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The Editor's Viewpoint

It's May 1st as I write this, and I am a little upset at the moment. True, I feel like I'm on my way out of being actively involved in motorsports media and promotions, but the plan was to enjoy this season regardless of what I do next year. As I sit here, Douglas County Speedway made the announcement that they will not be racing this month at all. This is a step beyond the announcement that we just made at Southern Oregon Speedway that Madras Speedway pretty much echoed. Promoter Mike McCann has announced that Southern Oregon Speedway won't open until we can do so without restrictions.

Just in the last few days, Cottage Grove Speedway announced that they wouldn't be opening without fans either and thought this might not happen until sometime in the summer. I think the optimism is July for some, but that's not based on anything. Heather Boyce is in a difficult position as she is purchasing that track for a substantial sum from Jerry Schram. The loss of the races she's endured so far has not helped, and knowing that she's dealing with a viper cannot have her feeling all that comfortable.

Speaking of that viper, Schram has a General Manager in place at Willamette Speedway named Loren Kresci. Loren made the announcement on that same newscast that the track hopes to be ready for the World of Outlaws race, which is scheduled to take place in September. I actually think this plays in perfectly with what Schram is dealing with. The county has been making demands on certain repairs at the facility due to code violations, and there has been some debate about whether the season would even happen there. Now, they don't have to worry about it.

Jerry Schram isn't the luckiest guy on the West Coast. I still say that man is John Soares. John was perfectly willing to come back and promote another season at Antioch Speedway if he had to. Those gates were not going to close on his watch. Even when Chad Chadwick missed the day of the deadline to purchase the speedway last October, John didn't shut down the negotiations as he had threatened to do. This is because if Chad was really interested, he had no reason not to give him more time. From John's perspective, he had nothing to lose. In the end, he got his money, and Chadwick is the on the hook at Antioch Speedway. He's now lost six races. That's painful for a guy trying to begin to recoup some investment.

I want to go back to what McCann said about not opening until full restrictions are lifted. This is so important, because for a promoter this is a business. You can care about the racers and giving them the best experience possible on any given race night, but money is what keeps it going. If they are telling you that when you open you can't have as many fans as you can possibly sell tickets to, what are you doing this for? Unless somebody is going to hand you a check for a few thousand dollars, you're losing money. You can't do that repeatedly and expect to make it.

I'm plenty pissed about the current virus situation, because in my opinion it's overblown. I'll piss certain people off by going deeper into the subject, so I really don't want to do that. People are certainly dying. I understand that. However, we could easily die in our own homes if the threat is that serious. Our government cannot keep us safe, but they certainly can use a crisis such as this to begin to infringe upon our God-given liberties. That's just the way I see it. I feel like we've lost so much already that we didn't have to lose, and the fear machine constantly promotes that narrative on TV every day. It's echoed by people on social media. Do you want to curl up in a fetal position and hide away or live your life? As the saying goes, "Live free or die."

Our little play time fun on the weekends is only a drop in the bucket. I'm looking at people who have spent their lives building their businesses. As they are not able to open their doors, they lose money. People are close to running out of money to pay for their homes. If they are unable to get back to doing what it is they do, they could lose everything. I fully understand the pain of losing a home you've lived in for many years. I don't want people to lose everything because of something that's not as bad as we are being told. Racing and other sporting events don't matter when compared to that, but they are a way in which we deal with the stresses of everyday life. 

The World of Outlaws, a respected lawyer and an insurance salesman drafted some guidelines recently for reopening race tracks across the country, and it highlights some of the BS tracks could be forced to deal with. They're talking about little things like hand sanitizing stations at entry points, handing out free hand sanitizer to fans, limited fan access, no concession sales, hiring a special cleanup unit to disinfect the facilities and bringing medical people for the entry points to check people's temperatures. Is this what it's going to come to? They are also talking about the possibility of going cashless at the speedway, and I won't get into the issues I have with that idea. I will tell you I would think long and hard about whether I wanted to be a promoter if it came down to this.

On the other hand, we're a litigious society. You can have the most die-hard racing fan show up at your facility and end up getting sick in the next day or two. Suddenly, they are on their deathbed and a family member sues over the fact that the fan died from an illness that they contacted at your race track. Or, that person recovers and still wants to sue you for not properly providing a sanitized place. How do you combat that? Are fans going to have to sign waivers to come spectate? How many hoops will we have to go through to get back to some semblance of normalcy? 

I'm suspicious of the people talking about this virus who are offering the solutions. I'm suspicious of their motivations when it comes to global population. I'm suspicious of the idea that people might be forced to take vaccinations in order to have a normal life and this idea that vaccinations could become annual or semi-annual events as new strains of the virus emerge. I'm suspicious of the idea that we could have an implanted chip of some kind, sold to us as a way to make sure we are vaccinated properly at first. However, it could go deeper than that. Then again, I'm a suspicious person. Some of you will understand where I'm coming from, and others will probably recommended places for me to go get a tinfoil hat. Time will tell.

What does that have to do with racing? The first reality is that there will be a possibility of opening a dirt track before you can have anybody in the grandstands. Or, it will only be limited grandstands. The state runs the fairgrounds, and if you happen to be unlucky enough to be in California, what do you think the odds are of the governor loosening the restraints and letting the tracks do real business? I'm thinking that will be an uphill battle. Tracks are going to fight for anything they can get. I understand that.

I think the leader in the fairgrounds race track movement in California is Kenny Shepherd. A couple of weeks ago, he announced that he had outlined a five stage plan to get Madera Speedway back to full racing again. It would start with whatever kind of practicing they could get. If it's one car at a time, or so be it. Then, he wants to get racing happening, even if they can't have a crowd. Kenny has even mentioned allowing the fans to watch the races for free on Facebook, which is certainly very cool if he can afford to do that. Ultimately, he's also concerned with creating content for MavTV, which airs several of his Late Model races every year. Late Models and Junior Late Models will certainly take priority. During the weekend, he announced that the county gave him approval to begin staging limited practices, and I applied Kenny for at least putting that plan together.

Otherwise, it's the non fairgrounds tracks that seem to be doing more. Marysville Raceway has had very restricted practices. I understand this has involved one driver and crew member per car and five cars, parked in the infield. Two practice sessions a day when they do it. Not sure how many practices Dennis Gage has had, but I have my eye on Marysville. I won't be surprised if they're the first non fairgrounds track to attempt to run a race in front of an empty grandstand. On the Outlaw Kart level, Cycleland has outlined a plan that had them starting with practice this past weekend. They hope to race by Memorial Day Weekend.

Hills Ferry Raceway had a an ill-conceived plan that was going to have them racing this past weekend. There was an AMA Flat Track bike race that would happen on Saturday with an Outlaw Kart event happening on Sunday. Sadly, I don't think the management had put everything in order before making the announcement. They hoped that everything would fall into place, but they got word early Thursday morning that there was no way for it to happen. I get it. Everybody wants to get back to doing what we love to do. 

A track in South Dakota caught a bunch of attention when they opened up for a race two weeks ago. A neighboring track ran the next night. The Saturday race was going to allow 700 fans in the stands, but management backed off of that idea after receiving outside pressure. SpeedshiftTV came in to do the broadcast. It was bumpy and people were having difficulty connecting. I don't believe the nation's premier internet racing pay-per-view broadcaster was prepared for just how many people would be watching, but they eventually overcame the bumps. I'm told they had somewhere over a quarter of a million viewers. Not bad at all. People want their racing.

What we are witnessing right now is that states that are run by Republican governors are more open to bringing back some sort of normalcy. These are the states that are beginning to experiment with opening race tracks. Some are looking to do it with empty grandstands, and others with partially full stands that are employing social distancing techniques. The blue states sit in frustration as race after race gets canceled. I really hate to talk about this as something that's being politicized. I don't consider myself a fan of either party, but I'm not dumb. Politics are very much at the heart of what is happening here, and it's not purely about public health. This is a presidential election year.

So what do you do? Promoters are sitting right now in frustration. It's not easy for somebody to say they can't open until restrictions are lifted or they're not opening for the entire month of May, which was also announced for Skagit. Some tracks are making announcements one week at a time while they sit and wait in hopes of racing. I'm hearing rumblings of one Bay Area track getting closer to calling for a practice that might happen in the next couple of weeks. Given that this is a fairgrounds location, I'm skeptical of them having a full practice. Limited practice for a track rental fee? Perhaps. Then again, who knows? This is a fluid situation.

How much can a promoter give away? Can a promoter risk opening up a track without a grandstand and not worry about compensation of some sort? How much give and take are racers willing to deal with in a situation like that? Increased entry fee? Decreased purses? What would be acceptable before racers said no versus what is acceptable loss before be a promoter says they just can't open yet? How much of a limited grandstand is too limited for promoters to take the risk? Or, if it's a limited grandstand, how much is too expensive a ticket for the fans to pay? These are all legitimate questions, let alone the costs to cover any health and safety adjustments that are demanded by the fairgrounds to meet specific guidelines. What if the state demands you must have hot running water in the bathroom and you don't currently have that? What if the state declares that you can't open your concession stands?

Therefore, when a promoter is looking at ways in which they can open up the race track, there's a lot to consider. I look at Heather Boyce as a barometer for all of this in Oregon. She is known as somewhat of a racer's promoter, and she flat out said that she couldn't afford to open in front of a closed grandstand. Most promoters will be in the same boat. The other intangible in this deal is the idea that this could be the first of many viruses, and our way of life may be altered as a result. That's the worst case scenario, but being the person that I am, it's at least a thought in the back of my mind. 

The other worry that I have with this virus is that I don't think there's as big a risk of people getting sick as we get into these summer months. The heat and warm weather tends to deal with things like this. The antidote, in part at least, is getting out in the sun and not hiding. We're also going to have to deal with being in lockdown in 100 degree weather. Some houses won't have air conditioning and others will have it running nonstop. Not only will those people have to worry about higher electricity bills, there will be a strain on the power grid and potential power outages as a result of people being locked down as the weather gets hotter. I don't believe we should be in lockdown at this point. 

Again, the conspiratorial side of me wonders what if they loosen things up at the end of summer. Fine, tracks open up to have a few races in front of however many fans they can get. Then, fall sets in. Tracks want to stay open a little bit longer to recover financially at least a little bit. As it gets colder, suddenly people start getting sick and we're back into that cycle again. There's certain powers-that-be that seem to want to ratchet up the fear at that point, and that has me concerned. But enough of that line of thinking. A lot of this is worst case scenario anyway.

I look at the idea that we've already seen the cancellation of the Antioch Fair, Glenn County Fair, Merced County Fair and the big State Fair in Sacramento. That last Fair stretches into early August. In other words, it doesn't seem like the State Fairgrounds expect that they can have mass gatherings through the end of July. If they thought differently, some of the fairs could have been held. What does that do for fairgrounds race tracks? Are we looking at late July or early August as the earliest time in which we can get back to having fans at the track? When is the earliest that we can run in front of an empty grandstand, and how many people would be allowed in the pits?

I stand firmly behind Mike McCann when he says that we can't open until we can do so without restrictions. To run the business model that we have put in place at Southern Oregon Speedway, it requires us to be able to do everything at our fullest potential. We've struggled over the last four years to build this program into something that's gathering momentum and looking much better than it was when we got here. We've put several big marquee events on the schedule, and things really get going in August. Several big purse events. August into early September. Therefore, losing the momentum building dates in May definitely hurt us. June has also proven to be a good month, and while May looks doubtful, June also looks iffy at best. June doesn't appear to be a month in which we can open with no restrictions, if at all. That leads us to July and a bigger question.

If we get to July having not opened the gates, would July be a month with only limited crowds allowed? Again, the track won't open unless it can be done without restrictions. If it gets to August, the chances of a race happening at Southern Oregon Speedway are very doubtful in my opinion. I'm not speaking officially for the race track when I say that, just as an observer. It doesn't make very much business sense at that point. 

This is another reason I am very pissed off right now. This thing that we're going through that has been used in a political way has wiped out so much of what we've worked hard to build up at that track. I was looking forward to enjoying the season a little bit more and taking some of the pressure off of myself. Now I wonder, will I witness another race at this track again?

This would be the part of the column where I engage in a little bit of speculation, but as I said, this is a fluid situation. I'm adding this part right now (May 4th) after news from Placerville. Last week, we got news of several California counties ready to loosen their restrictions. This included Butte, Yuba, Glenn, Tehama and El Dorado. This news came at the same time as several Bay Area counties announced that they were going to keep restrictions in place for another month, which included Contra Costa County among others. That would make things challenging for Antioch Speedway during the month of May, but we'll see. Late last week, Marysville Raceway management put out an incomplete announcement that they were going to do something this weekend, but I'm not sure if they were talking race or practice at this point. As I write this, I have a hunch the clarification will be coming soon, and they will likely be doing something.

Placerville Speedway management just made the first announcement we've seen from them since this all broke out that a full practice will be happening. They are still trying to adhere to some guidelines, mostly associated with social distancing and sanitization. However, they are planning to practice on Saturday night. They won't be having an open grandstands, but it's been general policy for most fairgrounds race tracks that they don't allow fans at practice anyway. This is an insurance situation. Obviously, the situation we're in right now would have made an open grandstands at a practice a challenge anyway. 

So as I write this, the first full practice session at a big track in California since all of this happened will take place at Placerville Speedway this weekend. This is a different business model. Promoters are only opening the gates for a practice, so that means they aren't racing and worried about paying purses. One of the reasons tracks hold practices before the season starts is for the promoters to collect a few bucks before the season starts. It's not like they're making money as that money will go back into various costs as the season goes on. It's still useful for promoters. Theoretically, a promoter could run a month of practices under these conditions if that's all they can get. The bigger question is are the racers so desperate to get track time that they'll run a month of practices? 

Placerville Speedway Promoter Scott Russell hadn't been giving any indication on social media that he was considering anything, so this was a bit of a surprise, albeit a welcome one. I'm not sure what follows this practice and when he might attempt to run a show, even if it's under rules that limit how many fans can come spectate. Then again, one of the advantages that Russell has is that he definitely has some good sponsors behind him. As I said, this is a fluid situation, so any progress made along the lines of what Placerville Speedway is doing this weekend is certainly a good sign. It is advisable to keep checking your track's Facebook page and website daily for updates.

I do play devil's advocate. I've just got one of those analytical minds. Always have, so I've been going over ideas for a track to run races without fans. They are kind of radical. I mean, if they tell you you can only have 100 people gathering, can you do anything? Let's say Antioch Speedway was planning on having four divisions race that night and they got the go-ahead for 100 people. Or, let's give them 150 people. You're going to have a four division show, but there's a good bet that there's going to be more than 150 people total in the pits. Let's say you had IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and Dwarf Cars on the card.

If you can only have 150 people in the pits, there's no way this works. However, let's say you open the pits early. You open the pits at 10. First race will fire off at noon. You pick two divisions. Let's say the IMCA Modifieds and Dwarf Cars get the first program. You'll probably be able to get 150 people in the pits there. Of course, if this is the only Modified and Dwarf Car show happening, you might go over that number as well. This is the problem. Are you going to have somebody counting the numbers at the gate to make sure you stay under the limit? Even if not, you have to report how many people were there eventually. Somebody could complain that you had more people. More headaches.

For argument's sake, let's say you did have 150 people in the pits for the early show. It wraps up and people are out of the pits by  4. Everybody from the Sport Modifieds and Hobby Stocks comes in at 5 and you are racing by 7. You effectively had your four division show in two sessions. You could do it that way by being creative, although your staff will have a much longer day. I don't think most of them would complain as they enjoy doing what they do. I also doubt any track would attempt a solution like this.

The problem with running in front of an empty grandstands is you're still not making money. The rent is still going to be due. Insurance is still going to have to be paid. Your employees who work the show are still going to have to be paid. Purses are still going to have to be paid along with any sanctioning fees and additional costs. I would hope you could still at least open up your pit concessions to get money there, because you've lost the grandstands and grandstands concessions. That's not insignificant. Grandstands money alone is huge. Even if you average 600 fans a night and between adult and kids tickets are averaging around $12 a ticket, you're talking $7,200 from the grandstands. This is a rough estimate and that's not counting concessions money.

The answer I hear is internet streaming. Bring in Speedshift or one of the other companies. The problem is that under normal circumstances this doesn't amount to very much money after the professional broadcasting company takes their cut. You're talking hundreds of dollars, which doesn't compare to the thousands you normally get. True, we're in a time right now where a lot of tracks can't open. Therefore, it stands to reason that the internet streams will have more viewers. If you can hit the motherload like South Dakota recently did, it could be even more profitable than it would be under normal circumstances. Then again, you can't assume that this is the norm.

I can say this about Antioch Speedway, but it really applies to any track. We're in a new age when it comes to the sport. We really haven't completely caught up with the technology and all that it can do for the sport. Granted, a lot of people get on the internet and assume that if it's on the internet it should be free. You're always going to encounter a contingent of people who won't pay for anything. However, you've already got people used to getting on the internet and watching a race at any track on social media for free. Fans can't help but stick their camera phones in the air to film whatever race they happen to be watching. Even if the quality isn't good, you still get a good enough taste of the show to see what's going on.

Antioch Speedway is a unique enough track in that Brett Phillips proved what could be done last year with his drone footage. Brett actually had the capability of broadcasting every race live. Really, this overhead perspective alone was good enough and certainly worthy of money. You get a good view of the cars, and he flew the drone pretty well. You were able to see every pass for the lead from a unique perspective, and I'm told that he had the capability of piping that footage in with the PA system to give you an announcer. I don't know how much Brett had invested in his equipment, but as it is, he would be capable of going live from the track. He also did some filming from the grandstands as well, so he could do that too. 

What you're dealing with at that point is battery power for your drone so that it's always able to stay on and bandwidth to make sure that you can give the viewer good enough quality. The track can create its own infrastructure where you view from the track's server behind a pay window, but you don't have to do it that way. YouTube and other streaming sites have the capability of hiding everything behind a pay window as well. Therefore, if you want to watch the race, you have to pay a fee. If it's $10, $12 or whatever, you don't see it until you pay. If the quality of the stream is good enough and you can hear the announcer, people will pay for it. 

Now, Brett was also doing something pretty cool. He would go live before the races with his pit walk. If this is done and put out there to the public, it serves a couple of functions. The first is to let everybody know who is there and that the stream will be live on pay-per-view. The second is to let the people who are within track distance know that they need to get their butts to the track and come see it in person. The infrastructure is already built, and you can do other things to build up the support for this pay service. It's a great marketing tool for any race track.

Obviously, you want people to pay to watch the races. You don't want to give away the show for free. However, you can also have a site set up where people might see a few tidbits. Maybe a brief highlight, driver interviews or internet show highlighting the track. Some stuff can be free, other stuff can be behind a pay window. It's a marketing tool for the speedway and also a tool to generate revenue. As the fairgrounds doesn't really know about all of this stuff and how it works just yet, the promoters would probably be able to generate all of that revenue for themselves initially, minus the fee for the drone operator. Your cost is basically related to people operating cameras and bandwidth. The track already pays the announcer. Therefore, the rest is profit. 

Here's the thing. I'm talking about this as a way to generate revenue in times when we can't get fans in the stands, but we should be looking at this from another perspective as well. We've faced declining numbers. Fans have left that aren't coming back. That doesn't mean we shouldn't try to get them back, but we should also recognize that there are fans that we can't reach by getting them to come to our track. These are the fans that we might reach by giving them a quality broadcast at a reasonable price. These are fans who once lived in Antioch and now have moved out of state. They wouldn't mind watching the show from their old home track if it was an option. These are fans that have never been to Antioch, but they'll watch the stream every week if it's good enough. Give them good footage and decent enough announcing, and you'll get them. Give them those little shows during the week that hype things up and make them want to come back next week. It's a whole new way to market the show.

I'm not going to tell you that you can put this on the internet immediately and generate big revenue. It's not as easy as that. It could be that some of your biggest supporters will be people paying for the replay who competed that night. Gradually, those numbers go up. If you're getting 600 or 700 fans in the stands, but now you also get 200 people online, that's more money. If you charge them $12 or $15 a ticket, how much more money did you make than you would have had the online stream not been an option?

What you're basically doing is selling the notion of Antioch Speedway as a professional sporting event like anything else. You can even open up merchandising online. Want that Antioch Speedway hat, shirt, bumper sticker, coffee mug? You can order it online and have it sent to your home. Want an official souvenir program or other books specifically geared towards the history of the track? Order it online. Become a fan of Antioch Speedway all the way in Tallahassee, Florida. Berlin, Germany. Who knows? I mention Antioch, but every track should be considering this.

There's potential for that to grow. It could become 500 fans watching every week online. You don't know until you try. If you can put something together at a reasonable cost, it doesn't hurt to try, but I can already hear the traditional, old-school promoters speaking against this idea. They make a good point when they say that an internet fan doesn't buy their hamburger or soda from the concession stands. That's absolutely true. However, I think most of the fans who can get to your track will be there. They want to be there for the sights, sounds, smells and all the excitement. But, we have a TV viewing public that is more comfortable sitting in their homes watching than going to the track. It's just the way it is now. If it hadn't changed this much, race tracks everywhere would still be getting 2,000 fans or more every week, but that's not the time we live in. This isn't the 1960s or 1970s.

The internet has so many different tools that you can use at your disposal, and it is kind of remarkable to realize that tracks aren't looking into that as much as they could. YouTube is a viable option, and like I said, there are others. Just because you put it up on YouTube doesn't mean you have to put it up for free. You can put it behind a pay window. Obviously, YouTube will want their cut. Therefore, you might look at other streaming sites and what kind of bandwidth they have versus how much they want out of your profit. But, if they have the site to host it, you don't have to worry about setting up that part of the infrastructure on your own site to get it up and running. All you need to worry about is having the proper equipment to conduct a broadcast that's appealing enough to get people to want to pay.

This is something people are looking at given the fact that we have the restrictions in place now, but I think it's something that needs to be looked at in a whole new way going forward. People can now hookup their internet to their TV set. Therefore, you can watch a local race track on the big screen while enjoying your beverage of choice. As racing faces so many challenges that we know of and ones we don't see coming, we're going to need to look at more options such as this in the future.

Again, I don't know what the answer is going to be for this virus situation. I consider it a fluid situation where the people themselves could affect what happens. The more people speak up and make their displeasure public, the more that can change what we're dealing with. Things can open up quicker, or they can drag out longer. It does seem to be dragging out along party lines, and the red states are the ones that may open sooner. Unfortunately, all of us on the West Coast are living in blue states with governors who know how important their economy is to the country. Given that this is an election cycle, that might not bode well for this racing season, especially at fairgrounds tracks.

I do know that the promoters are looking at this situation closely and trying to come up with a workaround. It may be that all we're going to be doing for a while is practicing, but I have a feeling that racers are ready to do that, even if that's all they get. I wish I had better news, but I don't know anything concrete. As I said, the situation in Medford doesn't look so good. We may not be looking at a racing season at all, and I'm not happy to say that. It makes me not want to write much of anything, because I'm not giving people good news. I want to be giving people good news.

Just keep praying for everybody to be safe and sound, because that's what matters more than anything. I want everybody to be alright for when the time comes when we can get back to doing what we love. I don't know what's in store for me in the future, especially if the show doesn't get going in Medford. I'll do what I can from afar, and if I get the right offer, I could become available beyond that. Or, I could slip away quietly once again. We'll see what goes. On that note, all end this column. Until next time...

Looking Back At The California Hardtop Effort 
That Could Have Started In 1995

I happened to be there for the first official race of the Hardtop revival in California. This took place on September 20th back in 2002. My good friend Don O'Keefe got word of a race at the Sacramento Raceway stadium oval that would feature the Hardtops and the Micro Sprints. Two of our friends, Jim Booth and Ken Bonnema, were looking to get into this division. This particular race was promoted by Mike McCann and Chuck Prather was also involved. These were Cascade Hardtop racers who competed at Sunset Speedway, where Mike featured that division. The next night would see them go to Orland. For a bit of trivia, Steve Lemley won both nights, and that car is now owned by Ken Clifford and driven by his son Jason Clifford with the California Hardtop Association. 

I want to go back a little bit further than this, because believe it or not, the Hardtop movement in California could have started seven years earlier. One of the most interesting people that I've been associated with in my time in racing is Mike Johnson. I could tell you a lot of things about Mike, some good and some bad. He would definitely be somebody worthy of writing a book about, just covering some of the things he's done and the racing he's actually been a part of. I'll just say that whatever people think about the man, he has a passion and love for the sport and an appreciation for its history. 

I'm probably rehashing just a little bit of what was covered in my book, but Mike won me over to the NCMA cause back in 1988. I was not supportive of these California Dirt Cars at first, because I was a Dirt Modified fan. I knew John Procopio, the guy who built the first Dirt Modified in the area, and he had a verbal agreement for a dozen dates at Antioch in 1988. This happened before the management change. Johnson saw the opportunity and swooped in to make his big move. The NCMA and the  Spec Sprint revolution that came afterwards had a chance because Johnson landed dates for the California Dirt Cars at Antioch Speedway in 1988.

It seems like such an unlikely move, because Antioch Speedway never had anything quite like these cars. I think it was after the first race when Johnson and I had a conversation and he explained his philosophy. Racing for the budget-minded, bigger car counts and all of that. I bought into the idea, and I've been a fan of the self-starting, 360 cast iron engine Sprint Car ever since. I call it Sprint Car racing for the Stock Car fan. At that point, I began writing publicity for the NCMA and was elected secretary in 1989. I held both posts until the end of the 1993 season.

Anyway, I never really liked the way things ended with Johnson in that club. I felt they kind of screwed him over. That's always been my opinion, and so when Mike and I had a chance to talk in 1993, I was listening. He pointed out how the NCMA had a big opportunity to do the things he was talking about doing, but they managed to run off a bunch of racers. This much was definitely true in my opinion. Mike had nearly a half-dozen cars at his disposal and an idea. I was listening. 

We began forming the plans for the California Modified Association in 1993, and I once again held the post of publicity director. I didn't give myself much credit for the role that I played in this thing. If not for me, the idea wouldn't have gone anywhere. It would have just been Mike and his cars showing up wherever. I believed that we could get other drivers to join the group and build things up, but Mike found himself having to adapt to things on the fly due to the opposition presented by the NCMA. This led to him deciding that we should run wings on the cars and refer to them as classic style Super Modifieds. He wanted to fully embrace the nostalgia element of this thing.

What I had managed to accomplish was getting Johnson back involved in the building of the future of this style of racing. Things that we were pushing for actually ended up being adopted by the NCMA as that group experienced a resurgence in the immediate years that followed. That's something I was happy to see happen. Unfortunately, the idea of bringing all these similar groups together for big blowout races never happened. Nobody really wanted to meet the other entity halfway, so there was no Santa Maria working with Merced and working with the NCMA. One of the things we accomplished with the CMA was going up to Yreka and helping the Sportsman Sprint class branch out from the fully injected 360 Sprints. I thought that was pretty cool.

We had gone through a whole season and it wasn't developing the way I was hoping. Johnson had four cars running in his stable and a fifth car was being built. That car would finally see the track in 1995. I was wondering if this was worth my effort. As had been the case with much of my involvement in racing publicity to that point, I didn't receive a penny for any of the work I did, and oftentimes some of the promotional stuff that I did went beyond sending articles to publications. It came in the form of printing handouts for the fans at my expense. I wanted just one thing to justify my faith in the effort. I wanted to see one person join this group who had a race car not from Mike's garage. Though we came close to that, it never happened.

It was at the end of the year. Mike was the California Modified Series champion and his father Dave was the California Modified Association champion. Basically, they were champions on paper, but the publicity made it real. It always starts with hype to make it happen, but people joining and growing the deal makes it real. We were discussing what we needed to do in 1995, and Johnson had a new idea. He wanted to build Hardtops and put them on the track with the Modifieds. I firmly believed at the time that within a year or two, if he started this, Modifieds would disappear entirely. It would be a Hardtop effort. He had a love for that class and he wanted to distance himself further from the NCMA and the headaches they were causing him

I had two concerns with this idea. First of all, we hadn't managed to get anybody to join this group. I knew Mike had two cars to build and would build them if that's what he wanted to do. It was a few years later when he built one of those cars and displayed it at the Vallejo Speedway reunion. Yes, he was serious about this. Aside from my concern that I didn't know if we could attract any new drivers as it was before adding Hardtops, Mike was telling me he knew somebody who had a pair of cars that could be built as Hardtops. That man was Steve Woodburn.

There were a couple of problems I had with Steve. Originally, he was supposed to field a Modified to support our effort, but it never happened. Now, I'm not privy to all the dealings that went on between he and Mike, but I didn't see him around Mike's garage all that much. I don't think Steve was very happy with him at that point. Secondly, he was making noise about the car that Dave Johnson was running belonging to him and wanting it back. That was something Mike was never going to let happen. Furthermore, Steve had purchased the car that Ray Aydelot had been driving with the NCMA. It was race ready and could have supported an event by the end of the 1994 season. He didn't bring it out. So, even if Steve had cars, how could I be sure that we'd see them at a race in 1995? Mike was assuring me that it would happen, but I had my doubts.

I admit I never had the opportunity to see a Hardtop race at Vallejo Speedway. If I was in the stands with my parents, I was too young to remember anything. By the time I started going to the races, it was Antioch Speedway. Vallejo Speedway was still running for the last few years, but I was watching the old Sportsman division. Then my dad would tell me stories about Vallejo Speedway, though he enjoyed watching the Sportsman division at Antioch. Going to Vallejo Speedway was never really discussed. Through my dad's stories and others, I began to build up an appreciation of Hardtop racing as years went on, but maybe I didn't quite appreciate the love people had for Hardtops even in 1994.

It is interesting that I had an occasion during 1993 to walk the old Vallejo Speedway. It still stood there underneath the overgrown weeds. The homes were encroaching on the track off of Turns 1 and 2, but there was lots of space out there even at that time. It was a sad occasion to walk a track that sat Idle for over a decade, thinking about all the memories that were made there. Thinking that the place could have still held races for a decade after it closed at the end of the 1979 season. I've shared those pictures from 1993 on the web and they are somewhere in the blog archives.

I didn't quite appreciate that Hardtop racing could have made a comeback at that time. Mike McCann had his successful run as promoter at Cottage Grove by the end of the 1980s and in the early part of the next decade did some good things for Marysville Raceway. He would head to Eugene next, where he would book some OTRO Hardtop races. It wasn't until we got past the mid-1990s that Mike introduced his own Hardtop division to Sunset Speedway. He didn't really agree with the six cylinder rules of the OTRO and wanted to go with eight cylinders. Considering the success he had, I think he was right. His Sunset Speedway rules were the foundation upon which the California Hardtop Association was built.

Johnson had enough of a racing mind that he would have put together a good set of rules for Hardtops. That is something I never doubted. I just couldn't wrap my mind around the idea that we had only put a year of effort into this classic style Super Modified concept and still needed to work on building it into something. I know part of the reason Johnson was looking in this direction was because he was tired of butting heads with the NCMA and wanted to establish something else on a budget that he could afford. Hardtops would have fit that bill. He was telling me we had two cars from him and two from Woodburn and there would be others. Mike always knew how to make a sales pitch when he was pushing for something. 

At some point, he reached out to me to discuss the possibility of a Bay Area or Vallejo Speedway Hall of Fame. He talked about collecting memorabilia and that sort of thing and making a go of it. I think even in the mid-1990s I was talking occasionally about an Antioch Speedway Hall of Fame and honoring the heritage of the sport there. I have always been a history minded person. However, I wasn't keen on working with Mike at that point. I felt like my involvement with him in the CMA helped give him a seat at the table again, and he ran with the NCMA for a few years after that, sometimes bringing three or four cars to one of their races. He was also the very first NCMA pavement race winner at Altamont, so he had his opportunity and had come full circle with that. He even had an occasion or two to support the Spec Sprint effort at Antioch when we started it up.

It's kind of funny that Mike McCann discovered Mike Johnson while browsing through Craigslist. Mike has moved across the country, or at least he was living back east at that time a year or two ago. He was selling a Hardtop and it looks like he might have actually been building cars and selling them. I know he sold the cars he had before leaving the state, but in a way it's kind of nice that his love of Hardtops was still keeping him involved in the sport. I'm not sure I would be keen on doing business with him, but I think you've got a 50-50 chance of coming out okay in the deal. Some may be okay with those odds.

McCann didn't pass the opportunity to reach out to Mike. There was a number associated with the ad, and he decided to make the call. I'm trying to recall the ad and how it was worded, but it said something about Johnson being a Modified Hall of Famer. Me and Mike looked at each other and chuckled. Hall of Famer? However, it really is true. Johnson had been inducted into the NCMA Hall of Fame at some point, so technically he was a Modified Hall of Famer. They did call those cars Modifieds for several years, though they would never be confused for actual Super Modifieds. I think all that McCann managed to get out when Johnson picked up the phone was, "Is this the Modified Hall of Famer?" 

Okay, McCann and I laughed over that one for a while, and I even entertained the idea of calling Mike myself. He didn't think that Johnson would pick up the phone, but I was kind of worried that he would. Johnson's never had any reason not to talk to me. I've always treated him fairly and been an advocate for him. The biggest reason I didn't was because I was concerned about the sales pitch he might put on me. I could hear it in my head how we could do this or that and he had a plan. I couldn't bring myself to make that phone call before that window of opportunity closed.

I do think the timing in 1995 would have been good for a Hardtop revival of sorts. At that point, I know Antioch was doing quite well with a full field of Grand American Modifieds along with Street Stocks, a new Hobby Stock class and a rotation that included Dwarf Cars, NCMA Modifieds and Mini Sprints. There was no shortage of cars. Therefore, if a half dozen Hardtops were allowed in the picture, it probably wouldn't have taken too much track time for it to happen. The plus that the group might have had in their favor was Bert Bockover was married to the track manager and his family had a history with Hardtop racing at Vallejo Speedway. He probably would have been an advocate for this.

I don't really think it would have been that difficult to get track time for Hardtops in 1995. I think the look of these cars could have sold it pretty well, and as Bonnema would prove in his Hardtop hunter days, you could track these cars down if you were resourceful enough back then. Bonnema was doing it before the internet really exploded. I could see a Hardtop division getting into double digits within a few years. There would have been lots of potential. We did get our first taste of nostalgia when Chuck Griffin brought back the old Sportsman division at Merced Speedway in 1999, and that division continues to this day. 

I think the other thing that swayed me to keep my focus on Antioch Speedway was I was trying to figure out my future. There was a part of me that was seriously thinking about retiring from the sport at that time. Though my magazine was beginning to experience more success than ever, I felt like the real opportunities I needed weren't ever going to come my way. That's one of the reasons it was easy for me to take on a project like Mike's CMA or the NCMA before that, and I'm proud of what I was able to do in that effort. However, I knew I needed to focus more on seeing what I could make of my career in the sport as it was. 

The rumblings were starting again in the 2000s. For one thing, Mike McCann led his group to Sacramento and Orland for a weekend visit in 2002. I never got around to asking Mike exactly what it was he was aiming for here, but he didn't make a repeat performance after that. It's interesting to note that my friend Don O'Keefe and Steve Sutherland discussed the possibility of Don helping restore the Tommy Thomson Hardtop and possibly getting an opportunity to drive it a little bit in some sort of Hardtop revival. Don declined and eventually moved back to Indiana where he and his wife Linda are enjoying life and racing when they can.

While McCann was was winding down his time as promoter at Sunset Speedway, Chuck Prather wasn't done. He decided to grab a hold of the Hardtop effort in California himself, leading to some Hardtop races at Sacramento and Roseville with his own group. Chuck was quite serious about this as he owned over half a dozen cars and at one point took out a full-page spread in Racing Wheels to promote the group. Chuck tried working out a deal with the people at Sacramento to promote the dirt track and even took a look at Dixon prior to the Outlaw Kart group building the track that sits there now. It was just the oval track with nothing around it when Chuck was discussing things with the property owner.

Prather couldn't resist the call of promoting a race track again and ended up buying Coos Bay Speedway, where he had a decade-long run in building up a program there. He eventually sold all of the Hardtops after attempting to do a Hardtop division there. However, he managed to keep the Hardtop discussion going in California long enough for others to answer the call. This came in the form of Conrad Cavallaro and his twin brother Carmen Cavallaro building cars along with Mike McClure. This was the nucleus that formed the California Hardtop Association a few years later.

I look back and marvel at Ken Bonnema and his racing career, because he's managed to dabble in all sorts of interesting divisions. He's always had fun doing that. As the Hardtop hunter, he managed to build a few cars and managed to start getting race dates at Chowchilla Speedway when Tom Sagmiller promoted the place. Of course, the Okie Bowl Hardtop group came into being and had a few drivers that would go to Chowchilla. The Bakersfield Hardtops still thrive along with the California Hardtops and the more recently created Bay Area Hardtops.

I marvel at the fact that there are probably over 40 Hardtops in Northern California in various states of repair. People are almost as interested in this division as they are the Super Modifieds, which thrive under the Legends of Kearney Bowl moniker. Everything old is new again. Hardtops, Sportsman and Super Modifieds. 

It's kind of interesting to look back at 1995 when Mike Johnson was ready to turn the CMA into something different. No, I didn't take the bait. I walked away. However, looking back, if I'd have wholeheartedly supported Mike and kept the press going, I have little doubt that he would have begun an effort. I think it would have taken off, but I'm not certain that Johnson would have lasted long at the helm of that deal either. I guess we'll never know.

Keeping The Sport Alive

The Search For The Next New Race Track

In racing, it's inevitable that some people who have had a nice racing career or are longtime fans dream of having their own race track. It's a natural progression for some. I can picture racing friends enjoying a few beers after a race and talking about what their race track would be like. Of course, the promoter running their track isn't doing it right. They'll say something along the lines of, "If I had a race track, I'd do it differently. I'd do it better." Of course, there's a lot more to running a race track than just opening the gates and putting cars out there.

I'm watching with curiosity as a friend and racing media colleague, Cory Penfold, begins to pursue his own dream of having a race track. Cory happens to have enough property that building a track became a possibility. At this point, he hasn't opened to full business, but he has staged events there. It's a nice little banked 1/8 mile dirt track that has hundreds of hours put into it. They race Outlaw Karts, both caged and flat karts. They've actually had a couple of opportunities during this virus down time to go out there and race a little bit. I know Cory is dreaming a little bigger, whether it happens there or in another location. I'll let him tell his story in his time. 

It's really not a down time in terms of race track opportunities in California. Several tracks dot the state of California from the south to the north. Many of these are at fairgrounds, and some are on private properties. The state of Oregon isn't as blessed with race tracks. There are currently nine outdoor venues for big car racing, and I'd say there is room for a few more tracks if an enterprising would be promoter with a big enough budget came knocking on the door with the right proposal. 

Going the fairgrounds route seems to be the best choice. There are still several fairgrounds in the state that have nice grandstands and the space, but they don't have a race track. Considering how the previous California governor revoked some of the state funds for fairgrounds, this means that they are looking for other ways to bring in revenue. I think that some of these locations would be receptive to opening a track if the right proposal were made. If they could generate another $20,000 or more per year, why not give it a try? All that awaits is a promoter. 

There are some downsides as we are currently going through the virus lockdown. Given the state's hard stance on things, fairgrounds racing facilities might be the slowest to get back to normal in the state. After all, you don't really own that race track if you're promoting there. You're simply leasing that property for the contracted amount of time from the state. That could be three years, five years or maybe you've managed to get a 10 year deal. There have actually been tracks that have held closed practices in California, but they weren't at fairgrounds locations yet as of this writing.

If you're looking to open a track on private property, you have to go through many different hurdles. What is the land designated for? How close are you to a residential area? You're building everything from the ground up, so how much money do you have to invest? It's not impossible to build a track, but you're definitely going to have to invest. I'm aware that in the last 20 years, Contra Costa County has had a couple of potential tracks that have at least been discussed.

It was around 2000 when a possible race track was the subject of discussion at the old Martinez dump site. Think about it. What else are you going to do with that land? I've had this discussion with Mike McCann concerning another potential landfill location not far from where we are located that he believes would make a great race track location. Mike talks about how you could put in temporary structures. Food trailer, portable grandstands and so on. Sign a lease of 5 or 10 years. It might be that the track goes away at the end of 10 years. I'm not sure what the exact proposal was in Martinez, but discussions didn't last for more than a few months. It's interesting that one of the people involved in those discussions actually was part of the promotional group at another fairgrounds track further north.

In the 1990s, there happened to be some discussion about building a NASCAR facility at the Byron airport location. It was talked about enough that this was even written in the local newspapers. This was also at a time when the Sand Hill race track had a growing Outlaw Kart program on an oval track built on the property. Complaining neighbors put an end to what was actually a successful program. They also had clearly defined rules on what they could and couldn't run, ending at 1200cc motorcycle engine vehicles. They've been fighting for the cause at the Sand Hill location ever since and are able to do some racing, though most of it is two-wheeled.

The Byron location discussion sort of went away, but there have been indications in recent years that a track could still be built there. Reportedly, there's an interest in having a big pavement track there along with a drag strip and a dirt oval. The snag is you'll need to invest a lot of money. Somebody with that kind of money might be able to write themselves a deal that keeps him in charge of a facility in that location for years to come. There was actually one interested party, but they would prefer to start with a dirt track and go from there. Building a racing program in that location, even just starting with dirt track racing, is still going to take a while. You don't just build a track and suddenly everything pops.

The concern is that Contra Costa County could end up without a race track in the near future. Though there are no major complaints at the fairgrounds location, this is a fluid situation. Given all the construction happening In Antioch, you never know when a movement will begin to use the property for something else. Antioch Speedway wasn't actually the first dirt track in Contra Costa County. That honor goes to Contra Costa Speedway in Pacheco, which started back in 1946. For 14 year, they raced Hardtops, Midgets and other vehicles. As luck would have it, the gates were ready to open at Antioch Speedway right after the Pacheco track closed. Contra Costa Speedway was a privately owned track, but progress in the form of the freeway put an end to that.

Vallejo was another great location for racing, not too far from Pacheco and Antioch. The track located on Broadway is the best-known Vallejo Speedway, running from the 1950s to 1979. It was privately owned. At one time, they even had a drive-in theater at the location and a bigger track that was used for special races outside of the regular smaller track. Vallejo Speedway was the place to be. Progress and complaining neighbors led to its downfall, but the sad truth was that location sat idle when it could have been open for another decade or so after it closed. Before that, there was another track in Vallejo, referred to as the China Barn track.

Sadly, there wasn't enough forward-thinking. When things are going good, you don't worry about what will happen if your beloved track closes. They're not going to close it, right? With each major shake-up at Vallejo Speedway, the crowd and the car counts took a noticeable hit. When it went from a BCRA sanctioned track to BARA, numbers went down. When the drivers made their famous strike, ending the BARA, numbers went down again. What's interesting was there happened to be a discussion in 1973 about building a track not too far down the road at Sears Point.

Sears Point was actually a thriving road racing and drag strip location. They ran all sorts of different cars, so building a dirt track somewhere on the facility seemed to be a natural fit. The track was rumored to have actually been built, but a race was never held there. The drivers from Vallejo Speedway took their show on the road to Petaluma Speedway in 1973 before returning to Vallejo Speedway a year later. Maybe the desire to build the Sears Point location was merely to give the drivers another choice, but it actually could have been the replacement track for Vallejo Speedway.

By the time Vallejo Speedway closed, the Vallejo Fairgrounds still had a thriving horse racing track. They were not interested in entertaining a motorsports program, and suddenly the county had no auto racing track. Whether there was any sort of discussion about putting a race track anywhere nearby or not, I haven't heard. I can only speak to what happened years later at the Solano County Fairgrounds. An enterprising promoter named Steve Hazelton saw the opportunity to build a little track at the fairgrounds. This would be for Outlaw Kart racing, although he also dared to run an occasional Mini Stock race. 

By all accounts, this was a successful endeavor that launched the racing careers of a few drivers who are still competing to this day, 20 years later. Steve got complaints from people that led him to have to relocate his little track to another part of the fairgrounds. That didn't stop him from doing that and keeping the show going, but he knew that the writing was on the wall. At that point, other locations were scouted. One such place was at an undisclosed location in American Canyon, which would have been perfect. There was another location.

Down the road in Dixon, they had an MX track. Riders like to get down in the dirt there. There's also a Kart road course on the property. In the back, a 1/5 mile banked oval had been built. Occasionally, drivers from various other classes of big cars would come make some laps there to shake down their motors. This seemed like the perfect location for a track. Steve wasn't the only person looking, and there were other people interested in doing bigger things at that location. Most noteworthy, Chuck Prather was looking for a place to run his Hardtops and other races, but he couldn't come to terms with the property owners. 

However, Hazleton also wasn't the only person looking to put a Kart program on the dirt track location. Some of the families who were actually a part of the Vallejo Speedway 2 program formed a group called CORA. They ended up getting the location and taking their time to build the infrastructure around the track. They've been holding races at Dixon Speedway for about 15 years now. The current promoter is Jeremy Prince, who has various Micro Sprint divisions on any given race day. Prince has also dabbled in Mini Stock and Dwarf Car racing, though that hasn't happened recently. In an interesting side note, Dixon was no stranger to racing. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, they ran some Sprint Car programs at the Dixon Fairgrounds before the track was taken out of there.

In the last decade, the Solano County Fairgrounds has stopped holding horse races. The fairgrounds is a huge property. They've started renting storage areas there, which is undoubtedly a money maker. There have been interested promoters looking to take a fraction of the one mile track location to cut a quarter-mile oval. Given the racing heritage that Vallejo has had, a racing program there would be a natural fit. Sadly, things are just too built up in Vallejo. The property has too much value, and the fairgrounds personnel doesn't seem to be entertaining anyting. There are other fairgrounds that might hear a proposal, but this doesn't seem to be one of them. 

It's probably not a bad idea for some of the promoters of longtime racing locations to take a look at the areas around them and start mapping out a contingency plan. Petaluma, for instance, has had racing going back to the 1950s at the fairgrounds. After 2022, will there be a race track in Petaluma? If not, is there anywhere they can relocate? Could the Sears Point dirt track idea resurface? The discussion of the future of the track in Watsonville comes up every few years. Again, racing in this area goes back long before the speedway that was built in 1960 at the fairgrounds. Where would they go next?

Alameda County has had a couple of well-known tracks. Obviously, Altamont Raceway Park comes with some interesting history dating back to the 1960s, but they've also held many races there through the years. Prior to closing around 2007, the track had its longest run of more than a decade. It still sits there, though the facility is in a state of decay. They use the track itself for driving schools and Tesla car testing. The other track was the iconic Baylands Raceway Park. Drag racing was king there, but they also had dirt track racing dating back to the Fremont Speedway in the 1970s.

When the Fremont track took on the Baylands moniker, things grew bigger and better. The old saying was, "There's always something happening at Baylands Raceway." This is because that was true. They had a smaller track for Micros, Karts and Motorcycles. The big track held some of the biggest Sprint Car shows ever, and they also had the biggest Mini Stock program in the state along with running various other Stock Car and open wheel vehicles. It was a track that maybe wasn't the prettiest to look at, but many fond memories were made there. One of the biggest architects of its success was a man named David Vodden.

When David could see that they were going to lose that track, he began scouting out other locations. He found one in Vacaville. Years ago, they had the Vaca Valley drag strip. There was a bit of a racing history there, but many years had passed. The property still stood there, waiting for something. Vodden tried, and given his vast amount of knowledge, he was maybe the best chance they had at success. Sadly, it didn't work out. The Baylands dream was dead, and now there's no racing in Alameda County.

In the last couple of decades, another potential track was about to launch in Rio Vista. Dan Simpson had taken over the famed  King of the West Series and was trying to breathe new life into it. He had a big enough property as his family also had horses. He did cut a quarter-mile track at this location, but the people in the city were not too keen on him hosting any official races there. He did get some use out of the track with various Sprint Car practice sessions, but his dream of actually opening this as a racing venue was not to be. The track itself has been unused since.

One of the biggest challenges in building a race track is location. In most of the cases discussed above, there was a driver base in need of a place to race. When discussing building a new track, you're also talking about having to build up a whole new program. If you start with a fairgrounds location, at least you have some of the infrastructure in place. You've got grandstands and some concession areas to start with, but you're still going to have to build a little bit. If you are able to find the property to build on that is zoned properly, you still have even bigger costs. There's a persistent rumor that Vodden could strike at any time with a new dirt track in Northern California, though no announcements have been made yet. 

The fairgrounds in Gridley had an opportunity to rise again as a car racing facility. Not long after he walked away from Marysville Raceway, Mike McCann had an intriguing offer from legendary promoter John P Soares. Soares was still in the midst of his successful run as promoter of Petaluma Speedway, and he made a trip up to Marysville to have lunch with McCann. The two ended up taking a trip to the Gridley Fairgrounds, where they met personally with the Fair Manager. Word has it that a deal was already in place, and all McCann needed to do was sign on the dotted line and the track would live again. Mike was looking north for a return to Oregon, and though the offer was tempting, he headed back there and would end up running Eugene Speedway with Chuck Prather.

Tom Sagmiller is the most recent promoter to open up a track in Central California, and he did it at the Chowchilla Fairgrounds. There had long been some bad feelings associated with Merced Speedway management, and there had been rumors that if a change couldn't be made with management, a new location would be pursued for racing. It just so happened that Charlie Ruth, the principal investor behind Sagmiller, had an intriguing proposal. He took him to the grandstands at the Chowchilla Fairgrounds and proposed the idea of opening a track there.

The timing was perfect. A long racing history stretching back to the 1930s in San Jose came to a sad end in 1999. The fairgrounds location there was closing the track due to a proposed amphitheater that never happened. There had been people trying to save San Jose Speedway, but when the iconic grandstands were destroyed within a couple of years of the track's closure, ideas were taken off the table. To this day, there's nothing built on the location of the old track. Might the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds representatives hear any sort of racing proposal for that location again? Would somebody want to make a proposal?

At the time, Ruth was talking common sense to Sagmiller, who has never been one to back down from a challenge. Other investors got behind Sagmiller, and they began building Chowchilla Speedway in late 1999. It opened for business in 2000. Some big races were held at that location through the years, but things were bulldozed at that location within the last two years due to the last failed attempt to promote by Joe Diaz Jr. The grandstands, however, still sit there. It's likely that if any racing happens there again, it will be related to the Micro Sprints and Outlaw Karts.

Fairgrounds can be enticing for would-be promoters. One of the most unlikely locations in Northern California was about ready to get a race track. Around 2010, talk at the Trinity County Fairgrounds in Hayfork centered around making use of the track that was sitting there dormant for years. Clyde Cordell was the man leading the charge, and within a few years, the dream of racing began in that small town. The racing program still continues as they move closer to completing their first full decade.

Location is important when it comes to building a race track. On one hand, you do want a big population to draw from. The more people you can draw from, the bigger your potential crowd could be. The downside to building a new location is that the heavily populated areas may not be as receptive to the noise produced by auto racing. They get so opposed to that idea that they're not interested in hearing how much revenue is created in the area on any given race night. Contra Costa, Santa Clara and Alameda counties are all prime locations to have a race track somewhere, and only Antioch Speedway in Contra Costa County has anything. Of course, if somebody were going to take on such an endeavor, they need money.

Property itself doesn't come cheap. If you have to purchase the property, that's going to be costly enough. Maybe you can strike up a deal with the person who owns the property. If the place is zoned right, you could potentially build a track. However, you're still going to have to deal with certain county and city ordinances. This means going through all of the laws and sitting through meetings. You're going to have to hear what it is they won't allow, and you're going to have to have an idea of what your proposal will be. They want to know what's being built, what's being run, what all is happening and what impact it will have on the environment. The private property path won't come cheap, and obviously you want to have some assurances that you are not going to build a track that will get shut down in just a few years.

Even if you do build a track, what are you going to run there? Yes, there are still many racers in California, but most of them already have home tracks. You can entice the adventurous racers into coming to check out your track, but you're still going to have to build up a base. This becomes tricky. On one hand, the cheaper the race car, the easier it will be to get new drivers. On the other hand, the faster the race car, the more likely you're going to have fans who want to come check out the program. Unfortunately, speed costs money, and money could be a detriment to building your car count. These are the challenges you have as a promoter at a new location.

As an armchair promoter, my inclination would be to go with affordable divisions that enable the track to produce good car counts. I know people want to see speed, but if they have a full Main Event of 20 Mini Stocks and 20 Hobby Stocks, are they going to ignore it? Are they going to ignore competitive fields, even if they aren't the fastest cars out there? If they support that in good enough numbers, then the track could deliver special tour races for Sprint Cars or other divisions. By starting on a lower budget, you give yourself a fighting chance to build the infrastructure and set things up to last for the long haul.

I have often wondered if the Arena Racing idea could be something to pursue as a new racing venue. Get enough property to expand a little bit after you get started, and yet start with a little one-eighth mile. Maybe put an X in the middle for Figure 8 racing, and run Mini Stocks. Follow the model as set out by the Salinas Fairgrounds agra race or the Alameda County Figure 8. Even having eight car Main Events on a tight little track gives the fans a lot of action and can be entertaining. This particular idea isn't just something that's happened in these locations in California. There have been other West Coast locations and other venues across the country that have done similar things. 

You have to be careful when you get creative like that to not phrase things in the agreement in such a way that restricts your ability to do bigger things. Words definitely mean things. While you want to start out doing events like this and would be interested in continuing these types of events as you expand, the ultimate goal is to have a bigger track for bigger events. You're giving the people of the city another form of entertainment on any given weekend. I'd be intrigued to see if a proposal like this could work. Maybe you even build a venue with portable stuff at first that can easily be removed.

Metcalf Park in San Jose was a Micro Sprint track. This was around 1984 or so when it was built, and one of the instigators was Mike McCann. Mike has actually been involved in quite a few things, and before he became the promoter of Cottage Grove Speedway and launched his successful big track promoting career, he was promoting Micro Sprint events. McCann had already raced successfully in Super Modifieds, Midgets and other cars. Interesting side note, but if he had his way, Chowchilla Speedway might have become a regular racing venue in the 1980s. Unfortunately, NASCAR West Coast brass didn't think Mike had what it takes to open a track at that location under their banner. I will chalk it up as their loss.

Mike had held Micro races at several different venues during his time, but this location in San Jose was perfect. He had people who believed in the idea and they all pitched in. Unfortunately, Mike's health wasn't doing so well at that time, and he had to step away. It wasn't much longer before he did land on his feet and got the Cottage Grove Speedway. He was still in touch with the people who were running this little track, and it was doing well for itself until politics came into the picture. These people actually built this track at this location, and the county was keen on entertaining somebody else as promoter. The club was aced out. 

In a fitting display of people power, the club decided after their last race that everything was coming with them. They pulled an all-nighter and hauled virtually everything from the facility. New people might come in there and run a track, but they were going to have to build the entire infrastructure to make it happen. The previous team wasn't going to have their hard work taken from them. 

The moral of the story is the point I'm trying to make. Depending on the location on which you were going to build a racing facility, portable structures might be the way to go. If it's easy enough for you to move the bleachers, k-rails, fencing, concessions and all of that, then at least you have an opportunity to sell your investment if the race track goes under. Or, you can build more permanent things if it looks like you're going to be be able to make a longer go at it.

The easiest way to achieve the dream of being a promoter is probably to go to an unused fairgrounds and scout it out. Some locations might not be interested. But what of someplace like Mariposa or Gridley or Colusa County? It's just sitting there without being used. What if you could step in and make a proposal for a 10 to 20 race season? I think one of the things that hurts some locations like those in the Bay Area is the expectation of 30 events. Let's face it, it's hard to keep your local racers coming back to the track in big enough numbers unless you are shuffling enough divisions and giving guys the night off. If fans don't see enough cars they don't want to spend their money with you every week.

The advantage of going to a more reasonable schedule is you have an opportunity to make the most out of a limited schedule. If you're running a dozen races, you can focus on getting as many cars as possible out of that. It also gives you more time to do ground work in the city and see what makes it tick. The fairgrounds might not be getting anything out of that part of the facility other than the Destruction Derby they might have during the County Fair or an occasional rodeo. Therefore, even if they could make a minimum of $15,000 or $20,000 guaranteed from you, it's more money than they were getting before. You might be surprised what fairgrounds locations might listen to you if you made the right proposal. They need revenue to keep these places open, now more than ever.

People might think it's impossible, but what was done at Grass Valley in the last year serves as a reminder that if you believe in your idea, anything is possible. We haven't seen racing at Ernie Purcell Memorial Speedway in Grass Valley since 1993. Some people will say that if the management at the time had been more cooperative with the fairgrounds, maybe it wouldn't have ended like it did. I'd have to look at the situation more to give an opinion on that, but racing died there at that point. A promotional effort led by Patrick Weger of Vintage Duels had a unique idea to make racing happen within the confines of the Rodeo Arena at the Grass Valley Fairgrounds.

As with most fairgrounds, they have a nice grandstands to work with, meaning the fans would be comfortable. The concession stands were still there, and the fairgrounds wasn't as close-minded about motorsports as a way to generate revenue. Obviously, there are some people opposed to the idea. It was a case where baby steps were what needed to be taken. In October of 2019, 14 Dwarf Car competitors showed up to a pretty nice crowd of spectators. This unique program, by all accounts, was a success. A race was to be held in June, but given the virus situation, it has been postponed. It's expected that another Vintage Duels event will be held at a date to be named.

People were saying you'd never see racing in Grass Valley again. People lamented that thought, because there were some great shows held at the old track through the years. Then again, people were complaining about Dwarf Cars competing in a Rodeo Arena, but that's just a bit short-sighted. Motorsports racing was happening again in Grass Valley. That's the takeaway. It's all because somebody looked at the budget they had, got their proposal in order, made the pitch and then made it happen. It's all about what you believe in, and until you hear no, you haven't asked enough questions or tried hard enough. 

Maybe talking about building a race track in this day and age is crazy. Then again, it's not impossible to make a new track happen. There are locations sitting there, just waiting for somebody to come bring them to life again. Porterville and Pearsonville are two tracks that come to mind. The track in Worden, Oregon still sits vacant. A wetlands has claimed Eugene Speedway, but enough property still sits there that racing could still be a thing. It's all in what you want to see happen. For those locations that still have tracks, and those that might be threatened, it doesn't hurt to keep an eye open for other locations near by. It couldn't hurt to put that proposal together. You never know when you may need it in order to keep racing alive in your area.

News And Notes From Antioch Speedway And Elsewhere

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Racing Season Still On Hold At Antioch Speedway

The Coronavirus has put racing season on hold across the country. That's the bad news. The word is that we might be able to go back to racing by May 15th. That's potentially good news, but we're uncertain whether that date will stick or could potentially be adjusted yet again. However, the plan is that eventually racing will return to Antioch Speedway, and work continues in that endeavor. 

When Promoter Chad Chadwick stepped up to the plate to take over Antioch Speedway, he had a game plan in mind. Literally every facet of what happens at Antioch Speedway was put under a microscope. The goal is to make things better than we've seen them in years, and Chad knew that this would require a big effort. The good news is that the racing community at large has been very supportive. In fact, several people have come out on multiple occasions when work parties have been scheduled. All the racing community wants to do is make a positive difference.

Given the strict regulations everybody is under, big gatherings at the speedway, even to make repairs, are not possible. Only five people or less are allowed. This means that work is being done, but only so much can be accomplished. Chadwick recently gave an interview to announcer Wylie Wade in which he spoke of some of the beautification that will be done at the speedway, which will include a new coat of paint on the walls of the track.

The Mother's Day mini van race may not happen on Mother's Day, but Chadwick revealed that it will be rescheduled for this year. Furthermore, Chadwick is looking at the possibility of running racing events later into the year until weather becomes a problem. The goal is to be ready when the green light is given, and also to make this the type of racing program that brings the fans and the competitors. The goal of making Antioch Speedway great is still very much in effect.

Racing teams from throughout the area have continued getting their cars ready for when the time comes. There are people within the community ready to come out and help with the track in whatever way they are needed. We are experiencing something right now unlike anything we've gone through at the speedway in its 60 year history. Not since World War II, when race tracks were closed to support the war, have we lost races in this sort of manner. However, we will endure and come back better than ever when the time comes. Our community will pull together.

One of the improvements that has been implemented is a new PA system. Fans have voiced concerns in recent years about not being able to hear Wade announce. This issue was highlighted at the West Coast Nationals last year when several speakers actually shut off on race night. As part of his commitment to make a better racing experience for the fans, Chadwick has invested in improvements on the PA system. The fans will come out the winner. Along those lines, improvements are being made in the menu at the concession stands that will surely be met with positive reviews.

Comfort for the racers is also important. When the previous management took over the speedway in 1998, one of the things they did was bring in a portable bathroom with running water. Up until that point, racers used porta-potties. Unfortunately, the conditions of the bathrooms in the pits became less than desirable, to say the least, in recent years. They are being completely refurbished and should be ready to debut when the season gets going. Just as it is with the grandstand side of things, Chadwick knows that happy racers are racers who continue to support the track.

One of the factors in getting more fans to come out to the speedway is offering them a program that they want to see. By bringing in IMCA, the oldest auto racing sanctioning body in the United States, bigger car counts are anticipated in both the Modified and Sport Modified classes. Fans can anticipate some top name competitors back in action that they haven't seen in quite some time. Furthermore, the racers will be competing for National, Regional and State championship points in addition to track points. Antioch Speedway will be a part of the bigger picture once again.

In other moves designed to increase car counts, Chadwick has adjusted the rules in the Hobby Stocks, Super Stocks, Wingless Spec Sprints and Dwarf Cars. The Dwarf Car group has joined the bigger Western States Dwarf Car Association with the newly-formed Delta Dwarf Car Association. Hobby Stock rules will be more in line with what is happening at Merced and Watsonville, while the Spec Sprint division will run rules similar to Petaluma Speedway. The Super Stock division has struggled to get cars, and Chadwick wants to give it an opportunity to rebound. Rules have been adjusted to put it more in line with what's happening at other places.

The bottom line is Chadwick is looking at every facet of the speedway and how to improve it. He has assembled a team of dedicated people to achieve this goal. Getting a better car count in each division goes hand-in-hand with getting the fans to come back out to see what racing is all about. Though we are in a holding pattern for now, the 60th racing season will eventually get started. There will be announcements forthcoming on when we will finally go racing and other matters. You can find those at www.antiochspeedway.com.

30, 35 And 40 Years Ago At Antioch Speedway

Antioch, CA...As we wait for the 2020 racing season to finally get the green light to get started, we look back at some history. Antioch Speedway will be entering its 60th consecutive championship season, and there have been a lot of great memories and a lot of great racers through the years. We're going to take a look at some of the championship battles we've witnessed at the speedway 30, 35 and 40 years ago. It's hard to believe that it's already been that long since this happened.

30 years ago we were entering the 1990s, and change was on the horizon at the quarter-mile clay oval. The Late Model division wouldn't have too many years left, but numbers in this division actually had a slight increase as a few drivers moved up into this class. Since the NASCAR Winston Pacific Coast Regional championship race became a thing in 1982, there was usually at least one Antioch Speedway regular in the battle for those honors. That was again the case with Jeff Silva.

Antioch Speedway has actually had two drivers named Jeff Silva win championships. This particular driver was a champion in the Street Stock division out at Watsonville Speedway before becoming a force in the Late Models. Rising star Steve Hendren switched from Merced Speedway to Antioch in 1990, and 1985 and 1989 champion Bobby Hogge III also had his eyes on the championship. Unfortunately, they could not stop the juggernaut that was Silva aboard his "Little Red Rocket", as Hall of Fame announcer John Myers called it.

Silva used his 11 Main Event wins to outrun Merced Speedway star Gordon Rodgers to win the Regional championship that year. Antioch Speedway, wasn't even close as he beat Bert Elworthy by nearly 130 points in the end. The battle for second was just a bit closer as Elworthy held off Hendren by just 17 tallies to earn his highest ranking in this division. Only three points behind Hendren was Hogge as Keith Brown finished fifth in the Rich Richards owned machine.

The Street Stock division was riding high as there were usually enough cars to go as far as a C Main in this class. On the heels of back-to-back championships, Troy Shirk made the bold proclamation that he was going for a "three-peat" and had that painted on the back of his car. For much of the season, it looked like Shirk would achieve that goal as he boosted his career feature win total into the 30s by the time the season was done. Unfortunately, Shirk had some penalties issued late in the season and lost one of his finishes, opening the door for a new champion.

Bart Reid quickly climbed the ladder at the speedway as the top driver in the Enduro division in 1988. By 1990, he was the driver giving Shirk the most pressure down the stretch. While both drivers were among the feature winners, it was Reid winning the championship by 56 points over Shirk. Another close battle was had for third in the standings as "Rollin" Ron Parker bested Don Shelton by just 30 points. Tom Leopold and Mike Tibbetts tied for fifth in the final rundown.

The sign of the change that was to come was the introduction of the Grand American Modified division. This was the first season for a division that continues to headline at the speedway to this day. Hall of Famers Bruce "The Phantom" Curl Sr and "Rapid" Richard Johnson would have a spirited battle for the championship. Curl's racing shop was responsible for building several of the first cars that competed in this class. Johnson hadn't been a regular at the speedway in nearly a decade, but he looked like he hadn't missed a beat. 

In the end, Johnson would win the championship by just one point as both drivers were on the Main Event winner's list. John Buccellato held off Tom Williams by just eight tallies to finish third as "Okie" Al Cummings made up the remainder of the Top 5. Driving a Harris Modified, future five-time division champion Scott Busby showed signs of things to come with a pair of wins during the stretch run of the season.

The wild and crazy Figure 8 was at the height of its popularity amongst the drivers as frequently over 20 competitors lined up to do battle. The division featured absolute carnage for much of the season. With multiple feature wins early in the season, "Flyin" Brian Holden appeared to be the odds-on favorite, but three-time champion John Keldsen returned to put an end to Holden's good luck as their nasty rivalry continued. Another rivalry was had at the front of the pack between Debbie Clymens and "Madame X" Loretta Schneeberg in which Clymens fired a shot at Schneeberg in the season finale to cost her the championship.

The season would end in a tie at the top between Larry Rapp and Schneeberg, but Rapp won the tiebreaker based on better finishes. Andy Faust ended up third in the standings, just 12 points out of the lead and 10 ahead of Clymens. Keldsen held off Holden by just 12 points for the fifth position. Interestingly enough, moments after the checkered flag waved in the final Main Event, Holden put a hit on Keldsen that was so hard it knocked the rear end out from underneath his car. Though Holden took much punishment from Keldsen and others in the four years in which this division was on the roster, he got the last laugh in the end.

Rule changes prior to the 1985 season saw the Late Model class say goodbye to their regular B Mains, but there was still some great racing at the front of the pack. Three-time San Jose Speedway champion Ed Sans Jr made the decision to come to Antioch Speedway and make a run at Regional honors, but a late start put him far behind Bobby Hogge III in the standings. Hogge earned three wins that year, but Sans was a beast with nine feature triumphs.

The season finale saw several drivers managing to keep up with the pace of the leaders, and Hogge spun out in the final turn. There were enough drivers to drop Hogge back far enough at the finish that Sans would steal the championship in the end. However, the quick-thinking Hogge hit reverse and backed his car across the finish line. In doing so, he held off Sans by just seven points in the end. Nearly 100 points behind Sans in third was Kevin Pylant. 85 points back in fourth was JD Willis, who was piloting the Bruce Curl owned machine. Jerry "The Maverick" Garner rounded out the Top 5 in the standings.

By this point, the Street Stock division was consistently producing numbers that required B Mains every week. After his impressive rookie season, Bert Elworthy was certainly the most consistent driver in the field. This highly competitive division saw the feature winner's list reach into double digits. Elworthy's championship margin over rookie Ron Murray was 86 points. Murray did an exceptional job of holding off future champion Steve Wagerman for the second position by 48 points. 48 points behind Wagerman was Mike Gummus as Mike Martin rounded out the Top 5.

Change was in the air at Antioch Speedway in 1980. This would be the final year of John P Soares as the promoter as well as the last solid year for the popular Sportsman division. There was also a close battle for the championship between veteran Mike "The Blue Knight" Gustafson and "Sudden" Sam Houston. Houston purchased the Petaluma and Antioch championship-winning car of Marv Wilson and won his first career Main Event as a result. Gustafson was consistent when it counted and was also a feature winner.

By season's end, Gustafson managed to hold off Houston by just eight points. Only 36 points back in third was Buzz Enea. Enea finished ahead of State champion Richard Johnson by just one point as Jerry Hetrick made up the balance of the Top 5. Enea led the division with five feature triumphs as Johnson had three.

This was the third year for the Street Stock division but the first in which championship points were tallied. The previous season saw Scott Busby determined as champion based on his performance, followed by Debbie Clymens. Clymens returned to make a run at the championship as did Joey Rodrigues. Both drivers were feature winners during the season, but Rodrigues was a dominant force. Clymens had her iconic rollover in Turns 3 and 4 early in the season, but that didn't faze her. She came back strong the following week. 

With Rodrigues winning so often, his championship wasn't really in doubt. He beat Clymens by 76 points in the end. Just three points behind Clymens was Frank "The Wallbanger" Blasquez. Fourth went to Mike's younger brother LC Green. Vince "Beep Beep" Mills ended up fifth in the final run down by just two tallies ahead of 1981 champion Jeff Rhoton.

There have been many happy memories made at Antioch Speedway through the years, and many Legends and exciting moments have been witnessed. At some point, racing will resume as the speedway enters a new era. When that happens, we will have more new winners and new champions. Action will once again be the attraction each and every Saturday night.

Dotson, Myrick Win At The Kern Raceway Dirt Track

Bakersfield, CA...March 14...Ethan Dotson won the impromptu 40 lap combined Dirt Modified and Sport Modified Main Event Saturday night at the Kern County Raceway Dirt Track. Originally, the NARC/King of the West Winged Sprint Cars were scheduled for this show, but they cancelled two days prior out of concern over the Coronavirus. Management acted quickly to schedule the two Modified classes for a combined race, and 24 competitors showed up to compete.

On the heels of his win at Bakersfield Speedway the previous week, polesitter Dylan Thornton settled into the early lead as Gatlin Leytham and Garrett Jernagan battled for second early. Leytham was holding the position when fifth row starter Dotson charged by on the ninth lap. Dotson closed in quickly on Thornton and made his winning pass on lap 15. Thornton held second until having issues on the 25th lap. This put Brad Pounds briefly into the second spot, but he surrendered it to Bobby Hogge IV on the 28th lap. However, Dotson had a decent lead and brought it home to the checkered flag, followed by Hogge, Pounds, Alex Stanford, Cody Laney, Thornton, Collin Hibdon, Robby Sawyer, Gavyn Manning and Jernagan.

They ran four eight lap heat races with wins going to Pounds, Roger Holder, Hogge and Sawyer. The ten lap B Main was a battle between Brian Clark and Chett Reeves. Reeves led the first half of the race before Clark moved by on the sixth lap. Clark won, followed by Reeves, Brock Crawford and Chris Harrington.

Reigning House of JuJu Central Valley Mini Stock champion Dan Myrick picked up his second-straight 20 lap Main Event win. The CVMS competitors were racing for a $2,500 purse, and Myrick's share of the winnings was $500. 2018 series champion Greg Baronian led two laps before Myrick raced by for the lead. In a repeat performance from the opener in Hanford, Myrick led the rest of the way with Baronian following closely behind for the second place finish. Rod Baronian ran third for much of the race as fifth row starter Matt Herod was up to fourth by the fifth lap. Herod kept the pressure on Rod Baronian until making the pass for third on the final lap. Rod Baronian settled for fourth, followed by Jason Cook, David Wolford, Shawn Schwartzenberger, Jeff Durant, Steve Porter and Clinton Massey.

The 23 competitors got to do time trials, and Greg Baronian set the quickest time of 18.206, beating the 18.438 effort of Cook. Rod Baronian outdueled brother Greg Baronian to win the first eight lap heat race with Herod and Gene Glover winning the other heats.

Richard Sousa won the 20 lap Bakersfield Hardtop Main Event. Sousa started in the second row and passed Tyler Weeks for the lead on lap two. Weeks held second until Jason Denman gained the position on the fourth lap. Souza went on to win with Denman not too far behind in second as Weeks and Jesse Dobbins completed the finishing order. Sousa also won the eight lap heat race.

For further information on scheduling, go to www.kernraceway.com.

Cox Wins Silver Cup Race At Silver Dollar Speedway

Chico, CA...March 13...Justyn Cox scored one of the biggest wins of his career Friday night with his 40 lap victory in the annual Silver Cup Race at Silver Dollar Speedway. Due to the Coronavirus scare, the track limited the grandstand attendance to 250 people and held the race as scheduled.

Cox had the pole position for the race and proceeded to lead every lap in victory. John Michael Bunch ran second for six laps before five-time reigning track champion Sean Becker moved by. Chase Majdic quickly settled into third. A yellow flag flew on the 21st lap for Jessie Love and Petaluma champion John Clark in Turn 2. The restart saw Kyle Hirst eliminated in a Turn 3 tangle with Michael Faccinto. After one more yellow flag on the 22nd lap, the race went uninterrupted with Cox winning ahead of Becker. Shane Golobic made a last-lap pass on Majdic to finish third. Majdic settled for fourth, followed by Blake Carrick, reigning Placerville champion Andy Forsberg, Bunch, Tanner Carrick, reigning Marysville champion Michael Ing and JJ Hickle.

Heat race wins or earned by Bunch, Tanner Carrick, Sean Becker and Majdic. Blake Carrick went flag-to-flag to win the 12 lap B Main ahead of Faccinto and Love.

Ryan Winter won the 20 lap NorCal Dwarf Car Main Event. Winter finished second a week earlier at Petaluma. Reigning Series champion Michael "Spanky" Grenert ran in front for four laps before being overtaken by Winter. However, Southern Oregon Dwarf Car champion Josh King briefly got by for the lead on the seventh lap before Winter regained command a lap later. King held second until Grenart passed him on the 12th lap. As Winter went on to victory, Shawn Jones made a last-lap pass on Grenert to finish second. Ryan Plexico finished fourth, followed by King, Wade Ehrlich, Josh Wiesz, Ben Wiesz, Kevin Bender and Cory Easton. Eight lap heat race wins went to Shawn Whitney, Mike Reeder and King. 

Due to the Coronavirus scare and regulations implemented by the state, the schedule has been suspended. For further information on when the next race will happen, go to www.silverdollarspeedway.com.

Practice Day Notes From Several Tracks

March 14...With the Coronavirus forcing several tracks to cancel due to the fact that they can't have more than 250 fans in the stands at once under the current state mandate, some of the tracks still managed to hold practices as the pits didn't have that many people total. Promoters were trying to figure out if it was feasible to hold races with low attendance, and Silver Dollar Speedway actually ran on Friday night with a limit of 250 fans. The Coronavirus, which has been classified a pandemic by the president, is forcing tracks to halt activity until things change, and the best way to find out about your track is to go directly to their social media or web page.

Yreka, CA...March 13...After the previous week's scheduled practice day was rained out, Siskiyou Golden Speedway had every intention of getting the next one in the books. Promoter Kevin Barba and his crew were hard at work during the week leading up to practice, but the forecast looked terrible for Saturday. Barba made a snap decision on Wednesday to move practice to Friday night, adding that if the weather were good enough on Saturday morning, there could be a second one then as well. Though it ended up snowing on Saturday and eliminating that option, the Friday practice happened successfully.

Work has been done on the racing surface to make it wider and faster, and around a dozen drivers showed up to take their turns. The biggest representation came from the IMCA Sport Modified class, where reigning PSM champion Matt Sanders and brother Isaac Sanders were there. Justin Foux returned with his new Sport Modified along with Gary Foster. Doug Coffman made a visit from the Roseburg area, and 2018 champion Trevor Tiffee had his car back together for some valuable practice laps. There were other Sport Modifieds represented, including cars with no numbers on them.

One of the IMCA Modified drivers to make laps was last season's champion, Duane Orsburn. He was joined by Jeffrey Hudson in the Don Roemer car. Hudson has competed already this year at Stockton. Johnny Burke and David Marble represented the Sprint Car contingent from the neighboring Medford track. There were also a few Mini Stocks on hand, including Terry Alford. Drivers got the opportunity to get several laps. For information on scheduling, go to the Siskiyou Golden Speedway Facebook page or www.siskiyougoldenspeedway.com.

Hayfork, CA... March 14...Mountain Valley Raceway beat the weather on Saturday night to hold their second practice of the year. Drivers took advantage of the opportunity to make some laps on the 3/8 mile dirt oval. Hobby Stock star Russ Newman was one three drivers in his division to make it to the practice.

Past Mini Stock champion in Jack Turner had his Pinto there to get some laps as did Ricky Berry in his truck and one of the young family Mini Stocks. Sporting a new color on his Modified, Tressen Smith was back to put his car through its paces. The speedway is hoping to see some new drivers in the Modified ranks this year and is considering the possibility of a special race for them if they can get interest from out of town racers.

Mountain Valley Raceway features Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks, Enduro cars and Modifieds. Scheduling updates can be found at the Mountain Valley Raceway Facebook page.

Petaluma, CA... March 14... Following the successful season opener that featured the ASCS National Sprint Car tour, Petaluma Speedway opened the gates to practice on Saturday.

There were roughly 20 drivers across multiple classes, and this included Dennis Furia Jr in a Winged 360 Sprint Car. Furia has been competing in the Spec Sprint division in recent seasons, and he took advantage of the opportunity to make his first laps in the higher horse-powered race car. There were also some Wingless Spec Sprints on hand, including past Mini Stock champion Bob Davis and the Ted Finkenbinder car.

Richard Workman, who competed regularly at Petaluma in the past and more recently has been a regular at Silver Dollar Speedway, had his Super Stock on hand. There were also some IMCA Modifieds, the 600 Micro Sprint of Rob Brown and several drivers from the Redwood Dwarf Car group. This included last season's Dwarf Car Nationals Sportsman winner Michael Affonso, Sean Catucci, Verne Hubbard and Mini Stock graduate Antonio Miramontez. Speaking of Mini Stocks, 2018 champion Tom Brown had his Pinto on the 3/8 mile adobe oval for several laps. 

Scheduling and other updates can be found at www.petaluma-speedway.com.

Coos Bay, Oregon...March 13-15...Coos Bay Speedway was represented once again at the Pony Village Mall car show in order to hype up the coming NASCAR Whelen All American Series season. The Sprint Car contingent was represented by past champion Lawrence Van Hoof and newcomer Davina Jordy. Kristy Grout had her Late Model on display along with multi-time Mini Outlaw champion Sam Talon. Scheduling and other information can be found at www.coosbayspeedway.us.

Antioch, CA...March 14...Antioch Speedway didn't get so lucky with their second scheduled practice session. The previous week saw Promoter Chad Chadwick move the event from Saturday to Sunday with some success. Though neighboring Petaluma Speedway managed to get their practice in, the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds oval didn't get so lucky. The decision was made just a few hours before the gates were to open that the practice would have to be cancelled. Weather didn't look encouraging for Sunday, so it was decided to scrap the plan.

Work continues on various areas of the speedway to get it ready for when the season opens. There will be many changes to come as Chadwick works hard to make this the best season seen at the speedway in several years. It was just revealed that the speedway will have a new PA system. There were various bugs that plagued that last year, including major issues at last season's West Coast Nationals. News and other information can be found at www.antiochspeedway.com.

Divisions That Could Be On The Chopping Block 
At Antioch Speedway

With a new promoter, changes inevitably come to a race track. The smart promoters will sit back and watch for their first year or two. They might not make major changes as far as dropping divisions that were there before they got there, but they will be looking. They obviously have a plan on what they would like to do, but they're not going to be quick to turn away cars at the gate unless the divisions don't meet the minimum numbers or other factors come into play.

Being that the IMCA Modifieds and Sport Modifieds are the staple classes, you pretty much know that both of them are secure on the roster for the foreseeable future. Furthermore, the addition of IMCA sanctioning is expected to increase the car counts in both divisions. As has been the case at the speedway in recent years, you can expect that most of the big shows at the speedway that Chad Chadwick will book in the future will revolve around these two classes.

The Hobby Stock division had a good car count last season, but Chadwick felt that it could get better. Therefore, he took a look at the rules being used at Merced Speedway and Ocean Speedway to put the track in line with those tracks. The risk you take is locals parking because they feel they can't compete, but the positive is you might see more visitors from out of town and the locals might just get on board anyway. If this move works, the increase we saw last year could continue this year. This makes the Hobby Stocks a staple class. Knocking on the door outside as something that could be a possibility in the future is an IMCA Stock Car class. This could happen in the near future whether there are Hobby Stocks or not.

The decision Chadwick made to allow the Dwarf Car drivers to form a group and join the Western States Dwarf Car Association is expected to help increase the numbers. As it was, the Dwarf Cars often produced the best numbers at the speedway in recent seasons. The Wingless Spec Sprints have been at the track for 22 years and haven't had the kind of numbers they probably should. Word was that Chadwick wasn't thrilled by that, but his decision to switch up the rules to put them in line with Petaluma Speedway was designed to see if those numbers could be increased. 

Of those five divisions, the Spec Sprints could be on the shakiest of ground, but these five divisions seem to be in the best position as we look ahead to the future. The addition of the Four Banger division to the roster is not a major risk. When the division does compete, they won't require a big purse. From management's perspective, you need a division to bring new drivers into the fold. If this works out the way entry level classes have in the past, it could produce big numbers within the next few years as well. 

What most promoters would prefer, and Chadwick would have to be considered among them, is three or four core divisions that can produce car counts. If you can get that, it's easier to cut the fat. You can remove divisions and either save money or time that can go towards the classes that are more productive. Or, take some of the money saved and put it back into running the race track. Therefore, the rest of the divisions are basically auditioning to keep their place on the roster in the future. What happens with car count will dictate their longevity, but there could be other factors involved as well. 

Super Stocks remain on the roster after 20 years. Chadwick is trying to give this division a fighting chance by adjusting the rules and replacing the Limited Late Model name. Previous management sacrificed a thriving Street Stock division to save this class, but numbers never really popped after that. Bringing six to eight cars to the track simply doesn't justify a spot on the roster if enough of the other divisions are performing well enough. There are a few things to consider here.

How many drivers have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for a change? Now is their time to make a statement and get the average up into the double digits. The effort that Roy Bain is making with the Tri State Pro Stock Series effects Antioch. The rules at Antioch were adjusted to put them more in line with the group, which could have a date at Antioch in the future. That series is important because as we watch the Late Model division fade away, Pro Stock/Super Stock racing is what's preserving that popular style of racing for the fans. Of the divisions on the chopping block, this is probably the one that is most wanted when you consider all of the factors involved.

Fans love Winged 360 Sprint Cars, but the problem is this division doesn't have a cheap price tag. The previous management invested heavily in trying to get this class started and paid a good purse. However, the roster never really grew. If new regulars started supporting, some of the previous regulars stopped. When you're paying $1,200 to win and $150 minimum to start and are still lucky to get 10 cars, most promoters aren't going to put up with that for very long. Booking could have been done differently to help the situation, but there were other factors.

One thing that could be attempted would be drivers in this area forming a group. Antioch Speedway isn't likely to offer double-digit dates for this class at this point, but five or six dates is possible. A group organizing between Antioch and Stockton with a visit or two at Petaluma could at least maintain a presence in Antioch. If you're giving the track a solid double-digit car count and a show for the fans, it's justification for keeping you around. There are other options to keep open wheel racing on the schedule, which includes booking two to four special series visits. Though that didn't happen this year, it could in the future.

The most painful loss for longtime fans is the Late Model division. The previous management loved this class and fought hard to keep it alive. However, car count dwindled to under double-digit on average. Their purse isn't as big as Sprint Cars, but it's still big and makes keeping it around something that might not be high on Chadwick's list. Much like with the Sprint Cars, it seems like the only way to save Late Models would be to create some sort of tour.

In the case of the Late Models, you'd have to look at it from the perspective we had some 20 years ago. There once was the CarQuest Late Model Tour competing at tracks up and down the state, and Antioch got a couple dates a year. That might not seem like much, but the fans knew one thing. When this division was booked, there was a car count. It wasn't something with a handful of cars, and that meant good racing. There would be enough cars in the area to get the numbers back up to double-digits as it is, but the likelihood of that happening isn't so good. Drivers could band together to form a Bay Area Late Model group, but the prospects of getting certain promoters on board with that don't look so good.

Hardtop racing was lucky to land anything on the schedule, and the new management isn't particularly fond of the class. However, they can justify their existence by supporting the dates they have. This has been an issue with many excuses for why the car counts don't seem to do well. The Bay Area group now has about a dozen cars, and Northern California in general is well into the twenties. If you can't deliver at least 8 or 10 cars, you shouldn't be surprised if the dates stop coming.

This is another case where leadership is required within the group. Management has other things they need to worry about, and coordinating car count in this class is not high on the priority list. That means somebody within the group should be rounding up the troops for any given date and keeping management updated on who is coming that night. It also means that the group itself has to make supporting their shows more enticing. You could view the Hardtops as a novelty or nostalgia act, and that means they don't have certain pressures on them that other classes have. Fans aren't necessarily coming because of the Hardtops, but they can enjoy their portion of the show and make the overall program better.

This is the area in which a promoter could look at a project class. If there's something new on the horizon that they're interested in building, they could give this position on the roster to that class. That means only a handful of dates, knowing you're not going to have a big car count. If the Hardtops don't increase their numbers for any given race date, something else could threaten them for their position. For instance, Antioch Speedway was a Sportsman track for two decades. If a few local drivers built cars for that division, they could get a few dates and the Hardtops could lose theirs.

Obviously, changes are on the horizon. Anybody who's been watching what's been going on at the speedway since Chadwick took over knows that the goal is to boost the numbers and make Antioch Speedway a destination spot once again. This means that the divisions on the roster need to be part of the solution and not part of the problem. The bigger the core divisions get, the easier it's going to be to run less of the other classes. In other words, the drivers who really want to race had better get their cars out there when the time comes. It's a good bet that the caliber of program people have been watching over the last few years will be vastly different in the next few years if the changes being implemented by the new management take hold.

The Editor's Viewpoint

I have to admit that I have shut down since the virus pretty much wiped out the racing schedule through mid May. That's just projections, but it could actually go longer. This is not good news for the sport that we love, but it's going to hurt lots of businesses as well. This leads me to thoughts that don't fit in with the racing community. I'll just say that I am distrustful of things that we hear from the media and our politicians in general. I'll leave it at that.

Regardless, we're in shutdown mode. I also admit that I wasn't inspired to just put a post together for reading material. After putting up a few blog posts this year, I wasn't really encouraged to continue. Things are a bit rough for me. I know, times are tough for everybody. But when you feel like you're putting out a lot of energy and the energy isn't coming back to you, it can hurt your motivation. I'd like to continue to do what I've been doing for the duration of the season, whatever season we manage to get. However, I'm not inclined to post too much while we're in shut down mode. I have to figure out how I'm going to afford certain essentials at this point. I know others are in the same boat, but it leaves me making decisions on where I should put my energy.

Despite my feelings that we are a nation that is overreacting to something and it's politically motivated, I nonetheless have to deal with the facts as we all know them. Everything is shut down. We are not doing anything until we get a green light. When the state mandates started creeping in, some of the promoters were hoping they could buck the system somehow. Personally, I thought they were being foolish. We had tracks running in front of 250 fans and other tracks debating whether they could hold races in front of empty grandstands and stream the event online.

Here's the thing, when you can't run races under your normal business model, you're foolish to try. Every aspect of what you do on race night has to be functioning. In other words, you can't run your racing program based just on what you get in the pits unless you're going to double the entry fee. It's kind of interesting, because Mike McCann and I have this discussion every once in awhile. He sees the day coming where the fans won't even matter to the track. It will be pay to play. I see it as a gloomy outlook, but that may be what happens to keep the sport alive. Who knows?

What I do know is it's poor business on behalf of promoters to attempt to run a racing program without trying to get as many fans as you can to spectate. There were a few promoters falling all over themselves to try this. Why? You're going to be a hero? You do realize that the good things you do will ultimately not matter when the masses turn against you for something you are perceived to have done wrong, right? I'm not saying screw the racers and don't try to be a hero. What I'm saying is you need to do what's best for business. A promoter isn't there just to give the racers a place to race. Obviously, that's part of the goal. A promoter is there to run a business that is profitable enough to continue.

When you open the gates, you want as many people to come out there as possible. If you can get more cars, you go for it. You see, this is what the promoters were thinking when they were trying to pull off a race with no crowd. They were figuring that if they opened their pit gates, the racers with no place to go would come to their track. Suddenly, you might have a pit area with over 100 cars. Of course, you are breaking the rule. At that point, you couldn't have more than 250 people gathering. Chico tried to run a race with 250 people in the stands, but the track still had well over 250 people total there and had their hand slapped for the stunt they pulled.

I get it. We're all frustrated by what's going on now. Some of us have a sense that things aren't as bad as we're being told they are. Yes, people are dying. That's a fact. People die every year from the flu and other things. I could easily drift off into other topics here, and I'm going to contain myself. I bring myself back to the point by simply saying, it doesn't matter what you believe right now. What matters is we are in shutdown mode and that's what we have to deal with.

While the promoters were trying to figure out a way around all of this, the states basically stepped in and said, no you don't. It's no longer 250 people. We've still had tracks, believe it or not, hold practice sessions for a few racers. It's a very ballsy move to do something like that. Why? You may not believe this is as bad as they say, but if you gather people in one location and somebody ends up dying, do you think you're going to be let off the hook? Nope. The proper course of action right now is to wait it out and see what happens. Patience.

Racing promoters need optimum conditions to open their gates. No gray areas. You need to be able to get as many fans into those grandstands as you can, just as you need to get every driver. My concern is that when the regulations are adjusted, it won't be put back completely to normal at first. We might be dealing with a situation where only 250 people can gather before it goes back to normal. Some promoters will be so tempted to go ahead and run in front of empty grandstands. It's almost a certainty that some will do that, but you need optimum conditions. If I were in charge, I would sit patiently and wait until we could do it right.

Do I understand why promoters are tempted to do things in less-than-ideal conditions? Yes I do. What's going on right now is hurting many businesses, not just the sport of auto racing. There are some tracks that are struggling to stay alive, and they needed to open the gates on time. The fact that they won't be getting their full seasons will affect them negatively. Some tracks across this country will close because of what's happening right now, just as other businesses will do the same. So, there are going to be promoters who work things out in their own minds for how to run a race in less-than-ideal conditions. Sometimes they may be right, but other times they may just do more damage.

What we have to understand is people are now feeling the pinch economically. People aren't able to go to work, and that means that by the time things get back to normal, there are some families and even some racers who may not be able to afford to race or will have to cut back on how much they go to the track. Let's not forget the businesses. Because their bottom lines are being affected, there will be more businesses who cannot support the sport by sponsoring the track or individual racing teams. This is something we need to take into consideration. The 2020 season could be a loser, regardless of how much racing we get in. Plus, we still don't know when we're finally going to be able to open the gates again. The date in California is May 15th, but it's not a firm date. It can be moved back. I'm reading where some states aren't planning to go back to any semblance of normalcy until June 10th. When you consider the politics in California, you have to wonder if they will jump on that bandwagon next.

Promoters simply want to know what date they can get started. A lot of work has gone into preparing these race tracks. This means that money has been invested into improvements, and promoters haven't been able to open the gates to make any of it back yet. Plus, tracks are still having to pay bills despite the fact that they haven't been open. This is definitely not a good situation, and promoters are trying to figure out how they can make up for lost time when they are finally able to open their gates.

Some might take a look at the two night a week option, but the problem comes down to who can afford to do that. Others are taking a look at running the racing season as late as they can. While the gates at some tracks may close at the end of September or mid October, there are now some tracks seriously considering running all the way to the end of the year if weather allows them. Given the fact that our weather patterns aren't reliable, it's possible that a track could even pull off a race on Christmas weekend if they so chose. I've heard of multiple tracks in California looking at this as a viable option.

I'm at a loss as to what to say about this whole thing, and it's left me sitting at my desk not wanting to do any articles at all. What do you say about it? It's taken me awhile just to sit down and write this. I could write about other things and just do some basic hype. The question is, what do I hype and when do I hype it? In other words, are we really going back to racing in mid May? If I start typing about schedules, I don't know for sure that this is actually going to happen. I don't want to write about things that I don't know for sure, and that's another reason why I am just sitting back and watching.

I've made the decision to alter my writing schedule. There were some things I would be writing right now leading into the season at Southern Oregon Speedway, and I canceled all of those articles. I would normally be doing division by division previews that also mention the schedule for Southern Oregon Speedway, but I'm not sure how the schedule will be affected in Medford. There are a couple of things that have been pulled off of the schedule that will be announced soon. These were special attractions that were pulled by the organizers. So, I will instead focus on hyping things when I know an actual date is coming. Mike has been in the unique position where he's been able to sit back and watch. As the season wasn't even scheduled to start until the first weekend of May, there was no reason to say anything. He's been playing wait and see.

One of the series that has been silenced is the Iron Giant Street Stock Series. I was very saddened to hear the news, James Whitehouse was in a difficult position. They pay much of their own purse at every track they visit, and sponsorship numbers were not looking so good. James has decided to wait until 2021. Will there be a series in 2021? My concern in Oregon is that the IMCA Stock Cars are taking hold, and this leaves the Street Stocks fighting for survival. Several drivers have been building cars legal to IMCA standards, and it may come down to drivers deciding to go that way, depending on what tracks end up doing. I'm saddened by the news, but that's progress for you. I just know that there is no Iron Giant Street Stock race in Medford on Memorial Day weekend.

There was a race at Kern Raceway before everything was halted. The NARC/King of the West Fujitsu Winged 410 Sprint Car Series went ahead and cancelled their visit to the track a few days before the race was to happen. I believe that the leadership of the group was weighing their legal obligations in terms of pubic safety, and they decided to cancel that race as well as a few others. Kern Raceway did not cancel the race as the Central Valley Mini Stock drivers were still coming. They hastily scheduled a Dirt Modified/B Modified race that turned out pretty well for them. This was a case of promoters thinking on the fly to keep racing going.

Down in Antioch, I know Chad Chadwick is in a challenging position. I don't want to speak for him too much, but before all of the state orders were put in place, he was weighing the possibility of running a race in front of an empty grandstand and looking at other options. Even now, he's trying to figure out how to get the most out of the racing season when it is able to start. From Chad's perspective, I know he has invested heavily in trying to turn this track around, and this news couldn't have come at a worse time. Interestingly enough, it looks like John got out at just the right time and has been paid in full. Talk about good timing.

Chad now assumes all of the bills associated with running that track, and this includes any money being invested in improvements and the money paid to take over as the promoter. The last thing he needed to see was races being canceled. Last weekend would have been the first race of the season, and it's gone. I believe Antioch Speedway was the first track to announce that they would be racing by May 15th at the very earliest. Chad is surely crossing his fingers to be able to follow through on those plans, but I would caution people to wait and see. We really don't know yet.

The last thing a new promoter who has spent so much money needs to hear is that the season may be a wash. I've heard some dire predictions that we won't be racing at all this year, but I don't believe that. I do believe we could lose more than the nearly two months that are already out the window. How much, I don't know. It's just not a good situation. While I know Chad is looking at the opportunity to run deep into the year to make up for lost time, at some point you have to look at how that will affect the 2021 season. It's a tough spot, because like I said, this is a business. It's not just about him trying to be a hero to give the racers race dates, he's trying to figure out when he can get things going and work towards recouping his tremendous investment.

All we can do is wait and see. It is what it is. Will we go racing again this year? Probably. I'm not going to speculate on when, because this is not something I have ever seen before. What we're going through right now almost feels like it's being turned into something similar to what happened in September of 2001, and I'm not really thrilled by that. I was just talking to Mike today about the good old days. I mentioned that I would surely love to go back in time to the late 1970s and go from there again. Happier times for sure. These are definitely trying times, and all I can say is love your family and friends and appreciate them.

I don't want to go on longer than I already have. I don't have much to say, and until I can see a path to racing season getting started again, my inclination is to refrain from doing racing articles unless something has to be said. I'm not generating anything towards myself, and I do have needs that have to be addressed. If I'm not going to get support through the blog efforts, I need to find another way to do that. I intend to honor my commitment through this season as announced. Other announcements that I was hoping to make are still in limbo. It is what it is, and I'm not stressing over that at this point.

I also had an unfortunate accident with my laptop computer recently. I spilled water on the keyboard. At first, it looked like everything was going to be okay, but then the keys started malfunctioning. Then, the laptop started shutting off every 20 minutes or so. I spent over a day removing every important file from the laptop, so I'm happy about that. Then, it stopped shutting off every 20 minutes and the keyboard has returned to about 98% normal. I'm still monitoring the situation, but I know that this laptop is no longer stable. I'll figure out what to do next based on the finances I have to work with. In other words, I'm making do for now.

Other than that, thank you for reading and I'm going to end this column. Until next time...

The Case For Bringing The NCMA Back To The Dirt

I was looking at the Antioch Speedway Days of Old page. If you haven't followed this Facebook page, you really should. For that matter, follow Merced Speedway Days of Old, Petaluma Speedway Days of Old and Chowchilla Speedway Glory Days if you want some nice Facebook pages that look back on the past. This particular post on the Antioch Speedway Days of Old page was by my friend Christopher Bennett. He shared a picture of the fast purple #86 Tobias Modified, driven to four NCMA championships by Hall of famer Darryl Shirk. 

I could say a lot about the early days of the NCMA. I've actually penned a book looking back at the early years for the group as it got started and made it through various struggles. It was written as a form of therapy, but if I wanted to do a first-class copy, I still have all the material to put a professional touch on it. All the statistics, results, standings and everything from 1988 through 1993 are in those pages. I served as publicity director for the group during that time and was the secretary from 1989 through 1993. 

Without the NCMA, we wouldn't have Spec Sprints. That's just a fact. Without Doug Fort bringing the California Dirt Cars to Santa Maria Speedway, there wouldn't be an NCMA. I don't think people are aware of those facts. What Don O'Keefe Jr and I did was returned the NCMA Modifieds back to their Sprint Car look to present this more affordable style of racing to promoters who weren't looking at it before. The results certainly speak for themselves. Antioch Speedway has had the class for 22 years, and Petaluma has been running them for at least 15. Orland Raceway has been running the class for almost 20 seasons now.

I look at the NCMA in those early days as we watched people like Mike Johnson, Roland Lokmor, Mike Lokmor, Gordon Chapa, Gary Beattie, Gordon Rodgers, Roy Winters, many time champion Scott Holloway and Shirk. It was a neat class, and I loved the idea. When Jim Booth, another legend of the group, introduced the Coup and Sedan style bodies to the class, it was with good reason. They needed to do something about the look as the bodies on these cars didn't look like the DIRT Modifieds from Pennsylvania the way they did in Santa Maria. The NCMA went a different way than Santa Maria, voting more with the racer's pocketbooks. The look that Booth brought to the class gave it a nostalgic, old school feel.

My belief then is the same as it is now. We needed something like this. Just as you see the Sport Modifieds recycling the old Modified chassis with the E Modified division on the horizon, this class enabled drivers to get old Sprint Car chassis back out on the track again. It recycled older equipment and still made it competitive for what it was being used for. That is still very important. Sometimes the association was its own worst enemy and would shoot itself in the foot at times when growth was on the horizon. As somebody wanting to see this class grow to what the Spec Sprints became, it was very frustrating for me to watch. 

While the Spec Sprints took over at Antioch Speedway starting in 1999, the NCMA continued to do their thing on the dirt for another decade. However, asphalt was quickly introduced as a way to make sure they had more dates. You ended up with a tug of war between the people who wanted to run on the pavement and the people who wanted to run on the dirt, and ultimately the pavement won out. For the last decade, the leadership of the NCMA has focused on the pavement, despite the fact that the numbers have declined severely. They keep the NCMA banner hanging, which I give them credit for, but they are lacking. After 30 years of existence, the NCMA should mean more than it does.

This is not a shot at the leadership of the group. They are putting races into the record books and crowning champions. They've still managed to keep this thing going. I do have respect for Ed Amador, who passed away last year. Ed was certainly a driving force in keeping this thing going for the past 20 years. It's like he said to me one day, "The NCMA will continue to live on, even if it's just a bunch of old men sitting around the coffee table telling old stories." The man had a passion for this class.

I don't want to get into every little detail, but going to pavement was an important move for the group. They weren't able to get as many dates as they would have liked on the dirt, and there were enough people willing to run pavement too. It's interesting that an overwhelming majority actually voted in favor of Mike Johnson's proposal to do pavement at a meeting in 1988. Shirk actually negotiated 10 pavement dates for the group in 1990, but those dates ended up being dropped as Shirk headed back east to handle family matters. The pavement seeds had been planted way back then.

Altamont Raceway was in close enough proximity that enough drivers were willing to go there. That basically became their home pavement track until that track closed. I find it interesting that the very first driver to win a Main Event at Altamont was the driver who won the first NCMA race in 1988, club founder Mike Johnson. It was his last win with the group. As with Roland Lokmor, Scott Holloway, Bill Ivins, Ed Amador and a few others, Johnson is in the group's Hall of Fame. Why Jim Booth and Gordon Chappa haven't been inducted still boggles my mind.

To bring it back on point, as the first decade of the 2000s came to a close, NCMA leadership made the decision to focus exclusively on pavement. This came at a bad time for Chowchilla Speedway, which lost the car counts they got when the NCMA ran their select series events there. However, the group was able to book dates at Madera, Stockton and Roseville, among other places. The early years of this move saw them not lacking for race dates. The club lived on.

I could talk history of the group, but this column would go longer. You know that Shirk, Holloway, Amador and David Goodwill are four of the most decorated champions within the group. People like Duane Watson and Del Quinn are also title winners with the group. The thing is, there are 30 years of memories associated with this group as they competed at dozens of tracks in California. The history means something, and it's one of the reasons I would even be willing to have a discussion here. The NCMA is missing a golden opportunity, but the window on this opportunity could close soon. 

It was three years ago at about this time when I was hearing from Scott Holloway and Roy Greer about the possibility of bringing the NCMA back to the dirt. I didn't dismiss this, because I do see the potential. They can get dates at dirt tracks. Some of the tracks they might desire will be a little more challenging to get, but dates are getable to make this thing happen. There is potential. The problem was when they pitched the idea to the NCMA, it was rejected outright. I personally believe that the matter should have been pursued with vigor throughout the year and brought up at the next rules meeting, but it didn't get that far. People walked away and said what's the use.

Holloway had a brilliant idea from a marketing standpoint. The group was coming up on its 30th Anniversary season, and that meant you could sell the nostalgia factor. The shirts and hats and NCMA yearbook detailing the history. It's not easy for any racing group to make it to thirty years, and this group has. Holloway believed that this was possible, and I agree. The NCMA is in a unique position to walk back to the table on the dirt and have a say in how this Spec Sprint division is shaped in the future. The people invested on the pavement don't want to hear it, and I understand that. Dirt isn't even a thought in their minds, but trying to get people to run the pavement if they adjust the rules beyond what a Spec Sprint should be is being discussed.

The reality is, the group is lucky to get eight dates for a season, and the calendar has far more racing opportunities than that. One could simply book dates using the NCMA name on dirt only on nights when the payment is not booked. Or, you create NCMA Dirt and NCMA Pavement. You try not to book on top of each other, but if it happens it happens. Most of the pavement drivers are not going to go to the dirt, and most of the dirt drivers won't go pavement. However, getting people to run any kind of NCMA event at all could ultimately entice some of those dirt drivers into trying to run the pavement that the current leadership loves so much.

I see an opportunity to go back to the dirt, but it would require the NCMA leadership we have in place now to sign off on the idea. Realistically, I don't see that happening. With Amador no longer among us, one has to wonder how much longer this thing can stay afloat before the group folds. I don't really like to look at it that way, but this is something any of the old school NCMA fans should consider. If the day comes when the NCMA can no longer get pavement dates and they decide to fold, is somebody willing to step up and try to obtain the name and bring it back to the dirt? It may not be something possible now, but things can change in the next year or two. 

Ultimately, I'd like to see the leadership come to their senses and allow a limited NCMA Dirt schedule to be pursued. You probably don't want more than a half-dozen or eight dates on the dirt anyways to get it started. I have ideas on where the group could go first and how to give it a fighting chance. Anything that gets the name out there more and puts more races on for the fans is ultimately helping the name brand. The people just wanting to focus on the pavement still win if they get more people talking and looking at what they do.

The NCMA has the history. There are many ways to market the group. You could have a special Hall of Fame night picnic that gets together some of the old guard and puts somebody in the Hall of Fame that night. Clippings could be put on display for the fans to learn a little bit more about the history. There are plenty of ways to sell this thing and reinvigorate a group that started with such high hopes when Mike Johnson founded it back in 1988. What I'm proposing is a long shot. I'm well aware of that.

One of the things that I would do differently would be to have a benevolent dictator leader. That is to say you've got somebody making the decisions that doesn't have to go through a board to get approval on every little thing. You could put a few racing advisors in positions to keep the leader updated, but most of the more successful groups generally don't have a board debating every little thing. They let the leader do what needs to be done and go racing. What hurt the NCMA in those early days was too many things went to the board and people's personal agendas, and progress that seemed to be made went away quickly.

Who would be that leader? That's a big question. I'd love to be involved in something that puts the NCMA back on the dirt, but I don't know that I could step in to lead. I do know a couple of people who have been around that would probably be right for the position. The leader could be somebody that is voted in for a term of two or three years at a time and reviewed. If there are concerns, they can be addressed and the person could possibly be voted out of office. But, giving somebody with a vision enough leeway to do what they need to do would certainly be the goal.

When it comes to rules, I'm the first to tell you that I'm not an expert. The one thing I would always try to do is vote on the side of the racer's budgets. I need as many of the little guys at my races as possible. If I don't have them, I have no car count, so rules need to be such to ensure us as many cars as possible. Formatting has to be such to give the crowd an entertaining show with good competition and passing. There is a throwback idea that I would put in with my NCMA return to the dirt.

I would consider bringing back the Coup and Sedan bodies for any racer who wants to put them on their car. I am not saying we abandon or make illegal the Sprint Car body. There was a time when the group ran on the dirt where those bodies were illegal, but you want to encourage them to come out too. The people who would run Coup and Sedan bodies give the fans something else different to look at other than the same old Sprint Car look. It's part of the show if we have three different looks to give the fans. 

Will anything come of this idea? I'm not holding my breath. I reached out to Holloway a year after we had the initial discussion, and he never responded on that subject. My guess is there's not enough of the people left from those days who want to put it back out there. I would be interested in being involved with an effort as long as I'm still involved in the sport. I do see concerns about the future of Spec Sprint racing, and I believe that having a group like the NCMA involved in this whole thing would be a good thing. I am concerned about what direction the Hunt Series might take the rules, but my hunch is that the people who would be involved in the NCMA would be a little bit more conservative and budget-minded.

I'm somebody who is guilty of being a little bit nostalgic. I look back on the old days with fondness, even when those days may not be as perfect as I remember them to be. The NCMA had its struggles. I was there to witness some of that. But they also had some characters within the group and people who fought hard in the early days so that the group could exist today. People like Jim Berryhill, Chuck Murch, Keith Collins, Paul Nelson, Henry Mitchell III, Scott Perry, Burt Siverling, Rick Panfili, Don Hicks, Gary Turner Jr and Jim MacAtee were among them. Building a stronger NCMA means that there's a chance for some of those old stories to be told to a new group of racing fans and the history can come alive again.

And to think, this column started because of a picture of Darryl Shirk. He was such a good man that I was so proud to know. I'm honored to be the one to have inducted him into the Antioch Speedway Hall of Fame and to see that the NCMA bestowed on him that honor as well. When it comes to who the greatest driver in the history of this group was, I'd have a very difficult time saying somebody other than Darryl Shirk. If you were there, you know.