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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
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PAHRUMP
OR BUST!! by Norm Bogan |
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Buzz Shoemaker was one of the organizers of this happening and the sign on the back of his Quad read, “PAHRUMP OR BUST”. Now lets elaborate a little on that statement. About a century ago, twenty-mule team wagon trains plied rutted trails across a vast California/Nevada desert area in search of precious minerals and ores. Today, navigating over the same routes, but with smooth macadam in a modern transport makes the trip less stressful than it did for our ancestors. The precious cargo sought on this journey was
mostly bragging rights and a few bucks after a weekend of fun at the
end of another race year. Pahrump
Valley Speedway has been in existence for a number of years, but had
never experienced the roar of sprint cars on the banked
quarter-mile. Promoter
Dave Hall met with Buzz Shoemaker and John Richards to toss around
the idea of bringing in a number of sprint cars for a demonstration
race, in hopes of capturing new fans, who would support several
races next year at the facility.
The group had anticipated drawing about eight to ten cars
from VRA Pros and Seniors at Ventura, Bandit racers from Hanford and
Santa Maria and ASCA competitors from Manzanita.
While these are all 360 groups, invites went out to both SCRA
and USAC/CRA teams to join in with a separate event for 410 racers. Well, racing season is over for all the 360
clubs, so one additional show before Santa seemed like a great idea.
Also Pahrump, located about 60 miles west of Las Vegas near
the California border has a number of gambling casinos along the
boulevard, as well as a Wal-Mart Super Center.
Racers and crewmembers could adapt to this environment, many
bringing along their wives. Friday afternoon’s practice session started
under sunny skies with puffy white clouds and a majestic snowcapped
Mt. Charleston to the east, with twenty cars testing the clay
surface initially. Seventeen
year old Blake Miller did a lot of car hopping as he practiced
Shoemaker’s #0, filling in for Mike English, plus taking both the
#5 and #6 Nadine Keller cars out as well.
Richard Harvey Jr. turned a lap at 13.2 with both Miller and
Chad Boespflug turning laps in the same neighborhood.
The consensus after the practice session was that the racers
liked the track surface and the promoter vowed to widen the lanes
for the Saturday show. As a result of missionary efforts by Buzz, John and their team, thirty-one racecars were on hand for Saturday’s event. Now consider that all of the participants also knew that there would be no purse! No folks, this was a demonstration race. What enticed most of them was a chance to relax, race and have a good time, with no pressure about points, championship and the like. A number of teams brought grills and set out a sort of potluck after an early evening of racing. The group was divided into three divisions, 360
Pro, 360 Senior (over 45) and 410s.
Each 360 group ran two heat races and with only five 410
cars, they ran a dash. A
number of 410 teams passed on this show since they have their season
finale next week at Perris for the Kindoll Classic.
Sixteen year old, Chad Boespflug won the first ten-lap 360
Pro heat while Gary W. Howard prevailed in the second heat.
The Senior heats were won by Oren Prosser Sr. and Ron Bach.
Kevin Kierce won the 410 Dash, having entered both a 410 and
a 360 racecar. Between
heat races and features, most drivers went into the grandstands,
greeting fans and signing autographs. Two Main events were run with the 410 cars
added to the rear of the Pro feature.
Nineteen cars ran this 30-lap feature.
Mike English captured the victory with Richard Harvey Jr.,
Blake Miller (410) and Kevin Kierce following.
Chris Tramel was the only car to get upside down as he
climbed a wheel in turn two of the first lap and barrel-rolled.
He was uninjured, but the car suffered some damage. Oren Prosser came back to capture the 25-lap
Senior feature. Ron
Bach, Danny Miller, Howard Smith (first time in a racecar in several
years) and Wiley Miller chased Prosser to the flag. As word first spread about this event, fans and
benefactors began to send in donations to reward the racers. Also, numerous parts and equipment suppliers donated items
for a drawing after the event.
By race day, nearly $5000 had been anted up along with items
from work gloves and air gauges to a front axle and a rear end
clock. The monies
collected were divided up evenly among all the participants.
Guess you could call it tow money. In the afterglow of this demonstration event, nearly all competitors would like to return to this facility for some real racing. Racers voted the weekend as a winner also, while the byword for was, FUN! There was a small crowd to witness the show, but there was a Rodeo Finals in town and an IMCA Modified national event at Las Vegas. Those in attendance appeared to like what they saw and many came to the pits after the event to inspect the racecars up close. Capping off the weekend festivities was a pyrotechnic display furnished by young members of several crews, using products procured from one of the local fireworks emporiums. |
