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Forsberg Wins Tyler Wolf Memorial At Silver Dollar Speedway
Chico,
CA...August 20...Andy Forsberg won the 25 lap Winged 360 Sprint Car
Main Event Friday night at Silver Dollar Speedway. This was the annual
Tyler Wolf Memorial race, and Forsberg collected $3,000 for his second
win in the big race. The track has only run a limited amount of races,
and this was just the seventh show for the Sprint Cars this year and
first win for Forsberg, who also picked up his first Placerville win a
week earlier at he leads the point standings there.
Second
row starter Andy Gregg bolted into the lead when the green flag waved,
followed by Brent Bjork and Michael Faccinto. A yellow flag was waved
after one lap for Brian McGahan in Turn 1. A yellow flag flew on the
first restart attempt for Max Mittry. Gregg continued to lead Bjork and
Faccinto on the restart. Faccinto took second from Bjork on Lap 3 with
Kalib Henry getting the position a lap later before a yellow flag waved
for Angelo Cornet and Tanner Carrick on the front straightaway. Gregg
led the restart with Faccinto back in second ahead of Henry. Henry moved
around Faccinto for second on Lap 7 with Forsberg following into
third. Forsberg took second from Henry a lap later later. 12th starter
Kyle Hirst moved into third on Lap 15, and a yellow flag waved on Lap 17
for Colby Wiesz in Turn 4. Forsberg continued to lead the way with
Hirst briefly taking second from Gregg. Gregg came back strong to regain
that position a lap later with Hirst staying with him. A final yellow
flag waved for Dustin Freitas in Turn 4 on Lap 23. Hirst took second
from Gregg on the restart. Chase Majdic made a last lap pass on Gregg
for third. Forsberg won the big trophy ahead of Hirst, Majdic, Gregg,
Henry, Faccinto, Blake Carrick, Joel Myers Jr, Bjork and Brad Bumgarner.
The
35 competitors qualified in their respective heat race groups, and
Forsberg set the fast time out of the fourth group with a lap of 12.006,
beating the 12.164 of Henry from the same group. Forsberg pocketed an
additional $200 for his fast time, courtesy of ManCamp Motorsports.
Combined with his lap leader bonus money, Forsberg won over $4,000 for
the evening. The eight lap heat race wins went to Cornet, Faccinto,
Mittry and Henry.
John Michael Bunch won the
12 lap B Main. Nick Larsen started on the pole and raced into the lead
ahead of Bunch and Braedon Enos. Freitas gained third when Enos departed
on Lap 2, and Bunch made a Lap 10 pass on Larsen for the lead. Bunch
won ahead of Larsen, Freitas, Shane Hopkins and Dylan Bloomfield.
Philip
Shelby won the 20 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. He's the third
different winner in three races. Since this was Pepsi Big Trophy Night,
Shelby gets his name added to the perpetual trophy and gets to keep it
for a year. The track is not doing championship points for any division
this year, but if the two scheduled races go as scheduled next month,
the Sport Modifieds will officially have a division championship in the
eyes of the sanctioning body.
Shelby started on
the pole and bolted into the lead at the start ahead of Buddy Olschowka
and Scott Savell. However, Savell brought out the only yellow flag
after one lap. Shelby led the restart with Tyler Rodgers taking second
from Olschowka. Reigning champion Matt Michelli slipped past Olschowka
for third on the fifth lap with Olschowka losing fourth to Brian Cooper
on Lap 9. Shelby set a good pace with Rodgers not too far behind in
second all the way to the end. Micheli ended up third, followed by
Cooper, Olschowka, Mike Merritt, Mike Ficklin, Savell, Jimmy Ford and
David Larabee. The eight lap heat race wins were earned by Ford and
Rodgers.
Richard Brace Jr won the 20 lap Street
Stock Main Event. He's the third different winner in four races, but
previous winners Phil Marino and reigning champion Matt Michelli didn't
compete on this occasion. Brace was coming off of a big win in the Tri
State Challenge Series event at Petaluma Speedway a week earlier and
currently leads the standings in that series.
Brace
took the lead at the start ahead of Brent Lawrence and Richard Vander
Ploeg. Susanville Promoter Jeff Olschowka took third from Vander Ploeg
on Lap 2 before retiring a lap later. Lawrence pitted from the non-stop
event on Lap 5, moving Vander Ploeg into second ahead of Bill Hall.
However, Brace held a commanding lead at that point. Lyle Hopper retired
from fourth on Lap 11, moving ageless veteran Gary Newman into the
position. Both Hall and Newman were lapped during the second half of the
race, and Brace won ahead of Vander Ploeg, Hall, Newman, Hopper,
Lawrence and Olschowka. Both Jerry Bartlett and Leif Berglund were Main
Event scratches, and the eight lap heat race win went to Lawrence.
Jacob
Johnson won the 20 lap Hobby Stock Main Event. He's the fourth
different winner in four races, and he currently holds a share of the
point lead at Marysville Raceway. Johnson took the lead at the start
ahead of Maurice Merrill and Zach Lindgren. A yellow flag waved for Toby
Merrifield in Turn 1 on Lap 2. Johnson continued to lead Merrill and
Lindgren on the restart, and the race only had one more yellow flag on
Lap 11 for debris in Turn 3. Not much changed at the front of the pack,
but Sean Hulsey retired from fourth on Lap 17, moving BJ Martin into the
position. Johnson drove a flawless race and beat Merrill back to the
line by about half a straightaway. Merrill held off Lindgren in a close
battle for second and Martin, Colin Ferguson, Merrifield, Matt Rivera,
Hulsey, Kyle Cheney and Robert Warf rounded out the Top 10. Brian Cooper
and Lindgren were the eight lap heat race winners.
Silver
Dollar Speedway will be hosting the Louis Vermeil Classic on September
4th and 5th, featuring the AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Cars and the NARC/King
of the West Fujitsu Winged 410 Sprint Cars. This leads into the Gold
Cup event from September 8th through the 11th. The 8th and 9th will
feature the Winged 360 Sprint Cars for $2,500 to win each night and the
IMCA Sport Modifieds both nights. On September 10th and 11th, it's the
World of Outlaw Sprint Cars and the Platinum Cup for the Winged 360
Sprint Cars on both nights. For further information, go to www.silverdollarspeedway.com.
Robinson Wins Key Kickoff Race At Ocean Speedway
Watsonville,
CA...August 20...Ryan Robinson won the 30 lap Ocean Sprint Car
Presented by Taco Bravo Main Event Friday night at Ocean Speedway. This
was the Key Kickoff race ahead of the Johnny Key Classic that was to run
on Saturday night. Robinson is the current Sprint Car Challenge Tour
point leader.
Keith Day Jr earned the pole for
the feature race by beating Robinson and Joey Ancona to win the six lap
Trophy Dash. Day took the early lead ahead of Robinson and Ancona. A
yellow flag flew after one lap with Colby Johnson and Kaleb Montgomery
out at that point. Robinson took the lead from Day on the restart with
Jake Andreotti moving into third. The third place battle saw Ancona
regain the position on the sixth lap. However, Andreotti regained the
position on Lap 10. Moments later, a yellow flag waved. The first
restart attempt saw the yellow flag wave with Ancona out of the race.
Robinson led Day and Andreotti on the next restart, but a Lap 12 yellow
flag flew with Jeremy Chisum and Chris Nelson both retiring. Robinson
resumed command on the restart ahead of Andreotti and Kurt Nelson. After
a disappointing preliminary effort left him in the 11th starting
position, incoming point leader Justin Sanders had worked his way into fourth,
and he took third from Kurt Nelson on Lap 27. Robinson set a good pace
in the closing laps and beat Andreotti to the checkered flag by about
half a straightaway. Sanders settled for third with Bud Kaeding making a
late move into fourth, followed by Curt Nelson, JJ Ringo, Mitchell
Faccinto, Dom Scelzi, Day and Stephen Kent.
The
Ocean Sprints had a stellar turnout of 39 drivers, and Day set the fast
time on the Tom Sagmiller prepared quarter-mile clay oval at 10.715,
beating the 10.836 of Robinson and the 10.842 of Chase Johnson. They ran
four eight lap heat races and took the Top 4 finishers directly into
the Main Event. The wins went to Kurt Nelson, Andreotti, Zane Blanchard
and Kaeding. They had two 12 lap B Mains, and the Top 3 finishers
transferred. The first race saw Montgomery move into the lead at the
start ahead of Scelzi and Bryce Eames, and they would finish in that
order. Colby Johnson won the second B Main. USAC Western States Midget
star Brody Fuson took an early lead ahead of Johnson and Michael Pombo.
They ran in that order until Fuson brought out a yellow flag after seven
laps. Colby Johnson took the lead from there and brought it home to
victory ahead a Pombo and Brett Barney.
Tommy
Velasquez III won the 20 lap South Bay Dwarf Car Main Event. This was
his fifth win of the season. Velasquez motored into the lead at the
start ahead of Joe Barket and Mark Biscardi. By the sixth lap, Velasquez
held a straightaway advantage over Barket as Dylan Shrum slipped past
Biscardi for third. Past champion Gene "Punky" Pires returned to action
and settled into fifth on Lap 10. Pires took fourth from Biscardi on Lap
13. Shrum made a last lap pass on Barket for second. However, Velasquez
had more than a half-lap advantage over Shrum in his impressive
victory. Barket settled for third ahead of Pires, point leader Travis
Day, Biscardi, Eddy Claessen, Dan Zucger, Nick Diani and Kenneth Smith.
Vasquez and Shrum picked up the eight lap heat race wins.
Norm
Ayers won the 15 lap Hobby Stock Main Event. This was his first win of
the season as he moves to within nine points of second place Jerry
Skelton in the standings. After last week's big turnout, only five
drivers came to compete this time, and Ayers led from the start ahead of
Adriane Frost and Steve Remde. Skelton took third from Remde on Lap 3.
Frost kept it close, but Ayers prevailed at the checkered flag. Skelton
ended up third ahead of Remde and Ryan Muller. Frost won the eight lap
heat race.
Next Friday night is Championship
Night. The NARC/King of the West Fujitsu Winged 410 Sprint Cars will be
in action along with the IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Hobby
Stocks and South Bay Dwarf Cars. For further information, go to www.oceanspeedway.com.
Hogge, Nation, Johnson, Wilson Kick Off
Ed Parker Memorial With Wins
Merced,
CA...August 20...Bobby Hogge IV won the 20 lap IMCA Modified Main Event
Friday night at Merced Speedway. This was the opening round of the Ed
Parker Memorial race. It was to be a regular purse, but Margie Mejia
donated an additional $500 to the winners of all four Main Events. Hogge
is now the eighth different winner in the eight point races held so
far.
DJ Shannon had the pole and set the early
pace ahead of Rick Diaz and Bakersfield point leader Jerry Flippo. A
yellow flag waved on Lap 2, and the first restart attempt saw another
yellow flag fly with Watsonville point leader Cody Burke out at that
point. Shannon led the restart ahead of 10th starter Hogge and Diaz.
They had a good run going until a Lap 13 yellow flag waved with Gary
Marsh retiring. Hogge took the lead from Shannon on the restart with
Robby Sawyer moving into third. A yellow flag waved on Lap 15 with Robby
Jeppesen, Dylan Schriner and Derek Nance all sidelined. Hogge led
Shannon and Sawyer on the restart, but Sawyer slipped past Shannon for
second on Lap 18. A final yellow flag waved on Lap 18 with Bakersfield
star Ricky Childress Jr out of the action. Hogge led the restart with
Shannon taking second from Sawyer. Hogge went on to score the satisfying
win ahead of Shannon, Sawyer, State point leader Jim Pettit II, Darrell
Hughes II, Diaz, Ventura point leader Trevor Fitzgibbon, Matthew Hagio,
Ryan Porter and Mike Shepherd. Shannon and Porter picked up the eight
lap heat race wins.
Jason Nation won the 20 lap
IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. This was his first win of the season
and it makes him the sixth different winner in seven point races. In
addition to the $500 thrown into the winner's purse by Margie Mejia,
Bill's Towing also added $500 to the Sport Modified prize, giving Nation
over $1,000 at the pay window.
Chase Thomas
set the early pace ahead of Gavin Espino and Ryan Smith. Smith took
second from Espino on Lap 4, and Nation settled into fourth on Lap 6. A
yellow flag finally waved on Lap 11 with Tony Peffer out of the action.
Thomas continued to lead Smith and Nation on the restart, and Nation
slipped past Smith for second on Lap 14. A lap later, Nation put the
moves on Thomas to grab the lead. 11th starter Fred Ryland had settled
into fourth by then and took third from Smith on Lap 17. Nation went on
to win ahead of Thomas, Ryland, point leader Tyler Bannister, Smith,
Jason Bannister, Espino, Andrew Pearce, Chuck Weir and Jeremy Hoff.
There
were 23 IMCA Sport Modifieds, and the eight lap heat race wins went to
Hoff, Thomas, Richard Ragsdale and Smith. Jacob Mallet Jr won the 10 lap
B Main. Mallet led from the start ahead of Riley Jeppesen and Steve
Foster. Following a Lap 3 yellow flag, Foster took second from Jeppesen
with Tony Peffer following into third. However, Jeppesen reclaimed third
on Lap 6. Mallet set a rapid pace and beat Foster by a straightaway
with Jeppesen third ahead of Peffer.
Bakersfield
star Chad Johnson won the 20 lap IMCA Stock Car Main Event. He's the
fifth different winner in seven races. Past Hanford champion Loren
DeArmond jumped into the early lead ahead of Chad Johnson and track and
State point leader Renn Bane. Johnson began challenging DeArmand and
made his move into the lead on Lap 5. At the same time, Rob Gallaher
slipped past Bane for third, and he took second from DeArmand on Lap 9. A
Lap 11 yellow flag waved, but Chad Johnson continued to lead Gallaher
and DeArmand on the restart. A Lap 15 yellow flag waved with DJ Keldsen
out of the action. A final yellow flag flew a lap later, and Chad
Johnson led Gallaher on the next restart with Steven Johnson moving into
third. Chad Johnson won with Gallaher in close pursuit, followed by
Steven Johnson, DeArmond, Cody Johnson, Mark Morton, Austin Van Hoff,
Michael Shearer, Watsonville Hobby Stock point leader Joe Gallaher and
Bane. Rob Gallaher and Chad Johnson won the eight lap heat races.
Bakersfield
star Dylan Wilson won the 20 Lap Hobby Stock Main Event. This was his
third win at Merced this year. Derek Ogden jumped into the early lead
ahead of point leader Syd Finn. Finn briefly took the lead on Lap 3,
only to drop it to Ogden a lap later. Wilson settled into third on Lap 4
and took second from Finn on Lap 9. Steven Johnson moved into third a
lap later before a yellow flag waved. Ogden continued to lead Wilson and
Johnson on the restart. Johnson saw his run in third come to an end on
Lap 13. Wilson gained the lead on Lap 16 when Ogden had problems, and
Finn settled into second. Wilson led the rest of the way and beat Finn
by a straightaway at the checkered flag. Chad Ragsdale was third,
followed by Domossie Scoggins, Timmy Crews, Steve Stone, Race Shelton,
Ogden, Donald Hiser and Dakota Keldsen. Finn and Ogden picked up the
eight lap heat race wins.
Saturday night was to
be the Ed Parker Memorial with extra money on the line in all four
classes. Next up will be the NARC/King of the West Winged 410 Sprint Car
Series visit on August 26th. Also competing that night will be the IMCA
Sport Modifieds, Mini Stocks and California Sharp Mini Late Models. For
further information, go to www.mercedspeedway.net.
Gunderson, Hammer, Evans, Drake, Constance
Win At Deming Speedway
Everson,
Washington...August 20...Kaitlyn Hammer won the 25 lap Speed Mart Super
600 Main Event Friday night at Deming Speedway. Hammer started on the
front row next to championship contender Riley Mayer, and the duo bolted
into the 1-2 positions when the green flag waved. Parker Hadlock
settled into third ahead of Jayden Whitney, but Colin Mackey took fourth
Whitney on Lap 4. The only yellow flag of the race waved on Lap 15 as
Xan Miller was out of the action at that point. Hammer resumed command
over Mayer, Hadlock and Mackey on the restart, and they finished in that
order with Whitney fifth, followed by Spencer Constance, Haley
Constance, Tyler Conley, Dakota Drake and Levi Kuntz. Point leader Dylan
Resch struggled to an 11th place finish.
Hadlock
was the quickest of 17 qualifiers on the 1/6 mile clay oval at 10.540,
beating the 10.587 of Whitney and the 10.606 of Mackey. They ran three
eight lap heat races with the wins going to Drake, Kuntz and Spencer
Constance.
Jared Gunderson won the 25 lap Shots
2 Go Espresso 1200 Mini Sprint Main Event. Gundersen had the pole
position and took the early lead ahead of Alex Lewis and Seth Hespe.
Dakota Drake slipped past Hespe for third on Lap 5. Hespe had fourth
until his race came to an end on Lap 14. A red flag waved when second
place Lewis flipped on Lap 19. Gundersen continued to lead the restart
ahead of Drake and point leader Derek Holmwood, and they finished in
that order with Brock Lemley fourth followed by Terry Lewis, Clennon
Holloway, Tyson Lemley, Haley Bloodgood, Bill McKeekin and Alex Lewis.
Holmwood
was the fastest of 13 qualifiers at 10.459, beating the 10.495 of Brock
Lemley. Hespe and Drake picked up the wins in the eight lap heat races.
Nick
Evans won the 25 lap Northwest Focus Midgets Main Event. Jake Munn
started on the pole and bolted into the early lead ahead of Chris Foster
and Jesse Munn. Third row starter and point leader Evans took third
from Jesse Munn on Lap 5 and slipped past Foster for second a lap later.
On the 11th lap, Evans put the moves on Jake Munn to grab the lead.
Jesse Munn briefly took third on Lap 11, only to surrender the position
to Foster a lap later. Evans won by nearly a straightaway ahead of Jake
Munn with Foster third ahead of Jesse Munn, Kyle Hanson and Brian
Holmkivist. Levi Harless set the fast time of 11.477, beating the 11.527
of Evans. Evans won the eight lap heat race, and Harless was an early
scratch.
Peyton Drake won the 25 lap mytrafficman.net
Restricted Micro Sprint Main Event. Drake moved into the lead at the
start ahead a Cejay Adkins and Destry Miller. A yellow flag on Lap 3 saw
Grace Matier retire from the action, and Drake continued to lead Adkins
and Miller on the restart. Fairah Lee fell out on Lap 12. Drake
continued to lead Adkins and Miller on the restart with point leader
Levi Hillier running in fourth. They would go on to finish in that order
with Corbin Ramsey fifth, followed by Kane Van Sickle, Levi Kuntz, Axel
Oudman, Zoey Tupper and Diane Knutzen.
Hillier
was the fastest of 21 qualifiers at 11.032, beating the 11.192 of
Carson Guffie. The eight lap heat race wins went to Oudman, Knutzen and
Mallory Fisher. Riley Kentch won the 10 lap B Main. Kentch led Tupper
and Matier from start to finish with Ryan Bright finishing fourth.
Point
leader Brooklyn Constance won what had to be the most exciting Main
Event of the night in the 20 lap Clean Crawls Junior Sprint Main Event.
Clayton Jalakas moved into the lead at the start ahead a Dustin Ramsey
and Jayce Medcalf. McKenna Morgan took third from Medcalf on Lap 3, and
Avery Askvig moved into fourth a lap later. However, Constance moved
past Askvig for fourth on Lap 6. Morgan took second from Ramsey on the
eighth lap with Constance moving into third on Lap 11. Jalakas had a
good lead, but slower traffic impeded his momentum as Constance took
second from Morgan on lap 16. The close three-car battle out front saw
Constance make a last lap pass on Jalakas to steal the win away. Morgan
ended up third, followed by Ramsey, Askvig, Medcalf, Oliver Kairis,
Sawyer Baxter, Brody Cooley and Chase Whitney.
Racing continues next Friday night with the Speed Mart Super 600s, Shots 2 Go Espresso 1200 Mini Sprints, mytrafficman.net Restricted 600s, Northwest Focus Midgets and Clean Crawls Jr Sprints. For further information, go to www.demingspeedway.com.
Key, Stone, Stoll, Moles And Ward Win At Plaza Park Raceway
Visalia,
CA....August 20...Cody Key won the 30 lap Super 600 Micro Sprint Main
Event Friday night at Plaza Park Raceway. He becomes the sixth different
winner in seven races. He had the pole and jumped into the lead at the
start ahead of Caeden Steele and Maria Ede. Ede briefly took second on
Lap 3, but Steele regained the spot a lap later. Jake Hagopian was
running along in fourth and took third from Ede on Lap 23. Key won with
Steele in close pursuit, followed by Hagopian, Ede, point leader Dominic
Gorden, Mattix Salmon, Chris Martin, JJ Loss, Lachian Caunt and Colby
Dubato. Cody Christenson set the fast time of 10.565, beating the 10.585
of Gauge Garcia. Key and Steele won the eight lap heat races.
Austin
Stone won the 30 lap Wingless Micro Sprint Main Event. This was the
first win of the season for the current point leader as he maintains a
23 point advantage over Austin Torgerson after seven races. Brian
Gilbert led a lap before Dominic Gorden went motoring by. Brody Graham
was an early third, but Stone slipped past him on Lap 5. On the 19th
lap, Gilbert and Gorden tangled for a yellow flag. Stone moved into the
lead on the restart ahead of Graham and Dawson Faria, and they finished
in that order, followed by Brandt Twitty, Eli Bookout, Brad Hohlbauch,
Hayden Lusk, Gilbert and Gorden. Gilbert set the fast time of 11.214,
beating the 11.301 of Twitty. Graham and Hohlbauch were the eight lap
heat race winners.
Teagan Moles won the 25 lap
Restricted Micro Main Event. This was her first win of the year, and she
is the sixth different winner in seven races. Moles charged into the
lead at the start ahead of Colton Key and Cash Lovenburg. They ran in
that order until Key saw his race come to an end on Lap 20. At that
point, Moles led Lovenburg and Taylor Mayhew, and they finished in that
order with point leader Jett Barnes fourth, followed by Kennzzie Brown,
Drake Carter, Jayden Huppert and Key.
Caden
Stoll 20 won the 25 lap Super Stock Main Event. He becomes the sixth
different winner in seven races. Stoll led from the outset ahead of
Jarrett Rodgers and Evan Dixon. Stoll would beat Rogers by about a
straightaway at the checkered flag with Dixon third ahead of Dominic
Carter, point leader Mattix Salmon, Wyatt Bookout, Dustin Jones and
Dalton Parreira.
Nathan Ward won the 20 lap
Junior Sprint Main Event. This was the sixth win of the season for the
runaway point leader. Ward started on the pole and led from the outset
ahead of Braxon Vasconcellos and Brysen Roush. Vasconcellos wasn't too
far behind Ward, but he was no match for him in the end as he settled
for second. Roush ended up third ahead of Blayden Graham, Jace Meyers
and Casey Leal. Ward set the fast time of 13.522, beating the 13.657 of
Vasconcellos. Ward won the eight lap heat race.
The five Micro Sprint divisions will be back in action on Friday, September 3rd. For further information, go to www.plazaparkraceway.com.
Merced Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 20
Ed Parker Memorial Night 1
IMCA Modifieds
Bobby Hogge IV
D.J. Shannon
Robby Sawyer
Jim Pettit II
Darrell Hughes II
Rick Diaz
Trevor Fitz
Matthew Hagio
Ryan Porter
Mike Shepherd
Bob Williamson
Ricky Childress Jr
Dylan Schriner
Robby Jeppesen
Derek Nance
Ricky Thatcher
Gary Marsh
Jerry Flippo
Cody Burke
Bill Vieselmeyer DNS
IMCA Sport Modifieds
A Main
Jason Nation
Chase Thomas
Fred Ryland
Tyler Bannister
Ryan Smith
Jason Bannister
Gavin Espino
Andrew Pearce
Chuck Weir
Jeremy Hoff
Cody Parker
Trevor Clymens
Richard Ragsdale
Riley Jeppesen
Jacob Mallet Jr
Mark Squadrito
Scott Foster
Jarrod Mounce
Joe Salvi
Tony Peffer
B Main
Jacob Mallet Jr
Scott Foster
Riley Jeppesen
Tony Peffer
Jonathan Hagio
Kodie Dean
Monty Tomlinson DNS
Hobby Stocks
Dylan Wilson
Syd Finn
Chad Ragsdale
Domossie Scoggins
Timmy Crews
Steve Stone
Race Shelton
Derek Ogden
Donald Hiser
Dakota Keldsen
Gary Hanson
Anglea Brown
Allen Neal
Stephen Johason
Luis Lopez
IMCA Stock Car
Chad Johnson
Rob Gallaher
Steven Johnson
Loren DeArmond
Cody Johnson
Mark Morton
Austin VanHoff
Michael Shearer
Joe Gallaher
Renn Bane
Larry Thompson
Nicholas Johnson
Steve Streeter
DJ Keldsen
Jeff Streeter
Cody Brown
Rick Diaz
Ocean Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 20
Key Kick Off Race
Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo
A Main
Ryan Robinson
Jake Andreotti
Justin Sanders
Bud Kaeding
Kurt Nelson
J.J. Ringo
Mitchell Faccinto
Dominic Scelzi
Keith Day Jr
Steven Kent
Travis Labat
Mark Chaves Jr
Zane Blanchard
Bryce Eames
Michael Pombo
Jeremy Chisum
Chris Nelson
Connor Danell
Joey Ancona
Bret Barney
Colby Johnson
Kaleb Montgomery
B Main
Kaleb Montgomery
Dominic Scelzi
Bryce Eames
Connor Danell
Burt Foland Jr
Koen Shaw
Greg Decaires V
Travis Coelho
Jacob Pacheco
Glenn Bryan
Richard Fajardo
Rickey Sanders DNS
B Main 2
Colby Johnson
Michael Pombo
Bret Barney
Ashlyn Rodriguez
Bradley Dillard
Josh Chisum
Jason Chisum
Jacob Tuttle
Brody Fuson
Jessie Attard DNS
Nick Ringo DNS
Hobby Stocks
Norm Ayers
Adriane Frost
Jerry Skelton
Steve Remde
Ryan Muller
South Bay Dwarf Cars
Results are not official
1 #14E Tommy Velasquez III
2 #31N Dylan Shrum
3 #00B Joe Barket
4 #74B Punky Pires
5 #88DD Travis Day
6 #66B Mark Biscardi
7 #69 Eddy Claessen
8 #26N Dan Zuger
9 #17E Nick Diani
10 #25 Kenneth Smith
11 #42 Keith Costas
12 #10B Barry Waddell
13 #99E Charles Jones
14 #57 Kieran Costas
15 #83E Bradley McNair
16 #23B Mack Aceves
Silver Dollar Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 20
Tyler Wolf Memorial
Winged 360 Sprints
A Main
Andy Forsberg
Kyle Hirst
Chase Majdic
Andy Gregg
Kalib Henry
Michael Faccinto
Blake Carrick
Joel Myers Jr
Brent Bjork
Brad Bumgarner
John Michael Bunch
Michael Ing
Stephen Ingraham
Jake Haulot
Shane Hopkins
Colby Wiesz
Angelo Cornet
Nick Larsen
Billy Wallace
Brian McGahan
Dustin Freitas
Casey Schmitz
Max Mittry
Tanner Carrick
B Main
John Michael Bunch
Nick Larsen
Dustin Freitas
Shane Hopkins
Dylan Bloomfield
Drake Standley
Anissa Curtice
Braedon Enos
Josh Wiesz
Wyatt Brown
John Sullivan
Korey Lovell
Carson Hall
IMCA Sport Modifieds
Phillip Shelby
Tyler Rodgers
Matt Micheli
Brian Cooper
Buddy Olschowka
Mike Merritt
Mike Ficklin
Scott Savell
Jimmy Ford
David Larabee
Shaun Merritt
Michael Helwig
Hobby Stocks
Jacob Johnson
Maurice Merrill
Zach Lindgren
B.J. Martin
Colin Ferguson
Toby Merrifield
Matt Rivera
Sean Hulsey
Kyle Cheney
Robert Warf
Brian Cooper
Street Stocks
Richard Brace Jr
Richard Vander Ploeg
Bill Hall
Gary Newman
Lyle Hopper
Brent Lawrence
Jeff Olschowka
Jerry Bartlett DNS
Leif Berglund DNS
Plaza Park Raceway Unofficial Race Results August 20
Super 600
Cody Key
Caeden Steele
Jake Hagopian
Mariah Ede
Dominic Gorden
Mattix Salmon
Chris Martin
JJ Loss
Lachlan Caunt
Dominic Carter
Colby Dubato
Cole Schroeder
Paul Javaux
Gauge Garcia
Cody Christensen DNS
Non Wing
Austin Stone
Broedy Graham
Dawson Faria
Brandt Twitty
Eli Bookout
Brad Hohlbauch
Hayden Lusk
Brian Gilbert
Dominic Gorden
Restricted
Teagen Moles
Cash Lovenburg
Taylor Mayhew
Jett Barnes
Kennzzie Brown
Drake Carter
Jayden Huppert
Colton Key
Super Stock
Caden Stoll
Jarrett Rogers
Evan Dixon
Dominic Carter
Mattix Salmon
Wyatt Bookout
Dustin Jones
Dalton Parreira
Junior Sprint
Nathan Ward
Braxon Vasconcellos
Brycen Roush
Blayden Graham
Jace Meyers
Kasey Leal
Deming Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 20
Super 600
1 #39K Kaitlyn Hammer
2 #22R Ryley Mayer
3 #11h Parker Hadlock
4 #11c Colin Mackey
5 #88w Jayden Whitney
6 #78P Spencer Constance
7 #78 Haley Constance
8 #13c Tyler Conley
9 #22D Dakota Drake
10 #29 Levi Kuntz
11 #23R Dylan Resch
12 #70 Macie Logsdon
13 #21Z Keira Zylstra
14 #54 Billy Coates
15 #11J Angela Stone
16 #15H Travis Hart
17 #23x Xan Miller
1200 Mini Sprints
Results are not official
1 #6 Jared Gundersen
2 #10D Dakota Drake
3 #17 Derek Holmwood
4 #10L Brock Lemley
5 #30 Terry Lewis
6 #9 Clennon Holloway
7 #10J Tyson Lemley
8 #6H Haylee Bloodgood
9 #11m Bill McMeekin
10 #5 Alex Lewis
11 #76e Austin Edson
12 #7 Dick Williams
13 #92 Seth Hespe
Restricted 600
A Main
Results are not official
1 #22 Peyton Drake
2 #5A Cejay Adkins
3 #3D Destry Miller
4 #24L Levi Hillier
5 #21c Corbin Ramsey
6 #71 Kane VanSickle
7 #29 Levi Kuntz
8 #7o Axel Oudman
9 #48z Zoey Tupper
10 #4D Diane Knutzen
11 #14c Carson Guffie
12 #40J Rylee Kentch
13 #54 Ryan Bright
14 #59M Mallory Fisher
15 #66 Fairah Lee
16 #91 Grace Matier
B Main
Results are not official
1 #40J Rylee Kentch
2 #48z Zoey Tupper
3 #91 Grace Matier
4 #54 Ryan Bright
5 #115 Avery Askvig
6 #52w Jeff Woolsey
7 #40 Cruz Kentch
8 #12 Samantha Fraser
Focus Midgets
Results are not official
1 #24 Nick Evans
2 #32m Jake Munn
3 #5C Chris Foster
4 #95 Jesse Munn
5 #17 Kyle Hanson
6 #90H Brian Holmkvist
Jr Sprints
Results are not official
1 #78 Brooklyn Constance
2 #21c Clayton Jalakas
3 #68 McKenna Morgan
4 #20d Dustin Ramsey
5 #3 Avery Askvig
6 #23 Jayce Medcalf
7 #67 Oliver Kairis
8 #88 Sawyer Baxter
9 #77 Brody Cooley
10 #5W Chase Whitney
11 #17 Oliver Baxter
Ed Parker Memorial Night 1
IMCA Modifieds
Bobby Hogge IV
D.J. Shannon
Robby Sawyer
Jim Pettit II
Darrell Hughes II
Rick Diaz
Trevor Fitz
Matthew Hagio
Ryan Porter
Mike Shepherd
Bob Williamson
Ricky Childress Jr
Dylan Schriner
Robby Jeppesen
Derek Nance
Ricky Thatcher
Gary Marsh
Jerry Flippo
Cody Burke
Bill Vieselmeyer DNS
IMCA Sport Modifieds
A Main
Jason Nation
Chase Thomas
Fred Ryland
Tyler Bannister
Ryan Smith
Jason Bannister
Gavin Espino
Andrew Pearce
Chuck Weir
Jeremy Hoff
Cody Parker
Trevor Clymens
Richard Ragsdale
Riley Jeppesen
Jacob Mallet Jr
Mark Squadrito
Scott Foster
Jarrod Mounce
Joe Salvi
Tony Peffer
B Main
Jacob Mallet Jr
Scott Foster
Riley Jeppesen
Tony Peffer
Jonathan Hagio
Kodie Dean
Monty Tomlinson DNS
Hobby Stocks
Dylan Wilson
Syd Finn
Chad Ragsdale
Domossie Scoggins
Timmy Crews
Steve Stone
Race Shelton
Derek Ogden
Donald Hiser
Dakota Keldsen
Gary Hanson
Anglea Brown
Allen Neal
Stephen Johason
Luis Lopez
IMCA Stock Car
Chad Johnson
Rob Gallaher
Steven Johnson
Loren DeArmond
Cody Johnson
Mark Morton
Austin VanHoff
Michael Shearer
Joe Gallaher
Renn Bane
Larry Thompson
Nicholas Johnson
Steve Streeter
DJ Keldsen
Jeff Streeter
Cody Brown
Rick Diaz
Ocean Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 20
Key Kick Off Race
Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo
A Main
Ryan Robinson
Jake Andreotti
Justin Sanders
Bud Kaeding
Kurt Nelson
J.J. Ringo
Mitchell Faccinto
Dominic Scelzi
Keith Day Jr
Steven Kent
Travis Labat
Mark Chaves Jr
Zane Blanchard
Bryce Eames
Michael Pombo
Jeremy Chisum
Chris Nelson
Connor Danell
Joey Ancona
Bret Barney
Colby Johnson
Kaleb Montgomery
B Main
Kaleb Montgomery
Dominic Scelzi
Bryce Eames
Connor Danell
Burt Foland Jr
Koen Shaw
Greg Decaires V
Travis Coelho
Jacob Pacheco
Glenn Bryan
Richard Fajardo
Rickey Sanders DNS
B Main 2
Colby Johnson
Michael Pombo
Bret Barney
Ashlyn Rodriguez
Bradley Dillard
Josh Chisum
Jason Chisum
Jacob Tuttle
Brody Fuson
Jessie Attard DNS
Nick Ringo DNS
Hobby Stocks
Norm Ayers
Adriane Frost
Jerry Skelton
Steve Remde
Ryan Muller
South Bay Dwarf Cars
Results are not official
1 #14E Tommy Velasquez III
2 #31N Dylan Shrum
3 #00B Joe Barket
4 #74B Punky Pires
5 #88DD Travis Day
6 #66B Mark Biscardi
7 #69 Eddy Claessen
8 #26N Dan Zuger
9 #17E Nick Diani
10 #25 Kenneth Smith
11 #42 Keith Costas
12 #10B Barry Waddell
13 #99E Charles Jones
14 #57 Kieran Costas
15 #83E Bradley McNair
16 #23B Mack Aceves
Silver Dollar Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 20
Tyler Wolf Memorial
Winged 360 Sprints
A Main
Andy Forsberg
Kyle Hirst
Chase Majdic
Andy Gregg
Kalib Henry
Michael Faccinto
Blake Carrick
Joel Myers Jr
Brent Bjork
Brad Bumgarner
John Michael Bunch
Michael Ing
Stephen Ingraham
Jake Haulot
Shane Hopkins
Colby Wiesz
Angelo Cornet
Nick Larsen
Billy Wallace
Brian McGahan
Dustin Freitas
Casey Schmitz
Max Mittry
Tanner Carrick
B Main
John Michael Bunch
Nick Larsen
Dustin Freitas
Shane Hopkins
Dylan Bloomfield
Drake Standley
Anissa Curtice
Braedon Enos
Josh Wiesz
Wyatt Brown
John Sullivan
Korey Lovell
Carson Hall
IMCA Sport Modifieds
Phillip Shelby
Tyler Rodgers
Matt Micheli
Brian Cooper
Buddy Olschowka
Mike Merritt
Mike Ficklin
Scott Savell
Jimmy Ford
David Larabee
Shaun Merritt
Michael Helwig
Hobby Stocks
Jacob Johnson
Maurice Merrill
Zach Lindgren
B.J. Martin
Colin Ferguson
Toby Merrifield
Matt Rivera
Sean Hulsey
Kyle Cheney
Robert Warf
Brian Cooper
Street Stocks
Richard Brace Jr
Richard Vander Ploeg
Bill Hall
Gary Newman
Lyle Hopper
Brent Lawrence
Jeff Olschowka
Jerry Bartlett DNS
Leif Berglund DNS
Plaza Park Raceway Unofficial Race Results August 20
Super 600
Cody Key
Caeden Steele
Jake Hagopian
Mariah Ede
Dominic Gorden
Mattix Salmon
Chris Martin
JJ Loss
Lachlan Caunt
Dominic Carter
Colby Dubato
Cole Schroeder
Paul Javaux
Gauge Garcia
Cody Christensen DNS
Non Wing
Austin Stone
Broedy Graham
Dawson Faria
Brandt Twitty
Eli Bookout
Brad Hohlbauch
Hayden Lusk
Brian Gilbert
Dominic Gorden
Restricted
Teagen Moles
Cash Lovenburg
Taylor Mayhew
Jett Barnes
Kennzzie Brown
Drake Carter
Jayden Huppert
Colton Key
Super Stock
Caden Stoll
Jarrett Rogers
Evan Dixon
Dominic Carter
Mattix Salmon
Wyatt Bookout
Dustin Jones
Dalton Parreira
Junior Sprint
Nathan Ward
Braxon Vasconcellos
Brycen Roush
Blayden Graham
Jace Meyers
Kasey Leal
Deming Speedway Unofficial Race Results August 20
Super 600
1 #39K Kaitlyn Hammer
2 #22R Ryley Mayer
3 #11h Parker Hadlock
4 #11c Colin Mackey
5 #88w Jayden Whitney
6 #78P Spencer Constance
7 #78 Haley Constance
8 #13c Tyler Conley
9 #22D Dakota Drake
10 #29 Levi Kuntz
11 #23R Dylan Resch
12 #70 Macie Logsdon
13 #21Z Keira Zylstra
14 #54 Billy Coates
15 #11J Angela Stone
16 #15H Travis Hart
17 #23x Xan Miller
1200 Mini Sprints
Results are not official
1 #6 Jared Gundersen
2 #10D Dakota Drake
3 #17 Derek Holmwood
4 #10L Brock Lemley
5 #30 Terry Lewis
6 #9 Clennon Holloway
7 #10J Tyson Lemley
8 #6H Haylee Bloodgood
9 #11m Bill McMeekin
10 #5 Alex Lewis
11 #76e Austin Edson
12 #7 Dick Williams
13 #92 Seth Hespe
Restricted 600
A Main
Results are not official
1 #22 Peyton Drake
2 #5A Cejay Adkins
3 #3D Destry Miller
4 #24L Levi Hillier
5 #21c Corbin Ramsey
6 #71 Kane VanSickle
7 #29 Levi Kuntz
8 #7o Axel Oudman
9 #48z Zoey Tupper
10 #4D Diane Knutzen
11 #14c Carson Guffie
12 #40J Rylee Kentch
13 #54 Ryan Bright
14 #59M Mallory Fisher
15 #66 Fairah Lee
16 #91 Grace Matier
B Main
Results are not official
1 #40J Rylee Kentch
2 #48z Zoey Tupper
3 #91 Grace Matier
4 #54 Ryan Bright
5 #115 Avery Askvig
6 #52w Jeff Woolsey
7 #40 Cruz Kentch
8 #12 Samantha Fraser
Focus Midgets
Results are not official
1 #24 Nick Evans
2 #32m Jake Munn
3 #5C Chris Foster
4 #95 Jesse Munn
5 #17 Kyle Hanson
6 #90H Brian Holmkvist
Jr Sprints
Results are not official
1 #78 Brooklyn Constance
2 #21c Clayton Jalakas
3 #68 McKenna Morgan
4 #20d Dustin Ramsey
5 #3 Avery Askvig
6 #23 Jayce Medcalf
7 #67 Oliver Kairis
8 #88 Sawyer Baxter
9 #77 Brody Cooley
10 #5W Chase Whitney
11 #17 Oliver Baxter
The Editor's Viewpoint
I'm
going to open this column with a little bit of talk about arena Hornet
Mini Stock racing. It's really interesting to see how much this actually
happens across the country on rodeo arena size tracks. I've cited the
things that have happened in California at the Alameda Fairgrounds with
the Figure 8 and the oval racing in the Salinas area. There is some
potential for a Fair Time tour of some kind or creating a series.
However, the thought I have here is a little bit different and can
incorporate racing heritage with this little event
Some
people may know that at one time Clovis, California had Clovis
Speedway. I'm not as well versed on the history of that track. There was
actually another race track down in that area in Selma called Selma
Speedway. I'm less familiar with the history of that track, but it did
revert back to farm land. Nothing was ever built on top of it. It's
interesting to note that the property Clovis Speedway was on never got
built over. It was next to a school. What did happen is it became a
Rodeo Grounds, which I'll get into here in a minute with the crazy idea I
have.
They've been doing something in Clovis
for a few years now called the Clovis Motorsports Hall of Fame. I know
the Legends of Kearney Bowl are part of that. It happens this weekend,
but not at the Rodeo Grounds. They will gather at the nearby Treasure
Ingmire Park to induct Marshall Sargent and Dewayne Woodward into the
Hall of Fame. Some of the Legends of Kearney Bowl guys will bring their
cars to put them on display, which is something they love to do. Any
opportunity to show off these beautiful machines.
I'm
not sure how many people down in Clovis know about their motorsports
history, and maybe some don't care. A few might be interested to know
more of the history, but they aren't even aware that these guys are
gathering at the park this Saturday and doing what they're doing. This
is where my crazy thought comes in, and I know you face a long, uphill
struggle when trying to convince horse people to allow you to do what
I'm going to suggest.
One argument I
understand is they have their arena set up the way they want it, and any
disturbance in the surface can affect the rodeos. However, these days
it's one day's work for somebody who is skilled in tractor equipment to
move the dirt around and fix it up exactly the way they would like it.
This has me thinking that this gathering of old timers should be
happening at the site of the old race track. That track will probably
never come back again, and horse enthusiasts love their rodeos. I'm
thinking of what we used to do back in the day, but in reverse.
As
it grew in popularity, auto racing took over many of the fairgrounds,
and the rodeo arena would have to wait for that one weekend during the
fair to take over. Everything would be moved around and the cowboys and
cowgirls out there would do their thing. This was never my thing. My dad
and I headed for Petaluma Speedway when they had a rodeo at the Antioch
Fairgrounds. However, I respect that rodeos are something near and dear
to the hearts of those who love them. What I'm proposing is one weekend
where they allow car enthusiasts to take over the rodeo arena in
Clovis.
They have the space to do what I'd
like to see them do there. They have the arena, and they have seating,
concessions and that sort of thing for fans. What I would propose is
bringing the Clovis Motorsports Hall of Fame event to the Rodeo Grounds.
They can set up whatever is needed before the races and have the
barbecue, presentations and all of that stuff. Later in the evening,
these guys can actually do a parade lap, not at speed, around the little
oval track that would be created for just this occasion.
The
farmers in the Salinas area have been doing something pretty cool for a
few years now. The Farmers 500. They've used both the Salinas Rodeo
Grounds and the King City Fairgrounds. These are basically tiny ovals. I
saw footage of a Main Event at King City, and it was still very
entertaining. What the farmers do is raise money for a certain
agricultural charity. Half the money goes to the cause, and the other
half goes to the winner of the show. I don't know that I would
necessarily want to make it winner take all, but taking half of the
proceeds to donate to an agricultural cause is fine by me.
This
will also send a message to the rodeo enthusiasts that you are
respecting what they do. You are simply looking to borrow their facility
for a weekend when not in use by them, and you're keen on the idea of
leaving it the way you found it when the weekend is over. When I say
weekend, it may not necessarily be two days of racing, but spending the
weekend setting it up and taking it down and having the event itself.
You're selling them on the idea that you won't ruin the place, and
you'll also donate money to the cause.
Obviously,
there are farmers in the Salinas area who have these Mini Stock cars
that they only drag out for the Farmers 500. It might be a good idea to
approach them first to let them run the oval portion of the program. The
oval portion? Am I talking about more? Yes I am. I'd love for the
farmers to do what they do, and there is a certain way they do it. Not
just anybody gets to race under their leadership. You reserve your spot,
and there are only so many spots. They don't want monkey business out
there. It's tight confines, and they want racers to be respectful of
each other. Because of their experience in running a race like this, I
wouldn't mind having them oversee that race.
In
absence of that, or if they didn't want to participate, I'd still push
for an oval. I'd still be tempted to use the idea of a 50/50 split of
the prize money to charity and the racers. Only, I might not make it
winner-take-all if I did it. There are other racers on the track.
Considering these things can actually add up very quickly, you might be
splitting $5,000 or $6,000, and I can assure you that you don't have to
give the winner $2,500 or $3,000 to give them a good payout. Even $1,000
with others getting paid is good money. You also don't need 30 cars to
have a show as you are probably only going to start 10 in the Main Event
and people will have to earn their spots.
The
other part of the program would be what we end the night with. It would
be a Mini Stock Figure 8. How the program would go would be dependent
upon entries for this. I could take the first 8 or 10 people who sign up
and close the entry list at that point. I could run a full program. Or I
could take the entries and split them up between multiple Main Events
so that everybody gets to run. The idea would be the Hornet Mini Stock
oval and Figure 8, raising money for charity, honoring Clovis racing
history with the Hall of Fame ceremony and giving the people of Clovis
some motorsports entertainment.
I understand
motorsports purists might bristle at this proposal, even if somebody
were able to get the approval of the rodeo people to allow it to happen.
This isn't real racing, right? It depends on how you look at it. If
racing in the form we know it is never coming back to Clovis again and
you can give them this, do you do it? If you can honor the heritage of
Clovis racing and introduce a new generation to the excitement, is it
worthwhile? I don't know that anything will ever come of this idea, but
looking at the property that is still there, there's not a doubt in my
mind it could work. It just comes down to the desire to make it a
reality.
What I'm thinking is since Clovis
isn't necessarily that far away from Salinas, something could be
attempted here with the same guys who do the little oval in Salinas. The
Porterville guys have shown an inclination to run Figure 8, and Clovis
is a lot closer than Alameda for them the last time I checked. The other
wild card in this thing is the West Coast Sport Compact group, headed
up by Dan Myrick. This would be a unique, one time event. Even if I
could do more there, I don't think I'd pursue it.
What
I'm after is the unique experience. Doing something other than the
rodeos and bringing out race cars. You could have clippings on display
for people to read about the past of Clovis racing. Any historical books
that the authors might want to sell there. Legends willing to give
autographs. Just a night of respecting the history. We'd also have some
space set up to put the old Legends of Kearney Bowl Super Modifieds and
even some California Hardtops on display. Hornet Mini Stocks would work
on a location like this as has been demonstrated in the past. If we
didn't want to close with a Figure 8, we could do a Destruction Derby
afterwards and really go out with a bang.
Alternatively,
if it was a two-race weekend, we could do the oval stuff and the Hall
of Fame ceremony and Parade of Legends on the first night and do a
Figure 8 and Destruction Derby to close the action the next night. This
would also be an opportunity to raise even more money for the
agricultural charity and give the people some motorsports to enjoy. I
think when it comes to the arena racing idea, it all comes down to how
you want to present it to the people. I believe in the series idea, but
sometimes one shot events like this just make a lot more sense.
In
any case, what the Legends of Kearney Bowl guys are doing with the
Clovis Motorsports Hall of Fame thing at the nearby park is a pretty
cool deal. I don't know who all is in, although I'm aware that legendary
announcer/pr guy Kenny Takeuchi was inducted a few years back.
Gathering at the park is a cool idea. It's a nice scenery and all. On
the other hand, gathering at a place like this makes it even more
possible for others who enjoy history to attend or people who might not
be aware of the racing history at that location and want to learn more.
This
isn't arena racing related, but it is related in the sense of race
tracks and rodeos getting along. One of the most fascinating bits of
racing history to me is that of Eastern Oregon. I think it's because
there's almost no details that I can find about much of what happens in
racing there, but there have been several tracks. Other than Hermiston, I
don't recall even reading very much on the other tracks on that side of
Northeastern Oregon. Hermiston always seemed to have somebody putting
the word out.
The area I'm fascinated with
centers around La Grande, Baker City and Elgin. It's not an
insignificant bit of history we're talking about between these three
tracks. I would say continuous racing happened in at least one of those
areas from the 1980s all the way until about 2007 from what I can see. I
have done some digging and uncovered Pleasant Valley Speedway history
at Baker City. The track is still for sale and could be reopened,
although you're going to have to deal with a bunch of rules that are set
for the place by the county.
A good racing
supporter from the Antioch area named Lance Cline moved to Baker City.
When I made a few visits to the Antioch Fairgrounds in 2006 and was
talking to people in the parking lot, I bumped into Lance. He was in the
process of moving, and a lot of what he was telling me didn't register.
He was relocating there and was involved on some level with the track.
I'm not sure that Lance even wants to be involved in motorsports these
days, but if there were an effort to revive racing in that area, he'd be
the first person I would call upon for his insights on how to do it.
It
seems to me there was some overlap between the Elgin Outlaw Speedway
and Pleasant Valley Speedway. As I said, I've uncovered about two years
worth of information from Baker City, but I have virtually nothing to
work with when it comes to Elgin. I'm trying to track down some on the
history of the track that was open for about a decade. I recently saw
pictures attributed to Elgin, but I was disappointed to find out that
those pictures were actually taken at Madras Speedway. This included
Sprint Car and Late Model racing, but to my knowledge they didn't run
either class at the small track in Elgin.
I
know a little bit about that, because Mike McCann related the story of
what he tried to do when he was promoting Sunset Speedway. He was
creating the Intermountain Sprint Car Series, and he was going to work
with Madras Speedway and Elgin Outlaw Speedway. He even booked dates at
both venues, but he was surprised when he went to Elgin and realized the
track might not be quite big enough for what he had in mind. I don't
know if they ever ran Sprint Cars at Elgin, but I'd sure like to find
out. I have very few details that can go into an article in the future.
At
one time, there was a bigger track at the Elgin Stampede Rodeo Grounds.
What I don't know is whether they ran cars or ran horses on it, but it
looks to have been at least a half-mile oval. The rodeo arena came next,
but there was still some space to the north of it for a race track.
This is where the racing organization came into play. The Elgin Outlaws
worked out a deal with the board of the rodeo and were able to start
holding races. This happened around 1995 or so from what I can tell, and
it ran continuously through 2007.
It kind of
makes me sad to think of the history that was made at that track. I'm
aware there might not have been big car counts, but I'm sure they had
some good moments through the years. They had people winning exciting
races, champions were crowned and that sort of stuff. There's no
evidence of any of that except that the small oval track is still
obvious from the satellite pictures. When you go to Historical Aerials,
it becomes even more defined as you go back a few years. It was a small
track, but they ran Street Stocks, Hobby Stocks and Mini Stocks there
and had fun. It meant something to the people who went there.
I
know there's a bit of a rivalry between horse enthusiasts and
automobile enthusiasts. I don't want to get into why that is, but when
the horse people become entrenched at county or city fairgrounds
location, you're not going to make much headway in getting automobile
races, even if there's plenty of space to do it. They might tolerate a
Destruction Derby in the arena, but even that can be iffy. You might
have better luck going after a tractor pull event as rodeo people seem
to like that sort of stuff. What's interesting is there happens to be a
few fairgrounds locations on the West Coast that might be right for a
racing person to come in and build a track.
What
ended up happening was the rodeo people were complaining that they
didn't have enough space for parking. Of course, they looked at that
track and figured out the solution. Racing needed to be removed, and the
board voted unanimously to do it. The racing people didn't have a say
in this deal. They had to accept the decision and like it, but the nice
thing was the board claimed that they would put a good word in for
racing at another location if asked. The article on the subject was sort
of friendly in the way both sides talked, but I can imagine the
disappointment within the racing community.
When
I look at the location and see that the track hasn't been complexity
leveled and parking clearly defined, and we're talking over a decade
later, it begs the question. Could they have reached a compromise where
the track could have been used for Rodeo parking? Granted, things might
have needed to be moved around, but couldn't they have at least looked
into that?
Nothing was mentioned in the
article, so maybe it was discussed and declined? Maybe nothing was
discussed and the vote was just taken and the racing people just had to
accept it? I'd love to know what was said at that point, because it
seems to me that the track could still be there to this day and used for
parking when it came to any big rodeo events.
The
problem you get is when people don't want to compromise. The horse
people want it all their way and the racing people want it all their
way. I've seen plenty of proof in different cases where either side went
way too far and screwed up the whole deal.
There
was an effort to build another race track and they even got approval to
do so. Unfortunately, when it came to setting up a permanent concession
stand and having a pond at this particular location, there were people
who didn't want to compromise on anything. It meant that the Elgin
Outlaws wouldn't have that as a place to relocate to, and the dirt track
racing community in Eastern Oregon pretty much saw their last racing
opportunity end when the Baker City track closed not long after Elgin
closed.
Elgin Outlaw Speedway inspires me. It
may be because so little is out there about the track. It's kind of a
small track, but they ran there for a long time. I've discovered that
there were several tracks in Oregon that were kind of primitive, and
this was one of them. To the people who were there, it didn't matter. It
was still a fun place to go on a Saturday night, and I'm sure many fond
memories were made. This is a history I will continue to look into, and
if I'm able to bring anything to light in a future article or for
inclusion in a book that I may put together in the future, you can bet
that I will do it for them.
It seems like
lately I don't have any game plan for how and when I write posts. I am
writing this on a late Monday night and this is for another Viewpoint
column, not the one that will accompany the big Saturday night racing
coverage post. For a little while today, I was entertaining posting this
Viewpoint column with a couple of race reviews and putting up a Tuesday
post with just a few articles. I have decided that this particular
column would go nicely with Friday night coverage in a Saturday
afternoon post. As my previous column was long enough and I heard a
couple more things, I'm going to comment on them here.
Mike
Slaney has posted some thought-provoking things on Facebook in recent
weeks, and he was remarking about tracks booking over each other in a
Monday post. Slaney didn't specify what tracks he was talking about, so
everybody was speculating. One promoter chimed in to defend himself.
Slaney was quick to point out that he didn't blame any track. I have a
few thoughts on the whole track unity thing that Mike was talking about.
In
theory, track unity is a good thing. It means that tracks with certain
divisions try to share those cars with other tracks so that those tracks
can have big shows. You have to consider a few things here. We used to
have a bit of unity back in the 1980s and beforehand, but there was a
factor in making that happen. These tracks were all part of the
NASCAR/Barkhimer family. The powers that be had a vested interest in
making sure every track got big shows during the year and drivers could
travel without losing out in points at their own tracks. Alas, the
Barkhimer tracks are now run by different promoters with different
agendas.
I was once a staunch track unity guy,
and I still believe in tracks working together. What I have come to
understand more since returning to racing in 2015 is tracks do have to
look out for themselves first. You can want to work with other tracks,
but if you don't have your own roster of cars, you're no good to anybody
else. You're not even good to your own fan base, who isn't watching a
very good show due to your low car count. Promoters don't always book
certain divisions on top of other track's shows as a way to screw them.
Sometimes they aren't paying attention to what other tracks are doing
and need that particular division to fill a spot that night.
It's
unfair to ask tracks to keep certain divisions dark on their own
schedule for too many dates. It's getting to the point where some people
seem to expect that the IMCA Modifieds, for example, shouldn't be
running at any track if somebody is trying to have a big show. That's
not only unfair, but it's unreasonable. The best you can hope for is you
might have a half-dozen or so tracks that want to run one or two big
races during the year. Maybe you can expect the other tracks to stay
dark on your biggest race night so that you can get as many cars as
possible. Maybe.
You can keep the division dark
at your home track so that your guys can go to that big show, but
there's another reality to consider. Not everybody wants to tow down the
road two hours to that big show. If you give your locals that option, a
lot of teams just stay home and do something with the family. They
might run the local track if that were an option, but they're not
traveling down the road. I don't think tracks can book 22 or 24 races
for any division and have any reasonable expectation that the car count
will hold up. You go much more than 12 to 14 races in that division at
your track, and your car count suffers.
There
are certain teams that mark all of the big races wherever they may be on
their calendar, and they intend to be there. They want to run locally
if it's an option, but if they have to make that choice too many times,
they head down the road. It's a tough balance. I do get what Mike was
saying, and I've been on that side of the fence before. I want other
tracks to work with each other, and I look at some tracks and wonder why
they constantly book on top of other people's big shows. I don't know
what track Mike was talking about. I would love to have a good
conversation with him, because I think we might be on a similar
wavelength about some things.
Last week, you
had a Merced IMCA Modified race going against a Petaluma IMCA Modified
race, and it doesn't seem like Mike would be bothered by that. Merced
needed to book something, and it was time for a Modified race. I get
that Petaluma was paying a little bit more money, because Rick Faeth has
figured out that he needs to send a strong message that he's committed
to having IMCA Modifieds. I don't believe this particular bit of booking
was an issue. It likely had to do with what's happening this Saturday.
Petaluma
Speedway was the place where Dirt Modifieds came out to the West Coast
for the first time in 1987. In the mid-1990s, the Top Dog Nationals was
established, and this was a huge race for the division. It went away for
several years, but Rick revived it a few years ago to give the guys a
big show. For the last couple of years, somebody has been booked on top
of the race, preventing a bigger show. I can only assume Slaney wasn't
happy to see that. Petaluma had a blowout event set for this Saturday
with the Johnny Soares Classic for the Hunt Wingless Sprint Series and
the Top Dog Nationals for the IMCA Modifieds. The purse for both
divisions is very good.
In June, Merced was
going to do the two-day Ed Parker Memorial race but then the weather got
very hot. Doug Lockwood didn't want everybody to be out there roasting
their butts off for two nights of racing, so he decided to reschedule. I
don't know how much looking he did at other schedules, and I think
people tend to forget Petaluma exists sometimes. I don't think booking
on top of Petaluma was an intentional move on Doug's part, but rather an
opportunity to run a show and get guys to come from Antioch and
Bakersfield, where the divisions he is running aren't running.
At
some point, you look at distance and realize that it's not going to
make a difference. Petaluma should get support from the locals, and in
theory they'll get Antioch guys who don't want to go to Merced and maybe
a Watsonville or guy or two who might not travel to Merced. Everybody
else will be at Merced, where the car count should be huge. Petaluma
won't get a B Main, but would that have happened even if Merced wasn't
running the Ed Parker Memorial? At the risk of sounding negative, I
highly doubt it.
A thought occurs regarding the
Top Dog Nationals at Petaluma. I do believe that Faeth has been a
little bit vague about what this race really is. If he wants other
tracks to take notice of the weekend on which he has this race booked
and would like them to cut him some slack, he needs to put the word out
very early that the Top Dog Nationals is his biggest IMCA Modified race
of the year. He needs to give a ballpark figure of what he intends to
pay or even put the intended purse out as early as possible. At least
that way, tracks will know that Petaluma has the weekend booked and can
avoid it if they want to be nice about it. For the record, Saturday's
show pays $2,000 to win, $1,000 for second and a minimum of $200 to
start.
Even when you get promoters to make
agreements prior to the season, things change. Circumstances come up
during the year where you have to adjust your schedule and move things
around. This is what happened to Merced Speedway. It was more a need to
find a new weekend for one of the track's biggest races than it was to
stick it to somebody else. I think it would be nice for Petaluma
Speedway to be a part of the alliance, but I stick to my strong belief
that Petaluma and Antioch Speedway should be doing more to work together
as there's a bigger chance of some back and forth in multiple divisions
between the two tracks. That's a case where cooperation between tracks
would benefit both tracks in very meaningful ways.
In
looking at the Limited Sprint Week of Speed deal in Oregon, I think
it's unfortunate that something was lost in the communication between
ISCS leadership and Southern Oregon Speedway. You can even look at the
ISCS Facebook page, where they advertised that Medford was the first
race for Week Of Speed. Sometime between that advertisement and the
actual race, they decided this wouldn't be a point race. Then again, the
different Speedweeks in Oregon are kind of promoted by the seat of the
promoter's pants and leave people to guess what's what sometimes.
I
am liking the idea of just taking the July WST Winged 360 Sprint Car
Speedweek and letting the ISCS Limited Sprints run in support. One
argument against the idea is that you think the Limited Sprint guys
would just run with the 360s all week, but they won't. If you did this,
you might get 15-20 Limited Sprints as a support class to what you have
in the Winged 360 Sprints, and then you give the fans two divisions of
Sprint Cars and more of a reason to want to watch the whole week. Dwarf
Car purse requirements aren't as high, and you have enough cars in the
state of Oregon that they can sustain a reasonable number all week if
they were included.
I think three Speedweeks
for Oregon is too many, and you dilute the product too much. Unless the
Limited Sprint numbers can increase at the tracks that have them on a
regular basis, they may not have enough cars in the long run too justify
a Speedweek for the class. The other news flash is we don't have to
have a Speedweek for every division. You can try other types of series
where each track involved might actually have a chance to do better and
not be stuck with a race during the week. You know, a five or six track
series that happens on weekends at the various venues?
What
I did like seeing from Week Of Speed was the strong Washington support
that came out for the occasion. Since Grays Harbor Speedway gets a pair
of races to wrap up the week, it's nice to see those drivers taking an
active interest in supporting the cause. The seven drivers from
Washington who made it to Coos Bay matched the total of Cottage Grove
regulars. Honestly, if there had been stronger support from Medford and
Cottage Grove guys, they would have needed a B Main, but the numbers
aren't there at the moment. The other thing that impacts this deal is
Coos Bay no longer has a Sprint Car class to draw from.
I
recognize that Coos Bay Speedway is a NASCAR track and Drake Nelson
doesn't have the same commitment to keep the division alive as Chuck
Prather did. Chuck actually invested his own money to field most of
those cars and finally decided to divest of those cars. Nelson would
rather focus on making the NASCAR deal stronger and dabbling in the
Modified classes than keep any sort of regular Sprint Car division in
the rotation. Plus, he seems more content to book a few series races and
let somebody else worry about promoting them. I can't fault him for
that, but I was disappointed when he pulled the plug on the track's
Sprint Car division.
Since I mentioned Coos Bay
Speedway, they are coming up on the annual Street Stock Battle At The
Beach on August 28th. Originally, Drake Nelson booked this as a showcase
event for the Iron Giant Street Stocks against his local guys, and car
count swelled to over 30 cars at one point. The Iron Giants are kind of
in limbo these days, but Coos Bay is having somewhat of a renaissance
with their class. I don't want to say the numbers are spectacular there.
They have been able to reach double digits on multiple occasions, and
Nelson is giving them this showcase race.
It's
being billed for $750 to win, and sponsorship has moved second place up
to $500. It's not the purse that they had when they first launched this
race, but it's not bad. My colleague Daren Ricks Campbell is a
photographer and PR guy for the track, and he's taken on this Street
Stock race as a cause. I've got to say Daren has lots of enthusiasm and
wants to do more.
Given the time frame he had,
he's jumped in and done what he can. I've been saying all along that he
can be a major asset for any race track, because what he does on social
media makes a huge difference. I'm happy to hear that it seems like
Drake is working more with him this year, and maybe he's finally
starting to see what Campbell can do for him.
My
thinking is they would have moderate success. Cottage Grove isn't
running, and some of those guys like to go to Coos Bay. I figured 14 -16
cars might be a possibility, but it's looking like it could be even
better than that. I'm not going to jinx it by putting a number on it,
but this could end up being one of the more successful races that Coos
Bay Speedway has had this year. I have to give a nod and a tip of the
hat to Daren for his work in making this race even better, and it's nice
that Nelson has even acknowledged his involvement with this race.
I
am not exactly sure how everything was initiated, but the Cascade
Wingless Sprint Car Challenge race was revived at Southern Oregon
Speedway. This is the second of the big races that Mike McCann
established that remains on the track's schedule. I was aware that a
Wingless Sprint race had been scheduled on September 25th, but details
have been vague throughout the first half of the year. It turns out the
Wingless Sprint Series made an announcement in late July that brought
more of this to light.
According to the
Oregon-based Wingless Sprint association, Mark Herz has come on board to
be the big sponsor, and they are again paying $3,500 to win. Once Ted
Finkenbinder heard this, he made arrangements with Geoff Ensign to come
back to the West Coast to defend his race championship. I find it
amusing that after the previous three wins this team has had, they
always pose for the Marlboro Man type of photo with cigarettes and beer.
Maybe that's not PC, but I get a chuckle out of it.
Evidently,
the WSS has put their blessing on this race, which I find interesting. I
don't want to get into a long and drawn out thing, but the reason
Wingless Sprint racing ever took hold in Oregon was because of McCann,
who brought them to Sunset Speedway when he was promoting the place and
also created the Oregon Double Shot Series with Wingless Sprints and
Midgets. The negativity and backstabbing from within the group killed
the Midget effort, and some of the parties involved with the WSS also
did their best to undermine things.
I don't
want to get into it much further here, and the Wingless Sprint thing
happens because of the people running the WSS these days. However, when
McCann got Southern Oregon Speedway, he hoped that bygones would be
bygones and the group might come down south for a race or two. They knew
pretty good and well that he was serious about it and would promote the
effort, but nobody could put negative feelings in the past and endorse
it as a group. A few from within the ranks came down to support the
show, but it never got the blessing it should have for being the biggest
Wingless Sprint race on the West Coast.
My
guess might be that Mark Herz himself was interested in sponsoring this
race. After the last race we had in August of 2019, and I'm talking a
matter of minutes, Mark basically said he wanted to sponsor it again. I
appreciate all that Mark does to support Wingless Sprint racing and
Micro Sprint racing in Oregon. He's a busy man, and he doesn't get to go
racing as much as he would like. However, he sponsors multiple races
for the Sprint Cars and the Micro Sprints, and that's a positive
contribution in keeping these efforts going.
However
this race got revived, I'm glad that it did. I don't think Oregon has
enough Wingless Sprint racing, and I think it's a way to strengthen
injected 360 Sprint racing in the state. The WSS may be late to the
Southern Oregon Speedway party, but at least they finally got there. I
don't know what management might throw in there in support, but I hope
they add a little bit to this to make it that much more enticing. I know
the Wingless Sprints will put on a good show.
There
are so many leaks in the bucket that is Southern Oregon Speedway, maybe
pitching ideas like the one I'm about to are a waste of time. I felt
like we were on the cusp of something when we had the third Wingless
Sprint Car show in 2019. The racing was good, the car count was up and
the people seemed to respond to it better than ever before.
I
give Mike McCann credit for pushing for more Wingless Sprint racing in
Oregon, and it's probably because of him that we have what we have in
the state now. I give a nod to the WSS for doing what they do. Mike and I
had discussions about Wingless Sprint racing in Medford, and he said it
couldn't happen because people wanted their wings.
The
other thing was we were getting a Mike McCann who was closer to the end
of his career. I can tell you things that he did and even invested
money into that he didn't pull the trigger on. In the end, he was making
things work the best he could with what the track had, but he related
to me that 10 years ago he would have invested in two or three Sprint
Cars to get the ball rolling. Mike has done that with other divisions in
the past to get them established, so I know he wasn't BSing me. Just
having four or six cars out there to start with gets the ball rolling
and momentum is established.
Me being the
Wingless Spec Sprint person I am, I even pitched the idea of what could
happen in Medford with that class. We're talking self-starting,
carbureted Sprint Cars. It was on my blog, but Medford people read it
and thought this was something the track was going to do. There was a
little bit of panic, and all I was doing was engaging in a little bit of
speculation and fantasy booking. Yeah, I know that sometimes when we
speculate like this things can actually happen, but I really didn't
think it was going to happen. Mike said we had what we had, and we were
going with the Limited Sprint deal. So be it.
The
track has the opportunity to keep Sprint Car racing going and redefine
what it is. As the Limited Sprint movement has some growing issues, I am
concerned about whether it will continue. There's also a higher price
tag for this class due to the way it had been promoted and built to what
it has become. If the track were to entertain the possibility of doing
Wingless Sprint racing, they could adjust the purse. Putting more
emphasis on the money to start and maybe not as big to win, could they
get a half-dozen drivers to start this deal? As it is, I wonder if
Sprint Car racing will survive in Medford much longer.
I
still think Wingless Spec Sprint racing would work there. We're talking
about taking a Sprint Car chassis and essentially using the motor you
might run in a Street Stock or IMCA Sport Modified for this class. It
makes it a bit more affordable, and the results of what happened in
California over the last two decades speak for themselves.
Mike,
of course would have done it with injected 360s and welcome the
carbureted cars if they wanted to come, which is what he did to try to
ignite something in Orland when he ran the place. I don't really agree
with him in that philosophy as I think injected cars and carbureted cars
are their own deal, and injected guys generally have the advantage.
I
wouldn't speculate on what Medford would do here, but I doubt anything
will come of it other than this big race. Truthfully, I've had this
thought in recent days about Spec Sprints and where the division is
going. We're getting to a point now where their not worried about having
starters.
It depresses me to see them push
the cars out on the track to get pushed started. I don't like knowing
that they're talking about changing the rules so much that these aren't
Spec Sprints anymore. In much the same way we've recycled the IMCA
Modified concept into IMCA Sport Modifieds, I wonder if something can be
done to bring Spec Sprints back down to the little guy again?
Shoot,
we might be talking about Wingless Econo Sprints here, and when John
Soares attempted to turn the Spec Sprints into that at Antioch Speedway
in 2015, it disgusted me. I mean, I was never going to call them Econo
Sprints. The name sucks. I get the idea behind it, and all John was
trying to do was take the money out of it and bring it back to the
little guy. Car count was cut in half overnight as drivers suddenly
found out they were illegal to run. Maybe this wasn't the best move.
They say you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube or whatever, and
that might be the case. Spec Sprints are going to become what they are.
This
is probably a conversation I need to have with my friend Don O'Keefe,
whom I worked with to establish Spec Sprints way back in August of 1998.
I see us losing Spec Sprints as they once were, and the haves are going
to gravitate to whatever it becomes. The have nots, and by have not I
mean financially, will end up parked.
There's
always been an abundance of Sprint Car chassis, and that's not going to
change anytime soon. I just wonder if something can be done to bring it
back to the more affordable class it was meant to be. I could see the
numbers rising quickly and people who thought they might not get to run a
Sprint Car jumping into these cars, which is what the Spec Sprints have
offered through the years.
This inevitably
happens in racing. A division starts, it grows, people push the rules,
rules get changed, it becomes more expensive and the division prices
itself out of existence. The Sportsman division of the 60s and 70s
changed rules around 1975, and slowly the car counts dwindled until 1981
was the last season. Stock Cars evolved from their Early Model Stock
Car beginnings to Late Model Stock Cars in the 1980s. Eventually, they
priced themselves out of the existence, and the baton was passed to the
IMCA Modifieds.
For all the talk IMCA has made
through the years about how economical they are, they priced this class
up to a point where people didn't want to run them anymore. The IMCA
Modifieds are still here, but the IMCA Sport Modifieds were brought into
existence as a way to keep these cars out on the track. This is the
only time I can remember in racing history when the cycle didn't see a
division completely disappear. There's no end in site to the Modified
class, and I strongly suspect they'll have an Economy Modified division
if they feel it's needed. Tracks on the West Coast will jump in one by
one.
It seems like by the time you get to
Winged 360 Sprint Cars, people already know they're spending money and
are okay with that. The roster is still strong there. There are a few
ideas on an economical class, such as Crate Sprints and 305 Sprints, but
nothing is catching on. People just build cars and run the Winged 360
Sprints if that's what they want.
What was
nice about Wingless Spec Sprints was it wasn't trying to compete with
that. They took the wing off, made it about driveability and
affordability and the results spoke for themselves. The fact that it's
become more expensive and people are being priced out is nothing new to
the sport. It happens to every division.
The
Wingless Spec Sprints will eventually be Wingless 360 Sprints, whether
that happens in a year or five years. However, the idea behind the Spec
Sprints is still valid and worthwhile. You might not be able to change
the current evolution, but could it be time to create something new with
a different name but the same ideals that got the thing fired up back
in 1999?
I believe it could. You can go back
to basics. Drivers could run within budget, and promoters wouldn't
necessarily go broke trying to promote the class. Whether something like
this will ever happen is hard to say, but I thought I'd put it out
there for consideration. When they eventually turn this into an injected
class, I hate the idea that what was there before will completely be
wiped away when it was always a viable idea. It's only when people got
in there and started messing with the rules that it got screwed up.
I
think I'll only make a couple of brief observations on Friday night
racing. There were a few races I was keeping an eye on, but one thing
that popped out to me was how we had big Winged 360 Sprint Car shows
going head to head between Chico and Watsonville. This was the Key
Kickoff night at Watsonville, and they drew 39 Winged 360 Sprint Cars
for the occasion. There were another 35 Sprint Cars at Chico, which was
really cool to see. There are enough Sprint Cars out there that both
tracks showed how possible it is to have two strong turnouts on the same
night.
I didn't think there was going to be
any flinching there. Both tracks needed the shows. For Chico, it's
already an abbreviated schedule as it is, and this one was the Tyler
Wolf Memorial. Watsonville has the Johnny Key Classic on Saturday, but
they like making this a double header weekend for the class. As it was,
management wanted to run the IMCA Modifieds on Friday and initially
announced that that was going to be the case. However, once the Ed
Parker Memorial race was moved to August 20th and 21st at Merced
Speedway, John Prentice once again did the right thing and avoided the
conflict.
Watsonville still kept the Hobby
Stocks on the schedule, and I know there were a few guys who wanted to
go down to Merced and did so. As I mentioned above, you can cooperate
with other tracks, but sometimes you have to have something to fill your
schedule. The Dwarf Cars were already booked as a support class, and
they delivered 16 cars. That made for a good show for them, but the
third division was lacking.
There weren't too
many other options they could have done without conflicting with Merced,
but the Mini Stocks were available. At the time the track was making
adjustments to this date, the Mini Stocks were only bringing a
half-dozen cars, so Prentice may not have thought he'd get much help
there either. Scheduling can be difficult when you try to fill the needs
of your track and work with others.
The
takeaway was it was still a good night for Watsonville with over 60
total cars and a super turnout of Sprint Cars. Onward to Saturday. The
show should be even better. I think the WMR Midgets will deliver a
double digit turnout, but I do wonder how this is going to affect the
BCRA Midget show that Antioch has planned. It's going to come down to
tracks deciding to go with the WMR Midgets and maybe avoiding BCRA
entirely unless the long standing organization can get their act
together. It will come down to what Mike McCluney wants to do with the
WMR Midgets, but I'm thinking he'll remember that Watsonville and
Ventura have been with him from the start and book accordingly next
year.
I can't really complain about
Watsonville. When you get a division that can bring 40 cars, you only
need one somewhat decent support class, which the South Bay Dwarf Cars
clearly were. For Silver Dollar Speedway, they needed something good for
the regular group. They've got the Louis Vermeil Classic and Gold Cup
coming up in September, but this was a time for the regular classes to
shine. The Winged 360 Sprint Cars were clearly the stars of the show,
but they had over 30 cars combined for the Street Stocks, IMCA Sport
Modifieds and Hobby Stocks. The Street Stock turnout was the lowest of
the three with nine cars, but it was a good show overall. They did their
best to keep it going.
As for Merced Speedway,
this wasn't the big blowout we've been getting from the track in recent
years, but the numbers are down across the board at most tracks. The
fact that they delivered just a tick under 80 total cars was a positive.
The IMCA Sport Modifieds had enough cars for a B Main, and the IMCA
Modifieds checked in at 20 cars. The IMCA Stock Cars had 17 as we still
wait for the first California track to hit the magic 20 mark with this
class. The Hobby Stocks had just as many. This was a regular purse
night, but there's a little bit more money on the line for Saturday.
Still a solid turnout across the board there, and I have to think that
Ed would have been pleased with what happened.
I
was monitoring Deming Speedway in real time, and the track really kept
the program moving. The Restricted 600 class had enough cars for a B
Main, and the Super 600s were flirting with that number. They had a full
field of Mini Sprints. The Focus Midget class had lower numbers for
this occasion, but it was a good race. The kids in the Junior Sprint
class had the most exciting finish as point leader Brooklyn Constance
took the win away from Clayton Jalakas with a last lap pass. The fans
saw some good racing and got out of there at a decent time. I wasn't
monitoring Plaza Park Speedway in real time, but they also got the show
done swiftly. The Super 600s had the best car count, but a couple of the
classes were just a bit lighter than hoped.
I think it's about time to wrap this up, so that's all for now. Until next time...
