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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
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410 SPRINTS RETURN TO BAKERSFIELD SPEEDWAY
by Norm Bogan |
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It has been a number of years since traditional
410 sprint cars circumnavigated the third-mile oval at Bakersfield
Speedway. This venue
became CRA’s home track after the shuttering of the fabled Ascot
Park in 1990. During
the 1991 season, CRA ran thirteen events at this long time racing
plant and continued to race at the Oildale oval until 1994, until it
was disbanded. The field was short with only twenty cars
signing in. It appeared
that many who were in not in the point race for the championship
decided to pass on this race, opting to perhaps prepare for three
day shows in each of the next two weekends.
Sharing the spotlight for the event were the USAC Ford Focus
Midgets and the CDCRA Dwarf Cars. The track was well prepared with Rip Williams clocking in at
12.571 to claim fast time. Although the sprint car field small, it
didn’t lack for quality. In
addition to most of the top ten in points, two of the top runners
from the National point chase were on hand.
Bud Kaeding driving his own #29K and Cory Kruseman at the
wheel of the Alexander #4, along with part time USAC and All Stars
driver, Bill Rose, aboard the Keller #5 joined the likes of
Williams, Gardner, Kirby, Spencer, Bragg, Hermansader, Argo,
English, Ziehl, Case, Cody, Keller, Ballard and Stansberry.
Since Ventura cancelled their program due to wet grounds,
Clark Templeman III, Dennis Rodriguez and Steve Conrad brought their
360s up to play with the big kids. Heat race winners were Kaeding, Kirby and
English. The races were
highlighted with a couple of impressive passes by Kaeding going from
fourth to first around the top in one lap and also Alan Ballard
using the same tactic to drive around Kruseman. Greg Bragg took the early lead from the pole and held off challenges from Kruseman and Hermansader. A later bobble let the freight train get by as Kaeding, Gardner and Kirby slipped into challenging positions. Rip Williams was in the mix early, but a tangle with another car left him stalled on the track, requiring a restart at the rear. Rip came back to an eighth place finish. Once Kruseman gained the lead, he was the class of the field, moving to an advantage, only to look over at the nose of the #29K, but not yielding. On the last lap, Gardner squeezed by Hermansader coming to the flag. Tonight’s top-five were Kruseman, Kaeding, Gardner, Hermansader and Spencer. Bobby Cody got over a wheel and barrel-rolled
in turn four on the opening lap.
Later, Bill Rose did a tip over in turn two and Alan Ballard
got together with another car as they tried to avoid Rose, breaking
his front suspension. The
feature was delayed by a long red flag, when a fan reportedly
suffered a seizure and the ambulance crew was dispatched to attend
to the emergency. Earlier, former sprint car racer, Bobby
Michnowicz claimed the Focus feature leading from start to finish. Josh Lakatos put a last lap pass on Ashley Swanson, to
collect the runner up spot. The Dwarf cars had a good car count
representing both the Pro and Masters classes.
With each group running two heats and a feature, the fans
were treated to exciting racing with dicing throughout the field. The weather was cool, but not frigid, so many
fans went to the pits after the races to visit with their favorites.
A number of racers had posters or cards to autograph and many
had early trick or treat candy for the kids.
Track conditions were good all night, leading to competitive
races. During
intermission, the track prep crew massaged the surface, which seemed
to widen the racetrack for two to three grooves in the features. The return visit to an old friend, Bakersfield Speedway was pleasant. Hopefully, several races can be scheduled at this track next season, as the fans revisit the exciting events of a decade or so past. |
