Ocean Speedway, Cottage Grove Speedway, Deming Speedway, Madera Speedway, More

 

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Scelzi Back In Winner's Circle At Ocean Speedway,

Ryland, Bower, Beardsley, Graham Share Glory 

Watsonville, CA...July 30...Dom Scelzi won the 30 lap Taco Bravo Sprint Car Main Event Friday night at Ocean Speedway. The second win of the season for Scelzi occurred after misfortune struck leader Justin Sanders with four laps remaining. Scelzi assumed the lead from there and scored the victory, which comes a week after an impressive night at Tulare saw him win both the NARC/KWS Sprint Car race and the King of Thunder Sprint Car race.

Keith Day Jr grabbed the pole for the feature by winning the six lap Trophy Dash ahead of Kurt Nelson and Sanders. Day jumped into the early lead ahead of Sanders and Scelzi. Joey Ancona took third from Scelzi on Lap 2, moments before a yellow flag waved with Billy Chester out of the race. Sanders took the lead from Day on the restart with Scelzi moving back into third. Ancona continued to run fourth and slipped past Scelzi for third on Lap 11. Day got shuffled back to fourth by Ancona and Sanders on Lap 20, and a yellow flag waved for Day on Lap 22. Sanders led Ancona and Scelzi on the restart, but Scelzi moved by Ancona for second on Lap 23. A yellow flag waved on Lap 26 for Sanders and Ancona, ending the race for both. Scelzi suddenly found himself in the lead over Skagit Speedway racer Jesse Schlotfeldt and Tristan Guardino, and they ran in that order the rest of the way as Scelzi built about a half-straightaway advantage over Schlotfeldt. Travis Labat ended up fourth, followed by Bryce Eames, Joel Myers Jr, JJ Ringo, Keith Day Jr, Jason Chisum and Jerry Bonnema.

Scelzi was the fastest of 19 qualifiers on the Tom Sagmiller prepared quarter-mile clay oval with a lap of 11.886, beating the 12.088 of Corey Day. The eight lap heat race wins went to Keith Day Jr, Ancona and Kurt Nelson.

After skipping last weekend to compete in the big money race up in Medford, Oregon, Fred Ryland returned in a big way with a 20 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event win. This was his sixth win of the season at Watsonville. Reigning State champion Timothy Allerdings jumped into the early lead ahead of Max Baggett. However, both Baggett and Ryland got past Allerdings on the second lap. Ryland put the moves on Baggett to grab the lead on the fourth lap, and Jim DiGiovanni settled into third on Lap 5. Following a yellow flag on the ninth lap, Ryland continued to lead the way with State point leader Trevor Clymens and Baggett shuffling DiGiovanni back to fourth. A yellow flag waved on Lap 17, wiping out a near straightaway advantage for Ryland over Clymens. Baggett, DiGiovanni, Adriane Frost and Tommy Clymens Jr were eliminated at that point. Ryland maintained the lead on the restart ahead of Trevor Clymens, and they finished that way with Kelly Campanile third, followed by Duane Bieser, Cody Bryan, Jonathan Hagio, Charlie Hunter, Justin Parr, Baggett and DiGiovanni. Baggett and Trevor Clymens picked up the eight lap heat race wins.

Blake Bower won the 20 lap WMR Midget Main Event. This was the third win of the season at Watsonville for Bower as he leads the point race. After an initial restart, the race went without incident. From the front row, Bower motored into the lead at the start ahead of Megan Moorehead and DJ Freitas. Freitas took second on Lap 2, and Tyler Dolacki slipped past Moorehead for third on the fourth lap. Reigning Watsonville champion David Prickett gained fourth on Lap 6. Bower continued to pull away until he held a straightaway advantage over Freitas at the checkered flag. Dolacki was a close third, and Brody Petrie took fourth from Prickett on the last lap. Sage Bordenave ended up sixth, followed by Moorehead, Kala Keliinoi, Doug Filcher and Jerry Fletcher. Bower and Bordenave picked up the eight lap heat race wins.

Kate Beardsley won the 20 lap Mini Stock Main Event. This was the second win of the season for the two-time champion as she keeps the pressure on Tony Gullo in the championship battle. Kate Beardsley jumped into the lead at the start ahead of Santa Maria racer Levi Burgett and Gullo. They had just one yellow flag on Lap 7, and Kate Beardsley continued to lead Burgett and Gullo on the restart with Kenny Stragalinos in fourth. Santa Maria racer Clem Lessi moved into fifth on Lap 12, but he surrendered the spot to Nicole Beardsley on the last lap. Kate Beardsley won ahead of Burgett, Gullo, Stragalinos, Nicole Beardsley, Lessi, Trent Ioni, Travis Van Gilder, Juan Mar and Bill Beardsley. There were a season high 14 competitors with the six lap heat race wins going to Gullo and Richard Mitchell.

Nate Graham won the 15 lap Police N Pursuit Main Event. Graham represents the Santa Cruz Sheriff's Office and this was his third win of the season as he leads the point race. Graham jumped into the lead at the start ahead a San Benito Sheriff's Office representative Roy Iler and John Hohmann. Previous winner AJ Waltrip got past Hohmann for third on Lap 2. Hohmann dropped out of a Top 5 run on Lap 7. Graham had been maintaining about a half-straightaway advantage for most of the race, but Iler whittled it down considerably before running out of time and settling for second. Waltrip ended up third, followed by Jackie Yeung, Pat Sullivan, Fernando Tellez, Tony Weir, Eric Perez and Hohmann. Waltrip won the six lap heat race.

Next Friday night, the IMCA Modifieds are back in action. The Taco Bravo Sprint Cars will also be competing along with the IMCA Sport Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and Four Bangers. For further information, go to www.racepmg.com.

Williamson Wins Opening Night Of 

Mark Howard Memorial At Cottage Grove

Cottage Grove, Oregon...July 30...Jesse Williamson won the 25 lap IMCA Modified Main Event Friday night at Cottage Grove Speedway. This was the opening night of the Mark Howard Memorial race, and there was a strong turnout of Modified racers for the occasion. This was the third win of the season for Williamson.

Williamson started in the second row behind Mark Carrell and Paul Culp. Carrell jumped into the early lead ahead of Williamson and Culp with Nick Tranchard moving into third on Lap 4. Unfortunately, Trenchard had problems on Lap 7. Carrell continued to lead Williamson and Collen Winebarger on the restart. Williamson began challenging Carrell for the lead before making the pass on Lap 17. Winebarger closed in on Carrell and got by for second on Lap 21. Williamson beat Winebarger by half a straightaway as Carrell settled for third ahead of Grey Ferrando, John Campos, Curtis Towns, Bricen James, Aaron Sheelar, Jeffrey Hudson and Eston Whistler.

Bricen James won the special 25 lap Race of Champions. Paul Culp led three laps before being overtaken by Nick Trenchard. James had worked his way from the fourth row and moved into second at that point with Matthew Drager taking third from Culp on the fifth lap. They ran in that order until James made his winning pass on a Lap 17. A lap later, Jesse Williamson raced by Drager for third. James won ahead of Trenchard, who had Williamson right behind him. Drager settled for fourth, followed by Curtis Towns, Collen Winebarger, Mark Carrell, Grey Ferrando, Tyson Blood and Paul Rea.

Bricen James was the quickest of 28 qualifiers with a lap of 14.160, beating the 14.175 of Jesse Williamson and the 14.180 of Derick Young. Aaron Sheelar, John Campos, Collen Winebarger and Nick Trenchard picked up the eight lap heat race wins with Williamson scoring four lap Trophy Dash honors. Curtis Towns won the 12 lap B Main. He started on the pole and proceeded to lead every lap in victory. Eric Ashley was second for a lap before being overtaken by Young, who would go the rest of the way to finish in that position. James moved into third on Lap 3 and finished there, followed by Jeffrey Hudson and BJ Wild.

Dustin Comer won the 25 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. This was the fourth win of the season for the current point leader. Jim Smith started on the pole and led three laps before misfortune struck for a yellow flag. Shawn Hand inherited the lead at that point, but he was overtaken by Dalton Bloom on Lap 6. Aaron Bloom settled into second on Lap 7 with Skyler Winebarger gaining third on Lap 10. Comer moved past Winebarger for third on Lap 11 and overtook Aaron Bloom for second two laps later. On the 17th lap, Comer put the moves on Dalton Bloom to grab the lead. As Comer began to pull away, Aaron Bloom took second from Dalton Bloom on Lap 21. Winebarger followed into third at that point. Comer beat Aaron Bloom by a straightaway with Winebarger third ahead of Dalton Bloom, Anthony Pope, Ray Bloom, Shawn Hand, Jordan Henry, Trevor Points and KC Scott.

Comer was the quickest of 16 qualifiers with a lap of 15.572, beating the 15.719 of Hand and the 15.739 of Henry. Comer also won the four lap Trophy Dash with Hand and Steve Hopkins the eight lap heat race winners.

Zach Toll won the 25 lap PRA Hardtop Main Event. The PRA group normally runs exclusively on the pavement at Roseburg, so this was a rare dirt start for them. Jimmy Smith led a pair of laps before Toll got by, but Smith came roaring back for first a lap later. The tenacious Toll stayed with Smith until overtaking him once again on the ninth lap. Reigning PRA champion Kyran Greene maneuvered into second on Lap 10. Toll held off Greene in a close battle for the win with Jimmy Smith and Chuck Jacobs completing the finishing order. Steve Smith, Brian Smith, Brian Lenihan and Troy Gasner were Main Event scratches. Brian Smith set the fast time of 16.269, beating the 17.195 of Jimmy Smith. Brian Smith won the four lap Trophy Dash and the eight lap heat race.

These divisions will be back Saturday night with the IMCA Modifieds competing for $2,600 to win. The Todd's Auto Body Limited Sprints will also be competing. Another big show is set for next weekend. That Friday and Saturday night show is the annual Marvin Smith Memorial Grove Classic, and the Winged 360 Sprint Cars will be headlining. Saturday will be $4,100 to win. The Late Models will be there both nights with the Street Stocks there on Friday and the IMCA Sport Compacts competing on Saturday. It begins a busy period for the track. For further information, go to www.cottagegrovespeedway.com.

Mackey, Hoolmwood, Harless, Oudman, Constance Deming Speedway Winners 

Everson, WA...July 30...Colin Mackey won the 25 lap Speed Mart Super 600 Micro Sprint Main Event Friday night at Deming Speedway. Mackey is very much in championship contention as he entered the evening 44 points out of the lead. Mackey started up front and jumped into the lead immediately ahead of Tanner Holm and Parker Hadlock. Jared Peterson slipped past Hadlock for second on Lap 3. The race ran in rapid fashion with Mackey getting the win over Holm and a fast closing Peterson. Hadlock held off Jeremy Holz for fourth with Haley Constance, Kaitlyn Hammer, Blaine Granberg, Levi Kuntz and Tyler McCleod completing the Top 10.

Holm was the quickest of 19 qualifiers on the one 1/6 mile clay oval with a lap of 10.833, beating the 10.901 of Mackey and the 10.939 of Peterson. The eight lap heat races were won by Granberg, Hadlock and Constance.

Derek Holmwood won the 25 lap Shots 2 Go Espresso 1200 Mini Sprint Main Event. Holmwood is the current point leader. Holmwood moved into the lead when the green flag waved, followed by Tyson Lemley and Jared Gunderson. Seth Hespe took third from Gundersen on Lap 6, only to lose the position to Alex Lewis two laps later. A yellow flag waved on the 11th lap with Dakota Drake out of the event. Gunderson had retired by then, and Holmwood led Tyson Lemley and Hespe on the restart. Hespe and Lewis engaged in a back and forth battle for second with the position exchanged numerous times before Hespe got by for good on the 17th lap. Holmwood built a more than straightaway advantage over Tyson Lemley by the time the race concluded. Hespe ran a close third, followed by Lewis, Jacob Buckenmeyer, Haley Bloodgood, Terry Lewis, Clennon Holloway, Austin Edson and Drake. Drake was the quickest of 10 in qualifying with a lap of 10.752, beating the 10.998 of Hespe. Tyson Lemley and Alex Lewis picked up the eight lap heat race wins.

Levi Harless won the 25 lap Northwest Focus Midgets Main Event. Harless gained little ground on point leader Nick Evans, who finished second. Harless bolted into the lead at the start ahead of Evans and Jared Peterson. Peterson slipped past Evans for second on Lap 4. The lead duo battled closely as they entered slower traffic around Lap 16. Evans was able to close in on the two and took second from Peterson on Lap 20. Though Evans wasn't too far behind Harless, Harless prevailed at the checkered flag. Peterson settled for third ahead of Jesse Munn, Jake Munn, Brian Holmkivist and Chris Foster. Peterson set the fast time of 11.872, beating the 11.906 of Jake Munn. Evans won the eight lap heat race.

Axel Oudman won the 25 lap mytrafficman.net Restricted 600 Micro Sprint Main Event. Oudman started on the front row and raced into the lead at the green flag ahead of Levi Kuntz and Peyton Drake. A yellow flag waved on Lap 5 with Dale Orcutt out of the race. Oudman led Kuntz and Drake on the restart. They ran in that order until a Lap 13 yellow flag waved with Cejay Adkins, Karma Fagerlie and Zoey Tupper all out at that point. Oudman led Drake and Kuntz on the restart with Corbin Ramsey slipping into third on Lap 17. Oudman won with Drake not far behind him. Ramsey settled for third ahead of Kuntz, point leader Levi Hillier, Destry Miller, Riley Kentch, Kane Van Sickle, Grace Matier and Diane Knutzen.

The Restricted 600 Micros had the biggest turnout of 19 competitors, and Hillier had the fast time of 11.323, beating the 11.453 of Oudman. The three eight lap heat race wins went to Tupper, Mallory Fisher and Kentch. Dale Orcutt won the 10 lap B Main with the flag to flag drive to victory. Fairah Lee ended up second ahead of Matier, Knutzen and Hunter Cook.

Brooklyn Constance won the 20 lap Clean Crawls Junior Sprint Main Event. Constance is currently having a very impressive season as the point leader. Cooper Anderson set the early pace ahead of Avery Askvig and Constance. Colton Knapp moved into fourth on Lap 4, and Constance and Knapp both got past Askvig on Lap 7. On the 13th lap, Constance made what proved to be her winning move around Anderson. Knapp moved past Anderson for second on Lap 14, and a yellow flag waved at that point. However, Constance resumed command on the restart with Anderson back in second ahead of Askvig. Constance beat Anderson by about half a straightaway with Askvig settling for third ahead of McKenna Morgan, Ryan Bright, Knapp, Jace Medcalf, Dustin Ramsey, Hayden Cook and Sawyer Baxter. Constance set the fast time of 13.485, beating the 13.517 of Askvig. The eight lap heat race wins went to Anderson and Knapp.

The Shots 2 Go Espresso 1200 Mini Sprints, Speed Mart Super 600s, mytrafficman.net Restricted 600s and Clean Crawls Junior Sprints will all be back in action again next Friday night. For further information, go to www.demingspeedway.com.

Drivers Make Practice Laps Ahead Of $5,000 To Win Pro Late Model Race At Madera

Madera, CA..July 30...17 drivers from the Nut Up Pro Late Model Series took advantage of the Friday night practice at Madera Speedway. The Saturday show is to be a $5,000 to win race for the group, and the drivers were testing sets up to find that little bit of extra speed that might give them the advantage on Saturday night. Jadan Walbridge ended up being the fastest driver in practice on the 1/3 mile paved oval at 14.954.

Walbridge came out during the first session and turned a lap of 15.023 to make the quick lap. The 15.045 of Dylan Zampa was second quick in that session, beating the 15.046 of Carlos Vieira.  Zampa was unable to better his time from the first round in the second round, but Walbridge turned a 14.954. After making that lap, he decided to load up and skip the third round. Kyle Keller turned a 14.960 in the second round for his best lap of the day as he turned a near identical 14.961 for the fastest lap in the third round. Zampa's 14.971 occurred in the third round and was the third overall fast time of the day. After turning a 14.985 in Round 2, Vieira stayed with that lap and didn't run the third round. Tyler Herzog's lap of 15.015 in the third round was his best lap of the day and fifth overall for the evening.

51fifty Energy Drink Junior Late Model point leader Jacob Smith ended up being the quickest overall driver in the three practice sessions. However, it didn't start out that way. Championship contender Barrett Polhemus had the fastest lap in the first session at 15.397. Smith was struggling to find the speed during the first session at 15.434, and he only got a little bit quicker in the second round at 15.301. Brody Armtrout ended up with the quickest time in that session at 15.280, beating the 15.299 of Brody Moore. Smith came out in the third round and turned a 15.086. That was the quickest time of that session and overall among the nine drivers. The second quick time of 15.154 for Polhemus was also in the third round as was the 15.172 of late arrival Haley Liles. Moore ended up with a 15.249 ahead of the 15.253 of Kenna Mitchell as the Top 5 laps for the group occurred in the third session.

The Legends of the Pacific drivers took advantage of the practice opportunity ahead of their Saturday show. Gordan Holloway was the overall fastest driver at 16.253, which occurred in the third round, as did the 16.296 of Brendan Ruzbarsky. Nick Halen had a 16.308 in the second round to make him third quick overall. Wyatt Sansom was fourth quick on the evening with a lap of 16.616 in the third round, beating the 16.642 of point leader Josh Ayers, which also occurred in the third round. Halen was the quickest driver in the first round at 16.401 and the quickest in the second round at 16.308. Ruzbarsky had a 16.405 for second quick in the first round and a 16 393 in the second round, which made him third quick in that round as Holloway had a 16.315.

For information tonight's race, go to www.racemadera.com.

 
Ocean Speedway Unofficial Race Results July 30
Taco Bravo Sprint Cars
Dominic Scelzi
Jesse Schlotfeldt
Tristan Guardino
Travis Labat
Bryce Eames
Joel Myers
J.J. Ringo
Keith Day Jr
Jason Chisum
Jerry Bonnema
Kurt Nelson
Bradley Dillard
Tuesday Calderwood
Justin Sanders
Joey Ancona
Chris Nelson
Billy Chester
Logan Calderwood
Corey Day DNS

IMCA Sport Modifieds
Fred Ryland
Trevor Clymens
Kelly Campanile
Duane Bieser
Cody Bryan
Jonathan Hagio
Charlie Hunter
Justin Parr
Max Baggett
Jim DiGiovanni
Adriane Frost
Tommy Clymens
Randy Miller
Timothy Allerdings
Mike Kofnovec Jr DNS

Four Bangers
Kate Beardsley
Levi Burgett
Tony Gullo
Kenny Stragalinos
Nicole Beardsley
Clem Lessi
Trent Ione
Travis VanGilder
Juan Mar
Bill Beardsley 
Nick Scentani
Tayler Berard
Richard Mitchell
Dakota Keldsen

Police n Pursuit
Nate Graham     Santa Cruz, CA
Roy Iler     San Benito SO
A.J. Waltrip     Santa Cruz County Sheriffs Office
Jackie Yeung     Capitola Police Department
Pat Sullivan     Gilroy Police Department
Fernando Tellez     Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office
Tony Weir     San Benito County SO
Eric Perez     Scotts Valley Police Department
John Hohmann     Scotts Valley Police Department

WMR Midgets
Blake Bower
D.J. Freitas
Tyler Dolacki
Brody Petrie
David Prickett
Sage Bordenave
Megan Moorehead
Kala Keliinoi
Doug Fitcher
Jerry Fletcher


Deming Speedway Unofficial Race Results July 30
1200 Mini Sprints
Derek Holmwood
Tyson Lemley
Seth Hespe
Alex Lewis
Jacob Buckenmeyer
Haylee Bloodgood
Terry Lewis
Clennon Holloway
Austin Edson
Dakota Drake
Jared Gundersen

Super 600s
Colin Mackey
Tanner Holm
Jared Peterson
Parker Hadlock
Jeremy Holz
Haley Constance
Kaitlyn Hammer
Blaine Granberg
Levi Kuntz
Tyler McLeod
Ryley Mayer
Ryan Holz
Dakota Drake
Xan Miller
Spencer Constance
Travis Hart
Keira Zylstra
Macie Logsdon

Restricted 600
Axel Oudman
Peyton Drake
Corbin Ramsey
Levi Kuntz
Levi Hillier
Destry Miller
Rylee Kentch 
Kane VanSickle
Grace Matier
Diane Knutzen
Fairah Lee
Zoey Tupper
Karma Fagerlie
Cejay Adkins
Dale Orcutt
Mallory Fisher

B Main
Dale Orcutt
Fairah Lee
Grace Matier
Diane Knutzen
Hunter Cook
Carson Guffie
Jeff Woolsey

Focus Midgets
Levi Harless
Nick Evans
Jared Peterson
Jesse Munn
Jake Munn
Brian Holmkvist
Chris Foster

Jr Sprints
Brooklyn Constance
Cooper Anderson
Avery Askvig
McKenna Morgan
Ryan Bright
Colton Knapp
Jayce Medcalf
Dustin Ramsey
Hayden Cook
Sawyer Baxter


Cottage Grove Speedway Unofficial Race Results July 30
IMCA Modifieds 

A Main
Jesse Williamson
Collen Winebarger
Mark Carrell
Grey Ferrando
John Campos
Curtis Towns
Bricen James
Aaron Sheelar
Jeffrey Hudson
Eston Whisler
Nick Trenchard
James Welshonse
Matthew Drager
Tyson Blood
Steven Sturdevant
Paul Culp
Matt Jenner
Derick Young
Ryan Baker
Paul Rea

B Main
Curtis Towns
Derick Young
Bricen James
Jeffrey Hudson
BJ Wild
Cody Jones
Chad Groves
Tim Meltabarger
Jake Mayden
Jason Begley
Eric Ashley

Race of Champions
Bricen James
Nick Trenchard
Jesse Williamson
Matthew Drager
Curtis Towns
Collen Winebarger
Mark Carrell
Grey Ferrando
Tyson Blood
Paul Rea
Paul Culp
Ryan Baker
Ricky Ashley
Gene Ashley
Cody Jones
John Campos

Royalty Core IMCA Sport Modifieds
Dustin Comer
Aaron Bloom
Skyler Winebarger
Dalton Bloom
Anthony Pope
Ray Bloom
Shawn Hand
Jordan Henry
Trevor Points
KC Scott
Matt Sanders
Chuck Carson
Jim Smith
Jacob Hoppes
Garrett Craig
Steve Hopkins

PRA Hardtops
Zach Toll
Kyran Greene
Jimmy Smith
Chuck Jacobs
Steve Smith
Brian Smith
Brian Lenihan
Troy Gasner


Plaza Park Unofficial Race Results July 30
600cc Non Winged Micros
Results are not official
1     #24A Jade Avedisian
2     #88 Austin Torgerson
3     #10J Dominic Gorden
4     #66X Broedy Graham
5     #29 Austin Stone
6     #12B Dawson Faria
7     #02 Ashton Torgerson
8     #52 Cameron La Rose
9     #10M Zach McLoughry

600cc Winged Micros
Results are not official
1     #24A Jade Avedisian        
2     #10 Dominic Gorden
3     #24 KJ Snow
4     #9 Lachlan Caunt
5     #121 Caeden Steele
6     #21 Gauge Garcia
7     #5 Mattix Salmon
8     #02 Ashton Torgerson
9     #88 Austin Torgerson    
10     #14 Cody Christensen

Restricted Winged Micro
Results are not official
1     #21 Cash Lovenburg
2     #63 Colton Key
3     #14 Drake Carter
4     #7J JW Henderson
5     #55 Jett Barnes
6     #4 Teagen Moles
7     #2 Taylor Mayhew
8     #7 Quinn Thurein
9     #13 Elijah Gile
10     #55J Jayden Huppert
11     #18H Hailey Boudakian

Junior Sprints
Results are not official
1     #95 Nathan Ward        
2     #13V Braxon Vasconcello
3     #66B Blayden Graha
4     #17B Brycen Roush
5     #14 Jace Meyers
6     #1K Kyle Klagenberg
7     #3LJ Kasey Leal
8     #14H Quentin Hagoppian    
9     #5 Jace Thurein        

Stock Super 600s
Results are not official
1     #51 Dalton Parreira    
2     #5 Mattix Salmo
3     #22E Evan Dixon
4     #54 Maverick Myrick
5     #247 JW Henderson
6     #422 Dustin Jones
7     #61 Eli Bookout        
8     #10S Brian Streuter 

The Editor's Viewpoint

I'm sitting here on a Friday afternoon and asking myself, "Self, should I do a blog post covering the Friday races?" Well, it seems like a good idea, so here I am. I'm writing this now, so I do hope this ends up making it into a Saturday afternoon post, because I like what we did last week. I decided to write the Viewpoint on the bigger post after writing the weekend's race recaps as a way to cut back a little bit on this column. It was still long, but I'm so tired of editing that the shorter I can make this column, the better.

When I started this season and made the decision that I would go week to week in doing review articles, I wasn't intent on covering Southern Oregon Speedway. It's such a touchy subject for me. There are a few reasons why. I don't like the way we left, although I understand why it happened that way. I felt like we accomplished so much in the four years we ran races there, but we weren't quite where we wanted to be. Another year or two, and I think things could have been real nice. I'll talk about this a little bit more in my book when I finally get back to editing it.

The other thing was we had people down in Medford talking out of their asses, and it started pissing me off. I get the hard feelings and knee-jerk reaction to point fingers, but things were blown way out of proportion about the situation they were in. The bid process was going to happen and somebody was going to get the place. That's pretty obvious when you understand that four people submitted proposals. The track was never abandoned. People just wanted the drama. There were some things said that were dishonest or maybe even outright lies, and I was not at all happy to hear that.

Why have I decided to cover the season when I take all of that into consideration? It's sort of like last year. I decided to activate this blog last year during the covid-19 shut down. I was curious how tracks were going to open under ridiculous circumstances and be able to maintain. I wanted to document as much as I could. I guess you could say this is similar. I was curious how these guys were going to make out and the triumphs and pitfalls that would occur along the way. Plus, if I was going to cover Coos Bay Speedway and Cottage Grove Speedway, it didn't make a lot of sense for me not to include the Medford track. I have people down there that I still care about. I will always want the best for the track and offer my two cents on any situation if I think I have ideas that can help

There are few race tracks right now that make me want to even think about diving back in instead of walking out of the current sport entirely. I'm so unhappy with some of the things that transpired between me and Antioch management that it's hard to want to go back there, but I'd entertain legitimate offers. Merced Speedway is a no-brainer. I'm open to it. I like the fixer upper, rebuild the program idea, but there are some tracks that I don't think I would go to. 

Mike keeps bringing up Orland Raceway, but after my cousin died a couple of years ago, any thoughts I entertained about going there kind of died with him. It isn't that I don't care about the track, and I suppose if the offer was serious enough I'd entertain it. Yreka would be intriguing, but there has to be a serious promoter really ready to come in and do the things that will finally turn things around.

I was always intrigued with Rocky Hill Speedway in Porterville. We hear a lot about the long history that Bakersfield Speedway has, which at various times has been the sister track to this one. The Porterville track has been around about as long, but the history of the place hasn't been so good since Doug and Sandy Bainton walked away in the mid-1990s. They had one hell of a circuit going between Porterville and Bakersfield before walking away from Porterville. People tried for a few years, but then it went over a decade before coming back.

I thought it was cool when somebody decided to come in there and save the program more than a decade after it had closed. I think they had about a five year run before it unraveled again. In light of the announcement that Kern County Raceway made about the Jerm Smith Memorial on December 4th, I started thinking about the place that would really be the ideal location for a race for him. Jerm put a lot of passion and effort into Rocky Hill Speedway. What I didn't understand until after the announcement was made about this race was that there was somebody trying to open the gates at Rocky Hill Speedway.

West Coast Sport Compact Promoter Dan Myrick has jumped into promoting and learned some hard lessons as he launched his group at Lemoore Raceway. It's not an easy proposition promoting a race track. As he took the show on the road, he got an infusion of drivers from Porterville and the surrounding area. There's a healthy Mini Stock community in Porterville who would love to have that track back, not to mention the Super 4 Mini Stock group that remains parked. It doesn't surprise me that Dan would look at this as a possible race track for the group. Dan knows that it would take a community effort, but first you've got to get an agreement from the Vallejo family to make it happen.

Would I relocate to Porterville to help bring that track back? The main thing I don't want to have happen if I went to a location like that is a track that didn't have the right backing and folded in a couple of years. My move to Oregon was encouraged in no insignificant way by the idea that it would be a 10 year deal. I didn't really want to move up here, and I've made no secret of that. Part of the reasoning for me to do that was the idea that there were 10 years in the agreement. Things went the way they did, and I'm not blaming anybody. I'm just saying that if I were to jump into a situation like this, I'd want to know that it's not just something that will close in a year. If I were in Antioch, I can always just leave after a few years, secure in the knowledge that I'm back where I grew up. 

What made Rocky Hill work in its revival was they didn't try to bring in IMCA Modifieds or IMCA Sport Modifieds. They stayed within budget. The Hobby Stocks were the fast division, the Mini Stocks probably had a little bit more support and then there were these Super 4s. They dabbled in things like Mini Dwarfs on the infield track, Mod Lites, unsanctioned IMCA Stock Cars and Kern County Hardtops, and it worked for a while. They brought back some of the signature races like the Thanksgiving weekend event, Veterans Day weekend and some memorials for fallen racers in the area. Honestly, you would be wise to follow that blueprint in opening the gates again, and I don't think it would be a bad idea to open with a race remembering Jerm. The very first race.

The track hosted Late Models back in the day. They had IMCA Modifieds. It's just that the money may not necessarily be there to do the big things. In my mind, I would be all for entertaining that or Sprint Car racing of some kind if you could financially make it work. However, you have to start with the things that were working and grow the program. I do believe that even in 2021 there's potential to put something together again at this track. The bonus is that Scott Schweitzer at Bakersfield Speedway was willing to work with these guys a little bit, and I can definitely appreciate that.

Kern County Raceway really starts getting things in gear in September. It's an interesting scheduling strategy, and I think part of the reason they are doing it this way is because some of the tracks are winding down and they might have a better shot at getting the cars. They're going to do a Triple Crown Series for unsanctioned Dirt Modifieds and Sport Modifieds, and the first one happens on September 11th. This happens to be the weekend that driver's head for Boone, Iowa for the Nationals. However, every driver in the state of California doesn't go to Boone. If these guys are the only ones having a race for the Modifieds and Sport Modifieds, it stands to reason that they can get a good turnout if the money is right.

There will be a doubleheader weekend on December 3rd and 4th, and these races serve as the second and third round of the Triple Crown Series with the race for Jerm happening on December 4th. The purse money gets increasingly better for the two divisions from the first race to the third race. The race for Jerm will pay $3,000 to win for the Modifieds and $2,000 to win for the Sport Modifieds on December 4th. They are paying $250 to start the Modified races and $150 to start the Sport Modified races, so there's some good money here. I don't know why it couldn't work out for them. Of course, it means people are still racing in December, but some people want to do that. 

In my mind, the racing season goes on long enough, and I'm looking to disengage once point racing is done for the tracks I've been covering, that is if I make it that far with this effort. I'm not saying I couldn't pop in and cover a race or two and just put up a post covering those specific races, but I need to disengage from the media effort and turn my attention to books before I burn out and nothing gets accomplished. Everybody's going to take a swing at running something special. If we aren't going to get the rain during the fall months, it stands to reason that more tracks are going to go for the money if they think they can get it. I can't blame them for that.

Getting back to Jerm Smith, it's interesting to note that he was so impressed with what he saw at Mountain Valley Raceway in Hayfork when he made the visit in 2019 that he relocated there. He was going to take on an active role in promoting the place, but he passed away in December of 2020. In fact, I think one of the first things Jerm was looking to do was run a special big money Hobby Stock race in Hayfork in September of 2020. Covid-19 forced everybody to change their plans, and it's a shame. I have no doubt that had they had a season in Hayfork in 2020, Jerm would have been instrumental in helping them establish some good things. 

Heyfork has the 10th running of the Clyde Cordell Memorial race on August 14th, during the Trinity County Fair. I understand there's an additional $1,000 that could be thrown into the purse for the Hobby Stocks and Mini Stocks, and there's the added bonus that Orland Raceway doesn't have anything booked on top of the race this time. There could be some drivers coming from there. The racing in Hayfork has struggled in recent years, and I think the revolving door of management teams has not done the place any favors.

When you look back at the years immediately following the opening of the track, there were some double-digit Hobby Stock numbers and they started establishing a Mini Stock class. When you look at how things were going then, it's kind of sad to think that they aren't getting double-digit turnouts in these classes now. They really should be by now. It really doesn't help to point fingers. I think the fact that management teams keep coming and going and some people have hard feelings over things that have happened there has not done the place any favors. Since the gates continue to open, there's a chance they can fix it. 

If you look at the roster of drivers in the Mini Stock and Hobby Stock divisions in Hayfork and some of the towns closest to it, you've got a double digit roster of available cars. Goal #1 in fixing this program should be to get those cars back out to the track. Some may not want to race anymore but could sell their cars. Others might have a few things that they want to say about the way the track is being run, but they could be persuaded to come back. If you get double-digit car count in these two divisions, you're talking two heat races, a Trophy Dash and Main Event for the fans to enjoy. This is what should be the priority, because fans aren't going to flock to this place to watch the Enduro race.

I'll be the first person to say I like the inclusion of the Enduro class. You've got some unique cars out there, and they're not putting a lot of money into making them ready for the track. As long as they are making sure the cars are up to safety code, I'm all for this. You do all of the other racing and then you wet the track real good before turning these Enduro cars loose. It's a combination of an Enduro race and a rolling Destruction Derby, but it can be an attraction. It can be a double digit class. I say the core three divisions at this track are Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks and Enduro cars. 

You still have two or three guys showing up with Sport Modifieds, but making the roster go beyond that is going to be a challenge. I've been saying that when it comes to the Yreka track, can you get me six of anything? When you need car counts, what are the minimum cars you can use to have a race. With six cars, you can run a heat, Dash and Main Event and at least give the fans a taste of something. Since you've got two or three Sport Modifieds, can you entice another three or four guys to come in from out of town, and what would it take? What I'm saying is management ought to try to figure out if there's a way they can have one special race for this class. By special I mean you don't have the big budget, but at least you're trying to see if you can get six or seven cars for one visit. I do think it's possible.

Hayfork is out in the middle of nowhere, which is why there were so many people who marveled at the idea that Clyde Cordell had to put stock car racing on that track. It might have taken a couple of years for them to open the gates and start doing it, but it happened. There are people there that love racing, even if we're not talking a huge number of people yet. I would bet you could get 400 or 500 fans to come watch the races if they knew they were getting enough of a product to enjoy. The schedule that they book where they aren't running every week is smart and should continue for the foreseeable future, but the goal needs to be getting the cars out there in the core 3 classes.

If you have a guy in Hayfork who knows how to put cages in cars or build cars, that's a bonus. If you've got somebody in the area who can get available cars for sale purchased and in the area for people to buy, that's a bonus. That utility guy is so important. An example I have is when Lance Cline of Cline Racing Supply was still in Antioch. He was responsible for getting so many of the Street Stock and Hobby Stock cars that came to Antioch, and then he started dabbling in building Modifieds. He was also the guy who built the first 10 Four Bangers to get the class launched in Antioch. I'm not saying Hayfork even has somebody who could do it on Lance's level, but somebody in that vein would be helpful.

I also wonder about what management does in Hayfork when they get $1,000 to put into the purse. First of all, everybody who takes a green flag in the Main Event should get money. Like my friend Don O'Keefe says, "I don't care if I'm just running for a hot dog and a coke. At the end of the night, I want my hot dog and a Coke." Even if you can only pay a Mini Stock guy $10 to take the green or the Hobby Stock guy $25, do it. It gives you a more of professional look. Pay these guys at the end of the night. Establish a format for how the program is being run and be consistent. 

I get the idea of taking the $1,000 and putting it on the top. These guys are not using the strategy of rewarding the locals for being good supporters, which is what I think they should do. They're taking $1,000 and making it $500 to win, $300 for second and $200 for third, or at least that's the way it was. However, what if we took even $50 of that money as a guarantee to take the green flag based on 10 cars. I know they don't usually add that money unless they get 10 cars, so you take $500 of it to guarantee everybody gets $50 and then sprinkle the remaining $500 in the top few positions. Reward the locals. 

I know it's a double edged sword with taking care of your locals. People coming in from out of town have this perception that all you care about is the locals, and I just say you don't have a show without the locals. The out of town guys aren't going to be there every week, especially given the tow that they have to make to get to Hayfork. The locals are your show, and paying them a little bit lets them know that you appreciate them being the show. When you get the extra money to put into the purse, it should be about rewarding the locals this way. If an out of town driver happens to come, he's getting a piece of that, but it's not all getting sprinkled at the top.

I have expressed a few ideas to Josh Smith that can be done that don't require a lot of money. Getting into doing time trials and establishing track records as another enticement to get people to come watch. Doing match races and those kinds of things. I think it matters. I have an idea that's a holdover from what I wanted to see happen at Chowchilla Speedway when we started getting a bunch of people from the town building Hobby Stocks. We got up to a dozen cars from there very quickly. Again, it's not about making it only about the locals, but it is about encouraging local people to support.

Therefore, you create a bragging rights race for the local area people. You call the Hayfork Cup. Whether there is a lot of prize money involved or just winning that special trophy. It's only one race at whatever time during the season, but people want the bragging rights. In a way, Hayfork already has that with the perpetual trophy for the Clyde Cordell Memorial, but this is still another marketing idea. 

In short, there are things that can be done with the program at Hayfork to get it where it once was and then take it beyond. It's just going to take a lot of work. As you grow the core divisions, you can also entertain bringing special attractions for the fans to enjoy as you should be making enough money to try some different things. The sky is the limit on that.

Mike McCann has a name for it. He calls it Promoting 101. It basically centers around establishing the basics that people can depend on. They know about it. You set a base purse that the guys know they will get at the pay window. You establish what the racing format is going to be and don't be changing that around. You establish when the cars are going out on the race track. You establish that people can come in and get their payout at the end of the night. You do keep points, which is something Hayfork doesn't do. Keep points for every regular division and crown champions at the end of the year. Put out the finishes and point standings and publicity in a timely manner. When you do the basics, car count goes up, which leads to more people coming out to watch. It's that simple. Yeah, it does take work, but covering the basics will reward you in the end.

I was happy to see that Bill Potter is now trying to figure out if there's a way he can make his Labor Day weekend memorial race for his father, Ray Potter, a success. Willamette Speedway put the Clair Arnold Memorial race on September 4th for $5,000 to win, and initially Bill was not pleased. He quickly got over it when he understood that Willamette was going to do what they were going to do. Either you're going to adjust what you're doing or get nothing and like it. Therefore, he's entertaining running the $2,500 to win race on Sunday September 5th. He can get some guys to come from Willamette, because they certainly supported the race two years ago. However, it can't be part of a two-day event. Any Sunday race needs to stand on its own merits for this to have any chance of working out.

As most of the readers are aware, I have the offer of reviving Racing Wheels Newspaper on the table, but I haven't sat down with the owner and had the discussion to determine if this is feasible and if terms can be reached that are acceptable to me and my needs. One of the things I have prided myself on going back to my old printed magazine was that anything that we covered on a regular basis would be covered in its entirety. In other words, if you were reading about Merced Speedway in The DCRR magazine in 1990, you got to see all of the race reviews and the final point standings that year. You could go back over your collection and even make a scrapbook if you wanted. 

Times have changed so much that running a weekly newspaper during a racing season is probably not feasible because of cost, time and all of that stuff. One of the things that's been bothering me is I don't want to put a paper out there that has some stuff, but doesn't cover it all the way. There were papers that existed back when Wheels was still around that did it that way, and I was never impressed by that. Much like my magazine, I knew that Wheels would be a resource where I could go back and research a specific track. To me, this is the way Wheels would need to be again. I have a thought here, but I don't want to go too deep in discussing it.

First of all, I do not want to be the one trying to write articles for all of the tracks as I'm doing with the blog. We need people who are on the scene and can give you a better story than I can. Fortunately, most of the tracks I have in mind have somebody to write for them, and I could theoretically fill in the blanks for the other tracks. My idea would be to pick a dozen tracks to start with. The idea was would be that those tracks would be covered, but the paper would also be on sale at those particular venues and the tracks would be supportive. The theory is that the tracks sell our papers and we might even get a few people from those particular tracks helping sponsor us and keeping us in business. That's part of it.

The other part of it is I want 12 tracks as the base to start with and perhaps.2-4 traveling associations. Each entity would get a page, and when I say page you can picture it in newspaper form the way it used to be back in the day. On this page would be such and such and on the page right next to it would be some place else. We might have a center section that would be reserved for special cover stories from the tracks that we feature, that would be if the writers were keen doiing that. Or, it might be pictures. I'm not saying we wouldn't cover other race tracks, but you'd have to be in on the ground floor to be one of the initial featured tracks and there would be responsibilities involved.

Therefore, if we are doing bi-weekly or whatever the schedule happens to be, you don't have to worry about a week being missed. I don't like the idea of somebody subscribing to the newspaper who wants to see their win covered. We happen to not be printing on a week when they happen to win, and their story never gets published. Nope. That's unacceptable to me. I already have an idea what 12 tracks I would start with. The other thing is when we know what our commitment is, we get comfortable in the process of creating the paper and can grow it from there. I've had this thought in mind for a while now, but this is probably the first that I've expressed it publicly. Time will tell if anything happens.

It's early in the morning on a Saturday, and if I'm smart I don't add too much to what was already written. This is the last bit of content for what should be a Saturday afternoon post covering Friday night action. I don't want to push myself too much harder, or I might try proofreading stuff now. It's kind of interesting that I've caught up a little bit with the schedule I would prefer to keep, and that has allowed me to do Saturday afternoon posts again. The big problem for me during the week is my brain shuts down and I don't want to look at what I've written. I have to re-motivate myself. I know what's really going on here, and it's an indicator that the time is drawing near for me to walk away from doing weekly blog posts with so many articles in them.

In any case, Ocean Speedway had a nice night in terms of car count. There were close to 70 total cars for the five division program, and the nine Police N Pursuit cars was the lowest total for any of the divisions. They didn't really have major battles for the victories in any of the races, although there was a bit of drama in the later stages of the Winged 360 Sprint Car race. It was a rapidly run program, and things seem to be going smoothly at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds track these past few weeks.

The WMR Midget class has lost a little bit of its momentum, but they still delivered a 10 car field. It's still a growing class, but this was also the beginning of a two-race weekend for them as they head to Petaluma tonight as part as the USAC 360 Sprint/Western Midget double bill. They had 14 Mini Stocks at Watsonville, which is the best car count they've had in this class in a while. At times the track can deliver enough Sprint Cars for a B Main, but this time there were 19 cars. Still not a bad night for the class, and the track enters August on a positive note. 

Speaking of positive notes, Cottage Grove Speedway had the opening night of the Mark Howard Memorial race. The bigger money for the IMCA Modifieds will be on Saturday night. They had 28 of them for Friday and 16 IMCA Sport Modifieds in support. It was a full slate of racing as the Modifieds ran a 25 lap Race of Champions in addition to the regular Main Event. There were some really good drivers from throughout the state for this race, and I'm thinking that tonight's show is going to be a thriller. Cottage Grove gets real busy with the two-day Marvin Smith Memorial for the Winged 360 Sprints, two IMCA Modified Wild West Speedweek races and the Dwarf Car Nationals all coming in the next two weeks. 

I was just assuming the OTRO Hardtops were the Hardtop group that was going to support the show this weekend. I thought it was weird that the track was using PRA Hardtop photos in their advertisement. The PRA Hardtop group basically sticks to Roseburg. The group was founded after the rift between a few drivers and the OTRO, which is the oldest Hardtop group on the West Coast. 

OTRO is the group that travels from here to there. Though many of its competitors are Roseburg-based, you don't usually find them running with the PRA. I find it interesting that the PRA was the group that got the date at Cottage Grove. It was a different group of Hardtops than I was expecting, but the eight cars they delivered was about what you would have seen with the other group. The other difference in philosophies between the two groups is that the OTRO runs exhibition races, but PRA actually races the cars for points and purse money. 

Micro Sprint Racing was on my radar as I monitored Deming Raceway again for the heck of it. I probably wouldn't be doing this if I had a bunch of my regular tracks going on Friday, but I don't mind throwing them in as I'm not too busy otherwise. They had enough Restricted 600 Micros for a B Main and a solid turnout of 16 Super 600s. Not a lot of drama at the front of the pack in any of the five Main Events, but it was a good show that didn't drag on.

I did notice the Micro Sprint program at Plaza Park down in Hanford didn't have great numbers, which surprises me. Considering the Wingless 600 Micro numbers we see at Dixon and Stockton, I was just assuming they would get a number in the 20s, but nothing reached the 20s and they barely reached double digits in most of the classes. They still had about 50 cars, and the show went on a scheduled. I'll be monitoring Dixon Speedway tonight for the regular Micro Sprint program that they have. There's actually quite a few races on my radar tonight, so we'll see what we can handle.

While I'm curious how the IMCA Modifieds and Sport Modifieds do at Santa Maria tonight, Ventura Raceway has thrown extra money up for their IMCA Modified show as well. Both tracks have Race Monitor going or at least have reserved their spots. I plan to make them both priorities. Ventura usually gets their program going early, so it should work out. 

I don't want to drag this on much longer, but the Pro Stocks of the Tri State Series take center stage at Southern Oregon Speedway tonight with the Rocky Nash Memorial. Looking at what else is on the lineup, this show will be dependent upon a good turnout of Pro Stocks. I'm a little nervous for the guys, but I think they'll do all right. Roy Bain was showing off the rather nice trophy for the winner, which is a replica model of Rocky's Pro Stock. Talk about cool. 

I think this is a good place to end it. Hopefully I didn't ramble on too much here, and I will go back to the drawing board tomorrow. On that note, I'll end this column. Until next time...