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In the second year of what has become a cultural enlightenment for California Open-Wheel racers, the Louie Vermeil Classic has substantiated the fact that if you put on a great show, the crowds will come.
Due to the economic downturn over the past year, a number of teams were hesitant to commit, but as entry forms arrived in the mail and ticket sales began, racers and fans didn’t want to be left out and initiated bookings for lodging and airline tickets.
For those present for the inaugural show last Labor Day, there was no doubt that they wanted to return. For those who missed the 2008 edition, they darn sure didn’t want to miss this year’s happening.
The whole event is a monument to the cooperation of all involved. Various racing bodies arranged to keep the date open so their racers could be in Calistoga to represent them.
Often the racing programs and the local public are adversarial, but they looked for this event to bring the different factions together in an effort to benefit all involved. The wine industry, strong in the Napa Valley, joined with the racing community to present their products at a wine tasting session each day. Many, who found a sample pleasing to their taste, purchased some to add into their home stock.
Another popular event was having a number of the revered racers participate in an autograph session each day, letting the fans visit and take photos with their heroes. To name them is like doing Roll Call at the Hall of Fame. Those that I recall are Leroy Van Connet, Lealand McSpadden, Tim Green, Jimmy Sills, Mike Andretta, Chuck Gurney, Jimmy Boyd, Hank Butcher, Jimmy Oskie, Johnny & Billy Anderson and Bill Des Champs.
Another nostalgic touch was having a large contingent of the Western Racing Association and their vintage racecars, parading on the big half-mile oval. The cars ranged from the 1930s through the 1960s, some which actually competed here at Calistoga with a few drivers that turned this track at speed.
A number of people got involved doing behind the scenes duties to coordinate and choreograph various portions of the event for a smooth transition through the weekend. Several teams put their racecars on display so the fans could walk by and talk with the drivers they would see in action that evening. Most had collectible cards and other trinkets to offer. Thanks to the teams of Greg Bragg and Moose Racing, David Cardey and ITI Motorsports, Danny Sheridan and Kittle Motorsports and Mike Spencer and Chaffin Motorsports.
The United States Auto Club (USAC) provided a full complement of officials as well as scoring and registration personnel to service both the Midgets and Sprints.
For the first time visitor, Calistoga Speedway is a sight to behold. After parking your car on a flat grassy area, you proceed past tall shade trees with picnic benches throughout the entrance area. Once you click through the turnstile at the rear of the grandstands, you arrive at the seating to accommodate an estimated five thousand fans.
Once seated, the viewer scans across the big half-mile oval, sporting long straight-aways with tall trees just behind the back stretch wall. Off turns 3 & 4, is a golf course and past the trees on the back straight is a ring of mountains, making this facility a very scenic venue. Fair exhibit areas lie beyond the first turn. The infield doubles as a natural grass football gridiron. The race car haulers were staged in an open barn area and a number of the teams stayed in their toter-homes or camped nearby.
Saturday, found race cars and equipment being moved to the pit area for the evening action. Roll taking revealed that twenty-nine entries were on hand for the sprints, with seventeen midgets in place. A few teams had a spare car to use if needed.
In the late afternoon, the grandstands filled and pit action became more intense. First, the racecars were massaged to maximize the qualifying effort, followed by fine tuning to track conditions for each ongoing event.
On Saturday evening, the track was a little heavier and whiles both the midgets and sprints qualified; only the sprints ran heat races, with the midgets running only a thirty-lap feature each night. Saturday heat winners were Matt Streeter, Rip Williams, Kyle Hirst and Mark Mackay. The Semi was claimed by Blake Miller.
In the Midget Main, Garrett Hansen claimed the victory over Alex Schutte and Shannon McQueen. Robby Josette and Randi Pankratz both experienced flips in turn 1, but neither was injured and both returned to action on Sunday. The Saturday Sprint finale found Kevin Swindell well in command, scoring the victory over Matt Mitchell, Blake Miller, Bobby McMahan and David Cardey.
Sunday found the track not as heavy as last night, but still a tacky racing surface. This was verified in qualifying as Shannon McQueen set a new Midget track record and Blake Miller established the new Sprint standard.
Heat races were secured by Tony Jones, Garrett Hansen, Peter Murphy and Kyle Larson. Greg Bragg captured the “B” Main. In heat #3, the 50x car of Griffin had a problem with both Hawkins (3x) and Blake Miller (93) going over Griffin’s disabled car and flipping. Miller’s mount was damaged beyond repair, so he brought his backup car #16 for the Semi. The Midget Main saw Josh Ford race wire to wire for the victory, followed by Garrett Hansen and Evan Margeson.
Sunday’s Sprint feature appeared to be a repeat of last night’s show with Kevin Swindell assuming the lead after flips by front runners, Jesse Hockett and Kyle Larson. As the laps wound down, here came the famous “Lil” Red Sucker with Mike Spencer at the controls. Some finesse adjustments during a red had dialed in Spencer and he quickly advanced to the front eventually passing Swindell for the point. At the checkers, it was Mike Spencer, Kevin Swindell, Josh Ford ( to back up his Midget victory), Danny Sheridan and Shane Golubic.
For those who attended for the racing, they were treated to some outstanding competition. For those that came for the happening, they got the racing, plus wine tasting, hob-knobbing with the heroes, beautiful weather in a scenic setting and most resolved, “Let’s do this again next year”!
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