11/15/2009 9:51:29 PM
Kanke Crowned Champion - Callahan is Rookie-of-the-Year - Combs Victorious
Bakersfield, CA – As the checkered flag fell on the final race of the 2009 Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series, M.K. Kanke and his RPM Motor Sports team were right where they were after the season’s opening race at Roseville’s All-American Speedway, the winner’s circle. Kanke’s season opening win at Roseville, backed up by his win at The Bullring on May 3rd put him in the point lead. That lead he never relinquished as he went on to win his first career touring series championship and was presented the Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series Championship Cup at the conclusion of Saturday night’s “GoLiveStream.TV 154” at The Bullring.
“This is a great series and I couldn’t be prouder than to win this championship for Dan and Kathy (Nikolai) and the whole team…they gave me a great car all year and made my job easy.” Kanke commented during the championship presentation. “This series has great competitors and it’s a real challenge to compete against these teams, but our guys provided me with a great car for every race all year.” Kanke concluded.
On the year, Kanke scored an average of 49.5 points per race out of a possible maximum of 55, of the nine races counted toward his championship title, Kanke averaged a 2.4 finish position.
After years of go-kart competition and three years of driving NASCAR Late Models at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, twenty-one year old Kevin Callahan of Bakersfield won the 2009 Victory Circle Chassis SRL Rookie-of-the-Year title. Back-to-back second place finishes at Madera and Irwindale on July 4th and 18th propelled Callahan into the Rookie-of-the-Year lead to stay for the remainder of the 2009 season.
“Bob Corsaro gave us the opportunity to drive his car this year…I have to give Bob, my family, our sponsors and the guys a big thanks for everything this year.” stated Callahan. “We built a great team of guys around Bob’s equipment and Mark Reynolds as crew chief…we performed much better than we expected in our rookie season…I also want to thank Victory Circle for their support of the SRL Rookie-of-the-Year award.”
Josh Combs, the 2008 SRL Rookie-of-the-Year won his first career SRL main event in a controversial finish when contact on lap 145 between his #7 Ford and then leader David Mayhew resulted in Mayhew spinning and Combs driving to victory in the “GoLiveStream.TV 154”.
After setting a new track record in qualifying, Combs drew an eight car invert during the pre-race on-track autograph session to put Ellensburg, WA driver Travis Bennett on the pole for the start of the “GoLiveStream.TV 154”.
At the drop of the green, Bennett and outside front row starter Troy Ermish battled for the lead until Bennett solidly took the lead on lap 3. Bennett set the fastest lap of the race on lap 5 (14.946 seconds), he continued to lead at lap 25, followed by Ermish, Jonathon Gomez, last year’s race winner “Bear” Rzesnowiecky, Craig Raudman, Brennan Newberry and Brandon Riehl of Boring, OR.
On lap 45, Bennett’s engine expired in his Bowman’s Electro Painting/Northwest Auto Sales Chevrolet handing the lead to Ermish, now followed by Gomez, Raudman, Rzesnowiecky, Newberry, Combs and Kanke.
As the competition yellow was displayed on lap 77 for a refueling stop, the top 10 where as follows; Ermish, Raudman, Gomez, Rzesnowiecky, Combs, Kanke, Mayhew, Newberry, Kevin Callahan and Jim Pettit II.
The top 10 changed dramatically on lap 82 when contact between Mayhew and Kanke resulted in Kanke spinning into the path of Greg Voigt and Newberry, ending the night for all three drivers.
On lap 90, Raudman dropped off the pace with engine trouble, handing second place back to Gomez, who was making his first career SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series start. Raudman retired from the race two laps later.
Ermish lead the race until lap 118 when Gomez took over, one lap later Mayhew moved into second followed by Ermish, Combs and Jacob Gomes.
On lap 122, the sixteen year old Gomes moved passed Ermish, who was suffering from brake trouble, for fourth position.
After a lap 141 restart, Mayhew put his nose under Gomez to wrestle the position away from the Twin Falls, Idaho driver to take the lead on lap 143, on lap 144 Combs moved into second, the caution came out shortly thereafter.
On the lap 145 restart, Combs put his nose below Mayhew in the center of turns 1 and 2, resulting in contact causing Mayhew to spin.
On the lap 146 restart, it was Combs, Gomez, Gomes, Pettit and Byrd as the laps wound down to the finish.
At the checkers, it was Combs for his first career Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series win, Gomez second, Gomes third, Mayhew crossing the line fourth, but was later disqualified for his actions on the cool down laps when he ran into race winner Combs. Pettit was officially in fourth, followed by Byrd, Jason Gilbert, Mike Mendenhall, Ermish, Justin Westmoreland and Rzesnowiecky rounding out the top ten.
Combs was joined in the winner’s circle by 2009 series champion Kanke and Victory Circle Rookie-of-the-Year, Kevin Callahan. “This was a great way to close the year…I didn’t mean to get into him, we’ll have to see what happened on the tape…Joiner Motorsports, they’re awesome and thanks to my family.” Combs stated during the winner’s presentation.
The 2009 Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series Championship Awards Banquet will be held Saturday afternoon, November 21st at the famous Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace in Bakersfield.
###
Race Stats: Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series “GoLiveStream.TV 154” October 31, 2009 at The Bullring at LVMS
Race Leaders: Travis Bennett 1-45, Troy Ermish 46-117, Jonathon Gomez 118-142, David Mayhew 143-144, Josh Combs 145-154
Lead Changes: 5
Winning Margin: 1.509 seconds
Fastest Lap of Race: Travis Bennett 14.946 seconds on lap 5
Time of Race: 1 hour 17 minutes 44 seconds
Fast Qualifier: Josh Combs 14.651 seconds (Track Record)
Five Star Race Bodies Hard Charger Award: Dave Byrd
Ron’s Rear Ends Hard Luck Award: Eddie Secord
Top Victory Circle Rookie-of-the-Year Contender: Kevin Callahan
About the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series:
Celebrating its ninth season in 2009, the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series is a regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S. The series utilizes cars based on the former NASCAR Elite Division Series rulebook. www.SRLSouthwestTour.com
About SPEARS MANUFACTURING: Celebrating its 40th anniversary, Spears Manufacturing is a world leader in plastic pipe fittings and valves. SPEARS maintains over one million square feet of manufacturing facilities in four states and nine distribution centers across the USA for worldwide distribution. For more information go to www.SPEARSMFG.com.
Kevin Harvick Returns to Bakersfield Speedway to Support Youth Racing Series Program
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (Sept. 16, 2009) – NASCAR star Kevin Harvick will return to Bakersfield to continue his support of a racing program for local high school students as well as help kick-off the 24th annual Budweiser Nationals at Bakersfield Speedway.
“We’ve been supporting the Kern County Youth Racing Series for a few years now, and we want to give these kids the opportunity to race, so we’re coming to the Speedway to help make that happen,” said Harvick.
The program was designed for high school students to experience all aspects of the sport of auto racing at the new half-mile paved raceway planned in west Bakersfield, but a delay in its opening has spurred Harvick to keep the program going by having an event at Bakersfield Speedway on Wednesday, October 7th.
“We believe that giving the kids in our community the opportunity to be part of our sport has many positives, so we want to do all we can to keep this program alive,” the 2007 Daytona 500 champion added.
The teams of high school students that make up the Kern County Youth Racing Series have already built their race cars and are ready for the their first race event. Not only will Harvick be at Bakersfield Speedway to be part of the event, he will spend time with the teams during their afternoon practice session and will actually race with the students during the event on October 7th.
“I'm excited to give the high school series kids a chance to race the cars they have worked on,” stated Bakersfield Speedway’s Scott Schweitzer. “It's a great opportunity to have Kevin Harvick back again.”
A special Hobby Stock race will be held at the Speedway, on the same night as the Kern County Youth Racing Series event paying $1,500 to the winner. There will be a media/celebrity race on tap as well that night. Adult tickets are $5.00, $3.00 for students with high school IDs, 5 and under free.
Front gates open at 5pm with opening ceremonies at 6pm. For more information, please contact the Bakersfield Speedway at (661) 393-3373 or visit their website at http://www.bakersfieldspeedway.com/.
###
QUOTE FROM NHRA DRIVER RON CAPPS (second in points going into the NHRA Countdown to 1 playoffs driving the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Funny Car), who drove the No. 28 NAPA car at the Prelude to the Dream and finished 13th:
“It’s always nice to get to talk to some of the drivers that I don’t get to see much. To sit down with guys like Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman to basically say ‘Hey’ and talk about how we watch each other on TV is great. They’re always telling me how they watch drag racing and how much they enjoy it. It’s always a great chance for us in a calm atmosphere to sit down and chat about what’s going on in our lives and in our racing. But then, of course, the helmets go on and everything changes. This is only what I do once a year. Apparently, I need to either invest in a car or practice quite a bit more because a lot of these guys are buying their own cars and practicing quite a bit before this event.
“You are so reminded of how incredible this race track is and how fast it is and how passionate Tony Stewart is about owning the best dirt track in the country. And when you get out there with these best drivers in the world, and run the incredible speed that these cars do at this track, you’re also reminded of how good they are. It’s very demanding and very fast. I drive an 8000-horsepower Funny Car at over 330 mph and I remind them that that is exciting, but when you go into turn 3 at Eldora and you have Tony Stewart on one side and Kyle Busch on the other and Jimmie Johnson right on your tail, that’s exciting. And to help raise money for such a good cause is outstanding.”
Stewart Wins Fifth Annual Gillette Young Guns
Prelude to the Dream at Eldora Speedway
Selected Quotes from Participating Drivers
ROSSBURG, Ohio (Sept. 9, 2009) – Tony Stewart won the fifth annual Gillette Young Guns Prelude to the Dream all-star dirt late model race Wednesday night at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, marking the third time in four years Stewart has won the event.
Stewart passed Kenny Wallace on lap 13 of the 30-lap event and led the final 18 laps en route to victory.
“This was probably the best I’ve run in the Prelude,” said Stewart, who bought Eldora in 2004. “We won last year, I think we led the whole thing, but this was one I had to work for. We weren’t exactly perfect, and we weren’t perfect because I hit the wall on the first two starts right off the bat.”
Clint Bowyer finished 3.358 seconds behind Stewart in the runner-up spot, while Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top-five. Drag Racing standout Cruz Pedregon, David Reutimann, Aric Almirola, Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson comprised the top-10.
There were four caution periods during the event, although the laps conducted under caution did not count.
The race, which drew more than 23,000 fans, was broadcast live on HBO Pay-Per-View with proceeds from the nationwide telecast supporting four military-themed charities – Wounded Warrior Project, Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, Operation Homefront and Fisher House. Each has a mission that outlines assistance to the courageous men and women who serve their country and need additional support both during and after their time of service.
“The Wounded Warriors Project, Fisher House, Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund and Operation Homefront, that’s who this money’s going to tonight,” Stewart said. “Thank you to the fans – you guys helped us do this and you’re the reason we were able to do this tonight. I just really appreciate the support that our fans give us here. We also can’t thank the drivers enough. With the rainout in June, it really means a lot that they were able to rearrange their schedules and come out and help us do this tonight.
“We’re proud to do this. Thanks to Gillette and HBO, we’ve been able to do more than we ever thought here at the Prelude. The fans keep making it bigger and better every year. As long as the fans keep coming and I can keep getting drivers to come out, we’re going to keep doing this every year.”
All race information from the fifth annual Gillette Young Guns Prelude to the Dream, from starting lineups to qualifying and finishing results, can be found at www.TrueSpeedMedia.com <http://www.truespeedmedia.com/> by simply clicking on the event logo.
Photos from the 2009 Gillette Young Guns Prelude to the Dream are now available to the media online through Getty Images. Media will not be charged an editorial usage fee for images from the event. To view and download materials, please register at www.image.net <http://www.image.net/> and select “SPORTS” in the “Subjects You Cover” section.”
Tony Stewart, Winner:
Talk about your win.
“We had a lot of fun tonight. This makes up for the spring rainout for sure. What a great race with Kenny Wallace, Clint Bowyer, Rowdy (Kyle) Busch, Ryan Newman and Kasey (Kahne,) we had an awesome run there. We got lucky to get by them on the top and then to get by Kenny (Wallace) was great.”
“This was probably the best I’ve run in the Prelude. We won last year, I think we led the whole thing, but this was one I had to work for. We weren’t exactly perfect, and we weren’t perfect because I hit the wall on the first two starts right off the bat. I’m sure there is a lot of bent up stuff on this Rocket Chassis car, so I’m just really proud of Mark and Josh Richards and all of these fans here and that watched tonight. This is something that took a lot of time and effort, not on my part, but with everyone involved with this event here at Eldora Speedway. They have just done an awesome job of helping us to raise thousands of dollars for these charities.
You keep winning your own races. What’s up with that?
“If Gillette will put a bounty up to put me on the tail of the field to start next year, I’ll start on the tail of the field.”
You started sixth. How did you get to the front?
“It was like everyone moved in the direction I needed them to move in order to get to the front. I couldn’t really run on the bottom, but they seemed to all open up on the top and that let me get the spots.”
There were four very deserving charities that will get a nice donation from tonight’s Prelude.
“The Wounded Warriors Project, the Fisher House, the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund and Operation Homefront, that’s who this money’s going to tonight. Thank you to the fans – you guys helped us do this and you’re the reason we were able to do this tonight. I just really appreciate the support that our fans give us here. We also can’t thank the drivers enough. With the rainout in June, it really means a lot that they were able to rearrange their schedules and come out and help us do this tonight.
“We’re proud to do this. Thanks to Gillette and HBO, we’ve been able to do more than we ever thought here at the Prelude. The fans keep making it bigger and better every year. As long as the fans keep coming and I can keep getting drivers to come out, we’re going to keep doing this every year.”
Clint Bowyer, Second-Place:
Tell us about your night.
“He (Stewart) works his butt off for this event. Man, it's only right that he does win it. You put in that much work into something and he wants to win, too. He's a competitor and he runs good. He's one of the best racers in the world, and he showed it again tonight. (On the incident with Kenny Wallace:) I didn't mean it. Kenny spun his tires on his restart and kind of came across my nose. I tried to miss it, but he was already spinning. That's the thing about these cars. You break traction and you can't get it back. You can't back-pedal enough. I had momentum in that deal. But it was fun. The cushion, that's dirt racing, you never know what you're going to have. Some nights it's on top, some nights it's on the bottom, some nights you've got both. It was certainly on the top tonight and kind of one line. But, hey, we got it in."
Kyle Busch, Third-Place:
Tell us about your night.
“It’s tough to beat the track owner at his own track. Nah, I’m just joking. It was great. I really want to thank Gillette Young Guns and Gillette, M&M’s – everybody on this car here. Scott Bloomquist was a great help for me. It was really cool to come out here, have some fun. Get a good run here. Last year, I struggled here a little bit. That was pretty cool. Wish it was a little more racing than the one groove that we had.”
Is this something you would like to do more than once a year?
“I’ve done it twice this year, and I’ve finished second and third, so my record seems to be okay. My average finish is definitely a lot better than my Cup effort.”
Anything you can take from here into this weekend momentum wise?
“No, not at all. We’ll just get down to Richmond and hopefully give it a good run and see what we can do.”
Ryan Newman, Fourth-Place:
What did you see out there tonight?
“Well, I thought it was pretty good racing. Tony (Stewart) did a great job obviously. I wanna thank all the fans for coming out. It’s just a blast to do this and obviously for a great reason with the injured and wounded warriors and fallen heroes as the charities. It was cool when it was kids and now it is really cool because we couldn’t do what we’re doing without the people that fought for our freedom a long time ago. To give back like this is awesome. It’s the best way for us drivers to give back, and obviously for the fans to come out the way that they did and buying it on TV – it was really special.”
This is something that is obviously really close to your heart because of your U.S. Army sponsorship. Did you get a chance to talk to the soldiers or wounded warriors that were here tonight?
“I talked to a good few of them – even the National Guard guys who don’t always associate themselves with the Army guys came around and talked and took pictures. It’s just special. I’ve got to thank Tony (Stewart) and all the people for putting this on – obviously Gillette, Old Spice, Bass Pro Shops, everybody that helps out with this function. It’s a blast to drive the racecars, but to see the soldiers here and what we are doing this for, it was really special. They call them soldiers, but they are really heroes.”
At any point tonight did you think you could be your boss?
“When he was behind me. I knew that he was going to be the guy to beat. I said that before. If you are going to beat somebody, you might as well beat Tony here because that will give you a good shot at the win. Obviously, it would have been nice tonight, but to start fourth and finish fourth and do some passing, it was the most competitive I have felt in a dirt late model. I had a blast.”
Anything you can take from tonight and carry-over into the weekend at Richmond?
“Excitement, adrenaline, fun. I mean, it’s what it is all about. When you have a good night like this, it definitely helps. I really look forward to this weekend.”
Matt Kenseth, Fifth-Place:
How was the track tonight?
“The track was good, I guess. I don’t run much dirt. We didn’t wreck it too bad so that’s good. The one run right before the caution I was running fast and it seemed like I was catching the leaders there. But after the caution, I just couldn’t get going again. The track was in really good shape, but it was slick.”
How does the track change every time you come here?
“I never now what to expect here. I didn’t think we’d qualify that fast, so I was surprised. The speeds were slow, and the track got slower and slower as the night went on. I was surprised by that. How it is now (at the end) is what I expected it to be.”
Cruz Pedregon, Sixth-Place:
Tell us about your night.
“I had a good car, but fatigue started to set in. I knew where I wanted to run on the track. Parnelli Jones once told me, 'You've got to go where they're not.' My plan was to do what I did: slide guys and I wanted to make sure I cleared them. You know, for a drag racer – I've probably raced 12 Late Model races in my career that started about three years ago thanks to Tony and his whole group here – this is the most fun type of car I've ever driven. These cars are incredible, but they're very difficult to drive. Had it not been the eight or 10 (Late Model) races I ran this year, I probably wouldn't have passed anyone tonight. But that experienced helped me out a lot. In previous years, I did just some hot laps at different tracks before this event. But this year I went out and bought my own car. I bought a rocket car. And I decided that this is such a neat event and it's such an honor for a guy like me to come in a different venue, that I thought there are not many opportunities where you can race in front of a crowd like this, race with all these guys, so I invested in a car and went out to different tracks around the Indianapolis area and thought if I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it right. So that's about as good as it gets. I think I was a slight bit over my head, there. But I kept picking guys off, so I thought, let's keep it going. It's a great feeling. My goal was to finish in the top-10 tonight and I got sixth. So, I'm so excited and happy to have done this event. I hope the fans enjoyed it."
Kasey Kahne, Ninth-Place:
Tell us about your night.
“We had a great car throughout most of the night. It was a lot of fun to drive, and a lot of fun to race with these guys. We just missed it in the main event.”
Talk a little bit about why you guys take the time to come out do the Prelude.
“We get to race late models and come out and raise money for a great cause. It’s enjoyable. Everybody gets to do it. It makes a lot of sense to come out here and have fun for the night with no pressures. It’s time to just go out, enjoy yourself and race hard.”
With the Chase weighing on everyone’s minds does this give you any momentum going into Richmond?
“This is just kind of a nice part of the week. Saturday night will all start on Friday with practice and getting the car where it needs to be. Then Saturday we just need to have a clean night. Tonight’s just a great part of the week, and a fun part of the week looking ahead to Richmond.”
Jimmie Johnson, 10th-Place:
Tell us about your night.
“To win a heat race and beat Tony (Stewart) is awesome. Starting that deep in the field (10th), it's really tough to pass guys. So I just kind of rode around and had fun. You'd think if you win a heat they'd give you a chance to start up front. (Laugh.) No, I understand, it's all good inverted short-track racing stuff. I had a blast tonight. It was a lot of fun. I never experienced movement like this before, so there's a lot of new things I went through tonight and learned. All in all, really good."
Kenny Wallace, 17th-Place
(top-three for most of the night before incident on final restart with Bowyer):
Tell us about your night.
“You know, it's disappointing because I take this as a real race. We led, Tony was just really fast, he got by us. And then Clint (Bowyer) got into my left rear and flattened it out, so it was a real bummer. It's disappointing. On to Richmond."
Joey Logano, 20th-Place:
Tell us about your night.
“It didn’t go so well. I’m fine. It was a good car again, driving to the front, running alright. And then they wrecked in front of me and I had nowhere to go on that. The track is fun, but you just can’t see three cars in front of you when you’re in the back like that. By the time you go into a corner and see it (a crash) and the track is so slick, and you just slide, and you slide and you just slide right into the wreck. It’s a bummer.”
-TSC-
About P&G Grooming
P&G Grooming helps men look, feel and be their best everyday. P&G’s recent purchase of The Art of Shaving® and the super premium men’s skin care line Zirh® strengthen its position as the world's premier male grooming company. The acquisition of these premium male grooming and skincare brands expand P&G’s presence in the prestige grooming category which compliments its strong portfolio of mainstream male grooming brands, including Gillette®, Braun® , Old Spice® and a collection of leading male Fine Fragrances.
About P&G Beauty & Grooming
P&G Beauty & Grooming products help make beauty dreams real for women worldwide and help men look, feel and be their best everyday. With more than 100 brands available in nearly 130 countries, P&G’s beauty and grooming products delivered sales of nearly $28 billion in fiscal year 2007/08 , making it one of the world’s largest beauty and grooming companies. P&G Beauty & Grooming offers trusted brands with leading technology to meet the full complement of beauty and grooming needs, including Gillette®, Braun ®, Old Spice®, The Art of Shaving®, Zirh®, Pantene®, Olay®, Head & Shoulders®, Max Factor®, Cover Girl®, DDF®, Frederic Fekkai®, Wellaflex®, Rejoice®, Sebastian Professional®, Herbal Essences®, Koleston®, Clairol Professional®, Nice ’n Easy®, Venus®, SK-II®, Wella Professionals®, and a leading Prestige Fragrance division that spans from point of market entry consumers to high end luxury with global brands such as Hugo Boss®, Lacoste®, and Christina Aguilera®. Please visit http://www.pg.com/ for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G (NYSE: PG) and its brands.
For More Information, Contact:
Joe Crowley
True Speed Communication
317.569.9514 or Joe.Crowley@TrueSpeedCommunication.com
Patrick Byrne
HBO Pay-Per-View
212.512.1361 or Patrick.Byrne@hbo.com
Mike Norton
Gillette
617.421.8201 or Norton.mr@pg.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 8, 2009
Mendenhall is ‘the Man’ at Madera SRL
Bakersfield, CA – Mike Mendenhall had mixed emotions about making the long trip to Madera Speedway Saturday, but it turned out to be a career night for the popular SRL veteran. Mendenhall held off M.K. Kanke for 98 laps to take the winner’s prize of $4,000 for his second career Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series win at the “Performance Electrical 130”.
“As we left this morning, I just had this feeling that maybe I should just turn the truck around and head back home,” stated Mendenhall. “My brother (and crew chief) Rob was not able to come with us this weekend and I just didn’t have a good feeling about making the trip.”
Mendenhall’s day got much better after qualifying fourth. “We hadn’t put on new tires until qualifying…I was so surprised when the crew told me we ran a .65, that I asked over the radio a 15.65?, and they said no a 14.65.” Fast qualifier Kanke (14.628 sec.) drew an eight for the invert which put Mendenhall inside row three for the start of the 130 lap event.
2007 SRL champion Dave Byrd led the field to the green, but it was outside front row starter Greg Voigt who would lead the first lap. Voigt, coming off his first career SRL win at Stockton 99 Speedway, looked like he may be headed for his second win in less than four weeks until Irwindale winner, Troy Ermish made contact with Voigt coming off turn four on lap 32. The contact sent Voigt’s Auto Pro Racing Engines Impala spinning in front of the entire field. When the smoke cleared, Voigt’s car was in good shape, but he and Ermish would now restart at the rear of the field.
Mendenhall was now at the point followed by SRL point leader Kanke, Brennan Newberry, Madera Speedway Late Model point leader Kyle Gottula, Byrd, Kevin Callahan, Joe Farre’, Jim Pettit II and Bryan Herzog from Clovis, CA rounding out the top ten. At the drop of the green, Mendenhall and Kanke distanced themselves from Newberry, who had a cushion back to Gottula. Callahan had moved past Byrd for fifth. The top five of Mendenhall, Kanke, Newberry, Gottula and Callahan remained unchanged until lap 80. In contrast the balance of the field was changing each lap.
At lap 80, Todd Bammer had the Moeller Brothers Chevrolet on the move as he made his way into the top five, followed closely by Voigt, who like Bammer had to come from the rear of the field. Kanke continued to fill Mendenhall’s mirror, as Mendenhall countered Kanke’s every challenge.
On lap 105, Voigt passed Bammer for fourth, and was pressuring Newberry who had the NTS Motorsports/Excel Equipment Chevrolet solidly in third since lap 36. On lap 126 Newberry slid up into the gray in turn 2, allowing Voigt and Pettit to move into third and fourth respectively. With three to go, Kanke turned up the pressure on Mendenhall. Mendenhall seeing his first win since 2006 in sight, his car sliding sideways each time he excited the turns, but at the end it was the Santee, CA driver winning the “Performance Electrical 130” for a well earned and popular win.
“He did just what he needed to do to win tonight,” stated Kanke. “The bottom was tough to get the grip you needed to make a pass, but Mike did a great job and deserved the win.”
“I can’t believe it. This win is so big for us, we beat the best guys in the business tonight.” Mendenhall added.
The final order was Mendenhall, Kanke, Voigt, who came back from the lap 32 spin, Pettit, a career best for Newberry in fifth, Combs, Ermish, Bammer, Byrd, and Callahan rounding out the top ten.
Next race for the Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series will be at Stockton 99 Speedway on October 3rd for the “Strandwold Properties 125.”
Race Stats: SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series “Performance Electrical Co. 130” – September 5, 2009 Madera Speedway
Race Leaders: Greg Voigt 1-32, Troy Ermish 33-35, Mike Mendenhall 36-130
Lead Changes: 3
Winning Margin: .331seconds
Fastest Lap of Race: Mike Mendenhall 14.882 seconds on lap 17
Time of Race: 51minutes 4 seconds
Fast Qualifier: M.K. Kanke 14.628 seconds
Five Star Race Bodies Hard Charger Award: Jim Pettit II
Ron’s Rear Ends Hard Luck Award: Keith Spangler
Top Victory Circle Rookie-of-the-Year Contender: Kevin Callahan
August 25, 2009
Callahan and Corsaro Motorsports
Lead Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series Rookie-of-the-Year Chase
Bakersfield, CA – As the Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series moves past the mid-point of the season, Kevin Callahan has positioned himself with a big lead in the Victory Circle Chassis Rookie-of-the-Year standings. Callahan holds the Rookie-of-the-Year points lead over Scott Sanchez, 218 to 100. Callahan also sits fourth in the Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series championship standings, just three points behind defending series champion Jim Pettit II who is currently third in the 2009 championship.
“We’ve had a really good year so far…we finished second at both Madera and Irwindale and had a good run going at Stockton until we experienced brake failure, so we’ve been really happy with our performance the last three races.” stated Callahan, the driver of the Guimarra Vineyards, Grape King, Bedrosians Tile, Delfino Homes, Dobitz Construction, Bertolucci Construction Ford. Callahan is a former go-kart racer from Bakersfield who moved up to Late Models where he ran two races at his hometown track of Mesa Marin Raceway before its closing. He then traveled to Toyota Speedway at Irwindale for three Late Model seasons before graduating to the Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series.
“Bob Corsaro has given us this awesome opportunity to drive his SRL car and I can’t thank him enough,” Callahan said of his team owner Bob Corsaro. “We’ve built a great team of guys around Bob’s equipment and our results have been much better than we expected in our rookie year.”
Bob Corsaro has been a team owner in many racing series over the past twenty years, starting in 1989 when he partnered with Antonio Ferrari as the team owners in the CART Indy Car Series with driver Scott Atchison. Corsaro went on to field teams in the IMSA GTP Series with drivers Wayne Taylor and Atchison. He later moved to NASCAR competition where he fielded teams in NASCAR Southwest Tour Series and NASCAR Super Late Models. Today, Corsaro fields teams for Callahan in the Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series and a part-time schedule for Travis Bennett in the NASCAR Camping World Series West.
Callahan and the Corsaro Motorsports Team will be in action at Madera Speedway on Saturday, September 5th for the Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series “Performance Electrical 130”.
About the SRL SPEARS Southwest Tour Series:
Celebrating its ninth season in 2009, the SRL Southwest Tour Series is a regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S. The series utilizes cars based on the former NASCAR Elite Division Series rulebook. http://www.srlsouthwesttour.com/
About SPEARS MANUFACTURING: Celebrating its 40th anniversary, Spears Manufacturing is a world leader in plastic pipe fittings and valves. SPEARS maintains over one million square feet of manufacturing facilities in four states and nine distribution centers across the USA for worldwide distribution. For more information go to http://www.spearsmfg.com/.
Media Contact: Jeff Thielscher 661-428-0911 jeffthielscher@golivestream.tv
POUNDS GRABS 2nd PLACE !!
Bakersfield, CA “ The Dominator” Brad Pounds ran his MMI, Little Darlings Child
Care, GoLiveStream.TV, Scott Pounds Racing Dirt Late Model GRT Chassis to a
2ndplace finish in the Western Allstars Dirt Super Late Model Race at Bakersfield
Speedway this last Saturday Night. Pounds started 5th on the grid and dueled is way up
through the field in the 30 lap main event. Running door to door with former series
champion Mike Johnson and coming out on top with Johnson spinning himself out
Pounds passed Kirby for second place late in the race and made a run at Bobby Hogge
and came up short finishing 2nd . When asked about the race Pounds said, “ I was on it
from the drop of the green flag, it was an intense race. “ Pounds raced at Santa Maria
Speedway last week in his new IMCA Modified. Brad Pounds drove his Scott
Pounds Racing SRP IMCA to a 2nd place finish there too.
Brad Pounds started his racing career at Bakersfield Speedway at the age of 14 in the
Hobby Stock Division. He won his first race in the division by his fourth race. He has 116
wins and two championships in his career at age 24.
Scott Pounds Racing is owned by Scott Pounds the 1994 IMCA National Champion.
Scott Pounds has won 14 championships in his career with his last IMCA main event win
this year at Bakersfield Speedway. They build and maintain cars for Scott Pounds Racing
and other teams.
You can watch the entire race and incar footage from Brad Pounds on RealFast.TV on
www.golivestream.tv . GoLiveStream broadcasts races each week on RealFast.TV.
July 20, 2009
Ermish Wins Wild Finish at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale
BAKERSFIELD, CA – Troy Ermish, the “Iron Man” of the SRL Spears Southwest Tour Series, with a series leading 78 career starts, came into Toyota Speedway hoping to improve on his 2009 season. Prior to Saturday’s “Spears Manufacturing 100”, Ermish had one top 10 in four starts. Saturday night Ermish turned his season around in a big way by setting a new track record in qualifying (18.045 sec) and then taking home the $4,000 prize for his second career SRL win, after a wild final five laps of the 100 lap event. It was the sixth fast time in a row for Bob Strandwold Racing and the second win of the year for BSR.
At the drop of the green flag by honorary starter, Renee Spears, Keith Spangler in the DM Motorsports/Ron’s Rear Ends Chevrolet bolted into the lead past Mike Mendenhall into turn 1. Spangler held the point until a hard charging Derek Thorn powered past Spangler while setting the fastest lap of the race (18.592 sec) on lap 6. Thorn, competing in his first career SRL event, had moved into the lead from his ninth starting position. M.K. Kanke, quickly moved into second, driving his back up car which had no laps on the track prior to qualifying. By lap 10, Thorn and Kanke, the SRL point’s leader began to distance themselves from the field.
As the field pursued the two leaders, drivers used every inch of the Toyota Speedway half-mile with two, three and sometimes four-wide racing. Jim Pettit II, who started eleventh after the twelve car invert, did not want the leaders to get away and moved up to Kanke’s bumper on lap 17. Thorn was showing the way to the two veterans, as he led until lap 26 when the engine let go of his Daniel Smith owned Jim’s Towing #22.
For the next 63 laps, Pettit tried repeatedly to make the inside pass on Kanke for the lead, but each attempt resulted in the Top of the Hill/Golden Gate Petroleum Ford sliding back up behind the RPM-PSI Chevrolet of Kanke. Greg Voigt had moved past Jason Gilbert for third and was then able to make the slide job stick to move past Pettit for second with 10 laps to go. The top five were, Kanke, Voigt, Pettit, Gilbert and Ermish.
In what looked like the top three drivers in the SRL championship standings were going to finish in that same order, things changed very quickly. First, on lap 96, Pettit who was running third blew an engine and hit the turn three wall, collecting Gilbert who was fourth. Next, Voigt, who was running second, pitted to change a flat tire while under yellow. As the field came to the green for the restart, Ermish was now in second behind race leader Kanke. Then, as the green flag waved, Kanke suffered transmission problems as he accelerated toward what looked like his fourth SRL win of the year. As Kanke slowed, Ermish charged into turn 1 with the lead with four laps remaining.
With Kanke off the pace, the race was now wide open with the top six drivers all battling for their first win of 2009. It was two and three wide racing over the final four laps, with Ermish leading, Kevin Callahan battling Spangler for second, while Gilbert put his nose inside of Callahan, and Voigt charging up to the battle after restarting seventh. At the checkered it was Ermish, Callahan, Voigt, Gilbert, Mendenhall and a spinning Spangler, who crossed the line backwards for sixth. David Mantooth, Kanke, Jerry Allec, Jr. and Josh Combs, who finished with a flat tire, rounded out the top ten.
The SRL Spears Southwest Tour Series next stop will be at Stockton 99 Speedway on Saturday, August 8th for the “Don Conti Memorial 99 presented by Performance Electrical Co. Inc.”
Race Stats: SRL Spears Southwest Tour Series “Spears Manufacturing 100” – July 18, 2009 at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale
Race Leaders: Keith Spangler 1-6, Derek Thorn 7-26, M.K. Kanke 27-96, Troy Ermish 97-100
Lead Changes: 4
Winning Margin: 1.424 seconds
Fastest Lap of Race: Derek Thorn 18.592 seconds on lap 6
Time of Race: 54 minutes 51 seconds
Fast Qualifier: Troy Ermish 18.095 seconds (Track Record)
Five Star Race Bodies Hard Charger Award: Troy Ermish
Ron’s Rear Ends Hard Luck Award: Rex Lockwood
Top Victory Circle Rookie-of-the-Year contender: Kevin Callahan
2009 Championship Standings – Top 20: Kanke 244, Voigt 215, Callahan 188, Byrd 185, Pettit 185, Ermish 171, Combs 156, Farre’ 150, Raudman 147, Bammer 142, Mantooth 140, Newberry 137, Westmoreland 134, Mendenhall 109, Spangler 102, LaMoure 97, Vidovich 87, Sanchez 84, Gilbert 76, Wood 74 (Note: Best 9 of 10 finishes will be tallied for championship)
About SPEARS MANUFACTURING: Celebrating its 40th anniversary, Spears Manufacturing is a world leader in plastic pipe fittings and valves. SPEARS’ maintains over one million square feet of manufacturing facilities in four states and nine distribution centers across the USA for worldwide distribution. For more information, please go to http://www.spearsmfg.com/.
About the SRL SPEARS Southwest Tour Series:
Celebrating its ninth season in 2009, the SRL Southwest Tour Series is a regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S. The series utilizes cars based on the former NASCAR Elite Division Series rulebook. http://www.srlsouthwesttour.com/
SPEARS MANUFACTURING SIGNS ON AS SRL TITLE SPONSOR
Bakersfield, CA – It was announced Friday evening that one of the biggest names in west coast stock car racing has signed on as the title sponsor of the SRL Southwest Tour Series, newly named the SRL Spears Southwest Tour Series. At a dinner of more than 200 SRL Southwest Tour Series team members, officials and sponsors held at Madera Speedway, Larry Collins announced that Spears Manufacturing, a world leader in plastic piping products, will be the series title sponsor for the remainder of 2009. Wayne Spears and his wife Connie have owned competitive race teams for more than 25 years, including teams that competed on the NASCAR Southwest Tour Series, the Camping World Truck Series and championship teams in the NASCAR Camping World West Series.
“Wayne wanted to keep the Spears name involved with motorsports and we are proud to have his company associated with the SRL.” stated Marion Collins. “Wayne and Connie have done as much or more for racing on the west coast than anyone, they enjoy being part of our sport”
Wayne Spears was inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame on the same night as the announcement was made of the new association between his company and the SRL Southwest Tour Series. “Spears Manufacturing is such a big name in racing, and it is very gratifying to have them associated with the SRL,” stated SRL founder Steve Fensler. “Our team of people at the SRL work so hard to make this series the best it can be, and it’s nice to have someone like Wayne Spears want to be part of what we are doing.”
Spears Manufacturing will also be the title sponsor of the upcoming 100 lap SRL event at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on July 18th.
For more information on the SRL, go to www.SRLSouthwestTour.com <http://www.srlsouthwesttour.com/> .
###
About SPEARS MANUFACTURING: Celebrating its 40th anniversary, Spears Manufacturing is a world leader in plastic pipe fittings and valves. SPEARS maintains over one million square feet of manufacturing facilities in four states and nine distribution centers across the USA for worldwide distribution. For more information go to www.SPEARSMFG.com <http://www.spearsmfg.com/> .
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
GoLiveStream.TV Network Merger Complete
Bakersfield, CA RealFast.TV and GoLiveStream have merged their operations after over a year of transition. The new company is called “The GoLiveStream.TV Network“. WWW.GoLiveStream.TV provides live streaming for Internet TV Stations.
During this merger we have been developing a new web site with multiple stations using the Microsoft Silverlight Player. We have also implemented a new server to keep up with viewer demand. Viewers can look forward to a new look for our site in the near future.
The first operating Internet TV Station, Realfast.TV, has been broadcasting on a regular schedule since September 26, 2006. RealFast.TV targets dirt racing, stock car racing, NHRA, Mazda Speed, motocross, El Mirrage, Bakersfield Speedway, Victorville Auto Raceway, extreme motorsports, and women in motorsports. We broadcast live and tape-delayed races and shows from all over the West Coast.
The GoliveStream.TV Network is one of the presenting sponsors of the SRL Southwest Tour Series: www.srlsouthwesttour.com ( formerly called the NASCAR Southwest Tour Series). We have made a 3 year commitment to the SRL Series and will web cast all the races in 2009. The first 3 races of the SRL Season can be viewed on www.golivestream.tv in the archives.
The GoLiveStream.TV Network wants to announce its 2009 driver development program, which includes these drivers:
1. Hurricane Heidi Tresler - 410 Sprints - Victorville Auto Raceway
2. Hotrod Amanda Fritsch - Sport Mod - Victorville Auto Raceway
3. Mirranda Dotson- Mini Stock- Hobby Stock - Bakersfield Speedway
4. Tina Wheeler - Mini Stock - Bakersfield Speedway
5. Terry Nichols- 360 Sprints -
6. Brandon Toy - Legends - Toyota Speedway
7. Scooter Black- Mini Stock- Victorville Auto Raceway
Our primary driver Hurricane Heidi Tresler is presently attending the Lynn St. James Academy for female racers and we have provided a scholarship to pay for it. This will be an annual award given by The GoLiveStream.TV Network to a female racer that is accepted to the academy.
Surf the Internet to the GoLiveStream.TV Network where every day is race day.
CAPPS WINS TOPEKA!
TOPEKA, Kan. (May 31, 2009) - Ron Capps raced the Adaptive One Brakes Dodge Funny Car to his fourth win of the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series in five final rounds today at the NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka.
En route to his 29th career victory in 59 final rounds (28 in FC, one in TF), No. 7 qualifier Capps defeated 14-time Funny Car champion John Force and his two Don Schumacher Racing teammates (Matt Hagan and Jack Beckman) to face popular Ashley Force Hood in the final round.
Every team on the property had struggled to get down the track under steamy conditions Friday and Saturday, but Capps and crew chief Ed “Ace” McCulloch conquered Sunday's heat with consistent passes of 4.280/284.09 against Matt Hagan, 4.298/275.51 to defeat John Force, 4.289/286.68 to dismiss Jack Beckman, and finally a 4.265/286.07 to beat Force Hood's 4.495/238.26. "We 4.20'd them to death today," said Capps.
"It really came around probably from second round on after we beat John Force in the right lane," added Capps, who extended his points lead to 119 over Del Worsham. "Everybody was saying there was no way you're going to get down that track. And (crew chief) Ed McCulloch just kept plugging away.
"We dropped cylinders all weekend long and finally in the semis it only ran a 4.28, but that was the first full run. It was a smooth run for me as a driver and I thought it would have run better, but when I came back and told Ace how smooth it was he said, ‘Well, I'm going to get after it in the final.’
"We figured they (Force Hood and crew chief Dean Antonelli) were going to step up like they were capable of doing. They were No. 1 qualifier and we figured they were going to run a mid-4.20 and I was going to have to do my job on the starting line. And for Ace to pull out a 4.26 in the final round on a 125-degree track was incredible.
"What a great feeling. The best part is that running the Adaptive One Brakes body was a one-race deal for Bristol for NAPA AUTO PARTS and we were kind of disappointed when we went out in the second round there because we really wanted to give that body a win.
"Halfway through the week, NAPA decided to run the body again. So we, pulled it out of the trailer and put it back on and what a fitting way to put it up in the rafters. Just a great, great deal of pride running that body. This was a huge race win for everyone at NAPA, Adaptive One and DSR.
"It's great not to worry about points and not to look at the Countdown at all. I want to emphasize how hard Ace has worked. Obviously, he's trying to tune the car, but he's worked hard on making the car react better for me as a driver. It's something a lot of crew chiefs wouldn't do, and it's really given me a lot of confidence. It's great right now."
"Today was a day that you had to focus on not smoking the tires," said McCulloch, who won this race as a driver in 1992. "If you don't smoke the tires you give yourself a chance to win. But I think everybody raced that kind of race today because everybody, for the most part, went down the race track, even though the numbers weren't stellar.
"It's like everything that you do; it's a team win. Ron can be on his game and kick ass every run, but if the car isn't there it's no good. It was a good day. It was the first day in a long summer and we're going to see a lot of races like this and a lot of tracks like this, and you just have to race smart."
Next up is the NHRA Route 66 Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill., June 5-7.
UNOFFICIAL FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS, after nine events:
1. Ron Capps, 729 (winner today)
2. Del Worsham, 610
3. Ashley Force Hood, 603 (runner-up today)
4. Tony Pedregon, 584
5. Jack Beckman, 553
6. Tim Wilkerson, 498
7. Matt Hagan, 480
8. Bob Tasca III, 460
9. John Force, 453
10. Cruz Pedregon, 420
11. Mike Neff, 404
12. Robert Hight, 378
***
Vidovich Captures Win as SRL Southwest Tour Returns to Madera Speedway
Madera Speedway returned to action on Saturday, May 23rd with round #1 of the annual Holiday Classic Series presented by Performance Electrical. The six-division program included the SRL Southwest Tour along with the NASCAR Whelen All American Racing Series Western Late Models, American Limited Stock Cars, Modified Super Toyotas and the WSRA Mini-Cup & Baby Grands.
A six-car invert put Fremont’s Troy Ermish and Sacramento’s Josh Combs on the front row for the start of the 110-lap SRL Southwest Tour feature. On the opening lap Ermish quickly charged to the lead ahead of Lakeside’s Auggie Vidovich, Combs and Cottonwood’s Craig Raudman, the night’s fast qualifier.
The lead pack soon shuffled when Combs spun on lap three and Ermish suddenly pulled into the pits on lap seven with an engine problem allowing Vidovich to inherit the lead. Vidovich, the former 2003 NASCAR Southwest Tour champion who was making his first start in the SRL after taking over Bob Strandwold’s #1 Chevrolet only a week earlier, would never relinquish the top spot for the rest of the race.
Raudman remained on Vidovich’s tail until Frazier Park’s MK Kanke slipped under him for the second spot on lap 46. A short time later Raudman’s car would grind to a halt in a shower of flames and sparks when something broke underneath his car causing him to retire for the night.
Kanke tried every trick in the book to get past the determined Vidovich only to be rebuffed on every occasion. In the latter stages of the race Vidovich was flawless as he threaded his way through traffic without giving Kanke any opening to make a pass.
“This is a technical track and we had a technical setup and it took a lot of patience on the throttle tonight,” said Vidovich. “It is exciting to win in the first time out for Bob Strandwold Racing and in my first race in this series since 2006.”
Kanke was disappointed after failing to make it to victory lane for the first time in three starts this season, but nevertheless he was pleased with his performance.
“We had a great race car. It was really fast, but we just never found the room to pass,” commented Kanke. “It been a great season so far and I think we had the best car tonight so it has been good.”
Prunedale’s Jim Pettit II, the 2008 defending series champion and former Madera track champion who was back in action following a very scary incident at Las Vegas three weeks ago in which he suffered smoke inhalation after his car caught fire, rounded out the podium. Although he was never able to contend for the lead Pettit had a strong run after starting the race in the seventh position.
“We got a little to close to the back wall and I think I knocked the tow out. The two guys in front of us were definitely better than us today. We had a third place car and that is what we got,” said Pettit. “It is always an honor to be here. I have spent a lot of Saturday nights here.”
The SRL Southwest Tour will return to headline the remaining two rounds of the 2009 Holiday Classic Series on July 4 and September 5.
Starting along side of Stockton’s Ross Strmiska in the front row, Trevor Schlundt, of Clovis, outdueled the third generation driver to take the early lead in the 40-lap Western Late Model feature. Schlundt looked all but unbeatable until a yellow caution flag popped out for debris on lap 20 and changed his fortunes.
Making the most of his second chance, Strmiska got the jump on Schlundt when the race was restarted. A few laps later 2006 track champion Rick Thompson, of Clovis, was also able to slide under Schlundt to take second place from him and that is how they stayed to the finish.
“He kind of got away from me at the beginning and so I was just biding my time hoping for a caution and when we got it I was able to take advantage of it,” explained Strmiska of his second win of the season. “We pretty much ruined this car in a wreck a couple of weeks ago so I feels great to come back with a win.”
The first half of the 30-lap American Limited Stock Car feature turned into a real barnburner as Modesto’s Garland Tyler jumped into the lead. Right behind me a pack of cars - including Fresno’s Larry Pasquale, Coulterville’s Matt Erickson, Atwater’s Jason Aguirre and Modesto’s Dennis Saunders – who were all trying to chase him down like a pride of lions after a wounded wildebeest.
On lap seven Erickson was able to take the lead while the others continued to jockey for position behind me. Following a lap 15 caution Erickson began to pull away from the rest of the field as Saunders and Aguirre slugged it out for second. The pair went side-by-side throughout the last third of the race until Aguirre was able to use some lapped traffic on the last lap to gain the upper hand and take second.
“I had to work for it early, but it was pretty easy after that” said Erickson, who also set fast time but finished second to Saunders in the trophy dash. “The car is still not quite right from opening day. We have a bad vibration on the top end so hopefully we can go even faster once we get that fixed.”
After winning the opening two Modified Super Toyota mains of the season, Chowchilla’s John Bowersox has seen Stockton’s John McCollum Jr. suddenly emerge to be his prime competition as the Stockton driver captured the checkers in the last two events, the first wins of his seven year racing career.
In Saturday’s 25-lap feature McCollum quickly charged to the lead by overtaking Fresno’s Donnie Large on the second lap while Bowersox slowly worked his way through the field from his third row starting position. On lap nine, Bowersox finally cleared Large for second and tried to close the 10-car length gap on the leader when a yellow flag gave him his opportunity on lap 16.
When the race resumed a determined McCollum would not budge as he continued to hold the inside line and as Bowersox continued to try the outside Sanger’s Chris Lewis was able to slip under him for second. The three drivers remained bumper to bumper to bumper over the closing laps as McCollum held them off his determined challengers for his third consecutive win of the season.
“Both of those guys are really tough and I knew I had to hit all my marks to hold them off,” said a smiling McCollum. “I am really loving being in this winner’s circle and I hope I can continue to be here all season.”
Patrick Hill, age 12 of Brentwood, continued his season long domination of the WSRA Mini Cup division by posting his third straight victory at Madera. Hill started the 25-lap main from the pole and was never seriously challenged in the race. Following Hill across the finish line were brothers Cameron and Kyle Wininger of Fremont.
“It was a tough race early on. I would like to congratulate Kyle and Cameron for finishing in the top three in only their third race out here,” said the gracious winner.
Lincoln’s Danny Allen was the Mini Cup fast qualifier and dash winner, but he was ordered to the infield for the night early in the race after he was deemed to be at fault in an incident that saw Eric Hamilton, of Hanford, spin into the wall on the back straight.
Like Hill, Dillon Hutchison of Citrus Heights, was also gunning for his third straight win at Madera in the WSRA Baby Grands, but his task was much more difficult after he found himself ninth in the 13 car field at the start of the 30-lap race.
Manteca’s Michael Sandoval held the lead on the opening lap and that was the place to be as there were numerous incidents behind him which brought out several yellow cautions and one red flag in the first half of the race. The problems played right into Hutchison’s hands as he avoided trouble and steadily moved through the field while other drivers spun and crashed their way to the back.
Following another restart on lap 14, Hutchison dove under Sandoval for the lead, which he held over Sandoval for the remaining distance. Sacramento’s Robbie Roy finished in third.
“I was towards the back, but I stayed patient and I started to pick them off lap by lap and I got the lead and kept it,” said Hutchison.
Madera Speedway will be back in action next Saturday, May 30th with Hoosier Tire Night featuring the NASCAR Whelen All American Racing Series 360 Super Modifieds, Western Late Models, Grand American Modifieds, American Limited Stock Cars, Hornets and Toyota Sedans.
The Madera Speedway is conveniently located at the Madera County Fairgrounds just off to the west side of Highway 99 at the Cleveland Avenue exit. For more Madera Speedway information visit the track’s website at www.racemadera.com or call the Info/Race Line phone number at (559) 673-RACE.
Three Former Southwest Tour Champions Entered in SRL Event at Madera
Bakersfield, CA – The SRL Southwest Tour Series will make its first of three 2009 appearances at Madera Speedway this Saturday night, featuring the “Performance Electrical 110”. A season high 25 cars is expected, including three former NASCAR Southwest Tour Series champions, Jim Pettit II, Craig Raudman and making his SRL debut, Auggie Vidovich the 2003 NASCAR Southwest Tour champ. When asked about the SRL, the upcoming race at Madera and their Southwest Tour championships, here is what Pettit, Raudman and Vidovich had to say.
“When I look at when we ran “the Tour” (NASCAR Southwest Tour) and now running the SRL, I think the SRL is so much more driver friendly, we have a great tire that allows us to have so much fun racing,” stated Pettit, who not only has two NASCAR touring titles in 2004 and 2005, but is the defending SRL Southwest Tour Series champion. “There are so many things that make the SRL fun to be part of. One thing is that in the SRL they don’t allow guys to move someone to take a position, you spin someone, you’ll pay the price…as a driver I like that. In the SRL we have the same quality of drivers as “the Tour” did and I see more guys like Auggie and Eddie McKean coming back and racing in the SRL.” Regarding his season so far and the upcoming race at Madera, “We haven’t had a lot of luck so far, but I have had some good runs at Madera over the years (two wins in the NASCAR Southwest Tour and two SRL wins)…I think Madera suits my driving style and my dirt track experience seems to help.”
Raudman, the 2001 NASCAR Southwest Tour champion, drives for Bob Strandwold Racing (BSR) along with teammates Troy Ermish and Vidovich. “(Former teammate) Dave (Byrd) and I are good friends off the track, but on the track you really don’t have any friends, and I am not really here to make any. Troy and I are just getting to know one another; we had a good time in Vegas. Auggie and I have had our share of run-ins in the past, but we’ve got to know one another better over the last few years,” commented Raudman regarding his teammates at BSR. When asked what components are important to winning the SRL championship. “You need a good team behind you, be well prepared and consistent…you need to know your competition, know their driving styles, understand their strengths and weaknesses.” stated Raudman. “I have four fast times at Madera, but have yet to win there.”
Vidovich, who makes his SRL Southwest Tour Series debut on Saturday, ran three full seasons on the NASCAR Southwest Tour, before moving to the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2006 driving for Biagi Bros. Racing. Currently, Vidovich does race set up for the Roush Fenway Racing #60 team of Carl Edwards, when Edwards is not available to practice the Nationwide Series car. This weekend Vidovich will be behind the wheel of the #1 BSR Chevrolet. “We tested last week at Madera and it went really well. We didn’t have my seat in the car, so it was pretty much just a shake down, but I was really pleased and look forward to Saturday and the rest of the year.” On his outlook for the remainder of 2009 in the SRL, “It is easier to race when you are not chasing the points, so I want to win races…I’m the same guy as when I first ran “the Tour”, I want to race and I want to win.”
The SRL will be part of an open practice from 3pm to 8pm on Friday, at Madera Speedway. Racing on Saturday, begins at 5:30pm with the SRL Southwest Tour Series headlining the evening with the “Performance Electrical 110”.
Entering Saturday’s event, M.K. Kanke leads the 2009 SRL championship standings with 106 points, followed by Dave Byrd at 91, Raudman 87, Todd Bammer 78, Troy Ermish 75, Greg Voigt 74, Joe Farre’ 70, Kevin Callahan 68, Jim Pettit II 63, with Keith Spangler rounding out the top ten in points with 62.
For more information go to http://www.srlsouthwesttour.com/ or http://www.racemadera.com/.
###
Former Southwest Tour Champions Entered in SRL Event at Madera
Bakersfield, CA – The SRL Southwest Tour Series will make its first of three 2009 appearances at Madera Speedway this Saturday night, featuring the “Performance Electrical 110”. A season high 25 cars is expected, including three former NASCAR Southwest Tour Series champions, Jim Pettit II, Craig Raudman and making his SRL debut, Auggie Vidovich the 2003 NASCAR Southwest Tour champ. When asked about the SRL, the upcoming race at Madera and their Southwest Tour championships, here is what Pettit, Raudman and Vidovich had to say.
“When I look at when we ran “the Tour” (NASCAR Southwest Tour) and now running the SRL, I think the SRL is so much more driver friendly, we have a great tire that allows us to have so much fun racing,” stated Pettit, who not only has two NASCAR touring titles in 2004 and 2005, but is the defending SRL Southwest Tour Series champion. “There are so many things that make the SRL fun to be part of. One thing is that in the SRL they don’t allow guys to move someone to take a position, you spin someone, you’ll pay the price…as a driver I like that. In the SRL we have the same quality of drivers as “the Tour” did and I see more guys like Auggie and Eddie McKean coming back and racing in the SRL.” Regarding his season so far and the upcoming race at Madera, “We haven’t had a lot of luck so far, but I have had some good runs at Madera over the years (two wins in the NASCAR Southwest Tour and two SRL wins)…I think Madera suits my driving style and my dirt track experience seems to help.”
Raudman, the 2001 NASCAR Southwest Tour champion, drives for Bob Strandwold Racing (BSR) along with teammates Troy Ermish and Vidovich. “(Former teammate) Dave (Byrd) and I are good friends off the track, but on the track you really don’t have any friends, and I am not really here to make any. Troy and I are just getting to know one another; we had a good time in Vegas. Auggie and I have had our share of run-ins in the past, but we’ve got to know one another better over the last few years,” commented Raudman regarding his teammates at BSR. When asked what components are important to winning the SRL championship. “You need a good team behind you, be well prepared and consistent…you need to know your competition, know their driving styles, understand their strengths and weaknesses.” stated Raudman. “I have four fast times at Madera, but have yet to win there.”
Vidovich, who makes his SRL Southwest Tour Series debut on Saturday, ran three full seasons on the NASCAR Southwest Tour, before moving to the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2006 driving for Biagi Bros. Racing. Currently, Vidovich does race set up for the Roush Fenway Racing #60 team of Carl Edwards, when Edwards is not available to practice the Nationwide Series car. This weekend Vidovich will be behind the wheel of the #1 BSR Chevrolet. “We tested last week at Madera and it went really well. We didn’t have my seat in the car, so it was pretty much just a shake down, but I was really pleased and look forward to Saturday and the rest of the year.” On his outlook for the remainder of 2009 in the SRL, “It is easier to race when you are not chasing the points, so I want to win races…I’m the same guy as when I first ran “the Tour”, I want to race and I want to win.”
The SRL will be part of an open practice from 3pm to 8pm on Friday, at Madera Speedway. Racing on Saturday, begins at 5:30pm with the SRL Southwest Tour Series headlining the evening with the “Performance Electrical 110”.
Entering Saturday’s event, M.K. Kanke leads the 2009 SRL championship standings with 106 points, followed by Dave Byrd at 91, Raudman 87, Todd Bammer 78, Troy Ermish 75, Greg Voigt 74, Joe Farre’ 70, Kevin Callahan 68, Jim Pettit II 63, with Keith Spangler rounding out the top ten in points with 62.
###
COMING UP at MADERA SPEEDWAY
Saturday, May 23rd
_________________________________________________
The “Performance Electrical 110” at Madera Speedway is the third event of the 2009 SRL Southwest Tour Series championship season. The event will mark the first time the SRL has competed at Madera Speedway since 2007. The “Performance Electrical 110” will pay the largest winner’s pay-out in SRL Southwest Tour Series history at Madera Speedway of $4,000.
Saturday’s race is the first of three 2009 appearances by the SRL Southwest Tour Series at Madera Speedway. This Saturday’s event will also feature the NASCAR Western Late Models, ALSC, MST, Mini-Cup and
Baby Grands. The SRL will be part of an open practice from 3pm to 8pm on Friday, May 22nd. Racing on Saturday, begins at 5:30pm with the SRL Southwest Tour Series headlining the evening with the “Performance Electrical 110”.
Entering Saturday’s event, Southwest Tour veteran M.K. Kanke of Frazier Park, CA leads the 2009 SRL Southwest Tour Series championship standings with 106 points after winning the first two SRL events of 2009 (Roseville & Las Vegas). 2007 SRL champ Dave Byrd is second with 91 points, followed by the 2001 NASCAR Southwest Tour Series champion Craig Raudman. Todd Bammer of Pleasanton, CA is fourth in the championship standings with 78, followed by Troy Ermish at 75, Greg Voigt 74, Joe Farre’ 70, Victory Circle Rookie-of-the-Year leader Kevin Callahan is eighth with 68, followed closely by defending SRL Southwest Tour Series champ Jim Pettit II with 63, with Keith Spangler rounding out the top ten in points with 62.
NOTES OF INTEREST:
- 2003 NASCAR Southwest Tour Series Champion Auggie Vidovich, of Lakeside, CA will be making his SRL debut in this Saturday’s “Performance Electrical 110” at Madera Speedway. Vidovich will drive for the 2007 SRL Championship Car Owner, Bob Strandwold.
- A season high of 24 SRL teams is expected for Saturday’s 110 lap race.
The Race: The Performance Electrical 110
The Place: Madera Speedway - Madera, California
The Date: Saturday, May 23rd
Track Layout: .333-mile paved
2007 SRL Event Winner: Dave Byrd
2007 SRL Pole Winner: Joey Zampa 14.589 seconds 82.171 avg. speed
Official Race Hotel: Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites 2290 Marketplace Dr. Madera, CA 93637
Event Sponsors: Performance Electrical Co, Inc, (Modesto, CA), Rub-It Graphics, Hoosier Tire, GoLiveStream.TV, AmeriPride Uniform Services and Sunoco Race Fuel.
Track Contact:
209-983-9581
http://www.racemadera.com/
SRL Contact:
(661) 679-4681
http://www.srlsouthwesttour.com/
VIDOVICH RETURNS TO THE SOUTHWEST TOUR
Bakersfield,CA -- Auggie Vidovich, the 2003 NASCAR Southwest Tour Series Champion will be making his SRL debut on May 23rd at Madera Speedway. Vidovich will drive for the 2007 SRL Championship Car Owner, Bob Strandwold. It was announced today, that Vidovich will be behind the wheel of the actionsportsdrives.com/RPMTV.com Bob Strandwold Racing #1 Chevrolet for the remainder of the 2009 SRL Southwest Tour Series schedule.
“I think it’s cool to be part of the SRL and driving for a veteran like Bob. It should be a lot of fun having teammates in Craig (Raudman) and Troy (Ermish).” commented Vidovich.
The Bob Strandwold Racing #1 car has won three out of four SRL events at Madera Speedway (from 2006 to 2007) with three different drivers; Ryan Foster, Eric Holmes, and Dave Byrd.
“I was very pleased to receive a call from Auggie asking about the availability of the #1 car.” stated Strandwold. “I was sad and hurt to have to pull Dave out of the car due to economics, but Dave Byrd Media Relations has known since November 2008 what we needed to compete in the series in 2009. With countless hours of trying to secure sponsorship with no success, I had to make this difficult decision.” stated Strandwold. “Dave has been a great friend since the early 90’s and I’ll always be thankful for his many wins and championship for BSR.”
The next event for the SRL Southwest Tour Series will be at Madera Speedway for the “Performance Electrical 110” on May 23rd. For more information go to http://www.srlsouthwesttour.com/ or http://www.racemadera.com/.
Kanke Double Downs in Vegas with Second SRL Win of 2009
Bakersfield, CA – SRL Southwest Tour Series veteran Mike Kanke scored his second victory of 2009 by winning Sunday’s “Blackjack 121” at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Kanke, who qualified second to Craig Raudman, overcame body damage and a trip to pit road to outdistance an impressive field of SRL Southwest Tour Series teams. Kanke saw the lead on lap 47, but had to pit on lap 51 for repairs. After pitting, it took Kanke another 65 laps to move his familiar RPM-PSI Motorsports #33 back into the lead as he passed leader Troy Ermish on lap 116 of the 121 lap event to score his 24th career Southwest Tour victory. Kanke’s win was worth $4,000 including the Ringers Gloves Bonus.
When asked about his run from the rear of the field, Kanke stated, “The car was that good, the guys did a great job adjusting the car to the heat of the day. Once we restarted at the rear, the crew said to be patient and find my rhythm…but I had to run hard to get back to the front. In this series you can have a problem and still come back and get to the front, we only lose three laps per caution, we have the ‘lucky dog’ and an excellent tire…I’ve never raced on a better tire…this Hoosier tire makes all the work you put into the car show on the racetrack…not only do they race great, but we practice on old tires with multiple heat cycles and bolt on one set to qualify for the weekend, one set of new tires is all you need with this series.”
After fast qualifier Craig Raudman drew a nine car invert, Josh Combs lead the field to the green to lead the first 5 laps. Victory Circle Rookie-of-the-Year candidate Kevin Callahan then drove to the outside to take over the lead for the next 13 laps.
From his sixth starting position, David Mayhew in the MMI/Ron’s Rear Ends Chevrolet worked his way into the lead on lap 19, with Combs making his way back to second. On lap 40, the top five was Mayhew, Combs, Raudman, Kanke and Jim Pettit II.
While under caution on lap 42, Pettit’s Golden Gate Petroleum/Top of the Hill Ford began to fill with smoke, as he reached the ramp to pit entrance, the defending series champion stopped the car as the flames and the smoke completely filled the interior of his Port City Ford Fusion.
“I basically thought I’d broken a transmission or rear end…a little bit of white smoke, but no big deal…then the thing really went up in smoke...then I got flames all across the dashboard…I released my two window nets, and released the steering wheel, took the seat belts off…I kept trying to get out but I kept getting hooked on something. Finally, after a number of tries…they dragged me out of the car.”
Pettit suffered from considerable smoke inhalation. However, he has been given numerous tests all of which indicate no serious damage to his lungs.
Following the red flag, a mishap on the restart resulted in Kanke and Raudman making contact and Raudman spinning to the inside of turn four.
Combs lead the field once again on the next restart, but within a lap Kanke moved by to take the lead. Kanke then pitted under caution to remove the right front fender that had peeled back to the door which resulted in restarting from the rear of the field.
Darrell LaMoure in the Arizona Components #17 then took the lead for the next nine laps. Troy Ermish moved passed LaMoure on lap 61 and held the lead until lap 70 when Combs move back to the front of the pack, followed by Ermish, Raudman, LaMoure, Callahan, Kanke, David Mantooth, Dave Byrd, Joe Farre’ and Todd Bammer.
On lap 79, Raudman moved the Approved Memory #2 into second behind Combs, where he followed the 2008 SRL Rookie-of-the-Year until contact between the two leaders on lap 102 resulted in Combs spinning which brought out the caution. Both Combs and Raudman restarted at the rear of the field.
Ermish’s Bob Strandwold Racing #3 was now back in the lead, closely followed by Kanke, LaMoure-who was having a career day, Mayhew and Callahan.
With six laps remaining, Kanke charged under Ermish off of turn four, the two cars touched with Kanke clearing Ermish into turn one to drive to the checkers for his second SRL Southwest Tour Series win of 2009. Ermish second, Mayhew drove from the rear twice to third, Callahan fourth, Raudman moved from eighth to fifth in the final eleven laps, LaMoure a solid sixth, Bammer, Mantooth, Farre’ and Byrd rounded out the top ten.
Check out the “Blackjack 121” in its entirety at http://www.golivestream.tv/. The next race of the 2009 SRL Southwest Tour Series is the “Performance Electrical 110”, Saturday, May 23rd at Madera Speedway. For more information go to http://www.srlsouthwesttour.com/ or http://www.racemadera.com/
Race Stats: Blackjack 121 at The Bullring – May 3rd, 2009
Race Leaders: Combs 1-5, Callahan 6-18, Mayhew 19–45, Combs 46, Kanke 47-51, LaMoure 52-60, Ermish 61-69, Combs 70-102, Ermish 103-115, Kanke 116-121.
Lead Changes: 10
Winning Margin: .22 seconds
Fastest Lap of Race: M.K. Kanke 15.208 seconds on lap 109
Time of Race: 56 minutes 19 seconds
Fast Qualifier: Craig Raudman 14.772 seconds
Five Star Race Bodies Hard Charger Award: Jerry Thitchener
Ron’s Rear Ends Hard Luck Award: Terry Henry
Top Victory Circle Rookie-of-the-Year contender: Kevin Callahan
2009 Championship Standings: Kanke 106, Byrd 91, Raudman 87, Bammer 78, Ermish 75, Voigt 74, Farre’ 70, Callahan 68, Pettit 63, Spangler 62, LaMoure 59, Mayhew 48, Newberry 48, Westmoreland 46, Combs 45, Wood 36, Gilbert 32, Allec 30, Thitchener 26, Sanchez 24
Ammunition Sales Restrictions Scheduled to be
Heard on Wednesday, May 6
Please Contact the Assembly Committee on Appropriations Today!
Assembly Bill 962 is scheduled to be heard by the Assembly Committee on Appropriations on Wednesday, May 6.
Sponsored by Assembly Member Kevin De Leon (D-45), AB962 would make it a crime to privately transfer more than 50 rounds of ammunition per month, even between family and friends, unless you are registered as a "handgun ammunition vendor" in the Department of Justice's database. Ammunition retailers would have to be licensed and store ammunition in such a manner that it would be inaccessible to purchasers. The bill would also require purchasers submit to fingerprinting, which would be submitted to the Department of Justice. Lastly, mail order ammunition sales would be prohibited.
Please contact the members of the Assembly Committee on Appropriations TODAY and respectfully urge them to oppose AB962. Contact information for the committee can be found below.
Assemblymember Kevin de Leon (D-45) - Chair
(916) 319-2045
Assemblymember.deLeon@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember Jim Nielsen (R-2) - Vice Chair
(916) 319-2002
Assemblymember.Nielsen@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-13)
(916) 319-2013
Assemblymember.Ammiano@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember Charles M. Calderon (D-58)
(916) 319-2058
Assemblymember.Calderon@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember Mike Davis (D-48)
(916) 319-2048
Assemblymember.Davis@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember Michael D. Duvall (R-72)
(916) 319-2072
Assemblymember.Duvall@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes (D-39)
(916) 319-2039
Assemblymember.fuentes@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember Isadore Hall, III (D-52)
(916) 319-2052
Assemblymember.Hall@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember Diane L. Harkey (R-73)
(916) 319-2073
Assemblymember.Harkey@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember Dave Jones (D-9)
(916) 319-2009
Assemblymember.jones@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember Jeff Miller (R-71)
(916) 319-2071
Assemblymember.Miller@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember John A. Pérez (D-46)
(916) 319-2046
Assemblymember.John.Perez@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember Curren D. Price, Jr. (D-51)
(916) 319-2051
Assemblymember.Price@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember Nancy Skinner (D-14)
(916) 319-2014
Assemblymember.Skinner@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember Jose Solorio (D-69)
(916) 319-2069
Assemblymember.solorio@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember Audra Strickland (R-37)
(916) 319-2037
Assemblymember.strickland@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember Tom Torlakson (D-11)
(916) 319-2011
Assemblymember.Torlakson@assembly.ca.gov
NASCAR Camping World Series West Series & Gerhardt Classic at Madera Speedway This Saturday
One of the most anticipated programs on the 2009 Madera Speedway schedule will take place this Saturday, April 25, when the NASCAR Camping World Series West returns to the “Fastest 1/3 Mile in the West” for the NAPA Auto Parts/Toyota 150 Presented by Exclusive Energy Drink. The race will mark the first appearance of the touring series at Madera since 2003.
Also racing this Saturday will be the United States Auto Club (USAC) and Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) Midgets in the Fred Gerhardt Classic, the NASCAR Whelen All American Western Late Models, USAC Focus Midgets and WSRA Mini Cup & Baby Grands.
With three of 13 rounds on the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Series West schedule already in the books, defending champion Eric Holmes of Escalon (#20 Napa Toyota) holds a narrow lead over Jason Bowles of Ontario (#6 Sunrise Ford Ford) in the season standings by a 535 to 503 point margin while Greg Pursley of Newhall (#26 Gene Price Motorsports/Star Nursery Chevrolet) sits a close third with 490 points. All three drivers have visited victory lane in 2009.
Other drivers that will be looking to take the checkers at Madera include fan favorite Mike David (#2 Bennett Winery Toyota) the 2007 series champion from Modesto who sits fourth in the 2009 standings, Oakdale’s Wes Banks, Sacramento’s Jack Sellers, Fairfield’s Jim Inglebright and Madera late model regular Ross Strmiska of Stockton.
Prior to the race, Modesto’s Jack McCoy will be honored in a special ceremony. McCoy, who passed away last week at age 72, was a two-time champion and the winningest driver in series history with 54 victories.
The SPEED Channel will also televise the NAPA Auto Parts/Toyota 150 Presented by Exclusive Energy Drink on a delayed basis on May 7 beginning at high noon.
The versatile USAC and BCRA Midgets, which race on both asphalt and dirt, will be making their second of five joint appearances at Madera this season in Saturday’s 100-lap Gerhardt Classic.
The race is named in tribute of racing pioneer Fred Gerhardt, a leading car builder for driving legends such as Gordon Johncock and Gary Bettenhausen. Gerhardt helped design and build the Drake Turbo Offenhauser and the Supercharged Drake Offenhauser and became the primary American rear-engine car builder in the late 1960’s. In his honor, the Midgets will take the green flag for Saturday’s 33-car feature lined up in rows of three abreast in the traditional starting formation of the Indianapolis 500.
Kingsburg’s Tanner Swanson, the son of nine-time Madera track champion Mike Swanson, delighted his home crowd by capturing an emotional win in the April 4th Midget race at Madera. Not only was it Tanner’s career first Midget start, but he earned the win while driving the #88 car owned by Dallen McKenney of Clovis, who was seriously injured in a spectacular crash at Madera last season that left him hospitalized for several months.
Tanner Swanson will once again have plenty of competition this Saturday including his older brother Kody, defending BCRA champion Nick Foster Jr. of San Jose, five-time USAC champion Tony Hunt of Lincoln, Scott Pierovich of Alamo, Chad Nichols of Colma, John Sarale of Stockton, Marco DeGeorge of Manteca, and seven time BCRA champion Floyd Alvis of San Carlos.
The Western Late Models will be back for a 50-lap feature this Saturday. Modesto’s Kyle Gottula holds a narrow 129 to 114 lead in the point standings over Roseville’s Eric Schmidt after four races. Ross Strmiska, Manteca’s Jacob Gomes and Drive for Diversity driver Katie Hagar of Sacramento round out the top five.
The Western Late Model regulars will also have a very special guest competitor in this Saturday’s feature as PRO-RDS has teamed up with “Race for Autism” car owner/driver Carlos Vieira of Merced to put NHRA Nitro Funny Car driver Ron Capps behind the wheel of Vieira’s #51 Chevrolet for the race.
Capps, of Carlsbad, drives the 6,000 horsepower NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger Funny Car for Don Schumacher Racing. He currently leads the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Funny Car standings and has amassed 28 Nitro wins including three in 2009.
Also racing this Saturday will be the USAC Ford Focus Midgets and WSRA Baby Grands and Mini Cups, featuring the racing stars of the future in 2/3 and 1/2 scale replica stock cars, in 25-lap features.
This is one show you do not want to miss. It is going to be a tremendous evening of stock car and open-wheel Short Track Thunder with 375 laps of main event racing.
Ticket prices for the Saturday, April 25, the NAPA Auto Parts/Toyota 150 Presented by Exclusive Energy Drink and Gerhardt Classic are only $38.00 for adults, $30.00 for seniors 65 years of age or older, $28.00 for active duty military, students and juniors age 13-17, $15.00 for kids age 6-12 while kids 5 and under are free when accompanied by a paying adult. A family pack ticket (two adults and up to two kids, 12 years old and under) is also available for the bargain price of just $90.00. VISA and MasterCard are welcome at window #3.
Fans can also obtain a $5 discount coupon for the Saturday, April 25 program at Madera Speedway by stopping in at any participating NAPA Auto Parts store.
On Saturday, April 25, the Madera Speedway pit gates will open at 8:00 AM, the grandstands open at 11:00 AM, B Mains and dashes begin at 5:00 PM, main events at 5:30 PM, and the evening’s opening ceremonies will precede the NAPA Auto Parts/Toyota 150 Presented by Exclusive Energy Drink and Gerhardt Classic which are scheduled for 8:00 PM and 9:45 PM respectively.
There will also be a Test N Tune session at Madera Speedway on Friday, April 24. The pit gates will open at 2:30 PM and the cars will be on the track from 3:30 to 7:30 PM. Admission to the grandstands is free and the pit concession stands will be open. For additional information on the test session contact Track Manager Pat Patnaude at (209) 983-1689 (track), (209) 479-0056 (cell), (209) 983-0967 (fax) or email to http://us.mc355.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=ppatnaude@racemadera.com.
The Madera Speedway is conveniently located at the Madera County Fairgrounds just off to the west side of Highway 99 at the Cleveland Avenue exit. For more Madera Speedway information visit the track’s website at www.racemadera.com or call the Info/Race Line phone number at (559) 673-RACE.
DON SCHUMACHER RACING
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Judy Stropus, 203-438-0501; cell 203-243-2438; jstropus@earthlink.net
THERE'S NO HOLDING BACK CAPPS; HE TAKES TO THE OVAL AGAIN THIS WEEKEND IN MADERA, CALIF.
CARLSBAD, Calif. (April 22, 2009) - It's a known fact that NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Funny Car driver Ron Capps will pretty much race any type of car that is offered him on any track surface available. And when he's invited to do it to benefit a worthy cause, he rarely hesitates before saying yes.
On this upcoming off-weekend from the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series in which he leads the Funny Car point standings having won three of the first six national events, Capps will drive the No. 51 Race for Autism Late Model car in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Western Late Model 50-lap feature on Saturday, April 25, during the the NASCAR Camping World Series West NAPA/TOYOTA 150 event at Madera (Calif.) Speedway. He hopes his efforts will raise awareness towards the fight against autism.
He will also make an appearance on Friday, April 24, from 1-2 p.m. PT at:
NAPA AUTO PARTS
Genuine Parts Company <http://www.napalocator.com/navigator.aspx?psid=2&sid=31258>
3887 N. Blackstone Ave
Fresno, CA 93726
(559) 490-0199
"There is a film production group that has been following me and my family around since last year for a reality show they are working on," said Capps, of Carlsbad, Calif. "They followed me to the Mini-Sprint race I did with my former teammate Gary Scelzi and also up to Roseville, Calif., for the Camping World Series Late Model race I ran in Bill McAnally's car last year.
"They've been wanting to get a little more footage before they finish the show so they approached me about racing in Madera this weekend.
"It turns out it's another Camping World Series points race, which is great, because I'll be able to cheer on Eric Holmes, my NAPA teammate who drives for Bill McAnally Racing. but I won't be in one of Bill's cars this year. I'll be driving the Race for Autism car for a great cause.
"It's a weekend off from NHRA drag racing for me, and it should be a great event," said Capps. "I don't get too many weekends off and the chance to race the NASCAR series on the West Coast is something hard to pass up. And to have the opportunity to drive a car to raise awareness to find a cure for autism gives me a chance to show my support for this cause.
"As I did last year in Roseville, I'll be racing against some of the best drivers in the country," added Capps. "Not that I don't expect to win, but I'll do what I did last time and try to stay out of trouble and do the best I can. The main thing is to raise money for this cause."
The Race For Autism car will be on display from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. on Friday, April 24, at the above-mentioned NAPA store. The NASCAR Camping World Series West NAPA Auto Parts Toyota of Bill McAnally Racing and driven by division points leader Eric Holmes will also be on display.
Capps' next NHRA Full Throttle event is in Madison, Ill., outside of St. Louis, Mo., at Gateway International Raceway, May 1-3.
NASCAR Camping World Series West Series & Gerhardt Classic at Madera Speedway This Saturday
One of the most anticipated programs on the 2009 Madera Speedway schedule will take place this Saturday, April 25, when the NASCAR Camping World Series West returns to the “Fastest 1/3 Mile in the West” for the NAPA Auto Parts/Toyota 150 Presented by Exclusive Energy Drink. The race will mark the first appearance of the touring series at Madera since 2003.
Also racing this Saturday will be the United States Auto Club (USAC) and Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) Midgets in the Fred Gerhardt Classic, the NASCAR Whelen All American Western Late Models, USAC Focus Midgets and WSRA Mini Cup & Baby Grands.
With three of 13 rounds on the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Series West schedule already in the books, defending champion Eric Holmes of Escalon (#20 Napa Toyota) holds a narrow lead over Jason Bowles of Ontario (#6 Sunrise Ford Ford) in the season standings by a 535 to 503 point margin while Greg Pursley of Newhall (#26 Gene Price Motorsports/Star Nursery Chevrolet) sits a close third with 490 points. All three drivers have visited victory lane in 2009.
Other drivers that will be looking to take the checkers at Madera include fan favorite Mike David (#2 Bennett Winery Toyota) the 2007 series champion from Modesto who sits fourth in the 2009 standings, Oakdale’s Wes Banks, Sacramento’s Jack Sellers, Fairfield’s Jim Inglebright and Madera late model regular Ross Strmiska of Stockton.
Prior to the race, Modesto’s Jack McCoy will be honored in a special ceremony. McCoy, who passed away last week at age 72, was a two-time champion and the winningest driver in series history with 54 victories.
The SPEED Channel will also televise the NAPA Auto Parts/Toyota 150 Presented by Exclusive Energy Drink on a delayed basis on May 7 beginning at high noon.
The versatile USAC and BCRA Midgets, which race on both asphalt and dirt, will be making their second of five joint appearances at Madera this season in Saturday’s 100-lap Gerhardt Classic.
The race is named in tribute of racing pioneer Fred Gerhardt, a leading car builder for driving legends such as Gordon Johncock and Gary Bettenhausen. Gerhardt helped design and build the Drake Turbo Offenhauser and the Supercharged Drake Offenhauser and became the primary American rear-engine car builder in the late 1960’s. In his honor, the Midgets will take the green flag for Saturday’s 33-car feature lined up in rows of three abreast in the traditional starting formation of the Indianapolis 500.
Kingsburg’s Tanner Swanson, the son of nine-time Madera track champion Mike Swanson, delighted his home crowd by capturing an emotional win in the April 4th Midget race at Madera. Not only was it Tanner’s career first Midget start, but he earned the win while driving the #88 car owned by Dallen McKenney of Clovis, who was seriously injured in a spectacular crash at Madera last season that left him hospitalized for several months.
Tanner Swanson will once again have plenty of competition this Saturday including his older brother Kody, defending BCRA champion Nick Foster Jr. of San Jose, five-time USAC champion Tony Hunt of Lincoln, Scott Pierovich of Alamo, Chad Nichols of Colma, John Sarale of Stockton, Marco DeGeorge of Manteca, and seven time BCRA champion Floyd Alvis of San Carlos.
The Western Late Models will be back for a 50-lap feature this Saturday. Modesto’s Kyle Gottula holds a narrow 129 to 114 lead in the point standings over Roseville’s Eric Schmidt after four races. Ross Strmiska, Manteca’s Jacob Gomes and Drive for Diversity driver Katie Hagar of Sacramento round out the top five.
The Western Late Model regulars will also have a very special guest competitor in this Saturday’s feature as PRO-RDS has teamed up with “Race for Autism” car owner/driver Carlos Vieira of Merced to put NHRA Nitro Funny Car driver Ron Capps behind the wheel of Vieira’s #51 Chevrolet for the race.
Capps, of Carlsbad, drives the 6,000 horsepower NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger Funny Car for Don Schumacher Racing. He currently leads the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Funny Car standings and has amassed 28 Nitro wins including three in 2009.
Also racing this Saturday will be the USAC Ford Focus Midgets and WSRA Baby Grands and Mini Cups, featuring the racing stars of the future in 2/3 and 1/2 scale replica stock cars, in 25-lap features.
This is one show you do not want to miss. It is going to be a tremendous evening of stock car and open-wheel Short Track Thunder with 375 laps of main event racing.
Ticket prices for the Saturday, April 25, the NAPA Auto Parts/Toyota 150 Presented by Exclusive Energy Drink and Gerhardt Classic are only $38.00 for adults, $30.00 for seniors 65 years of age or older, $28.00 for active duty military, students and juniors age 13-17, $15.00 for kids age 6-12 while kids 5 and under are free when accompanied by a paying adult. A family pack ticket (two adults and up to two kids, 12 years old and under) is also available for the bargain price of just $90.00. VISA and MasterCard are welcome at window #3.
Fans can also obtain a $5 discount coupon for the Saturday, April 25 program at Madera Speedway by stopping in at any participating NAPA Auto Parts store.
On Saturday, April 25, the Madera Speedway pit gates will open at 8:00 AM, the grandstands open at 11:00 AM, B Mains and dashes begin at 5:00 PM, main events at 5:30 PM, and the evening’s opening ceremonies will precede the NAPA Auto Parts/Toyota 150 Presented by Exclusive Energy Drink and Gerhardt Classic which are scheduled for 8:00 PM and 9:45 PM respectively.
There will also be a Test N Tune session at Madera Speedway on Friday, April 24. The pit gates will open at 2:30 PM and the cars will be on the track from 3:30 to 7:30 PM. Admission to the grandstands is free and the pit concession stands will be open. For additional information on the test session contact Track Manager Pat Patnaude at (209) 983-1689 (track), (209) 479-0056 (cell), (209) 983-0967 (fax) or email to http://us.mc355.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=ppatnaude@racemadera.com.
The Madera Speedway is conveniently located at the Madera County Fairgrounds just off to the west side of Highway 99 at the Cleveland Avenue exit. For more Madera Speedway information visit the track’s website at www.racemadera.com or call the Info/Race Line phone number at (559) 673-RACE.
DON SCHUMACHER RACING
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Judy Stropus, 203-438-0501; cell 203-243-2438; jstropus@earthlink.net
THERE'S NO HOLDING BACK CAPPS; HE TAKES TO THE OVAL AGAIN THIS WEEKEND IN MADERA, CALIF.
CARLSBAD, Calif. (April 22, 2009) - It's a known fact that NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Funny Car driver Ron Capps will pretty much race any type of car that is offered him on any track surface available. And when he's invited to do it to benefit a worthy cause, he rarely hesitates before saying yes.
On this upcoming off-weekend from the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series in which he leads the Funny Car point standings having won three of the first six national events, Capps will drive the No. 51 Race for Autism Late Model car in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Western Late Model 50-lap feature on Saturday, April 25, during the the NASCAR Camping World Series West NAPA/TOYOTA 150 event at Madera (Calif.) Speedway. He hopes his efforts will raise awareness towards the fight against autism.
He will also make an appearance on Friday, April 24, from 1-2 p.m. PT at:
NAPA AUTO PARTS
Genuine Parts Company <http://www.napalocator.com/navigator.aspx?psid=2&sid=31258>
3887 N. Blackstone Ave
Fresno, CA 93726
(559) 490-0199
"There is a film production group that has been following me and my family around since last year for a reality show they are working on," said Capps, of Carlsbad, Calif. "They followed me to the Mini-Sprint race I did with my former teammate Gary Scelzi and also up to Roseville, Calif., for the Camping World Series Late Model race I ran in Bill McAnally's car last year.
"They've been wanting to get a little more footage before they finish the show so they approached me about racing in Madera this weekend.
"It turns out it's another Camping World Series points race, which is great, because I'll be able to cheer on Eric Holmes, my NAPA teammate who drives for Bill McAnally Racing. but I won't be in one of Bill's cars this year. I'll be driving the Race for Autism car for a great cause.
"It's a weekend off from NHRA drag racing for me, and it should be a great event," said Capps. "I don't get too many weekends off and the chance to race the NASCAR series on the West Coast is something hard to pass up. And to have the opportunity to drive a car to raise awareness to find a cure for autism gives me a chance to show my support for this cause.
"As I did last year in Roseville, I'll be racing against some of the best drivers in the country," added Capps. "Not that I don't expect to win, but I'll do what I did last time and try to stay out of trouble and do the best I can. The main thing is to raise money for this cause."
The Race For Autism car will be on display from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. on Friday, April 24, at the above-mentioned NAPA store. The NASCAR Camping World Series West NAPA Auto Parts Toyota of Bill McAnally Racing and driven by division points leader Eric Holmes will also be on display.
Capps' next NHRA Full Throttle event is in Madison, Ill., outside of St. Louis, Mo., at Gateway International Raceway, May 1-3.
Ringer’s Bonus Boosts Winner’s Share to $4,000
Bakersfield, CA – With the support of Ringer’s Gloves, the winner of the SRL Southwest
Tour Series “Blackjack 121” will take home $4,000. The May 3rd SRL event at The
Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will pay “The Ringer’s Bonus” of $1,000 to the
winner of the 121 lap event, bringing the winner’s share of the “Blackjack 121” prize
money to $4,000.
“Ringer’s is a great company and we are proud to have them associated with our series,”
stated the SRL’s Larry Collins. “Kenny Dolenak and all the people at Ringer’s are huge
supporters of our sport and we greatly appreciate their commitment to the SRL teams.”
“We really enjoy the style of racing that the SRL teams bring to the racetrack and we
love having the Ringer’s brand associated with it.” commented Ringer’s President Kenny
Dolenak
The May 2nd and 3rd weekend at The Bullring will feature two days of competition
including the SRL Southwest Tour Series, Baby Grand National Cars, Super Late
Models, Chargers, Bombers, Legends Cars, Bandoleros and Thunder Roadsters. Racing
on Saturday begins at 7:30pm with the Whelen All American Series. Sunday, May 3rd
racing begins at 12 noon with the SRL Southwest Tour Series headlining the weekend
with a scheduled 2:30pm start of the “Blackjack 121”.
Entering the May 3 rd event, 2007 SRL champ Dave Byrd leads the 2009 championship
standings with 53 points, followed by Roseville winner M.K. Kanke at 52, defending
series champ Jim Pettit II is third with 46, followed by Greg Voigt at 44 and Todd
Bammer with 42 to round out the top five.
For tickets and information go to www.lvms.com or www.SRLSouthwestTour.com.
About the SRL Southwest Tour Series:
Celebrating its ninth season in 2009, the SRL Southwest Tour Series is a premiere regional stock car series competing on
paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S.
About Ringer’s Gloves:
Ringers Gloves, an ISO 9001:2000 certified company, is a full-line manufacturer of high-end, task specific gloves, SFI
3.3/1, 3.3/10, 3.3/20 racing gloves, UnderX protective undergarments, UnderX Performance gear, crew shoes, as well as
a full line of accessories for every need. Isn’t it time you bring in the Ringers? Check us out ww.ringersgloves.com.
AB962 would make it a crime to privately transfer more than 50 rounds of ammunition per month, even between family and friends, unless you are registered as a “handgun ammunition vendor” in the Department of Justice’s database. Ammunition retailers would have to be licensed and store ammunition in such a manner that it would be inaccessible to purchasers. The bill would also require purchasers submit to fingerprinting, which would be submitted to the Department of Justice. Lastly, mail order ammunition sales would be prohibited.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 5, 2009
KANKE MAKES TRIUMPHANT RETURN TO SRL
Bakersfield, CA - After being forced out of the 2008 SRL Southwest Tour season due to a work related injury, M.K. Kanke returned to competition Saturday night to lead wire-to-wire to win the “Riebes Auto Parts 125 presented by AmeriPride Uniform Services”.
Climbing from his familiar red #33 RPM Motorsports Monte Carlo, the winningest driver in Southwest Tour history had an ear-to-ear grin. "The Southwest Tour is back and better than ever...the SRL does such a great job with this series…I have to give a big thanks to Dan and my entire team for giving me such a great car,” Kanke said from the All-American Speedway winner's circle in front of a sell out crowd. “This is a great way to come back."
A wire-to-wire victory may sound like the race lacked excitement, but behind Kanke, the 125 lap race was nothing but excitement.
Fast qualifier Dave Byrd started from the 4th position and never ran deeper than 5th, before moving his #1 Bob Strandwold Racing/Faith Bumper Services Monte Carlo up to 2nd on lap 80 where he stayed until the checkered flag.
Defending series champ, Jim Pettit, worked his way up from his 11th starting position to 2nd to challenge Kanke in a fierce battle for the lead from lap 50 to 79. On lap 79, as the leaders negotiated lapped traffic, Pettit made heavy contact with fourth place Greg Voigt, which resulted in a spin into Troy Ermish. Pettit’s Golden Gate Petroleum/Top of the Hill Ford suffered major body damage and restarted in 6th. Later Pettit pitted for repairs and again charged through the field to muscle past Voigt on the last lap for 3rd.
Voigt had moved from his seventh starting position to 3rd when the contact with Pettit damaged the #4 Auto-Pro/Voigt Motorsports Chevy’s handling and Voigt hung on to a hard fought 4th.
Todd Bammer started 8th but ran only ran a few laps outside the top five the entire race to bring home the Moeller Brothers Chevy to a 5th place finish.
Keith Spangler battled among the top 10 all-night in a car he bought just one week before the race. Starting 13th, Spangler drove to an impressive 6th place.
Joe Farre’ had to avoid the red flag incident that involved Tyler Monroe and Scott Sanchez, which resulted in Farre’ being shuffled to the rear of the field, but worked hard to move back up to 7th before the finish.
Craig Raudman had both a night to be proud of and to forget. Raudman charged to the front early to challenge Kanke for the lead, and held 2nd position from lap 2 to 46. Just past half-way, Raudman’s Valvoline Easy Care Centers Monte Carlo suffered a flat tire to go one lap down, but was awarded the “Lucky Dog” on the next caution to get back on the lead lap. From that point, Raudman pulled the sell out crowd to the edge of their seats as he used both the high and low lines to battle his way through the field. With only a hand full of laps remaining Raudman went off track in an attempt to pass for a top five position, which ultimately resulted in an 8th place finish.
Gregg Potts and Jason Gilbert persevered throughout the night and secured their spot in the top ten finishing order at ninth and tenth respectively.
The next race for the SRL Southwest Tour Series will be the $4,000 to win “Blackjack 121”, May 3rd at “The Bullring” at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. For more information on the SRL Southwest Tour Series go to http://www.srlsouthwesttour.com/
Riebes Auto Parts 125 presented by AmeriPride Uniform Services
|
FP |
SP |
Car |
Driver |
Team / Make |
Points |
|
1 |
1 |
33 |
M K Kanke |
Sims Trucking/RPM Motorsports Chevrolet |
50 |
|
2 |
4 |
1 |
Dave Byrd |
Faith Bumper Service/Conti Material Service Chevrolet |
48 |
|
3 |
11 |
03 |
Jim Pettit II |
Golden Gate Petroleum/Top of the Hill Performance Ford |
46 |
|
4 |
7 |
4 |
Greg Voigt |
Auto-Pro Racing Engines/JN Designs Chevrolet |
44 |
|
5 |
8 |
18 |
Todd Bammer |
Moeller Brothers/ Strandwold Properties Chevrolet |
42 |
|
6 |
13 |
37 |
Keith Spangler |
DM Motorsports/Ron’s Rear Ends Chevrolet |
40 |
|
7 |
9 |
54 |
Joe Farre |
Sigma Engineering Solutions Chevrolet |
38 |
|
8 |
3 |
2 |
Craig Raudman |
Valvoline Easy Care Centers/JS Plastering Chevrolet |
36 |
|
9 |
17 |
27 |
Greg Potts |
Economy Signs/Nascimento Motorsports Chevrolet |
34 |
|
10 |
19 |
44 |
Jason Gilbert |
Gilbert Motorsports Chevrolet |
32 |
|
11 |
18 |
50 |
Jerry Allec Jr |
NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet |
30 |
|
12 |
12 |
09 |
Brennan Newberry |
Excel Equipment/NTS Motorsports Chevrolet |
28 |
|
13 |
5 |
3 |
Troy Ermish |
AN Plumbing/Santos Chevrolet |
26 |
|
14 |
15 |
28 |
Kevin Callahan |
Bedrosians Tile/Guimarra Vineyards Chevrolet |
24 |
|
15 |
6 |
9 |
Justin Westmoreland |
3M Automotive Aftermarket Ford |
22 |
|
16 |
19 |
38 |
Jon Wood |
TBA Pontiac |
20 |
|
17 |
14 |
17 |
Darrell LaMoure |
Arizona Components Co./Truck Works Inc. Chevrolet |
16 |
|
18 |
16 |
5 |
David Mantooth |
Mantooth Construction Chevrolet |
14 |
|
19 |
2 |
7 |
Josh Combs |
MUD-Racing.Net/Country Bear Ford |
14 |
|
20 |
21 |
24 |
Scott Sanchez |
Diablo Marketing Group/ Del Sol Productions Chevrolet |
12 |
|
21 |
20 |
16 |
Tyler Monroe |
Torch Chevrolet |
12 |
Length of Race: 55:49.618
Fastest Lap: Jim Pettit II 13.25
Five Star Bodies Hard Charger Award: Greg Potts
Ron’s Rear Ends Hard Luck Award: Tyler Monroe
Fast Qualifier: Dave Byrd 13.431
CAPPS WINS VEGAS!
LS VEGAS (April 5, 2009) - Ron Capps raced the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Funny Car into his third victory of the season in five events at NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and continued to rack up points as the class leader. He is now 106 points ahead of his DSR teammate Matt Hagan, whom he defeated in the final.
Without lane choice for the final stanza and facing NHRA Rookie-of-the-Year contender Hagan in his first career final round, Capps put an exclamation point on the team's determination to win every round of every event and eventually Capps' first Funny Car championship.
En route to his 28th career win in his 57th final round, Capps dismissed Brian Thiel, John Force Racing's Mike Neff and another JFR driver, Robert Hight, in the semifinal before facing off against his teammate.
Capps launched with only a slight edge over Hagan but led all the way to the finish line, posting a stout 4.182-second elapsed time at 297.81 mph in the heat of the day to Hagan's 4.335/248.89.
"I was asked several times by the media what was wrong," said Capps, referring to his two first-round losses of the season following victories in the fist two events, "and I just never worried. Ace (crew chief Ed McCulloch) needed to get in his comfort zone. You'll find a lot of teams seemed like they may be struggling here the last few races with [only] four test dates [allowed by the NHRA] for the whole year. There's a lot of teams including us testing things that you have to try in qualifying once you get in the show and even race day, believe it or not.
"It's tough to gauge [what] people are actually doing in their pit area. For Ace, he was trying things. Don's a great owner. He comes in and pats him on the butt and says, ‘Keep doing what you're doing.’ And that's big.
"We won that first round with a 4.21. It wasn't that good. Then we got put over in the right lane and everybody thought we were doomed. And so did I. And it went right down there.
"It seems like when we don't have lane choice and Ace has his back against the wall a little bit...he comes out swinging. And it's such a great race car to drive. And even having no lane choice in the final and beating Robert Hight in the right lane, Ace wanted the right lane. So, (Hagan's crew chief) Tommy DeLago rolled up there and he'd been in the left lane and he chose the left lane. I thought this was cool. We're going to stage and let the cars do all the talking and lucky enough we got the win."
McCulloch was beaming in the winner's circle. "I think it was a good day in Las Vegas,” he said. “If we had been on the crap table we would have gone home with a lot of money," he said. “We had some issues. I don't have to tell anybody the last couple of races haven't been good. We know they weren't good, but we had some things going on. And last night I said to myself, I know what it is I need to do today and let's go do it. So it worked out good.
"As for lane choice, a lot of guys thought the left lane is where they wanted to go, but there's a bigger bump in the left lane than there is in the right and we figured since the car's really not handling quite as good as we want it to be, if we can keep Ron out of the bumps the better off he is, so as a rule we chose to stay in the right lane."
With Tony Schumacher's win today, DSR teams now lead the point standings in the Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock Motorcycle classes. "I'm tremendously ecstatic," said team owner Schumacher. "It was great to have Ron win today, to have Tony win today, [and] have Matt Hagan get to the final, a rookie like that. Tommy DeLago is doing a great job over there. All my Funny Cars are doing a great job, the dragsters are all doing a great job, and we're number one in the points with the Pro Stock Motorcycle also.
"Ron and Tony are really stepping this program up. They're doing one great, great job."
Next up is the NHRA Southern Nationals in Commerce, Ga., April 17-19.
UNOFFICIAL FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS, AFTER FIVE EVENTS:
1. Ron Capps, 408 (winner today)
2. Matt Hagan, 302 (runner-up today)
3. Del Worsham, 296
4. Ashley Force Hood, 296
5. Tony Pedregon, 290
6. Bob Tasca, 289
7. Jack Beckman, 282
8. Robert Hight, 273
9. John Force, 253
10. Mike Neff, 252
KANKE MAKES TRIUMPHANT RETURN TO SRL
Bakersfield, CA - After being forced out of the 2008 SRL Southwest Tour season due to a work related injury, M.K. Kanke returned to competition Saturday night to lead wire-to-wire to win the “Riebes Auto Parts 125 presented by AmeriPride Uniform Services”.
Climbing from his familiar red #33 RPM Motorsports Monte Carlo, the winningest driver in Southwest Tour history had an ear-to-ear grin. "The Southwest Tour is back and better than ever...the SRL does such a great job with this series…I have to give a big thanks to Dan and my entire team for giving me such a great car,” Kanke said from the All-American Speedway winner's circle in front of a sell out crowd. “This is a great way to come back."
A wire-to-wire victory may sound like the race lacked excitement, but behind Kanke, the 125 lap race was nothing but excitement.
Fast qualifier Dave Byrd started from the 4th position and never ran deeper than 5th, before moving his #1 Bob Strandwold Racing/Faith Bumper Services Monte Carlo up to 2nd on lap 80 where he stayed until the checkered flag.
Defending series champ, Jim Pettit, worked his way up from his 11th starting position to 2nd to challenge Kanke in a fierce battle for the lead from lap 50 to 79. On lap 79, as the leaders negotiated lapped traffic, Pettit made heavy contact with fourth place Greg Voigt, which resulted in a spin into Troy Ermish. Pettit’s Golden Gate Petroleum/Top of the Hill Ford suffered major body damage and restarted in 6th. Later Pettit pitted for repairs and again charged through the field to muscle past Voigt on the last lap for 3rd.
Voigt had moved from his seventh starting position to 3rd when the contact with Pettit damaged the #4 Auto-Pro/Voigt Motorsports Chevy’s handling and Voigt hung on to a hard fought 4th.
Todd Bammer started 8th but ran only ran a few laps outside the top five the entire race to bring home the Moeller Brothers Chevy to a 5th place finish.
Keith Spangler battled among the top 10 all-night in a car he bought just one week before the race. Starting 13th, Spangler drove to an impressive 6th place.
Joe Farre’ had to avoid the red flag incident that involved Tyler Monroe and Scott Sanchez, which resulted in Farre’ being shuffled to the rear of the field, but worked hard to move back up to 7th before the finish.
Craig Raudman had both a night to be proud of and to forget. Raudman charged to the front early to challenge Kanke for the lead, and held 2nd position from lap 2 to 46. Just past half-way, Raudman’s Valvoline Easy Care Centers Monte Carlo suffered a flat tire to go one lap down, but was awarded the “Lucky Dog” on the next caution to get back on the lead lap. From that point, Raudman pulled the sell out crowd to the edge of their seats as he used both the high and low lines to battle his way through the field. With only a hand full of laps remaining Raudman went off track in an attempt to pass for a top five position, which ultimately resulted in an 8th place finish.
Gregg Potts and Jason Gilbert persevered throughout the night and secured their spot in the top ten finishing order at ninth and tenth respectively.
The next race for the SRL Southwest Tour Series will be the $4,000 to win “Blackjack 121”, May 3rd at “The Bullring” at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. For more information on the SRL Southwest Tour Series go to http://www.srlsouthwesttour.com/
Riebes Auto Parts 125 presented by AmeriPride Uniform Services
|
FP |
SP |
Car |
Driver |
Team / Make |
Points |
|
1 |
1 |
33 |
M K Kanke |
Sims Trucking/RPM Motorsports Chevrolet |
50 |
|
2 |
4 |
1 |
Dave Byrd |
Faith Bumper Service/Conti Material Service Chevrolet |
48 |
|
3 |
11 |
03 |
Jim Pettit II |
Golden Gate Petroleum/Top of the Hill Performance Ford |
46 |
|
4 |
7 |
4 |
Greg Voigt |
Auto-Pro Racing Engines/JN Designs Chevrolet |
44 |
|
5 |
8 |
18 |
Todd Bammer |
Moeller Brothers/ Strandwold Properties Chevrolet |
42 |
|
6 |
13 |
37 |
Keith Spangler |
DM Motorsports/Ron’s Rear Ends Chevrolet |
40 |
|
7 |
9 |
54 |
Joe Farre |
Sigma Engineering Solutions Chevrolet |
38 |
|
8 |
3 |
2 |
Craig Raudman |
Valvoline Easy Care Centers/JS Plastering Chevrolet |
36 |
|
9 |
17 |
27 |
Greg Potts |
Economy Signs/Nascimento Motorsports Chevrolet |
34 |
|
10 |
19 |
44 |
Jason Gilbert |
Gilbert Motorsports Chevrolet |
32 |
|
11 |
18 |
50 |
Jerry Allec Jr |
NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet |
30 |
|
12 |
12 |
09 |
Brennan Newberry |
Excel Equipment/NTS Motorsports Chevrolet |
28 |
|
13 |
5 |
3 |
Troy Ermish |
AN Plumbing/Santos Chevrolet |
26 |
|
14 |
15 |
28 |
Kevin Callahan |
Bedrosians Tile/Guimarra Vineyards Chevrolet |
24 |
|
15 |
6 |
9 |
Justin Westmoreland |
3M Automotive Aftermarket Ford |
22 |
|
16 |
19 |
38 |
Jon Wood |
TBA Pontiac |
20 |
|
17 |
14 |
17 |
Darrell LaMoure |
Arizona Components Co./Truck Works Inc. Chevrolet |
16 |
|
18 |
16 |
5 |
David Mantooth |
Mantooth Construction Chevrolet |
14 |
|
19 |
2 |
7 |
Josh Combs |
MUD-Racing.Net/Country Bear Ford |
14 |
|
20 |
21 |
24 |
Scott Sanchez |
Diablo Marketing Group/ Del Sol Productions Chevrolet |
12 |
|
21 |
20 |
16 |
Tyler Monroe |
Torch Chevrolet |
12 |
Length of Race: 55:49.618
Fastest Lap: Jim Pettit II 13.25
Five Star Bodies Hard Charger Award: Greg Potts
Ron’s Rear Ends Hard Luck Award: Tyler Monroe
Fast Qualifier: Dave Byrd 13.431
KANKE MAKES TRIUMPHANT RETURN TO SRL
Bakersfield, CA - After being forced out of the 2008 SRL Southwest Tour season due to a work related injury, M.K. Kanke returned to competition Saturday night to lead wire-to-wire to win the “Riebes Auto Parts 125 presented by AmeriPride Uniform Services”.
Climbing from his familiar red #33 RPM Motorsports Monte Carlo, the winningest driver in Southwest Tour history had an ear-to-ear grin. "The Southwest Tour is back and better than ever...the SRL does such a great job with this series…I have to give a big thanks to Dan and my entire team for giving me such a great car,” Kanke said from the All-American Speedway winner's circle in front of a sell out crowd. “This is a great way to come back."
A wire-to-wire victory may sound like the race lacked excitement, but behind Kanke, the 125 lap race was nothing but excitement.
Fast qualifier Dave Byrd started from the 4th position and never ran deeper than 5th, before moving his #1 Bob Strandwold Racing/Faith Bumper Services Monte Carlo up to 2nd on lap 80 where he stayed until the checkered flag.
Defending series champ, Jim Pettit, worked his way up from his 11th starting position to 2nd to challenge Kanke in a fierce battle for the lead from lap 50 to 79. On lap 79, as the leaders negotiated lapped traffic, Pettit made heavy contact with fourth place Greg Voigt, which resulted in a spin into Troy Ermish. Pettit’s Golden Gate Petroleum/Top of the Hill Ford suffered major body damage and restarted in 6th. Later Pettit pitted for repairs and again charged through the field to muscle past Voigt on the last lap for 3rd.
Voigt had moved from his seventh starting position to 3rd when the contact with Pettit damaged the #4 Auto-Pro/Voigt Motorsports Chevy’s handling and Voigt hung on to a hard fought 4th.
Todd Bammer started 8th but ran only ran a few laps outside the top five the entire race to bring home the Moeller Brothers Chevy to a 5th place finish.
Keith Spangler battled among the top 10 all-night in a car he bought just one week before the race. Starting 13th, Spangler drove to an impressive 6th place.
Joe Farre’ had to avoid the red flag incident that involved Tyler Monroe and Scott Sanchez, which resulted in Farre’ being shuffled to the rear of the field, but worked hard to move back up to 7th before the finish.
Craig Raudman had both a night to be proud of and to forget. Raudman charged to the front early to challenge Kanke for the lead, and held 2nd position from lap 2 to 46. Just past half-way, Raudman’s Valvoline Easy Care Centers Monte Carlo suffered a flat tire to go one lap down, but was awarded the “Lucky Dog” on the next caution to get back on the lead lap. From that point, Raudman pulled the sell out crowd to the edge of their seats as he used both the high and low lines to battle his way through the field. With only a hand full of laps remaining Raudman went off track in an attempt to pass for a top five position, which ultimately resulted in an 8th place finish.
Gregg Potts and Jason Gilbert persevered throughout the night and secured their spot in the top ten finishing order at ninth and tenth respectively.
The next race for the SRL Southwest Tour Series will be the $4,000 to win “Blackjack 121”, May 3rd at “The Bullring” at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. For more information on the SRL Southwest Tour Series go to http://www.srlsouthwesttour.com/
Riebes Auto Parts 125 presented by AmeriPride Uniform Services
|
FP |
SP |
Car |
Driver |
Team / Make |
Points |
|
1 |
1 |
33 |
M K Kanke |
Sims Trucking/RPM Motorsports Chevrolet |
50 |
|
2 |
4 |
1 |
Dave Byrd |
Faith Bumper Service/Conti Material Service Chevrolet |
48 |
|
3 |
11 |
03 |
Jim Pettit II |
Golden Gate Petroleum/Top of the Hill Performance Ford |
46 |
|
4 |
7 |
4 |
Greg Voigt |
Auto-Pro Racing Engines/JN Designs Chevrolet |
44 |
|
5 |
8 |
18 |
Todd Bammer |
Moeller Brothers/ Strandwold Properties Chevrolet |
42 |
|
6 |
13 |
37 |
Keith Spangler |
DM Motorsports/Ron’s Rear Ends Chevrolet |
40 |
|
7 |
9 |
54 |
Joe Farre |
Sigma Engineering Solutions Chevrolet |
38 |
|
8 |
3 |
2 |
Craig Raudman |
Valvoline Easy Care Centers/JS Plastering Chevrolet |
36 |
|
9 |
17 |
27 |
Greg Potts |
Economy Signs/Nascimento Motorsports Chevrolet |
34 |
|
10 |
19 |
44 |
Jason Gilbert |
Gilbert Motorsports Chevrolet |
32 |
|
11 |
18 |
50 |
Jerry Allec Jr |
NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet |
30 |
|
12 |
12 |
09 |
Brennan Newberry |
Excel Equipment/NTS Motorsports Chevrolet |
28 |
|
13 |
5 |
3 |
Troy Ermish |
AN Plumbing/Santos Chevrolet |
26 |
|
14 |
15 |
28 |
Kevin Callahan |
Bedrosians Tile/Guimarra Vineyards Chevrolet |
24 |
|
15 |
6 |
9 |
Justin Westmoreland |
3M Automotive Aftermarket Ford |
22 |
|
16 |
19 |
38 |
Jon Wood |
TBA Pontiac |
20 |
|
17 |
14 |
17 |
Darrell LaMoure |
Arizona Components Co./Truck Works Inc. Chevrolet |
16 |
|
18 |
16 |
5 |
David Mantooth |
Mantooth Construction Chevrolet |
14 |
|
19 |
2 |
7 |
Josh Combs |
MUD-Racing.Net/Country Bear Ford |
14 |
|
20 |
21 |
24 |
Scott Sanchez |
Diablo Marketing Group/ Del Sol Productions Chevrolet |
12 |
|
21 |
20 |
16 |
Tyler Monroe |
Torch Chevrolet |
12 |
Length of Race: 55:49.618
Fastest Lap: Jim Pettit II 13.25
Five Star Bodies Hard Charger Award: Greg Potts
Ron’s Rear Ends Hard Luck Award: Tyler Monroe
Fast Qualifier: Dave Byrd 13.431
Palin Names NRA Director As Attorney General |
| |
| Friday, March 27, 2009 |
| |
|
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (R) has named NRA Director Wayne Anthony Ross to be the state Attorney General. Ross, who formerly served as an NRA Vice President, serves on a number of committees, including Ethics, Gun Collectors, and Legal Affairs. He has served previously as Alaska’s Assistant Attorney General.
“With nearly 30 years served as a member of the NRA board of directors, Governor Palin has chosen a staunch defender of constitutional freedom and someone whose contributions to individual rights and gun owners is an open record. I’ve known Wayne Anthony Ross for three decades and I speak for the entire NRA family in extending our congratulations to him and our best wishes for what we know will be extraordinary service to Alaska,” said NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre.
NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris W. Cox added, “Because of Col. Ross’ proven dedication and passion for the Second Amendment, Alaskans can rest assured their Second Amendment freedom and hunting heritage will have a consistent defender in the state Attorney General’s office. On behalf of NRA members and gun owners in Alaska, I’d like to congratulate Col. Ross on his appointment.” |
Catching Up with the SRL Top 10 from 2008
Bakersfield, CA – The entire top 10 from the 2008 SRL Southwest Tour Series championship have planned their return to the SRL in 2009. With the season opener less than two weeks away, we caught up with some of the top 10 drivers from 2008 to see where they are in preparation for the 2009 SRL Southwest Tour championship season.
Defending series champ, Jim Pettit will bring his entire team back for 2008, with the same cars and a new sponsor. “It’s not broke so we’re not fixing it…the team has done a great job for us over the years…last year everyone worked hard to give us a car which completed every lap of the series and was capable of winning each race…so team wise we’ll make no changes. Our cars have a lot of laps on them, but we know what works so we’re staying with them (the cars) for 2009.” stated the 2008 series champ. “The biggest news for us is a new sponsor for the season which we will debut at Roseville.”
2008 series runner-up Craig Raudman and his team are ready for 2009, except for a few new sponsor decals to add to the car. Testing is scheduled this week for all three Bob Strandwold Racing teams at Roseville, where Raudman will be joined by team mates Dave Byrd and Troy Ermish. “We’re ready and looking forward to another successful season driving for Bob.” stated Raudman.
Greg Voigt says the car, the driver and the crew are ready to go. “We didn’t test the SRL car, but we ran opening night at Irwindale in our Super Late to help get back in the swing of things…we are excited about the upcoming SRL season”.
2008 SRL Rookie-of-the-Year Josh Combs said, “We are still preparing the car for the first race, and will not test until later this week. We have a new motor by Freightrain Racing Engines and a new approach that our rookie season is done, now it’s time to contend for wins and keep the respect of the other drivers. We are very excited about Roseville as it is our home track.”
Todd Bammer had this to say regarding preparation for 2009 season opener. “The 18 car is ready to go racing. We tested on the 14th (March) at Roseville and we were pleased. We have a new crew chief, Jeff Strandwold…car chief Howard Hoffman and John Morrison are returning this year, with Byron Decker as well. Car owner is Quentin Bammer with sponsorship from Moeller Bros. Body Shop, Maas Brothers Powder Coating, Hur Racing Engines and Strandwold Properties. We ran second at Roseville last year to Troy and this year we’re going for a win.”
According to driver Joe Farre’, the #54 Sigma Engineering Solutions Chevy Monte Carlo is poised and ready to go after the long winter break. The Farre’ Racing team put many hours into chassis, motor, and suspension upgrades in preparation for the upcoming SRL season. “We are very pleased with the help and support that the veteran teams, drivers and crew chiefs have offered during the off-season. Even though this is one of the most competitive series in the West, the veteran teams of the SRL take care of their own, and the Farre’ Racing team would like to thank everyone for the help and support that they have shared during the winter break.” stated Farre’. “We look forward to building on our successes from last year and are very excited about the schedule and opportunity that the SRL has presented for the 2009 season.”
Tenth place in the SRL standings in 2008, Justin Westmoreland feels ready for the 2009 season.
“We tested at Madera Speedway on March 14th. It was more of a shake down than a test, but for being on old tires I was pretty happy with the way the car ran. We made a few updates to our car in the off-season and I am really excited about Roseville. We feel that this is the most prepared we have been for an up coming season. The stands were packed at Roseville last year which makes it exciting as well.”
The SRL Southwest Tour Series will start its ninth season on Saturday, April 4th at Roseville’s All-American Speedway in the “Riebes Auto Parts 125 presented by AmeriPride Uniform Services”. The schedule for the Roseville event will also feature the NASCAR Camping World West Series, Modifieds, Mini Cups and Baby Grands. For more information go to http://www.srlsouthwesttour.com/.
###
RON CAPPS JOINS OTHER CELEBRITIES TO RACE IN BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY CHARITY EVENT MARCH 21
Capps' effort will benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation
CARLSBAD, Calif. (March 18, 2009) - Ron Capps, who regularly races the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Funny Car in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series for Don Schumacher Racing, will compete against football coaches and players, TV/radio personalities and other race-car drivers in celebrity heat races as part of Scotts Saturday Night Special, March 21, at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
Paired with celebrity partners, Capps and legendary racers such as Junior Johnson, Harry Gant, Cale Yarborough, Jack Ingram, David Green, Terry Labonte, Sterling Marlin, L.D. Ottinger, Phil Parsons, David Pearson, Jimmy Spencer and Rusty Wallace, will run 35 circuits of a 50-lap event to benefit their favorite charities.
Capps, the NHRA Funny Car points leader after winning the first two of three season events in 2009, has named the Susan G. Komen Foundation as his charity on behalf of NAPA AUTO PARTS.
The Saturday Night Special will take place after the completion of the Scotts Turf Builder 300 Nationwide Series race and the 100-lap UARA late model event. The NASCAR Food City 500 is scheduled for Sunday, March 22.
The celebrities will run 15-lap or 10-minute heats to help determine the starting spots of their pro driver teammates, who then will run 35 laps.
NHRA racers Greg Anderson and Doug Herbert are also scheduled to participate in the event.
A $100,000 purse to be paid to the charity of choice by each driver will be up for grabs. Competing in late model stock cars, $25,000 will be donated to the charity of choice of the winning team. The second-place team will have $10,000 given to the charity of its choice and $5,000 will go to the designated charity of the other entrants.
"Of course, everybody knows how big a deal this NASCAR weekend in Bristol is, first of all," said Capps. "It's such an amazing facility and every event they've had there in past years has been a sell-out.
"To be invited to actually race on the same track as the NASCAR guys race on is going to be pretty awesome,” added Capps, who usually races down a 1000-ft. drag strip at over 300 mph, but often competes on short-track ovals at special events. “You look up and see 130,000 people in the stands watching you and that tells you why it's such an important event.
"It's going to be a lot of fun. To be able to race against such racing icons as Harry Gant - who was one of my teammates in the past when we were both backed by the same sponsor - David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Jimmy Spencer, Rusty Wallace, and have a chance to go around that famous half-mile will be a great experience.
"The kicker of this type of event is that we're able to have fun, enjoy some exciting wheel-to-wheel competition and at the same time be able to benefit our charities. It's an honor to be able to contribute to the Susan G. Komen Foundation."
Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer, who also will serve as grand marshal of the Food City 500, will climb behind the wheel of a race car for the first time as will Terry Bowden. Bowden returns to the college coaching ranks this year after 10 years in the broadcast booth, taking over the Division II powerhouse University of North Alabama.
Coaches are not the only ones suiting up. David Akers, Pro-Bowl kicker for the Philadelphia Eagles will participate. Also racing for charity will be local hero Mike Compton, current head football coach at Patrick Henry High School (Glade Spring, Va.) and two-time Super Bowl winner with the Patriots of New England.
Rounding out the first heat will be: Bill Jordan, owner/founder of Realtree Camouflage and host of two of his own television shows: Bill Jordan’s Realtree Outdoors and ESPN’s “Driven to Hunt” and TV/radio personality Riki Rachtman of MTV’s “Charm School” and “Daisy of Love.”
Taking the wheel in the second heat will be a field of more experienced drivers.
Former car owners and two of racing’s top crew chiefs of all time, Andy Petree and Ray Evernham, now ESPN race analysts as well as Brad Daugherty; a former number-one pick in the NBA draft and retired all-star player with the Cleveland Cavaliers will be part of the festivities.
Tickets may be purchased at www.bristoltix.com or by calling the BMS ticket office at (423) 989-6900.
***
Over the past few weeks, the number of stories in the press regarding the escalating violence in Mexico has dramatically increased. Now, hardly a day goes by when another story describing the atrocities committed by violent drug cartels cannot be found in an American newspaper or on a cable news channel.
Gun owners need to pay attention to these stories, because the opponents of our Second Amendment rights are starting to use this situation as a pretext to push their gun ban agenda here in the United States.
New Attorney General Eric Holder is the first Administration official to cite Mexican drug cartel killings as an excuse to reinstate the semi-auto ban. And now some in Congress have jumped on the bandwagon.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 13, 2009
SRL Southwest Tour Series Readies for Ninth Season
Bakersfield, CA – As the SRL Southwest Tour Series looks towards the start of the 2009 season, many indications show that this will be the best year in the history of the nine year old tour series.
- Teams: There are an increased number of teams committed to the SRL for 2009. The entire top 10 from the 2008 SRL championship will return; Jim Pettit II, Craig Raudman, Greg Voigt, Keith Spangler, Troy Ermish, Josh Combs, Dave Byrd, Joe Farre’ and Justin Westmoreland will be back, in addition to full-time efforts from tour series veterans Darrell LaMoure, Terry Henry and Mike Kanke. Many new teams have submitted registrations for 2009, including a new team structure for NTS Motorsports Brennan Newberry, Corsaro Motorsports now has rookie Kevin Callahan behind the wheel, and rookie Scott Sanchez will bring a brand new team to the SRL in 2009.
- Big Incentives: SRL drivers will chase a bigger carrot in 2009, as prize money has increased to a minimum $3,000 to win each event. An additional $1,000 bonus provided by Rub It Enterprises and Graphics will be awarded at each Madera and Stockton race, which will take the winner’s prize money to $4,000. The Las Vegas events will also pay a $1,000 bonus.
- Web Cast: Production crews will be on hand to provide a web cast of the SRL Southwest Tour Series events in 2009, including series presenting sponsor GoLiveStream.TV.
- Schedule: The SRL will visit five tracks over its ten race 2009 schedule; Roseville’s All-American Speedway–April 4th, The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway–May 3rd & October 31st, Madera Speedway–May 23rd, July 4th &September 5th, Toyota Speedway at Irwindale–July 18th & October 10th and the New Stockton 99 Speedway–August 8th & October 3rd.
- Rookie-of-the-Year Award: Victory Circle Chassis and Parts will once again sponsor the Rookie-of-the-Year chase, and present an elite chassis to the winner of the Rookie-of-the-Year title.
- 2009 Season Opener: For the second consecutive year the SRL Southwest Tour Series will start its season at All-American Speedway in a companion show with the NASCAR Camping World West Series. SRL practice and qualifying on Friday, April 3rd with the “Riebes Auto Parts 125 presented by AmeriPride Uniform Services” on Saturday night, April 4th.
- Hard Luck: Ron’s Rear Ends will once again award $100 cash to last place finisher in each main event.
- More Awards: Port City Race Cars of Muskegon, MI, a new SRL sponsor for 2009 will award a chassis to one of the top fifteen drivers of 2009 by way of a reverse drawing at the SRL championship awards banquet. Also, Melo’s Gas and Gear will be awarding a Miller Electric Renegade 180 Welder to a crew chief whose team finishes in the Top 15 at the year end award’s banquet.
For more information about the SRL Southwest Tour Series, go to www.SRLSouthwestTour.com.
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (Mar. 9, 2009) – It was déjà vu all over again. Seriously, it could have been 1966, 1972 or even 2008 as perfect weather, packed stands and incredible drag racing competition all added up to another wildly successful March Meet at Auto Club Famoso Raceway near Bakersfield, Calif. And speaking of 2008, the 2009 winner were certainly familiar: Bucky Austin once again claimed the Nostalgia Funny Car category and the Harris family continuing its winning ways as Brett Harris took the Nostalgia Top Fuel title. Both racers also got a good jump on the competition as the March Meet is also the season opener for the NHRA’s eight-race Hot Rod Heritage Series.
Austin, who won the Hot Rod Heritage Series Nostalgia Funny Car championship last year, beat Garrett Bateman, Tacoma, Wash., in the Funny Car final with a record-breaking time of 5.72 seconds at a blistering 246.77 mph. Garrett finished with a 5.85 time at 245.36 mph. Both Austin and Bateman ran on cars owned by Steve Plueger.
Fife, Wash. may be home for Austin, but he now owns Bakersfield. He’s on the roll of lifetime here, winning four times in the two years at the legendary Auto Club Famoso, including two March Meets and two California Hot Rod Reunions. And he’s set a new record in each race, including Sunday’s with the lowest elapsed time (ET) in Nostalgia Funny history (5.72).
“We’ve accomplished a lot here in Bakersfield,” Austin said after the race, “but it takes a good car, a great crew and a little luck. Everything has to go right. My hat’s off to Steve (Plueger) and the whole team.”
Austin may have team support, but Brett Harris has family support. Brett and his father, Jack, have dominated the Nostalgia Top Fuel competition at the March Meet the last three years. Brett won it in 2007, Jack in ’08 and Brett kept it going in ’09 by beating Rick White of San Diego in championship race. Harris, from Kaysville, Utah, ran a 5.67 (263.77 mph) to White’s 5.68 (259.36 mph). Harris also claimed the low ET (5.65) and top speed (263.77 mph) during the three-day event.
All told, the Harris father-son combo now have five March Meet titles between them, with “Sheriff” Jack owning three and Brett now with two. “We like Bakersfield,” Brett said after the race. “We’ve figured out the track and have it dialed-in. We’ve been dominate here, but we try to dominate everywhere. But the March Meet is the big-big one. It’s the Indy 500 of drag racing. This is the one event you want to win so you can pump your chest all year long.”
More than 500 race cars in 14 classes were entered in this year’s March Meet, which is now celebrating 51 years of racing at Auto Club Famoso. Last year’s 50th anniversary drew record crowds, but there was concern that the soft economy would take a toll on the race entries and the crowds. Again, it was a blast from the past as the stands were full, as were the vendors’ midway, swap meet area and the hot rod/street rod-lined Grove.
“People came out to forget their troubles and enjoy themselves with some affordable family fun,” said Blake Bowser, vice president and general manager of the Kern County Racing Association, operators of Auto Club Famoso Raceway and producers of the March Meet. “That’s what has made this race and track so popular over the years: People want to see a great show and have fun. Hopefully we can continue to provide this for years to come.”
For more information on the March Meet or other events at Auto Club Famoso Raceway, visit www.autoclubfamosoraceway.com.
FINAL RESULTS OF THE 51ST MARCH MEET/NHRA HOT ROD HERITAGE SERIES, AUTO CLUB FAMOSO RACEWAY
NOSTALGIA TOP FUEL
Round 1:
Denver Schutz, Fresno CA, Stirling-Rodeck, Left lane, (0.119) 5.824 242.45 def. Howard Haight, Brownsburg IN, Stirling-Hemi, (0.084) 6.974 142.26
Troy Green, Anahiem CA, Stirling-Donovan, Left lane, (0.129) 5.932 231.12 def. Brendan Murry, San Jose CA, Stirling-Arias, (-0.500) NT-Broke Before Staging
Brett Harris, Kaysville UT, N&P-Rodeck, Left lane, (0.098) 5.692 250.13 def. Mark Malde, Windsor CA, Stirling-Chevy, (-0.500) NT-Broke Before Staging
Rick White, San Diego CA, Hansen-Rodeck, Left lane, (0.138) 5.788 246.57 def. Rick Rogers, Atascadero CA, Stirling-Donovan, (0.190) 6.412 172.57
Jim Murphy, Santa Rosa CA, Thornhill-Rodeck, Left lane, (0.148) 5.768 225.50 def. Rick Williamson, Stockton CA, Davison-Chrysler, (0.116) 9.011 85.77
Brad Thompson, Visalia CA, Crossbow-Rodeck, Right lane, (0.084) 5.991 232.91 def. Rick McGee, Exeter CA, Tedford-Donovan, (0.132) 6.020 206.23
Mike McLennan, Oakley CA, URC-Rodeck, Left lane, (0.126) 6.610 210.47 def. Terry Cox, Clarkburg CA, URC-Hemi, (0.149) 8.140 86.99
Shannon Stuart, Riverside CA, Stirling-Donovan, Right lane, (0.135) 6.024 226.35 def. Adam Sorokin, Glendale CA, Uyehara-Rodeck, (0.073) 6.120 240.44
Round 2:
J Murphy, Left lane, (0.327) 5.960 209.64 def. B Thompson, NT-No Show
B Harris, Left lane, (0.053) 5.735 243.30 def. S Stuart, (0.181) 6.084 232.19
R White, Left lane, (0.131) 5.819 245.03 def. M McLennan, (0.070) 7.244 131.57
D Schutz, Left lane, (0.021) 6.009 251.95 def. T Green, (0.087) 6.289 187.77
Round 3:
R White, Left lane, (0.289) 5.719 247.38 def. J Murphy, (0.177) 8.022 113.36
B Harris, Left lane, (0.079) 5.656 257.28 def. D Schutz, (0.118) 5.843 258.17
Round 4:
B Harris, Left lane, (0.057) 5.674 263.77 def. R White, (0.090) 5.684 259.36
Low ET: Brett Harris 5.656 seconds
Top Speed: Brett Harris 263.77 MPH
NOSTALGIA FUNNY CAR:
Round 1:
Lee Paul Jennings Jr, Hilmar CA, '69 Camaro, Left lane, (0.033) 5.992 221.34 def. Ed Dougan, Brea CA, '74 Camaro, (0.112) 5.933 238.60
Mark Sanders, Maple Valley WA, '70 Nova, Right lane, (0.243) 5.887 243.70 def. Terry Capp, Edmonton AB, '77 Firebird, (0.547) 5.858 247.72
Bucky Austin, Fife WA, '79 Arrow, Left lane, (0.174) 5.754 246.23 def. Dennis Taylor, Anahiem CA, '72 Charger, (0.200) 7.565 115.41
Garrett Bateman, Tacoma WA, '72 Mustang, Left lane, (0.150) 5.820 237.02 def. Chris Krabill, Orange CA, '78 Arrow, (0.124) 5.870 246.91
Round 2:
G Bateman, Left lane, (0.161) 5.862 240.96 def. M Sanders, (0.140) 6.047 238.22
B Austin, Left lane, (0.157) 5.789 242.06 def. L Jennings Jr, (0.078) 5.876 244.56
Round 3:
B Austin, Left lane, (0.162) 5.723 246.77 def. G Bateman, (0.155) 5.853 245.36
Low ET: Bucky Austin 5.723 seconds
Top Speed: Terry Capp 248.13 MPH
FUNNY CAR CONSOLATION:
Round 1:
Mike Halstead, Fontana CA, '69 Daytona, Right lane, (0.192) 5.990 240.25 def. Craig Michael, Las Vegas NV, '72 Satellite, (0.111) 6.178 220.85
Jack Wright, Oakhurst CA, '70 Challanger, Right lane, (0.154) 6.021 232.25 def. Bob Godfrey, Moreno Valley CA, '69 Camaro, (0.173) 6.179 234.31
Stephen Romanazzi, Visalia CA, '77 Firebird, Right lane, (0.133) 6.083 204.96 def. Dale Pulde, Sylmar CA, '77 Trans Am, (0.143) 6.323 No Speed
Dennis La Charite, Rolling Hills Estates CA, '69 GTO, Right lane, (0.092) 5.956 240.57 def. Mendy Fry, Aliso Viejo CA, '73 Duster, (0.131) 6.036 240.96
Round 2:
J Wright, Right lane, (0.154) 13.235 56.50 def. S Romanazzi, NT-No Show
M Halstead, Left lane, (0.154) 6.091 237.59 def. D La Charite, (0.065) 6.504 233.34
Round 3:
M Halstead, Left lane, (0.140) 6.035 239.10 def. J Wright, (0.120) 6.491 188.67
Low ET: Dennis La Charite 5.956 seconds
Top Speed: Mendy Fry 240.96 MPH
A FUEL:
Round 1:
Harry Hutsler, Lakewood CO, Dragster, Right lane, (0.017) 7.122 188.87 def. Bill Wayne, Bullhead City AZ, URC-AJPE, (0.071) 7.182 206.37
Kin Bates, Anderson CA, Tuttle-Chrysler, Left lane, (0.094) 6.393 224.49 def. Claude Lavoie, Sherwood Park AB, Dragster-Hemi, (-0.005 foul) 6.623 214.33
Gerry Wheeler, Wagoner OK, Ohara-Rodeck, Right lane, (0.064) 6.825 208.91 def. Nick Norton, Long Beach CA, Uyehara-Chevy, (-0.074 foul) 6.501 200.89
Shawn Corbari, San Jose CA, Stirling-BAE, Right lane, (0.097) 6.579 199.60 def. Ronnie Lennon, Sonoma CA, '32 Bantam, (0.010) 10.537 72.30
Round 2:
G Wheeler, Left lane, (0.081) 6.824 205.52 def. H Hutsler, (0.065) 6.961 193.96
K Bates, Right lane, (0.076) 6.349 224.83 def. S Corbari, (0.017) 8.169 101.32
Round 3:
K Bates, Right lane, (0.100) 6.358 223.32 def. G Wheeler, (0.009) 7.710 122.96
Low ET: Kin Bates 6.349 seconds
Top Speed: Kin Bates 224.83 MPH
NOSTALGIA ELIMINATOR I:
Round 2:
Dan Schrokosch, San Marcos CA, Tuttle-Chevy, Left lane, (0.018) 7.666 0.066, def. Dale Dow, Bakersfield CA, '23 T-Ford, (0.052) 7.634 0.034
Jordan Frolka, Simi Valley CA, N&P-Chevy, Left lane, (0.064) 7.619 0.019, def. Bruce McDowell, Chula Vista CA, Hanson-Chevy, (-0.006 foul) 7.614 0.014
Eily Safford, El Cajon CA, Porter-Donovan, Right lane, (0.044) 7.665 0.065, def. Jon Kostelecky, Dickinson ND, Tuttle-Chevy, (0.011)
7.869 0.269
Jess Sturgeon, Costa Mesa CA, Tuttle-Donovan, Left lane, (0.059) 7.619 0.019, def. Dave Ward, Crestline CA, '48 Fiat, (0.081) 7.640 0.040
Hans Jakob, Ontario CA, Hansen-Chev, Right lane, (0.049) 7.864 0.264, def. Dorthy Morris, Snohomish WA, Bantam-Chrys, (0.361) 7.664 0.064
Tony Wimer, Redlands CA, Tuttle-Chevy, Right lane, (0.076) 7.597 -0.003, def. Austin Frye, Taft CA, '23 T-Ford, (0.059) 7.580 -0.020
Bobby Evans, Covina CA, Tuttle-Chrysler, Right lane, (0.035) 7.606 0.006, def. Dave Gruzen, Lakewood CA, '23 T-Ford, (0.108) 7.588 -0.012
Phil Lukens, Pasadena CA, '48 Fiat, Left lane, (0.087) 7.689 0.089, def. Dale Taros, La Mirada CA, Tuttle-Chevy, (-0.019 foul) 7.629 0.029
Round 3:
J Frolka, Left lane, (0.061) 7.662 0.062, def. E Safford, (0.006) 7.597 -0.003
B Evans, Right lane, (0.048) 7.759 0.159, def. T Wimer, (0.038) 10.169 2.569
J Sturgeon, Left lane, (0.035) 7.867 0.267, def. H Jakob, (0.212) 7.769 0.169
D Schrokosch, Right lane, (0.040) 7.841 0.241, def. P Lukens, (0.160) 7.846 0.246
Round 4:
J Sturgeon, Left lane, (0.005) 7.658 0.058, def. B Evans, (0.040) 7.683 0.083
D Schrokosch, Right lane, (0.014) 7.644 0.044, def. J Frolka, (0.061) 7.623 0.023
Round 5:
J Sturgeon, Left lane, (0.038) 7.600 0.000, def. D Schrokosch, (0.071) 7.603 0.003
NOSTALGIA ELIMINATOR II:
Round 1:
Drew Mraz, San Diego CA, Dragster-Chev, Right lane, (0.037) 8.690 0.090, def. Jim Van Gordon, Alta Loma CA, '27 Plymouth, (0.056) 8.557 -0.043
Jim Black, Paso Robles CA, '32 Bantam, Left lane, (0.034) 8.621 0.021, def. John Kopishke, Paso Robles CA, '27 T-Ford, (0.021) 8.635 0.035
Daniel Bascom, Moorpark CA, '23 T-Ford, Right lane, (0.034) 8.611 0.011, def. Dick Maas, Lindsey CA, '32 Bantam, (0.057) 8.594 -0.006
Bud Wanbaugh, Bella Vista CA, Dragster-Chevy, Right lane, (0.065) 8.655 0.055, def. Gabe Wood, Bakersfield CA, '48 Fiat, (0.123) 8.586 -0.014
Dan See, Clovis CA, '23 T-Ford, Right lane, (0.019) 8.656 0.056, def. Steve Olmscheid, Lancaster CA, '23 T-Ford, (0.065) 8.580 -0.020
Jay Huckleberry, Porterville CA, '23 T-Ford, Right lane, (0.143) 8.550 -0.050, def. Bobby Lee, Monrovia CA, '47 Fiat, (0.325) 9.117 0.517
Doug Davenport, Las Vegas NV, Dragster-Chevy, Left lane, (0.318) 8.538 -0.062, def. Justin Linebach, Silver Lake CA, FED-Chev, (0.134) 8.670 0.070
Jeff Crider, Bakersfield CA, Tuttle-Chevy, Right lane, (0.060) 8.724 0.124, def. Ed Koops, Anderson CA, Shoemaker-Chevy, NT-No Show
Round 2:
D Bascom, Right lane, (0.010) 8.815 0.215, def. D Mraz, (0.073) 14.947 6.347
D See, Right lane, (0.037) 8.781 0.181, def. J Crider, (0.075) 8.748 0.148
J Black, Left lane, (0.039) 8.652 0.052, def. D Davenport, (0.013) 8.595 -0.005
J Huckleberry, Left lane, (0.054) 8.623 0.023, def. B Wanbaugh, (0.043) 8.655 0.055
Round 3:
D See, Right lane, (0.014) 8.708 0.108, def. D Bascom, (0.119) 8.640 0.040
J Huckleberry, Right lane, (0.043) 8.595 -0.005, def. J Black, (0.054) 8.559
-0.041
Round 4:
D See, Right lane, (0.018) 8.634 0.034, def. J Huckleberry, (0.031) 8.598
-0.002
NOSTALGIA ELIMINATOR III:
Round 1:
Tim Beeman, Red Bluff CA, '32 Bantam, Right lane, (0.023) 9.595 -0.005, def. John Lyon, Overton NV, Gilmore-Chevy, (0.050) 9.570 -0.030
Ernie McAllister, Norwalk CA, '27-T Ford, Left lane, (0.125) 9.670 0.070, def. Chris Carson, Sherman Oaks CA, N&P-Chevy, (0.033) 9.764 0.164
Linssey Lister, San Pedro CA, '70 Shoemaker, Left lane, (0.065) 9.757 0.157, def. Kelly Pruett, Eugene OR, '55 Chevy, (0.304) 9.616 0.016
Mike Brock, Tehachapi CA, '37 Fiat, Right lane, (0.041) 9.741 0.141, def. Randy Winkle, McFarland CA, FED-Chevy, (0.017) 9.855 0.255
Round 2:
L Lister, Right lane, (0.027) 9.600 0.000, def. E McAllister, (0.029) 9.702 0.102
M Brock, Right lane, (0.021) 9.629 0.029, def. T Beeman, (0.046) 9.579 -0.021
Round 3:
L Lister, Right lane, (0.065) 9.701 0.101, def. M Brock, (0.036) 9.804 0.204
AA/GAS SUPERCHARGED
Round 1:
Mike Leonard, Plesanton CA, '69 Chevy, Left lane, (0.172) 6.609 208.33 def. John Peterson, Homewood CA, '70 Plymouth, (0.016) 6.778 202.65
Jirka Kaplan, Calgery AB, '63 Vette, Right lane, (0.053) 6.988 171.52 def. Robert Moore, El Cajon , '60 Impala, (0.096) 10.255 79.88
Gary Reinero, Merced CA, '48 Austin, Right lane, (0.066) 6.924 201.29 def. Rich Roberts, Atwater CA, '34 Willys, (0.062) 7.369 139.94
Sean Renteria, Hollister CA, '65 Valiant, Right lane, (0.145) 6.672 209.74 def. Mark Mahood, Yorba Linda CA, '69 Camaro, (0.075) 7.126 187.69
Round 2:
M Leonard, Right lane, (0.110) 6.618 208.62 def. G Reinero, (0.108) 6.873 203.20
S Renteria, Left lane, (0.061) 6.662 212.01 def. J Kaplan, (0.052) 6.921 184.84
Round 3:
S Renteria, Left lane, (0.082) 6.772 209.20 def. M Leonard, (0.174) 9.201 96.94
Low ET: Mike Leonard 6.609 seconds
Top Speed: Sean Renteria 212.01 MPH
7.0 PRO:
Round 1:
Ron Huegli, Vancouver WA, '76 Monza, Right lane, (-0.134) 9.105 2.105, def. Roger Gates, Wofford Hights CA, FED-Chevy, NT-Left Before Tree
Scott Christlieb, Leona Valley CA, N&P-Chevy, Left lane, (0.092) 7.178 0.178, def. Jeff Scheller, Billings MT, Fastec-Chevy, (0.077) 7.259 0.259
Ken Rappaport, San Diego CA, FED-Chevy, Left lane, (0.044) 7.336 0.336, def. Don Dicero, Vacaville CA, '23 Ford-T, (0.147) 12.245 5.245
Mike Smith, San Diego CA, Hansen-Rodeck, Right lane, (0.036) 7.143 0.143, def. Jerry Beach, Woodland Hills CA, FED-Chevy, (0.152) 7.170 0.170
Bob Murphy, Clovis CA, D&M-Chevy, Left lane, (0.216) 7.043 0.043, def. Jim Scott, Fallbrook CA, FED-Chevy, (0.053) 8.292 1.292
Chris Bates, Oceanside CA, '23 Ford-T, Right lane, (0.007) 7.802 0.802, def. Mike Salinas, Gilroy CA, Uyehara-GM, (0.154) 7.980 0.980
Mike Cross, Culver City CA, Dyda-Chevy, Right lane, (0.166) 7.215 0.215, def. Richard Phillips, Visalia CA, '32 Bantam, (0.202)
12.006 5.006
Kelly Harvey, Ft Collins CO, Gilmore-Chevy, Left lane, (0.145) 7.078 0.078, def. Roy Victor, Citrus Hights CA, Tuttle-Chevy, (0.245) 10.512 3.512
Round 2:
K Rappaport, Right lane, (0.061) 7.383 0.383, def. K Harvey, (0.243) 11.081 4.081
C Bates, Right lane, (0.262) 7.939 0.939, def. R Huegli, (0.100) 8.846 1.846
M Smith, Right lane, (0.037) 7.222 0.222, def. M Cross, (0.123) 7.236 0.236
B Murphy, Left lane, (0.080) 7.040 0.040, def. S Christlieb, (0.048) NT-Broke After Staging
Round 3:
M Smith, Right lane, (0.036) 7.036 0.036, def. B Murphy, (0.049) 7.080 0.080
K Rappaport, Left lane, (0.080) 8.134 1.134, def. C Bates, NT-Broke Before Staging
Round 4:
M Smith, Right lane, (0.027) 7.106 0.106, def. K Rappaport, (0.035) 7.161 0.161
JUNIOR FUEL:
Round 1:
Bud Hammer, Oxnard CA, Tuttle-Chevy, Left lane, (0.127) 7.112 186.76 def. Jd Zink, Chino CA, Tuttle-GMC, (0.029) 7.346 177.02
Bob Lander, Sebastopol CA, Dragster-Chevy, Left lane, (0.131) 7.088 186.56 def. Fred Notzka, Ventura CA, NT-No Show
Don Enriquez, Misson Viejo CA, Fritz-Chevy, Left lane, (0.056) 7.205 185.60 def. John Rasmussen, Littleton CO, Dragster-Hemi, (0.135) 7.289 182.55
Round 2:
B Hammer, Right lane, (0.159) 7.128 183.78 was unopposed
B Lander, Left lane, (0.104) 7.086 186.79 def. D Enriquez, (0.037) 7.171 185.79
Round 3:
B Hammer, Right lane, (0.083) 7.082 185.87 def. B Lander, (0.098) 8.255 137.93
Low ET: Bud Hammer 7.082 seconds
Top Speed: Bob Lander 186.79 MPH
A/GAS:
Round 1:
Chris Beanes, Arcadia CA, '51 Henry J, Right lane, (0.028) 7.762 0.162, def. Tom Schiffilea, San Gabriel CA, '40 Willys, NT-Left Before Tree
Rob Patten, Tracy CA, '63 Vette, Left lane, (0.044) 7.896 0.296, def. John Childs, Anchorage AK, '37 Chevy, (0.084) 8.303 0.703
Brad Chafee, Stevenson Ranch CA, '67 Chevy, Left lane, (0.075) 7.768 0.168, def. Dave Matson, Nevada City CA, '67 Camaro, NT-Broke After Staging
Mike Ford, Bakersfield CA, '57 Chevy, Left lane, (0.014) 7.638 0.038, def. Jim Godec, Carson City NV, '37 Chevy, (0.007) 7.556 -0.044
B/GAS:
Round 1:
Doug Hampton, Salinas CA, '66 Fairlane, Right lane, (0.037) 8.777 0.177, def. Steve Pullin, Tacoma WA, '69 Camaro, (0.078) 20.602 12.002
Ray Padgett, Santa Paula CA, '68 Camaro, Left lane, (0.046) 8.598 -0.002, def. Red McGuiness, Visalia CA, '70 Ford, (0.021) 8.578 -0.022
Leonard Perry, Strathmore CA, '70 Mustang, Right lane, (0.016) 8.628 0.028, def. Bones Balogh, Long Beach CA, '69 Camaro, (0.269) 8.700 0.100
Jerry Jahnsen, Sacramento CA, '67 Nova, Right lane, (0.009) 8.709 0.109, def. Mike James, Winnemucca CA, '51 Henry J, (0.096) 8.716 0.116
Jim Teague, Sanger CA, '63 Chevy, Right lane, (0.045) 8.604 0.004, def. Mike Mossi, Napa CA, '67 Camaro, (0.062) 8.600 0.000
Randy Armstrong, San Ramon CA, '57 Chevy, Right lane, (0.020) 8.613 0.013, def. Jim Stewart, Santa Paula CA, '66 Nova, (0.016) 8.654 0.054
Casey Treur, Santa Maria CA, '33 Willys, Right lane, (0.010) 8.623 0.023, def. Rick Logsdon, Bakersfield CA, '55 Chevy, (0.029) 8.591 -0.009
Kevin Riley, Santa Clara CA, '67 Barracuda, Left lane, (0.002) 8.626 0.026, def. George Madden, Livermore CA, '66 Nova, (-0.500) NT-Broke Before Staging
Round 2:
K Riley, Right lane, (0.057) 9.101 0.501, def. K Riley, (0.023) 9.201 0.601
L Perry, Right lane, (0.047) 8.712 0.112, def. D Hampton, (0.026) 8.918 0.318
C Treur, Right lane, (0.011) 8.644 0.044, def. R Padgett, (0.064) 8.686 0.086
J Teague, Right lane, (0.003) 8.720 0.120, def. R Armstrong, (0.052) 8.686 0.086
Round 3:
J Teague, Left lane, (0.035) 9.489 0.889, def. C Treur, (0.044) 14.304 5.704
J Jahnsen, Right lane, (0.037) 8.719 0.119, def. L Perry, (0.033) 8.795 0.195
Round 4:
J Jahnsen, Left lane, (0.033) 8.841 0.241, def. J Teague, (-0.023 foul) 10.436 1.836
Frank Merenda, Raso Robles CA, '65 Chev, Right lane, (0.054) 7.695 0.095, def. Mike Ward, Anderson CA, '33 Willys, (0.062) 8.620 1.020
Mike Doushgounian, Morgan Hill CA, '68 Camaro, Left lane, (0.025) 7.749 0.149, def. AJ Schwichtenberg, Homer AK, '63 Vette, (0.663) 7.690 0.090
Mike Thielen, Olympia WA, '67 Camaro, Left lane, (0.072) 7.655 0.055, def. Jay Diedrich, Firebaugh CA, '68 Camaro, (0.029) 7.700 0.100
Ray Martin, Anchorage AL, '63 Vette, Right lane, (0.029) 7.608 0.008, def. Jimmy White, Covina CA, '63 Vette, (0.038) 7.749 0.149
Round 2:
M Doushgounian, Left lane, (0.011) 7.743 0.143, def. R Patten, (0.038) 13.479 5.879
B Chafee, Left lane, (0.064) 7.612 0.012, def. M Ford, (-0.500) NT-Broke Before Staging
R Martin, Right lane, (0.014) 7.614 0.014, def. M Thielen, (0.047) 7.639 0.039
F Merenda, Left lane, (0.067) 7.689 0.089, def. C Beanes, (0.037) 7.849 0.249
Round 3:
R Martin, Right lane, (0.050) 7.770 0.170, def. F Merenda, (0.047) 7.875 0.275
B Chafee, Left lane, (0.053) 7.662 0.062, def. M Doushgounian, (0.034) 7.730 0.130
Round 4:
B Chafee, Left lane, (0.032) 7.799 0.199, def. R Martin, (0.063) 8.104 0.504
C/GAS:
Round 2:
Darrin Sisemore, Bakersfield CA, '66 Chevy, Left lane, (0.050) 9.641 0.041, def. Dick Lechien, Kingman AZ, '66 Chevelle, (-0.352 foul) 9.597 -0.003
Mike Wortman, Santa Paula CA, '69 Mercury, Right lane, (0.018) 9.773 0.173, def. Max Watson, Bakersfield CA, '69 Camaro, (0.043) 9.751 0.151
Andrew Berry, Atascadero CA, '70 Camaro, Right lane, (0.034) 9.611 0.011, def. Steve Matteson, Paso Robles CA, '72 Firebird, (0.053) 9.619 0.019
Jessie Wooton, Visalia CA, '65 Malibu, Left lane, (0.024) 9.667 0.067, def. Bill Welch, Ojai CA, '58 Vette, (0.087) 9.616 0.016
Mark Capps, Madera CA, '67 Mustang, Right lane, (0.034) 9.587 -0.013, def. Priscilla Cogswell, Chula Vista CA, '72 Nova, (-0.278 foul) 10.959 1.359
Doug Petrosky, Morgan Hill CA, '64 Nova, Left lane, (0.042) 9.713 0.113, def. Tom Sceberras, Laguna Hills CA, '69 Camaro, (0.082) 9.757 0.157
Mike Rogers Sr, Bakersfield CA, '66 Nova, Left lane, (0.039) 9.599 -0.001, def. PJ Giacalone, San Pedro CA, '55 Chevy, (0.057) 9.586 -0.014
Scott Hudson, Yorba Linda CA, '66 Nova, Left lane, (0.007) 9.602 0.002, def. John Contreras, San Franciso CA, '65 Olds, (0.065) 9.557 -0.043
Round 3:
M Capps, Right lane, (0.047) 9.687 0.087, def. M Wortman, (0.037) 9.711 0.111
J Wooton, Left lane, (0.034) 9.650 0.050, def. D Sisemore, (0.065) 9.621 0.021
D Petrosky, Left lane, (0.011) 9.610 0.010, def. M Rogers Sr, (0.013) 9.586 -0.014
A Berry, Right lane, (0.035) 9.613 0.013, def. S Hudson, (0.122) 9.601 0.001
Round 4:
J Wooton, Left lane, (0.079) 9.657 0.057, def. M Capps, (0.054) 9.570 -0.030
D Petrosky, Left lane, (0.011) 9.605 0.005, def. A Berry, (0.039) 9.644 0.044
Round 5:
J Wooton, Right lane, (0.065) 9.603 0.003, def. D Petrosky, (0.078) 9.605 0.005
D/GAS:
Round 2:
Mike Williams, Bakersfield CA, '71 Vega, Left lane, (0.166) 10.593 -0.007, def. Steve Whitemore, Dixon CA, '67 Mustang, NT-No Show
Kevin Pope, Exeter CA, '56 Chevy, Left lane, (0.078) 10.615 0.015, def. Ruben Pulido, Glendale CA, '62 Chevy, (0.087) 10.609 0.009
Richard Rollins, Dos Palos CA, '69 Camaro, Right lane, (0.100) 10.624 0.024, def. Greg Sadeau, San Diego CA, '67 Camaro, (0.089) 10.528 -0.072
Diane Diedrich, Clovis CA, '65 Chevy II, Right lane, (0.047) 10.652 0.052, def. Sergio Felipe, San Francisco CA, '65 Mustang, (0.089) 10.669 0.069
Don Fournier, Sunnyvale CA, '48 Anglia, Left lane, (0.045) 10.636 0.036, def. Darold Sisemore, Bakersfield CA, '68 Camaro, (0.101) 10.603 0.003
Dyton Sizemore, Bakersfield CA, '68 Camaro, Right lane, (0.086) 10.677 0.077, def. Mike Dunn, Yuba City CA, '63 Plymouth, (0.113) 10.573 -0.027
Jason Barta, Bakersfield CA, '69 Chevelle, Left lane, (0.083) 10.783 0.183, def. Rick Rogers, Santa Maria CA, '69 Camaro, (0.285) 10.948 0.348
Ed Carey, LaJolla CA, '71 Chevy, Right lane, (0.044) 10.637 0.037, def. Brian Clark, Newhall CA, '68 Roadrunner, (0.109) 10.552 -0.048
Round 3:
D Sizemore, Right lane, (0.049) 10.675 0.075, def. D Fournier, (0.040) 10.695 0.095
M Williams, Left lane, (0.031) 10.660 0.060, def. R Rollins, (0.060) 10.656 0.056
K Pope, Right lane, (0.066) 10.662 0.062, def. J Barta, (0.072) 10.559 -0.041
E Carey, Left lane, (0.015) 10.637 0.037, def. D Diedrich, (0.065) 10.603 0.003
Round 4:
E Carey, Left lane, (0.041) 33.849 23.249, def. K Pope, (0.071) 10.380 -0.220
M Williams, Left lane, (0.023) 10.706 0.106, def. D Sizemore, (0.079) 10.686 0.086
Round 5:
M Williams, Left lane, (0.038) 10.653 0.053, def. E Carey, (0.117) 10.569 -0.031
HOT ROD:
Round 4:
Stacey Staab, Bakersfield CA, '69 Barracuda, HRD, Right lane, (0.061) 12.90 12.835 -0.065, def. Richard R., Belsfield HD, '55 Chevy, HRD, (0.271) 12.19 11.885 -0.305
Rick Good, Lemore CA, '69 Nova, HRD, Left lane, (0.048) 10.79 10.815 0.025, def. Stan Johnson, Santa Maria CA, '67 Camaro, HRD, (-0.231 foul) 11.21 11.550 0.340
Stephan Johnson, La Habra CA, '63 Nova, HRD, Right lane, (0.043) 11.85 11.773 -0.077, def. Morgan Wiggers, Bakersfield CA, '83 Dodge, HRD, (-0.037 foul) 12.18 12.164 -0.016
John Cutright, Colfax CA, '65 Rambler, HRD, Right lane, (0.047) 12.50 12.550 0.050, def. Wolfgang Dav Staab, Bakersfield CA, '70 Challanger, HRD, (0.117) 12.36 12.376 0.016
Dan Barrie, Irvine CA, '62 Nova, HRD, Left lane, (0.021) 9.69 9.768 0.078, def. Dale Snoke, Glendora CA, '64 Dart, HRD, (0.149) 12.53 12.609 0.079
Mike Lawless, Clovis CA, '65 Karman Ghia, HRD, Right lane, (0.033) 11.93 11.996 0.066, def. Eric Christianson, Camarillo CA, '65 Ranchero, HRD, (0.061) 11.00 10.979 -0.021
Clayton Howey, Lemore CA, '71 Nova, HRD, Left lane, (0.062) 12.55 13.056 0.506, was unopposed
Wiliam Teague, Reedly CA, '67 Nova, HRD, Right lane, (0.116) 11.61 11.585 -0.025, def. R L Lillo, Templeton CA, '64 Ranchero, HRD, (-0.002 foul) 11.83 20.392 8.562
Round 5:
S Staab, Right lane, (0.139) 12.30 12.940 0.640, def. J Cutright, (0.111) 11.50 12.803 1.303
R Good, Left lane, (0.055) 10.80 11.123 0.323, def. D Barrie, (-0.030) NT-No Show
W Teague, Left lane, (0.030) 11.59 11.617 0.027, def. S Johnson, (-0.001 foul) 11.78 12.009 0.229
M Lawless, Right lane, (0.149) 12.00 12.013 0.013, def. C Howey, (0.099) 12.50 12.587 0.087
Round 6:
S Staab, Right lane, (0.104) 12.85 13.054 0.204, def. W Teague, (-0.028 foul) 11.59 11.575 -0.015
M Lawless, Right lane, (0.210) 12.05 11.835 -0.215, def. R Good, (-0.033 foul) 10.80 22.324 11.524
Round 7:
M Lawless, Left lane, (0.129) 12.05 12.204 0.154, def. S Staab, (0.165) 12.90 13.054 0.154
This week, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously in support of an Oklahoma law allowing employees to store legally owned firearms in locked, private motor vehicles while parked in employer parking lots. This decision upholds NRA-backed legislation passed in 2004.
"This is a victory for the millions of American workers who have been denied the right to protect themselves while commuting between their homes and their workplace," said NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre. "Their effort to overturn the law was aimed at skirting the will of the American people, and the intent of legislatures across this country while eviscerating Right-to-Carry laws. This ruling is a slap at the corporate elitists who have no regard for the constitutional rights of law abiding American workers."
University Opens Off-Campus Range For Student Use: Kudos to Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, where it was recently announced that students will be allowed to use the university's off-campus firearm ranges to shoot. The two ranges, used primarily to train the university's police officers, will permit the use of rifles, shotguns, and handguns during designated shooting hours.
SRL PROUDLY ANNOUNCES OFFICIAL PRODUCT PARTNERS
Bakersfield, CA – As the 2009 SRL Southwest Tour Series season opener looms right around the
corner, the enthusiasm of race teams, race fans and sponsors continues to grow. The series is proud
to announce three new “Official Product Partners” to the SRL for 2009, Mo’sGold, Ringers Gloves and
Flowmaster, Inc.
Mo’sGold Automotive Cleaner and Polish will be recognized as the Official Polish of the SRL for
2009. Mo’sGold, which also holds the same title in the Firestone Indy Lights Series, the ARCA
RE/MAX Series and the V8 Stock Car Road Racing Series, looked to the SRL as an opportunity to get
involved with Short Track racing.
“We are absolutely passionate about the sport of auto racing and extremely proud to be named
the Official Polish of the SRL Series,” said Joe Mobley, President of Mo'sGold. “There are lots of
talented drivers in this series and we are excited to be part of it. This association is very important to
us and we believe our involvement will provide a growing awareness of Mo'sGold,” concluded Mobley.
Also for 2009, Ringers Gloves has committed to serve as the “Official Glove of the SRL
Southwest Tour Series.” The Moorpark, California-based company is no stranger to motorsports, as it
has been a mainstay in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series for many years and the title
sponsor of the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle since 2005. "Ringers Gloves is happy to join the SRL
Southwest Tour," stated Kenny Dolenak, President of Ringers Gloves. "We look forward to continuing
to grow our brand and providing the best protection to those in the motorsports industry."
A name that has been synonymous with horsepower for over 25 years and one that crosses
over all forms of racing is Flowmaster, Inc. Flowmaster, Inc. is headquartered in northern California
and its 250 plus employees are dedicated to building the highest quality U.S. made exhaust products
available. The SRL Southwest Tour Series is proud to announce that Flowmaster, Inc. will be
recognized as the “The Official Muffler” of the series for 2009.
“
We are very pleased to have the opportunity to work with the SRL Southwest Tour Series and
give back to the many folks who have supported us over the years.” stated Senior Vice President
Richard Small. “What we have learned over the years in creating products for racing have come full
circle and allowed us to develop products not only for the street, but for towing. We look forward to
working with the SRL and the many loyal customers.”
About the SRL Southwest Tour Series:
Celebrating its ninth season in 2009, the SRL Southwest Tour Series is a premiere regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the
southwestern portion of the U.S.
About Mo’sGold:
Mo'sGold is an innovative automotive cleaner and polish that was specifically designed to prevent surface grime build-up and repel dirt and rubber in both
auto racing and street car applications. Mo'sGold is fast and easy to use, saving you valuable time, while maintaining that race car shine on any vehicle's
surface. It's anti-static, non-abrasive and can be used in the sun or shade. Mo'sGold Polish works great on cars, trucks, boats, planes, RV's and
motorcycles. Visit us at
www.mosgold.com.
About Flowmaster,Inc.:
Flowmaster’s product line includes exhaust products for Performance Street, Muscle cars, Trucks, Street Rods, RV's, Motor homes, and all types of race
applications. With over 400 different muffler models, 370+ exhaust systems and numerous exhaust accessories available, Flowmaster offers you the
choice of sound to fit your sound preference from "wild to mild" and of your specific vehicle needs. Visit us at
www.flowmastermufflers.com.
About Ringer’s Gloves:
Ringers Gloves, an ISO 9001:2000 certified company, is a full-line manufacturer of high-end, task specific gloves, SFI 3.3/1, 3.3/10, 3.3/20 racing gloves,
UnderX protective undergarments, UnderX Performance gear, crew shoes, as well as a full line of accessories for every need. Isn’t it time you bring in the
Ringers? Check us out at
www.ringersgloves.com.
Team Stargate Worlds Enters the 2009 Atlantic Championship Series
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (February 25, 2009) – The worlds of gaming, racing, Hollywood, and women sports all merged today when it was announced during the annual MAZDASPEED Motorsports Media Lunch in Irvine, California that Frankie Muniz and Simona De Silvestro would be teaming up for the 2009 Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda as part of Team Stargate Worlds™.
The team will be operated by US RaceTronics but will run under the banner of Team Stargate Worlds and features sponsorship from Stargate Worlds™ developer Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment™ and publisher FireSky™. The sponsorship is unique in that Muniz and De Silvestro will be featured in the upcoming Stargate Worlds massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). Based on Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s (MGM) very sucessfull Stargate franchise, Stargate Worlds features tactical modern combat vs. science-fiction weapons and instant travel across the galaxy in a story-driven MMO.
With a challenging 12-race 2009 schedule and a significant prize package that includes a $1 million prize for the series champion, Muniz returns to the Atlantic series after a solid season in 2008 in which he earned three top-10 race results and narrowly missed finishing inside the top 10 in the championship. This marks Muniz’s third year in the series and his second year with the team.
De Silvestro is no stranger to the Atlantic Championship. The native of Thun, Switzerland who currently resides in Phoenix, Ariz. made history last year by becoming the second woman in Atlantic Championship history to win a race by taking the season-opening Imperial Capital Bank Atlantic Challenge of Long Beach. In addition to her historic win last year, De Silvestro’s 2008 season included an impressive eight top-10 finishes and a career-best eighth-place position in the final championship standings.
In addition to the sponsorship from Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment and FireSky, Team Stargate Worlds is also pleased to continue to have the support of Meguiar’s Car Care Products and Mechanix Wear, both of whom have a long relationship with USRT.
Frankie Muniz, Driver No. 77: “I'm excited about Team Stargate Worlds and the upcoming 2009 Atlantic Championship season. I would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone at Cheyenne Mountain and Mr. Gary Whiting for this incredible opportunity. I'm looking forward to working with everyone at US RaceTronics once again including my new engineer Gerald Tyler. I am very excited about the scenario of mixing my two passions of racing and acting, as I will be starring as a galactic racer in the upcoming Stargate Worlds game.”
Simona De Silvestro, Driver No. 78: “I'm really excited for the 2009 season with Team Stargate Worlds. I want to thank Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment especially Mr. Gary Whiting for the opportunity of a lifetime. The team has a great combination of proven winners including the capable engineering of Burke Harrison, and we hope to have a very strong team this year. I'm also ecstatic about entering Frankie's world of acting in a virtual sense as I will be starring as a intergalactic racer in the Stargate Worlds game. I'm really looking forward with partnering with Frankie in bringing our team success.”
Imran Safiulla and Shane Seneviratne, Principals of Team Stargate Worlds: “We are very pleased to have created this association with the USRT family and believe that Team Stargate Worlds will be a very exciting team to watch for in 2009. The Stargate Worlds game is being anticipated as one of the most exciting MMOs to be released and we are very grateful to Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment for their belief in us to develop a strong pre-launch campaign for the game. Both Simona and Frankie are very unique drivers and represent fantastic human journeys. We look forward to being a part of their success and making history.”
Gary Whiting, Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment Founder: “The evolution of Team Stargate Worlds is very exciting for our group. The reach of motorsports to a very large and wide audience demographic is undeniable. The Atlantic series and its assets will prove to be a solid platform that can be used to begin our pre-launch activities for our game, Stargate Worlds. Frankie and Simona are fantastic brand ambassadors and this is just a beginning of what I hope will turn into a long and successful relationship. I would like to specifically thank Shane and Imran for having created a marvelous program.”
FireSky ™ is dedicated to the fusion of social experiences with entertainment software and games. FireSky’s first product is the Social Networks at Play game (SNAP), Stargate Worlds, based on the popular science fiction television series Stargate SG-1® and Stargate Atlantis ™ which are officially licensed by MGM Interactive. For more information, visit the company's website www.FireSky.com and the Stargate Worlds community site at www.stargateworlds.com.
About Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment
Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment ™ is dedicated to the fusion of social experiences with entertainment software and games. Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment's first product is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG), Stargate Worlds, based on the popular science fiction television series Stargate SG-1® and Stargate Atlantis ™ which are officially licensed by MGM Interactive. For more information, visit the company's website www.cheyenneme.com and the Stargate Worlds community site at www.stargateworlds.com.
About Team Stargate Worlds
Team Stargate Worlds entered the 2009 Atlantic Championship season in partnership with US RaceTronics with one of the world's most talented female race car drivers Simona De Silvestro and Hollywood star turned serious professional racer Frankie Muniz. For more information about Team Stargate Worlds please visit www.teamstargateworlds.com.
February 23, 2009
SRL WELCOMES PRESENTING SPONSORS
Bakersfield, CA – As the SRL Southwest Tour Series is set to begin its ninth season, the series
proudly welcomes two new presenting sponsors for 2009, the Santa Fe Station Hotel and Casino and
GoLiveStream.TV.
“It’s a great feeling that the SRL is getting the support of companies like the Santa Fe Station
and GoLiveStream.TV.” stated the SRL’s Brian Olsen.
Santa Fe Station Casino will not only sponsor the SRL Southwest Tour Series in 2009, but will
also host post race awards presentations after each SRL event in Las Vegas on May 3rd and October
31st, and will play host to the SRL’s Championship Awards Banquet on November 1st.
"We are excited about the energy that the SRL Series brings to Las Vegas and especially to
Santa Fe Station. We are looking forward to a great partnership", Bryan Lindsey Vice President Santa
Fe Station.
“With two events at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, it works out great to have a
race headquarters in Vegas. The Santa Fe Station has rolled out the red carpet for our teams and has
built some creative ideas into both race weekends, such as driver autograph sessions, race car
displays and a $1000 bonus to the highest placing team at each Vegas race that stays at the Santa Fe
Station.” added Olsen.
GoLiveStream.TV has stepped up from an event sponsor in 2008 to a series presenting
sponsor for the entire SRL 2009 season.
“Jeff Thielscher of GoLiveStream.TV has been a big supporter of racing for many years and he
saw a real value with associating his company with the SRL Series.” Olsen concluded.
GoLiveStream.TV will also take the SRL to whole new level in 2009 by way of webcasting each SRL
event.
“We at The www.GoLiveStream.TV Network are looking forward to being a sponsor and
webcasting the SRL Southwest Tour Series, one of the most exciting stockcar series in the world.
RealFast.TV will be covering all the events in 2009.” Jeff Thielscher Managing Partner.
The SRL Southwest Tour Series presented by Santa Fe Station and GoLiveStream.TV begins
its ninth season of competition on April 4th at All American Speedway in Roseville, California.
Jim Pettit II will defend his 2008 championship, with challenges coming from series
runner-up Craig Raudman, 2008 Rookie-of-the-Year Josh Combs, returning veteran M.K. Kanke, 2007
champ Dave Byrd, defending race winner Troy Ermish and a record field of SRL teams expected at
the season opener.
About the SRL Southwest Tour Series:
Celebrating its ninth season in 2009, the SRL Southwest Tour Series is a premiere regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the
southwestern portion of the U.S.
About Santa Fe Station Hotel and Casino:
Station Casinos, Inc. is the leading provider of gaming and entertainment to the residents of Las Vegas, Nevada. Station's properties are regional
entertainment destinations and include various amenities, including numerous restaurants, entertainment venues, movie theaters, bowling and
convention/banquet space, as well as traditional casino gaming offerings such as video poker, slot machines, table games, bingo and race and sports
wagering.
About GoLiveStream.TV:
GoLiveStream.TV Network is an Internet based television network that provides channels for live streaming with a high-quality picture. GoLiveStream.TV
Network features RealFast.TV, the first established Internet TV Station on a regular schedule. GoLiveStream.TV also provides channels to the public for
live streaming.
CAPPS WINS AGAIN! IS UNDEFEATED IN 2009
CHANDLER, Ariz. (Feb. 22, 2009) - Ron Capps drove the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Funny Car straight into the winner's circle for the second consecutive event in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, and is undefeated in 2009!
Capps and crew chief Ed "Ace" McCulloch proved once again that they are serious about winning their first Funny Car championship this year, as No. 1 qualifier Capps charged through the field to claim his 27th career national-event win (26th in Funny Car) in 56 final rounds, marking the first time he has won from the No. 1 position.
Capps first dismissed Jeff Arend with a 4.105-second elapsed time at 305.91 mph, and then his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Matt Hagan with a 4.118/304.67. As the day wore on, Capps got even quicker, sending home Del Worsham with a 4.079/304.46.
In the final round, he was given a breather, as Mike Neff failed to engage reverse gear after the clutch linkage broke and continued straight after his burnout. Despite the guaranteed win, Capps tore down the 1000 feet in an even quicker 4.048 seconds at 306.81 mph.
Capps credited his crew chief Ed "Ace" McCulloch for the NAPA team’s newfound success this season. “He's the man," said Capps in the winner's circle. "He's done well in his career, driven Funny Cars, Top Fuel dragsters. He's my hero. I can't tell you how I feel right now. More than anything [this win is great] for the NAPA guys and for Ace. He really worked hard in the off season and kind of started from scratch with the tune-up.
"It's like a really good cook learning how to cook again completely differently. The car is just so different to run, to feel, and it puts me in the trunk at half-track. It's so much fun to drive and when the win light comes on, it's even better.
"To run the 4:04 in the final was awesome. Ace could've just tried to go down the track, but he wanted to give the fans the best run this weekend.
"Our focus this year is to roll into each race and rip their hearts out in each run, focus on winning each race. The points will come, the Countdown will come. Honestly, Ace had this look in his eye like, 'get out of my way, and [to me], 'you'd better hang on because you're going in the trunk of this car when it gets out there.'
"It's a great feeling, because we were embarrassed by not winning any races last year. We flat out didn't give NAPA what they deserved. And they came on board when they saw what we did in 2005-2007 (11 wins) and those three years were great. This is what we should have been doing last year."
McCulloch is still absorbing it all. "I'm not sure that it's really sunk in yet," he said. "We struggled a little bit. We struggled in testing, we went to Pomona, struggled a little bit, got through there. We came here, struggled a little bit. I told some of the guys earlier, I don't like racing the car the way it is. I'm not happy with it, but when it comes time to step up to the plate, we've got to step up to the plate.
"It was good. Running what we did in the semifinals and then when Zippy (Neff) had his malfunction out there, Ron asked me, 'Do you want me to shut it off?’ If we shut if off there is always the thought [by the competing team] that 'Well, if we had only made it we'd have beaten 'em.' I told Ron, Don't shut it off, because if it makes it down there it's going to run pretty good. Let's send a message. Run it."
Note: Capps is the first Funny Car driver since John Force in 2007 to win the first two events back to back.
Next up is the 40th annual NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., March 13-15.
UNOFFICIAL FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS following two events:
1. Ron Capps, 229 (winner today)
2. Del Worsham, 132
3. Robert Hight, 132
4. Mike Neff, 129 (runner-up today)
5. Jim Head, 124
6. Bob Tasca III, 107
7. Jack Beckman, 105
8. Gary Densham, 104
9. Ashley Force Hood, 88
10. Matt Hagan, 84
***
Southwest Tour Veteran M.K. Kanke Ready for SRL Series
Bakersfield, CA – After missing all but the opening round of the 2008 SRL Southwest Tour Series due to injury, M.K. Kanke is ready to bring his familiar red #33 RPM Motorsports Chevy back to the competition in 2009.
“It was tough last year, sitting out due to my accident,” stated Kanke from his Frazier Park home.
“We conducted a tire test for the SRL at Irwindale, had a good run at Roseville at the opener, then I broke my hip in a work incident.” Kanke further explained.
Kanke is a true veteran of Southwest Tour competition with 212 career starts and 22 wins in the NASCAR Southwest Series. He also has five starts in the SRL. The 46 year old driver has more top fives finishes than any driver in the history of the NASCAR Southwest Series.
“The SRL is a great series…its fun racing with guys like Pettit and Raudman and its more affordable than running a weekly series at one track all year. We have a great tire from Hoosier that is a blast to race on and one set is all we need on race weekend.” Kanke continued.
Kanke and car owner Dan Nikolial have committed to running the entire SRL Southwest Tour Series in 2009. The SRL will compete at the following tracks in 2009; All-American Speedway, The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Madera Speedway, Toyota Speedway at Irwindale and Stockton 99 Speedway.
“There are great tracks and some tough guys in the SRL and we are looking forward to the challenge. The top guys in the series are tough competitors and when you beat them you have really done something.” Kanke added.
Kanke and the RPM Motorsports team will be ready as the SRL makes its season debut at All-American Speedway in Roseville on April 4th, where the SRL will be joined by the NASCAR Camping World Series West.
For more information on the SRL Southwest Tour Series go to http://www.srllatemodels.com/.
About the SRL Southwest Tour Series:
Celebrating its ninth season in 2009, the SRL Southwest Tour Series is a regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S. The series utilizes cars based on the former NASCAR Elite Division Series.
Best Daytona 500 Debut No. 1: Jeff Gordon Hit The High Banks Running
(Note: This is the final installment in a five-part series on some of the best Daytona 500 debuts by either rookie of the year candidates or drivers making what amounted to an initial “NASCAR cameo” appearance in the event. Today, we take a look at the countdown finale – Jeff Gordon’s fifth-place finish in 1993.)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 11, 2009) – Jeff Gordon’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut had been nondescript, but he had little control over that. His first series start came in the 1992 season finale at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which also happened to be Richard Petty’s last start. There also was the little matter of a championship being decided, with Alan Kulwicki emerging from a pack of five contenders who were still in the running starting the event; Kulwicki ended up edging Bill Elliott for the title by merely 10 points.
Gordon? He started 21st and finished 31st and immediately turned his attention to 1993 and his run at the Rookie of the Year title.
And so he came to Daytona International Speedway – and hit the high banks running.
In only his second NASCAR Sprint Cup event and his first at Daytona, he won the first of the two 125-mile qualifying races to earn an audacious third-place start for the 500.
He led the first lap of the 500 and went on to finish fifth. And again, he was overshadowed, this time by Dale Jarrett’s victory that featured an emotional national TV call by CBS commentator Ned Jarrett – Dale’s dad.
Gordon Was ‘Freaked Out’ – And Flying – At Daytona in 1993
- Notable 500 First-Timers in 1993: Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Kenny Wallace, Al Unser Jr., Jimmy Hensley.
- The Intangible: Some people considered Gordon’s victory in one of the “Twin 125s” a fluke of sorts. They were overlooking the fact that Gordon, while a NASCAR novice, had more than 15 years of rough-and-tumble, on the-edge open-wheel racing experience. What translated to stock car racing in terms of expertise is debatable. What it meant in terms of building Gordon’s nerve is not. And nerve is always essential to success at Daytona International Speedway.
- The Recap: The 1993 Daytona 500 was, like so many other recent years, a party-in-waiting for Dale Earnhardt who, despite dominating the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, had somehow failed to win the sport’s biggest event. … Earnhardt again emerged as an overwhelming favorite after winning both the Budweiser Shootout (then known as the Busch Clash) and the second of the “Twin 125s.” As further punctuation, he won the NASCAR Nationwide Series season opener for the fourth straight year, the day before the 500. … Earnhardt led 107 laps, but not the last one as Dale Jarrett, with drafting help from behind from Geoff Bodine, got by Earnhardt. Gordon led the first lap and the 22nd, and brought the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet home in fifth.
- Gordon’s Take: “That was my first Daytona 500, and I was freaking out. I didn’t know what I was doing and I was along for the ride. I had a fast race car and a great opportunity, but a lack of experience probably hurt my chances of winning. … The racing was a lot more single file, so you had to work lap after lap after lap to pass a car. Today, with this car at the restrictor-plate tracks, it’s a lot different. The second, third or fourth-place car usually has some momentum and can pull out at any time to attempt the pass. If you’re in a position to make a move, the question is whether the cars behind you will go with you – or if they’ll leave you high-and-dry without drafting help.”
- The Follow-Up: Gordon has since won the Daytona 500 three times and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship four times. He also has won Daytona’s annual summer race three times. … Overall, he has 13 victories at Daytona. ... The 1993 500 got him off and running to the Raybestos Rookie of the Year title.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 11, 2009) – The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) today celebrated the outstanding accomplishments of pioneering individuals and organizations in the area of diversity at the second annual NASCAR Diversity Luncheon.
"Teams, tracks, sponsors and other stakeholders play an integral role in our efforts to further diversify our sport," said Marcus Jadotte, Managing Director of Public Affairs. "The NASCAR Diversity Awards are a small way to say thank you and recognize just a few of those making a difference in creating awareness and opportunity."
At a ceremony held at the Bill France Room at Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR recognized the following individuals and organizations across the industry for their outstanding impact:
Drive for Diversity Participant: Kristin Bumbera
Bumbera, 21, of Sealy, Texas, was chosen as the driver or crew member who exemplifies outstanding performance on the track while also educating and exposing young people to NASCAR and motorsports. In addition to breaking two track records in different states, and winning five poles and numerous top fives and top 10s at All-American Speedway in Roseville, Calif., Kristin has found time to give back to the community. During the 2008 season, between a 25-race schedule, she counseled high school students on opportunities in NASCAR's Diversity program, shot a public service TV ad for SAFE-KIDS, and encouraged foster children at the Buckner Children's Home. Kristin graduated from the Lyn St. James Driver Development Program and was honored at the Annual Women in the Winner's Circle Luncheon. She did all of this while completing three semesters of college in pursuing a marketing degree at the University of Houston. Kristin will compete for Bobby Hamilton Jr. Racing in the NASCAR Camping World East Series in 2009.
Young Racer Award: Annabeth Barnes
Though only 14 years old, World Karting Association (WKA) driver Annabeth Barnes is a driver to watch. She was the 2008 Briggs & Stratton Speedway Dirt Series National Champion in both the Jr. Champ Lite and Jr. Champ Heavy classes. She’s earned championship titles in the Tennessee State Dirt Divisional in four classes and in the North Carolina State Pavement Divisional in three different classes. In 2008, Annabeth, who is from Hiddenite, N.C. was one of the top participants in the inaugural Go Racing initiative, a program focused on increasing minority and female youth’s participation in motorsports. In addition to balancing school, racing and sponsorship opportunities, she participated at promotional venues such as a Drive for Diversity outreach initiative at the Charlotte Bobcats stadium.
NASCAR Diversity Internship Program: Jaime Bowman & Kristopher Rincon
Jaime Bowman of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Kristopher Rincon of Aguadulce, Calif., were honored for their outstanding performance and leadership skills in academics as well as performing at a high level at their internship through the NASCAR Diversity Internship Program.
Employed in NASCAR’s Consumer Marketing department in Daytona Beach, Jaime Bowman was the catalyst for the NASCAR Kinetics Program, a new NASCAR Consumer Marketing initiative. Through her strong focus and willingness to learn, Jaime was provided significant value to her department during her NASCAR internship. She has also become an ambassador for the sport on campus at Howard University in Washinton, D.C. Jaime has been asked to return this summer to manage NASCAR’s participation in the DUB Auto Show and the NASCAR Kinetics program.
Kristopher Rincon, employed at Brand Sense, Goodyear’s marketing agency based in Los Angeles, was very involved in the Goodyear Racing & Diversity Program. Kris worked on-site at one of the program’s target markets, the Auto Club Speedway. He still reaches out to help when the national series is in driving distance from his school, the University of Arizona.
Educational Institutional Award Winston-Salem State University
Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) was recognized for this award given to a college/ university that attracts and trains diverse students for careers in the motorsports industry with a relevant curriculum. WSSU has been involved with NASCAR and the motorsports industry on many fronts, offering a Bachelor of Science in Motorsports Management, the only one of its kind in the nation, as well as the only motorsport management-related curriculum at a historically black college or university (HBCU). From participating in the NASCAR Kinetics program to conducting at-track surveys for NASCAR Diversity Affairs as part of market research classes, WSSU has displayed great interest and diligence to develop its students and advance a respected motorsports curriculum.
NASCAR Sponsor The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
The Goodyear Racing & Driving Program was recognized for demonstrating an enduring commitment to NASCAR’s diversity goals. While Goodyear plays a visible role in the racing each weekend, the Goodyear Racing and Diversity Program is making a mark in exposing African-American and Hispanic high school students to NASCAR. The program provided high school students maintaining good grades, the opportunity to experience NASCAR first-hand through a behind-the-scenes look at a NASCAR race and a race-weekend internship. Students from across the country were paired with several mentors in career areas of interest for two, six-hour days of work. Students who completed their race-weekend internships were then eligible to apply for the scholarships. In 2008, the Diversity Program culminated in scholarships for six deserving students. The grand prize winner was presented a scholarship for $30,000 toward their continuing education. Five additional students received $2,000 scholarships.
Individual Recognition: Max Siegel
A well-known and respected figure in the garage the past few years, Siegel has been at the forefront of inclusion efforts across the motorsports industry. He was honored with this award given to the individual who has displayed an impactful personal effort to include diversity and inclusion efforts as part of their job. Siegel, the former President of Global Operations at Dale Earnhardt Inc., recently formed The 909 Group, a sports, entertainment and lifestyle marketing firm that will manage day-to-day operations of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity initiative, which seeks opportunities for minority and female competitors. Max has been interviewed by countless media outlets and speaks to industry and youth groups about NASCAR’s diversity initiatives.
About NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. (NASCAR), celebrating 60 years in 2008, is the sanctioning body for one of North America's premier sports. NASCAR is the No. 1 spectator sport – holding 17 of the top 20 highest attended sporting events in the U.S., and is the No. 2 rated regular-season sport on television. NASCAR races are broadcast in more than 150 countries and in more than 30 languages. NASCAR fans are the most brand loyal in all of sports, and as a result more Fortune 500 companies participate in NASCAR than any other sport. NASCAR consists of three national series (the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series), four regional series, and one local grassroots series, as well as two international series. NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races at 100 tracks in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada and Mexico. Based in Daytona Beach (Fla.), NASCAR has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Charlotte (N.C.), Concord (N.C.), Conover (N.C.), Bentonville (Ark.), Mexico City, and Toronto.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 9, 2009) – This Sunday, a mid-February tradition continues.
The 2009 edition of the Daytona 500 will be the 51st running, the first originating way back in 1959.
A Daytona 500 victory defines a racer’s career. There have been seven different careers defined in the last seven Daytona 500s. That is just one of the many interesting numbers going into this weekend’s race. Here are a few more:
3 – Times the No. 88 won the Daytona 500; it ranks tied for third behind the No. 43, No. 28 and No. 21.
4 – Laps Terry Labonte needs to run on Sunday to reach 5,000 laps run in the Daytona 500. With 4,996 laps run, he leads all drivers.
5 – Drivers who have won the Daytona 500 and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship the same year: Jimmie Johnson (2006), Jeff Gordon (1997), Richard Petty (1964, ’71, ’74, ’79), Cale Yarborough (1977) and Lee Petty (1959).
6 – Drivers whose first career NASCAR Sprint Cup victory was the Daytona 500: Tiny Lund (1963), Mario Andretti (1967), Pete Hamilton (1970), Derrike Cope (1990), Sterling Marlin (1994) and Michael Waltrip (2001).
7 – Victories by Richard Petty, most by any driver.
8 – Number of times the margin of victory has been under one second since the advent of electronic scoring in 1993. All other times, the race has ended under caution.
9 – Drivers who won from the pole. It last happened in 2000 (Dale Jarrett).
18 – Joey Logano’s age. He will become the youngest driver to start the Daytona 500. The previous youngest was Clark Dwyer at 19 years, 1 month and 8 days in 1983.
34 – Starting position of Kevin Harvick in 2007, the lowest of any race winner.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Final 2008 Top 12 at Daytona International Speedway
|
|
Driver |
Races |
Poles |
Wins |
Top Fives |
Top 10s |
DNFs |
Average Finish |
Driver Rating
|
|
1 |
Jimmie Johnson |
14 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
8 |
1 |
13.9 |
94.7 |
|
2 |
Carl Edwards |