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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
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HOT IN THE DESERT AND HOT ON THE TRACK by Norm Bogan |
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Temperatures throughout Southern
California have been teasing the triple digits especially in the
inland valleys. Victorville
had a predicted 102 degree forecast for Saturday, while the San
Bernardino County Fairgrounds had a sprint car feature scheduled.
Naysayers soon bemoaned the fact that the new clay surface
would dry up from the intense heat and expectations were for a slick
and dusty oval this evening. Mike and Dena Gibson are now in their
third year of promoting this racing venue.
They are just local folks that wanted to take their little
racetrack and make improvements to draw more fans and also upgrade
the overall program. In
their first year, they worked hard to make the racing surface better
for the racers and fans with some success.
In the second year, banking was increased, corners
reconfigured and new clay added to create a faster, wider and more
competitive arena for the local racers to display their wares.
Some local backers were acquired allowing them to offer a
more attractive program to the spectators and financial participants
collaborated to promote a couple of open competition sprint car
programs, involving minimal rules and an elevated purse structure,
racing on a weekend, which didn’t conflict with regular sprint car
tracks, allowing all racers interested to join the fun.
In their third year, they have
established a regular sprint car schedule, which has offered an
opportunity for younger and financially strapped teams to compete
and be able to gain valuable experience racing heat races and
features, accumulating many laps of on track competition, while they
would have been relegated to hot laps and the consolation race at
regular venues. Drivers like Seth Wilson, who was a
former National Dwarf Car Champion and regular competitor with the
USAC/CRA sprinters, journeyed to Victorville on off weekends and
found success, winning several features.
His Racing Optics business was able to locate some clay
stockpiled to become clay roofing tiles as the housing industry took
a downturn. The housing
industry’s dilemma became a boon for racing as those future clay
tiles became the new tacky racing surface at this high desert speed
plant. Racing teams and drivers found the
improvements to their liking and scheduled visits to Victorville on
non-conflicting weekends. The
fields of cars increased and the racing became more interesting.
Saturday night, July 25th, found nineteen cars
entered for the evening’s faire.
While the heats were contested on a track that had dried out
from the intense summer temperatures, thunderhead clouds formed to
the northeast and a mild breeze seemed to create a balmy evening.
Before the features, the track was watered and cut, with the
result being a very good racing surface.
The sprint car feature was conducted caution-free, with
eventual victor, Blake Miller, lapping up to about the fourth or
fifth place runner. Only
two cars dropped out of the competition. Fans from other Southern California
venues need to take in a show at Victorville and discover this gem.
Parking is free and admission for adults is $10.
Your family will appreciate the clean restrooms and spacious
grandstand seating. The support shows are good quality also, whether it is
Modifieds, Dwarf Cars, All Americans, Hornets or the Mini-Dwarfs
with the youngsters introducing us to future stars This down-home track has kept the local
flavor and introduced us to both the Sprint Cars and Dirt Late
Models, giving a taste of racing found throughout the United States
at many local fairgrounds.
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