Racing Scene Column - (SRL @ KCRP)
By noderel:
Los Angeles, CA. - Two friends and I made our first racing trip to the new Kern County Raceway Park Saturday, September 7 for the three-division Spears SRL Southwest Tour initial event at the new racing facility. KCRP is located conveniently in west Bakersfield adjacent to Interstate 5 and Enos Lane (Highway 43) with easy access to I-5 via freeway ramps northbound and southbound. The featured race was the “DC's RV Center 100” for SRL SW Tour stock cars (23 cars in the pits). Two other SRL divisions competed. SRL S2 Cars had a season-high 12 cars on the track and the SRL-INEX Legends had ten cars present. All three divisions (four main events) were competitive and entertaining. It was 104 degrees when we arrived at 4:05 pm and the temperature was still 82 when the final race concluded at 10:08 pm.
KCRP owners/operators Charlie Beard (CEO), Rusty Risi (CFO) and James Vernon (VP) deserve thanks from racers and fans for completing the newest speedway in the USA. The asphalt is really smooth and conducive to speed. KCRP's grand opening race night was May 18 and it attracted 9,000+ spectators. The July 4th holiday race/fireworks show had about 3,500 present. The September 7 race (17th KCRP race night) was the second or third largest crowd of the inaugural season with an estimated 3,500 fans present. Hot weather in Bakersfield and the final NASCAR Sprint Cup Richmond 400 on TV (4:30- 8+ pm PDT) did not deter short-track racing fans. Fans who attended the KCRP September 7 race in person made a wise choice.
Bakersfield fans are a late-arriving crowd during hot summer months as they were at Mesa Marin Raceway (closed in 2005). KCRP spectators sit in a state-of-the art grandstand that has excellent sight-lines from any seat. Track lighting and sound systems are outstanding. Backed seats in the lower general admission section and stadium-style seats in the upper reserved grandstand are excellent. North and south side patios and bleachers offer other viewing options. A fine spray mister provided cooling near the main walkway between the GA and reserved sections. Twenty-four suites with indoor and outdoor seating occupy the third and fourth floors of the tower building behind the reserved section. Race control (Race Director Lester Boyer), media and track announcer Steven Blakesley are on the fourth floor. Daily newspapers--Bakersfield Californian (Mike Griffith) and the Antelope Valley Press--gave the SRL race at KCRP welcome pre and post-race stories.
A mid-building elevator and outside staircases provide access to the upper floors. Modern restrooms and concession stands are on the ground level at the back of the tower building. Track offices are on the second floor. Parking is $5.00. Traffic egress to Enos Lane and I-5 after the final feature cleared with 20-25 minutes. The $3.00 KCRP 50-page printed race program was excellent and informative about SRL divisions for the first SRL race at KCRP. Full SRL entry rosters, race results and point standings were appreciated. The program had four in-depth driver bios, SRL action photos and much color throughout, plus 17 full-page ads in addition to ads on the inside front and back covers.
The KCRP half-mile (on the pole) is high-banked (14 degrees) and fast. The fastest groove is low on the inside of the turns and near the crash-wall on the straights. Cars arc into the turns. All race haulers and teams pitted in the spacious infield that is lower than the front and back straights. The backstretch is 20-feet higher than the front straight and provides an unobstructed view of the entire track from any grandstand seat even with haulers parked in the infield. A 13-ft. high tunnel to the infield is under the first turn. Large trailers enter the infield from the backstretch. With eight degree banking on the straights, cars on the half-mile go uphill from the first to second turn and downhill from the third to fourth turn.The quarter-mile track uses the banked front straight and goes downhill to the flat second turn in the infield and uphill from the third turn to the fourth turn.
SRL SW Tour stock cars exceeded 100 mph during practice and qualifying. The SRL SW Tour stock car track record was set/lowered five times during early evening time trials for 22 cars. Eddie Secord spun his No. 84 Chevy Impala SS in the second turn and backed hard into the outside wall at 2:30 during practice. He loaded up by 5 pm and drove home by 8 pm. Jeremy Doss, the 13th qualifier, claimed the record with laps of 17.652 and then 17.583. Doss is a 16-year old high school student and SRL rookie from Upper Lake, CA. He is definitely a driver to watch. At driver introductions Doss rolled the SRL large dice that resulted in a five-car inverted starting lineup.
SRL SW TOUR 100: At the 9:14 pm start the temp was 88 degrees and it felt like 84 according to the weather channel. A light breeze made it comfortable. The 22-car field ran under the green flag for the first 36 laps when a solo spin caused a caution flag. The race had three leaders—Jared Vorse (L 1-4), Jim Pettit II (L 5-34 & 42-100) and, via an outside pass exiting turn four in traffic, Derek Thorn (L 35-41). SRL counts the first three laps under caution. Another yellow flag at lap 45 left Brandon Loverock in the pits fuming at another driver for causing his crash. A two-car crash on lap 53 sent both cars (Nos. 88 & 89) into the inside wall and out of the race. Officials waved a red flag to remove both cars. The final yellow flew on lap 57 for debris after a car brushed the turn four wall. Fifteen cars were still racing. At lap 70 Pettit led Thorn by 50-yards, but Thorn's engine sounded rough. Greg Pursley came from 12th starting to third place by lap 57; he was still third on lap 81 when he retired to the pits without power. Legends series veteran/winner Donny St. Ours inherited third, but Greg Voigt passed him two laps later. P. 2 Thorn trailed by half a straight at lap 85, with P. 3 Voigt a straightaway in back of Thorn. Pettit beat Thorn by 1.379 seconds (50-yards) with P. 3 Voigt 13.944 seconds back (half a lap). The 100-lap race took 49:09.599 (61.025 mph) because of one red and six yellow flags. Pettit logged the fastest race lap of 17.865 (100.756 mph).
TOP FIVE QUOTES: Pettit took a Polish victory lap with the checkered flag and skipped doing donuts with the Quentin Bammer's No. 18 Chevy. He told the crowd, “It helped coming here and racing a 50-lap race earlier. It's always special to win the first race in a series at a new track and be in the record book. Hopefully, this track will want us back more than once next year.” ... Runner-up Thorn stated, “I'm happy the old girl didn't blow up on us. It was running rough there the last part of the race.” The car's nickname is “Ugly Betty”. He thanked his No. 43 Ford car owners Byron and Carol Campbell and sponsor Four Star Fruit. He added, “This is one of the greatest facilities in the US that I've seen.” ... P. 3 Voigt said his crew has worked hard and deserved a good finish. “I look forward to coming here for a long time,” he said. ... Fourth place St. Ours stated, “My car was good for short runs, then got real loose. We'll go on to the next race. More seat time helps.” ... P. 5 White said, “My oil temp and fuel pressure lights started blinking at me a couple of times. I scraped the wall once. I over-drove it and the car washed up on me.”
Three SRL cars not present were: No. 33 M. K. Kanke and No. 61 Austin Barnes (both cars crashed earlier this season and have not been repaired yet. Jonathan Gomez' No. 22 was absent because he has not run the full SRL schedule. Drivers with the most racing experience at KCRP had to be Thorn and St. Ours, who have raced numerous times in the track's NASCAR Pro Late Model Division. Pettit and Ross Strmiska have raced at KCRP at least once to get some experience on the track before they chased SRL points. Pettit came into the September 7 SRL race with a 74 point lead and left with a 116 point advantage with only two races remaining in the ten race 2013 schedule. Winners receive 180 points so there are 360 first place points available.
The SRL SW Tour $40,000 purse awarded $4,500 to feature winner Pettit, the 2008 and 2011 SRL SW Tour champion. It was his 15th SRL feature victory, tying him with Thorn for the series lead. Thorn received $3,000 as runner-up Saturday. The SRL touring series started in 2001 and gave former NASCAR Elite Division cars a new home when NASCAR dropped that class nationwide in 2007. SRL has raced since 2001 at 13 short ovals (all half, third, quarter and three-eights in size). Eight different tracks are hosting the ten SRL events this season with the one-mile Pikes Peak Int'l Raceway set to host SRL for the first time on September 29. The SRL season will conclude November 16 at the Las Vegas Bullring. Prior to the KCRP event 41 drivers and 35 car owners earned SRL SW Tour points.
IMPRESSIVE TEENAGE SRL TOUR DRIVERS: Several SRL teenage drivers deserve recognition.
> Jeremy Doss, 16, entered KCRP second in SRL points with a feature victory in the last race on August 17 at Stockton 99 Speedway. He set the KCRP one lap NTR. He also is a multi-feature winner in the Rocky Mountain Challenge Series (ID and UT). At KCRP he started fifth and was third behind Pettit and Thorn on lap 57 when a flat tire cost him three laps. He finished tenth.
> Brandon White, 16, attends high-school in Eureka. He set fourth quickest qualifying time, started second and ran third to lap 40, fifth to lap 72 and placed an impressive fifth—18.109 seconds behind the winner. He raced USAC Ford Focus Pavement Midgets in 2010 and was the Young Guns champion. He won three features and had 14 top fives in 14 starts. In 2011 Brandon finished second in USAC FF points with a win and four top threes--he had 12 top six finishes in 12 starts. He raced one of four Ron Sutton Driver Development Program midgets (No. 9). In 2012-13 Brandon raced stock cars with SRL and in the Rocky Mountain Challenge Series.
> Donny St. Ours, 19, of Upland, had raced in six of seven SRL races before the KCRP event and ranked 15th in points. He has been a Legends car frequent winner for years and this season has stepped up to late models at KCRP and the SRL SW Tour. He set eighth fastest qualifying time of 22, started in P. 8 and raced the Joe Farre No. 54 Chevy to fourth place. Donny was 17.148 seconds in back of the winner after 100 laps. Six drivers finished all 100 laps, with two drivers down a lap, and four other finishers (12 total) minus 3-4-5 & 6 laps. Donny also won the KCRP 4-lap trophy dash for four mid-pack qualifiers.
Legend Cars qualified from 4:49-4:58; S2 Cars qualified from 5:02-5:18 pm. SRL qualified 22 cars after the on-track autograph session for fans from 5:30-6:20 on the shaded front straight. Two qualifying laps for each car lasted from 6:41-7:09 pm. The SRL Tour had too many black cars (13) and dark blue cars (5). With that many dark cars at a night race it was hard for fans to identify cars at speed during the 22-car main. The S2 cars were colorful and easier to identify at speed. Note to SRL: The delay between the conclusion of the second S2 main at 8:29 pm and the start of the SRL SW Tour 100 at 9:14 was excessive. Drivers were introduced from last to first and interviewed on a stage towed to the starting line. That's a nice touch for fans, but please expedite the process. Fans come to see racing.
S2 CARS: S2 cars were designed to allow young drivers to move up and gain experience in a full-size stock car. All are built by Racecar Factory in Irwindale and use 350 HP, iron head factory sealed crate engines and have 8-gallon fuel cells. They have fabricated tubular spec chassis with coil-over front and rear suspensions, sealed shocks, a 3-speed OEM transmission with steel bell-housing, and a Holley 4-barrel carburetor. Cars have a rear wing and plastic nose, tail, fenders and quarter panels for durability. Thirteen S2 cars have raced this year and 12 were present at KCRP for a pair of point-counting mains on the half-mile. The No. 77 blew the engine during the second afternoon practice session, so 11 cars qualified and raced in the first 20-lap race. SRL began sanctioning S2 racing in March 2013 and has run ten races at four tracks--Madera, Irwindale, Las Vegas and now KCRP--with three doubleheaders.
Five drivers have won the ten S2 features this season. Bandolero/Legends/Race Truck veteran Ryan Cansdale, 14, has four victories and leads point standings by 30. Two-time winner Trevor Huddleston, 17, shares a similar racing history with Ryan. Coloradan Anthony Giannone, 17, has two S2 triumphs. “Grandpa” Kenny Smith and Irwindale two-time mini stock champion Darryl Scoggins each have one victory. LAPD Sgt. Scoggins won the first KCRP 20 and led every lap. Giannone nudged K. Smith in turn two on lap 17 and won the second KCRP 20 as Smith placed fifth. Then Anthony performed circular donuts in the infield and blew his engine. Flames were visible under the hood and he climbed out quickly. When interviewed he told the pit announcer, “I said I'd burn it down, but I didn't mean literally.” The second S2 main was green all the way and took only 7:02.988. Smith received a $25 hard charger (or luck) award.
Tim Huddleston said he has sold S2 cars and now owns only two (Nos. 50 and 97). Veteran racer Bill Sedgwick arrived at KCRP to watch racing. Tim asked him to drive his driver-less No. 97. Bill said he didn't bring his racing stuff, so Tim loaned Bill his helmet and driving uniform. Bill qualified fourth fastest of 11 cars. He was in third place on lap 15 of 20 when a blown engine ended his racing for the night. Huddleston and RCF owner/S2 builder Jeff Schrader manage six of the 13 active S2 cars. They are: Mike Colato 13, Cansdale 37, Dave Lowenstein 45, Giannone 54, King Taco 77 and Chris Morrison 99. Driving south on I-5 about midnight near Pyramid Lake we passed the 77 and 13 S2 cars on open trailers being towed to the RCF shop in Irwindale.
Trevor Huddleston, Tim's son, had the fastest times in the two KCRP Saturday practice sessions. He ran best laps of 20.531 at 3:30 and a 20.484 (87.873 mph) at 4:25 pm. In his qualifying run he ran laps of 20.546 and 20.538. which became the official one lap qualifying track record, even though it was .054 slower than his quickest lap in the second practice session. The S2 cars were about 13 mph slower than the more powerful SRL SW Tour cars. Trevor entered the KCRP double-header in second place with 1325 points. Point leader Cansdale had 1375. After the KCRP twin 20-lap mains Trevor knocked Ryan's 50 point lead down to 30 points (1690-1660). Scoggins has 1590 and K. Smith 1586 so they are in the title chase as well with October 5 (Irwindale) and November 16 (Las Vegas) S2 races remaining in the 12 race schedule.
S2 NEWCOMERS:
> No. 11 Cory Elliott, of Bakersfield, is a 13-year old who raced a Ford Focus midget this year. He finished second in a URA feature during June at the OSS quarter-mile clay track in San Bernardino.
> Lindsey King, 24, returned to racing after several years to drive the No. 13 S2. She won a late model feature for Huddleston's HPR team about six years ago.
> Elissa Gill, 23, from Visalia, is a Fresno State college graduate with two majors (biology and public health) who now works in marketing. She is a sand drag racer in the National Sand Drag Racing Assn. at Avenal and other sites. She has a race in the 97 S2 but raced the No. 99 S2 at KCRP.
LEGENDS 35: Ten SRL Legends ran a 35-lap main on the tight quarter-mile that uses K-rails on the backstretch to protect the pit area. Fastest qualifier Ricky Schlick, 16, started seventh in his No. 24 1934 Ford coupe replica and became the third race leader on lap 6. He won by 25-yards over Bakersfield's Richard “Buddy” Shepherd, 13. Schlick, from Claremont, also won the August 31 L/C main at KCRP. The all-green light race September 7 took 8:49.897. All ten drivers finished with six drivers on the lead lap.