August 2001 - Inside Line Column - by Floyd Busby

The annual BCRA Hall of Fame induction ceremonies were held on July 14 as part of the “Jack London Bash” picnic. The event took place at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds, site of the Placerville Speedway. For those who might be a bit confused, the picnic is not named after the famed author Jack London, but after the London who was a driving force and business manager for many of the earlier years of BCRA’s long history.

The event is the only time during the season that all three BCRA divisions are able to compete in the same program during the evening races.

The Hall of Fame/Picnic has become an annual opportunity for racers and former racers to meet and bench race. Names from the past nearly always attend, people such as Bob Machin, Fred Erickson, Bob Thomas, and many others. Johnny Boyd, a regular over the years, missed this gathering because of illness (get well soon, Johnny).

The inductees this year were the late Dave Logan (1966 Hardtop and 1969 indoor midget champion), accepted by his son, Dave Jr.; Lenny Esposto (1959 overall and 1960 indoor midget car owner champion), accepted by Lenny; Ken Nichols (1973 midget driving champion), accepted by Ken; Keith Willis (1952 hardtop champion), accepted by Keith; Gary Arnold (1970 midget driving champion), accepted by Gary; the late Tom Boune (1995 midget lite car owner champion), accepted by his father, Dick; Al Stein (Pre and post war car owner), accepted by Ken Crowell; and George Sowle (former BCRA starter), accepted by George.

The Hall of Fame plaques were presented by BCRA President Jeff Arata and I handled the Master of Ceremonies duties.

That evening saw all three BCRA divisions ran on the Placerville Speedway quarter-mile. In the midget lite division popular A.J. Martin won his first career main event. In the midget division it looked like just-turned-sixteen Shain Matthews had scored another win, but a post-race tech inspection found the car over the maximum width and he was disqualified. Visiting former BCRA standout Thomas Meseraull was awarded the win.

At Lakeport, on the previous weekend of July 7^th, Floyd Alvis scored his first feature win of the season. Floyd’s consistent top-three finishes have kept him in the point lead as he looks for the fifth BCRA championship that has eluded him over the past decade.  He came back two weeks later to win on the Stockton pavement.

The race at the Reno-Fernley Raceway rounded out the month of July. Running there for the first time, the BCRA midget division had heard that the 3/8-mile dirt oval was very abrasive. Running there was quite an experience! The track measures 3/8^th of a mile on the pole. Racing is primarily mid-track. You could probably put the Petaluma Speedway inside the Reno-Fernley plant. The track, located in the high desert, is very smooth, but the high intensity of sand and wind makes it very abrasive, so much so that not a single main event car was able to salvage the right rear tire, and most used up the left rear and right front also....this, in only a 20-lap race!  Frank Guerrini was among the car owners who used up two right rears over the course of the evening. Though very expensive, all were happy and look forward to returning to the raceway next season. The fans saw a great race and were very appreciative. The track officials were great to work with. John Sarale finally overcame the frustrations of bad luck and won his first feature since the second race of the 2000 season, driving the Terry Caves Gaerte/Lightning.

The CMR Motorsports team has broken up. Terry Caves will operate separately from Ron Matthews and son Shain, who were the other half of the team.

Caves has added a second driver to his stable. Tim Barber of San Francisco now drives the second Caves entry. Barber is a former USAC Russell Racing Series road racing champion. Barber feels that he needs to add oval track to his credentials and has started out very well. He drove the a Caves Gaerte/Lightning to fourth at Placerville in his first outing, and duplicated the effort at Reno-Fernley. His only previous experience in a midget was at the Jimmy Sills school, driving the Caves car prior to the Placerville race.

Ken Bonnema is, in my book, is a “real racer”! The veteran modified and sprint car driver purchased his first midget, an Esslinger/Edmunds, in time to make his first appearance at Eureka several months ago. Prior to the July 7 Lakeport race Ken had a lot of work to do on his car - broken rear end, needing new brakes and master cylinder, etc. He called me on the morning of the race and said that  he still had a lot of work to do and wasn’t sure if he would make the race that evening. If he did, he said he would be there very late. Sure enough, Ken finished the car and left for Lakeport from Watsonville at 2:30 in the afternoon, arriving just in time to start at the rear of a heat race. Ken arrived with no crew, just himself. Several members pitched in to get Ken on-track. It had to be a nerve-wrenching experience under the pressures he endured - but, Ken’s a “real racer”!

The racing fraternity was saddened with the death of Matt Alvis, son of Floyd Alvis. Matt had raced midgets against his father in the late 1980’s and early 90’s. He became a top competitor in downhill mountain bike racing, but was severely injured. Last year he made a couple of midget starts. Nearly 300 people attended the memorial service in Palo Alto on July 30^th.