LOS ANGELES, California — The 68th running of the Mopar Turkey Night Grand Prix (TNGP) for Midgets at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale (TS@I) was memorable for many reasons. The race is a classic jewel in the history of Midget auto racing, which in 2008 marked the 75th anniversary of its first race. Auto racing authors/historians, including the late Jack Fox, point to June 4, 1933 as the first organized Midget auto race. The site was Sacramento Stadium at the Sacramento, CA. Junior College. Midget racing continued under the BCRA sanctioning organization into the 1950s at the site,which was then called Hughes Stadium. David Oliver, driving the No. 2 Overland-powered car, won that initial race. The glory days of Midget auto racing were in the post-World War II years when drivers could race Midgets professionally seven nights a week and make a living racing the small, powerful cars. Many of the Midgets raced in the late 1940s and 1950s were built by Frank Kurtis in Southern California. Some of his Kurtis Kraft Midgets from that era were on display Thanksgiving evening at the TS@I main concourse display of Western Racing Association (WRA) vintage racing cars.
As a point of reference, the National Midget Driver of the Year (NMDOTY) tally of 2008 Midget auto races nationally shows that the November 27, 2008 TNGP race was the 221st Midget auto race this year conducted by all Midget racing sanctioning bodies. Almost 600 Midget drivers scored 2008 points and made the list maintained by racing columnist Bryan Gapinski, who attended the TNGP event from his home in the Midwest. Tracy Hines won the 2008 NMDOTY championship over Bobby East 1,317 to 1,255. A common point system is used based upon car count, race purse and event prestige. A drivers' best 30 races count towards the final NMDOTY point total. Tony Stewart Racing (No. 21 car) won the NMDOTY Car Owner 2008 crown with 1,177 to 1,138 points for Terry Klatt's No. 4 Midget. ARDC, AMRA, BADGER, BCRA, NEMA, POWRI, RMMRA, SMRS, SSMS, UMARA, USAC, WOMS and WMRA races are counted in the NMDOTY point tallies each year.
The NMDOTY championship began in January 1999 at the prestigious Chili Bowl annual five-day Midget race in Tulsa, OK that each year attracts more than 200 Midgets from throughout the nation. Past NMDOTY champions have been Jason Leffler (1999), Kasey Kahne (2000), Tracy Hines (2001), Aaron Fike (2002-03), Bobby East (2004), Brad Kuhn (2005-06) and Jerry Coons, Jr. (2007). Coons won his NMDOTY championship in a 224 race season in which 573 drivers scored points. Midget races were held at 81 tracks in 26 states over a 344 day period. The cash point fund distribution was the fourth highest among all Midget series during the season. Entering the 2008 TNGP a record five drivers—Hines, East, Kuhn, Cole Whitt and Brad Loyet—were in contention for the NMDOTY championship and the five drivers ranged from 1,315 to 1,176 points. A maximum of 160 points were available in the TNGP race. Spike (John Godfrey) won the NMDOTY chassis manufacturers championship over Beast. Esslinger Ford won the engine manufacturers championship over Mopar. Nic Faas won the NMDOTY rookie of the year honors over Alison MacLeod. The NMDOTY website is www.nmdoty.com.
Steve Lewis, of Laguna Beach, announced his retirement recently after 29 years as a Midget car owner. His Midgets have won an all-time USAC-record 132 National Midget races including six TNGP with five drivers--Stan Fox (1990-91), Leffler (1999), Tony Stewart (2000), East (2004) and Dave Darland (2007). Steve also has ten USAC National Midget Car Owner championships. Steve is taking "a pause" and is parking his fleet of eight Midgets (four Beasts for paved tracks and four Spikes for dirt tracks). The cars are not for sale. Lewis' Team Nine drivers--Dave Steele, Kody Swanson and Darren Hagen--are available for hire in 2009. Hagen drove the same No. 9 2007 Beast/Ed Pink Toyota in the 2008 TNGP that Darland drove to victory in the 2007 TNGP feature. Steve and his wife Loretta plan to assist their son, Michael James Lewis, further his racing career. Michael has raced successfully in karts in the United States and Europe. He made his debut in USAC FF Midgets on 9/13/08 at Lake Havasu, AZ. M.J set the fastest qualifying time in a 10-car field, ran third in the trophy dash, and finished third in the 30-lap feature during that impressive debut. He drove the No. 40 Western Speed Racing Gerhardt/FF Midget, the 2006 championship ride of Tim Skoglund. M.J made his second USAC FF Midget start Thanksgiving evening at Irwindale and qualified fourth fastest in a 31-car field. M.J started third in the 40-lap feature and finished fifth in his first race on the TS@I third-mile track.
TNGP DRIVERS BY STATES: The 64 Midget drivers came from 17 states and Canada. CA led with 26 drivers, followed by 10 from IN and 6 from WA. Canada sent 3 drivers. Two drivers came from each of the following states: AZ, CO, FL, ID, and IL. One driver came from each of these states: CT, MA, MO, NM, NC, NJ, OH, OK and WI. The 33 sprint car drivers came from nine states and Canada. CA led with 18 drivers, followed by 3 from ID, 2 each from IN, UT, WA and Canada. One driver came from FL, IL, MA, and NM. The 31 K & N Ford Focus Midget drivers came from seven states and Canada. CA again led with 18 drivers. UT sent six drivers and Canada two. One driver came from AZ, MD, NC, NH and NV. ... Ages of TNGP drivers ranged from the three youngest at 15 (FF drivers Alex Bowman, Eric Gunderson, a La Jolla resident and 2008 three-time Legend Car winner at TS@I as a rookie, and Ryan Bernal, of Hollister) to the two oldest—J. R. Williams (FF) at 73 and Kenny Hamilton (Sprints) at 67. Kenny, from Boise, ID, is the racing promoter of quarter-mile paved Meridian Speedway, about 20-miles west of Boise on I-84. The TNGP was his 20th race of 2008. Kenny is the father of Indy 500 veteran Davey Hamilton, 46. Father and son raced in the same 32-car TNGP sprint car feature. Davey (17.197) started 21st and Kenny (17.632) started 27th. At the finish both Hamiltons were one lap down with Davey 17th and Kenny 22nd, 12.927-seconds in back of his son with the leaders turning laps in the 16.7 to 16.9 range. ... Teams from the Northwest and Canada towed 20 to 30 hours to Irwindale. Midwestern teams towed about 30 hours over two days to reach Irwindale. Eastern teams towed their rigs about 40+ hours depending upon the number of tow rig drivers. Past USAC driver Bill Puterbaugh, Jr. was hired to drive the Dakoda and Caleb Armstrong tow rig to Irwindale and back to the Midwest.
FEMALE DRIVERS: There were six female drivers racing in the 2008 TNGP. Jessica Brunelli (FF Midget), Audra Sasselli (360 cu. in. Sprint), plus Alison MacLeod, Shannon McQueen, Danielle Dickson and Caitlin Shaw (Midgets) were the six. Sasselli, a 32-year old FF Midget feature winner at Irwindale, is in her second year racing USAC 360 sprinters. Her colorful No. 77 Sasselli-owned 2008 Beast was in its third race. She placed fourth in the car at Altamont during September and got crashed at Madera in October. At the TNGP Audra qualified ninth fastest of 33 drivers, started ninth and finished 13th on the lead lap. ... Caleb Armstrong, 16, cousin of driver Dakoda Armstrong, 17, spun into the turn two wall on his first timed qualifying lap. McQueen and Shaw were among the four who did not appear for time trials. All 64 Midget drivers practiced in the 12:45 pm practice and posted times. In that session the five drivers who did not get a qualifying lap were 23rd fastest—Daniel Bedford @ 17.115; 43rd—Chase Barber @ 17.334; 48th__McQueen @ 17.486; 55th—Shaw @ 17.715 and 60th--C. Armstrong @ 18.001.
MIDGET CHASSIS & ENGINE DEPT.: The 64 Midgets represented eight chassis builders. Beast predominated with 45 cars. There were nine Gerhardts, four Spikes, two Drinans and one each from Hawk, LeJeune, Stanton and Stealth. There were 13 different marquee engines led by Esslinger Ford with 26. Toyota had eight, Mopar seven, Fontana six, Ed Pink Toyota, Ilmor Mopar and Speedway Mopar (Rick Long) three each, Chevy and Van Dyne two each, and Dodge, Ed Pink Ford, Ford, and Bob Wirth Mopar one each. ... SPRINT CAR CHASSIS/ENGINE DEPT.: The 33 Sprints had nine chassis. Beast led with 18. Eagle had six. Hornet and OCR had two cars each. Hurricane, J & J, LeJeune, Rescino and Wysong had one car each. There were 12 engines led by Chevy with 15. Scott Losorwith built four. Ron Shaver built three as did Toyota. One engine came from Brannan, Chevy Hutchison, Claxton, Custom Auto, Mopar, Ott, Rodeck and Shark. ... FF MIDGET CHASSIS BREAKDOWN: The 31 FF Midgets came from ten builders as follows: Beast-11, Steve Kent-six. Stealth-five, Edmunds and Wysong-two each, and solo chassis from Bullet, Ellis, Gerhardt, Stinger and Stewart. ... Kasey Kahne entered three Midgets. Two were 2008 Beasts by Bob East for his hired drivers Brad Sweet (No. 49) and Brady Bacon (No. 99). Kasey told me during the Wednesday practice session that the No. 67x Beast he drove this year is the same 2007 Beast he raced in the 2007 TNGP. Nice boss, give the new stuff to the hired guns and use the older equipment yourself.
CAR COUNTS: The 2008 vs 2007 TNGP car counts for the three USAC Series were 128 this year vs 126 last year. FF Midgets had 31 in 2008 vs 25 in 2007; Sprint had 33 vs 35 last year, while Midgets had 64 vs 66 in 2007. ;.. There were 12 WRA Vintage racing cars on display for fans by the entrance to the pits. One of the cars that attracted many visitors was a No. 99 yellow Midget roadster brought out by Ken Hillberg. The same area had displays from track sponsor—Toyota and five virtual reality sprint cars for fans "to race" via TV screens in each cockpit. ... PROVISIONAL FEATURE BERTHS: Tony Stewart Racing drivers Levi Jones and Tracy Hines received the two National Series provisionals to start at the back. Robby Josett was the only Western Series provisional starter (32nd overall). The second Western Series provisional berth (34th) was unused. Eligible drivers Shannon McQueen broke during afternoon practice and Daniel Bedford loaded up. Michael Faccinto's (No. 41) car was not ready to race. ... The outstanding as usual TNGP $5.00, 40-page color program produced by Harold Osmer and Neil Nissing sold out all 1,500 copies printed. ... A video of all TNGP races run Thanksgiving evening is available for sale from RAZ Video Productions—www.razvideo.com. You may call 323-849-1811 for more details. ... The USAC live Internet broadcast of the TNGP had more than 5,000 "hits" and took down the server according to USAC's Jason Smith. ... The Lucas Oil Motor-sports Hour TV crew was present at the TNGP and taped all three series--FF, Sprints and Midgets--for a one-hour show. It is scheduled for telecast on Sunday, December 21 on the Versus Network from 3:00-4:00 pm (PST) according to present plans. It will be re-aired on Versus at later dates as well. Check your local TV listings.
PRACTICE: The TNGP 2:30 to 8:30 pm practice session scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 26 was delayed because rain on Tuesday, Nov. 25. Water "weepers" on the third-mile track prevented FF Midgets from getting any track time Wednesday. Track crews worked Wednesday to eliminate water from the half-mile and enabled sprint cars and Midgets to get on the half-mile after a delay of two + hours. FF Midgets went through extensive tech inspection in the TS@I tech garage with Roush/Yates Jon Giles, USAC's Jim Spink and Western FF Midget tech director/retired CRA sprint car owner/driver Gary McKeon doing the engine checking and sealing each approved engine. They worked a long time on the engine of each car. They checked valve timing and engine compression ratio for all FF Midgets to ensure that they had not been altered to increase power. Then they installed bolts with larger holes and tamper-proof seals. The detailed work went on all afternoon to 10:30 pm and the FF engine inspection work concluded Thursday morning. Competitors are now assured that all 31 FF Midgets scrutinized are legal entries. About 70 sprint cars and Midgets practiced on Irwindale's half-mile from 5:00 to 9:15 pm in mid-60s temperature. All teams had ample time to set-up and tune cars for the TNGP the next day. All drivers received at least three sessions of eight to ten green flag laps. Only two minor spins took place and no engines failed Wednesday. Tony Roberts was the USAC starter and he worked alone in the stand Wednesday and Thursday.
RACE DAY: The race day temperature Thursday was 68 degrees at 2:30 pm and was still 56 degrees when the Midget main event concluded. The one-lap track records for all three USAC series were not broken, but the fastest sprint car qualifier this year came close. The 2003 track record by Michael Lewis (of Indiana) is 16.378, and JoJo Helberg's FQ time this year was 16.471. Time trials for the FF Midgets ran from 3:00-3:21 pm with each car taking two consecutive laps. Sprints qualified 31 of 33 cars from 3:31-3:56. Sixty of 64 Midgets qualified from 4:09-5:02 pm. The FF Midget main ran from 7:48 to 8:15 pm with five cautions. The Sprint main started at 8:39, had one 14-minute red flag and finished at 9:10 pm. The 98-lap Midget feature started at 9:52, had four yellow flags and finished at 10:28 pm. The 2007 TNGP corresponding times were FF—7:38 to 8:06 pm with five yellows; Sprints 9:28 to 10:13 with one red and one yellow flag; Midgets 98-laps 10:29 to 11:03 p,m with one yellow flag. ... So Cal rain Tuesday night washed out the open competition Fred Ercse Memorial kart race for charity in Carson after the third semi-main. ... Cleo the dog, a yellow lab who rides in the back of a Jeep push vehicle at each TNGP, was not present this year. ... DOUBLE DIPPERS: Thirteen drivers raced in two TNGP divisions. One driver—Steve Mathews--raced in both the FF Midget and Midget events. Two drivers—Rick Hendrix and Jim Waters—raced in the FF Midget and Sprint events. Ten drivers raced both a Sprint and Midget. They were Bobby Santos III, Chris Schmelzle, Ryan Kaplan, Chris Windom, Ricky Ehrgott, Davey Hamilton, Dakoda Armstrong, Cole Whitt, Tracy Hines and Mike Murgoitio.
ATTENDEES: Persons in attendance at the 2008 TNGP included 1963 Indianapolis 500 winner Parnelli Jones, Perris track president Don Kazarian, who plugged his $50,000 USAC-CRA sprint car race Nov. 29 over the track PA system, and TS@I NASCAR Super Late Model 2008 champion Nick Joanides, who watched from his car owner Loyd McGhee's suite. Nick DeFazio, a former NASCAR stock car driver at Irwindale, was in attendance as well. He quit his job as Robby Gordon's spotter and is now performing that job for another NASCAR Sprint Cup team. Indy 500 vet/NASCAR two-time Cup champion Tony Stewart was in the TNGP pits with his two car USAC Midget team. I was talking to car owner Andy Morales and driver Davey Hamilton at Hamilton's pit when Stewart walked up and talked to Hamilton. Tony said he has a new appreciation for track safety issues at his Eldora Speedway in Ohio. A car flipped over the retaining fence and over the head of a young boy was standing behind it. Tony has installed additional perimeter restraining fencing since that scary incident to keep people at a greater distance from the track. Tony told me he has retained all the Eldora track employees he inherited when he bought the track from Earl Baltes because they are good and know what they're doing. Retired CRA sprint car drivers Jay East, Jimmy Oskie, Billy Wilkerson, and Dwight Chaney attended, as did current CRA car owner Glenn Crossno. Current CRA driver Cory Kruseman had one of his pupils in action in one of his school FF Midgets. Wally Pankratz had two of his racing school FF Midgets in action with two impressive young racers as his drivers. TS@I 2008 Legends three-features winner, second-place in final points driver Eric Gunderson, 15, drove No. 32x and Austin Williams,18, drove the No. 8x. Eric started 22nd in his first open wheel race and finished 20th on the lead lap. Austin ran out of fuel on lap 32 and pitted for 26th position. Of course, dad Rip Williams, a CRA racing star since 1978 and winner of more than 100 main events, was present to watch his second-born racing son compete. Indy 500 veteran Pancho Carter was in the pits helping his son Cole with his Midget. Cole, 25, said his older brother Dane, a 30-year old former USAC driver, is now working for the Dreyer-Reinbold team as a spotter for the No. 23 Indy Car raced by Milka Duno. ... Writers Bill Sessa and Mark Vaughan, of Autoweek, also attended the TNGP. ... About 100 U.S Marines (E-3s) from the USMC Camp Pendleton base north of San Diego were bused north in two buses and attended the TNGP as guests of Toyota and TS@I management. The young Marines met TNGP drivers during the on-track autograph session following time trials. Then they all enjoyed a Thanksgiving Day hot turkey dinner about 5:00 pm at the track. They stayed and enjoyed a night of USAC racing before heading back to base on the buses. The Marines all have completed basic training and are undergoing specialized training prior to deployment to Afghanistan in January 2009.
BACK-TO-BACK DRIVERS: There were 22 drivers who raced in both the 2007 TNGP when 35 drivers started and the 2008 TNGP Midget feature that had 33 starters. Back-to-back starters were: K. Swanson, Santos, Steele, East, B. Galedrige, Wease, Leffler, Hansen, Zimmerly, Clauson, Wise, Kahne, Hagen, D. Armstrong, Windom, Margeson, L. Jones, Loyet, M. Mitchell, Hines, Whitt and Sweet. Drivers present both years but who missed the feature this year were: Murgoitio, Ehrgott, Kuhn, Faccinto, Schiff and Chase Scott (who ran out of fuel while running second at the 11/6/08 PIR-Phoenix feature and triggered a turn two multi-car crash that sidelined Kody Swanson and Bobby Santos). Seven drivers who raced in the 2007 TNGP were not entered in the 2008 event. They were winner Dave Darland, 2007 USAC National Midget Champion Jerry Coons, Jr., ARCA stock car driver Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Justin Melton, Johnny Rodriguez Ron Gregory and Stephanie Mockler.
NAMES: One of the most unusual names in racing is Snake Livernash, a 19-year old USAC Western Sprint Series driver from Spanaway, WA. The French Canadian said his real name is Ethan, but he has been called Snake ever since he said he liked snakes as a 6-year old soccer player. "I still like snakes," he told me in the TNGP pits. Anacondas and pythons are among his favorites. His No. 23 sprinter is the ex-No. 7s Bob & Lori Scott 2006 Beast Chevy. Snake qualified 19th fastest in a 33-car field and finished the 40-lap TNGP 360 cu. in. Sprint Car race ninth, 11.852-seconds behind the winner. ... Jerome Rodela, from El Monte about four miles from the Irwindale track, debuted his new 2008 Gerhardt/Toyota Midget. It was his first outing in it since his flip at Manzanita Speedway's Copper on Dirt race in February destroyed his dirt track midget.. Jerome suffered two broken vertebrae and spent five days in a Phoenix hospital. A top five TNGP finisher in recent years, Jerome did not feel up to par this year and did not transfer (top eight) from his 12-lap qualifying race Thursday. He said he experienced soreness in his back when his belts were tightened. Jerome, 27, said he is getting married to Lisa Mack on January 31, 2009 in Arcadia. He also said fellow driver Chuck Gurney, Jr., 25, was getting married Saturday, November 29 in San Diego and going on a honeymoon cruise afterwards. Chuck, Sr. introduced his future daughter-in-law in the TNGP pits. The petite blond was in the pits of her fiancee asking questions about racing parts and procedures.
CAR NOTES: Bobby East drove the same Beast/Esslinger Ford in Irwindale's TNGP that he drove to victory three weeks earlier in the 25-lap USAC National Midget Series race on the PIR Phoenix mile. ... Jason Leffler drove the same 2003 Beast Midget this year in which he won the 2005 TNGP. He used an Esslinger-Ford then. This year the NASCAR Nationwide Series Braun Racing No. 38 Great Clips Toyota driver had a Toyota engine in his Midget. He also had Great Clips sponsorship on his Midget and changed the car number from 71 to 38. ... Andy Morales, owner of Tracy Hines' TNGP 40-lap main event winning 360 sprint car said he hasn't touched his Jack Elam-1999 built J & J car since the 2007 TNGP. "I only oil the cylinders for the winter and the last work on the engine was new valve springs for the race last year," Andy revealed. The car only has 16 races on it per the USAC Yearbook/Media Guide and now races only at the annual TNGP at Irwindale. The car has raced away from Irwindale only four times—at Mesa Marin in Bakersfield, Las Vegas and Tucson twice from 2000-2003. The first driver of the car on 9/7/99 at Irwindale was Jimmy Sills and he finished the feature second in the car's first outing. Sills drove it five times in its first two years. Wally Pankratz raced it once to fourth place at Irwindale on 9/25/99 in its second race. Tracy Hines has been the designated driver of the latest "Tamale Wagon" since 10/14/2000 and has ten races in the car. He has driven it to feature finishes of sixth, first (in a 26-car field at Irwindale on 3/24/01), 13th, third, eighth, third and 22nd from 2000 through 2003. The car sat idle during 2004-05 while Hines raced in NASCAR's Craftsman Truck Series. Hines drove the car in the TNGP for the last three years and has finishes of third, seventh and first in it. The latest "Tamale Wagon" has always carried the No. 27 and been painted black, white and orange as Alex Morales painted his sprint and Indy 500 cars in the 1970s. The "Tamale Wagon" cars were so named for the Morales family business—Alex Foods, a full-line of Mexican food products. Morales Tamale Wagon cars won the CRA sprint car owner championship seven times—1963, 67, 68, 75, 78, 89 and 91. The 1963 title car was built in 1959 by the late Indy 500 driver Roger McCluskey. Alex later used a Don Edmunds-built chassis. The 1959 McCluskey-built car (driven to CRA driving titles by Chuck Hulse in 1959 and by Bob Hogle in 1963) was housed in the Joe McPherson car collection in Orange County. Upon car dealer McPherson's death his car collection was auctioned for his estate. Andy said he attended the McPherson estate racing car collection auction in June 2008 and the 1959 McCluskey-built Tamale Wagon sold for $115,000. The buyer was businessman and former sprint car owner "Speedy" Bill Smith, of Lincoln, Nebraska. He also bought the famous "Andy Gump" Bruce Bromme, Sr.-built sprint car driven to many feature victories by the late Dean Thompson.
MISCELLANEOUS: Alex Bowman, the TNGP FF Midget feature winner and the one-race 2008 National FF Champion, won 11 of the 27 (41%) California FF Midget features during 2008. He won four of the nine (44%) CA Dirt FF Series races held at tracks in Ventura and Bakersfield. The 15-year old Tucson resident also won seven of the 18 (39%) CA FF Paved Track Series features, including the TNGP finale. He won four of the five (80%) of Irwindale's FF races this year, plus features at Las Vegas, NV, Tracy, CA and Lake Havasu, AZ He won the CA Dirt Championship over Walt Johnson and finished second (-28 points) to Ian Miille, 18, in the CA FF Paved Track Series. Sincere credit must be given to the fathers of both 2008 CA FF Series champions. Dads Sean Bowman and Jerry Miille, of Pleasanton, CA, towed their Midgets to all races, worked alongside their sons in the pits, and of course paid the bills for the family-owned racing teams. As a reward both fathers have 2008 USAC California FF championships and they also have polite, personable, talented sons. .... The 2008 FF Midget race at the TNGP season finale was the eighth consecutive year for the event. FF Midget TNGP car counts have gone from 17, 27, 21, 26, 23, 25 to 31 this year. ... USAC Midget driver Josh Wise came from his home in North Carolina and stayed with his younger brother Buddy in his former hometown--Riverside. His parents stayed with Josh's grandparents in Orange County. Dad Eric said his son Buddy wants to work as a firefighter. ... TNGP pit passes cost $45 for members and $65 for non-members. ... Utah sent six FF Midget teams.. Utah driver Jimmy Wysong built the chassis for the Nos. 5, 37 and 49 FF cars. ... North Carolina FF driver Cory Tucker had Ryan Newman Foundation sponsorship. ... JoJo Helberg, 18, was champion of the nine-race USAC Utah 360 Sprint Car Series. ... Kipp Posey, 31, drove the yellow No. 37 FF Midget to the 2007 USAC FF developmental series rookie of the year title and the 2008 series championship. ... The 2006 Beast FF Midget No. 15 raced by Gregg Fuette, a 38-year old resident of Salt Lake City, is an ex-Cory Kruseman driving school car. Gregg said he took Cory's course at Ventura Raceway seven times (six intermediate-level classes and one advanced class) and bought one of Cory's school car to go racing. He learned Cory's lessons well because he finished seventh in 2008 Utah FF Series points and received the rookie award. The series had nine races at the 3/8-mile Rocky Mountain Raceway in Salt Lake City and also raced for Utah points at Las Vegas twice with the California FF Series. ... Ron Duncombe, of West Jordan, UT, raced Gary Watson's No. 4 Beast/FF Midget. It is the ex-No. 89 Kelly Shaw car that his daughter Caitlin Shaw raced.
RACING FAMILIES: Henry Steele III, 37, made his racing debut on Thanksgiving in a No. 92 Stealth "combo car". He will race it on dirt and paved tracks in 2009. The Palmdale resident wanted to race for many years, as has his brother Mike, 28. The family bought the ex-No. 36 FF Midget last month. Henry is the nephew of the late CRA sprint car driver Mike Shaw, who lost his life at Ascot Park in Gardena in 1979 when he flipped Greg Cunningham's sprinter. Henry's mom Linda is the sister of Mike Shaw. During his CRA career Shaw used No. 92 on his own Don Maxwell-built sprint car. ... Brody Roa, a 17-year old Buena Park resident and driver of the No. 91 Beast of Broderick Roa, is the second cousin of long-time 1960s-70s CRA sprint car driver Tom Roa, Jr.. Tom, Jr. sold his carpet business in Long Beach and played a lot of golf. He has returned to the carpet business according to cousin Brett, who is Brody's father and a retired CRA sprint car (No. 84) driver himself. Brett worked for 16 years as the chief mechanic for CRA driver Mike Kirby until Mike retired from sprint cars several years ago to race dirt late models. Brett was with Kirby on the Guerin No. 5, Alexander No. 4, Crossno No. 38 and Jim Kirby's No. 96 LA Prep TCR cars that were sold to Garrett Hansen's family team. ... Marco DeGeorge, a 17-year old TNGP Midget rookie from Manteca, CA, raced his dad Mark's No. 78 2008 Beast/Esslinger Ford. He is a long-time quarter-midget driver from age 4 and he also raced 600-cc Micro Midgets at the small track in Lemoore, west of Hanford. His team said Marco won two BCRA Midget features this year—in Ukiah (May) and at Madera (August). ... Chase Barber's No. 90 Beast/Ed Pink Ford is a former Mike Sala No. 19. Chase, 21, his parents and younger brother moved from Morgan Hill (near San Jose) several years ago to Indiana to race their ex-Steve Lewis Beast Midget. Chase's father Bret is the brother of Guy Barber, a long-time winning, championship and current NMRA TQ-Midget owner. Chase is currently enrolled in a business college in Indiana to give himself additional options. ... Evan Margeson, from Tacoma, WA and his dad Tom brought the same No. 50 2006 Beast/Esslinger Ford in which he finished eighth in the last TNGP and in which he won the 9/27/08 USAC Western Series main event at Altamont Raceway near Tracy. ... One year FF Midget vet Levi Roberts, 18, returned to the TNGP for the third year from his Broomfield, CO home and again raced the Midget Series in his dad Dave Roberts' No. 2x 2007 Gerhardt/Stanton Mopar. ... Mark Atkinson, a 17 year old Kirkland, WA driver, who raced last year for Ron Sutton's FF Midget Winner's Circle Driver Development Program, raced a 2007 Beast/Esslinger Ford for his dad Gregg. Kenny Ferris drove the same midget as No. 28 in recent TNGP races, including last year. Ferris was helping Atkinson's team this year in the pits. This is the first season former WMRA champion Ferris has not raced. They said Brea Lopez, a TNGP driver in recent years, only raced three times this year in WMRA Midget races and seems destined to race stock cars. Her grandfather is Dan Press, a past stock car frequent winner in Southern California. ... That concludes our "TNGP Notes" re-visitation of the outstanding 2008 event.
