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Los Angeles, CA. - The second NMRA-TQ
Midget demonstration race of 2006 took place as scheduled on
Saturday, January 21at Qualcomm Stadium, home of the NFL San Diego
Chargers and the annual NCAA college football Holiday Bowl. The TQs
raced on a dirt oval track laid out between the 30-yard line and end
zone. The main attraction-Monster Trucks-lured an impressive crowd
of 62,000. NMRA had 14 TQ (3/4) Midgets present, down one car from
the Saturday, January 14 demonstration race before a sell-out of
45,050 spectators at Anaheim's Angel Stadium for the featured
Monster Trucks. TQs missing in San Diego were Gary Howard's No. 12
and Michael Bliffen's No. 3. Added was Joe Bishop's No. 22 TQ.
NMRA ran a pair of eight-lap heat races with
seven cars in each race. Winners were Richard Ortega, Jr (No. 8) and
Steve Lambert (No. 55). The planned 10 or 15-lap main event for all
14 cars did not happen. The Monster Trucks and then TQ Midgets
ripped through the plastic sheeting under the dirt and wheels were
getting to the stadium grass. Management nixed the TQ main event and
only ran the Monster Trucks feature events.
West Evans, of NMRA, said he is working on
additional TQ stadium races for 2006 and a regular TQ stadium series
for 2007. The events will have to be run in conjunction with Monster
Truck events. Evans said with AMA Supercross motorcycle stadium
races there is not enough room in a stadium to layout an oval track
for TQ Midget racing. The NMRA TQ Midget point season will begin
Saturday, April 15 at the quarter-mile paved Orange Show Speedway in
San Bernardino, an hour east of Los Angeles. Evans recently bought
two brand new John Godfrey-built Spike TQ chassis and will have them
in action this year. He drives the No. 36 and his cousin Chuck West
drives the No. 38 TQ. Evans plans to sell one of his three Stealth
cars from 2005 and keep one Stealth as a back-up chassis for his
team that uses Suzuki and Kawasaki engines.
California rainfall during March and April made
it seem like we are living in Seattle. Irwindale Speedway lost the
March 11opener because of rain and completed only two of five
scheduled series mains on March 18 because of rain. The IS March 25
entire racing card beat rain by about five minutes. The April 1
events, including the first of four USAC Ford Focus events this year
at IS, were canceled because of water seepage up through the half
and third-mile tracks after rain Friday and Saturday morning.
Saturated infield grass and a high water table have been corrected
by sunny April days and pumping out the water buildup
according to IS management.
Car counts at Irwindale this season have been
strong….March 18--12 pure stocks, eight Grand Am Modifieds, 36
late models, 27 super late models and 16 Figure 8s= 99 cars; March
25-26 mini stocks, 36 Legends, 24 super stocks, 32 super trucks and
30 super late models=148; April 1-13 pure stocks, 17 USAC FF
Midgets, 22 pro trucks, 35 late models and 10 demo derby cars=95;
April 8--23 mini stocks, 21 super stocks, 38 super trucks, 29 super
late models and 16 Figure 8s=127 total racing vehicles in a crowded
pit area.
Midget Matter: My USAC Turkey Night Midget Grand
Prix at Irwindale notes column omitted my canine report. Yes,
friendly Cleo, the five-year old yellow lab retriever, was back in
the IS pits from her home in Bakersfield. She has been riding each
year in the back of her owner's Jeep push vehicle secured by a
leash. Cleo enjoys pushing off midgets/sprint cars all day and night
and happily wags her tail and enjoys all the attention. Prior to the
annual Tulsa, OK Chili Bowl in January No. 47 midget owner Andy
Bondio, from Southern California, stirred up interest with his
latest innovation for the car raced by J. J.
Yeley. He had Cory Kruseman, his other No. 47 driver, test the No.
47 midget at Ventura Raceway during December without a standard left
front tire. The car used a metal runner, like a Christmas sleigh.
Andy was playing a joke on other race teams wasn't he? We'll never
know, because Tulsa officials banned the "sleigh-wheel"
and it never saw action. In the past, Andy used an innovative small
LF tire on the No. 47 that Cory raced in Tulsa. What will Andy think
of next?
The 2006 Paul Oxman Publishing Sprint Car Racing
Calendar is a winner again. The 11" X 17" all color
calendar usually goes on sale in August at the Knoxville Nationals,
but it was delayed a month in 2005 to deliver a better product. The
calendar contains photos from a group of noted sprint car racing
photographers. It depicts sprint car racing at 19 tracks throughout
the USA and some Australian action as well. Each month has date
boxes that are perfect for putting race dates or appointments. The
calendar cost is $16.95 US ($24.99 Canada) and may be ordered by
calling 1-800-228-0787, or by mail from P.O. Box 94618, Las Vegas,
NV 89193.
A USAC/CRA sprint car hauler has the following
quote on the back door of the trailer for all to see as it travels
down the highway to races. "Life is not a journey to the grave
with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved
body, but rather to skid broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn
out, and loudly proclaiming, WOW, what a ride!" The trailer
houses the No. 69y sprint car that driver Randy Waitman, from
Ramona, CA, flipped wildly March 4 as he led nine other sprint cars
into the first turn on the second
lap of heat three at Perris Auto Speedway. Randy flipped about four
or five times in violent barrel-rolls on the track, up the
embankment and back onto the track. Speed Channel showed Randy's
flip on the Speed News telecast March 5. The March 4 tumble
duplicated one of his prior crashes at The PAS, leading to concern
for his well-being. Randy had a bloody nose, temporary blurred
vision, and a sore wrist. An ambulance took him to a hospital in
Riverside. A wrist problem was his lingering injury. It seems Randy
practices what he preaches on the back of his sprint car trailer.
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