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John Silva was the first to appear on the scene after purchasing the car previously owned by NCMA driver Larry Teixeira. John, who is employed by the state, resides in Tracy with his wife Angie and their three dachshunds Brandi, Mitsy, and Sugar.

 John’s interest in racing began with his father, John Silva, who raced modifieds in Stockton and Chico during the 1950’s, but gave up racing to devote time to his family and help raise his children. John’s father taught him to work on everything from bikes to motorcycles and cars, and he still enjoys cycling and dirt biking, but owning and driving a sprint car consumes a lot of time. John says he was addicted to speed at an early age and spent several years racing dirt bikes and motorcycles. In 1995 he and friend Dan White built a street stock and shared the driving duties, racing for a few years at Stockton 99 Speedway. John’s favorite track is Altamont Motorsports Park , and he has been going there since it opened in the 60’s. As a fan of the “sexy” open wheeled sprints, he was a frequent spectator when the sprints raced there. After Larry Teixeira experienced a bad crash in ’03, John called him up to offer help with repairing his car. To repay him for his assistance, Larry offered John the opportunity to drive his car during some practice sessions at Altamont . After two practice days, John was turning 19 second laps, and soon after that, bought the car.

John debuted his blue and white #29 with the NCMA Sprints at the first ’04 season Altamont race on March 20. A close encounter with the wall as he exited the track during a practice session gave him a taste of humble pie and also showed him what kind of help to expect from his fellow racers, as everyone pitched in to repair his car. He finished with an awesome 5^th place in the feature that night, and has since had many top five finishes. John’s most memorable race to date was his first trophy dash win the night before Father’s Day, and he gave his father the trophy. John has shown a lot of talent driving on the fast ½ mile at Altamont , and is a strong competitor in the NCMA asphalt series. His crew consists of Ron Castaneda, a good friend for 30 years, who helps him in the evenings in the shop and on race days, and his nephews, Timmy and Christopher Silva.

John’s car is an OCR chassis and the motor is by Waterman and Don Hicks. He is sponsored by: Dan’s Racer Safety, V & F Body Shop, Philpott’s Garage, Bell / Pyrotect, Kenner ’s Welding, Napa Auto Parts, Santomauro Racing, Duralite Wheels, CL Bryant, and Silva Racing. John appreciates the help from the NCMA members and is grateful for the support from his wife and the fans, who week after week come out to root him on at Altamont .

A week after John’s debut, on March 27 Rob Hammond appeared on the scene at Chowchilla Speedway in his red and white #17H, and he was immediately impressed with the friendly attitudes and warm reception given by fellow racers and teams. Rob is a co-owner of Hale Lumber Company in Morgan Hill , where he lives with Lisa and their young children, Savannah and Seth.

Rob also caught the racing bug early, with a back round in racing BMX and 3 wheelers at tracks in Hollister and Monterey as a teen. Scraping mud on Peter Giminez’s sprint car at San Jose Speedway in the early 90’s ignited his interest in the sprints, and Rob thanks Russ Simons, Peter Giminez, Jeff Bothelo, Keith Shipherd, Doug Gandy, John Santomauro, and Rich Hernandez for helping him get started. The very same car that he scraped mud on bore the Hale Lumber name as a sponsor and is the car he now owns and drives.

Rob tested his car at Antioch ’s play days, and during a practice day at Watsonville Speedway, had his first “rookie moment” when he became over confidant and put the car into the wall. L & J Photography took a great picture of his car on the track, and soon the photo was on Chowchilla Speedway’s web site, advertising the NCMA Sprint race the following week. A friend called Rob and told him about the picture, and a week later, the car was repaired and ready to race at Chowchilla. After only 4 NCMA dirt track races he challenged himself and decided to try out pavement racing. He made the tow to Lakeport Speedway’s ¼ mile track where they allowed him a practice session alone on the track for his first time. Rob drove smoothly, but during the main his motor blew, causing him to spin into the wall. In spite of their misfortune, the Hammond team stuck around after the races and graciously signed autographs and donated NCMA t-shirts and hats to some Lakeport fans. Rob returned to pavement racing a few weeks later and tested out Altamont ’s ½ mile track. In just his fourth Altamont race on July 31, he smoothly drove to a 4^th place feature finish. In one night, he achieved several of his goals, which were: 1. to not get lapped, 2. to qualify in under a 20 second lap time, and 3. to finish in the top five!

Rob’s favorite track to date is Reno-Fernley’s 3/8 mile track. The friendly atmosphere from promoters, officials and fans combined with the fast track surface make it a unique facility. Rob’s enjoyment of the track may be partly due to the fact that he led half of the feature race there in July, and had a thrilling fourth place finish. Rob has shown remarkable patience with mechanical misfortunes and the entire learning process as well as good sportsmanship. Off the track, he has demonstrated his immense generosity, by loaning other drivers parts, sponsoring two of the club’s races, and for the last three years he has also sponsored a young driver, Dominic Potera, in the youth driven Mini Cup division at Altamont .

Rob’s car is a 1990 Schnee chassis, and the motor is by Gilroy Automotive Machine. His dedicated crew, Jim Jeffers and Don Sunseri are also long time friends, and they help after work on Wednesday nights in Rob’s shop at home, and on race days. Rob’s family has been very supportive of his racing, and even though at a recent race his mother was pelted by mud from her son’s car, she is a big fan. The team is sponsored by Hale Lumber, Absolute Screen Printing and Graphics, EMF Motorsports, Bothelo Brothers Trucking, Hamilton Financial Mortgage, and Medallion Construction.

Both John and Rob have shown a lot of promise as talented wingless sprint drivers, are top contenders for the 2004 Rookie of the Year title, and are sure to be top runners in the future. Come out and watch them in action, along with the rest of the touring NCMA Sprints. For schedule information, check out the web site at www.ncmaracing.com, or contact Keith Shipherd NCMA president, at (925) 938-6913. Drive safe, have fun, and take care.

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