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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| TWIN
CITIES ADVENTURE by Norm Bogan |
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Friday night at Marysville, California was the first stop on a two-day weekend
jaunt to northern California. It has been seven years since I last visited this venue and
some upgrades in the facility were evident.
First off, the new aluminum grandstand with back rests, were a welcome
comfort from the previously small splintery wooden bleachers.
The racing surface appeared to be wider and banked more than it was on my
former visit. The track has
billboards and banners for various emporiums that support the local racers.
Twin Cities Speedway was hosting the West Coast Dwarf Car Nationals on Friday and Saturday, with a companion class of the Sprint 100 cars. About eighty Dwarf Cars were in the pits from various clubs throughout the west. In addition to clubs from northern California, southern California and the Bay area, representatives came from Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Arizona, plus other states as far away as Minnesota. While the Dwarfs are patterned after the 30s style racecars, which ran as
Jalopies, many use either the coach or coupe bodies.
There were also a couple of sedan delivery and pickup truck bodies among
the competitors as well as a 1940 Ford sedan, similar to the old Hardtop racers.
These downsized racers operate on power from motorcycle engines around
1200 c.c. The Sprint 100 cars were new for me and I found them to be an interesting
class. While utilizing a standard sprint car frame and bolt on parts, there are
a few cylinders missing in the engine. Power
plants are Honda, Nissan and Toyota and instead of being 410 or 360 cubic inches
as witnessed throughout the country, these cars use 100 cubic inch four cylinder
engines. The Dwarfs worked through a maze of qualifying heats and then five main
events leading to the “A” Main, which capped off the evening with Angel
Figueroa from southern California, claiming the preliminary night victory. How do you feel when the promoter lines up on the front row for a race?
Well, he earned it, so it was okay.
Clyde Tipton raced the Sprint 100 cars last year and has been very busy
making improvements to the racing complex this year, missing most of the race
season in his sprinter. Tonight, he
was out for one more fling after negotiating the track all week, in the water
truck. Tipton jumped into the lead
at the green flag and looked to be on his way to victory with Larry Nelson and
Kerry McColloch dicing for second. Once
McColloch gained sole possession of second, he soon closed the gap to Tipton and
with five laps to go, then made a pass to the point.
A late race yellow allowed Tipton to make one last attempt to overtake
McColloch, but Kerry held his ground and claimed the spoils. During the feature, racing was very competitive and there were challenges
throughout the pack of thirteen cars. If
you didn’t know the engine size or the lap times, you could have been watching
360 or 410 sprints. The racing was
good and exciting for the fans. Race Director, Bob Burbach reported that as this season comes to a close,
plans are underway to lengthen the speedway and add new clay.
This should make it even more racy for the various classes, which compete
there during the year. Promoters Clyde and Linda Tipton do a good job keeping racing going on the
grass roots level along with their friendly staff of workers serving the needs
of the racers and fans. During the
evening, there were several giveaways for the fans, such as tickets to the next
show and free T-shirts. Compliments
go to the promoters and staff for an enjoyable new experience.
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