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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
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| TED’S
TRAVELING CIRCUS VISITS THE PAS by Norm Bogan |
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As a child, I remember the circus coming to town, with brightly painted wagons, caged vehicles carrying wild animals and hawkers trying to persuade local rubes into attending the many sideshows and especially viewing stars under the big top performing their daring do. Well, Ted Johnson’s World of Outlaws is much a modern day circus, a reincarnation of my childhood memories. The Outlaws arrived with a fleet of vehicles, all brightly painted and carrying within, today’s caged animal, an 850 horsepower winged sprint car. The promotional team was much like the hawkers of old, as they related tales of exploits not under the big top, but in a stadium with a clay oval. They peaked our attention with stories of cars racing at breakneck speed into the corners, daring the walls to reach out and grab them, dicing side by side for an advantage. Well just like when I was a kid, I bought the myth and settled into my grandstand seat to witness what P.T. Barnum called the “Greatest Show on Earth”. The fans were greeted as they entered the Speedway grounds by a brightly painted 18-wheeler, which served as a supermarket for apparel and trinkets, much as the souvenir stands at the old circus. Next were the “Budweiser Girls” autographing posters at center court, with the many food concessions branching off in each direction. It wasn’t cotton candy or Coney Island dogs, but a good variety of racetrack cuisine. The World of Outlaws circuit began their season the previous night at Kings Speedway in Hanford, California. Overnight it was about a 250-mile trek south for Race number 2 at Perris Auto Speedway. The weather was very cooperative, with a balmy afternoon, cooling off in the evening, but most of all, no wind. As the spectator gates opened, the fans flowed in for the only Southern California appearance this year. By race time, the stands were nearly full. Twenty-eight cars were in the pits of which about half will be running at least a portion of the WOO tour, while the other cars were mostly regulars from the Northern California Golden State series. Tonight was a rare opportunity for local fans to witness Winged Sprint Cars as Perris exhibits mostly the traditional non-wing sprinters. Early afternoon speculation was to look out for Tim Kaeding, who had scored a pretty impressive win the previous evening over the field of World of Outlaw regulars. Another item of debate was the qualifying speeds, which were off from previous years with the new higher weight rule, being named the culprit. WOO track record holder, Danny Lasoski took a shot at his former mark of 13.875, but came up short with a 14.106, which stood up as fast time. There were three eight-lap heat races, two with nine cars and one with ten. Each heat had the fastest six inverted and the top six finishers transferred directly to the Main Event. The three heat races were all won from the pole. The fastest sixteen qualifiers that made the transfers lined up in two five-lap dashes. These races started straight up, with the first dash setting the inside eight rows and the second dash setting the outside for the feature. Both dashes were won from the front row. The twelve-lap Semi would take six more cars from the ten-car race and add them to the rear of the field. Again this race was won from the pole. The thirty-lap Main Event started twenty-four cars with Lasoski and Sammy Swindell on the front row. Swindell got the jump at the green and led five laps, before getting into lap traffic and spinning. Lasoski took the point and was never headed for the rest of the race, winning by nearly a straightaway. Brad Furr followed Danny and was trailed by Haudenschild, Paulus, Steve Kinser and Joey Saldana. What happened to last night’s hero you ask? Well Tim Kaeding and Jonathan Allard tangled on the first lap of the Heat #1. Allard flipped and Kaeding broke a shock tower. That relegated both of them to the “B” Main, which Kaeding won from the pole, but qualified him for a ninth row starting position. During the Main Event, Kaeding again had handling problems with his car and pulled in, garnering a 22nd place finish. After the event, the circus atmosphere continued, when the fans went into the pits to seek out tonight’s heroes. At each competitor’s trailer, we found a small department store located at the side door, where apparel, photos, mugs, some jewelry and other items touting the driver of choice may be purchased. Several of the trailers had bright neon signs, trumpeting the fact that T-shirts were for sale. As the fans filed out to the parking lot, the big haulers queued up and started their convoy on to the next town to set up and do it all over again, just as the circus did many years ago. |
