October 2006 - Inside Line Column - by Floyd Busby

The BCRA Midget Lite championship has been decided, and its Jeff Griffin who will be crowned the 2006 champion at the annual awards banquet in November. Griffin went into the final race at the Reno-Fernley Raceway on August 30 with only eight points separating himself, former champ Scott Kinney and Matt Sherman. Griffin and Kinney finished third and fourth in the final race with Sherman on the sidelines with a broken motor from hot laps. The event was the second of three races in the Sunoco Racing Fuels/ Henchcraft Racing Products Best of the West Mini sprint Series which will end in Laughlin, Nevada on October 13-14. It is not a BCRA point ace.
At this writing the BCRA midgets have only one race remaining, Madera on October 21. Defending champion John Sarale has a commanding lead over seven-time titilist Floyd Alvis and Travis Berryhill. Alvis and Berryhill are separated by only five points in their battle for second.
The most recent midget race was at the Shasta Raceway Park's 3/8-mile paved oval on Sept. 23. Ryan Kaplan won the 40-lapper over Bobby Grewohl in the BCRA/USAC co-sanctioned race. Of the 25 cars signed in 12 BCRA were BCRA, 2 USAC, 6 WMRA and 5 BCRA/USAC.
BCRA/USAC entries are those who are members of both organizations.
Idaho's Stuart Birkinbine, who in the past usually ran as WMRA, is regarded as USAC. The other USAC car is owned by Concord's Marc DeBeaumont, a former BCRA and USAC champion. DeBeaumont maintains both the Kaplan car and his own car that placed second. Three of the top USAC pointmen were not present, allowing Chase Barber to gain on USAC point leader Jerome Rodela who skipped the event.
The August 12 race at Placerville was a barn-burner! The main event was so intense that there was never a letdown - each lap had torrid action somewhere around the track, if not for the front spots.
Sarale took the win over a charging Robby Flock with Kaplan in third.
This was also the date of the annual BCRA Hall of Fame Picnic held at the ElDorado County Fairgrounds, the site of the Placerville Speedway. On hand to accept their induction were Tim Joyce, Midget Driver; Victor Mencarini, Midget Driver; Howard Segur, Midget Car Owner and Gary Dennett, Midget Lite Car Owner. Not present were Hardtop Drivers Jim Graham and Ben Gregory; Midget Driver Dean Holden and Midget Lite Car Owner Harley VanDyke. A very successful event thanks in large part to the efforts of BCRA Office Manager Linda Manning and the board of director members. This scribe handled the microphone and former midget referee Rick Eisenbeis again handled the tri-tip BBQ duties.
HOT - HOT - HOT!....That was the Madera Speedway on July 22.
The thermometer read 113 degrees, and the track temperature was somewhere nearing 160. Insulation...what insultion?...not in a midget, or most any other type of race car. Imagine the engine heat adding to the difficulties. Several drivers stated that if the race had been 40-laps instead of 30, they may not have made it. Brad Curtis, down from Washington state, needed treatment for a burn blister on the inside of his left leg from the in-out box heat.
Rookie Justin Grant said that he had to continually change the position of his hands on the steering wheel with the extreme heat moving right through his gloves - he wasn't alone!....well, Garratt "Surfer Dude" Boyden overcame the heat long enough to score his first career midget win. BCRA's popular vintage division took to the track several times.
The final-ever Stockton "99" race on the 8th went to Tony Hunt aboard the BCRA Bob Rosen "Mr Espresso" Beast/Fontana Ford. Hunt "inherited" the lead after a shunt with leader Shannon McQueen upon a restart late in the race, sending McQueen into a spin. Floyd Alvis drove the checkered flag around the oval in memory of Bob Barkhimer.
At the Douglas County Fairgrounds Speedway in Roseburg, Oregon, a co-sanction with the Washington Midget Racing Association, they had us outnumbered, 16 to 9. The WMRA's Dallas Melby, out of Kent, Washington, won the 40-lap feature aboard the Chris Melby Blue Dot/Gaerte.
Every so often something happens to tug at your heart and make a long trip such as this worthwhile. Moving into the grandstands just prior to the feature so as to do my little scoring bit and make notes to write the result story, I found that "Rob" was sitting across the isle with his mom and family members. Rob was originally from the Bay Area where he attended races. The family has since moved to Roseburg. Rob is mentally disadvantaged. He has always been an enthusiastic supporter of midget auto racing and was happy to find someone that he recognized. A bit later, just before the start, his mom approached me with a note. Rob has been diagnosed with cancer and has only months to live and his mom was hoping that he could meet the eventual main event winner. I said that I'd try. Immediately after the race, seeing that he physically could not descend the stairs to the track, I approached winner Melby and quickly explained the situation. Melby immediately headed for the stands. I introduced him to Rob. Rob was so enthused to meet Melby, a driver that was a hero in his eye. Melby asked Rob to stop by the pits because he had a T-shirt for him.....Rob, a deserving young man....Dallas Melby, a fine young gentleman driver....As an advocate of BCRA, I would naturally want to see a BCRA driver in victory circle, but I feel that it could not have been a more deserving driver who shared victory with another....since that time, speaking with Dallas at Shasta, I found that he had sent Rob three shirts, one especially made for the young man...Dallas, you're my man!!!
On the midget lite front, young Matt Sherman scored his first feature win, doing so at the Placerville Speedway on July 1. A write-in date was the Tulare Thunderbowl on July 22 in conjunction with Pombo-Sargent Classic Golden State Challenge. Former lite champion Scott Kinney came away with the win.
Thank goodness!!!...the BCRA Awards Banquet is moving back to the Aahmes Event Center in Livermore for the November 18 bash. The dinner had been there for some years, but we lost the facility when new management took over six or seven years ago and have been elsewhere since. The Aahmes facility is very open with high ceilings
- no cramped feeling - it has a full professional stage and the best buffet this side of....well, about anywhere!
Thanks to the supreme efforts of Brenda and Johnny Anderson of the West Capital Raceway Alumni Association, the All American Vintage Classic at the Roseville Speedway on Sept. 15-16 was a huge success. A large number of BCRA vintage midgets were on hand with others from throughout the west. Sprint cars, champ cars, super modfiieds, hard tops and roadsters received a lot of track time.
Grand Marshal Parnelli Jones had a ball driving one of the fast vintage sprint cars, looking as though he had never retired. This event is a "must-see" when it comes around next year for the third annual event. Johnny Anderson, of course, drove BCRA midgets for many years in addition to sprinters, etc.
From Roseville it was not a long drive to Stockton for the final race ever at the Stockton "99" Speedway. It was a program with those funny looking fendered cars, but it was important to me to be present for the finale. It was by far the largest crowd that I had ever seen there. Event the standing-room-only was sold out and people were turned away at the gate. Even the fireworks display was great.
Many a midget race had been held on the famous quarter-mile paved oval....it will sorely be missed.
Almost next to the Stockton speedway is the Oakmoor Golf Course where BCRA has held a number of its Johnny Baldwin Golf Classic event. That property too will be lost to the developers. For the sixth time in seven tournaments, the team led by Floyd Alvis won at the recent tourney there on Sept. 10.....may need to change the name to the "Benefit Floyd Alvis Golf Tournament"!!!
On the subject of race tracks closing their doors permanently, I understand, but have not confirmed, that the Petaluma Speedway will no longer exist after this season. Seems that the fairgrounds received a bid to build a minor league baseball stadium on the property and it has been accepted.
The Madera Speedway will not be in operation for the 2007 season, but will return in '08. Part of the fairgrounds property will become a Lowe's Home Improvement store. With all of the building and paving next year it was determined to be impractical to attempt the use of the race track. The present track promoter apparently was ousted by the fairgrounds board, so we can assume that the track will be up for bid for 2008.
With race tracks descending into the history books, it is getting more difficult each year to come up with a workable schedule.
The BCRA Board of Directors would ideally like to schedule ten dirt and ten pavement midget races, but that is nearly impossible any more. This year we had 12 pavement (one rained out) and only five dirt races. The lites, running dirt only, will loose Petaluma for next year.
The midget lite division is looking for two officials, a referee and a pit steward. If interested, call the office evenings
at: (209)830-9928.