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| Vukovich
Classic by Norm Bogan |
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Annually an event is held to honor the memory of two of the Central California’s most revered race drivers, Bill Vukovich Sr. and Bill Vukovich III. These Fresno natives moved to the highest level, with both participating in the Indy 500. Bill Sr. was victorious in 1953 and 54 and met his demise while leading the event in 1955. Billy III was Rookie of the Year at the Brickyard in 1988 and appeared to have a great career ahead of him, when it was cut short in a sprint car crash at Mesa-Marin in 1990. This 20th anniversary event brings together three classes of cars once campaigned by the Vukovichs. It was a combination of USAC/BCRA Midgets, USAC Sprints and SRL Super-Modifieds, gathering at the one-third mile asphalt oval, Madera Speedway, not far from the Fresno roots of the Vukovich family. The event was also being used for promotion of the new Yosemite Raceway, which will bring Indy car racing back to the Central Valley, breeding ground for many of the sports stars over the year. Indy car racing was last seen in these parts in the late sixties at the old Hanford tri-oval. Now, plans are to construct a one-mile banked facility, which will accommodate 50-60 thousand fans, just north of Madera. This multi-purpose facility, would serve as a home track for the exotic SRL Super-Modifieds and entertain different NASCAR classes such as; Craftsman Trucks, Winston West and the Southwest Tour and bring in the Indy Racing League as a headliner. Yosemite Motor Speedway would also house the Vukovich Racing Museum, a drag strip and road course for Go-Karts. Former Heavyweight Champ, Ken Norton has come on board to extol the virtues of this new facility and create greater interest in Motor-racing with different ethnic minorities. After thunderstorms cancelled out the Friday night practice and BBQ, the teams were eager to get underway on Saturday, even though there was still threatening weather early in the day. Thirty-three Midgets, twenty-six Sprints and seventeen Super-Modifieds were on hand to entertain the fans. An added class was the vintage racecars of the WRA, which brought a touch of nostalgia, especially with one of Bill Vukovich Sr’s old midgets present. Lets take a minute to survey the various racers and how they each vary from the other. The Midgets are the smallest of the group with a short wheelbase and four cylinder engines. Midgets run both on dirt and pavement, with some subtle differences for each discipline. The dirt versions still run a lot of torsion bars, while the asphalt cars are going to coil-over suspension. Asphalt cars run more left side offset and usually wider front axles. The Four-Bangers develop over 200 horsepower and this night, Floyd Alvis set fast time at 14.41 seconds. The sprint cars are big brothers to the midgets, running similar chassis configurations on a longer wheelbase and getting power from 360 cubic inch V-8 engines developing about 650 horsepower. Davey Hamilton was quickest sprint car with a time of 14.06 seconds. The Super-Modifieds are pure exotic racecars, many of them one of a kind designs and some of the most beautiful machinery in racing. Supers are built for one purpose, to go fast. These low-slung rockets have chassis built for turning left with ease. The big block engine measuring about 500 cubic inches is mounted over the left frame rail and tipped over to about 45 degrees, shifting much weight to the left side. The oil tank is mounted on the left side of the cockpit, as is the driveline and quick-change gearbox. Front and rear axles protrude a couple of feet from the right side of the car, acting like a set of training wheels to offset centrifugal force. Mounted above the driver is a wing, which provides down force to keep the horsepower on the drive wheels. Front wings, similar to those on Indy or Formula cars, stabilize the front end and allow for easy steering. When these cars run at tracks like Phoenix, they qualify fast enough to make the Indy Car field. Troy Regier was fast qualifier at 12.51 seconds or over a second faster that the sprints. Following warm-ups, practice and qualifying, there was a brief ceremony to honor the Vukovich family, which included Joyce Vukovich, mother of Billy III and Dick Simon, IRL car owner and former Super-Modified driver. Leading off the night’s action was Simon driving the pace car, a PT Cruiser police car with Ken Norton riding shotgun. The evening played out with a series of heat races for each of the classes and a semi-main for the midgets and sprints, setting the fields for the three features. In one of the Super heats, Troy Regier got into some oil and popped the back straightaway wall, incurring extensive damage to his racer. It would take a Herculean effort by his crew to repair the car for the feature. The USAC/BCRA Midget Main had twenty-four cars going thirty laps, with a lot of good dicing throughout the field and a number of the competitors moving to the front. John Starks from Puyallup, Washington led all thirty laps to claim the win. Three-time USAC National Midget Champ, Sleepy Tripp, finished a close second. The USAC Sprints lined up twenty-four cars for a forty-lap feature. Pole-sitter Rick Hendrix spun coming off turn four and appeared to have lost the rear gearing or drive line as the car was towed from the track. Tom Stansberry led the first twelve laps, before being overtaken by Davey Hamilton, who moved out front and was not seriously challenged for the balance of the race. Several of those starting toward the rear of the field were able to charge through the pack to top-ten finishes with Tony Hunt claiming the runner-up spot. The finale was a thirty-lap feature for the Super-Modifieds. Two of the favorites and the two fastest qualifiers, Troy Regier and Davey Hamilton, started in the fourth row. Regier, winner of the last two Vukovich races was going for a “Three-Pete”, while Hamilton was going for double tonight. Rick Venstra took the early lead, but Davey was on a mission, claiming second after the first go round and soon slipping into the lead and appeared to be moving away as Troy methodically picked off cars to move into the runner-up position. Hamilton suddenly slowed and rolled into the infield with engine failure, while Regier took the lead and went on to victory. As Troy, Davey and John accepted their trophies from Ken Norton, each acknowledged the importance of their crews, to put them in a racer capable of winning. Regier was especially thankful for the repair job accomplished by his crew. Ken Norton graciously signed autographs for the fans earlier in the day, then viewed the evening races and made the trophy presentations. Spending a few moments in conversation with Dick Simon, I asked if he was considering emulating Michael Jordan and come out of retirement to once again pilot one of the Supers. He could only respond that he had a lot of fun racing those cars. Davey Hamilton was on a tight schedule, testing his IRL ride at Richmond, Virginia on Friday, flying home to Las Vegas on Friday night and then traveling to Madera on Saturday. Not only does Hamilton have a varied racing schedule, but he also is the driving force behind the SRL Super-Modifieds. Davey is a busy, but very cordial person. The planners and promoters of this event were very accommodating and the racers were friendly and easy to interview. The show went well with a good crowd viewing the action. |
