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SCENE by Tim Kennedy |
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Los Angeles, CA. - Catch-up Notes: My USAC Midgets Irwindale
Twin-25s account of the showmanship angle by promoter Steve Lewis'
PRE organization omitted some items. Youngsters from the
PVQMRA quarter-midget group raced quarter midgets from 8:00-3:00 in
Irwindale's east parking lot April 26. Lewis' son raced a
quarter midget that was white with a red numeral nine, just like
dad's USAC National Championship Midget. Winners received nice
trophies from PRE later that evening on the front straight during an intermission between the Twin 25 Midget races. Two current Mopar-sponsored Midgets (show cars for Twin 25s event sponsor Mopar) were parked, sans steering wheels, in front of the track administration building between the third and fourth turns. The No. 11 Tracy Hines and No. 71 Jay Drake Midgets gave fans an up-close look at current Midgets as they walked to the ticket windows. There were 15 vintage cage-less Midgets parked on the pedestrian walkway to the main entrance. Most fans entering the track to see modern era Midgets paused to inspect the vintage cars from pre and post-WW II. Included among the vintage restored cars was a No. 1 white and blue Dean Van Lines Offy, a No. 34 URA Midget raced by the late Johnny Moorhouse, and the No. 45 Gerhardt Midget raced by Bill Vukovich to the 1950 AAA National Championship. The 6:00-6:30 autograph session for fans before the April 26 Irwindale Twin 25s Midget event included a special presentation to Arizona driver J. J. Yeley. American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association (AARWBA) members Mike Hollander (Racing Information Systems) and Tony Solorzano (Los Angeles Times) presented J. J his "First Team All-American Short Track Driver of 2002" plaque in front of fans collecting autographs. Yeley missed the Saturday, January 11 AARWBA annual banquet in Pomona. He was racing a Midget that evening at the prestigious annual Chili Bowl race in Tulsa, OK. Proving that the AARWBA award was indeed merited, J. J entered the April 26 Midget Twin 25s as the USAC National and Western States Midget point leader. Additionally, he was coming off a green to checkered flag victory in the Friday, April 18 Midget 100-lap feature of the Fred Gerhardt Classic at the Madera (CA) Speedway. NASCAR Winston Cup star Kurt Busch raced the blue No. 2 Beast/Ford Focus Midget at Irwindale Speedway April 26, the night before he won the W/Cup 500-mile race at California Speedway in nearby Fontana. Kurt and I chatted briefly in the IS pits about 3:15 p.m and he was thrilled to get a chance to race the open-wheel car. Kurt had raced a Busch-family Legends Car on Irwindale's third-mile track during 1999 along with his younger brother Kyle. Kurt also raced that season on Irwindale's half mile and won one of the three NASCAR Southwest Series 150-lap features during that inaugural IS season. He soon joined the Jack Roush Ford team and his rise has been meteoric. Other prominent racing drivers have driven (not raced) that blue No. 2 Beast/FF Keith Iaia-owned "house car" at Irwindale within the last two years. Team Bobby Rahal Formula Atlantic female racer Danica Patrick, 21, drove the blue No. 2 FF Midget on Irwindale's third-mile during a Ford test day. She was impressive during her brief stint behind the wheel. I would like to see her race it in the USAC California FF Series later this year. Last year, before the CART race in Fontana, CART drivers Michel Jourdain and Patrick Carpentier drove it on the IS third-mile. They followed racing instructor/Midget veteran Wally Pankratz, who drove the white No. 1 Beast/FF "house car", and showed them the racing line. Yeley qualified 12th fastest and raced the No. 1 "house car" in the IS April 26 FF 25-lap race and he finished 15th in a 22-car field. Busch qualified ninth fastest of 23 FF qualifiers. He started and finished ninth despite a spinout while he was in seventh place on lap 16. Kurt said he tapped the sixth place car (chrome horn?) and his arm-restraints got tangled in the steering wheel, causing his spin. He restarted at the back (19th) and passed ten cars in the final nine laps. He loved the open-wheel racing experience. Who knows, maybe it made Kurt more competitive racing his Winston Cup stock car the next day. I enjoyed reading Floyd Busby's recent BCRA Midgets column concerning the most BCRA main event victories by drivers and car owners. Some of the names really brought back memories from my days growing up in San Francisco and attending BCRA races in the 1950s-60s. Floyd's new 12-page BCRA monthly newsletter is a winner. The use of color is most welcome. Floyd said the BCRA/WMRA June 14 race at Shasta Speedway in Anderson, CA has a $9,000+ purse, with $1,500 going to the main event winner. Steve Beitler, a former sprint car driver turned racing promoter, will have an auction at 1:00 p.m Saturday, June 24 during the 32nd Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup at Skagit (WA) Speedway. Proceeds will benefit the Knoxville. IA-based National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Museum non-profit foundation. I was saddened to hear about the tragic deaths of Paul and Helen Bagley April 26 at Perris Auto Speedway after the sprint car of Jack DeArmond, Jr flipped into the infield and struck them. The Bagleys lost son Jeff during 1989 when his sprint car crashed at Ascot Park. Some families seem to suffer too much pain and tragedy. I extend my condolences to their surviving family members and to the SCRA fraternity. I also wish a speedy recovery to recuperating driver DeArmond. He lost his father Jack, Sr, a retired CRA sprint car driver, to a heart attack in the grandstand at Perris last year during a SCRA sprint car race. |
