March 2001 - Inside Line Column - by Floyd Busby

B.C.R.A. SET FOR EXCITING SEASON - NEW DIVISION MAKES IT DEBUT

The Bay Cities Racing Association is set to begin its 62nd season of midget auto racing with 23 races on the schedule at 14 different ovals. The midget lite division, known elsewhere as mini sprints, begins its eighth season with 19 races on the docket at four different race tracks. The vintage division enters its 14th year with 12 outings.

If the BCRA midget circuit can call any track their "home track", this season it will be the quarter-mile paved Stockton "99" Speedway where the season is to be kicked off on Sunday, April 1 in a co-sanctioned event with Western States USAC. Five additional BCRA -only shows are spread over the season. Additional Co-sanctioned BCRA/USAC events include two at the Madera Speedway, two and Hanford's Kings Speedway, and one at the Santa Maria oval.

After a 12-year hiatus, the BCRA midgets returned to both the Redwood Acres Raceway in Eureka and the Shasta Speedway in Redding last season. In 2001 return engagements are on the agenda at both fine 3/8-mile paved ovals.

The midgets travel to Nevada on two occasions, to Carson City's newly renamed Carson Tahoe Champion Speedway, and a first time venture to the Reno-Fernley Speedway located 35-miles east of Reno.

Two additional "first-timers" will be the dirt oval at the Orland Speedway fairgrounds track, and the fairgrounds Chowchilla Speedway track, although the latter, which would finish the season in late October, is a bit tentative at this time.

Single events are slated for Placerville, Marysville and Watsonville on the dirt and Lakeport and Ukiah's pavement with a Saturday-Sunday format.

The Placerville Speedway race on July 14 will include the annual "Jack London Bash" picnic and Hall of Fame induction ceremonies during the afternoon prior to the race meet. This is the only venue all season where all three BCRA divisions race together.

2000 champion Glenn Carson will return in the Doug Bock championship-winning Esslinger/TCR as will BCRA's 66-year-old "Elder Statesman" and four-time champ Floyd Alvis. Among the new teams will be third-generation driver Chuck Gurney Jr. aboard the famed Pete Baraldi Brayton-Ford/Stewart. Gurney will drive the Baraldi machine on pavement and on dirt rely on the Jeff Arata Pontiac/Stewart in which the 18-year-old won three features last season.

One of the most exciting innovations for the 2001 season is the introduction of the new "Division-2". This division is made up primarily of Chevy II, VW, and Sesco powered midgets of the 1970s and 80s. The rules allow most any engine, excepting the "modern-day" (and expensive) pure racing engines, Gaerte, Esslinger, etc.

The new division will compete at all regular midget events. In most cases they will run an independent trophy dash and heat race, then will be filtered into the rear of the regular main event. If a semi-main is run, the four top finishers, Division 1 or 2, will start in the rear of the feature.

The division has been met with a lot of anticipation and a number of cars are being dusted off to return to the racing wars with a variety of drivers from rookies to veterans expected to compete.

The midget lite division is set to compete at the Antioch, Placerville, and Petaluma Speedways as well as the Twin Cities Speedway in Marysville. Chris DeRuyter returns as the defending driving champion and championship car owner Jim Black will again post runnerup charger Steven Williams into the cockpit.

Most of the vintage division events are staged at midget or midget lite venues at Placerville, Carson City, Hanford, Stockton, Reno-Fernley, Madera, and Chowchilla.