VICTORVILLE, California -- Saturday night started out like any other race night at Victorville's Route 66 Raceway, but by the time the meet ended at close to midnight both the drivers as well as the race fans knew this was quite a different night indeed. Whether it was unusual track conditions or drivers who were just a bit over enthusiastic or a combination of both, the end result was a far greater number of bruised race cars, and elevated emotions, than have been seen here in quite a while.
Race officials noted that well over 120 cars and drivers were entered in the night's nine scheduled classes, including 14 ladies signed up to compete in the night's finale, the season's sixth Powder Puff Main Event.
Up in the starter's tower starters Dennis Houses and Dan Youngblood were kept busier than usual waving the yellow caution flag numerous times during both the heat races and the Main Events. In the scorer's booth atop the grandstand, Head Scorer Amber Lillehaug and her assistants Mike Hartzler and Andrew Chavez were kept on their toes throughout the night positioning cars for the restarts following the caution flags.
In the Dwarf Cars class Hesperia's Perry Highfill made it two consecutive visits to Victory Lane following his sweep, winning both his heat as well as the Main Event race. Jack Wilson traveled up from Desert Hot Springs to capture second place while Chuck Lippert took third place in the event. Lippert hails from Granada Hills. This popular class of cars, miniature versions of classics like the '32 Ford coupes, are powered by motorcycle engines of around 1000cc's.
Next up were the Hornets, the entry-level class of cars which is slowly gaining in popularity. This saw Nuevo's Mark Howison taking the win in a new car, while Perris' Ronnie Everheart placed second and Steve Greshan, new to both the class and the track, finished in third place. Each time the Hornet class is scheduled, officials see an increasing number of participants coming aboard to test their skills.
Only a handful of cars raced in the winged 250 Sprint class, in fact just 6 cars were entered, but they traveled to the desert from places like Sun City, Point Mugu and Moreno Valley to try their hands at the Victorville track. When the dust settled it was Moreno Valley's Kyle Cicio on Victory Lane with his win, while Jim Henderson, racing out of Quartz Hill took second honors and San Bernardino's Tommy Berry finished third.
It was the All American class Main Event that provided the most excitement during the meet. What could have easily been a tragedy turned out not to be for Monrovia's Diann Abright. Coming out of Turn 4, Abright, who had been having trouble hooking up into a groove all night, got tangled up with Pinion Hills' Austin Hemmingway. The crash saw Hemmingway emerge virtually unscathed while Abright took the full measure of the incident and remained in her car, complaining of soreness in her neck. Paramedics were called when the Blackhawk Safety crew saw that it would require additional equipment to remover her safely from the car. The Victorville rescue crew first removed the roof of the car and then used the "Jaws of Life" to cut away sections of the roll cage in order to remove Abright from the vehicle. All during the rescue attempt track announcer Bill Wolfrum kept assuring the crowd that Abright was indeed awake, alert and communicating with her family and rescuers. Track officials who have been in contact with Abright state that both Abright and her sister, Joann, who was riding in the car, were stiff and sore, with bumps and bruises, but otherwise okay. Abright was reported as saying that she wants to be back racing as soon as she can. The eventual winner of the race was Riverside's Frank Warnke, with Hesperia's Bud Gray placing second and Jeff Shaffer, also racing out of Riverside, finishing third.
Another class that has been gaining in acceptance is the Hornet Junior class, which features the younger drivers, still in their teens, getting their start in racing. This week saw another jump in participation with the field growing yet again. Young Tony Vanillo from Hesperia scored a sweep in the class with wins in both his heat and Main Event races. Apple Valley's Nick Searles finished a strong second in the Main while AJ George, son of Street Stock driver Jimmy George of Apple Valley, finished in third place. The class also welcomed both Faith Lynch and Chip Tanke from Riverside to the ranks of the Hornet Juniors.
On a night which saw very little good luck for drivers from the Barstow area, it turned out to be a second straight sweep for Barstow's Robbie Cockrell in the Mini Stock division, including a wire-to-wire win in his Main Event race. For most of the race Cockrell was chased by Victorville's Andy Moreton, but in the end it was Chino's Roger Harder and Johnson Valley's Mark Nustad who finished second and third, respectively. Moreton, for all his effort, managed to finish well back in the pack, while perennial favorite Dave Clark from Riverside was not in the competition this week.
Luck continued to elude Barstow area drivers in the Street Stock class as well. Regulars like Steve Rose, John Krieger, Mike Milender and Rick Gilmore all ran well back in the pack in the night's Main Event, although Rose was the winner in his heat race and Milender finished third in the Semi Main event earlier in the meet. The night belonged to Bloomington's Ralph Adams as he took top honors in the class, which saw no less than 24 cars entered. Apple Valley's Jimmy George came across the finish line second and it was his racing buddy John Abright, also out of Apple Valley, right behind him in third place. George and Abright were also winners in their respective heat races earlier in the meet.
Once again it proved to be a rock-em-sock-em night for the IMCA Modifieds as the quick cars had a tough time setting it together for more than a few laps at a time between yellow flags during their Main Event. When it was all over, Apple Valley's Bob Forester came out victorious, with Riverside's Dale Underwood and Hesperia's Ryan Leis winding up second and third. It was another sweep for Forster as he had previously taken his heat race as well with Underwood finishing in second place behind Forster in their heat race. Also there in the hunt was Apple Valley's Mike "Woody" Sabers, finishing respectably in fourth place.
The night's program was supposed to wind up with the sixth in the series of Powder Puff Main Events, but due to the late hour it was decided to scrub the Puffs and instead it was the Super Streets who closed out the evening's races. Again it proved to be a tough night for favorites, as both Mike Morris and Chris Smith, currently numbers one and two in the points race, failed to complete the featured Main Event after each had captured their respective heat races. Instead it was Phelan's David Funkhouser sitting on Victory Lane with Newhall's Frank Woodward and another Funkhouser, this one being Victorville's Chris, finishing up in second and third positions. It won't be known until the points standings are released later in the week just how much has changed between Morris and Smith in their battle for dominance in the Super Street class.
Racing will be back at the Fairgrounds again on July 31, when it will be "Bob Night" at the raceway. All race fans named "Bob" showing proper ID will be admitted to the grandstand free of charge. Coming up in August is "Faster Pastor's Night," pitting some of the area's clergy in a challenge to be named the Valley's "Fastest Pastor." Also, tickets are still being sold at each race meet for a chance to win a ready-to-race All American class racecar. For more information or directions to the track, contact the Fairgrounds at 760-951-2200.
