October 2002 - Inside Line Column - by Floyd Busby

Floyd Alvis has wrapped up his record-breaking sixth BCRA midget driving championship. At the same time, during the race at the Stockton "99" Speedway on August 31st, Bill Lindsey won the car owner title. Officials had notified the other competitors before the race and they all stopped at the finish line after the feature to celebrate the newly-won championships. Alvis finished second in the car owner standings with his pavement VanDyne Stealth.

At the final midget lite race at the Antioch Speedway on September 14, Greg Dennett officially won his second consecutive driving championship. Greg's brother, Todd, entered the final race only 40 points behind, with an outside chance of winning the championship. Although Greg experienced engine problems during the feature and finished 13th and Todd moved up to claim fourth, it was not enough to overcome the deficit. Greg won over the 2001 "Rookie of the Year" by 16 points. The brother's father, Gary, won the car owner title as well as placing second with Todd's lite and will pick up the lion's share of the car owner championship money on November 16 at the annual awards banquet.

At the point that Alvis and Lindsey were assured of their titles, two races remained on the schedule, the Harvest Classic at Madera and at the Kings Speedway in Hanford, both co-sanctioned BCRA/USAC events.

Lindseys' is a somewhat unusual situation. "Mr. Consistency" drives a 1970's Diego with VW power, not exactly competitive with today's racing engines and chassis. Using the same car for both dirt and pavement, instead of having different cars for each as do most, gave the veteran points at each race. Bill could always be counted upon to support BCRA and is very deserving of his newfound championship. Bill ran this same car in the 70's and then retired. He dusted off 'ol reliable and returned to the racing wars several years
ago and has been a consistent competitor. Even his older bother, Joe, purchased the old Alvis Diego/VW and ran his rookie season last year. Joe's sons, Barry and Rob, purchased midgets and also have been competing since 2001 to make it a four-member family effort. Joe has been out of commission since mid-July when he wrecked hard at Placerville.

On August 24th BCRA and USAC traveled to the Santa Maria Speedway. Since the death of former track owner and prep man Doug Fort, the dirt racing surface had seemed to diminish. When we arrived last month, it was the third or fourth week of a newly installed surface and the track was great. After the feature it still had that "squashy", but not overly wet feel and could have sustained much more
racing. Indicating the condition of the track, in qualifying Josh Wise was fast qualifier in the Dino Tomassi Mopar/Beast at 13.865. During the feature, after taking the lead, Wise was clocked in the 13.200 bracket, far under the track record. It was my first encounter with a Mopar powered midget - it was awesome! Track manager Larry Ulam and crew are doing a yeoman job.

Following Santa Maria was the final Stockton race where Alex Harris took the win in the San Jose-based Rich Terranova Esslinger/Beast.

Three of the five races held at Stockton this season were regarded as "Regional" events by USAC. All competitors, be they USAC or BCRA, earned points for the series. Marc DeBeaumont came out on top with Alvis second, followed by Cliff Servetti, Alex Harris and
Johnny Rodriguez. DeBeaumont has the distinction of having won championships in both BCRA (1995) and USAC Western States.

DeBeaumont is also the Western States Distributor for the Stealth chassis. This season he held a ten-race BCRA Stealth Contingency Program from which the winner would be awarded a Stealth dirt chassis or half-off the price of a pavement chassis. Points were earned by a blind draw at each race for finishing positions in qualifying, heats and main event, with bonus points for a feature win. For this program at least, Alvis was the luckiest, and won the series that included both dirt and pavement races. If a three was drawn for heat race-two, a look at the score sheet would show that Alvis placed third in heat race-two - that type of luck continued through the entire program. Alvis has opted to acquire a new Stealth pavement chassis and has his championship-winning VanDyne Stealth up for sale.

At the 31st Annual Harvest Classic at the Madera Speedway, the second-to-last race for BCRA, Tony Hunt came home the winner in the Bob Rosen "Mr. Espresso Roasted Coffee" Brayton Buick/Beast. This marked the second feature win this season for the dynamic duo. Rosen, featured in this column last month, only runs when Hunt is not obligated to run the USAC sprint car circuit. Hunt doubled up at Madera and ran a sprinter also.

During practice at Madera the Jeff Pinkston Esslinger/Edmunds broke an oil pump shaft that could not be extracted. Driver Danny
Stratton, only two points behind Robby Flock in the USAC Western States point chase, scouted the pits to acquire a ride without success. During the first heat race, BCRA's Pete Davis experienced engine problems that put him out for the night. Soon, the Davis car
was in the Pinkston pits where the needed parts were being extracted and put into Stratton's ride. They made the tail end of the feature
just in time, and although he dropped out during the race, he remains a contender for the championship.

On the midget lite front, Harley VanDyke and his two drivers, Don VanDyke and sixteen-year-old Brad Sweet, will be heading east to the 8th USOMA (United States Outlaw Minisprint Association) 1200 Dirt Nationals at the Semo Motor Speedway in Sikeston, Missouri on Sept. 27-28. - Good luck guys!

The BCRA Board of Directors have voted to name the annual midget lite most improved driver award the "Tracy Taylor Most Improved Driver". Tracy died of cancer earlier this year and had been one of the biggest supporters of the lite division and well as her owner/driver brother John. Tracy handled a number of chores, including a season of writing the result stories and submitting midget lite driver profiles to the BCRA newsletter, Inside Line.

The annual awards banquet has changed locations. This year it will be held at the Four Seasons Sheraton Hotel in Pleasanton with the menu supplied by the on-location Faz Restaurant. The Aahmes Event Center in Livermore, site of the banquet for nearly ten years, neglected to record BCRA's reservation and rented the facility out to another group to the dismay of all concerned. The Sheraton should be a good choice and they are giving a great room discount for those who wish to stay over after an evening of festivities. The awards will be given out on Saturday, November 16. All fans are invited to attend. The tariff is $35.00 per person. Interested, call Linda Manning at the BCRA office at (209) 830-9928.

BCRA has also announced a special pavement series for 2003. In association with midget owner/driver John Harkrader, two premium
houseboat rentals on Lake Shasta will be the first and second place awards via points scored at each event. The BCRA "Shasta Marina
Resort Pavement Championship Series" will include all stand-alone BCRA pavement events in 2003. The first place winner will receive a
full week in a deluxe houseboat that sleeps 14 persons during the premium season, a value of $4,700.00. Second place will receive a similar houseboat for five nights during the mid-season, a value of $2,350.00. The winners will claim their awards in 2004. Harkrader
retired from midget racing and sold his very successful tanker steam cleaning business in Oakland following the 1995 season and bought the Shasta Marina Resort on Lake Shasta. Last season he appeared at the BCRA races at the Shasta Speedway in Anderson and expressed his interest in returning to racing. This season he bought one of the midgets that he had previously owned and sold and has been a regular competitor on the pavement. His great interest in BCRA and racing prompted him to present the series plan to BCRA, who of course, immediately accepted it!

BCRA President Bob Roza, a midget lite owner, recently purchased a Chevy II powered Kane midget for use in the vintage division. He and Bill Silveira will pilot the car. Shortly after the vintage purchase, Roza bought a "roller" full midget. Bob's son Steve will be the driver. Roza's midget lite is up for sale.

The annual BCRA General Membership meeting comes up on October 26. It will be held in the Club Room of Fuddruckers in the Willows Shopping Center in Concord. Several outgoing board members will be replaced, or perhaps re-voted back onto the board. It is
expected that the current board will have some very interesting information to present to the membership.

The Third Annual TCR Performance "Johnny Baldwin BCRA Classic" Golf Tournament is still accepting reservations. The tournament will be held on Sunday, October 20 at the private Oakmoore Golf Course in Stockton. Its a four-person scramble tournament and the $75.00 fee includes green fees, cart fees, lunch, beverages and a tee prize. Fans are welcome to slice along with the midget, midget lite and vintage hackers. For reservations or questions call Gary Dickenson at (707) 542-0537 or Greg Dennett at (925) 292-1832 (evenings).