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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| 2004
JOURNEY TO THE MIDWEST by Norm Bogan |
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Having traveled on a number of sprint car tours over the past fifteen years, this would be one with a different twist. On the old CRA tours in 1989, 91, 92 and 93, my only task was to enjoy the shows. I got to do a lot of sightseeing and a chance to see my heroes take on the best of other parts of the country. By 1995, I began to chronicle my journeys, starting with the SCRA Northwest Swing to Washington and Oregon and part of the NARC Speed Weeks in 1995 & 96. The following two years found a group of fans and many of the regular SCRA racers going back to Indiana for Sprint Week. All of these trips were very enjoyable and articles were written to share with the less fortunate souls, who could not go. In 1999, the Non Wing World Championship was
created and it was on the road again.
The first tours were in June and some families were unable to
make the trip, because it conflicted with the school year.
After the third year, the tour dates were shifted to August,
allowing families to make the tour a racing vacation, as many
visited with relatives along the way to one of our venues.
Each year, the SCRA racers would spend a couple of weeks
parading around the country like a bunch of gypsies, selling the
non-wing style of racing like a traveling evangelist, in hopes of
wooing some non-believers to the flock.
These trips carried us to sprint car racing bastions such as
Lakeside and Wichita, Kansas, Knoxville, Iowa, Eagle, Nebraska,
Terre Haute, Indiana, Fremont, Ohio, Williams Grove, Lincoln and
Grandview, Pennsylvania, Granite City, Godfrey, Highland and Farmer
City, Illinois and of course the annual rainout at Hales Corners,
Wisconsin. For each of
these tours it was my pleasure to keep a journal and present it to
readers of several publications and web pages, so others could share
our experience. In 2003, I underwent a heart procedure in June
and with tight funding due to downsizing, my trip was made through
the eyes of the Mel Murphy team on their maiden voyage.
They kept a diary and then shared with me, so we could once
again tell the tale of the tour from the perspective of a race team. This year, I was approached by SCRA to fill in for PR Maven, Robert Mayson, who was unable to be away from his employment for the duration of the tour. So I hit the road with my rookie flag in tact. To help reduce costs, I hooked up with SCRA Flagman, Lee Jaskowiak and corner worker, Jim Becker, both from the San Diego area. Lee and Jim arrived at my San Fernando Valley abode in the early evening on Thursday and we were soon heading east on I-40 at the wheel of my wife’s new Expedition, which was obtained after much begging and groveling. The first race would be on Friday evening at
Hollywood Hills Speedway in San Felipe, New Mexico, near
Albuquerque. We drove through the night accumulating about 500 miles of
roadway, before pulling into a rest stop for a couple of hours, then
completing the final 300 mile run, arriving at the Super 8 in the
early afternoon. Soon we were on our way to the track, which is a beautiful facility, with seating for about ten thousand, with several corporate suites and a nice press box area, accessible by elevator. Different from past years, when I could take a leisurely stroll through the pits and visit with the teams, it was now my task to go from trailer to trailer and create a roster of the participants, obtaining info on drivers, owners, sponsors, chassis and engines for each entry. This information was then entered into the computer and printed out for the announcer and club records. As qualifying started it was my job to record the times and then sort the data to get the lineup by times, so that heat race grids could be created. As the racing got underway, I had to record the
finishes for SCRA, which were used to make the nightly payoffs and
also allot the proper points to the competitors.
By now, I had gained a much better understanding of what
Robert Mayson means to SCRA and seriously upgraded my respect for
his performance. As the racing wrapped up, I then conducted an
interview with the winner, then get rapid access to the internet to
email the results back home, so the California fans would know how
their particular hero had fared that evening.
Returning to the motel in the wee hours, it was then
necessary to put together a story about the evening’s activities,
including some of the material gleaned during the interview with the
winner. This also had
to be emailed back to California. I quickly learned that this trip would be
unlike any of my previous adventures.
In the past, I would spend a leisurely stroll through the
pits and then find a local restaurant for a snack, before going off
to never-never land. My
actual story would be prepared after returning home. In Albuquerque, we met up with John Lemon from Tulsa, Oklahoma, who was going to help out on the tour with officiating and would become the fourth in our traveling party. On Saturday, we enjoyed a late breakfast and then left for the track by way of the Sandia Peak Tramway. This tourist attraction takes you to the crest of Sandia Peak overlooking the greater Albuquerque area. While the views are breathtaking, so is the altitude of 10,000 feet. At the crest, you can look in nearly every direction for close to 100 miles. On the back side of the Tramway run is a chairlift for skiers, with a covering of evergreen trees and cool breezes offering some relief from the hot temperatures of the valley below. After some exploring and picture taking, it was back to the bottom and on to the track. The whole scenario from last night played out again, as the tasks repeated themselves during the evening. The winner interviews with Mike Kirby and Rickie Gaunt were a riot as these two buddies joked and kidded each other. Sunday morning dawned way too soon, but we
needed to get on the highway to Iowa, so several of the teams and
our fearsome foursome decided to convoy.
Seth Wilson, Jimmy Crawford, Mark Nation and Mel Murphy
joined with our elite group to make the journey to the next venue.
Arriving in the metropolis of Logan, NM, just north of
Tucumcari, we stopped at a roadside café for lunch.
With about sixteen of us entering this eating emporium, we
nearly overwhelmed the natives having a Sunday afternoon meal.
As we settled in for a meal, the waitress brought us our
menus and one flyswatter for each table.
You see, we were in cattle country and flies were a way of
life. The food and
service were very good and affordable, plus we probably doubled the
restaurant’s attendance for the day. After this short respite, we headed east on US
54, passing through Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.
Catching the Dairy Queen in Pratt at closing time got us a
treat, before finally settling in for the night at Wichita.
Early the next morning, this band of gypsies traveled on the
Kansas Turnpike toward “Tulip Town”, Pella, Iowa.
Being unable to get out on the Internet the previous night,
we stopped by the Marriott in Kansas City, where we would be staying
later on the tour and attempted to send out my information.
Since they were on the high-speed Internet system, I had to
reprogram my computer and everything worked fine.
With this task accomplished, it was on to I-35 and Iowa.
We got checked into our hotel and then traveled to nearby
Oskaloosa for the Monday evening Front Row Challenge for winged
cars. Arriving at Oskaloosa, I hooked up with John
Katich, web-master at usadirtracing.com.
We visited with many of the racers throughout the pits and I
met a number of winged racers and renewed several old acquaintances. John and I spent about an hour conversing with Emmett Hahn,
discussing the state of sprint car racing throughout the country.
Hahn is a very candid speaker and knowledgeable about much
going on in racing. It
was an experience to listen as Emmett related stories about various
ventures and ideas. Returning
to the motel, I discovered that my computer would not function now
in the dial up mode after the reprogramming at Kansas City. Early on Tuesday morning, a search was
triggered for a computer shop that might get me back on line.
I was referred to a local establishment, located in an
industrial park, which actually worked on computer systems for
companies. Their
friendly technicians took pity on my plight and got me back on
track. You see, I know
just enough about computers to be dangerous!
After a late breakfast, it was on to the track for this
rookie PR guy at his second venue. Well, the press box wasn’t atop the grandstands here,
accessible by elevator. No,
I had to tote my equipment across the infield into an open booth
across from the starter’s stand.
In the early afternoon, the glare from the sun made it nearly
impossible to see the screen on my laptop.
As night fell, there were no lights in the booth and it
became difficult to see the keyboard. Somehow, I got the materials together and sent out later that
night. Two youngsters, Zach Chappell and Jesse Hockett,
both wing racers put on a dazzling display leading 29 of the 30
laps, with impressive leads at times.
At the flag, second generation driver Dickie Gaines prevailed
over Hockett by about two feet.
This was thirty years to the day that Dick Gaines captured
the Knoxville Nationals passing “Little Joe” Saldana on the last
lap to gain victory. For the top ten finishers, a bonus race at
Knoxville Raceway will run on Wednesday evening during the first
night of the Nationals. This
will be a non-wing exhibition dedicated to the memory of long time
fan, Rick Zimmerman. Augmenting the top ten finishers are the hard
charger from the previous night and three other invited competitors. Wednesday, our attention shifted to Knoxville
about fifteen miles away. Finding
parking at the National Guard Armory, we first visited the National
Sprint Car Hall of Fame. This
is an opportunity that should never be missed.
There are excellent displays of storied racecars and drivers,
which are rotated over time, so each visit will offer new material.
We also traveled through the maze of concession stands that
line the midway at the track and also the Hy-Vee parking lot across
the street. Checking in at the pit gate, we proceeded to
the pit area for the non-wing combatants.
Fourteen racers would race for fourteen laps with the winner
collecting $5000.00. The
field consisted of many young racers and some wily veterans.
A couple of ongoing pranksters, Rickie Gaunt and J.J. Yeley
kept things loose in the pits, while the winged cars were doing
their opening night qualifying on the track.
The non-winged racers finally strutted their stuff after the
Wednesday night “A” Main and Sammy Swindell, who had bad luck on
his Nationals qualifying night, finally completed a race and in
front at that. Thursday morning found us once again on the
road, heading for Gas City, Indiana.
Departing east on I-80 across Iowa and Illinois, through the
south side of Chicago and into Indiana, taking a few country roads
and stopping in Logansport for a late evening Mexican dinner, we
passed through Kokomo and ended up in Gas City, along I-69.
Friday morning got underway with breakfast at
the nearby Cracker Barrel and some drizzles.
By the time we arrived at the track, the rain had passed and
forty-eight sprinters were there to race.
I-69 Speedway is a well prepared quarter-mile oval, with a
staff of friendly people, all willing to help.
The racing was outstanding and for most of us travelers, we
got our first look at some of the Indiana racers we have only read
about. Shane Cottle was
impressive as he took the feature victory, after being challenged by
Shane Hollingsworth during the midsection of the race. We also got a look at young Michael Burthay and some other up
and coming Hoosier racers. Gas City scorer, Dawn Moss invited this band of
gypsies to stop by her place in Speedway on Saturday afternoon and
enjoy a barbeque. Our
carload of four, plus the Nation team took Dawn up on her offer,
enjoying some real Hoosier hospitality and sharing tales of past
racing adventures. Dawn
grew up in Kokomo with Tony Elliott and Jeff Walker. She has been around racing all her life, at one time scoring
for four different tracks each week.
Moving on to Greencastle, we checked into the College Inn
Motel and left for Lincoln Park Speedway in nearby Putnamville.
This would be like to old days for me, just set in the stands
and watch for fun. Seth
Wilson and Alan Ballard had taken advantage of an opportunity to
enter their racers in tonight’s program. Mel rested up before heading into Illinois to
visit relatives and Mark Nation along with his nephew; Todd
(Grasshopper to the racers) joined Jim, John, Lee and I as
spectators in the stands. A
good car count made for some great racing and Jon Stanbrough gained
the feature victory. John
Lemon hooked up with Mark and Grasshopper on an adventure to
Kentucky to see the IRL race on Sunday. On Sunday morning, Lee, Jim and I began looking
for good breakfast café, when we spotted a man pushing a baby
stroller along the sidewalk and inquired about a sustenance
emporium. He recommended the Monon Restaurant, across the street and
next to the railroad tracks, claiming they had the best biscuits and
gravy. Entering, we
found a quaint restaurant with a train theme as the walls were
covered with photographs of trains and many old railroad lanterns,
as well as other equipment were displayed.
The man on the street didn’t mislead us, as the food was
excellent. After
breakfast we visited a Laundromat to refill the clean clothes bags
and with this task completed, we three traveled up old highway 40 to
Indy for a visit to the Hall of Fame and Museum.
After clicking off numerous photographs and perusing
merchandise in the souvenir shop, we left for Kokomo Speedway and
another evening of racing entertainment. Tonight, Charles Davis Jr. was entered, so we
had one of our guys to root for.
Charlie led much of the feature, but slipped up enough to let
Shane Cottle, Jon Stanbrough and Dave Darland slide under and Davis
settled for fourth. We got to visit with others in the stands around us,
including two big time fans from northern California and a very
friendly couple from Pennsylvania, who were on their way home from
Knoxville. Craving a visit to Steak and Shake and having spied one on our way into town, that became our next stop. Completing our visit there, we journeyed back to Greencastle for a night’s rest. Early Monday morning, we returned to the Monon Restaurant. While the biscuits and gravy were recommended, the Sausage and Cheese omelets were not bad either. We traveled the old highway to Terre Haute and
then jumped on I-70 to Highland, Illinois, site of a NWWC race, last
year. Stopping first at
the Blue Springs Café, home of the Foot High Pie, we enjoyed our
repast, and then stopped by the coin car wash to remove racetrack
mementos from our vehicle. With
a cleaner vehicle, we sought out the Highland Speedway track, so I
could view a track that I missed last year. Cruising down several back roads, we
circumvented metropolitan St Louis and crossed into Missouri, headed
into the northern Ozark Mountains.
A scenic drive for a couple of hours carried us back to I-44,
near the Meremac Caverns. Checking
into a motel for the night, we rested for our visit to the Caverns,
once the hideout of Jesse and Frank James.
After our guided tour and a trip to the curio shop, it was
back on the highway toward Tulsa.
Arriving in Joplin, it was decided that we should perform a
scouting mission to the 66 Speedway. This is a nice layout, about 3/8-mile with grandstands on
both the front and back straight-aways.
File this away for future tour information. After driving into a Sonic Burger, we continued
our expedition to Tulsa-Town, arriving in the late afternoon.
Pointing out the Golden Driller and the Tulsa Expo Center,
site of the Chili Bowl to my traveling companions, we met up with
all the traveling racers and it was decided that we should go to the
Texas Roadhouse for a steak dinner.
Returning to the motel, the racers related stories of the
past few days since their last race and then turned in for a restful
night. Wednesday morning found the parking lot abuzz with crews preparing for tonight’s show. John and I took a trip out to the track and hung some banners, visited with the track prep folks and then returned to the motel. Soon, it was time to depart for Tulsa Speedway and go through the routine once again of chronicling tonight’s race. As the pits opened, rigs began to line up and unload sprinters. After qualifying, the racers studied the track and made final adjustments. Dave Darland arrived to wheel the second Pruett Group #56 car and veteran Gary Wright showed up after doubting he could work this show into his schedule. Many of the local winged racers tried their hand at wingless racing. When it was all over, Dave Darland had given the Pruett Group their first SCRA/NWWC feature win. Thursday morning found the racing crews up
early to get underway to the next venue, Lakeside Speedway in Kansas
City, Kansas. David
Chappell, Zach’s Dad, advised us to proceed up US 169, instead of
traveling the round about I-35.
This was an enjoyable route, allowing us to see more than is
available along the interstate. Arriving in Kansas City, MO, the Courtyard by Marriott would
be our home for the next three days.
Shortly after arrival, rain began and soon the Thursday
evening Media event was cancelled, including this year’s edition
of the Jerry Weld Classic. Ron and Paula Shuman hosted a get together at
Minksy’s Pizza House for the SCRA racers, who had supported this
year’s tour. It was
fun for all and enhanced the camaraderie among the racers. Friday dawned with good weather and teams now
focused on preparing for the evening’s event.
Thirty cars were on hand, with Rickie Gaunt setting the quick
time. Josh Wise took
control over the last one-third of the race and brought the Keith
Kunz Bullet/Snyder car home in front of Jesse Hockett, Tony Elliott
and Kevin Briscoe. These
four would now be locked into the Saturday night $10,000 to win
feature. Supplementing
tonight’s program was the Modified class that are Lakeside
regulars and the Good Old Time Racing Assn. (GOTRA), a group running
old thirties model coupes and coaches, reminiscent of the fifties
Jalopies and Hardtops. Saturday found the race teams servicing their
steeds for one more night of racing.
In the early afternoon, Lakeside Promoter, Marc Olson, with
his family and staff, put on a barbeque buffet for all the racers,
crews and officials. This
class operation even placed cards stating their thanks to the SCRA
and all race teams for supporting this event, noting what a pleasure
it was for the speedway staff to work with these competitors.
Sure made us feel welcome! After partaking of the food and ambience in the
suites overlooking the front straightaway, it was time for the crews
to ready their cars for tonight’s action.
Twenty-one cars would run against the clock tonight along
with the four transfers from last night’s feature.
With the lower car count, it was decided to run three seven
car heat races, the JE Pistons Dash, drop the “B” and start all
twenty-five cars in the “A” Main. Tony Elliott led the first thirty laps from the
pole before Jesse Hockett was able to move ahead and hold the lead
for the final ten circuits. This
made Hockett a back-to-back winner of the $10,000 first place money
and also recipient of his second Pedal Car Trophy.
Last year’s went to the car owner, but Hockett will keep
this one. Rickie Gaunt
charged to second, with Levi Jones in third, followed by Tony
Elliott and Kevin Briscoe. Saturday night after the races found many
getting packed up for the trip home.
Most spent the night, but left early to put some miles behind
them before sundown. We
journeyed west on I-70 through Lawrence, home of the Kansas Jayhawks,
the State Capital of Topeka, Manhattan, home of the K-State
Wildcats, Salina and Russell, the boyhood home of two U.S. Senators,
Bob Dole of Kansas and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.
Finally, in Hays we turned south to Kansas 96 and headed west
along this highway through oil and cattle country into Colorado.
Encountering an electrical and thunderstorm near La Junta,
made the drive more tedious. Finally
arriving at the intersection of I-25 at Trinidad, we stopped to eat
and found a bed for the night. Monday morning we were up early for the
thousand-mile drive home. It
was two hundred miles down I-25 to Albuquerque, then west on I-40
another eight hundred miles to home.
For Lee and Jim, they had another two and a half hours to
make the return to San Diego. Bedding down about midnight, I was up at 5:30 to go to my
real job and a sudden dose of reality. This outing, like those before has been
interesting and educational. We
got to do some sightseeing and visited a number of places away from
our racing tour. We
enjoyed the camaraderie with the racers, as we traveled along with
them at times. Making
the tour were the teams of Rickie Gaunt, Charles Davis Jr., Alan
Ballard, Mike Spencer, Seth Wilson, Mark Nation, Mel Murphy, Mike
Martin, Jimmy Crawford and Ronnie Clark.
Additionally, Alex Pruett, who ran early in the year with
SCRA, was present for four races.
Familiar faces from the West Coast joined us for some of the
races, including Josh Wise, Bud Kaeding, Josh Ford, Cory Kruseman,
Jay Drake, John Scott and Casey Shuman.
Mike Kirby was at the Hollywood Hills and Oskaloosa shows,
Steve Ostling ran at Hollywood Hills and Gas City.
Damion Gardner ran at Oskaloosa and Knoxville, while Troy
Rutherford was at Oskaloosa. One tragic note is that former speedway
motorcycle rider and sprint car racer, Jim Gresham lost his life in
a fatal highway accident, while nearing his home base in Oxnard,
California on the return trip from Kansas City.
He was at the controls of the Jimmy Crawford hauler and only
about twenty miles from home, when the accident occurred.
Rest in Peace, Jim. What was different about this tour in
comparison to previous outings?
Well, it was much more work, to accumulate the information
early in the day, record the qualifying times and compile the race
results, sending this information back home for posting, if the
internet was available. Robert
Mayson helped much, by taking some of the responsibility of
computing the points on after each event and broadcasting all the
data I would send to him to various media outlets.
Doing feature articles allows me to take some notes and
create my story after mulling it over.
The PR guy does not have that luxury, as the results need to
be sent out as quickly as possible.
I have gained newfound respect for the position and
especially Robert Mayson. Did I enjoy the trip? Definitely! Traveling with a new set of friends, we enjoyed each other’s company and were able to accomplish some fun outings along the way. Several racetracks, not seen previously were visited. Being able to view some new young racers, who had impressive outings assures that the future of sprint car racing looks bright. Hopefully, several of these youngsters may be able to come west in the fall for the late season, big money shows. We enjoyed good car counts throughout the tour, had representative crowds in the stands and witnessed some exciting racing. Most of all, I have made new friendships, being able to share and compare the West Coast with Mid America. |
