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| TRADITIONAL
410 SPRINTERS RETURN TO KINGS SPEEDWAY by Norm Bogan |
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It was 1997 when the racing contingent from southern California last visited Kings Speedway in Hanford. Many fans from the south joined with their counterparts in central and northern California to witness this rite of passage to one of the fan favorite tracks on the West Coast. With excellent weather and a tacky track, the old-timers remembered what it was they liked about this Central Valley venue. Joining the headliner USAC/CRA sprints were the local favorite, Hot Stocks and the WRA Vintage Race Cars. Twenty-eight sprint cars signed in today, including most of the regular cast from the past several years and a number of Arizona regulars along with a few of the local Bandit racers. Troy Rutherford set quick time at 15.711 in the Priestley #7, followed by Kruseman, Gaunt, Williams and Gardner in the top five clocking. Kruseman was a surprise last minute entrant, who was supposed to be sailing around the high banks of Eldora, but with inclement weather predicted for the weekend, his Midwest USAC rides had been scuttled and he hurriedly called car owner, Mark Alexander on Friday evening to see if they could prepare the #4 car for battle this weekend and hopped a redeye west. The Alexander team had readied the #4x for Hermansader, so an all night thrash had Cory’s steed in the trailer and headed north on highway 99. Steve Ostling tried on Mike Sala’s #19S car, as his regular ride the Fischer #29 would not be ready until Perris next week. Aussie driver, Peter Murphy, who now calls Fresno home, has made frequent runs with the non-wing guys over the past several years. This evening Murphy showed up with the powerful central California car #21Tof Tommy Tarlton, clocking in twelfth fastest. The field also had two female drivers as Kaylene Verville from Arizona and Nadine Keller, a VRA regular, both coming to challenge the men folks. Rookie candidates, Dwayne Marcum, Alex Pruett and David Cardey were all in attendance as well as Arizonans, Bruce St James and Mike Martin. J. Hicks made his first show driving the Miller #66 now fitted with a 410 bullet purchased from Mike English. A.J. Burgin, one of the local Bandit heroes from nearby Kingsburg also joined the field. Verville jumped into the lead on the first heat and held off the pursuers for several laps until Kirby and Rutherford were able to get by. Alex Pruett also took the lead from his outside front row starting position and holding off a charging Greg Bragg to claim the second heat. The third heat saw Bobby Cody edge out Ronnie Case and Peter Murphy. The Semi found several of the usual
frontrunners battling for a spot in the feature.
Rip Williams claimed the victory, trailed by Mike Spencer,
Jordan Hermansader, Dwayne Marcum and David Cardey, who all moved on
to the big show, while Alan Ballard missed a transfer by one spot,
after running over a dropped muffler and flattening a tire.
Returning at the back of the pack, Alan was able to work his
way back to sixth at the checkers. Mike Kirby moved out to lead the feature from the outside front row. It soon became obvious that Kirby’s car was not handling that well, carrying the front end coming off four most of the way down the front straight. On lap 12, the Demon passed the fading Kirby and looked to be gone. Soon, Rip Williams became a player and it appeared that he might catch and overtake Gardner. Cory Kruseman had fallen in behind the front two and waited for a miscue with Steve Ostling in the Sala car right behind and Kirby holding on to fifth place with his ill-handling car. Peter Murphy looked racy in the Tarlton car running the high groove, passing cars and moving to the front until an incidental contact caused Peter’s car to spin in turn 2. In this precarious position, the Tarlton car was struck by several other cars, causing it to overturn and doing extensive damage to the front-end geometry. Others involved were Kaylene Verville, Mike Spencer and Troy Rutherford. Troy returned after changing a bent wheel, but experienced a serious vibration from a bent axle. Verville’s car had the rear-end torn loose and Spencer suffered enough damage that he was unable to return. Dwayne Marcum progressed up the ladder during the evening to make the feature and was running well, when suddenly a puff of smoke signaled an expired engine. The vintage cars ran a heat for the midgets and one for the sprints and roadsters and then put on a twelve-lap feature with former CRA pilot, Tony Simon going to victory in the #2 Midget. The Hot stocks raced a couple of heats and a twenty-lap feature, with Ron D’Artenay Jr. collecting the checkers. The program moved along well and the track preparation had a nice tacky surface preferred by the non-wing genre. The crowd was good and seemed to be appreciative of the show that played out before them. The USAC/CRA 410s will return on August 14. Look for the crowd and the field of cars to grow, as long time fans and many new ones get to witness one of these shows in Hanford and rediscover Kings Speedway. |
