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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
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A WEEKEND RESPITE FROM SPRINT CARS
by Norm Bogan |
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Initially, the plan for the weekend was a journey to the Reno-Fernley Raceway in Nevada. However, while scouting for a gas station with a reasonable price, it was decided a co-signor was necessary to cover the fuel costs of this adventure. Since nearly every track in the southern half of California was devoid of an open wheel show, I chose to visit with old friends at the nearby Irwindale Speedway and view the stock car genre. Dusty pits and parking lots are something I.S.
doesn’t offer. Can
you imagine they paved the whole darn place, parking lot, pit area
and even the racing surface! Irwindale
is a state of the art facility with plentiful seating, good lighting
and sound systems. The
racecars exude quality in the various classes and present the fans
with an outstanding weekly program. A couple of the routine operations of a racing
program have a few different wrinkles.
First, qualifying is measured by electronic transponders on
each racecar. This
enables scoring of every car on each lap.
A European style of qualifying is employed, with groups of
six cars taking six hot laps. The
transponder records each lap and the quickest lap becomes the
contestant’s qualifying time.
The headliner group will actually run two qualifying laps
each to determine their timed position.
Unlike most other tracks, the classes only run in a feature
race, lining up by their earlier recorded times with a certain
inversion. The Super Late Models were the featured class
tonight and would run twin fifty lappers, allowing racers to gain
double points. Joining
them would be the Mini Stocks, Pure Stocks, West Coast Pro Trucks,
Super Stocks and the Pure Stock Women’s League. The Mini-Stocks led off the evening’s racing
with a 35-lap feature. Viewing
this class will give you an idea of what happened to all the Pintos. The feature went from green to checkered without incident.
Tom Dye jumped his Toyota from fourth to first and led the
entire race for his second win. Next up were the Pure Stocks, which are basically a refugee from the junkyard, with little or no modifications. Safety devices are the only added equipment. This is a good entry class for wanna-be racers. This division also has a Women’s League, an up to date version of the old Powder Puff Derby. Rookie Branden Mulvill scored the win of this 35-lap feature, with John Mattie advancing from eighth to runner-up and distaff racer, Michele Rouse collecting third. Moving from the third-mile oval to the big
half-mile found the Super Late Model feature #1 staged.
Point Leader, Todd Southwell sat on the pole and was involved
in an early dice with Andrew Phipps, Jim McGill and Russell White.
Soon, Southwell dropped off the pace as Phipps charged to the
front. Moving up from
back in the field were veterans Rod Johnson and Mike Price.
As the race progressed, both White and McGill challenged
Phipps for the point. About
lap 25, Southwell’s mount started smoking out the headers.
He retired with an engine failure on lap 27.
On the restart, McGill charged to the front and held off
Phipps and White to the checkered flag. This was McGill’s first victory in this division. Now the agenda moved to the West Coast Pro
Trucks, an entry level touring group racing with spec tires and a
spec 305 cu. in. Chevy engine.
Sixteen trucks staged for the 40-lap feature with Don
Helgeson on the pole and fast-timer, Ryan Black starting third.
Black was able to persevere through several yellows to
capture his second win in a row with former motorcycle racer, Buddy
Antunez claiming runner-up honors and Helgeson coming home third. The Super Stocks were up next with a 23-car
field and quick timer, Robin Bourgeois on the pole for a 40-lap
Main. While I mentioned that the Mini-Stocks cornered all the
Pintos, this class seems to have claimed all the Camaros. Early on, former Champ, Lee Ladd knifed through the first two
rows and assumed the lead. From
then on Lee defended his position as several came forth to
challenge, none with success. At
the checkers, Ladd claimed his first victory of this season, which
has been punctuated with a number of engine problems. Tonight, all
eight cylinders were humming. Jimmy
Sloan gained the Place position and Bryan Harrell collected Show
honors. With the clock running late, the Women’s League Pure Stocks were set back to the last event so that the Super Late Model feature #2 could get underway. While the first fifty-lapper went off without many problems, this second feature experienced three red flag events. First Todd Southwell started in his backup car, but on lap 19, Todd appeared to be dropping some fluid on the track. As his pulled up near the exit gate, it was noticed that the car was on fire but quickly extinguished. For Southwell, falling out of both of these races took its toll on his point lead. At lap 37, Mike Price broke something on his right front suspension, ending up against the wall in turn four. On lap 43, the third red came when Dan Moore suffered a front end failure and shot up the track to collect Scott Calvin, taking for a hard knock into the wall between turns one and two. Calvin complained of some back pain, so his roof was cut off allowing rescue workers to insert a backboard, before removing him from the car and transporting to the hospital for observation. Andrew Phipps scored the win over Jim McGill in
second and rookie Brian Ickler grabbing the final podium spot. Phipps ended up with a win and a third in the two features,
Jim McGill got a one and a two, while Russell White collected a two
and a five. Rod Johnson
ended the night with a fifth and a fourth finishes.
The lengthy red flags caused cancellation of the Women’s
League Pure Stock 15-lap feature. It was an enjoyable day and an opportunity to visit with old friends, taking in some stock car racing for a pleasant alternative to the open wheel programs that I usually partake of. Leaving the racetrack, I noted the absence of dust covering my vehicle. What a change from normal. See you all “Along the Way”. |
