PETSCO STILL POWERS ON AT MESA MARIN RACEWAY

Doug Petsco of Newbury Park (Calif.) started racing about twenty years ago. Back then he was racing at Mesa Marin and at that time Marion Collins was still part of the young set. Although he enjoyed racing the time came for a family and Petsco made the decision to put his racing on the back burner while he took time out to raise a family.

As his son grew up, he began to express an interest in racing, it didn't take long before Petsco and his family were building another car to go racing in. Now, not only is he back in the sport he loves, but this time he has his family with him. They are all important to him and it is not every man lucky enough to have a family that is as in love with the sport of racing as he himself is.

His son is his crew chief, while his five daughters do everything from changing tires to changing motors to spotting on the backstretch. His brother rounds out the team helping him in every way he can.

Petsco plans to continue racing at Mesa Marin. There are some tracks closer to him but it is the historic 1/2 mile he chooses to race. Explaining his reasons for making the drive to Mesa Marin Petsco explained, "We went to Irwindale a couple of times, but the people out here Marion (Collins) and his officials and all his people here, they take really good care of their drivers and they are really on top of what goes on. The clean driving is the utmost importance, having the cars looking decent is another main factor and he has a real race track here."

"The fans like to see the guys come in and make pitstops. They like to see their favorite driver come in and do his repairs and stuff. When we went to Irwindale it reminded me of a giant parking lot that someone said 'Hey you know what let's go in circles and race.' The pits were outside of the grandstands and you couldn't see anything and be a part of it. We decided to come back here and stay out here."

A good motor is often the key to a successful racing program and Petsco would like nothing more than to be sponsored by an engine builder. And with his lovely daughters putting the motors in, it would be great publicity for the engine builder. Said Petsco, " When we started out we were doing really poorly, we stuck with it and my son knocked 4 seconds off of our lap times. We have knocked a couple more tenths off this week. We have been having motor problems. We are trying to find a good motor sponsor. If we can we will have a great time, and yes I would only come here (Mesa Marin) to race. It's faster its cleaner its a real race track".

Look for the Petsco family at Mesa Marin. They love kids and are always happy to take photos of the kids in their racecar. Hopefully a sponsor will see the value in this team and we will see them racing for a long time to come.