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Los Angeles, CA - April 22, 2005- The
March 26 ASA Speed Truck Challenge Series race at Irwindale Speedway
(L.A County) had one race team that came from Billings, MT.
Driver Jim Eichel told me his team towed 1,300 miles from
Montana in 23 hours to race at Irwindale…(56 mph average in case
you were wondering). He qualified outside the top 24 direct
transfers to the main event. He started last in the eight-truck,
10-lap qualifying race that advanced the first six finishers to the
back of the 75-lap feature. Jim was in seventh place trying for the
all-important sixth place when he spun his Chevy S-10 in the first
turn. He restarted but finished eighth, missing the feature after
surely earning the "long-tow" award.
Follow-up to Red Bull Formula One Driver Search:
The month-long search from April 1-May 1 to advance the three
fastest kart drivers at each karting center has completed three of
four weeks. Red Bull held a media day April 5 at Dromo One Karting
Center in Orange County. The two sons of USAC/CRA sprint car driver
Rip Williams (Cody, 16, and Austin, 14) and the 15-year old son of
former CRA sprint car driver Mark Atchison ran laps that day. The
top three drivers will advance to the West Coast Runoffs August 9-11
at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma. On April 5 the top three were 1. B.
Janca-26.276, 2. Austin Williams-26.791 and Taylor Atchison-26.913.
Cody Williams was just a bit over 27, challenging to bump his way
into the all-important top three. As of April 21 the top
three posted on a board in the Dromo One lobby were 1. B.
Janca-26.155, 2. Austin Williams-26.374, and 3. P. Koapoano-26.420.
The first of 23 scheduled AMA Speedway Motorcycle
races at the Industry Hills hilltop dirt track took place Wednesday
night, April 20 from 7:45 to 9:50 p.m. The track/arena has a roof,
open sides and seats 5,000 (according to reliable estimates about
1,000 attended the second season opener on a bit chilly sub-60
degree evening). Bruce Flanders (chief track announcer at the Long
Beach Grand Prix and Irwindale Speedway) handled the announcing
again at Industry Hills. Co-promoters Freddie Orozco and Duke
Ermolenko ran almost 40 four riders, four-lap races. Twelve class
one riders raced, plus class two and three riders, juniors and
pee-wee riders. An Industry Hills record six
motorcycle/sidecar racers competed as well. The class one feature
trophy and first place $410 went to No. 8 Brian Yarrow, from
Vacaville in Northern California. Charlie
Venegas, Justin Boyle and Tommy Hedden followed Yarrow. Round two at
Industry
Hills will take place Wednesday, May 4 with a 7:30 p.m starting
time.
MILESTONES: Congratulations to veteran drivers
Robby Flock and Rip Williams. Robby won his 50th USAC Midget victory
at Bakersfield Speedway April 16, the same night Rip won his 100th
sprint car feature victory at Perris. Speaking of veteran drivers,
Wally Pankratz, 59, is making his final regular season special with
a 18" X 24" color poster available to fans for $5.00 at
all his 2005 race appearances. Designed by Ventura promoter Jim
Naylor's JN Designs and printed by Custom Printing in Oxnard, the
poster features 11 photos of Wally and some of his famous open-wheel
rides during the past 30+ years. Cars include his own No. 8 Sta-Rite,
Trench Shoring, Hasa Midget, the Agajanian 98jr sprinter, Greg
Pieper No 71 rear-engine sprinter, No. 56 Gohr Distributing USAC
Silver Crown car, CRA No. 99 Don Urgo sprint car, Clyde Prickett No.
94 super-modified, George & Gary Zarounian No 67 VW Midget, the
Larry Brown No. 34 Midget, and the red No. 3 Midget. A non-color
photo shows Wally, in his racing uniform
and holding an ESPN2 microphone, interviewing USAC Midget winner
Billy Boat. Wally, who was working as the TV show Thursday
Night Thunder infield reporter at Bakersfield Speedway, also raced
in the event.
About the only colorful rides of Wally not on the
poster are the No. 1 Jim Sullivan VW Midget Ascot track championship
car from the 1980s and the flourescent orange No. 50 Aviators Chevy
USAC Silver Crown car. Wally almost (and should've) won the Las
Vegas half-mile dirt track 100-lap S/C race on October 18, 1997 in
that No. 50 ride. Wally started 16th in a 24-car field and became
the fourth race leader on lap 81 when he cleanly passed third
starter Tony Stewart, who was driving George Snider's No. 111. Wally
led the 81st lap and appeared ready to pull away to his first S/C
victory. Then Stewart, the laps 41-72 and 74-80 race leader, shot
under and into Wally's No. 50 in the fourth turn, damaging the No.
50 suspension and causing it to spin out. Stewart continued
and led laps 82-100 and then received a chorus of boos from
spectators after he stopped at the finish line for the victory
ceremonies. Tony won $8,500 and an angry Wally earned $825 as the
12th finisher. Only nine cars finished.
Correction: The March 19 rain-out at Irwindale
was the eighth, not the seventh, in IS history. There were two
rain-outs during 2004, on April 3 and 17. Actually, April 3
racing was postponed to Sunday afternoon April 4. So the April 2,
2005 rain-out was number eight in the seventh year of racing at the
San Gabriel Valley track. The Grand American Modified 35-lap feature
April 16 had to be the best 1-2-3 finish at Irwindale this season.
The top three cars were three-wide during lap 34. Third place Joe
Ruggles went from third to second on lap 34 and second to first on
the last lap in the final turn. Fans loved it.
April 16 was City of Irwindale Night at IS and
city staff had use of suite E for the night. Jesse James, a distant
relative of the 19th Century outlaw of the same name, drew the pole
position for the April 16 Figure 8 feature. The fun-loving James
twice bumped the back of the 2005 Ford Mustang pace car, driven by
IS's marketing rep/pit announcer Wendi Westbrook. The impacts
cracked the back bumper in two places. Was Jesse trying to amuse his
girl friend, actress Sandra Bullock, watching from Jesse's West
Coast Choppers suite B?
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