June 2005 - Inside Line Column - by Floyd Busby

Its hard to believe that we're approaching mid-season. The BCRA midgets have competed in eight events (Reno-Fernley was rained
out) and the midget lite division had held nine rounds (their opener at Placerville and the May 6 at Sacramento were rained out). The vintage division has run three shows, two with the midgets and one as a guest at the Tulare Thunderbowl.
Thomas Meseraull, with three wins, leads the midget standings and Tyler Franklin, one win, hold the top spot with the lites.
The first of four races in the "Pacific Northwest Midget Championship Series" played out well at the Redwood Acres Raceway in Eureka. Twenty-six cars from BCRA and WMRA ran the quick 3/8-mile paved oval with Meseraull taking the win.
Chris Schmelzle, from Victoria, B.C. drives the Seattle-based Stephen Barnett LeJeune/Fontana. Although a Northwest team, they are BCRA members and concentrate on BCRA pavement events. Chris will miss some BCRA races when driving a sprint car. He placed third in last year's "Turkey Night Grand Prix" at the Irwindale Speedway aboard a sprinter. He won the "A" dash at Eureka. WMRA's Spence Gatrell was fast qualifier with John Sarale second.
At the Sacramento Raceway it was again Meseraull for his third win of the season. Pete Davis opted to drive the Larry Mertl Stealth/Esslinger instead of his own mount taking third behind Ryan Kaplan.
Kaplan was really up-to-speed at the next race, Champion Speedway in Carson City. Kaplan recorded a new one-lap track record aboard his dad Ken's Stealth/Fontana, a record that will last through eternity! BCRA had not run there in several years and this race was to be the final as the facility will be razed for home development.
A new face appeared at Carson City. Southern California's Lynsey Tilton. Tilton was last season's rookie of the year in the Arizona Midget Racing Association and she had little experience on pavement. She did a very admirable job, holding her own through much of the 50-lap feature before dropping out. With Shannon McQueen in the field, it was the first time I can recall two lady drivers at one event in the BCRA midgets. The vintage division had ten cars on hand and got plenty of track-time.
The first of three races at the popular Lakeport Speedway became a cause for celebration in the John Sarale camp. This marked John's first feature win in nearly three years, the last one coming in July of 2002 at Lakeport. The Lakeport main was ferocious with a lot of elbow rubbing and the top four finishing in a mad scramble.
Local leadfoot Brian Gard sped to a new track record in qualifying, taking the old mark down by a mere one-thousandths of a second. Jim Silva's old mark was 11.935 with Brian's at 11.934.
Brian's home town is nearby Kelseyville, but the second-year midget driver currently lives in Fresno where he is a fabricator of 600cc midgets for Stan Yockey's P&P Chassis. Brian plans on attending college next semester in the area.
Pete Davis was elated with Gard's record run and puts some of the honor on his "Hot Head Heater". The Mark Borghesani Gaerte Ford powered Beast that Gard drives uses the portable heating system to pre-heat the engine fluids, allowing immediate on-track acceleration after push-off.
The vintage division was in force at Lakeport. Making its maiden voyage was the Harold Dickerson Kurtis with Ford Falcon power.
The engine never ran correctly, so its back to the drawing board. At one time the inline six-cylinder Falcon was a main event winning powerplant. Johnny Baldwin won many a main in the Floyd Hughes Falcon, at one time winning seven of the eight races held one season at Hughs Stadium in Sacramento. Bill Browning brought his Kurtis/Offy down from Oregon and Phil Finger had the former Fiore Kurtis/Ford V8-60 on hand.
Jeff Griffin is making his mark in the midget lites. Jeff won his first feature at the Silver Dollar Speedway, then came back two races later to score the Reno-Fernley win. Jeff is one half of the two car team with brother Greg.
Rookie Richard Bailey took his first win at Petaluma, not far for car owner Jeff Arata's Windsor home site. The Bailey family has long supported all forms of open wheel racing with their engine shop, Bailey Brothers, in Vallejo. One of last season's standout rookies David Maples took the Santa Maria win back in April.
Two former champions hold third and fourth behind Tyler Franklin in the lite standings. Doug Hunting and Scott Kinney would both like to revisit the championship honors. Jeff Griffin has moved into fourth.
The annual Jack London Bash Picnic and BCRA Hall of Fame is nearly upon us. This year it will be held a quarter-mile from the Twin Cities Speedway on July 30 when all three BCRA divisions compete on the same card. The location is the Peachtree Gold and Country Club and it is open to all racers and fans.
The Hall of Fame inductions will include midget drivers Chuck Gurney and Johnny Smith, midget owner Vic Gotelli, midget lite driver John Riley Jr., hardtop driver Hugh Purdy and car owner Milton Lund.
The BBQ menu includes tri tips, hot dogs, chili, potato salad, rolls and soft drinks. The festivities start at 10 a.m. with lunch at noon, followed by the Hall of Fame. The BBQ tab is $15.00 for advance reservations and $20 at the door. Kids 10 and under are $5.00. Make reservations by calling the BCRA office in the evenings
at: (209) 830-9928.....we'd really like to have fans in attendance at the picnic/HoF and the races that evening.
When my wife and I were on our recent trip to England, Scotland and Norway we left the Hurtigruten (coastal cruise ship) for a stroll through the town of Kristiansund. Now, this is on the west coast of Norway, a rugged area that seemed in the middle of nowhere and nearly unapproachable. A nice little town, but imagine my surprise when I spotted a colorful poster advertising - "Monster Truck Stunt Show" to be held in town!
Throughout my vacation I took mental note of what American cars were in use. In Norway particularly the big 60's and 70's V8's are a favorite, even with gas at over $4 a gallon. All that I saw were pristine and the owners were very proud of them. Of the current models, I was surprised at how many big Dodge Ram pickups I saw.
I certainly missed not being at the three races that were held while away. (One, Reno-Fernley was rained out anyway!). I especially would like to have been at the Redwood Acres Pacific Northwest Midget Championship Series race....three and one-half weeks is too long. If there is ever a "next time", it'll be about two weeks!