NARC NEWSLINE – August 18, 2019, By Jim Allen …  And just like that …, BAMM …, we’re at the halfway point of the King of the West by NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car 60th Anniversary season.  Ten races down and nine to go!  It has been more than interesting up to this point and with some special events on the horizon, that status promises to get elevated a few more notches.

So …, before I get into some mid-season awards, let’s talk about those special events.  The next couple of weeks will feature six events, including the Fastest Four Days in Motorsports and the Louie Vermeil Classic at Calistoga Speedway.  By now you should know that the one and only Kyle Larson will be racing at all four of the August 21-24th events.  If you don’t, you need to get better Wi-Fi in your cave!  Now throw in Brad Sweet, and Rico Abreu, on top of the normal star-studded King of the West by NARC driving roster and we’ve got a high profile stage set that should impress any cave or basement dweller.  There’s $120,000 up for grabs, with the first three races paying $5000 to win, and the ATM machine at the big Stockton Dirt Track Champions Classic finale doling out $10,000 to the winner!  That one pays $1000 to start the A-Main.  It promises to be a great four-day road show.  And yes, Peter Murphy is now involved in this Brad Sweet Promotion, so expect it to shine!

Then as soon as you catch your breath from those four days, it’s time to head to the wine country for the August 31-September 1st Louis Vermeil Classic.  This is a perfect tie in to our 60th Anniversary season, returning to the half-mile oval honoring honor the man who got this Northern Auto Racing Club gig started way back when.  Tommy & Jeannie Hunt have their normal spectacular racing showcase on tap that actually kicks off with Friday’s Calistoga Speedway Hall of Fame dinner at the Napa County Fairgrounds.  Then it’s two-straight days of King of the West by NARC and USAC-CRA sprint cars.  These two shows pay $6000 to win and $600 to start.  It will be interesting to see how many drivers compete in both divisions.  By the way, the Hunt’s also announced that they’re giving away 10 Hoosier right rears each night by way of random draw – five to each division.    For those of you haven’t hung out at the Fairgrounds for this event, it’s loaded with extracurriculars, including wine tasting on the fairgrounds.  We plan to put some engine whine into the wine country.

Now, for those of you who might have missed the last two events on our schedule, here is a quick recap:

OCEAN SPEEDWAY (HOWARD KAEDING CLASSIC):  Willie Croft earned his third ARP Quick Qualifier Award of the season, plus a commemorative Billy Albini “Tuned to Perfection” fast time award sponsored by Norm Rapp (and 300 bucks.)  He also claimed the Mike Avilla fast time award at Chico earlier in May to put the two best quick time awards of the season in his trophy case. … Bill Aton picked up where he left off at Petaluma the week prior, leading the first six laps. … Sean Watts pocketed a cool grand for winning the Williams Roofing Dash for Cash.  The dash rewarded drivers who have made every show and had their number pulled during the season lucky fan pill draw.  He beat Dominic Scelzi, Kenny Allen and Geoff Ensign to the line. … Bud Kaeding, who has been dominating at Ocean this season in the iconic 69 Kaeding Performance 360 sprint car, scored top honors to claim his first KWS-NARC victory since his photo finish over Kyle Hirst at Tulare last season. It was worth $5000, and his victory lane celebration was entertaining.  Once Kaeding got past Shane Golobic and Billy Aton, he was the class of the field.  Shane Golobic and Willie Croft were the other two on the podium.  Don’t look now but Willie Croft is quietly creeping up the point standings. …

… Thank you to Al’s Roofing Supply and ALL the supporters of this great two-day show.  More importantly, thank you to the entire Kaeding family who put a lot of work into making this race a success.  Good things don’t happen by accident. … Two-day weekend shows are the best.  Campers everywhere making for a great family atmosphere. … Miles McAtee and his crew served up another gem of a lunch at the Howard Kaeding Luncheon. … Overall, more than $5000 was raised for the NARC Benevolent Fund. …  Cole Macedo = Swift Metal Finishing Hardcharger.  20th to seventh. … 35 cars … Mitchell Faccinto and Stan Greenberg have experienced more than their share of mechanical issues this season.  They ended up 23rd. …

SANTA MARIA RACEWAY (WINGED MADNESS): The return to Santa Maria was like going to your five-year high school reunion.  You saw old friends, relived old memories, and had a great time.  The only thing you didn’t have was the girlfriend who broke your heart, but she’s divorced now with her three kids.  No loss there!  This reunion was well supported as Aussie promoter Nick Duggan reported that he enjoyed his largest crowd of the season.  The racing was spectacular also with Dominic Scelzi picking off Chase Johnson with two to go to score the “W.” … Nathan Rolfe had a career night, qualifying third fast, winning the Sunnyvalley Bacon dash, and scoring sixth in the headliner after leading the first six laps. … Hanford’s DJ Netto was fifth and retook the point lead from Ryan Bernal. … 20 cars (which is a great field for Santa Maria). …

… The only possible downside of the event was the highly anticipated HammerDown! Wheelie Contest.  We earned an “A” for effort, but a “F” for an actual “get it up” performance.  Santa Maria is the type of place where you can’t apply too much water because as soon as the sun goes down and the tide rolls in, it comes pumping to the surface.  After qualifying four classes of cars, “hooked up” moisture was in short supply.  The best way to describe the rest of this promotion would be to say they found the antidote for Viagra.  Kaleb Montgomery, Jenna Frazier, Bud Kaeding and Dominic Scelzi all gave it their best shot.  Except for Kaeding, who got down in the infield to find enough moisture to get the front end up, it turned into a stunt show.  Kaeding basically won the event with a series of about 15 doughnuts on the front stretch that got the crowd fired up.  End result, $1000 for Kaeding, $500 for Scelzi and $250 for the other two. … Jenna Frazier, who was under the weather for the six-hour drive down from Sacramento, didn’t even know she was in the wheelie contest until she read it on Facebook.  Car owner Jim Paniagua “volunteered” her but forgot to tell her. …  Not that I’m in the business of rating bathrooms, but Santa Maria Raceway may have the most stylish and cleanest bathrooms in California.  It’s like something out of model home. We need more of that. … When asked how he is planning to do in the wheelie contest, Dominic Scelzi answered, “I don’t know because I don’t do wheelies on purpose.” …  Thank you to hardworking track manager David Castanada for tying all of the loose ends together.  … Look for the King of the West by NARC sprint cars to return to Santa Maria in 2020.

So, there you go, now you’re basically caught up.  Now let’s get to some mid-season awards:

SHOW ME THE LAP MONEY AWARD:  This one must go to Justin Sanders.  Give him the scent of lap money and Sanders gains superhero Avengers type driving skills.  The Bradway Jr. Memorial and the Marcel Cassulo Classic both sported the aforementioned money and Sanders claimed them both in impressive fashion.  In fact, he claimed all three when you count doubling down at the Cassulo Classic by leading all 30-laps of the SCCT feature.  Those were two impressive paydays at Chico and Placerville.  In Sander’s three KWS-NARC appearances, he has nailed down a pair of wins and a fourth.  We need to get him a full-time ride with championship aspirations. …

THE FIRST WIN IS THE HARDEST AWARD: How about Sean Watts taking no prisoners at the Stockton Dirt Track in June for his first King of the West by NARC career victory?  Watts is a low-key – but very competitive – driver/owner operator who works his butt off to race with the big boys of 410 sprint car racing.  He beat the likes of DJ Netto, Dominic Scelzi, and Bud Kaeding to the checkered which was like putting the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae – a great finishing touch.  They say the first win is the hardest.  Now that he has gotten that out of the way, let’s see what’s next.

GET THE POINT AWARD:  Pardon my language, but “Holy Crap!”  We can’t even consider giving this award away.  Usually, by the halfway point in most racing seasons, the championship battle for the top spot get significantly narrowed down to a couple of hard-charging teams – maybe three.  Well, we have completely blown that theory out of the water in 2019!  We’ve got five drivers/teams within a dozen points of each other.  Dominic Scelzi, Ryan Bernal, and DJ Netto have all enjoyed time sitting atop the throne, but Willie Croft and Bud Kaeding are lurking close by.  All five have enjoyed great nights and a spattering of off nights and it’s mighty congested at the top.   This is like playing musical chairs and the music is going to stop nine more times.   With the Four Fastest Days in Motorsports right around the corner, it’s going to be interesting to see who gets hot at the right time.

REALLY AWARD?  Ten races have produced seven different winners.  Rico Abreu, Chase Johnson, Colby Copeland, Sean Watts have all laid claim to one!  Mr. “Lap Money” Sanders has a pair (pardon the expression), and Dominic Scelzi has three with scores at Kern County, Ocean Speedway, and Santa Maria.  You would think that three wins would get him closer to the top of the championship points standings.  He sits fifth.  Really?  Yes, really!  The good news is that the NARC points schedule awards a three-point bonus for a win.  That erases a few mistakes, but also allows a team to get hot and shoot to the top.

NARC NOTES:  Special thanks to Dan Allen of Chico Truck & RV for donating $1000 check to the NARC Benevolent Fund. …  We’ve got a $6000 Sunnyvalley Bacon point fund for the top five teams during the Fastest Four Days in Motorsports. Speaking of Bacon, we are hauling 72 pounds of man’s favorite food to those four days.  Thirty-six pounds for lucky race fans, and 36 for four dash winning drivers. Try explaining that to the CHP officer when you get pulled over! … Geoff Ensign is due to score a win in Clayton Snow’s number 7 sprint car. … Make sure visit some of the champions of the 60th Anniversary season during the special autograph session at Stockton on August 24th. … If you haven’t already done so, please “like” us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. …  Thank you to Fujitsu General Heating & Air Conditioning and Hoosier Racing Tires for your fantastic support of our series! …

Coming to you live from Auburn, CA.  We will see you at a race track near you!  And … Bring a Friend!