MOTOR SPORTS TO HIGHLIGHT THE ENTERTAINMEN AT THE DESERT EMPIRE FAIR

Source: Dave Grayson
Date: 10/11/2008

The Desert Empire Fair, set for October 16th through the 19th, at the Desert Empire Fairgrounds in Ridgecrest will once again provide a variety of entertainment for all ages. This is especially true for racing fans. This year's fair will feature high flying action from the Side Car Motorcycle Nationals, the Speedway Bikes and the Speedway Sprints on Friday October 17th followed by the annual Demolition Derby on Sunday October 19th. All of this action can be found inside of the Steven Lovern Memorial Rodeo Arena.

Speedway side car motorcycle racing is a very unique form of racing that transcends the word exciting. The speciality built motorcyles accomodates both a rider and a passenger mounted on a 1000 cc bike equipped with a three wheel side car. The series races on small dirt tracks and often hits speeds as high as 80 MPH with 30 foot dirt rooster tails flying off of the back wheel. This is especially amazing in light of the fact that these bikes do not have any brakes.

The passenger plays a critical role in this form of racing by moving his body weight forward, backward and sideways to help control the ammount of traction on the motorcycle's rear wheel. At one point, in the turns of the speedway, this passenger will actually lean his body outside of the sidecar with his head a mere matter of inches from the ground. Speedway side car motorcycle racing was actually not inteneded to be a contact sport but it frequently turns out that way.

Speedway motorcyles will be making a return appearance to the Desert Empire Fairgrounds on this night. This form of racing was invented in Australia back in the 1920's and since that time has enjoyed worldwide fan support especially here in southern California. The bikes also do not have a brake handle on them. They have only one gear and also a clutch but it's only used as a release mechanism at the start of the race. They're powered by a four stroke, single cylinder, engine with one carburetor and one spark plug at a maximum capacity of 500 cc. These high powered bikes frequently run an entire race sideways, especially in the turns, and can hit speeds up to 70 MPH. Like their side car counterparts they are very exciting and contact is frequent.

Speedway Sprints wll also be making a return to the Desert Empire Fairgrounds and their past appearances have been very well received by the fans. Speedway Sprints were designed for race drivers who want to go fast at an extremely affordable cost They are based on a caged cart design and are powered by 500 cc single cylinder motorcycle engines that produces with a maximum output of 65 horsepower on methanol based fuel. These tiny sprint cars measure 3 feet 8 inches high and 4 feet 8 inches wide and literally fly around a small dirt track.

The series has also captured the fancy of some well known local drivers from the Indian Wells Valley. Drivers like Danny Quinn, Ralph Morgan, Owen Hartley, Jeff Patten and Jeremy Mosely just to name a few are having a blast racing these cars and are expected to be on hand for the Ridgecrest race. The Speedway Sprints recently made a special appearance on the paved oval at the Willow Springs Speedway, which was won by Patten, and put on a terrific show. Their show is expected to be even more exciting October 17th when they return to the dirt track which is their natural habitat.

The action starts on Friday, the 17th, at 7 pm. Tickets are $10.

Sunday, the 19th, brings the traditional smash and dash for cash presented by the High Desert Destruction Derby Association-HDDDA. This winner take all, survival of the fittest, event has been a long time staple at the Desert Empire Fair and is always features a completely sold out grandstand. The level of smashing intensity is expected to be upgraded this year because the derby divisions will be going after their fair share of the combined $6,200 purse. But there's something new and different coming to the 2008 version of the annual demolition derby.The small compact and big car divisions that we've seen in past years will be joined by the first ever appearance of derby trucks that includes small mini trucks as well as full size pick ups.

The evening begins with the traditional beauty car contest which is judged by the spectators based on applause. From that point the cars and trucks will participate in a series of heat events to determine who will transfer to the big money A mains. For those who fail to qualify via the heat events, they will have one more chance in the B mains to make the big money show. Once the line up is set for the four division's A mains it dash and smash time until there's only one vehicle running.

The show starts at 6 pm. Tickets are already on sale for $15, which includes the cost of admission to the fair, and advanced ticket purchases are highly recommended because this event is always a sell out.

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