June 2002 - Inside Line Column - by Floyd Busby

Seven down and thirteen to go!.....This has developed into an
interesting season thus far. BCRA's midget car count is up over the
last several years. Of the seven races held so far, four have been
co-sanctioned events with USAC, two at Madera and two at Stockton. In
each case the entry list was basically divided between the two
sanctioning groups, with BCRA having the edge in a couple of cases.
(Coming up on July 13 will be the annual picnic and Hall of
Fame. Complete information in the final paragraphs of this column.)
Having a slight edge in car count doesn't necessarily equate
to having an edge on the winner score board. As is the case most of
the time, it is a USAC car that wins the co-sanctioned features,
although Floyd Alvis scavenged the competition last year at the
Madera Harvest Classic.
At Madera on May 18 USAC's Jerome Rodela won and BCRA's Rob
Russell was a very close second. The duo, with very little pavement
experience, was chased to the line by veterans Wally Pankratz and
Sleepy Tripp. At Stockton Danny Shelton won for USAC and BCRA had
four cars in the top-ten with Russell on top.
Prior to the last two co-sanctioned races, BCRA made its
annual trek to the Redwood Acres Raceway in Eureka. Unlike the past
two years of low car count (but very good racing), we provided 18
cars. Also on the upside was the crowd, by far the best since we had
returned to Eureka in 2000 after a 12-year hiatus. One reason, it is
assumed, was that the local newspaper, the Eureka Times Standard,
carried an article and photo that covered the full width of the front
sport page in their Friday edition - how wonderful it would be to get
that coverage everywhere! Anyone who opened the Standard on Friday
knew that the midgets were there. It has been a buildup for the past
three years and the word is getting out, which was evident by the
very fine and enthusiastic crowd. According to promoter Linda Olson,
the previous two years people would call the track and ask what a
midget was, some thinking that they were some sort of go-kart.
Redwood Acres is a very raceable 3/8-mile paved oval, well
suited for midgets as the excellent racing attested,
Glenn Carson won the feature, his second of the season.
Taking second was Travis Johnson. Johnson, who calls Tacoma,
Washington home, outqualified the field and won the trophy dash
aboard his Ed Pink Chevy/Starks. Johnson currently resides in
Sacramento where he works for a NASCAR Winston West team. Previously
he worked for Mike McCreary as a fabricator in Placerville. The
midget sometimes goes back to Tacoma with his dad, Lloyd, and
sometimes stays in Northern California. Unfortunately for us, the
very talented driver will miss (has missed) the Shasta Speedway race
on June 1 because he will be with the Winston West team in the
midwest.
Is it the water in the Northwest? - Midget drivers from the
Northwest have long been very successful when they have ventured
south to Northern and Central California. I wouldn't want to ever
take a bet against their taking the top money back to Washington or
Oregon. When John Starks runs he seems to win the majority of the
time. He won the season opener at Madera this year, but crashed hard
the next day at Stockton. BCRA member Rory Price of Edmonds, WA won
the Stockton race - two races, two northern winners. Ken Ferris used
to come south and he won at Stockton several years ago. Now we have
Travis Johnson - he's bound to claim a victory down here too.
It was an unusual circumstance during qualifying at Redwood
Acres. The first car to qualify was Carson in Doug Bock's
Esslinger/Stewart with a new track record of 14.972, beating the
one-year-old mark of 15.032. Carson barely had time to contemplate
his record when the second car out, Sterling Pratz in Bill Ferrari's
beautiful Pontiac/Beast, lowered the mark to 14.836. The third car
out was Johnson, who lowered the one-lap time to the new record of
14.735 - within a couple of minutes three new record runs with each
run bettering the preceeding run!
Before the season began Bill Ferrari had planned to have
Dallen McKenney as his driver on pavement. McKenney, both a BCRA and
USAC member, planned to concentrate on all of the USAC dirt track
races, using his own car. There are two conflicting race dates where
BCRA is running on pavement and USAC on dirt, thus, inactive Stirling
Pratz was pressed into service at Eureka and at the Shasta Speedway
while McKenney was racing the dirt. Sterling placed third at Eureka
behind Carson and Johnson and just ahead of Floyd Alvis and Cliff
Servetti.
Actually Pratz has been very busy running go-karts, primarily
as a test driver during the construction of the kart road race track
at the Sears Point Raceway.
When McKenney drove the Ferrari car at Madera and Stockton,
his first times on pavement, he looked very competent and will make
an excellent pavement driver. Ferrari has winners with both drivers!
At Eureka a Division-2 trophy dash was run. It certainly
showcased the Lindsey family with Rob winning over uncle Bill and dad
Joe. Jim Fowler brought up fourth in his Chevy II.
Minus 60 and counting - that could be the theme for Cliff
Servetti. The veteran car owner and driver decided shortly after
Thanksgiving that he needed to lose a lot of weight. He was serious
and has lost 60-pounds and is still loosing. Looking fit and trim, he
states that he feels so much better and doesn't tire during a main
event as he did previously. The change is showing up in the
statistics. At the last two co-sanctioned races at Madera and
Stockton Cliff qualified 11th, one car out of the automatic transfer
to the main, while beating a lot of big talent. At Madera he won his
heat race to transfer to the main, then placed a very creditable
seventh in the feature. At Stockton the following week he placed
second to Sleepy Tripp in the heat and was running mid-pack in the
feature when a two-car spin up front caused a lot of evasive action
by a lot of cars, with Cliff getting the brunt of it into the wall,
resulting in an extensively broken race car. Keep up the good work,
Cliff (except for that last part).
A name from the past popped up at Eureka - John Harkrader.
After a seven year retirement from racing, John repurchased the
Fontana/Beast that he campaigned before. As the rust wore off, he
placed sixth in the feature. John had retired seven years ago when he
sold his very successful tank cleaning business in Oakland and
fulfilled his dream - he purchased the Shasta Marina Resort at
Lakehead on Shasta Lake where he rules the roost. He will make only
occasional races, including Shasta Speedway of course.
MIDGET LITES - BCRA's midget lite division continues to
provide fine racing at the Placerville, Antioch, Marysville and
Petaluma tracks.
Defending champion Greg Dennett is the current point leader,
but he has his brother, 2001 "Rookie of the Year" Todd, hot on his
heels. Add Don VanDyke and Doug Hunting into the fray and its a
four-way shootout for the 2002 title at this point. Veteran Terry
Bergstom and Marshall Sexton are not far behind. Bringing up seventh
is 16-year-old rookie sensation Brad Sweet. The high school student
from Grass Valley won his second feature at the Antioch Speedway on
May 25, leading the entire distance and maneuvering in and out of
lapped traffic like a vet.
VINTAGE DIVISION - The vintage division has also been busy
and expected a very large field at the Shasta Speedway on June 1,
partly due to a number of Oregon and Washington vintage racers who
plan to attend.
On May 4th BCRA supported Southern California's WRA at the
Calistoga Speedway. Its was good for the show that BCRA entered the
event as 12 of the 20 race cars were ours.
PICNIC & HALL OF FAME - One of the most enjoyable BCRA
events, on the social side, is the annual Jack London Bash Picnic and
Hall of Fame inductions. July 13 is the date and again it is being
held at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds, site of the Placerville
Speedway. As usual, the picnic and HoF precede the evening racing
events that include all three BCRA divisions.
The 2002 inductees will be (alphabetically): Pete Baraldi,
midget car owner; Bob Caswell, hardtop driver (for those not aware,
BCRA had a very successful hardtop division for many years); Joe
Clare, official (timer); Dickie Deis, midget driver; Larry Ferrua,
midget driver and car owner; Rich Govan, hardtop driver; Jim Franchi,
hardtop owner; Floyd Hughes, midget car owner (The famed inline
6-cylinder Ford Falcon powered midget in which the great Johnny
Baldwin won so many races).
The public is invited to attend this great function and enjoy
the company of their favorite drivers from the three divisions. It
begins at 10a.m. in the outdoor, tree filled, picnic area. A great
lunch by Chef Rick-E of his famed tri-tips is served at noon, with
all the trimming - chili, potato salad, soft drinks and dessert (hot
dogs for the non tri-tip crowd). At 1:30 p.m. I (tongue-tied Busby)
introduce the inductees with the presentation being made by BCRA
Board President Bob Roza. A raffle with many great items is held. By
3 p.m. the racers head for the pit gate to sign in. Those not
directly involved in the racing usually visit under the trees and
attend the races when the public grandstand gate opens at 5 p.m. The
midgets qualify at 6:30.
The event is always well attended, but we'd surely like to
see more race fans attend. The cost is $8 for adults and $4 for kids,
10 years of age and younger, with pre-purchased reserved tickets. At
the gate the price is $12 for adults. If you would like to attend,
send a check or money order to: BCRA, P.O. Box 398, Tracy, CA
95378-0398. Be sure to include your name and the number of adult and
child tickets you want. The tickets will not be mailed to you, but
will be at the registration table under your name at the entrance to
the picnic area - love to see you there!
The new midget and midget lite T-shirts are now available -
they really look great! This year instead of drawing the race cars
myself as in the past several years, I opted to hire a young and
up-and-coming artist by the name of Pan Smith of B&B Design in
Auburn. Pan provided a very styalized version of Alvis' #11 and #18
midgets and Dennett's #47 lite. I then took the cars and placed them
in my overall design with the lettering and logos, etc. Printed full
color on both sides, the shirts detail the 2001 season with champions
Alvis (midget shirt) and Dennett (midget lite shirt). The cost is
$15, which includes tax. XX-large are $16. We hope to soon have an
order form along with the shirt artwork on the BCRA website. Keep
checking it out at <BCRAracing.com>. They will also be available at
the picnic, as will the popular vintage T-shirts.
Also new is a very colorful midget decal that uses the 2001
midget artwork that appears in the "Inside Line" heading of this
column. There are plenty of the original midget lite decals
available. The decals will be available at the picnic at $3 each.