RACINGWEST.COM Q&A WITH LARRY COLLINS, PRESIDENT KERN COUNTY'S NEW NASCAR RACETRACK

Source: RacingWest.com / Janet Peery
Date: 09/04/2007

The racing world needed some positive news back in 2005 in the midst of track closures and a rather gloomy outlook on the future of short track racing. Larry and Marion Collins delivered that good news in December of that year with the announcement that they would be building a new track in Kern County.

Plenty of old timers will forever miss the original Mesa Marin Raceway, but the good news is the location of Kern County's Newest Home to NASCAR (the all new Mesa Marin Raceway) is better for a lot of racers, the track will maintain the Mesa Marin heritage and hey…there is a tunnel--no more waiting at the back gate! But maybe best of all are the new memories that are soon to be created and will join the collection of cherished memories from the beloved old Mesa Marin.

RacingWest: Larry, the photos of the all new “Mesa Marin” track are incredible, once you guys got started you didn’t waste anytime did you?
Larry Collins: We really miss putting the races on, we especially miss all the people we have met through the race events we hosted, so from our perspective we wanted to be racing at the new track by 2007, but we’ll settle for spring of 2008. Construction wise, we have some great contractors who are very enthused about being part of the team building the new track, so everyone is working hard to meet the completion date that has been set.

RW: Have you had any major problems pop up?
LC: Since the day we broke ground in February, we have had no set backs, but there is still a long way to go.

RW: Most everyone I have talked to is tickled to death that you are basically redoing the original Mesa Marin .5-mile. Now will that include the bump going into turn four?
LC: I said at the start of this project, that if we tried to make the new track exactly like Mesa Marin, we could never do it. Mesa Marin had a lot of character, the new track will have its own character, and be a little more ‘wicked’ than Mesa.

RW: What are the major differences to the new track and the original Mesa Marin?
LC: There are many changes that have been designed into the facility as a whole, but in regards to the racing surface only; the main difference would be the arching front straight-away, I won’t call it a tri-oval, but the front straight has a curve to it. The turns are similar in radius to Mesa Marin, with banking of 12 degrees in the bottom groove, with 14 degrees from the second groove to the crash wall. The turns are quite a bit wider than Mesa Marin, and I expect the speeds to be greater.

RW: Are you doing anything different in the infield? What kinda stuff are you going to be putting in there? Do you think you will still be able to barbeque outside the snack shack?
LC: One thing we emphasized in the design of the entire facility is ‘versatility’, and that is especially true to how the infield is designed. We will have the pits in the infield located close to the back straight and lowered so the fans can see over the rigs. We will have room for a smaller oval and a road course layout on the infield.

RW: How about the tunnel? What was that like to construct? Is the tunnel one of the things you always wanted at the old Mesa? Personally I always did.
LC: The tunnel was one of the first items we incorporated into the design of the new track. We weren’t sure if it made economical sense to have the tunnel, but we put into the design and it made the cut, so we will all have a pedestrian and two-way vehicle access tunnel. Our plan is to allow the race fans to access the infield throughout the race event by way of the tunnel.

RW: You had a big dinner/dance/charity featuring Kevin Harvick at Buck Owens Crystal Palace on August 30th. You raised money for the High School Racing Series…that series is so worth it. How many kids would you like to see involved? How many HS drivers would you ideally like to have?
LC: Our goal for 2008 is to have 20 high schools participating in the series. Before Mesa Marin closed we had fifteen schools involved. Kevin is very supportive of the High School Racing Series, and his event at the Crystal Palace will be a huge boost to the program.

RW: How about the other series, the SRL, the West Series, even the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series any chance we will see one or more of those at the track?
LC: We plan to make the S.R.L. a big part of our annual schedule of events, with plans of hosting the series as often as once per month. We are big fans of the West Series and look forward to at least two races per year. Regarding the Truck Series, of course we would love to have the trucks return to Bakersfield.

RW: How has Dad (Marion Collins) been through all the building? Are we still going to see him running up and down the stands and collaring the bad boys fighting in the pits?
LC: Marion has not slowed down one step, he has been like a caged animal. He wants to be racing right now, so we can’t be racing soon enough for him. He is a tremendous help to the project as he brings a wealth of experience to building the track, since he literally built Mesa Marin with his own two hands.

RW: Your rules are up on your website http://www.kerncountynascar.com/ and already drivers may begin selecting car numbers. That is pretty neat. What do you hope to accomplish with your rules?
LC: With our NASCAR Late Models, we are writing the rules so the cars from Irwindale and Mesa Marin and the Western Late Models from up north can all compete. We have a clean slate, so we are making some changes to carry our program into the future.

RW: Do you have any suites left for sale? If so how can potential suite holders go about getting information on them?
LC: We have been overwhelmed with the level of enthusiasm and support for the new track so far. We have 21 suites available and a list of 63 requests. It feels so great to have so many people excited about what we’re doing.

RW: Any chance of seeing a Spears car at the opener? How cool would that be! To bring back some of the old owners and sponsors…well fun to dream…
LC: I think we will have a many names involved with the track that have been significant at Mesa Marin.

RW: Remember that old torn checkered flag, the last flag to wave over the Mesa Marin late Models..you know the one Eric Richardson won and signed and your dad signed and then the flagman told me what each nick and rip came from? You know THAT FLAG…that one that means so much to me…do you think it could wave for one of the first winners on opening night?
LC: Oh yea.

RW: Well, Larry, I have a ton of other questions to ask…but I guess I should call it quits for now. Thank you for taking the time to answer. It means so much to all of us. We are so excited to see the new track…whatever it is called, it will have the spirit of Mesa and the soul of your family and the love of the Destefani family and it holds the hopes of so many racers…can’t wait!

Editor's Note: The photo at the top of Larry Collins is one of my favorites. Nah, there is nothing special about the photo, except that it was taken the first race day after the announcement that a bunch of Caterpillars were about to make Mesa Marin nothing more than memories. Larry was up there at the top of the roof watching the cars as he often did, but this time I wondered, "Gee, what is going on in his mind...looking out at a track that was so important to his family and the community. Mesa was never a track of a bunch of investors that gave money and sometimes showed up...it was Marion Collins track. Marion's and his family....and now it was to be gone?"

I will forever be thankful to the Collins and Destefani families for the all new Mesa.

See Also .:

• Gift to the racing community from the Destefani Family
• New track announced
• A few of the more recent Mesa Marin memories
• Remember our goodbyes...when we didn't know there would be a new Mesa?

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