The Willow Springs Speedway returns to racing action this Saturday night, October 24th.The quarter mile paved oval is located within the mammoth Willow Springs International Motorsports Park in the community of Rosamond-California. Saturday's racing will be the third of four special points events promoted by Beyond Willow Springs. The four race series was created to bridge the gap between end of summer and the beginning of winter racing.
The Saturday night action includes racing from the late model, mini stock, pure stock, street stock, bomber and figure eight divisions. Highlighting the evening will a special race presented by the Hollywood Stuntmen. The fans will also get a close look at the popular form of motorsports known as drifting during intermission.
In the late model division a pair of Palmdale veterans have controlled victory lane so far. Anthony Mainella and Chris Peedan were the big winners of the first two Willow Springs Speedway events. But there was plenty of competition from the likes of Alex Anderson, Logan Mainella, Randy Wilkins and John Cran and that group of drivers are expected back to seek their first win of the series.
In the combined street stock and pure stock ranks Lancaster's Greg Wilkins won the opening series race in August while transplanted Las Vegas native Jon Christensen won last month's feature. But there are plenty of other street stock drivers who will be looking to take home some Willow Springs purse money. That group includes local Rosamond drivers Tim Bird and Erik Rapos along with Sylmar driver Justin Good who won the most recent pure street stock feature.
In the mini stock division the Reverend Joe Bubbico and Rodney Bornhop have been running one two swapping checkered flags and runner up finishes. The Perris based popular Reverend won the first event in the series with Bornhop second. Then Hawthorne's Bornhop turned things the opposite way by winning race two with Bubbico behind him. However, this Saturday night, the presence of Greg Didoha, J J Burnett and Zak Sprague could make this division's main event's most interesting.
The Willow Springs Speedway's figure eight action has been supplied by the street stock divisions this season. Jon Christensen and Greg Wilkins, both feature winners, along with Gary Dionne have been the principal figures on the crazy eight so far this fall.
But the highlight of the speedway action Saturday night will be a special appearance by The Hollywood Stuntmen. These are the men and women who perform those exciting stunts for the popular movies and television shows we all enjoy watching. Looking for a way to unwind, this group formed their own racing association many years ago and when time allows they visit speedways with their unique form of racing.
That unique racing format features basic street stock cars occupied by two people: one driver and one in car spotter. Their races are 150 laps divided into two 75 lap segments. Making the race even more interesting is the slick conditions that comes with too much water on a race track. Prior to the two segments a water truck will tour the Willow Springs Speedway to saturate the track. The drivers will also have to negotiate their way around the presence of the jam car during this race. The jam car is a street stocker, with police style lights on top of it, who drives between the lower and upper grooves at a steady rate of 40 MPH. Any contact whatsoever with this jam car will result in a black flag.
During intermission the Willow Springs Speedway fans will be treated to an exhibition of drifting from Rad Experience, which stands for Radical Auto Driving. The group will be promoting their Sunday appearance at the Willow Springs Balcony Track.
On Saturday race day the pit gates will open at 12 pm. Practice sessions for all divisions will begin at 130 pm followed by qualifying at 430 pm. The green flag falls on the racing at at 6pm. Race entry fees are $50 for the car and driver while additional pit passes are $25 each.
For racing fans general admission tickets are $10. Children eight and under are admitted free with accompanied by a paid adult. The wonderful part of visiting the Willow Springs International Motorsports Park is the fact that a $10 general admission wrist band will allow access to all of their races within the multi track complex. For example, you can spend Saturday afternoon watching the Cobra Club racing on the mammoth 2.5 mile road course then make the short ride to the Willow Springs Speedway later that evening for the exciting stock car racing.
For more information, regarding the excting action at the Willow Springs Speedway, contact Beyond Willow Springs Promoter Charla Hooper, 661-256-7944, or Public Relations Director Nase Rapos, 661-723-9758. You can also dial up the official website at www/beyondwillowspeedway.com.
