|
Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
|
POMBO CLASSIC, Madera, 7.19.08 by Norm Bogan |
|
|
|
Al Pombo is a legend in these parts,
racing out of Fresno from the forties through the seventies. Over 500 feature victories carried him to seven NASCAR
Super-Modified titles and numerous track championships.
Tonight’s program was a salute to the man from just down
the road, who is often seen at racetracks in the area, now watching
his grandkids racing sprint cars. Super-Modified racers are engineering
marvels and a throwback to the days when racecars were homebuilt.
These beautiful pieces of equipment are one of a kind; so
much of the suspension parts are all hand built and fitted to a
specific car. The cars
are designed to carry about 70 % of the weight on the left side. For example, the engine is mounted about on the left frame
rail with the drive line actually running outside the cockpit on the
left side. The right
side of the car sports extended outriggers with the wheels appearing
as training wheels of sorts. The
410 cubic inch cars run injected methanol feeding an engine that is
tipped to the left side at about a 45 degree angle.
The 360 powered cars are carbureted with the engines mounted
straight up. Because these cars are so different from each other, they
tend to be temperamental at times and quite often the attrition rate
is greater than some other classes.
Most of the cars are based in California’s San Joaquin
Valley, with another contingent coming from the Boise, Idaho area.
They have some cousins racing in the northeast, most often at
tracks like Oswego, New York. A
number of drivers have enjoyed success in this class on the West
Coast, to name a few; Art Bigioni, Billy Vukovich III, Davey
Hamilton and Troy Regier. Joining the program was the BCRA
Midgets, a club serving Central and Northern California for about
seven decades. Drivers
like Freddie Agabashian, Johnny Boyd and Dick Atkins all were
dominant racers, before moving on to Indianapolis.
Seventy-four year old, seven times BCRA Champion, Floyd Alvis
is still a force to be dealt with. In this day and age, young race drivers
are all focused on moving into one of the NASCAR traveling series,
so many move into local late model programs as a natural progression
to bigger and better opportunities.
Many young racers are exhibiting skills that could move them
to you TV screen in the near future.
However, there are a few guys with gray in their hair and a
number of championship trophies on the mantles, that are not
interested in joining the “Dixie Jet Set” or moving aside to
accommodate some of these “wanna-be’s”.
They are established long time local racers and don’t want
some of these youngsters trying to build a reputation at their
expense. They just want
to win all the races. The
Western Late Models compete at several different tracks in the area
and have a strong following of fans, of course some back the old
guys and others are behind the persistent kids. Legend Cars are scaled down versions of
the cars that campaigned at nearly every racetrack in the 30s, 40s
and 50s. They are 30s
era coupes and coaches operating on a motorcycle based engine.
Here again is a talent pool of youngsters hoping to grab the
brass ring and move on up the racing ladder.
Quite a few of these racers are guys that may have ran
briefly, when they were slim and dark haired, but found it necessary
to set aside their racing ambitions to provide for a family and
possibly operate a business. Now they have gotten the kids out of the house and are
successful in their business endeavors, they have gained a second
chance to become a racing hero.
This class boasts a lot of camaraderie as these racers just
want to have an enjoyable evening at the track.
They often share parts and labor, if one of their competitors
suffers a malady on the track.
Robby Czub was the victorious 30 lap feature winner. Another class of car racing at Madera
was the American Limited Stock Cars (ALSC), a group of cars,
probably akin to the old Street Stocks or a higher class, but for
the most part, a beginner’s or economy class.
For many, this is the family’s recreational outlet and in
the grandstands you will witness strong support for the various
competitors. At Madera, there is a Spectator class,
which consists of four cylinder Modified type vehicles that may be
rented for $299.95 a night. That
fee includes the pit pass fees, all the safety equipment, a practice
session for someone wanting to embark on a racing career or just out
for a one-time lark. It
is less expensive than buying a racecar and then deciding that maybe
you are not cut out to be a racedriver.
The cars are operated and maintained by the track and they
have a fleet of about 10-12 cars. Feature action saw the ALSC cars with a
race long dice for the front spot with the victor, Jason Aguirre
claiming his first feature and giving the trophy to his Dad, who
wrenches the car. The
Western Late Models ran fifty lap feature and found veteran Dave
Byrd atop the podium. The BCRA Midgets ran a thirty lap feature with Dallen
McKinney completing a sweep for the night.
Shannon McQueen challenged, but had to settle for the
runner-up spot. The SMRA Super Modifieds ran a fifty
lap feature and were impressive for the fact that they ran
forty-four laps before leader Bryan Warf had an engine expire and
collected a couple of other cars.
Of the eleven starters, eight were running at the finish.
The top three cars had lapped the field.
Jeff Russell from Boise, Idaho was the victor with Troy
Regier waiting for a slip up to overtake the leader. As the fans were departing through the
gate to the parking lot, there stood Promoter, Kenny Shepherd,
saying good night and thanks for coming to the races.
A class act that should be recognized. |
