|
If you would like to advertise your company on a Billboard around the track.
Call Mike Gibson at (760) 403-4144.
Sprint Cars put on wild show at Raceway
Son of legendary driver wins top prize
By J.J. Calvacca
Special to www.victorville-auto-raceway.com
VICTORVILLE - When
Sprint Car promoters Cary Fass and Jack Gardner brought their
360/410cu.in. Non-Winged Sprint show to the High Desert
last month they left both drivers and spectators alike with a taste for more of the same.
Not being ones to disappoint,
Fass and Gardner did indeed return Saturday night, this time enticing over 40 of the top western Sprint Car drivers and their
machines to come and play on the Victorville clay.
When it was all over, it remained for the son of a legendary Sprint
driver to lead all the others across the finish line to capture the $5000 top prize in the 40-lap feature event that capped
an exciting night of racing.
Even the weather cooperated, with temperatures hovering around the 70-degree mark at race
time. According to track officials, the "head count", counting both fans in the stands and those in the pits, totaled
over 1100, making it one of the busiest nights at the track in recent memory.
At the drivers' meeting, held prior
to the start of activities on the track, Gardner acknowledged the fact that, due to participation in events like these, there
has been a marked resurgence in the popularity of Sprint Car racing, and the fact that there is big money to be won in this
division is one reason for the upturn in participation on the track and the increase in fans in the stands.
At this event
in particular, depending on where he or she started the race, a driver could potentially walk away with as much as $20,000
for their efforts.
For example, if a feature race qualifier chose to start dead last and managed to work their way to
the win, their first-place payout could balloon from the announced $5000 to a whopping $20,000 payday.
It didn't
happen on this night, but the mere thought of that kind of purse money can be enough to make a fierce contender out of a mere
competitor. If these shows become a regular fixture here in Victorville it won't be long before fans will get to see that
kind of driver reward.
Logistics and coordination play an important role in staging an event of this size and Fass and
Gardner assembled a top-notch crew who, for the better part, had the program rolling along like a well-choreographed ballet,
especially during restarts following complete stops on the track.
Race Director Joe Buckley kept things flowing down
on the track, while Scorer/Timer Fred Sachs kept busy up in the booth, positioning cars for Starters Tony Otto and Don Wilcox
up on the flag stand.
Much credit should be given, too, to Track Announcer Robert Mason, who brings along his encyclopedic
knowledge of the sport, and handled both the call of the action on the track and his driver interviews with equal skill.
And who in the pits won't remember lovely Evelyn Pratt, whose 60-plus years in the sport has included participation
in California Racing Association as well as USAC events. At the registration table, drivers and crewmembers, anxious for a
pre-race hug and a kind word, consistently approached Pratt, who pleasantly obliged.
As far as the racing went, the format
for the Sprints starts with qualifying or time trials, when drivers run all-out by themselves for two laps and are timed from
the booth, the object being to nail down the fastest qualifying time to assure good positioning in the heat races and the
sub-mains and feature race that follow.
The fastest time of the two laps is the time given to the driver and it just
so happens that the eventual feature event winner, Tempe, Arizona's Casey Shuman, had the fastest qualifying time, a blistering
13.644-second turn around the track.
Shuman, the son of legendary Hall-Of-Fame driver Ron Shuman, has been building his
own reputation of late as the driver to beat anytime he is in a race. Nicknamed "Mighty Casey", the 29-year old
was last season's Oval Nationals runner-up in Perris and the 2006 Larry Cannon Memorial Champion, among other honors.
Others turning in quick qualifying times were Ventura's Cory "The Kruser" Kruseman, Huntington Beach's
Nic Faas, Norco's "Smooth" Tyler Brown, Santa Maria's "Showtime" Danny Sheridan and Torrance's
J. Hicks, better known as "The Flying Canuck".
Local driver John Aden, driving a Will Perkins-prepared, Blairs-powered
racer to an impressive 14.041-second run, just a shade under the leaders.
A total of four heat races were run, each containing
a field of eight cars. The top four finishers won an automatic spot in the feature, or "A-Main", while the bottom
four went to the "B-Main" There was even a "C-Main" race, the top two finishers there going on to the
"B-Main".
In the ensuing 12-lap "B-Main" race, Anaheim's Henry Clarke tangled with Phoenix's
Shon Deskins, which, after a harrowing multiple flip, put Clarke into the wall. This caused one of a number of red-light full
stops, followed by the spectacle of the push cars performing their ballet, pushing the cars to restart them.
San Clemente's
Seth Wilson, a regularly appearing driver here, captured the win in the "B-Main", followed by Hicks and Phoenix's
R.J. Johnson. A total of six cars transferred to the feature.
By the time that the 40-lap "A-Main" was set
to get underway, the buzz was all about the aforementioned Casey Shuman and just whether he could pull off the big win.
What started out as a pretty uneventful race was marred by an accident involving local driver Don Gansen, who was involved
in a fracas in Turn 1, which ended up with Gansen being driven off to a local hospital with a possible broken knee.
With
a 10pm curfew looming on the clock, officials were anxious to get as many laps of the race in before time ran out. In the
end, it was decided, following a few more caution light incidents that the race would end up with a green-white-checker finish.
Shuman blasted out under the green flag with a mighty hole-shot, leaving him to just keep the car on the track to assure
his win. It was "Hollywood" Danny Sheridan who followed the "Mighty Casey" across the line and local phenom
Blake "The Bullet" Miller, driving the Jeff Gardner-owned, Downing-powered racer finishing in third place.
"Smooth"
Tyler Brown from Norco, piloting another Gardner-owned machine, and Garrett Hansen, from Manhattan Beach completed the top
five in the feature.
If the positive buzz that surrounded April's Sprint show was the reason they were back here
again, the odds are pretty good that fans will be treated to at least one more Sprint spectacular before the 2008 season here
comes to a close.
As for the near future, following a two-week time out, racing will return to the High Desert clay on
June 21st, with Mini Stocks, Sport Compacts and 4-cylinder Figure 8's rolling out, in addition to our local Sprint cars
meeting in a contest for local points domination.
For those diehards, though, there will be a scheduled open practice
next Sunday with free admission to the grandstand for fans.
VICTORVILLE - When Sprint
Car promoters Cary Fass and Jack Gardner brought their
360/410cu.in. Non-Winged Sprint show to the High Desert last month
they left both drivers and spectators alike with a taste for more of the same.
Not being ones to disappoint, Fass and
Gardner did indeed return Saturday night, this time enticing over 40 of the top western Sprint Car drivers and their machines
to come and play on the Victorville clay.
When it was all over, it remained for the son of a legendary Sprint driver
to lead all the others across the finish line to capture the $5000 top prize in the 40-lap feature event that capped an exciting
night of racing.
Even the weather cooperated, with temperatures hovering around the 70-degree mark at race time. According
to track officials, the "head count", counting both fans in the stands and those in the pits, totaled over 1100,
making it one of the busiest nights at the track in recent memory.
At the drivers' meeting, held prior to the start
of activities on the track, Gardner acknowledged the fact that, due to participation in events like these, there has been
a marked resurgence in the popularity of Sprint Car racing, and the fact that there is big money to be won in this division
is one reason for the upturn in participation on the track and the increase in fans in the stands.
At this event in particular,
depending on where he or she started the race, a driver could potentially walk away with as much as $20,000 for their efforts.
For example, if a feature race qualifier chose to start dead last and managed to work their way to the win, their first-place
payout could balloon from the announced $5000 to a whopping $20,000 payday.
It didn't happen on this night, but the
mere thought of that kind of purse money can be enough to make a fierce contender out of a mere competitor. If these shows
become a regular fixture here in Victorville it won't be long before fans will get to see that kind of driver reward.
Logistics and coordination play an important role in staging an event of this size and Fass and Gardner assembled a top-notch
crew who, for the better part, had the program rolling along like a well-choreographed ballet, especially during restarts
following complete stops on the track.
Race Director Joe Buckley kept things flowing down on the track, while Scorer/Timer
Fred Sachs kept busy up in the booth, positioning cars for Starters Tony Otto and Don Wilcox up on the flag stand.
Much
credit should be given, too, to Track Announcer Robert Mason, who brings along his encyclopedic knowledge of the sport, and
handled both the call of the action on the track and his driver interviews with equal skill.
And who in the pits won't
remember lovely Evelyn Pratt, whose 60-plus years in the sport has included participation in California Racing Association
as well as USAC events. At the registration table, drivers and crewmembers, anxious for a pre-race hug and a kind word, consistently
approached Pratt, who pleasantly obliged.
As far as the racing went, the format for the Sprints starts with qualifying
or time trials, when drivers run all-out by themselves for two laps and are timed from the booth, the object being to nail
down the fastest qualifying time to assure good positioning in the heat races and the sub-mains and feature race that follow.
The fastest time of the two laps is the time given to the driver and it just so happens that the eventual feature event
winner, Tempe, Arizona's Casey Shuman, had the fastest qualifying time, a blistering 13.644-second turn around the track.
Shuman, the son of legendary Hall-Of-Fame driver Ron Shuman, has been building his own reputation of late as the driver
to beat anytime he is in a race. Nicknamed "Mighty Casey", the 29-year old was last season's Oval Nationals
runner-up in Perris and the 2006 Larry Cannon Memorial Champion, among other honors.
Others turning in quick qualifying
times were Ventura's Cory "The Kruser" Kruseman, Huntington Beach's Nic Faas, Norco's "Smooth"
Tyler Brown, Santa Maria's "Showtime" Danny Sheridan and Torrance's J. Hicks, better known as "The
Flying Canuck".
Local driver John Aden, driving a Will Perkins-prepared, Blairs-powered racer to an impressive 14.041-second
run, just a shade under the leaders.
A total of four heat races were run, each containing a field of eight cars. The
top four finishers won an automatic spot in the feature, or "A-Main", while the bottom four went to the "B-Main"
There was even a "C-Main" race, the top two finishers there going on to the "B-Main".
In the ensuing
12-lap "B-Main" race, Anaheim's Henry Clarke tangled with Phoenix's Shon Deskins, which, after a harrowing
multiple flip, put Clarke into the wall. This caused one of a number of red-light full stops, followed by the spectacle of
the push cars performing their ballet, pushing the cars to restart them.
San Clemente's Seth Wilson, a regularly
appearing driver here, captured the win in the "B-Main", followed by Hicks and Phoenix's R.J. Johnson. A total
of six cars transferred to the feature.
By the time that the 40-lap "A-Main" was set to get underway, the buzz
was all about the aforementioned Casey Shuman and just whether he could pull off the big win.
What started out as a
pretty uneventful race was marred by an accident involving local driver Don Gansen, who was involved in a fracas in Turn 1,
which ended up with Gansen being driven off to a local hospital with a possible broken knee.
With a 10pm curfew looming
on the clock, officials were anxious to get as many laps of the race in before time ran out. In the end, it was decided, following
a few more caution light incidents that the race would end up with a green-white-checker finish.
Shuman blasted out under
the green flag with a mighty hole-shot, leaving him to just keep the car on the track to assure his win. It was "Hollywood"
Danny Sheridan who followed the "Mighty Casey" across the line and local phenom Blake "The Bullet" Miller,
driving the Jeff Gardner-owned, Downing-powered racer finishing in third place.
"Smooth" Tyler Brown from
Norco, piloting another Gardner-owned machine, and Garrett Hansen, from Manhattan Beach completed the top five in the feature.
If the positive buzz that surrounded April's Sprint show was the reason they were back here again, the odds are pretty
good that fans will be treated to at least one more Sprint spectacular before the 2008 season here comes to a close.
As
for the near future, following a two-week time out, racing will return to the High Desert clay on June 21st, with Mini Stocks,
Sport Compacts and 4-cylinder Figure 8's rolling out, in addition to our local Sprint cars meeting in a contest for local
points domination.
For those diehards, though, there will be a scheduled open practice next Sunday with free admission
to the grandstand for fans.
-30-
John
BOOKENDS Norm Bogan Memorial
Day weekend is big in auto racing with traditional events like the Indy 500 and the World 600 NASCAR show. Since
gasoline prices broke through the $4 dollar barrier in the past week or so, my plan was to confine my racing activities within
California. Friday, I would journey to Victorville for the Dwarf Car Nationals and Modified show.
Saturday the agenda listed Perris Auto Speedway as the venue of choice for USAC/CRA Sprint Cars and then a several
hours trek up to the San Joaquin Valley community of Tulare to complete the USAC/CRA weekend double-header. Well, Friday worked out as planned and my arrival at the San Bernardino
County Fairgrounds, found a field of 71 Dwarf Cars from throughout California, Oregon, Nevada and Arizona. Thirty
Modifieds joined the action to provide some great racing on a well-prepared racetrack. Ryan Contrell
was a dominant victor in the Modified feature and appeared to be on a repeat mission in the Dwarf Car Main, until questionable
contact with another car as he advanced to the point, put him back to the rear after a spin. Adrenalin
bursts brought him back to finish in the top ten. The fans braved temperatures in the forties with a steady
breeze to bring the chill factor to quite frosty. Surrounding mountains looked more like the Swiss Alps
than a protective ring around this high desert venue. After a valiant effort to get the Perris facility prepared to accept the many race team haulers, the infield was
still a quagmire with standing water and management was obliged to cancel the Saturday night show. Now
the scramble for alternate destinations came into play and after consulting with one of my traveling buddies, the choice was
to head west to the show at Ventura Raceway for VRA Sprints and other classes. Arriving at Ventura, there was no outward appearance of any rainfall, although the skies changed from gray with ominous
black clouds to blue skies with puffy white clouds several times. The program went off without a hitch
for weather related problems. Steve
Conrad captured the Pro Sprint Victory with an impressive run by Brandon Thomson, skirting the wall lap after lap as he charged
from the rear of the field to finish second. Bruce Douglass took the spoils from the other old guys, while
Austin Rodarte scored the Modified victory. Well,
Sunday morning saw communication between many southern California racing teams and spies in Tulare before starting the jaunt
over the Tehachapi Mountains. Soon word sifted down from the central state that overnight thunderstorms had left the track
preparation team at the Thunderbowl without adequate time to resurrect the racing surface and so the USAC/CRA double-header
was totally washed out. Luckily, there was another alternative at Victorville, where they ran
a combined 410/360 Sprint Car show with several support classes. Twenty-three cars were on hand and entertained
the crowd with dicey heats, a strong semi and an outstanding feature as the top five cars ran through traffic like a runaway
train. Even one of the lappers commented after the race that he had the best seat in the house as this
juggernaut proceeded by around the top. Seth Wilson has enjoyed much better luck since he scrapped his
olive drab paint job for basic black. He led many laps, before Blake Miller was able to snooker him in
behind a lapped car and grab the lead. Much of the race, John Aden was in the mix, until his temperature gauge indicated that he should pull in and save
his engine. Tyler Brown and Alan Ballard completed the top four. About mid way in the
feature, Bill Badger tagged the wall coming off turn four and it locked up his rear end, leaving him dead in the water right
near the flag stand in the middle of the track. Kris Stauffacher came off the corner with nowhere to go
and nailed Badger’s car on the right rear tire. Both cars suffered serious damage, but both drivers
were okay, although they may be walking a little gingerly the day after. So sometimes, the best laid plans go awry and this weekend I used Victorville
to bookend a Saturday night show at Ventura. Two shows I had planned to follow this weekend both succumbed
to Mother Nature. My alternative choices turned out to be brilliant substitutes. Next week, May 31st will find several local venues dark, while
Victorville will be running another Open Comp Sprint Car show, with a new twist added. Shades of the “Front
Row Challenge”! The Faas/Gardner promotion has added $20,000 for a racer scheduled to start on the
pole and opt to go to the last row. If that competitor is able to navigate his way from the rear to claim
the victory, his payday will increase five-fold. Look for a stellar field of cars to be on hand, all expecting
to run the table and collect the bonus prize.
Raceway hosts unique marathon weekend
Drivers converge from 5 states to race
By J.J. Calvacca
Special to www.victorville-auto-raceway.com
VICTORVILLE
- Cars and drivers descended on Victorville Auto Raceway from as far away as Utah and Wyoming to face unusually chilly weather
and compete in four days of racing over the Memorial weekend.
Headlining the weekend's racing program was the 12th
Annual Western States Dwarf Car Association Nationals, which ran from Thursday through Saturday. By late Thursday over 60
cars had been registered to race and CDCRA Promoter Gary Ebeling announced that, by midday Friday, the entrant list had climbed
over the 70-car mark.
For the Dwarfs, it truly was a long weekend, since the little speedsters raced in identical programs
on each of two nights. The field was split into three separate divisions, Veterans, Pros and Sportsmen, with each division
racing in numerous preliminary races to determine positioning for each night's 30-lap feature event. In addition there
were a number of "dashes", that is, short races where the number of laps raced is determined by the number of cars
entered.
For the dashes, if there were eight cars entered, the race was eight laps in length. Twelve cars would race
twelve laps, and so forth. These "dashes" had no bearing, however, on the order of the heat races.
On Friday
in the Pro Division there were six heat races run, along with a "C Main" and a "B Main", along with the
feature or "A Main" race. Saturday's lineup was shortened by one heat race but officials decided to add an additional,
or "D Main" to the program.
The absence of the regular CDCRA scoring team made things just a bit hectic on
Raceway Head Scorer Dena Gibson and her crew, but they were able to keep things in order throughout the entire weekend.
In Friday's Pro Division feature, it was Vernal, Utah's Monte Norris capturing the win, followed by Gilbert Toste
of Gilroy and Angel Figueroa of Long Beach. On Saturday, Ryan Cottrell of Las Vegas began his very successful weekend by taking
the win in the Pro Division feature followed by local driver Eric Lopez of Placentia. Toste followed up on his second-place
finish of Friday with a third-place spot on Saturday night.
On Friday, in the Veterans Division, it was another local
driver, Acton's Mike Van Acker, taking the checkered flag, with another local, Monrovia's Gary Ebeling following him
in second place. Van Acker's son, Dan, traveled in from Umpqua, Oregon to finish in third place on Friday night.
On Saturday night it was Ebeling's turn to grab the win in the Veteran's feature while Kelly Gutches of Gold Hill,
Oregon took second place. Mike Van Acker followed his first place finish on Friday with a third-place on Saturday.
Long
distance honors had to go to Bryan Tillotson, who came all the way from Fort Bridge, Wyoming to grab a fourth-place spot in
Saturday night's Pro "A Main".
In the Sportsmen's Division, Whittier's Chris Olson had the distinction
of capturing the first-place glory on both Friday and Saturday nights.
Even the youngsters were out racing on both Friday
and Saturday nights as the Mini Dwarfs came to the Raceway, and, as always, they put on a crowd-pleasing show. Young LJ Billings
from Monrovia drove for the win on both nights and Hesperia's Shayna Galloway came across the line in second place on
both nights as well. Oceanside's Jacob Ganzer finished in third place on Friday night and Hesperia's Aaron McLaughlin
took the third place spot on Saturday.
The IMCA Modifieds were a big part of the program on both Friday and Saturday
nights, and it was Las Vegas' Ryan Cottrell who performed the improbable - he swept both his heat race and the feature
on both nights, but that's not the whole story. In addition to his "double sweep" in the Modifieds, Cottrell
also drove to a win on Saturday night in the Dwarf Pro Division "A Main" event.
In fact, the Dwarf race and
the Modified feature were back-to-back, so Cottrell jumped out of one car and right into the other for back-to-back wins.
In fact, if it weren't for the fact that he had problems in Friday's Dwarf Pro "A Main" he would have had
the unique distinction of performing a "double-double"; a great driving performance by the Nevadan, to put it mildly.
In Friday's Modified feature it was Kevin Hocking of Huntington Beach taking second place with Troy Morris of Bakersfield
in third place. On Saturday, fellow Las Vegan Ronnie Williams followed Cottrell under the checkered flag and it was Leland
Hibon of Pahrump, Nevada finishing third.
Now if those two nights weren't enough racing for High Desert fans, Sunday
night brought even more hot action as the program included the super-fast 360/410 Non-Winged Sprints, Street Stocks and Sport
Compacts.
In the Sprints feature on Sunday night it was Yorba Linda's Blake Miller performing the sweep by taking
the win in the 30-lapper along with his win in his earlier heat race. San Clemente's Seth Wilson followed his earlier
heat victory with a second place finish in the feature and Norco's Tyler Brown did likewise, winning his earlier heat
race and finishing third behind Miller and Wilson in the feature.
In Street Stock it was Palmdale's Augie Schultz
grabbing the victory following an earlier
fourth-place finish in his heat race. Apple Valley's Keith Prischman followed
his third-place heat race finish with a second in the feature while Norco's Chris Tooley, who finished second in his heat
contest, came under the flag in third position.
Although both Junior and Senior Sport Compact divisions race together
at the same time, separate scoring is done and separate points standings are kept for each division.
For the Seniors
it was Tehachapi's Scott Black in first place, with Torrance's Kristlyn Queener finishing in second and Hesperia's
Jessica Sooter in third place.
For the Juniors, young Nathan Tornero, who didn't list his hometown, took the first-place
trophy while Mike Malcolm, who likewise didn't list a hometown, came in second. Hesperia's Devon Myrick, always a
hot contender in this division, grabbed the third-place trophy in the Junior Division.
Although it may have been a grueling
weekend for drivers and staff alike, the fans that braved the unusual for May bone-chilling weather definitely came away happy.
Making an appearance in front of the grandstand on Friday and Sunday was Dale Earnhardt, Junior's #88 National Guard
Sprint Cup racecar and fans got a chance to see a real NASCAR top division car up close and personal and even get a photo
with the car. That, along with great giveaways and the appearance of the gigantic Guard mascot "Army Man", who cavorted
among the crowd along with track representative "Motor Mutt", added to the patriotic spirit of the weekend.
Of course, Flagman Bob Rideout's stirring rendition of our National Anthem will live on in the memories of all those
in attendance. Kudos go out to Track Announcer Walt Martin, who kept the crowd up to speed during the busy weekend.
Coming
up this weekend will be another "Sprints Only" night followed by a two-week break. The Sprints will return again
on June 21st along with Mini Stocks, Sport Compacts and the first Figure 8 event of the season.
-30-
J.J.
VICTORVILLE - Cars and drivers
descended on Victorville Auto Raceway from as far away as Utah and Wyoming to face unusually chilly weather and compete in
four days of racing over the Memorial weekend.
Headlining the weekend's racing program was the 12th Annual Western
States Dwarf Car Association Nationals, which ran from Thursday through Saturday. By late Thursday over 60 cars had been registered
to race and CDCRA Promoter Gary Ebeling announced that, by midday Friday, the entrant list had climbed over the 70-car mark.
For the Dwarfs, it truly was a long weekend, since the little speedsters raced in identical programs on each of two nights.
The field was split into three separate divisions, Veterans, Pros and Sportsmen, with each division racing in numerous preliminary
races to determine positioning for each night's 30-lap feature event. In addition there were a number of "dashes",
that is, short races where the number of laps raced is determined by the number of cars entered.
For the dashes, if there
were eight cars entered, the race was eight laps in length. Twelve cars would race twelve laps, and so forth. These "dashes"
had no bearing, however, on the order of the heat races.
On Friday in the Pro Division there were six heat races run,
along with a "C Main" and a "B Main", along with the feature or "A Main" race. Saturday's
lineup was shortened by one heat race but officials decided to add an additional, or "D Main" to the program.
The absence of the regular CDCRA scoring team made things just a bit hectic on Raceway Head Scorer Dena Gibson and her crew,
but they were able to keep things in order throughout the entire weekend.
In Friday's Pro Division feature, it was
Vernal, Utah's Monte Norris capturing the win, followed by Gilbert Toste of Gilroy and Angel Figueroa of Long Beach. On
Saturday, Ryan Cottrell of Las Vegas began his very successful weekend by taking the win in the Pro Division feature followed
by local driver Eric Lopez of Placentia. Toste followed up on his second-place finish of Friday with a third-place spot on
Saturday night.
On Friday, in the Veterans Division, it was another local driver, Acton's Mike Van Acker, taking
the checkered flag, with another local, Monrovia's Gary Ebeling following him in second place. Van Acker's son, Dan,
traveled in from Umpqua, Oregon to finish in third place on Friday night. On Saturday night it was Ebeling's turn
to grab the win in the Veteran's feature while Kelly Gutches of Gold Hill, Oregon took second place. Mike Van Acker followed
his first place finish on Friday with a third-place on Saturday.
Long distance honors had to go to Bryan Tillotson, who
came all the way from Fort Bridge, Wyoming to grab a fourth-place spot in Saturday night's Pro "A Main".
In the Sportsmen's Division, Whittier's Chris Olson had the distinction of capturing the first-place glory on both
Friday and Saturday nights.
Even the youngsters were out racing on both Friday and Saturday nights as the Mini Dwarfs
came to the Raceway, and, as always, they put on a crowd-pleasing show. Young LJ Billings from Monrovia drove for the win
on both nights and Hesperia's Shayna Galloway came across the line in second place on both nights as well. Oceanside's
Jacob Ganzer finished in third place on Friday night and Hesperia's Aaron McLaughlin took the third place spot on Saturday.
The IMCA Modifieds were a big part of the program on both Friday and Saturday nights, and it was Las Vegas' Ryan Cottrell
who performed the improbable - he swept both his heat race and the feature on both nights, but that's not the whole story.
In addition to his "double sweep" in the Modifieds, Cottrell also drove to a win on Saturday night in the Dwarf
Pro Division "A Main" event.
In fact, the Dwarf race and the Modified feature were back-to-back, so Cottrell
jumped out of one car and right into the other for back-to-back wins. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that he had
problems in Friday's Dwarf Pro "A Main" he would have had the unique distinction of performing a "double-double";
a great driving performance by the Nevadan, to put it mildly.
In Friday's Modified feature it was Kevin Hocking of
Huntington Beach taking second place with Troy Morris of Bakersfield in third place. On Saturday, fellow Las Vegan Ronnie
Williams followed Cottrell under the checkered flag and it was Leland Hibon of Pahrump, Nevada finishing third.
Now if
those two nights weren't enough racing for High Desert fans, Sunday night brought even more hot action as the program
included the super-fast 360/410 Non-Winged Sprints, Street Stocks and Sport Compacts.
In the Sprints feature on Sunday
night it was Yorba Linda's Blake Miller performing the sweep by taking the win in the 30-lapper along with his win in
his earlier heat race. San Clemente's Seth Wilson followed his earlier heat victory with a second place finish in the
feature and Norco's Tyler Brown did likewise, winning his earlier heat race and finishing third behind Miller and Wilson
in the feature.
In Street Stock it was Palmdale's Augie Schultz grabbing the victory following an earlier
fourth-place
finish in his heat race. Apple Valley's Keith Prischman followed his third-place heat race finish with a second in the
feature while Norco's Chris Tooley, who finished second in his heat contest, came under the flag in third position.
Although both Junior and Senior Sport Compact divisions race together at the same time, separate scoring is done and separate
points standings are kept for each division.
For the Seniors it was Tehachapi's Scott Black in first place, with
Torrance's Kristlyn Queener finishing in second and Hesperia's Jessica Sooter in third place.
For the Juniors,
young Nathan Tornero, who didn't list his hometown, took the first-place trophy while Mike Malcolm, who likewise didn't
list a hometown, came in second. Hesperia's Devon Myrick, always a hot contender in this division, grabbed the third-place
trophy in the Junior Division.
Although it may have been a grueling weekend for drivers and staff alike, the fans that
braved the unusual for May bone-chilling weather definitely came away happy.
Making an appearance in front of the grandstand
on Friday and Sunday was Dale Earnhardt, Junior's #88 National Guard Sprint Cup racecar and fans got a chance to see a
real NASCAR top division car up close and personal and even get a photo with the car. That, along with great giveaways and
the appearance of the gigantic Guard mascot "Army Man", who cavorted among the crowd along with track representative
"Motor Mutt", added to the patriotic spirit of the weekend.
Of course, Flagman Bob Rideout's stirring
rendition of our National Anthem will live on in the memories of all those in attendance. Kudos go out to Track Announcer
Walt Martin, who kept the crowd up to speed during the busy weekend.
Coming up this weekend will be another "Sprints
Only" night followed by a two-week break. The Sprints will return again on June 21st along with Mini Stocks, Sport Compacts
and the first Figure 8 event of the season.
-30-
J.J.
Raceway hosts unique marathon weekend
Drivers converge from 5 states to race
By J.J.
Calvacca
Special to www.victorville-auto-raceway.com
VICTORVILLE - Cars and drivers descended on Victorville
Auto Raceway from as far away as Utah and Wyoming to face unusually chilly weather and compete in four days of racing over
the Memorial weekend.
Headlining the weekend's racing program was the 12th Annual Western States Dwarf Car Association
Nationals, which ran from Thursday through Saturday. By late Thursday over 60 cars had been registered to race and CDCRA Promoter
Gary Ebeling announced that, by midday Friday, the entrant list had climbed over the 70-car mark.
For the Dwarfs, it
truly was a long weekend, since the little speedsters raced in identical programs on each of two nights. The field was split
into three separate divisions, Veterans, Pros and Sportsmen, with each division racing in numerous preliminary races to determine
positioning for each night's 30-lap feature event. In addition there were a number of "dashes", that is, short
races where the number of laps raced is determined by the number of cars entered.
For the dashes, if there were eight
cars entered, the race was eight laps in length. Twelve cars would race twelve laps, and so forth. These "dashes"
had no bearing, however, on the order of the heat races.
On Friday in the Pro Division there were six heat races run,
along with a "C Main" and a "B Main", along with the feature or "A Main" race. Saturday's
lineup was shortened by one heat race but officials decided to add an additional, or "D Main" to the program.
The absence of the regular CDCRA scoring team made things just a bit hectic on Raceway Head Scorer Dena Gibson and her crew,
but they were able to keep things in order throughout the entire weekend.
In Friday's Pro Division feature, it was
Vernal, Utah's Monte Norris capturing the win, followed by Gilbert Toste of Gilroy and Angel Figueroa of Long Beach. On
Saturday, Ryan Cottrell of Las Vegas began his very successful weekend by taking the win in the Pro Division feature followed
by local driver Eric Lopez of Placentia. Toste followed up on his second-place finish of Friday with a third-place spot on
Saturday night.
On Friday, in the Veterans Division, it was another local driver, Acton's Mike Van Acker, taking
the checkered flag, with another local, Monrovia's Gary Ebeling following him in second place. Van Acker's son, Dan,
traveled in from Umpqua, Oregon to finish in third place on Friday night. On Saturday night it was Ebeling's turn
to grab the win in the Veteran's feature while Kelly Gutches of Gold Hill, Oregon took second place. Mike Van Acker followed
his first place finish on Friday with a third-place on Saturday.
Long distance honors had to go to Bryan Tillotson, who
came all the way from Fort Bridge, Wyoming to grab a fourth-place spot in Saturday night's Pro "A Main".
In the Sportsmen's Division, Whittier's Chris Olson had the distinction of capturing the first-place glory on both
Friday and Saturday nights.
Even the youngsters were out racing on both Friday and Saturday nights as the Mini Dwarfs
came to the Raceway, and, as always, they put on a crowd-pleasing show. Young LJ Billings from Monrovia drove for the win
on both nights and Hesperia's Shayna Galloway came across the line in second place on both nights as well. Oceanside's
Jacob Ganzer finished in third place on Friday night and Hesperia's Aaron McLaughlin took the third place spot on Saturday.
The IMCA Modifieds were a big part of the program on both Friday and Saturday nights, and it was Las Vegas' Ryan Cottrell
who performed the improbable - he swept both his heat race and the feature on both nights, but that's not the whole story.
In addition to his "double sweep" in the Modifieds, Cottrell also drove to a win on Saturday night in the Dwarf
Pro Division "A Main" event.
In fact, the Dwarf race and the Modified feature were back-to-back, so Cottrell
jumped out of one car and right into the other for back-to-back wins. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that he had
problems in Friday's Dwarf Pro "A Main" he would have had the unique distinction of performing a "double-double";
a great driving performance by the Nevadan, to put it mildly.
In Friday's Modified feature it was Kevin Hocking of
Huntington Beach taking second place with Troy Morris of Bakersfield in third place. On Saturday, fellow Las Vegan Ronnie
Williams followed Cottrell under the checkered flag and it was Leland Hibon of Pahrump, Nevada finishing third.
Now if
those two nights weren't enough racing for High Desert fans, Sunday night brought even more hot action as the program
included the super-fast 360/410 Non-Winged Sprints, Street Stocks and Sport Compacts.
In the Sprints feature on Sunday
night it was Yorba Linda's Blake Miller performing the sweep by taking the win in the 30-lapper along with his win in
his earlier heat race. San Clemente's Seth Wilson followed his earlier heat victory with a second place finish in the
feature and Norco's Tyler Brown did likewise, winning his earlier heat race and finishing third behind Miller and Wilson
in the feature.
In Street Stock it was Palmdale's Augie Schultz grabbing the victory following an earlier
fourth-place
finish in his heat race. Apple Valley's Keith Prischman followed his third-place heat race finish with a second in the
feature while Norco's Chris Tooley, who finished second in his heat contest, came under the flag in third position.
Although both Junior and Senior Sport Compact divisions race together at the same time, separate scoring is done and separate
points standings are kept for each division.
For the Seniors it was Tehachapi's Scott Black in first place, with
Torrance's Kristlyn Queener finishing in second and Hesperia's Jessica Sooter in third place.
For the Juniors,
young Nathan Tornero, who didn't list his hometown, took the first-place trophy while Mike Malcolm, who likewise didn't
list a hometown, came in second. Hesperia's Devon Myrick, always a hot contender in this division, grabbed the third-place
trophy in the Junior Division.
Although it may have been a grueling weekend for drivers and staff alike, the fans that
braved the unusual for May bone-chilling weather definitely came away happy.
Making an appearance in front of the grandstand
on Friday and Sunday was Dale Earnhardt, Junior's #88 National Guard Sprint Cup racecar and fans got a chance to see a
real NASCAR top division car up close and personal and even get a photo with the car. That, along with great giveaways and
the appearance of the gigantic Guard mascot "Army Man", who cavorted among the crowd along with track representative
"Motor Mutt", added to the patriotic spirit of the weekend.
Of course, Flagman Bob Rideout's stirring
rendition of our National Anthem will live on in the memories of all those in attendance. Kudos go out to Track Announcer
Walt Martin, who kept the crowd up to speed during the busy weekend.
Coming up this weekend will be another "Sprints
Only" night followed by a two-week break. The Sprints will return again on June 21st along with Mini Stocks, Sport Compacts
and the first Figure 8 event of the season.
-30-
J.J.
VICTORVILLE - Cars and drivers descended on Victorville Auto Raceway from as far away as Utah and
Wyoming to face unusually chilly weather and compete in four days of racing over the Memorial weekend.
Headlining the
weekend's racing program was the 12th Annual Western States Dwarf Car Association Nationals, which ran from Thursday through
Saturday. By late Thursday over 60 cars had been registered to race and CDCRA Promoter Gary Ebeling announced that, by midday
Friday, the entrant list had climbed over the 70-car mark.
For the Dwarfs, it truly was a long weekend, since the little
speedsters raced in identical programs on each of two nights. The field was split into three separate divisions, Veterans,
Pros and Sportsmen, with each division racing in numerous preliminary races to determine positioning for each night's
30-lap feature event. In addition there were a number of "dashes", that is, short races where the number of laps
raced is determined by the number of cars entered.
For the dashes, if there were eight cars entered, the race was eight
laps in length. Twelve cars would race twelve laps, and so forth. These "dashes" had no bearing, however, on the
order of the heat races.
On Friday in the Pro Division there were six heat races run, along with a "C Main"
and a "B Main", along with the feature or "A Main" race. Saturday's lineup was shortened by one heat
race but officials decided to add an additional, or "D Main" to the program.
The absence of the regular CDCRA
scoring team made things just a bit hectic on Raceway Head Scorer Dena Gibson and her crew, but they were able to keep things
in order throughout the entire weekend.
In Friday's Pro Division feature, it was Vernal, Utah's Monte Norris
capturing the win, followed by Gilbert Toste of Gilroy and Angel Figueroa of Long Beach. On Saturday, Ryan Cottrell of Las
Vegas began his very successful weekend by taking the win in the Pro Division feature followed by local driver Eric Lopez
of Placentia. Toste followed up on his second-place finish of Friday with a third-place spot on Saturday night.
On Friday,
in the Veterans Division, it was another local driver, Acton's Mike Van Acker, taking the checkered flag, with another
local, Monrovia's Gary Ebeling following him in second place. Van Acker's son, Dan, traveled in from Umpqua, Oregon
to finish in third place on Friday night. On Saturday night it was Ebeling's turn to grab the win in the Veteran's
feature while Kelly Gutches of Gold Hill, Oregon took second place. Mike Van Acker followed his first place finish on Friday
with a third-place on Saturday.
Long distance honors had to go to Bryan Tillotson, who came all the way from Fort Bridge,
Wyoming to grab a fourth-place spot in Saturday night's Pro "A Main".
In the Sportsmen's Division,
Whittier's Chris Olson had the distinction of capturing the first-place glory on both Friday and Saturday nights.
Even the youngsters were out racing on both Friday and Saturday nights as the Mini Dwarfs came to the Raceway, and, as always,
they put on a crowd-pleasing show. Young LJ Billings from Monrovia drove for the win on both nights and Hesperia's Shayna
Galloway came across the line in second place on both nights as well. Oceanside's Jacob Ganzer finished in third place
on Friday night and Hesperia's Aaron McLaughlin took the third place spot on Saturday.
The IMCA Modifieds were a
big part of the program on both Friday and Saturday nights, and it was Las Vegas' Ryan Cottrell who performed the improbable
- he swept both his heat race and the feature on both nights, but that's not the whole story. In addition to his "double
sweep" in the Modifieds, Cottrell also drove to a win on Saturday night in the Dwarf Pro Division "A Main"
event.
In fact, the Dwarf race and the Modified feature were back-to-back, so Cottrell jumped out of one car and right
into the other for back-to-back wins. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that he had problems in Friday's Dwarf Pro
"A Main" he would have had the unique distinction of performing a "double-double"; a great driving performance
by the Nevadan, to put it mildly.
In Friday's Modified feature it was Kevin Hocking of Huntington Beach taking second
place with Troy Morris of Bakersfield in third place. On Saturday, fellow Las Vegan Ronnie Williams followed Cottrell under
the checkered flag and it was Leland Hibon of Pahrump, Nevada finishing third.
Now if those two nights weren't enough
racing for High Desert fans, Sunday night brought even more hot action as the program included the super-fast 360/410 Non-Winged
Sprints, Street Stocks and Sport Compacts.
In the Sprints feature on Sunday night it was Yorba Linda's Blake Miller
performing the sweep by taking the win in the 30-lapper along with his win in his earlier heat race. San Clemente's Seth
Wilson followed his earlier heat victory with a second place finish in the feature and Norco's Tyler Brown did likewise,
winning his earlier heat race and finishing third behind Miller and Wilson in the feature.
In Street Stock it was Palmdale's
Augie Schultz grabbing the victory following an earlier
fourth-place finish in his heat race. Apple Valley's Keith
Prischman followed his third-place heat race finish with a second in the feature while Norco's Chris Tooley, who finished
second in his heat contest, came under the flag in third position.
Although both Junior and Senior Sport Compact divisions
race together at the same time, separate scoring is done and separate points standings are kept for each division.
For
the Seniors it was Tehachapi's Scott Black in first place, with Torrance's Kristlyn Queener finishing in second and
Hesperia's Jessica Sooter in third place.
For the Juniors, young Nathan Tornero, who didn't list his hometown,
took the first-place trophy while Mike Malcolm, who likewise didn't list a hometown, came in second. Hesperia's Devon
Myrick, always a hot contender in this division, grabbed the third-place trophy in the Junior Division.
Although it may
have been a grueling weekend for drivers and staff alike, the fans that braved the unusual for May bone-chilling weather definitely
came away happy.
Making an appearance in front of the grandstand on Friday and Sunday was Dale Earnhardt, Junior's
#88 National Guard Sprint Cup racecar and fans got a chance to see a real NASCAR top division car up close and personal and
even get a photo with the car. That, along with great giveaways and the appearance of the gigantic Guard mascot "Army
Man", who cavorted among the crowd along with track representative "Motor Mutt", added to the patriotic spirit
of the weekend.
Of course, Flagman Bob Rideout's stirring rendition of our National Anthem will live on in the memories
of all those in attendance. Kudos go out to Track Announcer Walt Martin, who kept the crowd up to speed during the busy weekend.
Coming up this weekend will be another "Sprints Only" night followed by a two-week break. The Sprints will return
again on June 21st along with Mini Stocks, Sport Compacts and the first Figure 8 event of the season.
-30-
J.J.
|
