let things
happen at the area race tracks, and he's made his voice heard regarding
the need for fans to do anything out there. All season long, the Richie
McGowan Memorial race has been scheduled for the 27th, and this is a
special event for the racers down there. The people that knew him liked
the respected him. It's also a race that comes with a bigger purse and
is part of the series between Bakersfield Speedway and Merced Speedway
that they call the Highway 99 Series.
When
I heard that Doug Lockwood moved the Ed Parker Memorial race at Merced
to later in the season, it seems to me that Doug is trying to keep the
series going between the two tracks. People loved Ed. Doug is having a
harder time getting Merced Speedway open right now and pushed the date
back to July 11th for them opening. However, it's week-to-week as to
whether or not the track could open before then. I don't know what date
they have planned for Ed's race, but this depends on when the track can
actually open and also what Doug can afford to do in regards to purse.
If you're talking internet stream and no fans in the stands, it still
makes it hard for you to run a regular race, let alone a race that will
pay three divisions more than they usually get. Like Bakersfield
Speedway on the 27th, the race for Parker would include the IMCA
Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds and Hobby Stocks on the bill.
We've
been anxiously awaiting word on the season opener at Ocean Speedway in
Watsonville, and this will happen on Friday night. To do it, John
Prentice has landed the SpeedshiftTV streaming service. This isn't as
big a challenge since Fred Adams is usually at Watsonville on any given
Friday night doing what he does. He'll be the guy running the camera. It
also means that without Silver Dollar Speedway opening, which may still
be a few weeks away from happening, Watsonville will have the only
Friday night race in California. People have been chomping at the bit to
get back out there on that fast quarter-mile clay oval. As we get to
the hot summer months, it's actually comforting to be there when the sun
sets on the race track. You'd better bring your jacket.
The
Taco Bravo Sprint Cars will be headlining the Watsonville show, and I
expect a bump in the car count. Both Placerville and Marysville don't
have anything happening on the weekend, and Silver Dollar Speedway is
dark as well. If you want to run a Winged 360 Sprint Car in California
on Friday, you have to do it at Watsonville. IMCA Sport Modifieds, Hobby
Stocks, Mini Stocks and South Bay Dwarf Cars will make this a fun show
to watch this weekend. I do hate that I'm telling people to tune in to
watch the stream online because they can't watch it in person, but it's
better than nothing. Fans can still gather together at somebody's house
and watch this all on a big screen TV. Actually they can go to one
person's house on one night, somebody else's the next night and wrap it
up on Sunday night.
Streaming
options on SpeedshiftTV include Watsonville on Friday night, Hanford and
Antioch on Saturday night and Petaluma on Sunday night. I haven't even
gotten into Antioch Speedway, which will have IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport
Modifieds and Super Stocks on Saturday. There will be lots of Modifieds
at Antioch Speedway on Saturday night. Chad Chadwick has been a very
busy man putting his schedule together and trying to make it work under
these difficult times. He even threw in a Wednesday practice for those
who wanted more track time.
Another
thing Chadwick did was make the announcement that the Tri State Pro
Stock Series competitors are legal to run for the rest of the year with
the local Super Stock class. It seems like it's been an even match with
the cars of both groups, and Antioch is reportedly looking to go that
way with the rules in the future. I'm told that he was impressed with
the show he got from the group on June 13th and is already working on
trying to get them back out there as soon as possible.
The
circumstances of no fans in the stands might be challenging, but on the
other hand, the streaming service allows Antioch Speedway to be seen by
people who might not normally be watching. It's a good opportunity to
show off what the track has to offer. Chadwick is hoping to see a few
more Super Stocks for Saturday's show and at least get the numbers up to
double digits. With Petaluma Speedway moving off of Saturday night,
there could be a few of those drivers in Antioch as well.
Quietly,
the Western States Dwarf Car Association Regionals event, hosted by the
local Delta Dwarf Car Association, has been expanded to a two-day
event. They are still calling it a Regionals race, although I'm not
aware of these being two-day shows. Two-day shows usually mean
Nationals, and also drivers are arriving from long distances on Thursday
night to get their pit spots.
Petaluma
Speedway just had 115 cars according to track management, so that's the
kind of count that could end up in Antioch. I'm not making that
prediction. It's interesting that the Regionals were booked at Antioch
this year in the hopes of a two-day Nationals in the future, but they
get two nights of racing this year. The situation we are dealing with
due to the virus has made that possible, and the dates on the calendar
for this event will be July 17th and 18th.
We
had 14 tracks scheduled to race in California last weekend, and I think
only the Outlaw Kart race in Yreka was canceled due to rain. We're well
on our way to getting everything open again, but that's only the first
hurdle to clear. We need to get to where we can have fans in the stands
and serve them concessions, and that's going to be a struggle for some
places that we will see unfold during the next few months. I salute the
tracks that are opening when it's obvious they are either not making
money or struggling to at least break even. I don't doubt that a few
promoters have made out okay, but don't kid yourself. It's not a good
time for businesses, and that includes racing businesses.
People
are asking the tracks to protest to allow fans in the stands. Do what
they did at Ace Speedway or whatever. Just open your stands. The flaw in
that plan is that the next thing you know the tracks will be closed
down by the state. They are watching you. Some tracks may be lucky to
get away with what they've done so far, and they're not going to push
it. Yes, we have the option of exercising our right to First Amendment
rights and all of that, but I don't think it's reasonable to ask the
promoters to engage in that process. They are trying to find their way
through this uncertain time. The solutions they come up with may not be
ideal, but it's the only way they can do what it is they've been able to
do. The fans, on the other hand, can handle things their way.
What
that means is fans have a right to have their voices heard, and if you
feel like expressing yourself, you can do that. You're not going to get
through the gates to watch the races in the grandstands unfortunately.
However, if you feel like you need to protest to be heard, you can
always gather somewhere on the fairgrounds property or just outside and
picket for a few hours for your right to spectate at the track. I don't
think our crowds will get too rowdy, and I suspect there are people in
Antioch, Petaluma or wherever who are getting frustrated and want to be
heard. That's all I'm saying. Do what you want with that information.
I
floated the notion of a practice with a little bit something extra
thrown in there. Oregon is struggling to get the gates open, and
practices are the first step. Everybody's watching Drake Nelson at Coos
Bay Speedway and wondering. This bar and grill idea is his clever little
way to avoid dealing with the fact that you're not supposed to have
fans. I don't think they've had a state official out there counting the
number of people who entered the facility through either gate at the
drag strip these past couple of weekends. Promoters are watching and
thinking to themselves, "Can we open our gates for a race?" Now that
Coos Bay Speedway has done what they've done, other tracks are going to
want to do something.
A practice
with something special means you can open the pits for as many as 250
people with however many cars you get. If you get creative and have a
bunch of divisions, you can do it in waves where certain divisions get
designated track time. It means you can get more than 250 people there
during the course of the day, but the track crew will be there for the
whole day. Or, you just take reservations and get what you get and have
that practice. However, it's a practice at a time when Northern
California tracks are starting to open along with tracks in Washington.
The Oregon competitors who have been racing elsewhere aren't going to be
as quick to do a practice, and they're getting restless.
Practice
is still the first way back for a track. Any of these tracks in Oregon
haven't really had a race other than Coos Bay, so practice is the first
time to open the gates and do things. Not everybody, if they want to
open their tracks, wants to do it with a race the first time out.
However, there is this idea that you might need to try to do something
extra special. We did see Lakeport Speedway open for a race last weekend
that had no purse, but something tells me that Oregon racers aren't
going to be enamored with that idea. You might not get support. lower
classes might be more willing to do that, but if you run just them,
you're alienating the upper classes. I don't blame promoters for just
keeping the gates shut until they can have fans.
What's
interesting is that on Tuesday River City Speedway in St Helens
announced three practices that will take on a racing format. They are
doing that this Saturday, next Saturday and July 11th. Three people per
car including the racer will be allowed as they are adhering to the 250
people rule set by the state's covid-19 guidelines. They are also
handling all transactions digitally, meaning no cash at the track.
Furthermore, these races will have heats, Semis and Mains, but they will
not offer a purse. River City is an association run track, much like
Lakeport, and they don't have a lot of funds at their disposal. This
means the second track in Oregon to do any kind of race will be doing so
without paying a purse.
I like
the idea of running practice for a few hours and ending the day with
special practice races. Trophies to the winners, maybe a winner-take-all
prize of some sort. Drivers have to be into this idea and understand
that they don't want to kill each other out there trying to get the win.
This isn't point racing or full purse racing, it's a race at the end of
practice for those who want to do it. Some racers wouldn't want that,
but other racers might go for it. At least they're going to get some
racing at their home track that way. Point racing itself and your
regular schedule may not happen the way you think. At least ways, I can
see some tracks not having point racing at all and big races that were
scheduled may be removed at this point.
I
guess I shouldn't be surprised at Kevin Barba and what he does at
Siskiyou Golden Speedway. He's one of those "people's promoters" you
hear about. Not a guy with a big budget, but a guy with big ideas hoping
the racers will buy into what he's selling them. I compare him a bit to
former Chowchilla Speedway Promoter Tom Sagmiller. He's been winning
the racers over with frequent Facebook updates showing the work they've
done on the track and the very creatively scheduled practices he's had.
When the fourth week into practices he was to have last weekend saw
Saturday upgraded to a race, he had many racers buying in. At this
point, it's not even just about the racers in Yreka. Drivers from
Central Oregon on down are looking at Yreka now, and Kevin knows this.
Following
the success of last Saturday's impromptu show, Kevin has booked another
IMCA Modified, IMCA Sport Modified and Outlaw Pro Stock event for this
Saturday night. I think this is going to be well-attended. The IMCA
Modifieds have struggled mightily at this track for the last four or
five years, and it's interesting that this virus situation is giving the
track a path back to reclaiming this class. It might have been a harder
sell if we weren't going through what we're going through now.
Regardless, you take the hand you're dealt and play it to the best of
your ability. The Saturday show is on, but Kevin upped the ante. I think
he had some help from longtime racer Travis Peery with this idea.
They
have a practice booked on Friday for everybody who wants to come out
there and get their laps. Once the official practice is done, they are
going to have a contest. 16 IMCA Sport Modified drivers are signing up
early for this and buying in at $100 a piece. It's bracket racing,
elimination and a purse. $1,000 to the winner, $400 for second and $200
for third. This is $1,600 being paid out in Yreka. This is more
incentive for drivers who might not have come out for a practice to show
up, and it's looking like Friday night is going to be big for what is
essentially a practice. Somebody is actually going to leave practice as
the winner and $1,000 richer.
I've
been told the Mini Stock drivers in Yreka are a little bit frustrated
at the fact that they weren't invited last weekend or this weekend. It's
a difficult time, and a promoter only has so many spots to fill in the
pits right now. At least, I think that's part of the thought process
going on here. What you have to understand is the Mini Stock division
has been consistent at the track in giving the fans something to watch
at a time when IMCA Modifieds would get booked and bring no cars. Mini
Stocks and IMCA Sport Modifieds were the show, so there's local racers
rightly asking, "What about us?" Not to mention, there are several
drivers from Medford looking down at Yreka and wondering why the class
hasn't been scheduled yet. Best I can tell you is watch for June 27th. I
don't think the division has been forgotten. I think the track is
trying to make a play to reclaim IMCA Modifieds and keep the momentum
going with IMCA Sport Modifieds.
Jeff
Olschowka reported that the 92 car field they pulled in at Diamond
Mountain Speedway in Susanville last weekend was a car count record. I
think they ran up against the curfew too. Hoping to continue that
momentum, we've heard that Jeff will be paying $1,500 to win the IMCA
Modifieds on both June 26th and 27th. The IMCA Sport Modifieds and Hobby
Stocks will pay $400 to win on both nights. They have Mini Stocks on
Friday, but that division gets Saturday night off. This is because the
Late Models and Tri State Pro Stock Series will be there that night.
Late Models are getting $1,500 to win. Thanks to $500 of sponsorship
from Llye Hopper of Winning Attitude Motorsports in Paradise, the Pro
Stocks will be paying $1,500 to win as well.
It's
interesting to see this happening at a time like this, but then again,
Susanville is the fortunate track that was able to open with some fans
in the grandstands immediately. Despite that, I would have to guess that
there may be a little bit of sponsorship helping with the purse money.
It's kind of interesting to watch a few tracks that maybe don't get the
opportunity to have those big moments doing some bigger promotional
things during this challenging time. I have no doubt that the car count
numbers will be strong there once again.
I'm going to revisit the idea I pitched last week about Chad
Chadwick at Antioch Speedway working with Rick Faeth of Petaluma
Speedway on something between the two tracks. You could call it the
Benicia Bridge Series or something of that nature. Since you have both
tracks with IMCA Modifieds in common, this would be one of the divisions
included, and I'd say two races at each track scattered throughout the
year.
The Super Stock division
seems to be another good bet. Antioch is trying to revive that class,
and Petaluma has held onto it through the years. I think we've seen
enough evidence to suggest that drivers in these two divisions are
willing to go to either place. The third division would be in question,
if you wanted to add a third division. You could just start with these
two classes and see where it goes. Or, you could include the Wingless
Spec Sprint division in the series.
Petaluma
Speedway holds the upper hand when it comes to the Winged 360 Sprint
Car division. This is because they've maintained this division since the
closure of Baylands Raceway at the end of the 1988 season. Antioch
Speedway has dabbled in this division over the last seven or eight
years, but it's been a struggle trying to establish something. What we
have witnessed is drivers do come to Antioch Speedway from other places,
but Petaluma could have a hand in helping Antioch have a couple of
Winged 360 Sprint Car shows that would get support from the drivers. One
of the ways this could be accomplished would be to make two races at
Antioch Speedway Petaluma Speedway PitStopUSA.com point races.
As
Antioch Speedway has now joined the Western States Dwarf Car
Association by allowing the local competitors to form the Delta Dwarf
Car group, there is potential for the two tracks to work on something
there. Petaluma has the General Hydroponics Redwood Dwarf Car
Association, which actually does work with the South Bay Dwarf Cars at
Watsonville. In this case, the South Bay drivers come to Petaluma once
or twice a year, although I know of nothing being scheduled where the
Petaluma cars go to Watsonville. In this case, you're talking about a
closer trip between Antioch and Petaluma. Something could happen.
Two
places Antioch Speedway could help Petaluma are with the IMCA Sport
Modifieds and Hobby Stocks. Petaluma had a Hobby Stock division for
about 15 years before it's sort of faded away on them. Although former
Promoter Jim Soares did try to start a Sport Modified class at Petaluma,
nothing really came of it. Current management doesn't seem to be
looking there, although indications are that they could get a class
started that could match or exceed their IMCA Modified car count rather
quickly. The potential is there. What Antioch could do in this case is
send either division over to Petaluma for a visit on an off night at
Antioch.
The point is, there's
potential for each track to help the other by encouraging their drivers
to support a time or two. The Bridge Series wouldn't be that difficult
to do. Two races at each track that would offer bigger car counts on
those nights. What would be cool is if you made it on the same weekend
where they ran Petaluma one night and Antioch the other, although I
don't know who would be willing to move their race night from Saturday
to either Friday or Sunday. The other possibility is you just share your
divisions with the other track and make it a point race. It's all in
what you want to do.
I suppose
one of the things that has me thinking about this is the change in
promoters at Antioch Speedway. What's been going on in recent years
doesn't have to be the way it is now. The landscape is changing. Having a
better relationship between Petaluma and Antioch will help both places.
The other thing Antioch Speedway needs to be aware of is the fact that
Tony Noceti at the Stockton Dirt Track is looking to go beyond big
Sprint Car races and is looking at several divisions that run at
Antioch. Could a relationship be struck between these two tracks? On the
surface, you may look at it and say Antioch doesn't have much to gain
from this relationship.
However,
Tony does do good things with Sprint Cars. He could use that influence
to help Antioch have bigger Sprint Car shows. Picture Antioch being able
to book a Winged 360 Sprint Car show and know that they're actually
going to get a car count. Furthermore, one could even cultivate a
special series with the various Stock Car type classes between Petaluma,
Antioch and Stockton. It would be the easiest way to bring back the old
Tri Track Holiday Series event that used to happen at Antioch, Merced
and Watsonville in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It's a possibility at
least.
Ultimately, you have
promoters who are going to look out after their own interests first.
That makes financial sense, so I don't argue against that. However, I
think the promoters can see the potential of working with other tracks
in a way that helps them gain along with the other tracks. You can call
it sharing a little bit of success with your closest neighbors. With
Stockton, these guys are going to get into Stock Car racing on the dirt
track more and more in the years ahead, so would it be better to have a
cooperative relationship between Antioch and Stockton or just let them
do what they're doing, even if Stockton ends up stepping on Antioch?
Remember, the night Antioch Speedway was set to open this year? Stockton
had a race booked with three of the Antioch divisions. Just something
to think about.
Although you
didn't see the three promoters sitting down at the table and really
having a discussion, Coos Bay Speedway, Siskiyou Golden Speedway and
Southern Oregon Speedway did manage to put something together for the
final week of June. Unfortunately, the virus situation ended that. When
these three tracks were unceremoniously dismissed from the Wild West
Speedweek Series, Promoter Mike McCann struck up a conversation with
Drake Nelson and Kevin Barba to do something with the IMCA Modifieds.
All races were to pay $1,000 to win and run the Speedweek format.
Furthermore, all three tracks were going to run the IMCA Sport Modifieds
in support.
This would have been
a good thing, but we're probably not going to see Medford open up for a
race through the end of June, meaning that Saturday show is lost. Since
Coos Bay opened on the 17th with those two divisions on the schedule, I
would expect them to keep racing going at the end of the month, unless
the state says otherwise. It's just possible that Coos Bay could take
the Medford date, keep their Sunday date and invite Yreka to keep what
they had scheduled on Friday. I don't know if that will happen or not,
but it's a good opportunity to make a play for all of those IMCA
Modifieds and IMCA Sport Modifieds. I don't see another Oregon track
running those two divisions on that weekend. I guess we'll have to wait
and see.
We're talking about streaming services, and SpeedshiftTV seems to be very popular. They celebrated their sixth anniversary back in May. They have grown by leaps and bounds every year and become a leader in pioneering a streaming service for motorsports on the internet. I found it interesting headed into last season when Flo Racing came on the scene and got the exclusive USAC deal. SpeedshiftTV had broadcast several of their events in the past. Losing that didn't help, but they still had plenty of content to produce every week. As we've seen more streaming services being offered, it was only a matter of time before we started seeing one company buying out another company. I guess I'm not surprised to see the corporatization of streaming services. It's one of the reasons I recommend tracks start doing things in house.
It's not a bad thing
for the people who created SpeedshiftTV. They didn't just give their
company away to Flo Racing. They got paid pretty good money, although
I'm not privy to any of those details. I'm not asking. I hope they did
come out okay, because they certainly deserve it. Chet is one of the
best announcers out there, and he'll continue to work. Flo Racing didn't
just buy a streaming service and the connections that have been
established therein, they will also get the services of some good people
who helped make that possible. I hope this move turns out to be a
positive overall for the sport. I am lukewarm on the news, but we'll see
how this goes over time.
The
intention was only to put the initial blog post up earlier this week. I
knew on Sunday as I was starting to put things together that there would
be more news I might want to cover heading into this weekend. I was
still debating whether I wanted to do that. We're not getting very much
support, and I'm serious when I say that I need to see some support to
justify the energy I'm putting into this. Though I'm not stressing over
the work I've been doing and I'm not putting myself under any sort of
deadline, it is still energy being put out there.
I
guess I was just excited about the news of Watsonville opening and
what's going on in Hanford and figured I'd jump in there and do this.
Plus, there is the effort going on at Coos Bay Speedway. I talked myself
into this post. There was an assist in making this happen. Somebody did
tip me a little bit of money this past weekend, and it's greatly
appreciated. I can buy a couple of things I need just for my day to day.
I want to thank Dan Myrick of the Central Valley Mini Stocks for the
support. He's helped me out before, and I've been proud to put out the
word on his amazing series since he started it a few years ago. I'm glad
they got the date in Hanford on June 27th.
The
plan right now is still week-to-week, and if I feel the slightest bit
burnt out or worn down, I could take a week off. It's still going to be
one post per week on the schedule, but I'll do more if I feel moved to
do it. It's week-to-week for all of this. Thank you for your support,
whether you've tipped through the years, were a subscriber to the
magazine back in the day or are a regular reader. It means a lot. On
that note, I will end this column. Until next time...
