NARC NEWSLINE – April 28, 2019, By Jim Allen … Sometimes, having a weekly routine makes going to the races a little easier.  And if you are chasing the King of the West-NARC 410 sprint cars this season, that routine will probably not kick in until about mid-June.  With the March 2nd Stockton rain out, the Fujitsu racing series will only have three rounds under its belt by the end of May – assuming nothing else gets knocked out by bi-polar Mother Nature.  The good news is that Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield dished up some outstanding 76-degree sunny weather for our 60th Anniversary season opener on April 6th, so one is officially in the books.

But what we are really looking forward to is BIG MONEY May!  That would be the Bradway Memorial on May 4th and the $11,000 to win Peter Murphy Classic at Tulare on May 18th.  Can you honestly believe that we’ve got 28 of the Bradway races in the history NARC books already?  As for the Murphy event, it’s exactly that, an event you can’t legitimately look us in the eye and say you had to miss!  You’ll flinch and we will know you were lying.

60TH SEASON OPENER NOTES: If you are going to start the season driving for an iconic car owner, you much as well go big!  Dominic Scelzi did exactly that with his fourth career King of the West-NARC victory, this one aboard the famed Dennis and Teresa Roth 83JR.  That broke a KWS victory tie with little brother Gio Scelzi.  Dominic only needs 80 more wins to catch Brent Kaeding. … Shane Golobic was all over the “elder” Scelzi in the main but needed a slip up by the leader or a psycho in lap traffic to get by.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t any banana peels on the one-third mile oval and my ex-wife was nowhere to be found. … Along the lines of Golobic and car owner Matt Wood, they plan to spend a lot of time racing in California this season, but also have a vision for substantial Midwest travel.  It’s going to be interesting to see what happens if he is in the middle of both the NARC and SCCT championship hunt at mid-season.  And that is pretty much a given. …

… Back to Scelzi, he also won the Sunnyvalley Bacon dash before leading all 30-laps.  Winning the feature after claiming the dash only happen three times in 16-races last season (19%). … Yes, it’s the first race of the season and Chase Johnson has already duplicated his best finish of the 2018 season with a third at KCRP.  All it took was a good qualifying effort (fifth fast) and a workmanlike performance to battle past DJ Netto, Sean Watts, and Ryan Bernal.  His number 68 Shawn Thomas-owned sprinter was easily the fastest car from lap 15 to 25. … Willie Croft earned a Ben Franklin for his ARP Quick Time run.  He was the only driver in the 24-car field who broke the 14 second barrier. … The Tarlton Motorsports team is running a Gaerte motor.  Yup, Joe Gaerte is still building some of the most potent power-plants in the business.  Ryan Bernal used those 950-plus horses to score fourth. … Jenna Frazier had a night not to remember when she got upside-down coming out of turn two early in the 30-lapper.  She was attempting to avoid a two-car skirmish in front of her, but that resulted in a head-over-heels solo crash in the Jim Paniagua 18.  That made a five-hour drive home to Sacramento even longer. … Notable absentees at KCRP was Colby Copeland and car owner Larry Antaya.  And Jarrett and Stephen Soares. … Larry Collins and the staff at the Dirt Track at KCRP put down bark in the pit area to keep the dust down.  It works well, although some of the guys working the jacks were scrapping some it away to ensure everything was level. …

… King of the West-NARC drivers will be noticeably happier after their Sunnyvalley Bacon dash wins.  In the past, the driver had to go up in the grandstands and give away nine-pounds of God’s best food to a lucky fan.  In return, they got $100 cash for their six-laps of work.  I don’t know how many times I had to cover the microphone last year when drivers argued with me because they didn’t want to give away the bacon.  You would have thought we were giving away coolers full of cash and they wanted it.  The good news is the driver and a fan BOTH get nine pounds of bacon this season.  The bad news is I have to haul a larger ice chest down the road. … Chico’s Kenny Allen proudly claimed the 2011 KWS Rookie of the Year accolades and then disappeared like a cast member of Walking Dead shortly thereafter.  He is more than happy to be back on the 410 trail in the white and blue Malcom Drilling 76 owned by Ed Butterfield. …

… Speaking of rookies, there is a plethora of potential Rookie of the Year candidates this season.  While most of the names on this list are familiar for their local track exploits, they qualify on the 410 side of things as a rookie. … Kyle Offill was the highest finisher after starting 12th.  He drove the familiar Country Builders ride to an eighth-place finish. This kid, who would play Center if NARC had a basketball team, has a lot of talent. … Geoff Ensign is the new shoe in the seat of the Sacramento-based Clayton Snow sprinter.  The gas pedal must have fallen off in qualifying (21st fast), but it was firmly glued to the floorboard for the feature where they roared from 21st to ninth.  That was worth $150 from Swift Metal Finishing and a $100 certificate from KSE Racing Products. … Stephen Ingraham will be chasing a 410 RoY award to go along with his 2014 Placerville Speedway RoY hardware.  He was scored in 23rd. … Seventeen-year-old Tim Estenson made his highly anticipated 410 debut with the Netto Family 88E car.  It was the Fargo, North Dakota drivers first ever run in a 410 and his smile showed it.  He scored 17th.  He was absolutely stoked at the opportunity. … Others throwing their name in the hat are Landon Hurst of Riverdale and Brentwood’s Matt DeMartini.  Hurst started 15th and finished 14th.  Mr. DeMartini night came to a fast, but not painless end when he dropped a piston in hot laps and destroyed the motor.  If there is a slight upside, it was their 360.  He expects to have his 410 back by the time the Bradway race rolls around. …

NARC NOTES:  Did you know that an ordinary fish finder sunk in a water filled ice chest totally messes up traction control devices?  I know …, that’s what I said.  And you thought it was there to carry bacon! … Time to send out a special thank you to our honorable Queen of the Dave Bradway Jr race.  That would be Dianne Durica by the way.  She has reported that all 52-laps have been sponsored and the feature will pay $4000 to win.  In addition, the Mike Avila Fast Time Award and Hardcharger will have $800 added to the normal pay off for those two honors.  Heat winners get Hoosier right rears and tear offs, and kids will be leaving with trophies, coloring books, and lighted thundersticks!  We will give you a complete breakdown on social media in the next few days!  Thank you Dianne, and Dave also! …

… The King of the West-NARC series has cut a deal with Speed Shift TV to offer up our events on PPV this season.  So, if you get bogged down at a family reunion, must work, get stuck doing honey-do’s, or you just don’t know how to program Tulare into Waze, you have an option.  But if you stay at home to watch it, my only requirement is that you must drop a little dirt in your beer, so you get the full effect. … The 60th Anniversary T-shirt is a gem!  It’s modern day on the backdrop of six decades of history.  Stop by the Bullet Impressions trailer to get yours. … Who will be the Billy Albini Mechanic of the Year this season?  The newly minted perpetual (and overdue) award, which will be best recognized by a signature gold-plated wrench, will acknowledge some of the great mechanics in the business. It comes with a $1000 cash award from Director of Competition Mike Andreetta and Chris Good. … It’s time to fire up the Double-Duty Award, or Double D’s as some single race fans like to call it.  This is the bonus money that will be paid to the driver who wins a SCCT and King of the West feature on the same night.  There are four of those races this season.  Last year, fans and sponsors anted up $1100.  Now we have to start over again.  The first $100 is from photographer Joe Shivak, and the two-racing series have each kicked in $100. Who wants in? … If you are interested in sponsoring the Peter Murphy race, please dial up Mr. Murphy. …

So before I go, I’ve got a couple of questions for you.  Who is your pick to win the Bradway race?  Who is your pick to win the Peter Murphy Classic?

Coming to you live from Auburn, CA.  See ya!

Dominic Scelzi won the season opener for Roth Motorsports!