SAN BERNARDINO, California — Linny White said, logically enough, that he doesn’t know what it might be like to run two 100-lap races at Orange Show Speedway in the same night because “I haven’t done it yet.”
White will try to do it Saturday night (May 30), when Team Too Termite and Pest Control presents the HeatBlast.com 200, with separate 100-lap main events for the Late Model and Super Late Model stock cars topping a program that will include the Factory Fours, Stock Cars USA and Bandoleros.
ASA President Dennis Huth is flying in from Florida for the event and radio station KCAL (96.7 FM) will be doing a live remote from the speedway from 6 to 8 p.m.
Barry Karr of Redlands will be trying for his third straight win in the Super Late Model feature, which will reward the winner with a $2,000 payday. He’ll be joined by opening night winner Mark Shackleford and past champions Glen Cummings and John Manke, among others.
Main event winners Jim Conklin, Ryan Daniel and Logan Mainella top the entry list for the Late Model race, which pays $1,000 to win.
White and Toni McCray are planning to drive in both races, and White is sure of one thing. “It’s two different cars and they handle two different ways,” he said. “It will be a challenge.”
Both races will be run without a mid-race break. White said that means starting position won’t be as important as usual and “you can relax a little bit and not have to get it done in the first couple of laps.” But it also means there will be added importance on saving the tires and the car well enough to be able to compete for the win at the finish, and on having the stamina to withstand 100 laps on an ASA-sanctioned quarter-mile oval that White said is more physically demanding than most tracks because of the tightness of the racing surface.
“You’re always on the wheel there and it will kick you in the butt if your car’s not right,” said White, 31, of Colton. “We’ll see who’s got the stamina to stay on the wheel for the whole 100 laps.”
There will be approximately an hour break between the finish of the Late Model event and the start of the Super Late Model contest.
White, the reigning Super Late Model champion, will drive a Chevrolet Monte Carlo owned by Joe Perez in the Super Late Model race and his own Chevrolet in the Late Model contest. The Super Late Model runs on 10-inch tires and has a motor that produces about 500 horsepower. The Late Model uses 8-inch tires and a motor that generates about 375 or 400 horsepower.
“They drive totally different. There’s no comparison,” White said. “The Late Models don't have as much tire and not as much motor and I tend to drive them in (to the corners) over my head because they feel so much slower than the Super Lates.
“Just trying to adapt to less horsepower and less tire and not overdrive it will be a challenge.”
White is making one change in his Super Late Model entry, however. After running the first three races in the blue-and-white colors of Perez’s Paradise Ponds, White said he is “going back to black.
“We need to find some luck,” he said. “We very well could have won the first three races. We had one of the fastest cars, if not the fastest, and we set ourselves up and had ourselves in the right position, but it just hasn't worked out.
“The first night we broke a transmission and the car was awesome. The second race, we had a little incident with another driver. The last race we were leading and cut a right front tire. If we could find a little luck or be a little more fortunate, it would be good.”
Spectator gates will open at 4 p.m., with an on-track autograph session from 6 to 6:30 p.m. and the first race at 7 p.m.
This weekend, with the coupon available at www.BestInTheWestRacing.com, teachers and students will be admitted free with verifying identification. Otherwise, tickets are priced at $10 for general admission, $8 for seniors (60 and older), students 11 to 18 and military personnel with valid identification. Children 10 and under are admitted free. A Family Pack, which includes admission for four plus a hot dog and small soft drink for each person, is priced at $40. Parking is $5, with entry through Gate 4 off Mill Street
