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Merced Speedway Announces Exciting 2020 Schedule

Merced, CA...We didn't even get confirmation that S&S Promotions would be promoting Merced Speedway until early in 2019, but General Manager Doug Lockwood wasted little time announcing what turned out to be a great schedule for the year. Though the track de-emphasized some of the popular memorial races that have been on the schedule in previous seasons, Lockwood took some steps to give Merced Speedway some of its biggest open-wheel shows ever. The 2020 season will offer more of that and then some.

Fans of the core divisions that have been featured at the track in recent years need not worry. IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks, Valley Sportsman and California Sharp Mini Late Models will all be making regular appearances throughout the 2020 season. An interesting adjustment to the schedule sees the IMCA RaceSaver 305 Sprint Cars and the IMCA Stock Cars both appearing five and four times, respectively. With IMCA requiring a minimum of four races for a division to receive championship status, this means Merced will be crowning four IMCA division champions in 2020. 

As if to remind everybody that he means business when he says he wants Merced Speedway to be a destination for big Sprint Car events, Lockwood secured an ASCS National Sprint Car race to open the season on March 6th. This follows two practice sessions scheduled for February 22nd and 27th. Last season, Lockwood had to cancel some early season dates and practices due to the track improvements not being ready, but optimism is high that everything will go on as scheduled as long as the weather cooperates. 

Also making appearances will be the Hunt Wingless Spec Sprints on May 16th, the Elk Grove Ford Sprint Car Challenge Tour on August 1st and the USAC/CRA 410 Sprint Car race on September 4th. The Hunt Wingless Spec Sprints will return for a second visit on September 12th. The growing RaceSaver Sprint Car effort gets visits on March 28th, April 18th, May 9th, June 27th and August 22nd. The BCRA Midget Lites will appear on May 2nd and June 27th, While the USAC Midgets visit on April 11th and May 30th.

The popular IMCA Modifieds have now appeared on the schedule for over 30 seasons at Merced Speedway, which was also the first track in California to add the IMCA Sport Modified class. Both divisions will be competing at Merced at least a dozen times each. The Highway 99 Series will continue between both Merced and Bakersfield. Each track will host two events each in the series that offers extra prize money. Merced's dates will be June 20th and September 19th. June 20th will also be the Annual Ed Parker Memorial race. This huge event will include the two Modified classes along with Hobby Stocks and Mini Stocks. After being absent from the series schedule last year, the June 20th race will also be an All Star IMCA Modified Series event. The October 23rd and 24th season close out event will be remembering both John Fore Jr and Bob Smith. Smith was a racer and longtime sponsor of the track who passed away this past August. It's possible that Merced will create other bigger paying events for either Modified class at some point during the season as was the case this past season.

The addition of the IMCA Stock Car division does not impact the popular Hobby Stock division, which like the Mini Stocks will continue to be featured prominently on the schedule throughout the year. IMCA Stock Cars will visit on May 9th, June 27th, August 1st and August 22nd. the Hobby Stocks are likely to see some extra money events during the season, which includes their portion of the John Fore Jr/Bob Smith Memorial Dirt Nationals on October 23rd and 24th. Both Hobby Stocks and Mini Stocks were added to that program two years ago. As an added bonus that is sure to increase the Mini Stock field, the House of JuJu Central Valley Mini Stock Series will be visiting on May 2nd and June 27th.

Added to the roster three years ago, the California Sharp Mini Late Models get several visits for their third championship season. This division was brought into existence as a way to bring some of the young Micro Sprint and Outlaw Kart racers onto the bigger track. it's also possible that Lockwood will pencil in at least one Micro Sprint division visit at some point during the season. 

The track continues its commitment to the Central Valley Sportsman division, which was added to the roster in 1999. This division is a throwback to the popular division that was once featured at Merced during the 1960s and 1970s. This class had been a part of the popular Legends Night program that honors some of the greats from the past, but currently there is no date on the calendar for Legends Night.

Merced Speedway will continue to host special events throughout the year, including the third annual visit of the Western States Dwarf Car Association Dwarf Car Nationals on April 3rd and 4th. The Malicious Monster Truck Tour comes to town on April 24th and 25th, and the track again hosts a Destruction Derby on June 11th during the annual Merced County Fair. All of these attractions and more will highlight what is sure to be an exciting 2020 season. This will also be the 70th Anniversary season for the speedway.

Excitement is already building up for the coming year, which will include the 2019 Merced Speedway awards banquet in January. For further information, go to www.mercedspeedway.net.

2020 Merced Speedway Schedule
Sat Feb 22- Practice from 12-4 pm
Thur Feb 27- Practice from 5-9 pm
Fri Mar 6- Season opener Lucas Oil ASCS National Sprint cars, IMCA Sportmods, Mini Late models
Sat Mar 14- IMCA Mods, IMCA Sportmods, Mini Stocks, Bay area Dwarfs
Sat Mar 21- Dark
Sat Mar 28- Racesaver Sprints, Hobby stocks, Mini Stocks, Mini Late Models
Fri Apr 3- DWARF NATIONALS, IMCA Mods, Mini late models
Sat Apr 4- DWARF NATIONALS, IMCA Mods, Mini Stocks, Sportsman
Sat Apr 11- Easter Spectacular- USAC Midgets, IMCA Sportmods, Hobby Stocks, Mini Latemodels
Sat Apr 18- Racesaver Sprints, IMCA Mods, IMCA Sportmods, Hobby Stocks
Fri Apr 24- Malicious Monster Truck Tour
Sat Apr 25- Malicious Monster Truck Tour
Sat May 2-BCRA Midget Lites, Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks with CVMS, Mini Late models, Sportsman
Sat May 9- Racesaver Sprints, IMCA Mods, IMCA Sportmods, IMCA Stocks
Sat May 16- HUNT Wingless Sprints, IMCA Mods, Hobby Stocks, Sportsman
Sat May 23- DARK
Sat May 30- USAC Midgets, IMCA Sportmods, Mini Stocks, Mini Late Models
Sat Jun 6- Dark
Wed Jun 10- FAIR RACE-IMCA Mods, IMCA Sportmods
Thur Jun 11- FAIR Destruction Derby
Sat Jun 13- DARK
Sat Jun 20-ED PARKER MEMORIAL:HWY 99 Series Round 1 IMCA MODS All Star Tour, IMCA Sportmods, Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks
Sat Jun 27- Racesaver Sprints, BCRA Midget Lites, IMCA Stocks, Mini Stocks, Mini Late models
Fri Jul 3- IMCA Mods, IMCA Sportmods, Hobby Stocks, Mini Late Models
Sat Jul 11- Dark
Sat Jul 18- IMCA Mods, Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks, Sportsman
Sat Jul 25- Hobby stocks, Mini stocks with CVMS, Mini late models, sportsman, Bay area Dwarfs
Sat Aug 1- Sprint Car Challenge Tour, IMCA Sportmods, IMCA Stocks
Sat Aug 8- Dark
Sat Aug 15-Dark
Sat Aug 22- Racesaver Sprints, IMCA Mods, IMCA Sportmods, IMCA Stocks
Sat Aug 29-Dark
Fri Sep 4-USAC CRA 410 Sprints, Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks, Mini Latemodels
Sat Sep 12- Hunt Wingless Sprints, Hobby Stocks, Mini Latemodels, Sportsman
Sat Sep 19-Fall Finale HWY99 Series Round 2 IMCA Mods,IMCA Sportmods,Mini Stocks, Sportsman
Fri Oct 23- John Fore and Bob Smith Dirt Nationals Mods, Sportmods, Hobby stocks, Mini Stocks
Sat Oct 24- John Fore and Bob Smith Dirt Nationals Mods, Sportmods, Hobby stocks, Mini Stocks, Mini Latemodels2020 Merced Speedway Schedule
Sat Feb 22- Practice from 12-4 pm
Thur Feb 27- Practice from 5-9 pm
Fri Mar 6- Season opener Lucas Oil ASCS National Sprint cars, IMCA Sportmods, Mini Late models
Sat Mar 14- IMCA Mods, IMCA Sportmods, Mini Stocks, Bay area Dwarfs
Sat Mar 21- Dark
Sat Mar 28- Racesaver Sprints, Hobby stocks, Mini Stocks, Mini Late Models
Fri Apr 3- DWARF NATIONALS, IMCA Mods, Mini late models
Sat Apr 4- DWARF NATIONALS, IMCA Mods, Mini Stocks, Sportsman
Sat Apr 11- Easter Spectacular- USAC Midgets, IMCA Sportmods, Hobby Stocks, Mini Latemodels
Sat Apr 18- Racesaver Sprints, IMCA Mods, IMCA Sportmods, Hobby Stocks
Fri Apr 24- Malicious Monster Truck Tour
Sat Apr 25- Malicious Monster Truck Tour
Sat May 2-BCRA Midget Lites, Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks with CVMS, Mini Late models, Sportsman
Sat May 9- Racesaver Sprints, IMCA Mods, IMCA Sportmods, IMCA Stocks
Sat May 16- HUNT Wingless Sprints, IMCA Mods, Hobby Stocks, Sportsman
Sat May 23- DARK
Sat May 30- USAC Midgets, IMCA Sportmods, Mini Stocks, Mini Late Models
Sat Jun 6- Dark
Wed Jun 10- FAIR RACE-IMCA Mods, IMCA Sportmods
Thur Jun 11- FAIR Destruction Derby
Sat Jun 13- DARK
Sat Jun 20-ED PARKER MEMORIAL:HWY 99 Series Round 1 IMCA MODS All Star Tour, IMCA Sportmods, Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks
Sat Jun 27- Racesaver Sprints, BCRA Midget Lites, IMCA Stocks, Mini Stocks, Mini Late models
Fri Jul 3- IMCA Mods, IMCA Sportmods, Hobby Stocks, Mini Late Models
Sat Jul 11- Dark
Sat Jul 18- IMCA Mods, Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks, Sportsman
Sat Jul 25- Hobby stocks, Mini stocks with CVMS, Mini late models, sportsman, Bay area Dwarfs
Sat Aug 1- Sprint Car Challenge Tour, IMCA Sportmods, IMCA Stocks
Sat Aug 8- Dark
Sat Aug 15-Dark
Sat Aug 22- Racesaver Sprints, IMCA Mods, IMCA Sportmods, IMCA Stocks
Sat Aug 29-Dark
Fri Sep 4-USAC CRA 410 Sprints, Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks, Mini Latemodels
Sat Sep 12- Hunt Wingless Sprints, Hobby Stocks, Mini Latemodels, Sportsman
Sat Sep 19-Fall Finale HWY99 Series Round 2 IMCA Mods,IMCA Sportmods,Mini Stocks, Sportsman
Fri Oct 23- John Fore and Bob Smith Dirt Nationals Mods, Sportmods, Hobby stocks, Mini Stocks
Sat Oct 24- John Fore and Bob Smith Dirt Nationals Mods, Sportmods, Hobby stocks, Mini Stocks, Mini Latemodels

\

New Management, Renewed Focus Makes 
2019 Season A Winner At Merced Speedway

Merced, CA...The Ed Parker reign at Merced Speedway didn't last nearly long enough for the racing community. Halfway through his third season, the popular promoter suffered a heart attack. Parker didn't have a long run at the helm of the 70 year old facility, but in his time he became known as a racer's promoter. Uncertainty rocked the remainder of the 2018 season, but S&S Promotions came in with a plan in 2019 to bring improvements and renewed focus for this season and beyond. They tabbed local boy Doug Lockwood as their General Manager.

Having grown up around the speedway learning from speedway legends such as Doug Williams, Lockwood went on to make a name for himself as an official for several prominent Sprint Car series. He also became known as a mentor for the young up-and-coming drivers of the Outlaw Kart level. Doug had a plan to strengthen the speedway's commitment to its regular classes while offering the fans some marquee open wheel events throughout the course of the season.

Since the early 1990s, the IMCA Modifieds have been the featured division on the quarter-mile clay oval. This division put on some top-notch races on a racing surface that had been reshaped prior to the season to make it even faster than it had been in previous seasons. Four-time Antioch Speedway championship driver Troy Foulger and the man he drove for, Billy Bowers, teamed up to put forth the most dominant effort in the IMCA Modified division. They grabbed a division-leading six victories in 13 starts, only missing the Top 5 twice. With those numbers, the championship was never in doubt for Foulger, who could have skipped the final point race and still won the championship.

Consistency was the key for fourth-generation racer Ryan Porter in wrapping up second in the standings. He was second only to Foulger in Top 5 finishes with seven, and this helped give him second in the standings by 33 points ahead of four-time Merced IMCA Modified champion Ramie Stone. Stone's best efforts included six Top 10 finishes. Rising young star Jesse Burks was a solid fourth in the standings with three Top 5 finishes, while longtime Merced Speedway competitor and past IMCA Modified champion Bob Williamson notched fifth in the standings by 17 points ahead of two-time Merced champion Randy Brown. Williamson had one Top 10 finish among his best efforts.

Brown ran strong early in the season, but he skipped some races. He counted one feature win and five Top 5s among his best efforts, and that gave him a two point advantage over seventh-ranked Cody Burke. Burke is a past Watsonville champion who had three Top 5 finishes in his seven starts. Another multi-time Merced Speedway champion, Paul Stone, ended up eighth in the standings with four Top 5 finishes and one victory. Stone, much like Brown, took himself out of the point battle. Watsonville champion Austin Burke and rising young star DJ Shannon rounded out the Top 10 in the standings. While Burke had one Top 5 finish, Shannon had three wins and five Top 5 finishes.

The other two victories were earned by Bakersfield champion Robby Sawyer and IMCA Nationals winner Ethan Dotson. Notable events included the IMCA Modifieds annual Merced County Fair race, and Shannon picked up the victory in a field of 28 competitors. The Annual Ed Parker Memorial race also had a huge field of 29 racers with Foulger claiming that win. This this was also the first of two Highway 99 Series races with the August win going to Sawyer. They had 24 competitors that night. The John Fore Jr Memorial Dirt Nationals wrapped up the season with wins going to Shannon and Dotson. Fields of 24 and 26 competitors filled the pits for those two races, and car count was strong all season long in the class.

After picking up the championship a couple of seasons ago, Fred Ryland return to IMCA Sport Modified competition to make another run at the honors. The 2015 State of California champion was the most consistent with eight Top 5 finishes and two wins. It still came down to the final race as he held off Kelly Wilkinson by just 10 points to secure the championship. It was a breakout season for Wilkinson, who had two wins and three Top 5s among his best efforts. State champion Guy Ahlwardt trailed Wilkinson by just three markers in the third position. Ahlwardt had two wins and five Top 5 finishes.

Consistency led to Patti Ryland picking up fourth in the standings. She had three Top 5 finishes and held off third-generation racer Nick Tucker by just 12 points to finish fourth in the standings. Tucker had four Top 5 finishes, while past Antioch champion KC Keller had five Top 5s to rank sixth in the final rundown. Chuck Weir was only two points behind Keller with five Top 10 finishes among his best efforts. Second-generation racer Chris Falkenberg had one win and two Top 5s among his best efforts to hold down eighth of the standings by 12 points ahead of previous champion Jeremy Hoff. Hoff had two Top 10 finishes among his best efforts, while Bruce Nelson had two Top 5 finishes in his 10th place season.

Drivers came from everywhere to compete at Merced Speedway, and other winners included Santa Maria champion Kevin Johnson once and Bakersfield Speedway co-champion Michael Johnson twice. Andrew Peckham also had a win. The annual Merced County Fair race was a big night for the Sport Modifieds as they produced a huge 36 car field with Main Event honors going to Michael Johnson. The Ed Parker Memorial race saw a 35 car turnout with Wilkinson grabbing the victory. The second Highway 99 Challenge race went to Michael Johnson as 25 drivers came to compete. The final race of the season, the Annual John Fore Jr Dirt Nationals, saw wins earned by Troy Foulger and Fred Ryland. Nearly 30 competitors were on hand each night.

The battle for the Hobby Stock championship came down to the end of the season between teammates Shannon Nelson and Michael Shearer. Shearer was the 2016 champion, while Nelson is the wife of two-time champion Bruce Nelson. With a pair of wins early on in the season, Shannon Nelson got off to the strongest start. She also led the division with 10 Top 10 finishes, including six Top 5s. Shearer did get a win among his eight Top 5 efforts, but he came up 12 points short in the end behind new champion Shannon Nelson.

Austin Van Hoff had a disastrous start prevent him from being in that battle, but he began to make up ground with his four Top 5s during the second half of the season. He grabbed third by just seven points ahead of consistent rookie Allen Neal. Neal had two Top 5 finishes and matched Nelson with 10 Top 10s in 12 starts. Fifth went to Donnie Shearer, who had one Top 5 finish and seven Top 10s. Rookie Timmy Crews surprised the field with his feature win late in the season as he also had two Top 5s to beat Kristie Shearer by one point for sixth. Shearer had one 5th place finish while eighth-ranked Race Shelton had four Top 10s. Multi-time champion Raul Rodriguez Sr had one win and five Top 5s to finish ninth in the standings ahead of impressive newcomer Domossie Scoggins, who had five Top 5 finishes.

As with the two Modified classes, top drivers visited from everywhere, and Bakersfield's Kevin Irwin scored three wins in his six visits. Dexter Long had an early-season win with multi-time Watsonville champion Billy Nelson and Bakersfield's Buddy Shepherd also getting victories. Among the notable wins was the triumph of Irwin in the Ed Parker Memorial race. There were 25 competitors for that event. The second North vs South Highway 99 Series race was a win for Billy Nelson. John Fore Jr Memorial Dirt Nationals wins went to Irwin and Cody Johnson.

After suffering the heartbreak of losing the closest championship battle at the speedway a year earlier, Lee Ragsdale rebounded in a big way by winning the Mini Stock title. He led the division with 11 Top 5s and 11 top 10s, including one win, giving him a 48 point advantage over Lucy Falkenberg. On the strength of one win and seven Top 5s, Falkenberg held off Jennifer Rodgers by just three points for second. Rodgers had a win and five Top 5s, while rookie Tyler Post held down a close fourth, 20 points behind Falkenberg. Post had a win and four Top 5 finishes, but the fiercest competitor in the field was Shawn DePriest. He had four wins and nine Top 5 finishes to finish fifth in the standings.

Jerry Tubbs had 11 Top 10 finishes to finish a solid sixth ahead of Austin Sprague, who had two Top 5 finishes. Shayla Gould had three Top 5s to finish eighth in the standings. An early-season disqualification eliminated three-time champion Chris Corder, but he still ended up ninth in the standings with two wins and five Top 5 finishes. Watsonville star Dakota Keldsen had two wins and three Top 5s to finish 10th in the final standings. Central Valley Mini Stock champion Dan Myrick had one win and two Top 5 finishes in his two visits.

The California Sharp Mini Late Model division saw reigning champion Timmy Crews turn in a rather dominant performance with seven wins and 12 Top 5 finishes in his 12 starts. Logan Clay was the only driver to keep pace with him. Clay had one win and 12 Top 5s to finish 37 points back in second. Carson Guthrie had a win and 10 Top 5s to finish third by just five points ahead of three-time winner Riley Jeppesen. Jeppesen had seven Top 5s. Kailyn Lopez had five Top 5 finishes to finish fifth in the standings ahead of three- time Top 5 finisher Jeremiah Enriquez. Kennzzie Brown had two Top 5s to finish seventh ahead of Ian Shearer, who had three Top 5 efforts. Bruce Nelson and Rodger Guthrie each had one Top 5 finish to complete the Top 10.

The Valley Sportsman division continues to offer their unique style of racing, which harkens back to the 1960s and 1970s. In his second season in the class, Rick Elliott used three wins and 10 Top 5 finishes to cruise to the championship over previous title winner and Watsonville Hall of Famer Jerry Cecil. Cecil had two wins and six Top 5s. Two-time champion Mike Friesen was third in the standings with six Top 5 finishes, while Dwayne Short grabbed three wins out of six Top 5s to hold onto fourth. Jeff West ended up fifth with three Top 5 finishes. Four-time Top 5 finishers Gary Hildebrand, Eric Seely and Chris Corder finished sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively. Chris Birdsong drove the Rod Poor tribute car to two wins in his only appearances, giving him ninth in the standings ahead of one-time Top 10 finisher Marcus Lung.

The IMCA Western RaceSaver 305 Sprints made two visits with Grant Champlin winning both of those races. Jodie Robinson scored a stunning victory in the Sprint Car Challenge Tour race, which brought 34 360 Sprint Cars to the show. Austin Liggett won the USAC/CRA Sprint Car show and Shawn Jones grabbed the victory in the Hunt Wingless Spec Sprint Series visit. Austin Liggett and Robert Dalby each won a feature race when the USAC Midgets made their appearances. Scott Kinney won the first BCRA Midget Lites visit of the season and Dakota Albright won the second visit, which also featured several competitors from the California Lightning Sprints as this was the Sixth Annual Wayne Albright Memorial event. The Western States Dwarf Car Nationals event had a huge field of competitors from throughout the Western States. Feature victories on the second day went to Shawn Jones in the Pro division, Kevin Bender in the Veteran division and Lonnie Tekaat in the Sportsman class. 

It was by all accounts a successful season for Merced Speedway. Car counts were up in most of the classes, and even the visiting groups generally fielded good numbers. With the momentum that has been established under Lockwood and S&S Promotions, there's no reason to expect that the 2020 season won't be bigger and better.

Final 2019 Merced Speedway Points
IMCA Modifieds
Troy Foulger    425
Ryan Porter    368
Ramie Stone    335
Jesse Burks    309
Bob Williamson    254
Randy Brown    237
Cody Burke    235
Paul Stone    214
Austin Burke    213
D.J. Shannon    202

IMCA Sport Modifieds
Fred Ryland    361
Kelly Wilkinson    351
Guy Ahlwardt    348
Patti Ryland    310
Nick Tucker    298
KC Keller    277
Chuck Weir    275
Chris Falkenberg 248
Jeremy Hoff    236
Bruce Nelson    214

Hobby Stocks
Shannon Nelson    925
Michael Shearer    913
Austin Van Hoff    866
Allen Neal    859
Donnie Shearer    829
Timmy Crews    727
Kristie Shearer    726
Race Shelton    710
Raul Rodriguez Sr 624
Domossie Scoggins 520

Mini Stocks
Lee Ragsdale    1033
Lucy Falkenberg    985
Jennifer Rodgers 982
Tyler Post    965
Shawn DePriest    947
Jerry Tubbs    926
Austin Sprague    691
Shayla Gould    527
Chris Corder    459
Dakota Keldsen    359

Mini Late Models
Timmy Crews    1083
Logan Clay    1046
Carson Guthrie    930
Riley Jeppesen    925
Kaylin Lopez    458
Jeremiah Enriquez 450
Kennzzie Brown    440
Ian Shearer    362
Bruce Nelson    97
Roger Guthrie    90

Valley Sportsman
Rick Elliott    973
Jerry Cecil    828
Mike Freisen    642
Dwayne Short    583
Jeff West    542
Gary Hildebrand    459
Eric Seely    374
Chris Corder    373
Chris Birdsong    200
Marcus Lang    86

Foulger, Peckham, Gonzalez Wins New Year's Race 
At The Stockton Dirt Track

Stockton, CA...January 1...Troy Foulger scored an impressive victory in the special New Year's Day 25 lap Dirt Modified Main Event Wednesday night at the Stockton Dirt Track. The win paid $1,500 to Foulger aboard the Bowers Motorsports entry. This team won last season's Merced Speedway track championship.

Foulger led the opening lap before a red flag waved. Reigning IMCA California State champion Shane DeVolder cartwheel down the front straightaway, leaving a rut on the track that required repair. DeVolder was not injured. Following three straight yellow flags, Foulger continued to set the pace ahead of Nick DeCarlo. A low move in Turn 4 of the 10th lap gained Dylan Thornton second from DeCarlo, and Ryan McDaniel gained third a lap later. Foulger had built a straightaway advantage by then and stayed smooth in the closing laps for the impressive victory. Thornton was a solid second, followed by McDaniel, DeCarlo, Carl Berendsen II, Robby Sawyer, Jeffrey Hudson, Ray Trimble, Terry Kaiser and Paul Gugliemoni.

There were 46 entries for the Dirt Modified portion of the program, and the eight lap heat race wins went to Travis Peery, Bobby Hogge IV, DeVolder, DJ Shannon, Thornton and McDaniel. They ran a pair of 12 lap B Mains. Guglielmoni won the first one ahead of Jessie Bailey and Steve Studebaker. Antioch champion Buddy Kniss won the second B Main ahead of Gatlin Laytham and Shawn DeForest.

Andrew Peckham won the 25 lap Sport Modified Main Event. Peckham had to regain the lead after leading the early laps. Peckham settled into the early lead ahead of Brent Curran and reigning IMCA State champion Guy Alhwardt. An inside pass in Turn 2 of the ninth rap gained Curran the lead. Following a lap 12 yellow flag, a sideways Tommy Fraser was hit by multiple cars on the front stretch for a lap 13 yellow flag as Ahlwardt had taken the lead on that restart. Ahlwardt led Peckham and 2018 Merced champion Jeremy Hoff on the next restart. Peckham ran closely with Ahlwardt until making an outside move in Turn 4 of the 17th lap to grab the lead. Peckham began to pull away just a little bit in the closing laps for the victory. Ahlwardt held on for second ahead of Hoff, Shane DeVolder, last year's Watsonville champion Jarrod Mounce, last year's Merced champion Fred Ryland, Curran, Randy Miller, Tanner Thomas and Reggie Lewis.

There were 29 Sport Modifieds in action, and eight lap heat race wins went to Ryland, Mounce, Ahlwardt and Curran. Cameron Swank let all the way to win the 12 lap B Main ahead of Danny Roe, Lewis, TJ Etchison III and Tommy Clymens Jr.

Jesse Gonzalez won the 20 lap Tri State Challenge Pro Stock Main Event. He pocketed $1,000 for his impressive effort. Antioch Speedway stars Mike Walko and Ryan Cherezian battled fiercely for the lead early on. Gonzalez settled into third on lap four and made an inside pass on the back stretch of the ninth lap to take second from Cherezian.  Gonzalez moved in on Walko rather swiftly and made a low pass in Turn 2 of the 13th lap to take the lead. Walko spun off of the third turn but didn't draw a yellow flag. A yellow flag flew moments later when Dan Smith blew a motor on lap 14. Gonzalez continued to set the pace on the restart and pulled away to the victory. Cherezian finished a solid second ahead of Wayne Coffman, Donny Richardson, Phil Marino, Jerry Stewart, Brent Lawrence, Jeff Olschowka, Dan Smith and Ryan Smith. Eight lap heat race wins went to reigning series champion Mike Learn, Gonzales and Marino.

Clarence Holbrook won the 20 lap Hobby Stock Main Event. Joey Ridgeway set the early pace ahead of Bob Brown, but Holbrook slipped into third by lap four. An inside move on the back stretch of the seventh lap gained Holbrook second, and he began to reel in Ridgeway. A yellow flag on lap nine bunched the field. Ridgeway led Holbrook for two more laps before contact between Holbrook and Ridgeway entering Turn 1 gained Holbrook the lead. Ridgeway began to fade with a flat tire. Zack Thornton settled into second not too far behind Holbrook, and a yellow flag waved on lap 15. Holbrook resumed command on the restart and began to pull away as young Jay Bryant charged into second. As Holbrook picked up the impressive victory, Bryant held off multi-time Antioch Speedway champion Melissa Myers to finish second. James Thomson was a solid fourth, followed by Race Shelton, Ken Bernstein, DJ Keldsen, PJ Pedroncelli, Rich Denman and Michael Shearer. Eight lap heat race wins went to Bernstein, Dave Silva, Les Friend and Keldsen.

Bob Davis won the 20 lap Mini Stock Main Event. Davis is a past Mini Stock star at Petaluma Speedway who has since moved up to the Wingless Spec Sprint class there. He was piloting the car driven by Jeremy Tjensvold to last season's Petaluma championship. The race had a restart after three-time Merced Speedway champion Chris Corder hit a rut in Turn 1 and lost a wheel. 2018 Petaluma champion Tom Brown led three laps before he began to slow with mechanical issues. Gene Glover gained the lead with Davis in close pursuit and the battle began. Close racing down the front straightaway on lap eight saw Davis gain the lead from Glover. However, Glover came back strong in Turn 4 as they worked traffic on lap 11 to regain first. Davis remained in the hunt and made a high pass in Turn 2 of the 14th lap to regain the lead for good. It was close all the way to the checkered flag with Davis prevailing ahead of Glover. Andy Boydstun was a solid third, followed by Trevor Jolley, Kevin Reuter, John Grilli, Roberta Broze, Shawn DePriest, Joe Flowers and Tom Brown. Six lap heat race wins went to Brown, Davis and Glover.

Racing returns on Saturday, January 25th with the Winged 360 Sprint Cars joined by the Dirt Modifieds, Sport Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and Mini Stocks. For further information, go to www.stocktondirttrack.com.

Pit Stops

Diamond Mountain Speedway released their 2020 schedule on New Year's Day. Jeff Olschowka is entering his second year as promoter after rescuing the Lassen County Fairgrounds facility from almost certain closure last year. The IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and Mini Stocks will be the core four divisions once again. They will compete on mostly Saturday night's, with 12 events planned from April 11th through August 28th. The August 28th event will conclude with a second night on August 29th. There are also doubleheaders set for April 24th and 25th and July 3rd and 4th. 

The four primary classes will be on hand for every event. Special nights are sprinkled throughout the entire schedule. The April 24th and 25th doubleheader is an I-80 Challenge Series for the IMCA Modifieds. This series took place between five tracks for 10 dates in Nevada last year, won by Robert Miller. The Northern Nevada Winged Sprint Cars will be a part of that event as well. The Tri State Challenge Pro Stock Series will make a visit on August 15th. There will be an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids during intermission on April 11th, a kids "win a bike night" on June 13th and fireworks on the Saturday portion of the July 3rd and 4th event. The Fair Race on July 19th will include a Destruction Derby. The final point race is August 22nd, but the August 28th and 29th event will be for bigger money. 

Last year's big money show to close the season produced a huge car count. Chris Nieman ended up winning the IMCA Modified championship last year. Richard Longacre, a multi-time Stock Car champion at the speedway, won the IMCA Sport Modified title. The Hobby Stock champion was Jacob Hutson, and Larry Whitebird won another Mini Stock title. Car count was up last season, especially in the IMCA Modified and Sport Modified classes. Optimism is high for an even better season ahead.

Mountain Valley Raceway in Hayfork made the decision to run a New Year's Eve Enduro. With winter weather, even booking the date was a bit of a risk, but somewhat clear skies led to a turnout of 15 competitors. The core three divisions that fans get to enjoy in Hayfork are the Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks and Enduros, and all have rosters capable of producing regular car counts in the high teens or more. A typical Saturday night show will end with the wild and crazy Enduro as drivers compete in all makes and models of race cars. The Enduro division in Hayfork is truly one of the most entertaining and most affordable classes happening on the West Coast as well.

A lineup of racers included such regular stars as Bryan Gummerus, JD Hudman, Kevin Kasper, Richard Stewart, Jack Turner, Kyle Thurman, Carl Roberts, Jeff Drake, Jason Gross and Donny Case. The drivers drew randomly to come up with a four-car field for the Dash For Cash, and Gross ended up scoring the victory in that event. They ran 20 laps with a break before running the final 20 laps. There was also a flagpole off of the front straightaway on the infield. Drivers had to drive around the flagpole in order for a lap to be completed.

It made for some wild and crazy action that entertained the fans. Only a couple of racers were unable to continue for the second half, and Case led the pack at the start of that segment. As drivers fell by the wayside, Case emerged triumphant with Gummerus and Kasper his closest challengers. It was certainly an entertaining program and could be the beginning of a new Hayfork tradition. The new schedule release should be just around the corner and is likely to continue to feature the core three divisions with lots of other interesting things as well.

It was anticipated that a new schedule might be released to coincide with the New Year's Day playday in Marysville. The weather allowed this event to take place once again, 6and drivers made appearances from several different divisions, including Sprint Cars, Limited Late Models, Hobby Stocks, Super Modifieds and Dwarf Cars. Antioch Speedway Late Model point runner-up Rod Oliver was there making laps and Danny LaBonte was among the Hobby Stock drivers practicing. The Koster Super Modifieds were also there.

Several Dwarf Car competitors were making laps including some new drivers. The Wiesz family has been a part of the racing community for three generations, and they have a strong presence in the Dwarf Cars these days. Multi-time Sprint Car champion Colby Wiesz fields a Dwarf Car on occasion along with sons Ben and Josh Wiesz. Daughter Hailey Wiesz made her first laps in a Dwarf Car on Saturday. Dylan Shrum was also making his first laps in a Dwarf Car. Optimism is high for a good season of racing at Marysville Raceway. Scheduling information should be released very soon.

The Editor's Viewpoint

It's a new year and a new decade. It really seems strange sometimes when I think about it. From a fan's standpoint, it was 40 years ago when I watched my first entire season of racing at Antioch Speedway. We didn't miss one. There was a week when it rained Saturday afternoon and I insisted we go to the race track anyway. Dad didn't think they were racing that night, but he was wrong. By then, I think I was probably hooked on being there on any given Saturday night, though it was what happened in 1981 that solidified my desire to be more involved in the sport. Yes, 40 years ago Mike Gustafson was winning a close championship battle with Sam Houston in the Sportsman division, while Joey Rodrigues pretty much dominated the Street Stocks.

On a personal level, I'm not particularly fond of the last decade, but now we're in a new decade. If you'd have told me in 2010 that I would be entering my sixth-straight year of covering the sport, I would have laughed at you. I wasn't thinking about coming back, and I had what amounted to my last significant offer to be involved at Antioch Speedway. I turned it down. Little did I know that John was going to go after Merced Speedway, and the 2010 season could have been me announcing at both Antioch and Merced. Go figure.

There hasn't been a lot to talk on the Antioch front. Everybody knows the rumors, and basically if I were to be putting articles out there or doing any of my audio shows, I would just be speculating. It doesn't do any good to do that. I could tell people the next significant date on the calendar that could lead to us knowing more, but I don't even want to do that. I think it's best for everybody to just sit back and wait and see. I don't think it helps the cause otherwise. People have asked me, and all I can say is get ready for the January 25th Antioch Speedway awards banquet. More should have been revealed by then, and it's a good opportunity to celebrate that we still have a race track in Antioch.

Another reason I've been reluctant to say much is because everything for me isn't set in stone for the coming season. I expect to be involved at a race track, and by extension that means I'm probably going to be blogging somewhat regularly as usual. I have considered opening a Patreon account as a way to help generate any kind of revenue for the work I put into this. I volunteered last year in the hopes of getting some support here and there. Racers stepped up a little bit, but I didn't get a lot of support from race track promoters. Fair enough. I volunteered and didn't have expectations, but I learned a lesson.

I can't continue to punish myself by going through so much stress making deadlines and getting tracks coverage in media outlets in their areas. The Sunday night into Monday morning deadline deal was not fun, so I suspect I'm not going to be doing more than what isn't too difficult to handle. When it comes to all of that, what I can do on my blog will come first. The extras will be decided on a track by track basis. We'll be covering some stuff here on the blog, and what that will be remains to be seen. 

I've decided that I'm doing season reviews from last year and previews for this year for at least six tracks with the possibility of adding another track or two or another association. That doesn't signal any commitment to anything as far as the regular season is concerned. I have a tendency to follow things through to the end, so if I'm writing articles about a track when the season starts, I get a little bit OCD about doing it all the way to the final race of the season.

I don't want to comment too much on the matters discussed in the four articles above. About Merced Speedway, I have debated whether I'll do weekly coverage for them this year due to certain aspects of information not coming to me the way they do for other tracks. Then again, this is Merced Speedway we're talking about, and I have a difficult time letting go of that. Doug Lockwood has done a good job as General Manager of the track. I'm not fond of the fact that certain legacy races have been removed from the schedule, but I think he's done a good job of adding special attractions that will only generate more interest in the speedway, while remaining committed to the regular divisions. 

As of now, Legends Night is not on the schedule. This can be rectified simply by picking one of the dates in late July or sometime in August and calling it Legends Night, so I'll just wait and see what Doug has in mind. I would like to see Merced Speedway begin inducting people into the Hall of Fame there, but I think the ingredient that's missing there is at least one long time supporter of that race track stepping up and starting the process. This is the 70th Anniversary season coming up, and there is a long, long list of potential new members to be honored. For my part, I would be more than happy to serve in an advisory role to help somebody else get it going, but I find my hands are full with Antioch and helping in Medford as well. So, who wants to take the lead on this in Merced? 

The Stockton dirt track has firmly staked their claim on New Year's with another successful show. It was John Soares at Antioch who took his first look at this date in 2015. In two of the next three years, he did the same thing, but he started too late to make it happen in 2016. Furthermore, because of the stuff going on behind the scenes in Antioch prior to last year, he was unable to grab that date. He and Tony Noceti actually spoke before Noceti took over with his first effort in Stockton last year. It looks like the New Year's date now belongs to Stockton after this year. However, clever booking could see a race happen at Antioch on New Year's Eve this year or the 2nd of January next year.

I've been hearing rumblings for a few years about how Tony wanted to establish more of a Stock Car type presence on the dirt track. He's already booking some big Sprint Car races there, which will continue to be the case. However, there seems to be a desire to make that dirt track a destination point for racers and fans. Tony decided to book five divisions this year with Dirt Modifieds headlining along with Sport Modifieds, Pro Stocks, Bombers and Mini Stocks. The result was nearly 140 cars in the pits for the New Year's race. From a car count standpoint and from what I could see in the grandstands, this was a big success. The night had a few hiccups, but overall it was still a winner.

You'll notice that Tony is keeping four of these divisions, minus Pro Stocks, when racing comes back on January 25th. The fact is, these four divisions will be a part of the show four more times by March 28th, if weather holds. The next show will feature winged 360 Sprint Cars as the headliner. It's been asked whether or not championship points are being kept, but this I don't know. I've heard nothing. They certainly have enough shows on the schedule to keep a mini series if they want. I'm sure that when the rest of the schedule is revealed, these divisions will have at least a couple more dates. We'll just have to see what is announced.

Stockton has the potential to be a little bit of a thorn in the rear end of Antioch Speedway if the promoters aren't talking. Antioch is the established program when it comes to the Stock Car side of things, but Stockton has proven that it can lure several racers from Antioch when they book against them. The interesting booking is March 28th when the same five divisions witnessed on New Year's Day are booked at Stockton. I haven't heard any rumblings as far as what Antioch has scheduled that night, but you've got four of its core classes in Stockton. Something's got to give with these two tracks in such close proximity. Could this be a night where Antioch booked a big Sprint Car event? I don't know as all I've heard is a couple of rumors about Antioch's schedule. I have no desire to share any of that at the moment.

I thought it was interesting to see Hayfork successfully pull off a New Year's Eve Enduro. I thought it was crazy for them to try to do something, but it looks like they did it within budget. How much are you paying an Enduro anyway? I don't even know if the winner got a trophy and I didn't see Donny Case posing with a trophy after his victory. I did see that they had 15 competitors, most of them part of their regular Enduro show. By all accounts, this was a win for the Hayfork track.

Jerm Smith has stepped in to help promote this place and has already been in discussions with different groups and promoters. He has more of a presence on social media and is constantly reaching out to racers to invite them to the Trinity County Fairgrounds track. I don't know what is planned for the schedule, but I suspect we'll see one soon. Rumors involve a visit of the Nevada Sprint Car group as they appear to be making a foray into California. They've been booked at Susanville as part of an I-80 show scheduled there in April, so adding Hayfork to the mix is possible. Could Yreka be included in this? I'll get to them in a minute.

The Nevada Sprint Car group is similar to the Crate Sprint group that is featured at Marysville. However, I believe the Crate Sprint class is a division at the track rather than an association. This group races mainly at Marysville but could see dates at Orland and Chico as well. I would think it could benefit both groups if they could support each other a little bit. As the Nevada group is making their foray into California, I would think it would be a smart idea to get some of these Californians further up North for the shows. However, whatever comes out on the schedule in Marysville, Orland and Chico could dictate what does or doesn't happen.

Marysville has been running a New Year's playday for the past several years, and weather seems to be cooperative for them. They pulled it off once again, though I'm not sure how many cars were there. I do find it interesting as we are in the midst of winter that January 1st tends to be a day that doesn't rain. It is cold, but it leaves the door open for other places to try something like a playday or even a race. Am I a fan of the idea? Not really. I think we do need to have an off-season for racers to recuperate. On the other hand, Stockton shows that there are a lot of drivers who want to race. This is something Tom Sagmiller at Chowchilla knew 20 years ago, which is why he began doing it there.

Scheduling is trickling in, and I don't want to comment more on Susanville than what is included up above. I think Jeff Olschowka is on the right track there. I've seen some things with scheduling that disappoint me, and I have to go to Jerry Schram for that. Jerry is the man who owns Willamette, Cottage Grove and Sunset Speedway. For a price, you could own Willamette or Cottage Grove, but he's so ridiculous in how much he wants for it that it is not realistic. Anybody with legitimate money has the brains to know not to do it. It's the people who can get the money that are dangerous, because as we found out with Willamette last year, they will likely fail. Right now, the team in Willamette doesn't even know if they'll be able to race, have a full schedule or a special schedule this year. This has impacted Cottage Grove as Heather has had to wait to find out whether she's leasing the track from Jerry for another year or whether he wants to come in and take over.

At the risk of offending anybody, I think two of the biggest thorns in the ass of Oregon racing are Jerry Schram and Brian Crockett. Crockett has done more damage to Sprint Car racing in Oregon than I care to mention here, and Jerry controls what happens in the state by virtue of having three tracks. He and John Skinner were on the ground floor of creating the very cool IMCA Modified Wild West Speedweek Series. This has become a winner in Oregon, and it has Californians wondering why they don't have a similar series for the class there. You'd have to ask your promoters that. Maybe it's because you can't get those promoters to sit down in a room and agree on much of anything. 

The rumor I had been hearing when we put the last article out last year was that Jerry was looking to move Speedweek to the end of July and early August and was going to drop Coos Bay, Medford and Yreka. A lot of us were scratching her heads and thinking that surely this was an idle threat. However, with the change from Steve Beitler to Bert Johnson at Gray's Harbor, Jerry made good on his threat by making the Elma, Washington track part of the series along with Cottage Grove, Willamette and Sunset. Each track now hosts two dates each as Schram has dictated. Why you would move a series that's been established in mid June for the past several years that several out-of-state drivers circle on their calendar every year, I don't know. I also don't know if this series will overlap the Mike Cecil Memorial race in Watsonville as I haven't seen that schedule yet. 

I have observed Medford Promoter Mike McCann trying to figure out what could be put there in June in place of the Speedweek race. The idea is to continue to have a big IMCA Modified race, although I should point out that I don't know what the final decision is. I do know that Mike reached out to Drake Nelson at Coos Bay and Kevin Barba of Yreka. He actually made phone calls to see how they felt about it. The idea was to do a weekend series for the IMCA Modifieds and Sport Modifieds between the three tracks. Kevin has not attempted to follow up on this, to my disappointment. He obviously sees the track just north of him as an opportunity to get visiting drivers, and why he wouldn't want to do something officially with the guy up north, I don't know.

As for Drake, Mike had a follow-up conversation with him as he intends to keep the Cottonwood Classic date in August for Late Models. He wanted to know when Drake was running the Tidal Wave race to be positive that Medford isn't booked that night and was hoping Drake would extend the same courtesy. What he got from Nelson was that he couldn't guarantee anything. Drake seemed lukewarm at best, and again I'm amazed at that. I would think something could have been worked out. I know that in this day and age each track has to look out for themselves first. I understand why. If you don't keep your own gates open, there's nothing there to work with others. On the other hand, we're talking about one date there, along with the possibility of whatever could have been considered for the IMCA Modifieds. So be it.

What I thought was cool was Mike talking about the possibility of an IMCA Sport Modified Speedweek. I don't see that coming to pass, but he was very receptive to the idea of doing something that went between Medford and Marysville. When you consider that Medford, Chico, Marysville and Yreka have Sport Modifieds and there could be a visit to Orland thrown in there too, seeing 40 Sport Modifieds for something like that is very realistic. We're talking headliners with the same sort of format used for the regular IMCA Modified Speedweek. At some point, somebody's going to pull the trigger on this.

Mike seems to be on an island by himself sometimes, and this is because of the challenge of trusting others that they'll keep their word. As somebody who's been in this game for 40 years now as a promoter, he's had to deal with people saying they would do something and then not. The fact that he would entertain sitting at the table with them at all and working out something new shows that he sees the potential. This isn't the first Speedweek idea I've heard from him as he spoke of a Late Model Speedweek in Oregon a couple of years ago. To me, that would have been a winner. Then again, Oregon now has three different Speedweeks with the Winged 360s, IMCA Modifieds and a combination of Limited Sprints and Dwarf Cars. One thing tracks have a challenge at is trying to get people to attend a race on a Tuesday or Wednesday.

Mike will go ahead with the Cottonwood Classic, but what won't happen is Street Stocks in support. I was relieved to see that the Iron Giant Street Stock division will indeed be on the Memorial Day Weekend schedule at Medford with another race in Yreka. Mike was hoping for a second Street Stock visit in August, but Iron Giant organizers had to drop the idea due to Sunset Speedway having the Jim's Thriftway race that night. Though this is not an Iron Giant race, the group tries to stay dark when tracks are having their big show's so that the Street Stocks can come through big on car count.

The Iron Giant Street Stock Series will be at seven different Oregon tracks, Medford, Coos Bay, Roseburg, Madras, St Helens, Willamette and Sunset. Plus, Yreka and Elma. It's a full schedule. I'm not sure if there could be a Cottage Grove date thrown in there once everything is clear as to what's going on at that track, but the group has released the schedule that they have so far. They continue the great tradition of Street Stock racing in Oregon, and it's something I can definitely get behind. Sunset with new Promoter Jeremy Means at the helm threw some confusion in the air when he renamed their division American Classics. It's been called Street Stocks for 40 years Jeremy. Why the need to reinvent the name? 

There's no getting around the fact that IMCA intends to take over every division that it can on the West Coast. They're pretty much dominating the Modifieds and Sport Modifieds in California and Oregon, and they've got a foot in the door with the IMCA Stock Cars in California and Oregon. Plus, Oregon and California will both have Sport Compacts this season. California also has the RaceSaver Sprint Cars. The IMCA Stock Cars came into Oregon as Jerry Schram's negative reaction to the way he was being spoken to by certain the Street Stock racers. You offended Jerry and he'll come at you. Fair enough. The IMCA Stock Cars got some good sponsorship with Big Sky Landscaping and a point fund last year at Willamette. It is growing, and as that continues to happen, they are a bigger threat to the Street Stock division. 

The Pure Stock division has been a fixture at Sunset Speedway for over two decades. When Mike McCann promoted the place, he talks about that division being his biggest car count with Street Stocks a close second. Last year, the track begin running combined Pure Stock/IMCA Stock Car races, which is basically IMCA giving the drivers a grace period to get their cars legal. Everybody with a Camaro or Firebird race car can now tune their cars up to run Street Stocks or basically give up, unless River City Speedway in St Helens decides to welcome them with open arms.

I suspect Dan Myrick and the Central Valley Mini Stock Association will have a schedule announcement soon.  Dan seems to have taken a more active role in trying to unite rules so that drivers can go to different tracks and know they are legal.  Plus, he is certainly working on better prize money for the racers.  House Of JuJu of Clovis and Morro Bay sponsored this series $5,000 in point fund last season, so please do eat at House Of JuJu if you are nearby.  I'm not sure what the series sponsorship will be this year, but I know Dan and his group are working on something.

Dates at Merced and Hanford have been confirmed, and a visit to Kern Raceway has been hinted at.  Madera has two CVMS visits listed, and one is the California Dream 100 on August 29th.  After the strong showing he witnessed last year, Promoter Kenny Shepherd backed up what he said about doing something big for this class.  I know that other divisions get priority for big shows, but there's nothing wrong with doing big things with this class.  I'm looking forward to what Dan schedules this year.  I'm hoping Lemoore is there for a d6ate or two, but I have no doubt it's going to be a good season for the CVMS.

Moments ahead of the posting of this article, Roy Bain and the Tri State Pro Stock Series released their schedule.  They already opened their season at Stockton with an 18 car field.  Drivers came from all over California, Oregon and Nevada came to compete, and there are good things happening here.  We'll comment more later, but Stockton will get five races for this series.  Medford, Coos Bay, Yreka, Susanville, Cedarville and Fallon are all listed on the 12 race schedule that ends in November at Stockton.  There are lots of announcements still to be made, and the excitement level is building for what is becoming the premiere Pro Stock Tour on the West Coast.

We were saddened to hear of the recent passing of Norm Rapp.  Norm was basically royalty with the BCRA.  He is a Hall Of Famer with the group and raced Midgets and Vintage Midgets with them.  He was also perhaps the most respected parts salesman in the Bay Area for many years.  I guess we have to expect to lose such icons as Rapp and Kenny Tacheuchi.  Both were in their 90's and had lived long and productive lives.  Still, it hurts to say goodbye.  

I don't have a lot to add to that. We're seeing schedules trickle in. There are some big questions in Oregon that remain unanswered, but we'll find out shortly. Down in California, it's the same thing. There are rumors that need to be put to bed, and we need to get down to the business of getting ready to go racing once again. The show will go on, and though times have changed so much in the sport, it endures. Shows like we just saw in Stockton prove just how strong things still are, even if we've certainly seen things at their weakest point at certain venues in recent years.

It's time for me to get into the mode to do more racing material. I don't expect I'm going to go all out just yet, but I need to be working on little things everyday. The articles need to be done, and I'm going to need to start working on things that help the race track that I'm involved with. I hate to be cryptic on certain things right now, but I need to do that a little while longer. As usual, I'll write updates here on the blog, use Twitter or Facebook or whatever means to put word out depending on what's going on at the moment. You'll just have to stay tuned for more, but it's certainly going to be an interesting time.

On that note, I will end this column. Until next time...