January 2001 - Inside Line Column - by Floyd Busby

The Stockton "99" Speedway can be considered BCRA's "home track" in 2001 with six races scheduled. The season will open at Stockton on April 1 with the midget portion of the program a co-sanctioned event with USAC. The following five races are BCRA only. The tracks with two scheduled events include Carson City (May 26 and Aug. 25), Chowchilla (Tentative on October 26 and 27), Hanford (May 12 and Oct. 13 with USAC), and Madera (April 21 and Sept. 22 with USAC). Single events will be run at Anderson (June 23), Eureka (May 19), Fernley (July 28), Lakeport (July 7), Marysville (June 30), Orland (Aug. 11), Placerville (July 14), Santa Maria (Sept. 8 with USAC), Watsonville May 11 tentative).

At this time the ratio of pavement races to dirt track races is 13 to 10. If the three tentatives don't work out, the ration will be 13 to 7.

Fernley, referred to as Reno-Fernley, and the Orland track will host the BCRA midgets for the first time. The July 14 Placerville race will host the annual Jack London Bash Picnic and Hall of Fame and will include the midget lite and vintage divisions, the only time during the season that all three divisions compete on the same program.

While at this writing BCRA and USAC have not sat down to iron out the details, I would expect that the opening Stockton race will be run very close to a BCRA inverted format. Madera, Hanford and Santa Maria will most likely lean toward a USAC style format.

For the 2001 season, the midget division will be bolstered by the new Division-2. At this point I can only estimate the car count for D-2 at the opening Stockton race, but I believe that about ten D-2 cars and drivers will be on hand. The promotion has guaranteed that the D-2 entries will have their own trophy dash and heat race, and probably their own main event due to the fact that with the combo BCRA/USAC entries, there will be close to 40 cars. Until BCRA President Jeff Arata meets with USAC's Tommy Hunt, we do not know if the Division-2 cars will have their own events at the other co-sanctioned races or if they will be expected to qualify and race with the regular midgets. (At all BCRA shows D-2 Chevy II, Sesco, and VW cars get their own preliminary races and meld into the regular main event).

In the midget lite division its "business as usual". The lites will compete at their regular three tracks with one tentative at Chowchilla.

Eight races are set for the Antioch Speedway, seven at the Placerville Speedway, and three at the Twin Cities Speedway in Marysville for a 19-race schedule. (Antioch: April 28, May 12 and 26, June 2 and 16, July 21, Aug. 25, Sept. 15 or 22). Placerville: April 14 and 21, May 19, June 23, July 7 and 14, Aug. 11. Marysville: May 5, July 28, Aug. 18. Tentative Chowchilla: July 1).

The BCRA vintage division has made a big change from last season when they ran primarily on their own without the regular midgets or lites. For 2001 most of the 13-race season is held in conjunction with the midgets or lites. The schedule includes Anderson (June 23), Carson City (May 26), Chowchilla (May 11, Aug. 3, Oct. 26 and 27), Fernley (July 28), Hanford (May 12, Oct. 13), Madera (Sept. 22), Placerville (April 21, July 14), and Stockton (Aug. 18).

All schedules are subject to change.

One of the new drivers who will be competing in the Division-2 midgets is Mike Yoes of Martinez. Mike began racing go karts when he was 18 in 1988, then moved into SCCA road racing, winning three Pacific Coast Road Racing Championships, one in a GT3 class 240SX and two in an ITC class Datsun 510. He recently went through Jimmy Sills school, but contends that he needs a lot of work on the dirt. Mike will be driving a Sesco/Ellis owned by Michael Welton.

BCRA Hall of Fame member Arthur Paul Shanoian Sr., born February 25, 1915, died on December 8, 2000 in Colma. Funeral services were held at Duggan's Serra Mortuary in Daly City on December 10th. Family members Chad and Ken Nichols and Jimmy Screeton spoke with sincere emotion about their grandfather. Art was laid to rest the following day in Fresno. Arthur Paul Shanoian Jr. was also eulogized. Born on July 29, 1941 in Oakland, Art Sr's son died on January 28,2000 in Santa Cruz. He was buried in Fresno along with his father.

Art owned sprint cars from 1946 to 1969, then became involved with the BCRA midgets from 1970 to 1993. In his latter years he drove his famed Benson #17 Shanoian Offy in the vintage division.

Art's list of drivers over the years in both the sprints and midgets is about as impressive as can be imagined. The list includes: Earl Motter, Chet Richards, Bob Burbridge, Marvin Faw, Eli Vukovich, Mike McGreevy, Paul Hunt, Bob Gibson, Johnny Keys, Leroy VanConnet, Wally Talbot, and the great Johnny Baldwin in the sprints. In the midgets his drivers included Norm Rapp, VanConnet, Duane Bonini, Johnny Anderson, Chuck Gurney, Dana Carter, Tommy Copp, Jan Opperman, Victor Mencarini, Hank Butcher, Nick Rescino, Brent Kaeding, Gary Patterson, Butch Wilkerson, Bob DeJong, Tommy Astone, Bob Johnson, son-in-law Ken Nichols and grandsons Chad Nichols and Jimmy Screeton.