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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
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FIRST
VISIT TO VICTORVILLE by Norm Bogan |
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A friend has been urging me to attend an event at Route 66 Raceway located at the San Bernardino County Fair Grounds in Victorville, California. Well, as the season wound down, he once again prodded me about attending the annual Turkey Classic on Saturday and Sunday following Thanksgiving. I agreed to take in the Sunday show after completing previous racing commitments on the preceding three nights. This was my first visit to this venue and I was impressed with the stands, seating approximately 3000, clean restrooms and concessions, a good safety fence along the main straightaway and free parking for the fans. While the pit area is located west of turns 3 & 4 and beyond the back straightaway in basically open fields, the area is spacious and can accommodate a large number of racecars and haulers. The technical check area and scales are located centrally in the pit area and are easily accessible for racers at the end of the feature. This weekend with six classes of cars competing, there were nearly 150 cars staging to race. To help speed the shows, a long roadway leads right onto the main straightaway, where racecars for the next event can be staged and ready to pull on the track as soon as the previous event clears the track. Many venues are limited by curfews, so it is imperative that the show keeps moving. Today’s program consisted of Street Stocks, Dwarf Cars, Super Street, Mini Stocks, All Americans and IMCA Modifieds. Since this was a year-end show, competitors traveled from distant areas, as far as two hundred miles to race. Some of the racing was quite exciting, while a number of events ran long due to spins and collisions. The track implemented a lap and time length to complete each event, for example, thirty-five laps or forty-five minutes. An interesting sidelight was one of today’s racers, Larry Roeseler who gained fame as a premier off-road motorcycle racer for many years. More recently, Roeseler has been piloting one of the high-powered off-road trucks. As a local resident and area businessman, who owns a KTM motorcycle distributorship in Hesperia, Larry made arrangements to try his hand at the wheel of one of the Super Street racers. With this being his first foray into oval track racing, Roeseler qualified well enough to start sixth in the feature. After advancing to fourth, he got knocked off the racing surface, but still salvaged a top ten finish. Judging by his enthusiasm after the race, I believe Larry may be back to try again. Another familiar face was operating the grader and doing the track preparation. Bob Hogle is a member of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and is remembered as the pilot of the famed Morales “Tamale Wagon” sprinter. Today’s task was to groom the track surface for the marathon of races to be contended during the day’s activities. With Bob trimming the ruts and smoothing the racing surface, his long time friend, Bud Newton took the water truck out for an occasional spritzing to keep the dust to a minimum, without creating a slick condition. I can’t identify who won what race, but can tell you that it was truly grassroots racing. While I have been privileged to cover racing at the highest levels (Winston Cup, CART and IRL), this is where my heart is. Give me a small town dirt track and racing for fun, without all the political ramifications. Joining the fans in the stands, many who are sporting shirts or jackets trumpeting their particular hero. For racing to survive at the prominent venues, it is necessary to continue these hometown-racing programs, where all the current stars began their careers. The track staff was very accommodating and allowed me to view from different areas, providing information on the various classes and an opportunity to just cruise the pits and hobnob with the racers. There are plans to expand the racing next year to include non-wing 360 sprint cars. The announcer is also somewhat unique, as it is a lady DJ from a local radio station. She puts a different twist on calling the races and seemed accepted by the fans. Located just off Interstate 15 about midway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, this facility is easily accessible from many directions. If the track staff is able to put together their projected improvements to the motor sports agenda, this could be a don’t-miss stop, while traveling down the racing highway. |
