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| An
Independence Day Beach Party by Norm Bogan |
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Families
throughout America plan activities for the 4th of July holiday.
Some
West Coast families decided on a Beach Party at Seaside Park in Ventura,
California. Ventura
Raceway, put on the Beach Party Nationals for Dwarf Car racers from all over the
West. On
hand for the Friday, July 3rd preliminaries were eighty-six entries,
with folks towing from Washington, Oregon, Nevada and all of California to join
the host, California Dwarf Car Racing Association.
Dwarf
Cars are a kind of nostalgia in themselves, as they take many of us back to the
forties and fifties, when Jalopies consisted of Thirty-something model Dodges,
Fords and Chevys.
These cars are scaled down models of those once proud racecars.
They run 1250 c.c motorcycle engines, weigh between 1000 and 1350 pounds,
with no offset in the suspension.
The Beach
Party Nationals initiates the quest for West Coast bragging rights for Dwarf Car
racers. Races
in August, at Medford, Oregon and in October, at Marysville, California complete
the West Coast Nationals tri-fecta.
Last year’s winner Frank Munroe from Tracy, California was back to
defend his title. A number
of clubs were represented.
The host, California Dwarf Car Racing Association, which calls Ventura
Raceway it’s home track, Praxair Dwarf Car Series from Washington, Oregon
Outlaw Dwarf Car Association, Southern Nevada Dwarf Car Association, plus the
Pacific Coast Dwarf Car Racing Association and the Nor-Cal Dwarf Cars, both from
the northern California area.
Talking
with representatives of some of the visiting clubs, I gleaned the following
information; SNDRA runs at Pahrump, Mojave Valley and Las Vegas. PCDCRA runs at
Orland, Merced, Hanford, San Jose, and Watsonville.
Nor-Cal runs at San Jose, Watsonville, Petaluma and Antioch.
The clubs generally run two or three nights in each month, which allows
the teams time to recoup expenses between events.
There was
no qualifying, so it was solely the luck of the draw as to how the cars lined up
in their heat races.
Performance on the track determined, to what Main Event the competitors
advanced. There
were eight heat races, with ten or eleven cars in each event.
First and second in each heat made the transfer to the A-Main.
Third and fourth went to the B-Main, fifth and sixth went to the C-Main,
seventh and eighth went to the D-Main, ninth and tenth went to the E-Main.
Each semi started 24 cars with eight transferring to the next higher
feature.
After it
all shook out through the various semi-features, the final entries for the 24
A-Main spots, broke down like so; two from Washington, three from Oregon, four
from Nevada, seven from northern California and eight from southern California.
Bert Endicott from Corning, came home the winner, while last year’s
winner, Frank Munroe was the runner-up.
Three drivers from Las Vegas finished in the top-ten as did two drivers
from Oregon and four from northern California.
It appears that the field was well balanced among the various competitors
and the different clubs.
The payoff for the A-Main was $1000 to win and $100 to start.
Those not transferring from the B-Main were paid $60, while the C-Main
paid $50. Talking
with competitors after the event, they praised the track staff for a fine job in
track preparation and keeping the show moving along.
There was also praise for the CDCRA, for sending out the rules in advance
and sticking to them, when the cars went through tech inspection.
All said that they enjoyed the event and plan to attend again next year.
Ventura Raceway enjoyed another good crowd for this two-day event and
treated the fans with an outstanding show. While it
was necessary to offload equipment in the pits, with the haulers parked outside,
they made room for all the entries.
Like any all-star event, many old friendships were rekindled and many new
ones were established.
While
this isn’t NASCAR, IRL, CART, WOO or any other high dollar racing event, the
competition certainly is just as keen and to their families and friends, these
drivers are heroes, just as esteemed as those that run the headline series.
When July 4th weekend nears next year, seriously consider a
Beach Party. |
