Sanders, Pettit Win At Watsonville, California Hardtop Preview, More

 

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Sanders, Pettit, Ryland, Gallaher Are Ocean Speedway Winners

Watsonville, CA...April 2...Justin Sanders won the 30 lap Taco Bravo Sprint Car Main Event Friday night at Ocean Speedway. The second-straight win for the 2015 champion didn't come easy as he had his hands full battling both Chase Majdic and Bud Kaeding before going on to victory.

Majdic put himself in a good position by winning the six lap Trophy Dash ahead of Corey Day and Kurt Nelson. This put Majdic on the pole for the feature race, and he jumped into the lead at the start ahead of Day and Kaeding. Following a yellow flag on Lap 2, Kaeding and Sanders both got around Day for second and third as Majdic continued to lead the way. Kaeding put the moves on Majdic to grab the lead on Lap 5 as the lead trio ran closely. Sanders settled into second a lap later. However, Majdic found his way around Sanders on Lap 11 and surprised Kaeding by taking the lead on Lap 13. Sanders moved back into second Lap 14. On the 17th lap, Sanders and Kaeding both got around Majdic, who had problems and fell back a few positions. The yellow flag flew moments later. Sanders led Kaeding and Day on the restart, and the final yellow flag waved on Lap 20. Sanders motored ahead on the restart. However, Kaeding began to get some momentum in the final few laps. That didn't matter to Sanders, who stayed smooth and picked up the win over the fast closing Kaeding. Corey Day settled for third ahead of Tanner Carrick, Mitchell Faccinto, Tristan Guardino, Kaleb Montgomery, Jodie Robinson, Blake Carrick and Majdic.

There were 35 Taco Bravo Sprint Cars for this occasion. Kaeding turned the Tom Sagmiller prepared quarter-mile clay oval with a Lap of 11.820 to set the fast time. Tanner Carrick was second quick at 11.890. The eight lap heat race wins went to Sanders, Guardino, Nelson and Zane Blanchard. Tanner Carrick found himself in the 12 lap B Main, but he led Mitchell Faccinto at the start. Faccinto took the lead from Carrick on a lap 7 restart, and they ran that way to the checkered flag for the 1-2 finish. Blake Carrick, Max Mittry and Jake Andreotti rounded out the Top 5.

Jim Pettit II won the 25 lap IMCA Modified Main Event. The event struggled to get going with four yellow flags in the first eight laps. Matt Hagio led just one lap before a yellow flag waved. Pettit moved into the lead on the restart ahead of Hagio with Austin Burke settling into third one lap later. The yellow flag flew at that point, and Pettit led Hagio and reigning champion Cody Burke on the next restart. Pettit continued to lead Hagio and Cody Burke on the Lap 6 and Lap 8 restarts. The lead trio ran closely for several laps, and Cody Burke finally slipped past Hagio for second on Lap 20. The final yellow flag waved on Lap 22. However, Pettit again motored ahead on the restart and led the final laps to score the victory. Cody Burke settled for second ahead of Hagio, Andy Obertello, Robert Marsh, Austin Burke, JC Elrod, Steve Streeter, Anthony Slaney and Kyle Bryan. The eight lap heat race wins went to Cody Burke and Hagio.

Fred Ryland won the 20 lap IMCA Sport Modified Main Event. The past Antioch and Merced champion would lead every lap in victory. Ryland led at the start ahead of Tanner Thomas and Dennis Simunovich. Simunovich briefly took second from Tanner Thomas on the fourth lap, but Thomas regained the spot a lap later. The first of four yellow flags waved on Lap 6. Ryland  led Tanner Thomas and Simunovich on the restart, but the pace was slowed again on Lap 8. Ryland maintained the lead over Tanner Thomas and Simunovich on the restart. Despite yellow flags on Laps 14 and 15, Ryland continued to lead the way over Tanner Thomas. The battle was for third in the waning laps as Randy Miller tried to get around Simunovich. However, Simunovich held him off for third as Ryland was the happy winner over Tanner Thomas. Miller settled for fourth, followed by Mark Garner, reigning Antioch champion Trevor Clymens, Darren Thomas, Jim DiGiovanni, Kelly Campanile and Duane Bieser. Ryland and Clymens won the eight lap heat races.

Rob Gallaher won the 20 lap Hobby Stock Main Event. The three-time champion was making his first start after missing last week's show. Past champion Terry Campion led Rob Gallaher and Tony Olivera for two laps before the yellow flag flew. Rob Gallaher took the lead from Campion on the restart as Wally Kennedy briefly gained third, only to surrender the position to reigning champion Joe Gallaher a lap later. Campion kept it close with Rob Gallaher, but the yellow flag unfurled on lap eight. Rob Gallaher led Campion and Joe Gallaher on the restart, but Joe Gallaher put the moves on Campion to take second on Lap 10. Jerry Skelton settled into third on Lap 11 before another yellow flag slowed the pace. It was a battle of the Gallahers on the restart, but Rob continued to lead his father Joe. Yellow flags on Laps 14 and 15 kept it close. However, Rob Gallaher continued to lead the restarts and made no mistakes as he scored the victory ahead of Joe Gallaher. Jerry Skelton was a solid third ahead of Tony Oliveira, Ryan Muller, Norm Ayers, Bobby Gallaher, Quentin Harris, Ken Winland and Campion. The eight lap heat race wins went to Rob Gallaher and Kennedy.

Racing continues next Friday night with the Taco Bravo Sprint Cars, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Hobby Stocks, Four Bangers and the Police N Pursuit cars. For further information, go to www.racepmg.com.

 

California Hardtops Announce 15 Race Dates For 2021

The California Hardtop Association and the Bay Area Hardtop drivers got good news this year. The drivers of these Vintage Coupe and Sedan race cars will get 15 opportunities to showcase their equipment on dirt tracks throughout California. The California Hardtop Association has been around for over a decade, and the Bay Area group was established in 2016. Between the two, there are over 30 race cars in various states of repair, and we've seen over two dozen of them in the past few seasons.

Antioch Speedway will be hosting Hardtops five times during the course of the season. Last year, Antioch provided the Hardtop racers with four events. As some tracks had more difficulty opening, this was the break the drivers were looking for. Furthermore, it was decided between the leadership of the Hardtops and the Valley Sportsman class in Merced to allow the drivers to compete in each group's respective races.

This year, Antioch Speedway will host races on May 22nd, July 31st, August 14th, September 11th and October 9th. October 9th will also be the Annual Chet Thompson Memorial race. This race got its start at Vallejo Speedway in the late 1960s and was held there until the track closed at the end of the 1979 season. It started being held at Antioch in 2016 and has become a cornerstone event for the Northern California effort.

Placerville Speedway has been a popular destination point for the racers, especially those located in the Sacramento area. The quarter-mile oval will be visited by Hardtops on April 24th, June 26th and August 28th. The CHA is in mourning as long time Placerville racer Dennis Armstrong passed away during the off season. Dennis and son Jason Armstrong were both instrumental in getting the Hardtops dates in Placerville, and both were winners there. It is possible that one of these races could be held in Dennis's memory, although we haven't heard any official announcement as of yet.

Also getting three dates is a track that has become more popular with the Hardtop contingent in recent years. Orland Raceway has booked them for May 9th, June 12th and September 25th. Because it does tend to get hot in Orland and the CHA will cancel events the week leading up to a race if the forecast doesn't look good, every effort was made to book the Orland races when heat probably won't be a factor, meaning the drivers have a good chance of taking to the 1/5 mile dirt oval for all three scheduled shows.

Marysville Raceway will be kicking things off on April 17th, and the group will have a return engagement on July 17th. Back on the schedule for the group again this year is Petaluma Speedway. It's the biggest track they will run on at 3/8 mile, and they come to town on August 29th and for the season closer on October 16th. For the drivers looking to get more racing opportunities, they are welcome to compete with the Valley Sportsman division anytime the class is scheduled at Merced Speedway.

These cars are a nice throwback to the good old days of racing. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, tracks throughout California and the United States headlined with these cars, and it was not uncommon to see the pits filled with 50 or 60 cars, sometimes even more. The legend of Vallejo Speedway still lives on, especially within the Bay Area effort where Tommy Thomson has the body of the car he competed with there back in the 1970s. His father Chet is the one they honor at the Antioch Speedway race in October. Drivers like Doug Braudrick and Dave Mackey are paying homage to cars that competed at Vallejo with their current race cars.

Last season, there was a surge in support in the Bay Area. In fact, car count never dipped under 10 for any of the Antioch Speedway shows that were held. Braudrick plays the car owner role, and his Junkyard Dog was piloted to three victories by Late Model veteran Joel Hannagan at Antioch. They also got a win at Placerville. The team experienced their trials and errors in getting the car together, but it seemed like it worked perfectly last year. Hannagan picked up the win in the Chet Thomson Memorial race ahead of Kimo Oreta, Ron Ruiz, Gary Hildebrand and Matt Taylor.

Jason Armstrong always seems to be a factor as he has won races at just about every track he's competed. He was the one who chased Hannagan across the line for a second place finish in the final Antioch race, but he also got the win at Orland Raceway ahead of Ron Ruiz and Dave Reed. Ruiz is another driver to contend with anytime he's there, and he had multiple podium finishes, including a third place finish in Placerville behind Hannagan and a season best second place finish for Tom Grady.

There was a hastily scheduled race in October at Antioch, and the amazing part was they still delivered 10 cars on short notice. The Braudrick car wasn't ready, but Ken Retzloff was as he beat the Sportsman duo of past Merced champions Jerry Cecil and Rick Elliot to get the win. Cecil is an absolute legend of Sportsman racing and won four championships at Watsonville on his way to more feature wins than anybody in the 70s. Cecil is also in the Watsonville Speedway Hall of Fame.

The driver with the perfect attendance record last year was the always enthusiastic Hardtop booster Ken Clifford. The man they call "The Rocket Man" owns three Hardtops, and occasionally he gets to compete against his son Jason. Both Cliffords are feature winners on the circuit in the past, although Ken just enjoys being in the pack. He brings GoPros that they put on several of the cars, and he releases video footage during the week following a race. Ken was a heat race winner last year in Antioch. He also topped our "Fun Point" listings last season ahead of Ruiz and Hannagan.

The group did get to visit Marysville. They were on the schedule for one of the midweek races before that, but the drivers were unable to make that date work. Ruiz appeared to be headed for a win on the night they made their visit, but it was the Sportsman of Hildebrand making the move late to get the win. Roger MacShain, who also made an appearance in Orland, had a heck of a time getting a handle on his Sedan and spun in the final turn, enabling two-time Merced Sportsman champion Mike Friesen to grab third on the last lap.

Dave Mackey didn't have the best of seasons, but he's been at the forefront of the Bay Area Hardtop movement trying to keep things together. When his car is situated, he's a threat to win. The Bay Area effort was joined last season by Stock Car veteran Mikey Slaney. Slaney bought a former Okie Bowl Hardtop championship car that had been piloted by James Bradburn, and he went racing immediately. Slaney reportedly has a car in the works. Jeff Kendrick hasn't made his first appearance yet in the former Terry DeCarlo car, which sports the old Herold Hardesty paint job. Vallejo Speedway Super Modified and Hardtop driver Skip Brown is also currently working on a car. Furthermore, we are hearing rumors that we could see the return of the six cylinder car of Dan Williams.

The Sacramento area also has a great group of drivers. This includes the likes of Joe Shenefield, Larry Wells, Rhett Lang and Dave Reed. Also at large is CHA President John Philbert. Philbert sold his car to Reed, but he is open for the opportunity to get back behind the wheel of somebody's ride if it's offered. 

While the Hardtop division was still alive at Vallejo Speedway in the 1960s and 1970s, tracks like Antioch Speedway, Merced Speedway and Watsonville Speedway had the Winged Sportsman division. Both divisions had good car counts, and they would meet at the end of the season for special races at tracks like Vallejo and Dixon Speedway. In 1999, then Merced Promoter Chuck Griffin and Luis Miranda put together a set of rules to bring the Sportsman division back again. In every year with the exception of last year and 2015, they've crowned a champion.

With the pandemic keeping the Sportsman division off of the schedule at Merced, some of the drivers wanted to go racing someplace. Ultimately, they were welcomed to race at Antioch. Antioch management reportedly has a keen interest in this division, and Mike Friesen, Jerry Cecil, Gary Hildebrand, Rick Elliott and Jeff West all came to compete with the Hardtops at one time or another. We could see these drivers or others at various Hardtop races throughout the season, which only increases the field and gives the fans more variety to enjoy.

The Hardtop groups don't race for points, nor do they race for money. They do what we call respectful exhibition racing. They are trying to beat each other, but they're not trying to run each other over for the glory. They want to keep these cars in working order and as beautiful as possible for the fans to enjoy. It's a welcome trip down memory lane, especially for the fans who were around back in the Glory Days. It's a nice introduction for people who weren't around back then. Either way, Vintage Hardtop racing is still alive in Northern California.

2021 Hardtop Schedule

Marysville April 17th

Placerville April 24th

Orland May 8th

Antioch May 22nd

Orland June 12th

Placerville June 26th

Marysville July 17th

Antioch July 31st

Antioch August 14th

Placerville August 28th

Petaluma August 29th

Antioch September 11th

Orland September 25th

Antioch October 9th

Petaluma October 16th 

 

 

Ocean Speedway Unofficial Race Results April 2, 2021
Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo
A Main
Justin Sanders
Bud Kaeding
Cory Day
Tanner Carrick
Mitchell Faccinto
Tristan Guardino
Kaleb Montgomery
Jodie Robinson
Blake Carrick
Chase Majdic
Keith Day Jr
Kurt Nelson
Jake Andreotti
Joel Myers
Kyle Offill
James Ringo
Trent Canales
Jason Chisum
Shane Golobic
Bryce Eames
Zane Blanchard
Max Mittry

B Main
Mitchell Faccinto
Tanner Carrick
Blake Carrick
Max Mittry
Jake Andreotti
Kyle Offill
Billy Aton
Koen Shaw
Jeremy Chisum
Josh Chisum
Mark Chaves Jr
Jacob Pacheco
Chris Nelson
Art McCarthy Jr
Ryon Nelson
Chase Johnson
Mitchel Moles
Nick Ringo

IMCA Modifieds
Jim Pettit II
Cody Burke
Matthew Hagio
Andy Obertello
Robert Marsh
Austin Burke
JC Elrod
Stephen Streeter
Anthony Slaney
Kyle Bryan
Raymond Keldsen Jr
Carl Berendsen II
Anthony Copeland

IMCA Sport Modifieds
Fred Ryland
Tanner Thomas
Dennis Simunovich
Randy Miller
Mark Garner
Trevor Clymens
Darren Thomas
Jim DiGiovanni
Kelly Campanile
Duane Bieser
Billy Robertson
John Ferro
Mike Ficklin
Max Baggett
Charlie Hunter
Dwayne Short
Cody Bryan
Justin Parr

Hobby Stocks
Rob Gallaher
Joe Gallaher
Jerry Skelton
Tony Oliveira
Ryan Muller
Norm Ayers
BOBBY GALLAHER
Quintin Harris
Ken Winland
Terry Campion
Wally Kennedy
Brady Muller 

Deming Speedway Unofficial Race Results April 2, 2021
Focus Midgets
Results are not official
1     #24 Nick Evans    
2     #7s Chance Crum
3     #32m Jake Munn
4     #09 Levi Harliss
5     #17 Kyle Hanson
6     #5C Chris Foster
7     #95 Jesse Munn
8     #85 Jamee Gardner
9     #11T Theron Smith    
10     #12J JD Dryden
11     #17M Brian Rose
12     #15 Jacob Austin        
13     #90H Brian Holmkvist

1200 Mini Sprints
Results are not official
1     #10D Dakota Drake    
2     #83c Chance Crum
3     #10L Brock Lemley
4     #6 Jared Gundersen
5     #5 Alex Lewis
6     #92 Seth Hespe
7     #17 Derek Holmwood
8     #30 Terry Lewis
9     #7 Dick Williams
10     #10S Frosty Metcalfe
11     #6H Haylee Bloodgood
12     #29 Alan Lindquist
13     #12 Tanner Schoonover
14     #76e Austin Edson
15     #10J Tyson Lemley

600 Micros
Results are not official
1     #23R Dylan Resch
2     #91 Jared Peterson
3     #48T Tanner Holm
4     #22 Jesse Schlotfeldt
5     #11c Colin Mackey
6     #22R Ryley Mayer
7     #28B Blaine Granberg
8     #11h Parker Hadlock
9     #22D Dakota Drake
10     #K9 Kaden Holm
11     #9T Tristin Thomas
12     #29 Levi Kuntz
13     #70 Macie Logsdon
14     #78 Haley Constance
15     #23x Xan Miller
16     #8r Rachel Westmoreland
17     #13c Tyler Conley
18     #11 Jeremy Smith

600 Restricted
Results are not official
1     #24L Levi Hillier    
2     #21c Corbin Ramsey
3     #29 Levi Kuntz
4     #7o Axel Oudman
5     #22 Peyton Drake
6     #21z Keira Zylstra
7     #40J Rylee Kentch
8     #13E Ethan Lashley
9     #14c Carson Guffie
10     #71 Kane VanSickle
11     #40S Samantha Schwarz
12     #4D Diane Knutzen    
13     #59M Mallory Fisher
14     #91 Grace Matier
15     #3D Destry Miller    
16     #66 Fairah Lee
17     #48z Zoey Tupper

Jr Sprints
Results are not official
1     #20d Dustin Ramsey
2     #3 Avery Askvig
3     #30B Braeden Wager
4     #54 Ryan Bright
5     #67 Cooper Anderson
6     #88 Sawyer Baxter
7     #21c Clayton Jalakas 
8     #68 McKenna Morgan
9     #23 Jayce Medcalf    
10     #78 Brooklyn Constance
11     #77 Brody Cooley
12     #5c Colton Knapp            
13     #27P Piper Bilven        
14     #15 Blake Skultety 

 

The Editor's Viewpoint 

If I'm doing things on the schedule I would like to keep, this article and blog post will happen on Saturday. I just wanted to touch briefly on the news up in Oregon, because things started to break as we were going live with our midweek post. We have news on Willamette Speedway, Southern Oregon Speedway and the IMCA Wild West Modified Speedweek that I'd like to comment on.

It looks like the association led by Travis Hoppes is tentatively claiming victory at Southern Oregon Speedway. I tried to stay out of this for the past week because of the conflicting information we've been getting. I just wanted to hear the facts before saying anything. I'm on record as not really supporting this association or the idea of association run tracks unless absolutely necessary. I'm not necessarily one of Travis's biggest fans, but I certainly wish this group luck if they are the ones opening the gates. The important thing is that racing continues.

There were some legitimate concerns regarding the grading process of the proposals put in there. Even now, as I'm privy to information, I don't want to divulge too much. I find it highly questionable that this new association beat an established promoter, Heather Boyce, by 15 points in the grading process. Not only am I suspicious, I distrust the grading process. That's just the way I see it. I also understand that Heather chose not to file a protest. This is probably because she has Cottage Grove Speedway already and doesn't want the headaches associated with fighting for Medford. I have been told what her initial reaction was, and I agree with her on that. I'm not going to say what I was told as Heather opted not to protest.

David Hibbard and Cory Penfold, on the other hand, did protest. This is their right as people who submitted proposals. More often than not, when somebody is awarded the win, it goes to them and you don't hear much. That's the standard, but we've certainly seen it go the other way with protests. There was a protest filed recently for Lakeport Speedway, and there was the big battle of Antioch Speedway a couple of years ago. If you feel that it wasn't a proper grading process, you have that right fight it. I think that David and Cory certainly had legitimate concerns.

Ultimately, the county is going to want to get those gates open and put this behind them as quickly as possible. I will maintain that if people hadn't gotten as stupid as they did within days after the previous management withdrew from the track, some of this could have been avoided. The process was going to play out where they accepted new proposals and put a new promoter in, and that's regardless of whether the media would have the track on TV or people jumping over the fence with cameras taking misleading pictures or what have you. Some people just want to be drama queens.

The thing is, there are several people involved on this association's board. I think these may also be investors. The names listed included Travis Hoppes, Travis Snyder, Albert Gill, James Anderson, Brian Bowman, Jon DeBenedetti and Dane Smith. They all have official titles and duties. I just hope that there aren't too many cooks in the kitchen here. Sometimes associations can implode very quickly, and many times they plod along just keeping the gates open. I don't have high hopes for this group, but as long as they keep the gates open, that's what really matters. The name that jumped out at me was Jon DeBenedetti, who will apparently have something to do with track preparation on the big track and will be overseeing the MX Track and the Outlaw Kart Track. He's been chomping at the bit for this, so it doesn't surprise me.

They didn't outright declare victory, but I would suspect that even as the protests went over the heads of the Country Parks District, the decision will be to support the awarding of the track to Travis Hoppes, and they will move forward from there. Then comes the planning stages of what they're going to do with what divisions. I know there's going to be a heavy IMCA flavor here, because they declared as much. You can love the IMCA Modifieds as much as you want, but this still isn't 15 or 20 years ago and the numbers aren't there. While they can come back up again, it's not going to happen overnight or if the class is overbooked. My hope Is that they don't destroy the Late Model and Sprint Car classes that the previous management has built and understand that the reason management shuffled the divisions was to maintain car counts. We shall see.

One stop gap that could be attempted to keep the Limited Sprint effort alive is working with the Yreka track. Promoter Kevin Barba just announced that the four dates he has booked for the class will have a set purse based on car count. Personally, I think the purse should be what Cottage Grove pays, meaning $100 minimum to take the green and $500 to win. Yreka is only guaranteeing $50 to take the green, although they can get $700 to win if there are 10 cars. From what I hear, there's not a lot of love for this division from the potential new management, so who knows what dates they will book. Medford could easily book four to six dates around the Yreka dates and book a series between the two tracks, thereby giving the drivers enough action to keep them interested.

Alternatively, David Hibbard was a key factor in supporting the previous management's total commitment to establishing a Sprint Car class in Medford. It was initially going to be Winged 360 Sprint Cars, but it moved towards the Limited Sprint rule set. Hibbard is a staunch supporter of that, and because he backed the track, the numbers got respectable fairly quickly. If Hibbard wanted to be the title sponsor of this series and something were worked out between Medford and Yreka, it could still continue to grow.

I still see a strong Limited Sprint effort in Oregon as key to keeping the Winged 360 Sprint Car class alive. A lot of young drivers get into the Limited Sprint class, but we're already starting to see some of those drivers from Cottage Grove moving into the full 360 division. This will continue. When Cottage Grove knows that they can book this class and have enough of their own roster to get double digits without enticing Limited Sprints to tag the rear, they know they have something. 

Cottage Grove still wants to keep the Winged 360 Sprint Car Speedweek alive, and I wouldn't rule out something happening between them and Medford in that regard. This is all speculation, but management in Medford would be wise to understand that keeping the Limited Sprint division around and nurturing it will pay off at the front gate in the long run. 

I'm assuming it was Hoppes who made the big announcement that indicated his group had won the contract, and he did allude to the fact that the track would work with Yreka and Cottage Grove. I'm not exactly sure what Yreka can offer Medford, but there are things that could be done between the two tracks. The Limited Sprint idea is one of them. They do have the IMCA Sport Modified class and Mini Stocks at the two tracks, and I do have an idea that I will get into further down. As for Cottage Grove, it seems to me over the past five years that the Medford drivers are more willing to go to The Grove than the other way around.

While we await the information that will be coming fast and furious in the days ahead, Willamette Speedway made the announcement that they intend to open this year. Jimmy Schram will be the one acting as GM, but I am told there are still negotiations to try to sell the place. I will leave it at that for now. Loren Kreusi was the one relaying the information, and he seemed to indicate that they were still trying to make sure everything was up to code so they could get the county off their backs. I know there were grandstands issues as well as some problems with some of the buildings there, but it's not as if the Schram brothers don't have the money to get all of that fixed.

While everybody waits for the Willamette Speedway schedule, Sunset Speedway finally put out their schedule, which is more good news. However, on Thursday night the news broke that there will be an IMCA Modified Wild West Speedweek Series taking place after all. The dates have been announced for Willamette Speedway on August 6th through 8th, Cottage Grove on August 9th and 10th, a pit party at Sunset Speedway on August 11th, racing at Sunset Speedway on August 12th and 13th and the finale at Grays Harbor Speedway in Washington on August 14th. Further good news for the IMCA Sport Modified guys is that other than the opener at Willamette, the class will be included the rest of the week. Therefore, they finally have a Speedweek in the Pacific Northwest.

While everything grinded to do a halt in Oregon and the series was put on hiatus, California managed to grab an IMCA Modified/Sport Modified Speedweek of their own. It was highly successful last year in August, and it's actually going to be starting in late April into early May this year. They also have eight races in nine days. However, they will be running at eight different tracks in those nine days while the Speedweek further north has just four tracks with multiple dates at three of them. There are already people asking what happened to Medford, but I can tell you.

After the 2019 Speedweek, Jerry Schram got his panties in a bunch over his dissatisfaction with the Medford program. He did well at Yreka the night before, although apparently he was displeased with them and Coos Bay and was intent on pulling the three tracks from the series. I felt at the time that his decision to move things up even further north was going to negatively impact the support they got from California, which is something I feel they need. I know Jerry's gamble is that there will be bigger Washington support by doing this, but time will certainly tell. The other thing you have to factor into this is California now has an IMCA Speedweek, and it's already growing.

This still leaves Southern Oregon Speedway, Siskiyou Golden Speedway and Coos Bay Speedway out of the loop, and a workaround was being negotiated last year before the virus shut us all down. It was Mike McCann who proposed to Coos Bay and Yreka that they do their own series in late June. It would pay the same and crown a weekend champion. Both Modified classes were supposed to be included. Initially, McCann didn't get any kind of reaction, but he booked Medford as if it would have happened. He even wanted to give it the Gambler Series name, which was the name of a race that Drake Nelson had booked in Coos Bay. Nelson had been trying to figure out how to get the IMCA Modifieds back when he lost his Speedweek date, and Schram put them back in Speedweek the next year.

In any case, Nelson finally jumped in and Barba in Yreka got involved as well. If the Medford management is unable to negotiate into the IMCA Speedweek, this is an alternative. It is certainly possible that Willamette Speedway could part with the opener, although I wouldn't bet on it. In that case, Medford would be back in the fold. If not, could Medford, Coos Bay and Yreka work something out for late June? Nelson is certainly interested in the idea.

I just don't know if the roster is big enough from Medford unless you get some good Cottage Grove support. That was my big concern when Mike initially pitched this idea. There are other tracks that could be included in a new series, such as the one in Susanville. It's not like there aren't racers from there who wouldn't support a visit to Medford. However, I don't want to speculate too much as I'm sure we'll hear news one way or the other very soon.

I do admire the idea that Hoppes is willing to work with other promoters, but I've learned something about some of the promoters in Oregon. You can't always trust what they say. I have a hunch that Travis will learn the same thing. Ultimately, you have to look out for your own track's interests first and foremost. If you don't have a strong car count, fans might start losing interest. If along the way you start to build up relationships that you can trust with other race tracks, that's a bonus. There are reasons that a Yreka- Medford alliance would be good in the long run, but right now Medford has substantially more to offer in such a deal than Yreka. Plus, it's entirely possible that Yreka could be changing management again at the end of the year. They do have another bidding process coming up.

Finishing up my Medford thoughts, I did notice that Hoppes has hinted at bringing the Hornets back. Personally, I like the idea. I do hope he doesn't turn it into a Junior Stinger class. I'm not opposed to the track having a Junior Stinger class separately, but the Hornet division needs to be open to anybody who wants to come. They might need to take a couple of people aside and explain that certain behavior won't be tolerated, but previous management proved that they can get cars for the Hornet division and did promote it. 

Additionally, and since the new team is so pro IMCA, they might want to make this an IMCA Sport Compact class. After all, Sunset Speedway, Willamette Speedway and Cottage Grove Speedway already do that. Two of those tracks even have IMCA Stock Cars. Could Medford become the third in the next year or two?

The other thing had to do with the Outlaw Karts. I am privy to the information that DeBenedetti really wanted to run that track back in 2019. I think in Jon you've got a guy who feels he's done what he's done in the sport. It's not that he is necessarily ready to hang up his helmet, but he feels he's got the knowledge to help promote a track. Jon is definitely a go-getter, and I do respect the man. If he had been the one to win Southern Oregon Speedway, I don't necessarily think that would be a bad thing. Having him involved with this group isn't bad either. Everything was put into place from the previous MX promotional team to get that track built and operational, but they were getting all kinds of headaches and of course the virus shut down. At some point, I may tell you some of the things the county pulled that didn't help that track or even the oval track for that matter.

Since the day I set foot on the facility with McCann back in 2016, there's been a bit of an adversarial attitude from the Outlaw Kart community. I do know that the program was in decline for a couple of years, and they are fortunate that Bob Fredrickson put everything he had into keeping it alive. Bob doesn't get the respect that I think he deserves for doing something for the community. I like the guy, and I hope Jon finds a place to put him. Without him, I don't know what sort of racing seasons they would have had after David Hibbard walked away from the little track.

The numbers at that little track were always less than desired, and I always felt like people within the community who could have helped us withheld that support. A few of them even gave us the middle finger. I was caught in the middle of the whole mess, and all I did was try to make the best of it. I did my best with what I had. I may even have a few things to say in my forthcoming book on the subject.

My point is, the car count was never what it could be, and Mike ultimately decided that adding motorcycles that final year was the only thing that would keep it alive. It did work out, but the motorcycles scared me a little bit. Mike had an idea to put a motorcycle track up above, and I think it would have been a winner. Of course, the county was cold to the idea.

At any rate, I think DeBenedetti will be a part of a Kart renaissance, because suddenly certain racers are going to find their way back to that little track. Mark my words, it's going to happen. I'm not saying they're going to have a bonanza or a huge turnout. I expect the Flat Karts will find their way back and will pick Medford over Yreka anytime they have to make the choice. It was the opposite 2 years ago. I suspect they'll have enough 500 Open Outlaws to actually have a race, and I'd say mid-thirties or maybe even touching into the 40s is possible in terms of total car count. They need to do something about the cost factor to keep it affordable, especially in the upper classes. A strong Kart program bodes well for future drivers at the big track.

One of the regrets or maybe I should say wishes I had for the little track was to do something different. Mike and I had spoken repeatedly about putting Hornets on that little track. He upped the ante by suggesting we cut an X in the infield and do a Figure 8. That could have been very entertaining. Just putting five or six cars on a little Figure 8 like that can be quite entertaining, and if you get 10 competitors to show up, you could have a program. We never got beyond the talking stages of that, and I doubt anything will ever come to pass. I just would have loved to see something happen. Interestingly enough, multiple Hornet drivers were interested.

They do run Hornet race cars on the infield track at Ukiah Speedway. They call them Jalopies, and it's really an entertaining little show. David Furia has recently put out his schedule between Ukiah Speedway and Lakeport Speedway, and it's booked in such a way that the Limited Modified, Bomber and Jammer drivers can support both tracks if they want to. It's not even that heavy of a schedule. We're only talking about 20 events or so between the two tracks. Given the car count situation up there, I think that's smart booking.

I don't know if Furia will continue to be blacklisted by the North State Modified Series. I believe certain people affiliated with the NCRA at Lakeport are in leadership roles in this series. If that's the case, Lakeport and Ukiah may be kept out. I've heard that the North State Series will be in Shasta, Eureka, Stockton and I thought I heard Kenny Shepherd even mention they got a date in Madera. That's all well and good, but the base of your drivers are up in the area closer to Lakeport and Ukiah. It's Insanity not to give Lakeport and Ukiah each one date this year. I would hope people do what's good for racing and not just their personal egos here.

I know that Furia won't be phased by this. If the track is kept out of the loop, David will just book some Open Modified races, pay a little bit more money and he'll get the cars. They did that last year, and those races were enjoyable to watch. It's funny because some of those guys actually run Modifieds and have Bombers, and Furia initiated the Upstate Bomber Series a few years ago. They just announced that Lakeport, Ukiah, Shasta and Eureka will each get a date again this year for a four race series. I know they will get an increased purse, and I believe they also get point fund money. We'll see what's announced.

Finishing up some thoughts on Saturday morning, I noticed a few things last night. Adobe Mountain Speedway in Arizona is hosting the Todd Damron Memorial race tonight. They have various Outlaw Kart and Micro classes there, Mini Late Models and Dwarf Cars. We'll keep an eye on who gets the wins this weekend. What I found interesting was Petaluma Speedway hastily booked a race for Todd a couple of weeks after he died last year. It was an add-on and kind of a secret. There was no broadcast, and they didn't get a big turnout.

Petaluma Speedway was wanting to establish a tradition, which in itself wasn't a surprise. Todd was very popular within the Dwarf Car and Micro Sprint communities. It wasn't just for his ability to build winning race cars, but as a person as well. His family has been around the sport for many years. I didn't notice a race for him on the Petaluma Speedway schedule that was released, but that doesn't mean it won't happen. What Rick Faeth said he wanted to do at the time was twin 25 lap races, which would indicate that the Adobe Cup II night would be in his honor. When the schedule was released, it was still listed as twin 20a without Todd's name on it. 

It could also be that they will announce more about this race at Petaluma as it gets closer. I don't know. Just because they do a race for Todd at Adobe Mountain Speedway doesn't mean that a second or even a third race with different groups couldn't happen. It reminds me of when Gary Jacob passed away, and multiple tracks decided to hold races in his honor. I think Gary's race has disappeared at Watsonville and Hanford, but Red Bluff ran one with the Outlaw Karts a few weeks back. I'm glad there are still some people who remember Gary and how much he loved being involved with this sport and bringing more attention to it.

Diamond Mountain Speedway kicked off their season last night. I'm pretty sure they had a good field. I already saw references to the fact that they had a B Main for the IMCA Modifieds, and there were drivers from Oregon among those from Nevada and California. My hope as I was trying to put this post together was that they would release the MyLaps numbers, but it hasn't happened yet. Therefore, I will wait hopefully for them to release results from Friday and Saturday, and we'll do what we do from there. I still say Jeff Olschowka was a good pick for promoter of that place, and there are some good days ahead for the future.

Ocean Speedway is the place to be in the Bay Area on a Friday night. I used to love making monthly or bi-weekly appearances there in the 1980s and 1990s. The complexion of the track has changed a little bit as the Winged 360 Sprint Cars have clearly taken center stage as the headliners. I can't help but think John Prentice had to be smiling from ear to ear at 35 Taco Bravo Sprint Cars competing on Friday. He's now had fields of 28 and 35 cars. I know the hope is to hit the 20s on a regular basis, and this far exceeds that.

I'd like to know what the pay structure is for the IMCA Sport Modifieds. I know that it's a point of contention with some of the top drivers in why they don't like to make visits. I know for multiple seasons, they weren't necessarily paying down the full Main Event field. I don't even know if all of the first half of the field got paid as I haven't seen a payout, but it does make me think. The numbers went up last year, and I don't think the purse did. I find it very interesting that John stuck to his guns on the payout and still gets the cars. From a racer perspective, I'd call him cheap. From a promoter standpoint, however, I give a tip of the hat to the guy.

The bottom line is you open your gates to the racers. In this case, they still couldn't have fans, so they get whatever they get from the streaming revenue and the pits. The promoter is obligated to pay certain things, and after that, he's trying to hold on to every dollar he can. That's been the way for years. The more successful promoters make enough money that the racers leave the track somewhat happy and they do as well. I believe late Willamette Speedway Promoter Clair Arnold had a term for that. He called it a bonanza. As a fan, you better be rooting for promoters to have at least mini bonanzas, another Arnold term. If they don't get enough of them or don't see much at all, it means the track is in danger.

Anyway, the numbers added up to a good show. They had about a dozen Hobby Stocks and IMCA Modifieds to go with about 17 or 18 Sport Modifieds. This meant they were just shy of 80 total cars. I know the fans up in Watsonville just want to get back into the grandstands and start watching again, and I think they are close to making that announcement. You want to make the fans feel important, because after what we just went through last year, they could get into the habit of not coming back at all. Our sport will probably weather the storm we've just been through, but I don't know if we can take too much more of this.

We'll talk about the results in the article above, but this was just about the show overall. You also want the racers in the pits to feel like they are part of a community. I think this is one of the things that makes the Pat And Jim Pettit Memorial Dirt Track Shootout and the Johnny Key Classic special, because both events have parties the day before. Track preparation guru Tom Sagmiller did something really cool. He and his assistant actually sprung for pizza for the Hobby Stock drivers and their crew members after the races. I love that.

Dr Dirt Jim Soares, when he initially got Petaluma Speedway from his father, would do things like that. On some nights, he'd have a spaghetti feed or something like that. He even did free ice cream for everybody. Jim could be an acquired taste, and I never really liked the guy that much. I always respected him for his work in the sport. However, when I would hear stories like this, it made me smile. I know Jim always wanted his shot at running a race track, and the numbers started to turn around there under his guidance. I guess what Tom did at Watsonville reminded me of Jim.

I'm going to probably do a lot of talking in future columns about potential new or reopening tracks on the West Coast. This morning, I started rambling on about the potential in Oregon, and it went on too long. I don't want to spend an eternity editing this. One of the things that got me talking about this was I got new information from an area that once had a race track. Actually, the footprint still sits there. It doesn't sound like they can get it going again in that specific location as houses are going to start going up nearby. However, they have a fairgrounds not far away, and from what I've heard, there is an interest. There's enough space for a nice quarter-mile clay oval there, but I don't want to speak too much to that right now.

So very briefly, I've been communicating with new Antioch Speedway Hall of Fame Director Chris Briggs. I finally had an opportunity to present him my nominations. He's already assembled a board. I'm not privy to who they are, but I do trust his judgment. One of the things I emphasized was the need to keep the people from the 1960s and 1970s in mind. Anybody with the credentials from that era who might still be with us should be seriously considered so that they might actually receive the honor in person. Although I believe nominations should be open to people from 1999 and before, the early era must not be forgotten.

I don't want to divulge my list, although you can probably go back to one of these columns last year to see what I was thinking. This Hall of Fame belongs to the community, and I'm just one of the voices in it. Through a process of getting much input, the list of 2021 inductees will be announced. I might offer opinions at that time, but I told Chris one thing that is important. You're never going to make everybody happy with these deals, but if somebody didn't get in, there's always next year. This is a tradition that will continue for years to come.

There's a glimmer of hope that I might actually make it down to Antioch for this one. I will honestly admit it's bittersweet to me. They seemed so adamant that they were going to have a Hall of Fame last year, even when it was clear that fans wouldn't be allowed in the grandstands. I just couldn't sign off on that idea, and I felt pressured to do something. I don't regret choosing Chris Briggs to carry on this tradition, because I like the moves he's made so far. But I will tell you something in all honesty. Had I known it wasn't going to happen last year, I would have held on a little bit longer.

My presence down there this year would be to support Chris in any way that I am able to, but I also have an idea. I think there's potential in helping hype up the Chet Thomson Memorial Hardtop race and the lineage of that division that stretches back to Vallejo Speedway and Contra Costa Speedway in Pacheco. The ideas are bouncing around in my mind right now, and if it looks like I'm going to be in a position to help make things happen, I may do what I can. We are watching a bit of a revival of the Hardtops and the Sportsman division in the Antioch area. I still haven't heard of any Sportsman cars being built, but you never know. There are Hardtops being built though.

I think one of the reasons why I decided to do the Hardtop preview in this post was so that I could showcase the class a little bit more with it. I don't have but three articles in this posting. I don't know that Saturday morning postings will be a regular occurrence. I'm still going week to week with this effort, but I was up to it this week. I am excited about the Hardtop situation right now. There are 15 dates between the two groups of drivers, and I think that's plenty. I think when it comes to Antioch and Placerville, the numbers should be good, and the only track that gives me concern is Marysville. We'll find out soon, because they open on for the Hardtops on April 17th.

Once again, I started rambling about the Hardtops and had to pull it. I wanted to put this post up at 1:00 pm at the latest, and I'm a few minutes later. I just wanted to add a couple of quick notes. Hills Ferry Raceway has changed management again. The previous promoter claims he's too busy with other obligations and can't devote the time to the track. He had overseen improvements to the facility as they continue to move forward in being able to do bigger things there. The new promoter is Robert Harrison. Maybe Robert will be the guy to create social media sites that are easier to find and even a web page? They can definitely do better in putting out information so people know what's happening.

I'm sure you're going to see the usual fare of Flat Track Bikes and Outlaw Karts. The Micro Sprint community is chomping at the bit, and I know there were track safety issues preventing them from being added. The one thing I do know is that as soon as the place is deemed safe enough, and if they schedule around Stockton and Dixon, they could probably have one heck of a show for the various Micro classes. I'm glad that with the other promoter walking away, at least they have somebody ready to step in, but I'm still reminded of what could have been.

When John Ford still owned the place, there were negotiations between he and Mike McCann. I think Mike was looking for his diamond in the rough track. Something that had potential but was a little bit off the beaten path. The location still makes it attractive for people coming in from further down in the valley, the Stockton area and even the Bay Area, and McCann was one of those guys that had an interest in maybe doing some things with bigger cars. You have to remember, Hills Ferry Raceway has a quarter mile dirt oval. Mike came down there with money in hand, ready to make the deal, but he was intercepted by the guy who ended up getting it. Long story...

There are some challenges as there's not infinite space. You can still run some moderate programs, and this could include things like Mini Stocks, Hobby Stocks, Hardtops, which would have happened with Mike, Dwarf Cars and Micro Sprints. The cool thing is you're probably going to have a seating capacity of around 800 or so if good bleachers are put in there. Fill those suckers up even halfway, and it's going to look packed and like it's really happening there. So much potential.

Not to belabor the point, but John Soares looked at the place before going after Antioch. Later, George Steitz scouted it out for a potential big event. That led to some big Outlaw Kart races that Tom Sagmiller promoted with George. I don't think the track could have handled one of George's big events, but there could have been some nice shows for big cars. This will never happen with the current property owner, so I'm not even getting my hopes up. If somebody bought the place with the idea of doing a bit more, it could happen. I don't think the place is for sale. In any case, the same type of shows people have been seeing for the last couple of years will continue.

Finally, and I mean finally, I still don't know if the protest has been ruled on at Southern Oregon Speedway, but I do know that Travis Hoppes is proceeding as if the new association has it. He put out a call a couple of hours ago from drivers from various divisions. He wanted to know who wanted to race there as he's fine-tuning his schedule. It looks like the building blocks that were left behind by Mike McCann are still there, so Travis has plenty to work with and build upon. I don't know what his scheduling philosophy is, so I will withhold any opinion on that until I see what he ultimately does.

Basically, anybody with an interest in running whatever car they have will probably scout out the Southern Oregon Speedway and Save Southern Oregon Speedway Facebook sites and put in their two cents. This is also an opportunity for things that I have always been in favor of, such as establishing a Medford-based Pro Stock division again, getting the Hornets back on the schedule and just keeping racing alive in the Medford area. Yeah, whatever my opinion might be of Travis and this association, racing must continue. John Skinner didn't build that place to leave it sitting dormant. He did it to save racing for the community.

On that note, I'll wrap up this column. Until next time...