PORTENGA HOPES TO CAPITALIZE ON RETURN TO THE SERIES

Source: NASCAR Public Relations
Date: 04/07/2003

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida -- Steve Portenga is back. After running the full schedule in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2002, he returned this season to the NASCAR Grand National Division, Winston West Series. He brings with him an unbridled enthusiasm and appreciation for the West's oldest stock car racing circuit.

"I missed it after being gone a year," Portenga said. "I really missed the fun and competitiveness of the Winston West Series. I want to be a contender to win at each and every race and I think I can do that in the series. I'm at the point in my career where I want to start building on my record."

Portenga already has three wins, 13 top-fives and 26 top-10 finishes in series competition. He will get a chance to add to those figures when the Winston West Series travels to Las Vegas on Saturday, April 12, for the Orleans 222 on The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The $106,614 event will be televised to a national audience on SPEED Channel on a tape-delay basis. It is set to air at 10 a.m. ET on April 19.

Portenga, who finished in the top-five of the Winston West Series championship standings for three consecutive years between 1999 and 2001, says he has no regrets about the move he made last year. "It was an opportunity I had to take and I'm glad I did it, because it made me appreciate the Winston West Series and the West Coast and all the people out here," he said.

Without the resources needed to be competitive on a national circuit, however, Portenga knew he needed to make a change for 2003. "Basically, my sponsorship funding wasn't really there for the trucks," he explained. "We just decided I wanted to come back and be competitive."

It was not the first time Portenga has faced such a decision. After racing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in its inaugural season in 1995 and part of 1996, he returned to more familiar territory in the NASCAR Elite Division, Featherlite Southwest Series. He had won the rookie title in that series in 1992 and was the Featherlite Southwest Series champion in 1994. While some drivers might have reservations about making such a move, Portenga capitalized on it and ended up winning a second series championship in 1998.

The second title helped propel him into a full-time ride in the Winston West Series in 1999. A year later, he took on the added role as the primary owner of the team.

Despite his success in the series as a car owner, Portenga jumped at the chance to drive this season for Joe Nava and the Performance Motorsports team in the King Taco-sponsored Ford. "Driving for someone else is something my wife and I had talked about," Portenga said. "It's more of a relaxed environment. I've got someone else doing all the worrying. All I have to do is perform. It takes all the pressure off of me. I'm back to having fun again."

Don't get the idea that Portenga will be taking it easy, however. "We both have very high expectations," Portenga said of teaming up with Nava. "Joe is very serious about the Winston West championship. He is very goal oriented. In fact, we have a lot of goals set this year. A lot of people may underestimate the 77 car, but we have had a lot of changes over the winter. I think people will know we're there. It's going to be exciting. I could go on for hours because of my enthusiasm. It's going to be a fun year."

Portenga hailed from Sparks, Nev., when he won his first NASCAR championship while competing in a sportsman division at a track in Carson City, Nev., in 1991. The 32-year-old driver and his family now reside near Bakersfield, Calif.

• The race ... The Orleans 222 is the second of 13 events on the series schedule for 2003.

• The track ... The Bullring is a 3/8-mile paved oval with turns banked 12 degrees, six degrees banking in the front straight and eight degrees banking in the dogleg on the backstretch. It has hosted two series events, 2001 and 2002.

• Last year's event ... Last year's event was filled with much of the same close, short-track action that dominated the inaugural race in 2001. Austin Cameron led things off by winning the Bud Pole Award. He led the initial laps - but soon gave way to Sean Woodside, Kevin Richards and series rookie Greg Pursley. After leading nearly 100 laps of competition, Pursley faded late in the event with a punctured tire. Cameron charged into the lead and went on to win his second consecutive race of 2002.

• Only visit to Las Vegas in 2003 ... This event is the only visit by the series to Las Vegas this season.

• Top marks ... Woodside and Cameron are the only drivers to score top-five finishes in both series visits to The Bullring.

• Returning to series ... Mark Reed, who set the track record and won this event in 2001, is slated to return to action in the series - driving the Royal Bath & Body Products Pontiac owned by Christina Adair.

• Stat of the race ... Although both series races at The Bullring were won by the Bud Pole winner, the two events featured plenty of action. The race in 2001 included 13 lead changes among seven drivers, while last year's event had six lead changes among four drivers.

• Best finish ... Three rookie drivers registered their best career finish in the series in the season opener at Phoenix. In only his fifth race in the series, Clint Vahsholtz finished 10th. Scott Schmidt came home 12th in his fourth start in the series. David Eshleman registered a 14th-place finish in his debut race, meanwhile.

• Blow out the candles ... Drivers celebrating a birthday during the month of April include David Gilliland, who turned 27 on the 1st; and Dusty Fielden, who turned 19 on the 1st; Ken Kaltschmidt, who turns 41 on the 19th; and Bob Howard, who turns 59 on the 22nd.

• From the archives ... On May 9, 1971, Jim Insolo nabbed the victory and $790 in prize money at Craig Road Speedway in North Las Vegas.

What:

Orleans 222, NASCAR Grand National Division, Winston West Series Race #2 of 13

Where:

The Bullring, Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

When:

8 p.m., Saturday, April 12.

Track layout:

.375-mile oval.

Distance:

222 Laps, 83.25 miles.

Posted Awards:

$106,614

TV:

SPEED Channel
(tape-delay, April 19, 10 a.m. ET)

2002 winner:

Austin Cameron.

2002 polesitter:

Austin Cameron

Pre-race schedule:

Saturday - Practice, 12:30-2 p.m. Qualifying, 4:15 p.m. (Times subject to change.)

Field:

24 cars possible. Fastest 19 through time trials. Two provisional positions based on final 2002 Winston West Series championship owner point standings, two additional positions based on final 2002 Winston West Series championship driver standings, one provisional starting position to series champion.

Records:

Qualifying: Mark Reed, March 1, 2001, 87.999 mph, 15.341 sec.; Race: Austin Cameron, April 13, 2002, 59.500 mph, 1 hr 23 min 57 sec

See Also .:

• The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Track Page

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