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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
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Western Dirt Nationals-2006 by Norm Bogan |
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Not long ago, Kings Speedway was sitting vacant
as the Fair Board sized up different groups interested in taking
over operation of this facility.
After numerous proposals, the team of Frank Dias and Scott
Woodhouse were successful in their attempt to resurrect this fine
racing facility. On
opening night, things ran fairly smooth considering the race plant
had been dormant for a number of months, with the summer heat baking
the clay track surface to the consistency of adobe. On its first outing, the promotion team gave a
hint of their determination to bring back first class auto racing to
Kings County. Taking
what was available, they cleaned up and repaired some of the
existing buildings to go forward on a limited basis for the balance
of 2006. By the weekend of the Western Dirt Nationals,
Dias and Woodhouse had established a plan and started to upgrade the
overall facility. Restrooms
have been cleaned, repaired and painted to make them more appealing
to the families that fill the grandstands.
Additional improvements are planned during the off-season,
including the food concessions, souvenir vendors and beverage
outlets. A new catering
firm is in place to operate the food services.
Creature comforts for the racers have also improved with food
concessions now in place in the pit area. The promoters have also aligned with the IMCA
organization to sanction stock car events including Super Stocks,
Modifieds and Late Models. Hopefully,
this will bring Kings Speedway in line with many other venues and
allow racers to be able to compete at different racetracks under
common rules. Kings has been named the home track for the SCRA sprint cars,
offering the open wheel fans a regular program for their tastes.
In addition, some traditional races such as the Cotton
Classic will be scheduled each year to maintain the longevity of
these special events. The Western Dirt Nationals event returns as an
end of year special for fans and racers.
On hand were twenty-four non-winged 360 sprint cars, nearly
fifty IMCA Modifieds and in excess of twenty Super Stocks and Late
Models. With a
preliminary night offering a good payday for a shorter event,
followed by an elevated purse for the Saturday night regular length
features, all the racers looked to this event as a good way to close
out their racing seasons on a high note. With preliminary events occurring on Friday
evening, the fans got to see a variety of racing while the race
teams got a chance to make a little money.
Each class ran heat races to set the grid for the Friday
features. During the
sprint car main, Kevin Barnes caught the wall on the main
straightaway and took a hard flip, destroying his racer.
Due to curfew restraints, the feature race was checkered
after seven laps with Davey Pombo claiming the victory. Saturday night was the big show, sporting a big
payday in each division. The
Super Stocks ran the initial feature of the evening with Brad Pounds
taking home the spoils, $2000 for the win.
The Modifieds followed with a thirty-lap feature, rewarding
victor, Kellen Chadwick with $2500.
Next up was the SCRA Sprint Cars racing thirty laps for $3000
first place money, claimed by Davey Pombo. Finally, the Late Models
ran a thirty-lap feature with Michael Johnson collecting $3000 for
the victory. The racing
program was concluded prior to the 11 PM curfew, as the features
went off with good clean racing and few altercations that required
lost track time. I have been impressed over the past couple of
years with the professionalism of the Late Model racers, who are
able to provide close side-by-side racing without upsetting the cars
next to them. The
Modifieds had a few slow laps to clear the track, but overall their
racing was clean and fast. The
Super Stocks also, provided the fans with good close racing and few
delays in the program. The Sprint Car program went smoother this
evening with fewer altercations and more laps of green flag
competition. Amazingly, Kevin Barnes and a couple of his crewmen built a
new car and arrived too late to qualify but tagged the feature and
finished fifteenth. Kevin
and his crew exemplify grit and determination to be a part of the
program. Barnes acknowledged that he was a little stiff and sore after
flipping the previous night and thought that he would probably sleep
better this night. Jonathan
Logan claimed the 2006 SCRA Driver Points Championship. The future looks bright for the Hanford track, as the new promoters have put into motion a number of improvements and upgrades to the facility for 2007. They have secured a core of racing groups to provide weekly action for local fans and a number of special attractions during the new season, to allow fans to view various traveling clubs and their stars. |
