Source: PAS Media Relations
Date: 04/30/2008

PERRIS, California -- Trona, California racer Chris Smith will be looking for his third win in four 2008 races in the MC Builders Super Stocks at Don Kazarian’s famous Perris Auto Speedway this Saturday night, May 3rd. The PASSCAR Street Stocks & Modifieds and the Pick-A-Part Factory will also be in action on the Riverside County clay oval. The first 200 fans through the gate will receive a free set of Thunder Sticks courtesy of the American Cancer Society. Saturday will be the second night of the track’s “Power of Purple Month” as it strives to raise $15,000.00 to fight the war against cancer. Spectator gates will open at 5:00 PM with racing at 6:30.

Before we get into details of Chris Smith, we know the burning question to many is where the heck is Trona? If you have ever heard the phrase, “It is out in the North 40,” Trona is just a little beyond there! It is located 170 miles Northeast of Los Angeles on the western edge of the Searles Lake dry lakebed. The population is around 2,000 – give or take a few – with 162 of them enrolled at the Trona High School. And, the high school is a special story in itself! It has the only dirt high school football field in the United States outside of Alaska as the high heat and highly saline soils kills grass!!! It’s desert like surroundings have seen such movies as “Planet of the Apes” and “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier” shot there.

Now that we are done with the lesson of Trona, it is time to look at Smith. Thus far in the 2008 PAS campaign, he has parlayed his two wins into the point lead heading into Saturday’s race. The veteran driver may be one of the best-kept secrets in California racing. He won the track championship at Pearsonville back in 1992. In 1998 he won a Bandit 360 Sprint Car race at The PAS (younger brother Michael also won in 360 Sprint Cars at The PAS) and more recently, Smith has won two championships (2004 & 2005) at Victorville. He won Reno-Fernley’s prestigious High Desert Shootout in 2004, 2006 and 2007. Also in 2006 he won the Chowchilla Freedom Series #3 and the Rattlesnake Nevada Dirt Track Championships. He closed 2007 by winning El Centro’s Wild Turkey Classic and Victorville’s Turkey Classic from the back on the same weekend.

Attached to this release is a photo of Smith. Feel free to use and please give photo credit to K.C. Rooney.

The only driver to put a dent in Smith’s PAS winning record thus far in 2008 has been Tyson “The Bomber” Talkington of Riverside. He won a makeup main on April 4th when Smith suffered a flat tire and ended up fifth.

Even though he has won two of the first three mains of the year and was fifth in the other, Smith, who is accompanied to The PAS by friend and fellow racer Larry Blake also of Trona, only has a three-point lead over another long distance racer in the standings. Ed Perry, who comes from Carpinteria, is second in the championship chase with two-second place finishes and a fourth in the seasons first three races.

Santa Ana veteran Joe Falduto captured his first PASSCAR Street Stock main event of 2008 two weeks ago and is currently second in the standings. He trails defending series champion Curtis Dietzsch by 21-points heading into Saturday’s race.

In Modified action, Corona’s Johnny Lathrop, fresh off a hard fought win last Saturday at The PAS, will be out to make it two in a row this week. For Lathrop, a past Figure 8 champion at the long defunct Corona Raceway and at Orange Show Speedway, it was his first ever win on the brightly lit Riverside County Clay Oval. Toby “Okie” Sampson of Torrance and point leader Kevin Busher of Hemet rounded out the top three and all will be in action again this Saturday.

Ron Davis of Norwalk is making a shambles of the tracks first season of Pick-A-Part Factory Stock racing as he has won three main events in a row. The affable Davis has out a 6-point lead over Riverside’s Darryl Kinnane in the championship standings.

Saturday’s wild and wicked war on the dirt and family entertainment will feature heats and main events for all of the divisions. Oh, yeah, it was also features some wild crashes and the occasional hot temper. And, don’t forget the weekly PAS Dance Contest at intermission with prizes for the best dancers 12 and under.

Anyone wishing more information can contact Perris Auto Speedway at (951) 940-0134.

Perris Auto Speedway is located on the Lake Perris Fairgrounds (home of the Southern California Fair), approximately one hour east of Los Angeles and one hour North of San Diego. To get to the track, take the 215 freeway, exit at the Ramona Expressway and go two miles east to the fairgrounds.

MC BUILDERS SUPER STOCKS

1. Chris Smith – Trona, CA – 168

2. Ed Perry – Carpinteria, CA – 165

3. Tyson Talkington – Riverside, CA – 145

4. Mark Shackelford – Riverside, CA – 141

5. John Caley – Riverside, CA - 124

PASSCAR STREET STOCKS

1. Curtis Dietzsch – Moreno Valley, CA – 239

2. Joe Falduto – Santa Ana, CA – 218

3. Chris Thompson – Romoland, CA – 217

4. Karl Greene – Winchester, CA – 213

5. Jim Pierce – Norco, CA – 193

PICK-A-PART FACTORY STOCKS

1. Ron Davis – Norwalk, CA – 231

2. Darryl Kinnane – Riverside, CA 225

3. Jim Ramsey – Banning, CA – 204

4. Tom Gillum – Riverside, CA – 195

5. Phil Holms – Riverside, CA - 192

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