Ross, in his first full season at the ASA Member Track, took the lead just before the halfway point and won the 100-lap Super Late Models main event by 3.813 seconds over reigning champion Mark Shackleford.

It was the fourth win in a row and the sixth in seven races for Ross, 21, of Colton (Ca.) and his margin of victory could have been much larger were it not for a caution flag that bunched up the field and erased his 3.414-second lead with 16 laps to go.

Tony Edwards was third, Rob Kiemele fourth, Dee Cable fifth and past Pro 4 champion Dennis Andrews sixth. They were the only ones in the 17-car field to make it to the finish.

Hornsby Jr., 18, had won all six races this season and eight of nine overall, but a guest appearance by Jim Mardis in a title-winning car brought that streak to an end.

Mardis, the 2006 class champion, had waged many heated battles with five-time champion Jim Edmiston in the No. 37 car owned by Will Cottrell. Edmiston is not racing this year, however, so Saturday, when Cottrell asked if he’d like to drive the red Ford Pinto that he so often had chased, Mardis said yes.

Mardis qualified second and Hornsby Jr. third and they started side-by-side in the fourth row of the 12-car field. Rob Hornsby set the pace early, with Mardis second and his son third. But Mardis grabbed the lead on lap 6 with a great restart after a caution period and held it for the rest of the 35-lap event with Hornsby Jr. constantly on his rear bumper and occasionally alongside. Hornsby Jr. gave Mardis a bump exiting Turn 4 on the final lap and got a little room to accelerate, but Mardis held on to win by 0.163 seconds, about half a car length.

“I broke Robby’s win streak and that feels good,” Mardis said. “I’ve also got to thank Robby. He could have dumped (spun) me and he didn’t. That showed a lot of class.”

Earlier, Dan French got his second win in the past three races for the Interstate Batteries Factory Fours, beating reigning champion Dwayne Blay by 0.607seconds. Dan Gutierrez was a career-best third and Kim Marzullo overcame an early-race spin to finish fourth. That left she and Blay tied for the class lead with three races to go.

Riley Sawyers extended his lead in the Budweiser Legends class with his fifth win and Ryan Cansdale got win No. 6 in the M.C. Erectors Bandoleros division.

Super Late Models will end long vacation with 100-lap race at Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (July 13) – Summer vacation is over and it’s time for Orange Show Speedway’s Super Late Models drivers to go back to work.

It’s been a month since they’ve raced on the ASA Member Track’s banked quarter-mile oval, but their task is the same as it was when then – figuring out a way to beat David Ross.

Ross, 21, has made the class his personal playground this season, winning five of the six races to date and carrying a three-race winning streak into Saturday’s (July 17) 100-lap main event.

That race will be the final one of the night on a schedule that also includes the Team Too Pony Stocks, Interstate Batteries Factory Fours, Budweiser Legends Cars, M.C. Erectors Bandoleros and Tour Trucks.

Spectator gates will open at 4 p.m., with an on-track autograph session from 5:50 to 6:30 p.m. and the first race at 7 p.m.

Tickets are priced at $10 for general admission and $8 for seniors (60 and older), students 11 to 18 and military personnel with valid identification. Children 10 and under are admitted free. A Family Pack, which includes admission for four plus a hot dog and small soft drink for each person, is priced at $45.

Parking is $5, with entry through Gate 4 off Mill Street.

The Team Too Pony Stock division has its own dominating presence in Robby Hornsby Jr., the Yucaipa (Ca.) teenager who has won all six races this year and eight of the past nine overall. Hornsby holds a 30-point lead over Jeremy Perez and can win the title by finishing fourth in each of the five races remaining in the season.

With six races to go in the Super Late Models division, Ross has a 12-point lead over 2009 champion Mark Shackleford, who has one win. Riley Sawyers has a 104-point lead in the Budweiser Legends class with six races to go and Parker Malone is 18 points ahead of Ricky Schlick with five events left for the M.C. Erectors Bandoleros.

The most interesting competition at the moment is in the Interstate Batteries Factory Fours division, where San Bernardino High teacher Kim Marzullo and Riverside (Ca.) auto service writer Dwayne Blay are waging a close battle of the sexes.

Marzullo won the most recent outing June 26 and with four events remaining in the 10-race season she leads reigning champion Blay by 4 points. Blay took an early lead by winning on opening night (March 20), but Marzullo grabbed the top spot after the second race and was in the lead alone for three races. Blay’s runner-up finish June 12 created a tie at the top, but Marzullo regained control June 26 by winning while Blay finished third.

Both combatants drive Toyota mini-trucks in the entry-level class for near-stock vehicles with 4-cylinder engines.

Best in the West Racing’s promotions at Orange Show Speedway are sponsored by Lucas Oil Products, Budweiser, San Bernardino Pick-A-Part, Team Too Termite and Pest Control, JAM Sportswear, Interstate Batteries, MC Erectors, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Rockstar Energy Drinks, Hoosier Tire West, KCAL 96.7 Rocks, Best Buy, Tri-City Towing, Pacific West Interiors (PWI), Luke’s Transmission, Print Depot, Riverside Mission Florist, Wayne’s Engine, Cal’s Towing, JP Striping, K1 Speed, Jerry’s Brake and Wheel, and Arrow Track GPS.com.

For information on sponsorship and promotional opportunities, please contact Best in the West Racing by telephone at 909-885-9000 or visit the new web site at www.BestInTheWestRacing.com.

For all other information, please contact Jim Short by telephone at 951-203-2649 or by e-mail at jimshort65@sbcglobal.net.

Arizona driver dominates Modifieds, Peterson wins Late Model main at Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (July 10) – Chris Gerchman sure knows how to make a race boring for everyone but himself and he gave all his rivals in the Lucas Oil Modifieds Series a demonstration of it Saturday night at Orange Show Speedway.

The driver from Lake Havasu City, Ariz., went into the Magnaflow Products 75 on a three-race win streak and easily made it four in a row, taking the lead from Dave Arce on lap 24 and getting the checkered flag with an 8.837-second lead over Arce.

The pole winner with a track-record 13.414-second qualifying lap on the quarter-mile oval, Gerchman lost the lead to Arce when the green flag waved and slipped to sixth in the 22-car field. But he was up to third by lap 15 and second by lap 20, and once he got inside Arce in Turn 1 on lap 24 the race was over.

Gerchman had opened a 2-second advantage by lap 30 and never was threatened, lapping all but seven cars. The race behind him wasn’t much more interesting, either, with the top five never changing over the final 50 laps.

The only excitement came when Moreno Valley (Ca.) driver Jim Mardis and Texan James Cole got into a shoving match after Cole caused Mardis to spin on lap 11. Mardis, who went into the night as the points leader, finished 11th.

The JAM Sportswear Late Models finished their marathon schedule of four races in three weeks with a 50-lap main event that 19-year-old Jeff Peterson controlled after taking the lead from Ryan Daniel on lap 12. Peterson, of Riverside (Ca.), handled three caution flag restarts impeccably and won handily over Tim Smith, of Bakersfield (Ca.), with Brandon Loverock of Highland (Ca.) third. Then Smith was dropped from second to ninth for failing to report for the post-race technical inspection.

Jay Henson of Oak Hills (Ca.) closed the program by winning the Pick-A-Part Outlaw Figure 8 30-lap main event after leader Rod Proctor of Riverside and Harry Kuenniger of Muscoy (Ca.) got together with 4 laps to go.

Past Late Model champion Steve Smith of San Bernardino worked his way from sixth to win the 35-lap main event for the Pick-A-Part Street Stocks; Brent Scheidemantle of Alta Loma (Ca.) added a win in the 35-lap Budweiser Legends Cars feature to a win in a 25-lap race Friday night; and 12-year-old Nevada Chovan inherited the Stock OHV Kart win when Steven Larson was moved from first to sixth for failing to report to post-race technical inspection.

Orange Show Speedway Late Models end marathon stretch Saturday

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (July 9) – The JAM Sportswear Late Models marathon will end Saturday (July 10) at Orange Show Speedway.

A 50-lap main event that will be run in support of the Lucas Oil Modified Series first visit of the year to the ASA Member Track will be the fourth race in three weeks for the Late Models.

They’ll be the co-feature on a program that will include the Modifieds’ Magnaflow Exhaust Products 75, Pick-A-Part Street Stocks and Outlaw Figure 8s, Budweiser Legends Cars and Stock OHV Karts.

Spectator gates will open at 4 p.m., with an on-track autograph session from 5:50 to 6:30 p.m. and the first race at 7 p.m.

Tickets for this Special Event are priced at $15 for general admission and $13 for seniors (60 and older), students 11 to 18 and military personnel with valid identification. Children 10 and under are admitted free. A Family Pack, which includes admission for four plus a hot dog and small soft drink for each person, is priced at $65.

Parking is $5, with entry through Gate 4 off Mill Street.

Those who can’t attend will be able to follow the evening’s activity on a lap-by-lap basis by joining former Cajon Speedway publicist Bob Gardner’s “Near Live” report at www.RacingWest.com.

The crowded JAM Sportswear Late Models schedule was made necessary by the need to add events to reach the 14-race minimum required for the class champion to be eligible for the Joe Gibbs Driven Racing Oil ASA Member Track National Championship and a test with the Joe Gibbs Racing team.

Seven races have been run and five more are scheduled before the National Championship competition concludes in mid-September, so at least two more events are still to be added. The ASA’s goal in creating the championship was to devise a system that would account for variables such as the size of the field, inversion, wins and number of races to produce a winner.

The Best in the West Racing banner carrier at this point is Ron Daniel, the veteran driver from Mentone. Daniel leads the standings by 31 points over Toni McCray and is 34 ahead of Logan Mainella and Jeff Peterson, who share third place.

Nationally, Daniel is second with a 2.1953 average. The leader, with a 2.209 average, is Corey Jankowski, who tops the Late Model standings at 1/3-mile Dells Raceway Park in Wisconsin Dells, Wis. Third is Rodney Cook, the Late Model leader at 4/10-mile Ace Speedway in Altamahaw, N.C., with a 2.1838 average.

The Orange Show Speedway drivers hold the top four spots in the West Region.

Riverside (Ca.) driver Rod Proctor leads in the Pick-A-Part Outlaw Figure 8 division, which is expected to be bolstered Saturday by the presence of three drivers from Washington – Nick and Ryan Gunderson of Maple Valley and Don Eslick of Marysville. Nick Gunderson won the 200-lap Lucas Oil/Pick-A-Part West Coast Championship here Oct. 24.

Best in the West Racing’s promotions at Orange Show Speedway are sponsored by Lucas Oil Products, Budweiser, San Bernardino Pick-A-Part, Team Too Termite and Pest Control, JAM Sportswear, Interstate Batteries, MC Erectors, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Rockstar Energy Drinks, Hoosier Tire West, KCAL 96.7 Rocks, Best Buy, Tri-City Towing, Pacific West Interiors (PWI), Luke’s Transmission, Print Depot, Riverside Mission Florist, Wayne’s Engine, Cal’s Towing, JP Striping, K1 Speed, Jerry’s Brake and Wheel, and Arrow Track GPS.com.

For information on sponsorship and promotional opportunities, please contact Best in the West Racing by telephone at 909-885-9000 or visit the new web site at www.BestInTheWestRacing.com.

For all other information, please contact Jim Short by telephone at 951-203-2649 or by e-mail at jimshort65@sbcglobal.net.

Former track champion Jim Mardis has points lead for Modifieds first visit to Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (July 6) – The Lucas Oil Modified Series will reach the halfway point in its nine-race season this Saturday (July 10) at Orange Show Speedway and Jim Mardis, a former champion at the ASA Member Track, is leading the standings.

That’s like being the halfway leader of a major league pennant race or the front-runner midway through a marathon, though. It’s a nice place to be, but it doesn’t mean a thing until the whole race has been run, and there’s still another visit to Orange Show Speedway and events at Las Vegas, Blythe (Ca.), and Lake Havasu City (Az.) before the season closes Oct. 23.

“It’s nice to not be behind the 8-ball, to have a couple of positions of cushion,” said Mardis, 25. “It helps in the year-long battle, but these guys are really good and you have to minimize the mistakes.

“They got to chase me down, not me chase them, and that feels really good. But it also adds a little bit of pressure because you know it’s yours to lose.”

Mardis knows that well because the Moreno Valley (Ca.) resident was in a similar situation at the mid-point of the 2009 campaign. Four races into the season, after a second-place finish to James Cole at Orange Show Speedway July 11, Mardis and Cole shared second in the standings, 2 points behind eventual champion Andrew Phipps. A fifth-place finish the next time out left Mardis 6 points behind Cole and 4 behind Phipps with three races to go.

When the series returned to Orange Show Speedway on Labor Day weekend, however, driveline problems on the parade lap sidelined Mardis and he went from contender to also-ran, 46 points behind co-leader Phipps and Cole. The track’s 2006 Team Too Pony Stock champion won the next race but was 15th in the finale and finished fifth in the standings.

This year he is better positioned to deal with setbacks, however, thanks in large part to sponsorship from Rockstar Energy Drink, the presenting sponsor for the series.

“When they came aboard as the series sponsor they decided they wanted to have a car. I was lucky enough to meet with them and they thought I was the right one,” said Mardis, who also has support from JAM Sportswear, Scoreboard 2 Bar and Grill, Mardis Photography and MTS Construction. “Rockstar kind of eased the load on us. They’ve helped us improve our program quite a bit.”

Mardis, who won this season’s opener at Blythe, is 4 points ahead of Doug Hamm of Las Vegas, 6 up on Cole, of San Antonio, Texas, and 12 in front of Lake Havasu City’s Chris Gerchman, who will take a three-race win streak into Saturday’s Magnaflow Exhaust Products 75.

That race will headline a full night’s schedule that also features the JAM Sportswear Late Models, Pick-A-Part Street Stocks, Budweiser Legends Cars, Stock OHV Karts and a Pick-A-Part Outlaw Figure 8 battle that could be spiced up by the presence of Washington stars Nick and Ryan Gunderson and Don Eslick.

All three were here in October for the Lucas Oil/Pick-A-Part West Coast Championships. Nick Gunderson, of Maple Valley, won that 200-lap contest with Eslick, of Marysville, seventh.

Spectator gates will open at 4 p.m., with an on-track autograph session from 5:50 to 6:30 p.m. and the first race at 7 p.m.

Ticket prices for this Special Event have been raised $5, to $15 for general admission and $13 for seniors (60 and older), students 11 to 18 and military personnel with valid identification. Children 10 and under are admitted free. A Family Pack, which includes admission for four plus a hot dog and small soft drink for each person, is priced at $65.

Parking is $5, with entry through Gate 4 off Mill Street.

Mardis, who has driven one Team Too Pony Stock race this year, said he’s looking forward to racing at his home track because of the fans who have supported him over the years, because “I get to sleep in my own bed and don’t have to wake up super early,” and because he’s done so many laps on the paved quarter-mile oval “I could drive the place with my eyes closed.”

“In some respects it gives me a really big advantage,” said Mardis, who maintains his Chevrolet-powered race car with the help of Daniel Glass and Dave Tressler. “I kind of know where to be and when. I’ve been around there enough that I know how move around on the track a little better and work traffic little better.

“It gives us a definite advantage on most of the field.”

Best in the West Racing’s promotions at Orange Show Speedway are sponsored by Lucas Oil Products, Budweiser, San Bernardino Pick-A-Part, Team Too Termite and Pest Control, JAM Sportswear, Interstate Batteries, MC Erectors, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Rockstar Energy Drinks, Hoosier Tire West, KCAL 96.7 Rocks, Best Buy, Tri-City Towing, Pacific West Interiors (PWI), Luke’s Transmission, Print Depot, Riverside Mission Florist, Wayne’s Engine, Cal’s Towing, JP Striping, K1 Speed, Jerry’s Brake and Wheel, and Arrow Track GPS.com.

For information on sponsorship and promotional opportunities, please contact Best in the West Racing by telephone at 909-885-9000 or visit the new web site at www.BestInTheWestRacing.com.

For all other information, please contact Jim Short by telephone at 951-203-2649 or by e-mail at jimshort65@sbcglobal.net.

LUCAS OIL-ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINK MODIFIED SERIES TAKES ON THE ORANGE SHOW CHALLENGE JULY 10TH

By Dave Grayson

Those thunder making, ground shaking, open wheel modified cars will be returning San Bernardino-California to take on the always challenging Orange Show Speedway, July 10th. The Lucas Oil Modifieds, presented by Rockstar Energy Drink, will be running the Magnaflow Exhaust Products 75 on the Orange Show Speedway's quarter mile paved oval.

In addition to the high flying wheel to wheel racing their fans have come to expect, the series will be bringing a skin tight points championship race with them. Coming into the Magnaflow Exhaust Products 75 there are six points separating the top three drivers in the championship standings and only a 14 point separation among the top five drivers.

Moreno Valley-California's Jim Mardis will be returning to his long time home track looking for his second victory of the year. Mardis is a former stock pony division champion at the Orange Show Speedway and he knows the fast way around this track like he knows his name and address.

His sponsorship program was completely enhanced with the pre season announcement that the series presenting sponsor, Rockstar Energy Drink, will also be sponsoring his #51 modified. The Mardis operation also has sponsorship from Jam Sportswear, Lucas Oil, Scoreboard Bar and Grill, MTS Construction and Mardis Photography. Mardis comes in the July 10 event on top of the championship standings with 176 points based on one win along with three top five and four top ten finishes.

Right behind Mardis is Doug "Hound Dog" Hamm who is only four points out of first in the standings based on a highly consistent three top five and four top ten finishes. The Las Vegas based driver of the #4x Crispy Critters Pest Control modified is considered by many observers to have one of the most improved teams in the series. They ran the series' full season for the first time last year and spent it taking copious notes on their set up at each track. The effort has apparently paid off this year.

Third in the standings is the long tall Texan James Cole who commutes from San Antonio to race in the Lucas Oil-Rockstar Energy Drink Modified Series. The driver of the #11 Screen Pro Graphics-Swenson Racing team was considered to be a pre season favorite for the championship. He's currently a close six points away from the top of the standings. He's also a former series' winner at the Orange Show Speedway and knows how to get the job done there.

But the one driver that everyone is watching is Lake Havasu City-Arizona's Chris Gerchman. The driver of the #26 Peggy Sunrise Cafe modified suffered a hard crash during the series' season opener and found his name listed on page two of the points standings. However the team quickly rebounded to their championship status form by winning the next three series events in a row. He's now only 12 points away from the top of the standings. Gerchman is a solid pre race favorite for the Orange Show Speedway event and is also expected to make the final resolution of the championship run most interesting.

Fifth in the standings, and just 14 points away from the leader, is Burbank-California's Tim "Poncho" Morse. The driver of the #10 Morse Muffler and Exhaust modified has also been a model of consistency in terms of finish positions, qualifying and trophy dashes. It's just a matter of time before this driver parks his car in the Sunoco victory lane for the first time. It could easily happen at the Orange Show Speedway.

When the Magnaflow Exhaust Products 75 takes the green flag July 10th at the Orange Show Speedway it will definitely live up to its name. The fans will be treated to 75 full green flag laps of racing. The series does not count yellow caution flag laps.

Despite lingering economic uncertainties in our country, the Lucas Oil Modified-Rockstar Energy Drink Modified Series still continues to enjoy healthy car counts which in turn has created highly entertaining racing for the fans. A part of that is the support these race teams receive from the series officials and sponsors. When a winning driver parks his car in the Sunoco Fuels Victory Lane he gets a check for $1,000. The other competitors are guaranteed at least $250 just for taking the green flag in the 75 lap feature. There are also sponsored contingency bonuses such as fast time, clean pass, hard charger as well as bonuses for the winners of the B main and trophy dash.

In addition to the excitement of the Lucas Oil-Rockstar Energy Drink modifieds, the Orange Show Speedway and its promotion team, Best In The West Racing, will be treating their fans to fast paced racing action from their Jam Sportswear late model, Pick A Part street stock, Budweiser legend, Pick A Part Outlaw figure eight and OHV go kart divisions. Additionally, the Magnaflow Exhaust Products 75 will be video taped by Channel 3 Productions to be aired at a later date.

On July 10th the spectator gates will open at 4 pm. A driver autograph session will be held at 6 pm with racing beginning at 7 pm. Fans can dial up www.bestintherestracing.com and www.lucasoilmodified.com for complete details.

In addition to its title sponsors the Lucas Oil Modified Racing Series, presented by Rockstar Energy Drink, is supported by a highly potent marketing concept known as "Team Lucas". Team members include: Lucas Oil Products Inc, Maganflow Exhaust Products, E3 Spark Plugs, General Tire, K&N Performance Filters, GEICO Powersports, CANIDAE All Natural Pet Food, MAV-TV, Dart Machinery and Rockstar Energy Drink.

The series is additionally strongly supported by a series of associate sponsors that include: Eibach Springs, Hoosier Tire West, Budweiser, Blue Water Resort & Casino, Sunoco Race Fuels, Franks Radio, Racing Plus and MAC Tools.

Loverock joins list of Orange Show Speedway winners by capturing Late Model feature

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (July 3) – Brandon Loverock added his name to the list of winners in the JAM Sportswear Late Models class Saturday night at Orange Show Speedway.

Loverock, 32, of Highland, started seventh in the 14-car field, got his Tri-City Towing/Race Car Factory Toyota Camry to the lead midway through the 50-lap race and took the checkered flag 0.859 seconds ahead of Jeff Peterson in a caution-free race at the ASA-sanctioned quarter-mile oval.

An estimated 4,000 spectators turned out to watch a program that included the jet-equipped Raging Inferno fire truck setting fire to and melting the body of a Mercedes Benz and another of the wild and wildly-popular Trailer races.

Loverock, who had finished a close second to Jim Conklin on April 24 and fourth in the first of the two races June 26, moved from seventh to fourth in the first five laps, to third after 15 laps and to second after 20. He took the lead away from Ryan Daniel in Turn 1 on lap 25 and quickly opened a comfortable lead over Peterson, who had won the June 12 feature.

Loverock is the sixth different winner in seven races.

Robby Hornsby Jr. stayed undefeated in the Team Too Pony Stock class, taking the lead on lap 10 and withstanding pressure from Kevin Meador to win the 35-lap feature by 1.3 seconds. It was Hornsby’s sixth win of the season and his eighth in nine races going back to 2009.

Cody Gerhardt, of Madera, took the lead just past the halfway point of the 35-lap USAC Ford Focus Midget main and fought off Garrett Peterson, of Sacramento, to get his second win in the Western Championship series and maintain his lead in the Pavement standings.

Brandon White, of Eureka, won the 20-lap race for the Jr. Focus division, leading all the way and holding off Colorado resident Austin Farley.

t was the second of three Orange Show Speedway appearances for the Focus and Jr. Focus Midgets, who will return Aug. 14.

Hornsby halfway to perfection at Orange Show Speedway

Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (July 1) – Robby Hornsby Jr. is trying hard to be perfect. It’s something no one has been able to do in three years at Orange Show Speedway.

Hornsby, a recent graduate of Yucaipa High School, reaches the halfway point of the Team Too Pony Stock season Saturday night (July 3) with five wins in as many starts and a 22-point lead in the standings over Adrianne Murlin.

The most recent perfect season at the ASA Member Track came in 2007, when Tom Smith won all 14 races for the Outlaw Figure 8s, a class that averaged eight entries per race. The year before, 2006, Ben Mahan was 8 for 8 in the small Jr. Mini-Stockar class.

Saturday’s 35-lap main event will be the sixth of 11 races for the Team Too Pony Stocks so Hornsby still has a lot of hurdles to clear in pursuit of perfection, and he only has to look back at last season for a reminder.

The son of champion driver and crew chief Rob Hornsby debuted with two third-place finishes in 2007 and in his short career he has won nine times and finished in the top five in 21 of 25 events. But three of those finishes outside the top five came in consecutive races last season – 12th on June 27, 11th on July 18 and Aug. 8.

When that streak began Hornsby trailed eventual champion Jim Edmiston by 4 points. When it ended Hornsby was 66 points behind Edmiston, who won all three events en route to his third straight title and fifth overall.

Edmiston is not racing this season and at midseason Hornsby’s top challengers are Murlin, who has two runner-up finishes in a row, and Jeremy Perez, who is 24 points behind.

This will be the first of three July races for the Team Too Pony Stocks and it could be a busy night for Hornsby, who also is competing in the JAM Sportswear Late Model division that is scheduled for a 50-lap main event. Rounding out the program will be the USAC Ford Focus Midgets and Jr. Midgets, a Trailer race and an exhibition by the Raging Inferno jet-equipped fire engine. The planned fireworks show has been cancelled due to irresolvable issues in the fire permit process.

Spectator gates will open at 4 p.m., with an on-track autograph session from 5:50 to 6:30 p.m. and the first race at 7 p.m.

Tickets are priced at $10 for general admission, but Best in the West Racing is offering a $3 discount with the presentation of a coupon that is available on the web site, www.bestinthewestracing.com. Tickets are $8 for seniors (60 and older), students 11 to 18 and military personnel with valid identification. Children 10 and under are admitted free. A Family Pack, which includes admission for four plus a hot dog and small soft drink for each person, is priced at $45.

Parking is $5, with entry through Gate 4 off Mill Street.

Best in the West Racing’s promotions at Orange Show Speedway are sponsored by Lucas Oil Products, Budweiser, San Bernardino Pick-A-Part, Team Too Termite and Pest Control, JAM Sportswear, Interstate Batteries, MC Erectors, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Rockstar Energy Drinks, Hoosier Tire West, KCAL 96.7 Rocks, Best Buy, Tri-City Towing, Pacific West Interiors (PWI), Luke’s Transmission, Print Depot, Riverside Mission Florist, Wayne’s Engine, Cal’s Towing, JP Striping, K1 Speed, Jerry’s Brake and Wheel, and Arrow Track GPS.com.

Raging Inferno, Trailers on tap this week at Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (June 30) – There’s going to be a Raging Inferno at Orange Show Speedway Saturday night (July 3). There’ll be a whole lot of trashed trailers, too.

There’s no reason for concern, though, no need to call the police or fire departments, because it will all be part of Best in the West Racing’s Independence Day weekend show at the ASA Member Track adjacent to the National Orange Show.

The JAM Sportswear Late Models, Team Too Pony Stocks and USAC Ford Focus Midgets and Jr. Midgets will supply the serious racing activity, the Raging Inferno will provide its own version of a fireworks show, and the evening will come to a close with another wildly entertaining and incredibly popular Figure 8 Trailer race that is expected to attract about 18 entries.

Spectator gates will open at 4 p.m., with an on-track autograph session from 5:50 to 6:30 p.m. and the first race at 7 p.m.

Tickets are priced at $10 for general admission and $8 for seniors (60 and older), students 11 to 18 and military personnel with valid identification. Children 10 and under are admitted free. A Family Pack, which includes admission for four plus a hot dog and small soft drink for each person, is priced at $45.

Parking is $5, with entry through Gate 4 off Mill Street.

The Raging Inferno, the latest addition to Steve Querico’s stable of Outlaw Monster Truck Spectacular vehicles, is a Street Legal Jet Fire Truck. Querico, who lives in Victorville, is giving the truck an informal unveiling before opening a lengthy tour.

Querico said in an e-mail that the truck, an actual fire truck with a jet engine in the rear, is set up to give rides to spectators before its exhibition and “comes out with Lights, Sirens and Smoke, then does a Spectacular Jet Melt-down Show.”

The Trailers don’t melt down, they get run down – and over and through – because a Trailer race definitely is full-contact competition. The Trailers come in all shapes and sizes, from small utility carts to house trailers, and are towed by drivers in stock cars (no race cars are allowed). Contact is demanded, those who try to avoid contact usually find themselves being ganged up on, and by the time 20 laps are completed and the winner is determined the infield of Orange Show Speedway’s quarter-mile oval will resemble an area devastated by a tornado.

The most recent Trailer race, June 5, was won by Jimmy Hamrick.

A 50-lap main event for the JAM Sportswear Late Models, 35-lap races for the Team Too Pony Stocks and USAC Focus Midgets and a 20-lap feature for the Jr. Midgets will complete the menu.

Best in the West Racing’s promotions at Orange Show Speedway are sponsored by Lucas Oil Products, Budweiser, San Bernardino Pick-A-Part, Team Too Termite and Pest Control, JAM Sportswear, Interstate Batteries, MC Erectors, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Rockstar Energy Drinks, Hoosier Tire West, KCAL 96.7 Rocks, Best Buy, Tri-City Towing, Pacific West Interiors (PWI), Luke’s Transmission, Print Depot, Riverside Mission Florist, Wayne’s Engine, Cal’s Towing, JP Striping, K1 Speed, Jerry’s Brake and Wheel, and Arrow Track GPS.com.

July 3rd Fireworks Show Cancelled Due to Permit Issue

Best in the West Racing Staff

San Bernardino, CA (June 29) - Best in the West Racing (BWR) has confirmed that the fireworks show scheduled for Saturday, July 3rd has been cancelled, due to unresolvable fire permit issues.

Of course, BWR will never leave fans in the dark. Instead of fireworks, fans will be more than entertained with the trusty help of the Jet Fire Truck "Raging Inferno", which pairs a jet engine and a fire truck for some serious explosive action.

McCray gets a pair of wins on Ladies Night at Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (June 26) – Toni McCray finally got it right on Ladies Night at Orange Show Speedway.

McCray, who serves as the marketing director for Best in the West Racing while driving in the two premier classes, had struggled throughout the early season to make her JAM Sportswear Late Model competitive at the ASA Member Track.

Saturday night, however, McCray made everyone else struggle futilely to keep up while she raced to wins in both of the 50-lap Late Model races after San Bernardino High teacher and coach Kim Marzullo had put her Toyota pickup in victory circle in the 35-lap Interstate Batteries Factory Fours feature.

McCray, of Highland (Ca.), started the first race third in the 16-car field and stalked leaders Tim Smith and Brandon Loverock for the first 38 laps around the quarter-mile oval. Then as the field got the green flag on lap 39 after a caution period, McCray took the lead from Smith and kept her Team Too Chevrolet Monte Carlo in front to the finish, taking the checkered flag 0.394 seconds ahead of Smith, of Bakersfield (Ca.).

The second race was easy by comparison. McCray started on the pole and stayed there while Tim Smith, Jeff Peterson and Kenny Smith took turns being second. Tim Smith was there most of the time and eventually reached the finish line 2.129 seconds after McCray.

Peterson, Loverock and Logan Mainella rounded out the top five in the opening race and Ron Daniel, Peterson and Kenny Smith finished 3-4-5, respectively, in the second 50-lapper.

Marzullo, who also shared the winner’s circle with McCray once last season, built a big early lead and was able to withstand the late charge of Danny French, who finished 0.384 seconds behind.

Riley Sawyers got is second straight Budweiser Legends Cars win on the eve of his 13th birthday and the two 20-lap M.C. Erectors Bandoleros races were won by Parker Malone and Ryan Cansdale.

The Western Racing Association members brought their vintage Sprint Cars and Midgets to the track for the second time this season and ran a pair of 10-lap exhibitions won by Greg Dierks of Rancho Palos Verdes, Ca. (Sprint Cars) and Steve Enright of Tustin, Ca. (Midgets).

Rookie Peterson hoping to make another trip to Orange Show Speedway winner’s circle

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (June 23) – The way Jeff Peterson was thinking, it would be at least mid-season before he was ready to run up front and challenge for a win in the JAM Sportswear Late Model class at Orange Show Speedway.

Instead, four races into his rookie campaign the 19-year-old was able to run up front in qualifying, where he set a track record, and in the 50-lap race, where he dueled Tim Smith for the victory at the ASA Member Track.

“That was the greatest feeling in the world,” the Riverside (Ca.) resident said. “I’ve grown watching racing, watching my dad (multi-time champion Ron Peterson). I always dreamed of being up there, and it finally happened to me.”

Peterson, who has set track records in qualifying at the past two races, will try to keep his momentum going Saturday (June 26), when the JAM Sportswear Late Models will run a pair of 50-lap races to cap an evening that will include the Interstate Batteries Factory Fours, Budweiser Legends Cars, M.C. Erectors Bandoleros and the Western Racing Association’s vintage Sprint Cars and Midgets.

Spectator gates will open at 4 p.m., with an on-track autograph session from 5:50 to 6:30 p.m. and the first race at 7 p.m.

Tickets are priced at $10 for general admission, and those presenting the coupon available at www.bestinthewestracing.com can purchase two general admission tickets for the price of one. Tickets are $8 for seniors (60 and older), students 11 to 18 and military personnel with valid identification. Children 10 and under are admitted free. A Family Pack, which includes admission for four plus a hot dog and small soft drink for each person, is priced at $45.

Parking is $5, with entry through Gate 4 off Mill Street.

Peterson said Saturday’s 50-lap contests, which will be run with just a five-minute break after the first 50, “should be fun. I usually like running longer races, so I hope I can go out and get two more wins.”

A Super Truck race winner at Irwindale in 2009, Peterson was hoping to move up in class. The opportunity came with a telephone call from car owner Clay Wooster, who once had employed Ron Peterson, and Peterson quickly said yes.

His debut race in the Pepsi-Van Gordon Racing Toyota Camry was a fourth on March 27. But he slipped in his second outing and finished 17th after setting a record in qualifying May 22. Then on June 12 he reset the record by lapping the quarter-mile oval in 13.323 seconds and battling Smith for the lead throughout the race.

“We made some changes with the car,” Peterson said. “We had the Race Car Factory and Clay help us out. My dad helps out quite a bit. He’s given me a lot of pointers on how to pass people and stuff, and he’s helped out with the set-up and thing. And the track really suits my driving style and I really like it.”

Peterson will go into Saturday’s races sixth in the point standings, 39 behind leader Ron Daniel. Brian Malone is seconds and trails by 5 points and third-place Logan Mainella is 14 behind the Daniel.

The Interstate Batteries Factory Fours are halfway through their 10-race campaign and there is a tie for first between 2009 champion Dwayne Blay, of Riverside (Ca.), and San Bernardino High School teacher Kim Marzullo. Young drivers Riley Sawyers and Parker Malone are the leaders in the Budweiser Legends Cars and M.C. Erectors Bandoleros, both of which have races Friday night.

The Intrerstate Batteries Factory Fours and Budweiser Legends Cars will run 35-lap main events and the M.C. Erectors Bandoleros will race for 20 laps. There will be12-lap features for each of the WRA’s open-wheel classes, which last raced at the track on April 10.

Best in the West Racing’s promotions at Orange Show Speedway are sponsored by Lucas Oil Products, Budweiser, San Bernardino Pick-A-Part, Team Too Termite and Pest Control, JAM Sportswear, Interstate Batteries, MC Erectors, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Rockstar Energy Drinks, Hoosier Tire West, KCAL 96.7 Rocks, Best Buy, Tri-City Towing, Pacific West Interiors (PWI), Luke’s Transmission, Print Depot, Riverside Mission Florist, Wayne’s Engine, Cal’s Towing, JP Striping, K1 Speed, Jerry’s Brake and Wheel, and Arrow Track GPS.com.

For information on sponsorship and promotional opportunities, please contact Best in the West Racing by telephone at 909-885-9000 or visit the new web site at www.BestInTheWestRacing.com.

For all other information, please contact Jim Short by telephone at 951-203-2649 or by e-mail at jimshort65@sbcglobal.net.

Ross makes it three in a row with Super Late Model win at Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (June 19) – David Ross is playing Monopoly at Orange Show Speedway.

The 21-year-old Super Late Model driver from nearby Colton (Ca.) is monopolizing the winner’s circle of the paved quarter-mile oval in his first full season of competition at the ASA Member Track.

Saturday night (June 19) Ross won his third main event in a row and his fifth in six starts overall, putting his Lucas Oil-E.R. Block Plumbing Chevrolet into the lead on lap 43 and pulling away to win the 50-lap contest by 1.413 seconds over Barry Karr, of Redlands (Ca.).

Mark Shackleford, Brett Edwards and Jeremy Edwards followed, in order. Those five occupied the first five spots in the 16-car starting field and stayed at the front throughout the event.

Brett Edwards, who started on the pole, held off early challenges from Karr and Shackleford and kept Ross in his rearview mirror for 29 laps until Ross got underneath him and took the lead in Turn 1 with seven laps to go.

Shaun Estes, of Riverside (Ca.), won the 35-lap Stock Cars USA feature over Wicked Racing teammate Kevin Cook, of Riverside, who took the class points lead with his runner-up finish.

Kyle Cline, of Apple Valley (Ca.), made it 4-for-4 in the Dwarf Cars by dominating that 27-lap main event; Kendall Scheidecker, of Hesperia (Ca.), won the 25-lap Pro 4 race; 11-year-old Nevada Chovan, of Rialto (Ca.), won the 20-lap main for the Stock OHV Karts; 11-year-old Ryan Cansdale, of Laguna Beach (Ca.), took the 20-lapper for the M.C. Erectors Bandoleros; and 12-year-old Riley Sawyers, of Gilbert, Ariz., won the Budweiser Legends Cars’ 10-lap contest.

ASA MEMBER TRACKS WORK TO EXPAND THE FAN EXPERIENCE AND GAIN NEW ONES

American Speed Association PR

DAYTONA BEACH, FL (Wednesday, June 16, 2010) - One of the biggest challenges in any business is identifying and attracting new business and maintaining their current business. ASA Member Tracks work the same challenge in gaining new fans and maintaining the current ones.

ASA recently asked four different ASA Member Track Promoters about their thoughts of attracting and maintaining their fans along with making sure that the next generation of fans are ready to fill in the gap that the current fans may open as time goes by. It's all about producing a racing program that will keep them coming back for more and more. Much like a weekly television program or a movie saga in keeping it unique and creating that buzz that gives them no doubt of a decision to return each week.

Brad Allen took over as the promoter of Ace Speedway, an ASA Member Track in Elon, NC this season. As a former driver, Allen thought it was time to go from behind the wheel to behind the desk and help turn Ace Speedway around. So far this season, Ace has seen an increase in their attendance and sponsors are coming on board.

Allen realizes that the fans like to be entertained by also like to be involved as well, "We try to involve our fans in as many aspects of the racing program as possible. From pace car rides, to participation in the drawing for our inverts of the lineup and even becoming honorary crew members by joining our drivers at their cars during introductions. We have seen a lot of interest from the audience and continue to look for more ways to enhance their experience," Allen explained. "The number one goal is fan satisfaction and our main priority is to see that need is met, happy to report we seem to be doing okay so far! Attendance continues to climb, sponsors are asking questions again, and the racing here at Ace has been outstanding, but we continue to seek feedback about the fan experience."

Rick McCray is another former competitor who has turned into a promoter as he and his family run Orange Show Speedway, an ASA Member Track in San Bernardino, CA. They also look at maintaining that loyal fan base. "I believe our loyal fans are looking for affordable family entertainment and concessions with Great competitive action packed racing from Super Late Models to Trailer races," McCray said. "We try hard to make the fans a part of our nightly show by bringing them down on track for an autograph session. I believe this brings the fans and the competitors together on a more personal level."

That personal level is something that helps the track maintain its fan base and keeps it going by exposing it to the younger generation of fans who then become your future loyal fans in your specific target market. Those younger fans are exposed when the older fans brings them to the track. In order to create that experience, many ASA Member Tracks offer either a reduced admission price or a free admission to create the opportunity for local racing to be a family watched sport.

Adam Nelson, a third generation promoter at Meridian Speedway, an ASA Member Track in Meridian, ID, feels that the tracks have to do things to make families aware that they are there to entertain not only their target market, but the entire family. He even has a Junior Stinger division for ages 11-14 to get a taste of what it's like to race at their track. "Younger fans are in direct correlation with the adult fans that bring them, assuming that the ticket isn't over priced. Obviously the thrill show stuff attracts the younger fan, boat races, monster trucks etc. If you can make sure to include your regular racing classes in those types of shows I think there is a chance they will get hooked on the racing side also. The key to getting the adults to bring the kids is to keep the admission price cheaper than it cost to get a baby sitter," Nelson said. "We need to find a hook for them. Our Jr. Stinger division is working to attract kids to competitor side and with that we can only assume that the cousins, friends, and such of those younger drivers are coming and getting exposed to the sport."

Doug Binstock, General Manager of Rocky Mountain Raceways, an ASA Member Track in West Valley City, UT, echoes what Nelson is stating about attracting the younger generation of fans. "It's the younger generation that are the future of our sport and we must evolve to them to be successful. It's a new generation with a completely different mindset than the preceding generations that grew up with muscle cars and different amount of freedom to challenge those cars on the streets. Gone are the days of being able to cruise State Street or the local towns main drag. So we are faced with the challenge of how to attract them to our sport, get them involved," Binstock explained. "I think we all realize the need to stay proactive in attracting this new generation, many of us are still scratching our heads trying to figure it out. Some of us are developing local drifting programs and hornet type cars to entice this generation into the fold and only time will tell what is working."

Dennis Huth, ASA President, understands the challenges that the track promoters are facing as he started his career operating a race track himself. In his career, Huth has visited several tracks across the world, and he appreciates what promoters are doing to increase their attendance. "Some tracks are very successful and some are working towards being profitable. The key is to be creative and put on a great entertaining show each week," Huth said. "The fans want to see action and be excited. They want to sit on the edge of their seats. They also want to get to know the people in this sport more as well. Auto racing became popular by the interaction between the fans and the competitors. Short track drivers are local heroes in a child's eyes much like the competitors they see on television. They almost sense a friendship when they go and watch their favorite compete each week."

The ASA Member Track program is comprised of dirt and asphalt short tracks along with road courses around the United States, as well as a variety of regional and national touring series. For more information, call (386) 258-2221 or send an e-mail to info@asa-racing.com. For news and information from all the racetracks and tours involved in the ASA, visit www.ASA-Racing.com.

ASA®, ASA Racing®, American Speed Association® are registered trademarks of Racing Speed Associates, LLC. ASA International, LLC or Racing Speed Associates, LLC are not related to or affiliated with ASA Late Model Series.

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Will Super Late Models ‘Kiddie Korps’ show elders any respect in Saturday’s race at Orange Show Speedway?

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO – This is Father’s day weekend and, in theory, that means those of the younger generation should pause and pay respect to their elders.

The theory doesn’t apply at Orange Show Speedway, though. To the young drivers who’ll be competing Saturday night (June 19), when the Super Late Models will reach the halfway point of their 12-race season, respect just means not bumping the older drivers quite as hard or adding “Sir” when they tell them to “get the ---- out of the way.”

There are a lot of youngsters to deal with, too. Three of the top five and eight of the top 20 in the Super Late Model class are 25 or younger, and the leader, David Ross, is a fuzzy-cheeked 21-year-old who has won four of the five races.

Ross will bid for his third win in a row in a 50-lap main event that will conclude a program that also features Stock Cars USA, Budweiser Legends Cars, M.C. Erectors Bandoleros, Stock OHV Karts and Dwarf Cars.

Spectator gates will open at 4 p.m., with an on-track autograph session from 5:50 to 6:30 p.m. and the first race at 7 p.m. at the ASA Member Track adjacent to the National Orange Show grounds.

All fathers will be admitted free by presenting a coupon that’s available at www.bestinthewestracing.com. Tickets for everyone else are priced at $10 for general admission and $8 for seniors (60 and older), students 11 to 18 and military personnel with valid identification. Children 10 and under are admitted free. A Family Pack, which includes admission for four plus a hot dog and small soft drink for each person, is priced at $45.

Parking is $5, with entry through Gate 4 off Mill Street.

Ross, of Colton (Ca.), won the first two races of the season, finished eighth in the May 1 race won by Mark Shackleford, and has won the past two events to build an 8-point lead over reigning champion Shackleford going into this weekend’s action.

Shackleford, who is featured in a cover photo and 4-page story in the June issue of Late Model Racer magazine, is the leader of the old guard. The 41-year-old Riverside (Ca.) resident, an insurance appraiser who is married and has a son, has been racing at Orange Show Speedway for 15 years and has won five championships. But all that does for him today is make him another target for the young drivers like third-place Brett Edwards, 25; fifth-place Jimmy Rouse Jr., 17; seventh-place Jack Madrid, 15; and Jeremy Edwards, 23, who is tied for ninth.

Then there are the other plus-40 graybeards, like sixth-place Barry Karr, a 41-year-old father of three from Redlands (Ca.), and Glen Cummings, a 55-year-old father of two from Highland (Ca.) with three Super Late Model titles to his credit and is tied for ninth this year.

When last seen the night of June 5, after Ross’s most recent triumph, Shackleford, Karr and Cummings were standing in the nearly-empty pits, trying to figure out how to beat Ross and the Kiddie Korps.

Kyle Cline will be out to extend his winning streak on Saturday as well. The 25-year-old from Hesperia (Ca.) is nursing a bruised and twisted left knee after a frightening crash during last week’s USAC Ford Focus Midget race, but said he feels good enough to try for his fourth win in as many races in the Dwarf class.

Steven Larson, of Fontana (Ca.), takes a three-race win streak into the 20-lap Stock OHV Kart main, Brent Scheidemantle, 17, of Alta Loma (Ca.), won the two most recent Budweiser Legends races, and teammates Mark Fletchall and Kevin Cook will break their tie for the points lead in the fifth of this season’s nine races in the Stock Cars USA division.

Rookie Peterson looks like old pro in winning Late Model main at Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Ca. (June 12) – Jeff Peterson, a 19-year-old rookie in the JAM Sportswear Late Model class, looked like a polished veteran Saturday night at Orange Show Speedway.

Peterson, a Riverside (Ca.) resident, set a record in qualifying at the ASA Member Track, then outdueled Tim Smith for the win in the 50-lap main event.

Smith, of Bakersfield (Ca.), started on the pole in the 15-car field and led the first 14 laps around the quarter-mile oval before Peterson nudged him aside in Turn 1 on lap 15. Smith regained the lead on lap 28, but Peterson got it back 11 laps later and managed to open enough of a gap to take himself out of harm’s way.

Peterson got his Pepsi/Van Gordon Racing Toyota Camry/Chevrolet to the finish 1.180 seconds ahead of Smith, with Toni McCray, Logan Mainella and Matt Goodwin rounding out the top five.

“Barefoot Billy” Ziemann, of Bloomington (Ca.), closed the night by winning the 30-lap Pick-A-Part Outlaw Figure 8 feature over Tony Curtis and Steven Tanner after Rod Proctor was foiled by a flat tire.

Past champion Kyle Meyer, of Highland (Ca.), started on the pole and led all the way to win the 35-lap Pick-A-Part Street Stock main event and Dan French, of Claremont (Ca.), took the lead midway through the 35-lap race for the Interstate Batteries Factory Fours and held off reigning champion Dwayne Blay to claim his first win. French had finished first May 22, but had been disqualified when his Toyota truck failed the post-race technical inspection.

The debut of the USAC Ford Focus and Jr. Focus series produced two good races – a 30-lap Ford Focus main won by Eli Schrock, of Culpepper, Va., and a 20-lap Jr. Focus feature won by Austin Farley of Brighton, Colo.

But the Ford Focus race also featured a frightening crash just past the midway point when Kyle Cline, of Apple Valley, Ca., got upside-down on the back straightaway and was hit by several other cars. Cline walked away from the accident, but was given medical treatment in the pits.

Unpredictable Late Models, Outlaw Figure 8s, visit by USAC Focus Midgets highlight Saturday’s event at Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO – Three races have produced three different winners, three different qualifying leaders, two track records, and driving displays ranging from sublime to ridiculous. So anything could happen when the JAM Sportswear Late Models return to Orange Show Speedway Saturday night (June 12).

The Pick-A-Part Outlaw Figure 8s, Interstate Batteries Factory Fours and Pick-A-Part Street Stocks will round out the stock car portion of the program at the ASA Member Track. But in addition, the USAC Ford Focus Midgets and Jr. Focus Midgets – full-sized Midget chassis powered by Ford Focus engines – will debut on the paved quarter-mile oval.

Spectator gates will open at 4 p.m., with an on-track autograph session from 5:50 to 6:30 p.m. and the first race at 7 p.m.

Tickets are priced at $10 for general admission and $8 for seniors (60 and older), students 11 to 18 and military personnel with valid identification. Children 10 and under are admitted free. A Family Pack, which includes admission for four plus a hot dog and small soft drink for each person, is priced at $45.

Parking is $5, with entry through Gate 4 off Mill Street.

The JAM Sportswear Late Models, who this year are Best in the West Racing’s entry in the Joe Gibbs Racing Oil ASA Member Track National Championship, started their season March 27 with a record-setting qualifying effort by Ron Daniel and a 100-lap main event that Brian Malone won after leading 87 laps.

They returned April 24 with Brandon Loverock qualifying No. 1 and Jim Conklin holding off Loverock and Logan Mainella to win the 50-lap main event. And in the most recent outing, May 22, Jeff Peterson set a track record in qualifying and Kenny Smith went from fourth to first in the 50-lap race when leaders Loverock and Matt Goodwin collided in Turn 3 on the final lap and third-place Malone had to slow to avoid the incident.

The end of that race was punctuated by Loverock’s sprint through the infield in pursuit of Goodwin. But the Highland resident last week said that as far as he’s concerned, the incident is history. “It was the last lap; it was just one of those things,” he said of the incident that prompted a good deal of Internet chat room debate about who was at fault, if anyone.

One thing everyone can do without, however, is the seemingly constant display of yellow caution flags that punctuated that May 22 Late Model race as the drivers learned to deal with a new restart procedure that is being used for all the stock car classes.

Under the procedure, when a cone is placed on the track while the field is running slowly under yellow, those on the lead lap can choose whether they want to use the inside or outside groove for the restart and line up accordingly. The right choice can be a major benefit for the driver. But so far the procedure has seemed to give the drivers a false sense of urgency and led to some avoidable incidents, particularly in the Late Model and Super Late Model divisions.

The Interstate Batteries Factory Fours will be making their fifth appearance of the season with San Bernardino (Ca.) High School teacher Kim Marzullo leading 2009 champion Dwayne Blay in the point standings; Riverside (Ca.) driver Rod proctor will be after his third win in the Pick-A-Part Outlaw Figure 8s; and six-time champion Johnny Russo will try to extend his points lead in round three of the Pick-A-Part Street Stock campaign.

White the USAC Ford Focus Midgets will be making their series debut at Orange Show Speedway, this will be the 15th race in the Western championships, which include both paved oval and dirt track races. Garrett Peterson, of West Sacramento (Ca.), won the past two Pavement outings, at Stockton (Ca.) May 1 and Roseville (Ca.) May 15.

It will be the fifth race on pavement and round 10 overall for the Jr. Focus “Young Guns” series. Brandon White, of Eureka (Ca.), has won two of the four pavement contests.

The Focus and Jr. Focus Midgets are scheduled for two more visits this season, on July 3 and Aug. 14.

Best in the West Racing’s promotions at Orange Show Speedway are sponsored by Lucas Oil Products, Budweiser, San Bernardino Pick-A-Part, Team Too Termite and Pest Control, JAM Sportswear, Interstate Batteries, MC Erectors, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Rockstar Energy Drinks, Hoosier Tire West, KCAL 96.7 Rocks, Best Buy, Tri-City Towing, Pacific West Interiors (PWI), Luke’s Transmission, Print Depot, Riverside Mission Florist, Wayne’s Engine, Cal’s Towing, JP Striping, K1 Speed, Jerry’s Brake and Wheel, and Arrow Track GPS.com.

Ross uses patience to win another Super Late Model main event at Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (June 5) – It was a night when patience was more important than speed at Orange Show Speedway, and David Ross showed he has learned that just as well as he’s learned how to go fast and turn left.

Ross started 14th in the 19-car Super Late Model field, somehow avoided all the incidents that led to nine caution flags, and led the final 14 laps of the 50-lap main event en route to his fourth win of the season at the ASA Member Track Saturday night.

There were seven yellow caution flags in the first 10 laps, by which time Ross had moved his Lucas Oil Chevrolet Impala into sixth. He still was sixth when leader Barry Karr pulled off the quarter-mile oval with apparent engine problems on lap 23, fourth when the final caution waved on lap 26, and third on lap 30.

Ross had taken second away from Mark Shackleford by lap 35 and passed Tony Edwards for the lead starting lap 37, then slowly pulled away to win by 1.95 seconds over Edwards. Only 10 cars were running at the finish.

It was the fourth win in five races for Ross, 21.

Robby Hornsby Jr., of Yucaipa (Ca.), stayed perfect in the Team Too Pony Stock class, starting eighth and working his way through traffic to win the 35-lap main event by just over half a second over Adrianne Murlin, of Corona (Ca.), with early leader Jeremy Perez, of Chino (Ca.) third.

Kevin Cook, of Riverside (Ca.), also started eighth and went on to win the 35-lap oval feature for the Stock Car USA class, which also ran a 20-lap Figure 8 contest won by Shaun Estes. Steven Larson got his third straight win in the 20-lap Stock OHV Kart race and Kyle Cline, of Apple Valley (Ca.), won his third feature in as many races for the Dwarf Cars.

Jerry Hamrick got the final checkered flag of the night by winning a Trailer race that left the track littered with debris everywhere.

Ross, Shackleford resume battle for Super Late Model supremacy Saturday at Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (June 2) – David Ross has been good and he’s been lucky and he’ll be the first to say that either one is fine as long as it results in a win. He has three of them as proof, too.

Ross, who turned 21 a week ago, has been the dominant driver in the Super Late Model class thus far in his first full season at Orange Show Speedway with his trio of victories in four starts at the ASA Member Track.

The fastest plumber in the area won on opening night, March 20, by leading 82 of 100 laps of the quarter-mile paved oval in a race made closer than expected by a late red flag. He came back three weeks later (April 10) to set the pace for 29 of 50 laps to win by 0.772 of a second over reigning champion Mark Shackleford. And three weeks ago (May 15) he finished second to Brett Edwards, but was awarded the win when Edwards’ car failed the post-race technical inspection.

Ross will go for win number four Saturday night (June 5), when the Super Late Models will be joined by the Team Too Pony Stocks, Stock OHV Karts, Dwarf Cars and Stock Cars USA, who will run both an oval main and a Figure 8 event before the curtain comes down with another wildly entertaining Trailer race.

Spectator gates will open at 4 p.m., with an on-track autograph session from 5:50 to 6:30 p.m. and the first race at 7 p.m.

Tickets are priced at $10 for general admission and $8 for seniors (60 and older), students 11 to 18 and military personnel with valid identification. Children 10 and under are admitted free. A Family Pack, which includes admission for four plus a hot dog and small soft drink for each person, is priced at $45.

Parking is $5, with entry through Gate 4 off Mill Street.

Ross’s monopolization of the winner’s circle hasn’t translated into a dominant lead in the point standings after four of the 12 races, however. He is first, but only four points ahead of Shackleford, who got a race win May 1 and has finished sixth or better in every start. Ross finished eighth on May 1. Toni McCray is third in the standings, 16 points behind Ross, with Brett Edwards fourth, 20 points behind, and Barry Karr fifth, 30 points back after finishing 14th three weeks ago.

While Ross and Shackleford continue their battle in the Super Late Model division, unbeaten Robby Hornsby Jr. will try for his fifth straight win in the Team Too Pony Stock class, where he leads Jeremy Perez and Adrianne Murlin by 20 points after four of 11 events.

The Stock Cars USA division last was seen on May 22, when Dirt Late Model regular Johnny Malcolm Jr. won the 35-lap oval main event in his debut on pavement, then finished second to Kevin Cook in the 20-lap Figure 8 race. Steve Larson has won the past two Stock OHV Kart races, with Nevada Chovan and Mike Brinegar second and third, respectively, in both, and Kyle Cline has dominated the Dwarf Cars division in its two outings.

Best in the West Racing’s promotions at Orange Show Speedway are sponsored by Lucas Oil Products, Budweiser, San Bernardino Pick-A-Part, Team Too Termite and Pest Control, JAM Sportswear, Interstate Batteries, MC Erectors, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Rockstar Energy Drinks, Hoosier Tire West, KCAL 96.7 Rocks, Best Buy, Tri-City Towing, Pacific West Interiors (PWI), Luke’s Transmission, Print Depot, Riverside Mission Florist, Wayne’s Engine, Cal’s Towing, JP Striping, K1 Speed, Jerry’s Brake and Wheel, and Arrow Track GPS.com.

For information on sponsorship and promotional opportunities, please contact Best in the West Racing by telephone at 909-885-9000 or visit the new web site at www.BestInTheWestRacing.com.

For all other information, please contact Jim Short by telephone at 951-203-2649 or by e-mail at jimshort65@sbcglobal.net.

Kenny Smith accidently gets a win at Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (May 22) – Never let it be said that Orange Show Speedway drivers don’t know how to make visitors feel at home.

Kenny Smith knows that’s not true, because after making the trip from Pismo Beach (Ca.) to race in his first JAM Sportswear Late Model race at the ASA Member Track, his welcoming gift was a victory in the 50-lap main event Saturday night (May 22).

The win was a gift from Matt Goodwin and Brandon Loverock, who collided in Turn 4 on the final lap while fighting for the lead in a race colored by more yellow than a bouquet of sunflowers as the caution flag seemed to wave almost continuously.

Goodwin, of Wildomar (Ca.), started his Chevrolet Monte Carlo on the pole in the 17-car field and led through all the stress and strife and turmoil until Loverock got a nose in front midway through the final lap. The two got together entering the final turn and the collision sent Loverock onto the guard rail and back onto the track, and when Loverock climbed from his damaged Chevrolet he set off to exchange pleasantries with Goodwin until a Best in the West Racing official intervened.

Smith, meanwhile, was getting ready for his winner’s circle photo and first-place prize money after being in third place when the hi-jinks began. Second was Brian Malone, who had won the season-opening 100-lap race March 27, and third was Ron Daniel.

Robby Hornsby Jr., of Yucaipa (Ca.), maintained his perfect season in the Team Too Pony Stock class by winning his fourth main event. Hornsby took the lead on the sixth of 35 laps and held off Adrianne Murlin and Linny White, a former Pony Stock champion who was making his first start in the class in three years.

Johnny Malcom Jr., of Corona (Ca.), took a break from his usual Dirt Late Model racing to make his debut on pavement and win the 35-lap feature for Stock Cars USA; Dan French, of Claremont (Ca.), took first when leader Dwayne Blay was slowed by traffic with four laps to go and won the 35-lap Interstate Batteries Factory Fours main event; Steve Larson, of Fontana (Ca.), won the 20-lap Stock OHV Kart race; and Kyle Cline, of Apple Valley (Ca.), lapped the field in the 20-lap Dwarf Cars contest; and Kevin Cook held off Malcolm in the 20-lap USA Figure 8 race that closed the show.

Daniel will try to school Late Model rivals as Orange Show Speedway salutes educators

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (May 19) – This will be Salute to Education week at Orange Show Speedway. That means early points leader Ron Daniel will try to take his JAM Sportswear Late Model rivals to school again Saturday night (May 22) and all high school students and teachers can watch as guests of Best in the West Racing.

The school year is winding down and there won’t be any racing at the ASA Member Track on Memorial Day weekend, so all high school students and teachers will be admitted free by presenting valid school identification. That’s Best in the West’s way of congratulating the students for their hard work and thanking the teachers who guide and inspire them.

A 50-lap main event for the JAM Sportswear Late Models will highlight the program, with support from the Team Too Pony Stocks, Interstate Batteries Factory Fours, Stock Cars USA, Stock OHV Karts and a Stock Cars USA Figure 8 race.

Spectator gates will open at 4 p.m., with an on-track autograph session from 5:50 to 6:30 p.m. and the first race at 7 p.m.

Tickets are priced at $10 for general admission and $8 for seniors (60 and older), students 11 to 18 and military personnel with valid identification. Children 10 and under are admitted free. A Family Pack, which includes admission for four plus a hot dog and small soft drink for each person, is priced at $45.

Parking is $5, with entry through Gate 4 off Mill Street.

Brian Malone of Redlands (Ca.) and Jim Conklin of Big Bear City (Ca.) have won the first two AM Sportswear Late Model mains. But Daniel, of Mentone (Ca.), has used fifth and fourth place finishes and passing points to take an early 6-point lead over Logan Mainella of Palmdale (Ca.) in the class that is competing for the ASA Member Track National Championship.

Robby Hornsby Jr., the heir apparent to five-time champion Jim Edmiston, will try for his fourth straight win in the Team Too Pony Stock class and Cary Cecil will try to win his third in a row in the Interstate Batteries Factory Four division.

Best in the West Racing’s promotions at Orange Show Speedway are sponsored by Lucas Oil Products, Budweiser, San Bernardino Pick-A-Part, Team Too Termite and Pest Control, JAM Sportswear, Interstate Batteries, MC Erectors, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Rockstar Energy Drinks, Hoosier Tire West, KCAL 96.7 Rocks, Best Buy, Tri-City Towing, Pacific West Interiors (PWI), Luke’s Transmission, Print Depot, Riverside Mission Florist, Wayne’s Engine, Cal’s Towing, JP Striping, K1 Speed, Jerry’s Brake and Wheel, and Arrow Track GPS.com.

For information on sponsorship and promotional opportunities, please contact Best in the West Racing by telephone at 909-885-9000 or visit the new web site at www.BestInTheWestRacing.com.

For all other information, please contact Jim Short by telephone at 951-203-2649 or by e-mail at jimshort65@sbcglobal.net.

Ross wins on a technical knockout at Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (May 15) – David Ross got a win in the most unexpected fashion Saturday night at Orange Show Speedway.

Ross, of Colton (Ca.), failed to overtake race-long leader Brett Edwards in the final laps of the 50-lap Super Late Models main event on Armed Forces Night at the ASA Member Track. But he wound up with his third win in four races this season when Brett Edwards and third-place Tony Edwards were disqualified from their finishing positions and placed at the rear of the cars on the lead lap for width infractions found in the post-race technical inspection.

The disqualifications moved 20-year-old Ross into first, with Brett’s brother Jeremy Edwards second and Matt Hicks third. Brett Edwards was placed 10th and Tony Edwards 11th.

Ross had seventh in the 18-car field and moved into second with 10 laps to go, but his late charge still left him 0.617 seconds behind Brett Edwards when the checkered flag waved.

Ross had won the first two races of the season, March 20 and April 10, and had finished eighth in a crash-filled race won by Mark Shackleford two weeks ago.

Rod Proctor, of Riverside (Ca.), won the Pick-A-Part Outlaw Figure 8 feature and Brent Scheidemantle of Alta Loma took the 35-lap Budweiser Legends Cars event to make it two wins in two nights.

Ryan Cansdale, of Laguna Beach (Ca.), won the M.C. Erectors Bandoleros 20-lap main after Parker Malone and RJ Stearns collided in Turn 2 while fighting for the lead on the last lap and Steven Larson, of Fontana (Ca.), finished inches ahead of 11-year-old Nevada Chovan to win the 20-lap race for Stock OHV Karts.

Steven Clark won the show-closing Trailer race.

Super Late Models, Legends Cars ready for battles on Armed Forces Day at Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (May 11) – The Super Late Models are off to a super start in what is shaping up as a super competitive season at Orange Show Speedway.

In the first three races of its season at the ASA Member Track adjacent to the National Orange Show grounds, while the entry list has grown from 12 to 20, the class has produced a new track record-holder, two race winners, six different drivers with top three finishes and nine with top five showings.

Indications are there’ll be even more cars and more excitement on Saturday (May 15) when the Super Late Models reassemble for an Armed Forces Day racing program that includes the Pick-A-Part Outlaw Figure 8s, Budweiser Legends Cars, M.C. Erectors Bandoleros, Stock OHV Karts and a Trailer race.

Spectator gates will open at 4 p.m., with an on-track autograph session from 5:50 to 6:30 p.m. and the first race at 7 p.m.

To honor those serving in our Armed Forces, all active, reserve and retired military personnel with valid identification will be admitted free. Tickets are priced at $10 for general admission and $8 for seniors (60 and older) and students 11 to 18. Children 10 and under are admitted free. A Family Pack, which includes admission for four plus a hot dog and small soft drink for each person, is priced at $45.

Parking is $5, with entry through Gate 4 off Mill Street.

David Ross of Colton (Ca.) won the first two Super Late Model main events and Mark Shackleford of Riverside (Ca.) took the checkered flag at the most recent event, a crash-filled 50-lap race run (you should pardon the expression) at a snail-like 13.161 miles per hour because of nine caution flags.

The sixth of those cautions, for a collision between Jake Engle and Brett Edwards with 10 laps to go, put reigning champion Shackleford in position to take the win and the early advantage in the point standings. But just six points separate the top five, with Ross second, Edwards third and Toni McCray and Barry Karr tied for fourth.

The early edge in consistency, however, goes to Brett Edwards, whose teammates in the class are older brother Tony and younger brother Jeremy. Brett, 25, of Yucaipa (Ca.), has two third and a fifth and set a track record in qualifying May 1 with a pole-winning lap of 12.891 seconds. One of those thirds came May 1, when he and Engle got together while battling for the lead.

This week, the Budweiser Legends Cars could challenge the Super Late Models for on-track incidents, though, because Saturday’s race is an INEX National Qualifier. That means that while the 35-lap main event will have just one winner, the top finisher in the Pro, Master, Semi-Pro and Young Lion categories will become eligible for a provisional starting spot in the INEX Asphalt National Championship Oct. 8-10 at Langley (Va.) Speedway.

Chad Schug (Pro) of Oak Hills (Ca.), Gary Scheuerell (Master) of Murrieta (Ca.), Missouri resident Kyle Weatherman (Young Lion) and Arizona driver Zak Price (Semi-Pro) were the top finishers in their divisions in the National Qualifier at Lucas Oil I-10 Speedway in Blythe (Ca.) March 13.

Schug is the reigning champion at Orange Show Speedway.

This will be the second outing for the Pick-A-Part Outlaw Figure 8s, which debuted April 24 with Rod Proctor beating “Barefoot Billy” Ziemann, and the fifth of the season for the M.C. Erectors Bandoleros, where Ryan Cansdale and Parker Malone have two wins each.

Best in the West Racing’s promotions at Orange Show Speedway are sponsored by Lucas Oil Products, Budweiser, San Bernardino Pick-A-Part, Team Too Termite and Pest Control, JAM Sportswear, Interstate Batteries, MC Erectors, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Rockstar Energy Drinks, Hoosier Tire West, KCAL 96.7 Rocks, Best Buy, Tri-City Towing, Pacific West Interiors (PWI), Luke’s Transmission, Print Depot, Riverside Mission Florist, Wayne’s Engine, Cal’s Towing, JP Striping, K1 Speed, Jerry’s Brake and Wheel, and Arrow Track GPS.com.

For information on sponsorship and promotional opportunities, please contact Best in the West Racing by telephone at 909-885-9000 or visit the new web site at www.BestInTheWestRacing.com.

For all other information, please contact Jim Short by telephone at 951-203-2649 or by e-mail at jimshort65@sbcglobal.net.

Best in the West cancels Memorial Day weekend races at Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (May 6) – Best in the West Racing regrets to announce that the stock car racing program recently added for May 29 at Orange Show Speedway has been cancelled.

“I’m really disappointed at having to cancel,” Best in the West Racing owner Rick McCray said. “When we announced that we’d be racing on Memorial Day weekend during the National Orange Show Festival, as requested, we believed everything had been worked out with the Orange Show management and the company that’s producing the festival. Unfortunately, since then we’ve encountered some issues that can’t be resolved, so we decided it was best to cancel the event.”

There is no activity this weekend at Orange Show Speedway, an ASA Member Track. Racing will resume on May 15 with an Armed Forces Day program featuring the ASA Super Late Models, Pick-A-Part Outlaw Figure 8s, Budweiser Legends Cars, M.C. Erectors Bandoleros, Stock OHV Karts and a Trailer race.

Spectator gates will open at 4 p.m., with an on-track autograph session from 5:50 to 6:30 p.m. and the first race at 7 p.m.

Military personnel with valid identification will be admitted free.

Tickets are priced at $10 for general admission and $8 for seniors (60 and older) and students 11 to 18. Children 10 and under are admitted free. A Family Pack, which includes admission for four plus a hot dog and small soft drink for each person, is priced at $45.

Parking is $5, with entry through Gate 4 off Mill Street.

Best in the West Racing’s promotions at Orange Show Speedway are sponsored by Lucas Oil Products, Budweiser, San Bernardino Pick-A-Part, Team Too Termite and Pest Control, JAM Sportswear, Interstate Batteries, MC Erectors, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Rockstar Energy Drinks, Hoosier Tire West, KCAL 96.7 Rocks, Best Buy, Tri-City Towing, Pacific West Interiors (PWI), Luke’s Transmission, Print Depot, Riverside Mission Florist, Wayne’s Engine, Cal’s Towing, JP Striping, K1 Speed, Jerry’s Brake and Wheel, and Arrow Track GPS.com.

For information on sponsorship and promotional opportunities, please contact Best in the West Racing by telephone at 909-885-9000 or visit the new web site at www.BestInTheWestRacing.com.

For all other information, please contact Jim Short by telephone at 951-203-2649 or by e-mail at jimshort65@sbcglobal.net.

Shackleford survives yellow flags to win 64th Anniversary Super Late Model race at Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (May 1) – Reigning champion Mark Shackleford inherited the lead during the sixth yellow caution flag of the race and held it through three more caution periods and 10 laps to win the 50-lap ASA Super Late Models main event in Orange Show Speedway’s 64th anniversary program Saturday night .

Shackleford, of Riverside (Ca.), started sixth in the 20-car field and was running third when leaders Brett Edwards and Jake Engle got together in Turn 4 with 11 laps to go. In short-track racing, those involved in incidents are sent to the rear of the field. That double demotion gave Shackleford’s yellow No. 10 Chevrolet the lead, with Barry Karr second and David Ross, of Colton (Ca.), third in pursuit of his third straight win at the ASA Member Track.

Shackleford had to hold off Karr on four restarts, however, each time using a better drive off Turn 2 to build an advantage and finally took the checkered flag 1.7 seconds ahead of Karr, with Edwards third.

Ross, who had won the first two Super Late Model races, spun on the next-to-last lap this time and finished eighth.

Robby Hornsby Jr., of Yucaipa (Ca.), ran his winning streak to three races in the 35-lap Team Too Pony Stock main event by charging from ninth and beating past champion Jim Mardis by 2.7 seconds. Cary Cecil, of Corona (Ca.), won his second straight Interstate Batteries Factory Four feature over a late-charging Kim Marzullo, and Nevada Chovan, an 11-year-old from Ontario (Ca.), won the 20-lap Stock OHV Kart main event.

Randy Bylsma, of San Bernardino (Ca.), closed the anniversary program by winning the 20-lap Trailer race over six rivals.

Orange Show Speedway will celebrate its 64th birthday Saturday night

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (April 29) – A little over 40 years ago The Beatles were asking “will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m 64?”

The answer as it applies to Orange Show Speedway is a resounding yes.

Obviously, John Lennon and Paul McCartney didn’t have race tracks in mind when they wrote a song about lovers growing old together. The reference is valid, though, because from the day it opened in 1947 the racing community has had a love affair with a track that still is very much needed by competitors and fans who each week feed into the excitement and camaraderie so evident in the grandstands and the pits.

Saturday, Orange Show Speedway will celebrate its 64th birthday. The event schedule includes the ASA Super Late Models, Team Too Pony Stocks, Interstate Batteries Factory Fours, Stock OHV Karts and a Trailer race, and anyone born in 1964 will be admitted free to the ASA Member Track that last week was the site of what spectators have been calling the best night of racing in years.

Two drivers, David Ross of Colton (Ca.) in the Super Late Models and Robby Hornsby Jr. of Yucaipa (Ca.) in the Team Too Pony Stocks, have won both races in their class this season.

This weekend’s races, on a paved and banked quarter-mile oval, are radically different than the historic Sprint Car race Bill Zaring won on May 1, 1947. As current track announcer Greg Cozzo noted in the Orange Show Speedway history included in the souvenir program, that first race on a Thursday night was run on a quarter-mile clay oval that had been built around the football field that occupied what now is the track’s infield. Stock car competition wasn’t introduced until 1953 and the racing surface wasn’t paved for the first time until 1964.

Some things haven’t changed, however.

“I can’t imagine what it would be like around here without this race track. That’s the main reason I decided to get involved as the promoter (in 2009),” Best in the West Racing owner Rick McCray said. “This is where I grew up and learned to race and met my wife (Sandy) and made some life-long friendships, and there are a lot of others with the same kind of memories.

“This has always been a huge family – the racers, the fans, the officials and everyone else involved – and we want that to continue forever. I think that’s one of the big reasons there’s been so much positive response to what we’re trying to do.”

ASA president Dennis Huth is one of those who likes what he sees.

“On behalf of everyone in the ASA family we would like to congratulate Orange Show Speedway on its 64th birthday,” Huth said. “I’ve know the McCray family for many years and they’re a class act. It’s a great honor to have them operating an ASA Member Track and to be working with them on their success.”

Spectator gates will open at 4 p.m. Saturday, with an on-track autograph session from 5:50 to 6:30 p.m. and the first race at 7 p.m.

Tickets are priced at $10 for general admission and $8 for seniors (60 and older), students 11 to 18 and military personnel with valid identification. Children 10 and under are admitted free. A Family Pack, which includes admission for four plus a hot dog and small soft drink for each person, is priced at $45.

Parking is $5, with entry through Gate 4 off Mill Street.

Best in the West Racing’s promotions at Orange Show Speedway are sponsored by Lucas Oil Products, Budweiser, San Bernardino Pick-A-Part, Team Too Termite and Pest Control, JAM Sportswear, Interstate Batteries, MC Erectors, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Rockstar Energy Drinks, Hoosier Tire West, KCAL 96.7 Rocks, Best Buy, Tri-City Towing, Pacific West Interiors (PWI), Luke’s Transmission, Print Depot, Riverside Mission Florist, Wayne’s Engine, Cal’s Towing, JP Striping, K1 Speed, Jerry’s Brake and Wheel, and Arrow Track GPS.com.

ORANGE SHOW SPEEDWAY IS SHOWING WHY THEY ARE THE "BEST IN THE WEST RACING" IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

American Speed Association PR

DAYTONA BEACH, FL (Wednesday, April 28, 2010) - When you try to call Rick McCray, Promoter of Orange Show Speedway, an ASA Member Track in San Bernardino, CA, you may get a busy signal. Why....you might ask? Because he has been getting calls from competitors who are interested in competing at his track.

"I tell you, we have had a lot of interest with competitors wanting to come and race with us," McCray recently said. "The interest to come and race here has been incredible this season."

Last week, Orange Show had 18 cars start their Late Model feature event, with a total of 23 drivers earning points in their first two events this season. While their Super Late Model division has had 19 drivers earn points in their first two racing events.

That is not the only thing going well for McCray either. Prior to the start of the season, Orange Show increased their inversion for the feature events to help their competitors contest for the Joe Gibbs Driven Racing Oil ASA Member Track National Championship. This change has been a positive so far, "The racing has been awesome since we increased the inversion," McCray exclaimed. "Watching our fast guys race through the field and passing cars has been exciting to watch from the stands, it really shows what short track racing is all about."

This weekend, Orange Show Speedway will celebrate its 64th Anniversary and if you were born in 1964, you will get in for FREE. The Super Late Models, Interstate Batteries Factory Fours, Team Too Pony Stocks, and Go-Karts will be in action along with a Trailer Race.

"Rick and his staff have done a great job in the short time they have been operating Orange Show Speedway," Dennis Huth, ASA President said. "They are living up to their 'Best in the West Racing' motto by putting on some of the best short track racing for the Southern California fans. We are excited to have them racing under the ASA Member Track banner."

The ASA Member Track program is composed of dirt and asphalt short tracks along with road courses around the United States, as well as a variety of regional and national touring series. For more information, call (386) 258-2221 or send an e-mail to info@asa-racing.com. For news and information from all the racetracks and tours involved in the ASA, visit www.ASA-Racing.com.

ASA™, ASA Racing™ and American Speed Association® are trademarks of Racing Speed Associates, LLC. Racing Speed Associates, LLC is not related to or affiliated with ASA Late Model Series.

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USAC Sprint Cars postponed, Memorial Day weekend event added at Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (April 27) – The return of USAC Sprint Car racing to Orange Show Speedway has been delayed.

Best in the West Racing and the U.S. Auto Club announced Tuesday that due to conflicts with other series schedules, the program of USAC Western Sprint Cars and Ford Focus Midgets scheduled for May 8 has been postponed.

The event will be rescheduled, but the postponement means there will be no racing at the ASA Member Track on Mother’s Day weekend.

There will be racing on Memorial Day weekend, however. In conjunction with GCF Events and Ray Cammack Shows, the new producers of the National Orange Show Festival, Best in the West Racing has scheduled an evening of racing on what had been an open date May 29.

Admission to Orange Show Speedway will be free to those attending the Festival. The racing program will consist of two 64-lap JAM Sportswear Late Model races, a pair of 35-lap Pro 4 contests and Trailer races. Other races may be added.

Best in the West Racing’s promotions at Orange Show Speedway are sponsored by Lucas Oil Products, Budweiser, San Bernardino Pick-A-Part, Team Too Termite and Pest Control, JAM Sportswear, Interstate Batteries, MC Erectors, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Rockstar Energy Drinks, Hoosier Tire West, KCAL 96.7 Rocks, Best Buy, Tri-City Towing, Pacific West Interiors (PWI), Luke’s Transmission, Print Depot, Riverside Mission Florist, Wayne’s Engine, Cal’s Towing, JP Striping, K1 Speed, Jerry’s Brake and Wheel, and Arrow Track GPS.com.

For information on sponsorship and promotional opportunities, please contact Best in the West Racing by telephone at 909-885-9000 or visit the web site at www.BestInTheWestRacing.com.

For all other information, please contact Jim Short by telephone at 951-203-2649 or by e-mail at jimshort65@sbcglobal.net.

Big Bear’s Conklin holds off posse of pursuers to win Late Model feature at Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (April 24) – The mountain man came to the winner’s circle Saturday night.

im Conklin, a two-time JAM Sportswear Late Model champion from Big Bear City (Ca.), held off a posse of pursuers and won the 50-lap main event at Orange Show Speedway, an ASA Member Track. Conklin, who started third, took the lead from Big Bear City neighbor Jeff Lawson on lap 10 and never was headed again. But holding on for those 40 laps tested all his skills and the preparation of his Chevrolet-powered Pontiac Grand Prix because Logan Mainella, of Palmdale (Ca.), made several attempts to pass.

Mainella twice got Conklin sideways, but each time demonstrated good sportsmanship and let his rival recover. That may have cost him at the finish, though, because Brandon Loverock roared by on the outside to steal second at the finish, with Mainella third, Ron Daniel fourth and Bakersfield (Ca.)’s Tim Smith fifth in his first race on the quarter-mile oval.

Rod Proctor, of Riverside, won the 25-lap season debut of the Pick-A-Part Outlaw Figure 8 cars, beating “Barefoot Billy” Ziemann, of Bloomington, and Steve Stewart, of Long Beach. Bryan Glidewell, the 2008 class champion, won the 25-lap race for the Pro 4 class, taking the lead when brother David Glidewell spun exiting Turn 4 with 4 laps to go.

Johnny Russo, the six-time and reigning Pick-A-Part Street Stock champion, got win No. 54 in his Chevrolet Monte Carlo with a wire-to-wire victory in that 35-lap main event, Darren Amidon made it four wins in five tries in the 35-lap Budweiser Legends Cars feature, and Ryan Cansdale won his second in a row in the 20-lap M.C. Erectors Bandoleros main event.

Malone will be after second win Saturday when Late Models return to Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (April 21) – Brian Malone has a fast new race car, a main event victory and the early lead in the JAM Sportswear Late Model point standings at Orange Show Speedway, an ASA Member Track.

What the Redlands (Ca.) driver doesn’t have is a lot of money, a well-heeled sponsor and any guarantee that he’ll be able to finish the 13-race season and compete for the track title and the ASA national championship, which has as a prize a tryout with the Joe Gibbs Racing team.

Malone, 42, had finished second in the standings in 2007 and third in 2008, but slipped to ninth last season, when he missed three of the final six races while struggling with an older-model car. This year, he has a new Chevrolet Monte Carlo with “all the best stuff on it,” and on March 27 he opened the season by giving the new car a masterful drive to win the 100-lap main event over Toni McCray and Logan Mainella.

Malone will pursue his second win of the season in a 50-lap main event Saturday night (April 24), when the JAM Sportswear Late Models are joined by the Pick-A-Part Street Stocks, Tour Trucks, Budweiser Legends Cars, MC Erectors Bandoleros and Pick-A-Part Outlaw Figure 8s. It will be the first race of the year for the Outlaw Figure 8s.

Spectator gates will open at 4 p.m., with an on-track autograph session from 5:50 to 6:30 p.m. and the first race at 7 p.m.

Tickets are priced at $10 for general admission and $8 for seniors (60 and older), students 11 to 18 and military personnel with valid identification. Children 10 and under are admitted free. A Family Pack, which includes admission for four plus a hot dog and small soft drink for each person, is priced at $45.

Parking is $5, with entry through Gate 4 off Mill Street.

There will be free T-shirts for the first 300 spectators and a portion of the proceeds from all ticket sales will go to The Assistance League of San Bernardino for its work with disadvantaged youth.

Malone didn’t feel disadvantaged opening night with the new car and set-up help from champion driver and car builder Linny White. That was the good news.

The bad news, he said, is that the new car “definitely ups the cost” of racing, and like most owner-drivers for whom racing is an expensive hobby, costs are of some concern to the father of three whose son, Parker, and daughter, Maddy, are Bandoleros drivers.

Malone said the ASA championship and test with Gibbs “definitely would be an incentive if I run all season. But it’s all about if I can find a sponsor. How many races I’m going to make kind of depends on how the money pans out. I’m looking for sponsors.”

One of the major expenses for all racers is the Hoosier tires. They cost about $140 a piece for the Late Model division, and to have realistic hopes of running up front four new tires per race is almost a must. Malone said a rule limiting the number of tires a team can buy per race would help keep racing more affordable for everyone. But until such a rule is put in place, Malone’s strategy is simple.

“The goal is to win as many as I can so I can keep new tires on the car,” he said.

Best in the West Racing’s promotions at Orange Show Speedway are sponsored by Lucas Oil Products, Budweiser, San Bernardino Pick-A-Part, Team Too Termite and Pest Control, JAM Sportswear, Interstate Batteries, MC Erectors, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Rockstar Energy Drinks, Hoosier Tire West, KCAL 96.7 Rocks, Best Buy, Tri-City Towing, Pacific West Interiors (PWI), Luke’s Transmission, Print Depot, Riverside Mission Florist, Wayne’s Engine, Cal’s Towing, JP Striping, K1 Speed, Jerry’s Brake and Wheel, and Arrow Track GPS.com.

For information on sponsorship and promotional opportunities, please contact Best in the West Racing by telephone at 909-885-9000 or visit the new web site at www.BestInTheWestRacing.com.

For all other information, please contact Jim Short by telephone at 951-203-2649 or by e-mail at jimshort65@sbcglobal.net.

Kanke inherits Southwest Tour victory at Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (April 17) – M.K. Kanke, the reigning champion of the Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series, waited his way to a victory Saturday night at Orange Show Speedway.

Kanke, of Frazier Park, Ca., spent the majority of the 135 laps in the Citizens Business Bank 135 stalking leader Jacob Gomes, a series rookie from Manteca, Ca. Gomes, who took the lead from pole-sitter Josh Combs, of Sacramento, on lap 32 and had no trouble maintaining a lead from that point until the final yellow flag waved on lap 128 because of oil on the track.

Gomes had been able to pull away slightly on previous restarts. But when the green flag waved this time he pulled his Chevrolet to the inside of the track, reportedly with a broken axle, and Kanke roared into the lead ahead of Derek Thorn, of Bakersfield, and veteran Jim Pettit II, a past series champion.

They finished the 135 laps that way, the two pursuers doing their best to out-drag Kanke to the finish. But Kanke’s Sims Trucking/RPM Chevrolet flashed under the checkered flag 0.362 of a second ahead of Thorn, who had won the season opener at Roseville, Ca., March 27.

Gomes, who pulled off the track on lap 130 and came right back on, finished 13th in the 23-car field.

The win was worth $4,000 to Kanke, who now has 23 wins in Southwest Tour competition.

Yucapa (Ca.) High senior Robby Hornsby Jr. won his second Team Too Pony Stock main event in as many starts, taking the lead midway through the 35-lap race and beating Charles Price, of Fullerton (Ca.), to the finish by 1.1 seconds after a rash of yellow flags. Darren Amidon, of Santee (Ca.) won for the third time in four starts in the Budweiser Legends feature and Kevin Cook, of Riverside (Ca.), won the 35-lap race in the Stock Car USA class.

Kyle Cline, of Apple Valley (Ca.), won the 25-lap debut of the Dwarf Cars, which like the Legends Cars are 5/8 scale model replicas of 1928-1948 American production cars, but with the full racing suspension systems the Legends lack.

Ponys and Dwarfs will be part of a special show Saturday at Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (April 15) – Come one, come all, to the greatest show in town.

That’s what Best in the West Racing is presenting Saturday (April 17) at Orange Show Speedway, the ASA Member Track adjacent to the National Orange Show grounds.

There will be Ponys and Legends and Dwarfs. There will be a Budweiser Girl to ogle and the Budweiser Mini Cooper to admire, or vice-versa. There will be disc jockeys and engineers from KCAL 96.7 ROCKS on hand to do a live remote. There will be vendors to patronize and a variety of people to watch.

Most importantly, on the night the Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series makes its debut at the historic quarter-mile oval, there will be 331 laps of racing by five divisions in a program certain to thrill, chill and entertain.

“I’m interested in returning to Orange Show Speedway,” 2007 Southwest Tour champion Dave Byrd said. “We ran there many years ago with the Southwest Tour and the track wasn’t much more than a paved high school track and field area.

“I hear they’ve made some nice improvements since then.”

The SRL Southwest Tour competitors will provide the majority of the action, with qualifying from 4:30 to 5 p.m., a 40-lap “B” main at 7 p.m. to finalize the starting field and the main event, the Citizens Business Bank 135. That 135-lap race is scheduled to get under way at 9 p.m. following 35-lap contests for the Dwarf Cars, Stock Cars USA, Budweiser Legends and Team Too Pony Stocks.

For this truly special event, spectator gates will open at 3 p.m. and the on-track autograph session will be conducted from 5:15 to 6 p.m. The first 4-lap Trophy Dash, for the Dwarf Cars, will start at 6:35 p.m.

The Budweiser girl and Mini Cooper will be on site from 5 to 8 p.m. The Ponys and Legends and Dwarfs can be seen when the pit gate is opened to the public after the races.

Tickets are priced at $15 for general admission and $13 for seniors (60 and older), students 11 to 18 and military personnel with valid identification. Children 10 and under are admitted free. A Family Pack, which includes admission for four plus a hot dog and small soft drink for each person, is priced at $65.

Parking is $5, with entry through Gate 4 off Mill Street.

Best in the West Racing’s promotions at Orange Show Speedway are sponsored by Lucas Oil Products, Budweiser, San Bernardino Pick-A-Part, Team Too Termite and Pest Control, JAM Sportswear, Interstate Batteries, MC Erectors, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Rockstar Energy Drinks, Hoosier Tire West, KCAL 96.7 Rocks, Best Buy, Tri-City Towing, Pacific West Interiors (PWI), Luke’s Transmission, Print Depot, Riverside Mission Florist, Wayne’s Engine, Cal’s Towing, JP Striping, K1 Speed, Jerry’s Brake and Wheel, and Arrow Track GPS.com.

For information on sponsorship and promotional opportunities, please contact Best in the West Racing by telephone at 909-885-9000 or visit the new web site at www.BestInTheWestRacing.com.

For all other information, please contact Jim Short by telephone at 951-203-2649 or by e-mail at jimshort65@sbcglobal.net.

SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series Makes Inaugural Stop at Orange Show Speedway

April 13, 2010

By Brian Olsen, SRL

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – This Saturday night the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series will make more history with its first appearance at Orange Show Speedway for the “Citizens Business Bank 135.”

The banked, quarter-mile oval, an ASA Member Track adjacent to the National Orange Show grounds, has been hosting racing events since 1947. It was paved in 1964 and underwent a complete renovation in 2003, with repaving and increased banking.

A record 32 cars attempted to make the starting lineup at the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series season-opening event at Roseville (Ca.) March 27. There are 30 cars on the roster for this weekend’s race.

This week only, spectator gates will open at 3 p.m. Qualifying will take place from 4 to 5 p.m, followed by the on-track autograph session from 5:15 to 6 p.m. and the first race of the evening at 6:35 p.m.

Tickets for this special event are priced at $15 for general admission and $13 for seniors (60 and older), students 11 to 18 and military personnel with valid identification. Children 10 and under are admitted free. A Family Pack, which includes admission for four plus a hot dog and small soft drink for each person, is priced at $65.

Parking is $5, with entry through Gate 4 off Mill Street.

Rick McCray and his family own Best in the West Racing and are in their second year as the promoters at Orange Show Speedway.

“I’m excited about having the Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series at Orange Show Speedway,” McCray said. “I know the Citizens Business Bank 135 is going to be a close, exciting race for our fans, and the event definitely is an important one for us at Best in the West Racing."

“To have great promoters like the Collins family think we’re doing a good enough to deserve having a Tour race is gratifying. And to have Wayne and Connie Spears involved makes it even more special because of all they’ve done for racing. I hope this is the start of a long relationship.”

M.K. Kanke, the 2009 SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series champion, has raced at Orange Show Speedway several times with the Southwest Series, but not since the track was reconfigured.

“It’s a tight race track, no doubt. All of us are just going to have to keep our heads screwed on straight,” said Kanke. “There will be side-by-side racing, but it will tight and both guys will have to give each other room. If you can get your car to turn in the middle and come off, you will be in good shape.”

SRL runner up Greg Voigt of Goleta (Ca.) tested at Orange Show last week.

“The track is smooth and fast for a bull ring. It’s fun to drive,” Voigt said. “A good starting position will be important, as with all short tracks. Being aggressive early will not be a good tactic for a good finish.

“We hope to get our season on track this week at Orange Show. We had a great car at Roseville, but didn’t get the good finish."

Voigt was up to second place late in the Roseville race before alternator problems slowed his progress. Derek Thorn, of Bakersfield (Ca.) won the race.

SRL driver Eddie Secord, from Oak Hills (Ca.), is a 6-time Pro 4 Series champion with over 50 starts at Orange Show Speedway in Pro 4 and Super Late Model competition.

“There will be close, side-by-side racing, but you’ll have to trust the guy you are racing with. It gets really tight coming off, especially in (turn) two,” Secord said. “Patience early, to let the race play out, is always important at Orange Show. It’s going to be a real challenge and I can’t wait. It’ll be extremely exciting from the grandstands.”

The SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series “Citizens Business Bank 135” will headline a full night of racing. The program also includes the Team Too Pony Stocks, Budweiser Legends Cars, Stock Cars USA and the Orange Show Speedway debut of the Dwarf Cars.

Best in the West Racing’s promotions at Orange Show Speedway are sponsored by Lucas Oil Products, Budweiser, San Bernardino Pick-A-Part, Team Too Termite and Pest Control, JAM Sportswear, Interstate Batteries, MC Erectors, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Rockstar Energy Drinks, Hoosier Tire West, KCAL 96.7 Rocks, Best Buy, Tri-City Towing, Pacific West Interiors (PWI), Luke’s Transmission, Print Depot, Riverside Mission Florist, Waynes Engine, Cal’s Towing, JP Striping, K1 Speed, Jerry’s Brake and Wheel, and Arrow Track GPS.com.

For all other information, please contact Jim Short by telephone at 951-203-2649 or by e-mail at jimshort65@sbcglobal.net.

Colton’s Ross wins second in a row at Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (April 10) – David Ross said Orange Show Speedway is the kind of race track where a driver can have a lot of fun.

That’s easy to say when you’re winning, of course, and Ross is two-for-two in 2010 after capturing Saturday night’s 50-lap Super Late Model main event at the ASA Member Track adjacent to the National Orange Show.

Ross, the leading qualifier with a lap at 13.063 seconds on the quarter-mile oval, started his Lucas Oil/E.R. Block Plumbing Chevrolet Impala eighth in the 17-car field, but was in the top five after 5 laps.

He was third after 10 laps, second after 15 and in the lead for good on lap 21, when he got by pole-sitter Jake Engle.

Engle stayed in close proximity until lap 36, when he yielded second place to 2009 champion Mark Shackleford, but Shackleford never was able to mount a challenge for the lead and took the checkered flag 0.772 seconds behind the 20-year-old plumber from Colton, Calif.

Cary Cecil, of Corona (Ca.), set a track record in qualifying and drove away from the field in the 35-lap main event for the Interstate Batteries Factory Fours, winning by 4.12 seconds over San Bernardino High School teacher Kim Marzullo.

Cale Kanke, of Frazier Park, went from the front to the rear to the front again to win a sparsely-populated but entertaining 25-lap race for the Budweiser Legends Cars. Leading qualifier Ryan Cansdale, of Laguna Beach (Ca.), dominated the 20-lap M.C. Erectors Bandoleros main event and Mike Brinegar, of Garden Grove, who pressured apparent winner John Gudmestad throughout the 20-lap feature for the Stock OHV Karts, was awarded the win when Gudmestad was disqualified during the post-race inspection.

In the first of the main events, 78-year-old Shelby York, of Placentia (Ca.), drove his Offenhauser to a win in the 12-lap race for the WRA vintage Midgets, and the 12-lap Sprint Car contest went Richard Mastroleo, 73, of Azusa, in his Chevrolet V8-powered entry.

Ross hoping for a repeat win this Saturday when Super Late Models return to Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (April 7) – David Ross, the winner of the season-opening 100-lap race three weeks ago, will try to make it two in a row when the Super Late Models return to Orange Show Speedway Saturday night (April 10).

It will be the third week of racing at the ASA Member Track adjacent to the National Orange Show and the start of a true endurance test for the racers and the staff of Best in the West Racing – 23 Saturdays in a row before the next open date in mid-September.

The first of those 23 programs on the paved quarter-mile oval will include a 50-lap main event for the Super Late Models, 35-lap races for the Interstate Batteries Factory Fours and Budweiser Legends Cars, 20-lap contests for the M.C. Erectors Bandoleros and Stock OHV Karts, and 12-lap events for the Western Racing Association (WRA) vintage Sprint Cars and Midgets.

Spectator gates will open at 4 p.m., with an on-track autograph session from 5:50 to 6:30 p.m. and the first race at 7 p.m.

Tickets are priced at $10 for general admission, $8 for seniors (60 and older), students 11 to 18 and military personnel with valid identification. Children 10 and under are admitted free. A Family Pack, which includes admission for four plus a hot dog and small soft drink for each person, is priced at $45.

Parking is $5, with entry through Gate 4 off Mill Street.

Ross, 20, of nearby Colton (Ca.), drove his Lucas Oil/E.R. Block Plumbing Chevrolet Impala to a 1.2-second win over Toni McCray in the 100-lap race on March 20. It was the first win for Ross at the historic track, which held its first race on May 1, 1947. Others may follow soon, though, because after several years of racing at various tracks, Ross is making Orange Show Speedway his home this season.

“It’s a fun track for a driver,” he said. “I was ready for some bumping and banging and real racing.”

Saturday night will be round two of the season for the other classes as well.

The Interstate Batteries Factory Fours got their series under way March 20, with 2009 champion Dwayne Blay besting Kim Marzullo by 1.5 seconds. That same night, 2008 champion Darren Amidon beat 2009 titlist Chad Schug in the Budweiser Legends Cars main event and Parker Malone won the M.C. Erectors Bandoleros feature.

The Stock OHV Karts made their speedway debut March 27, with John Gudmestad of Crestline (Ca.) taking the win.

The WRA visits are extremely popular with the fans, who get a rare chance to see the open-wheel racers, and some of the drivers, that once provided compelling action at Ascot Park and elsewhere.

On April 17, the SRL Spears Southwest Tour will pay its first visit to the track, and on April 24, when the JAM Sportswear Late Models return, a portion of the proceeds from ticket sales will go to The Assistance League of San Bernardino for its work with underprivileged youth.

Best in the West Racing’s promotions at Orange Show Speedway are sponsored by Lucas Oil Products, Budweiser, San Bernardino Pick-A-Part, Team Too Termite and Pest Control, JAM Sportswear, Interstate Batteries, MC Erectors, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Rockstar Energy Drinks, Hoosier Tire West, KCAL 96.7 Rocks, Best Buy, Tri-City Towing, Pacific West Interiors (PWI), Luke’s Transmission, Print Depot, Riverside Mission Florist, Wayne’s Engine, Cal’s Towing, JP Striping, K1 Speed, Jerry’s Brake and Wheel, and Arrow Track GPS.com.

For more information, please contact Jim Short by telephone at 951-203-2649 or by e-mail at jimshort65@sbcglobal.net.

Orange Show Speedway using Easter break to prepare for visit by SRL Spears Southwest Series

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (April 1) – With the successful opening weekends of the 2010 season behind them and no racing this Saturday, Rick McCray and his Best in the West Racing staff are using the Easter break to finalize preparations for two of the seven “special events” on this year’s Orange Show Speedway schedule.

The first of those will take place on April 17, when the SRL Spears Southwest Tour Series competitors make their debut at the ASA Member Track adjacent to the National Orange Show. The second will be May 8, when the USAC Western Sprint Cars, Ford Focus Midgets and Jr. Focus Midgets bring exciting open-wheel racing back to the historic quarter-mile oval.

There is a slight increase in admission prices for these special events, however. Adult general admission will be $15 and tickets for seniors (over 60), students 11-18 and military personnel with valid identification will be $13.

Advance tickets for the SRL Spears Southwest Tour race can be purchased by calling Best in the West Racing at 909-885-9000 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

“I hope the fans understand why we need to charge a little more for the special events,” McCray said. “We’re trying to bring quality racing back to the track with different groups and give the fans something to look forward to along with our usual great weekly programs, but it takes money to do that.

“The costs for those special programs are at least double what they are for a normal event, but I think they’re worth it and I hope the fans agree. We’re doing everything possible to keep tickets and concessions affordable for everyone and I think we’re the best deal in the Inland Empire for family entertainment on a Saturday night.”

Racing at Orange Show Speedway resumes April 10 with the Super Late Models Interstate Batteries Factory Fours, Budweiser Legends Cars, M.C. Erectors Bandoleros and Stock OHV Karts being joined by the Western Racing Association’s vintage Midgets and Sprint Cars.

That program will set the stage for the visit by the SRL Spears Southwest Tour. The series began in 1985 as the NASCAR Southwest Series and has been run by the Stockcar Racing League since 2001. The list of past champions includes Dave Byrd, Jim Pettit II and M.K. Kanke, who won the 2009 title.

The current season got under way March 27 at All-American Speedway in Roseville, Calif., with Bakersfield’s Derek Thorn leading 26 rivals to the finish after 125 laps and claiming the $4,000 winner’s share of the purse.

The spectator gates at Orange Show Speedway open at 4 p.m., with an on-track autograph session from 5:50 to 6:30 p.m. and the first race at 7 p.m.

Parking is $5, with entry through Gate 4 off Mill Street.

Best in the West Racing’s promotions at Orange Show Speedway are sponsored by Lucas Oil Products, Budweiser, San Bernardino Pick-A-Part, Team Too Termite and Pest Control, JAM Sportswear, Interstate Batteries, MC Erectors, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Rockstar Energy Drinks, Hoosier Tire West, KCAL 96.7 Rocks, Best Buy, Tri-City Towing, Pacific West Interiors (PWI), Luke’s Transmission, Print Depot, Riverside Mission Florist, Wayne’s Engine, Cal’s Towing, JP Striping, K1 Speed, Jerry’s Brake and Wheel, and Arrow Track GPS.com.

For information on sponsorship and promotional opportunities, please contact Best in the West Racing by telephone at 909-885-9000 or visit the new web site at www.BestInTheWestRacing.com.

For all other information, please contact Jim Short by telephone at 951-203-2649 or by e-mail at jimshort65@sbcglobal.net.

Brian Malone dominates Late Model opener at Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (March 27) – Brian Malone of Redlands (Ca.) took the early advantage in the season-long race for a $5,000 bonus by winning the 100-lap JAM Sportswear Late Model main event at Orange Show Speedway Saturday night.

Malone, who started fourth in the 18-car field, moved into second place following the first of five caution flags, on lap 11, and took the lead from pole-sitter Jim Conklin of Big Bear City (Ca.) on lap 13.

Jeff Peterson of Riverside and fast qualifier Ron Daniel of Mentone gave chase early and Toni McCray of Highland was the pursuer late in the event on the quarter-mile paved oval, with McCray closing to within 3/10ths of a second with 10 laps to go.

Malone easily repelled the challenge, however, and won by 0.95 of a second over McCray, with Logan Mainella of Palmdale (Ca.) third, Peterson fourth and Daniel fifth.

JAM Sportswear owner Mike Sullivan has said the class champion will get a check for $5,000 when the points fund is distributed at the awards banquet this fall. So all Malone has to do is stay on top for a dozen more races.

Earlier, four-time Pick-A-Part Street Stock champion Mike Meyer of Highland, driving for the first time in five years, survived a last-lap, turn 4 bump with challenger Jesse James Lawson of Big Bear City and won that 30-lap main event.

Shaun Estes of Riverside, who built six of the 12 cars in the field, took the 30-lap main event and the 4-lap Trophy Dash in the Stock Cars USA class and David Glidewell of Riverside took the win in the 25-lap Pro 4 feature.

Albert Flores won the 25-lap Tour Truck main event and the 4-lap Trophy Dash as that class made its Orange Show Speedway debut and John Gudmestad of Crestline won the 20-lap main event for the new Stock OHV Karts division that used to race on the 1/6th-mile Rialto Airport Speedway track.

Late Model drivers begin their treasure hunt Saturday night at Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (March 25) – The first step toward a $5,000 payday comes Saturday night.

That’s when the JAM Sportswear Late Models will assemble at Orange Show Speedway, an ASA Member Track, for the first race of a season class sponsor Mike Sullivan has said will end with the class champion receiving a check for $5,000 when the points fund is distributed.

Saturday’s (March 27) 100-lap main event will be the first of at least 13 races for the class, and the brass ring waiting at the end of the ride should help make this the most intensely competitive season in recent memory.

Best in the West Racing quickly is making the historic quarter-mile paved oval adjacent to the National Orange Show the place to be on a Saturday night by offering the fans three hours of non-stop entertainment for a reasonable price and partnering with the competitors to make each race program and unforgettable event.

Last week, inverted starting grids and double-file restarts after caution flags were successfully re-introduced. None of opening night’s five race winners started on the front row, giving the spectators a chance to watch drivers work their way through traffic to the lead, and the restarts were accident-free.

This week could be even more exciting, with the JAM Sportswear Late Models, Pick-A-Part Street Stocks and Stock Cars USA racing with the new rules for the first time and the Tour Trucks and Stock OHV Karts making their debuts.

Spectator gates will open at 4 p.m., with an on-track autograph session from 5:50 to 6:30 p.m. and the first race at 7 p.m.

The first 200 children entering the track will receive coloring books as early Easter gifts from Best in the West Racing.

Tickets are priced at $10 for general admission and $8 for seniors (60 and older), students 11 to 18 and military personnel with valid identification. Children 10 and under are admitted free. A Family Pack, which includes admission for four plus a hot dog and small soft drink for each person, is priced at $45.

Parking is $5, with entry through Gate 4 off Mill Street.

It’s always difficult to predict the number of entrants for a race, particularly in the current economy, but indications are that about 18 Late Models could be on hand. That group is expected to include 2009 champion Ryan Daniel of Mentone, 2008 winner Steve Smith of San Bernardino and mountain man Jim Conklin, the 2006 and 2007 champion from Big Bear City.

Matt Goodwin of Wildomar, Toni McCray of Highland, Ron Daniel of Mentone, Sam Newcomer of Apple Valley, Jeff Lawson of Big Bear City and Brian Malone of Redlands are other potential starters, along with newcomers Jeff Peterson of Riverside, Julian Singelakis of Pasadena and Hesperia teenager Ben Mahan, who is moving up from the Interstate Batteries Factory Four class.

Last season here were eight different winners in the 12 Late Model races, and with the talent of the drivers, the anticipated depth of the field, and the pot of gold at the end, this year’s action shouldn’t be missed.

The track will be dark April 3, but racing will resume April 10 with the Super Late Models back in action, and two special promotions have been scheduled for later in the month.

On April 17, in conjunction with the appearance of the Spears Southwest Tour Series, one of the Budweiser girls and the Budweiser Mini-Cooper show car will be on hand and KCAL 96.7 will be doing a live remote from the track.

Then, on April 24, half of all proceeds from ticket sales will be given to the Assistance League of San Bernardino for its work with underprivileged youth, and the first 300 spectators entering the track will receive free Best in the West T-shirts.

Also, beginning this week, raffle tickets will go on sale for the Bobby Allison Coca-Cola Chevrolet that was on display during Allison’s appearance at the track last season. The car is race-ready and built to Stock Cars USA specifications. Tickets are $20 apiece and will be on sale each race night until the winner is announced on Sept. 11, with the raffle proceeds also going to the Assistance League.

Best in the West Racing’s promotions at Orange Show Speedway are sponsored by Lucas Oil Products, Budweiser, San Bernardino Pick-A-Part, Team Too Termite and Pest Control, JAM Sportswear, Interstate Batteries, MC Erectors, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Rockstar Energy Drinks, Hoosier Tire West, KCAL 96.7 Rocks, Best Buy, Tri-City Towing, Pacific West Interiors (PWI), Luke’s Transmission, Print Depot, Riverside Mission Florist, Wayne’s Engine, Cal’s Towing, JP Striping, K1 Speed, Jerry’s Brake and Wheel, and Arrow Track GPS.com.

For information on sponsorship and promotional opportunities, please contact Best in the West Racing by telephone at 909-885-9000 or visit the new web site at www.BestInTheWestRacing.com.

For all other information, please contact Jim Short by telephone at 951-203-2649 or by e-mail at jimshort65@sbcglobal.net.

Sponsor JAM Sportswear offering big incentive to Late Model racers at Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (March 23) – Mike Sullivan already has made his plans for the end of the season.

Sullivan is the president of JAM Sportswear of Redlands and the new sponsor of the JAM Sportswear Late Model division at Orange Show Speedway, an ASA Member Track. He sponsored the Pony Stocks last season and enjoyed it, but thought the Late Models offered more exposure.

“I just moved up a division,” Sullivan said. “I wanted to do it. I really want this program to go forward. I’m excited about the racing season and I want to get the car count up. I feel I can get better representation in the Late Model class because they can race at (Lake) Havasu (Ariz.) and Blythe, too. With the banner and sticker pack we’ll have on the cars I think we’ll get a little bigger bang for our buck.”

Sullivan certainly is planting the seeds for growth. He has brought in associate sponsors AJ Barile’s Chicago Pizza of Yucaipa, Craig and Sons Termite and Pest Control of Redlands, Circle Track Performance of Perris, and Hot Rod City of San Bernardino and is doubling his sponsorship budget.

“My plan for the end of the year is to hand a $5,000 check to the winner of the division,” Sullivan said, and that should get the racers’ attention.

The first JAM Sportswear Late Model race of the season, a 100-lap contest, is the feature attraction this Saturday (March 27) on a program that includes the Pick-A-Part Street Stocks, Stock Cars USA and two classes new for 2010 – the Tour Trucks and Stock OHV Karts.

Spectator gates will open at 4 p.m., with an on-track autograph session from 5:50 to 6:30 p.m. and the first race at 7 p.m.

Tickets are priced at $10 for general admission, $8 for seniors (60 and older), students 11 to 18 and military personnel with valid identification. Children 10 and under are admitted free. A Family Pack, which includes admission for four plus a hot dog and small soft drink for each person, is priced at $45.

arking is $5, with entry through Gate 4 off Mill Street.

Sullivan, whose company produces all of Best in the West Racing’s souvenir apparel, formed JAM Sportswear in Redlands (909-798-4552) more than 30 years ago and is an Inland Empire leader in custom silk screening and embroidery. The company has been involved with the speedway for a number of years and Sullivan is enthusiastic about the future.

“I have a lot of faith and support for the McCrays,” he said of Best in the West Racing owner Rick McCray and his family. “I really want to help them succeed. I see the effort they’re making and I appreciate that.”

Best in the West Racing’s promotions at Orange Show Speedway are sponsored by Lucas Oil Products, Budweiser, San Bernardino Pick-A-Part, Team Too Termite and Pest Control, JAM Sportswear, Interstate Batteries, MC Erectors, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Rockstar Energy Drinks, Hoosier Tire West, KCAL 96.7 Rocks, Best Buy, Tri-City Towing, Pacific West Interiors (PWI), Luke’s Transmission, Print Depot, Riverside Mission Florist, Wayne’s Engine, Cal’s Towing, JP Striping, K1 Speed, Jerry’s Brake and Wheel, and Arrow Track GPS.com.

For information on sponsorship and promotional opportunities, please contact Best in the West Racing by telephone at 909-885-9000 or visit the new web site at www.BestInTheWestRacing.com.

For all other information, please contact Jim Short by telephone at 951-203-2649 or by e-mail at jimshort65@sbcglobal.net.

Colton’s Ross takes Orange Show Speedway season-opener

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (March 20) – David Ross of Colton kicked off his plans for a full season of Super Late Model racing at Orange Show Speedway by winning the opening night’s 100-lap main event Saturday night.

Ross took the lead from Brett Edwards on lap 18 and quickly opened a comfortable margin over the field. His only threat came when the race was stopped on lap 92 when Tony Edwards’ Chevrolet engine went up in flames. That allowed second-place Toni McCray and the others in the field to close up on the leader.

But when the green flag waved for the restart, McCray spun the tires on her Chevrolet and Ross was able to pull away once again. He got his Chevrolet Monte Carlo to the finish 1.2 seconds ahead of McCray, with Brett Edwards third.

Best in the West Racing’s season-opening program drew a crowd of about 2,000 to the historic quarter-mile oval despite the inconvenience of a competing event at the National Orange Show.

In addition to Ross’s win in the Super Late Model feature, the fans saw Yucaipa High senior Robby Hornsby Jr. set a track record in qualifying and win the 35-lap Team Too Pony Stock main after Riverside’s Dwayne Blay started his pursuit of a second straight title in the Interstate Batteries Factory Fours by winning the pole and driving from ninth to a win over San Bernardino’s Kim Marzullo.

Santee’s Darren Amidon dominated the opening weekend for the Budweiser Legends Cars, winning the pole with a track record lap of 14.486 seconds, then coming from seventh on the starting grid to take the 35-lap main event by 2.7 seconds over 2009 champion and close friend Chad Schug, of Oak Hills.

Parker Malone of Redlands emulated Amidon’s performance in the M.C. Erectors Bandoleros.

Battle to be first new Pony Stock champ in five years begins Saturday at Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (March 17) – It’s always dangerous to make predictions about short-track stock car racing when anything can happen and usually does, but one thing is certain going into Saturday night’s (March 20) season-opening event at Orange Show Speedway.

There will be a new champion in the Team Too Pony Stocks class.

Jim Edmiston and crew chief Billy Cottrell have decided that four championships in a row and five overall at the ASA Member Track are enough for now and the Highland driver won’t be racing this season.

That puts the label of title favorite squarely on 2009 runner-up Robby Hornsby, the Yucaipa High senior who last year set a track record and won three races, but had his championship hopes ruined by a string of three straight sub-par outings during the summer.

Hornsby will be challenged by Joe Bubbico (who finished third), Bud Smith (fifth) and Adrianne Murlin (sixth), among others, when the Team Too Pony Stocks join the Super Late Models, Interstate Batteries Factory Fours, Budweiser Legends Cars and M.C. Erectors Bandoleros Saturday night.

Spectator gates will open at 4 p.m., with an on-track autograph session from 6 to 6:30 p.m. and the first race at 7 p.m after former National Orange Show queen Naomi Slotkin sings the National Anthem.

Tickets are priced at $10 for general admission, $8 for seniors (60 and older), students 11 to 18 and military personnel with valid identification. Children 10 and under are admitted free. A Family Pack, which includes admission for four plus a hot dog and small soft drink for each person, is priced at $45.

Parking is $5, with entry through Gate 4 off Mill Street.

A season ticket also will be available on opening night. That ticket is good for all 29 Saturday nights of racing, including seven special events, is $250.

For this weekend only, all competitors will enter through Gate 11, the pit gate. The redesigned access route through Gate 1 is not available this week due to a National Orange Show event, but will be used for future events.

In the other classes, reigning Super Late Model champion Mark Shackleford, Factory Fours winner Dwayne Blay and Legends Cars champion Chad Schug all will be returning, and Shackleford said there’s a chance he may race a Pony Stock on occasion.

Ben Mahan, who finished a close second to Blay last year, is moving up the Late Model class. But Kim Marzullo and Victor Garcia, third and fourth in 2009, will head what should be another good field.

Aaron Anderson, the M.C. Erectors Bandoleros champion, has moved on the Legends Cars class and conceded the favorite’s mantle to runner-up Ryan Cansdale. Anderson’s old car will be driven by Evan Garvey, who was a rookie last season.

In addition to all the changes in the driver lineups, a few of the rules have been tweaked as well. For one thing, there will be inverted starts in every class. The exact procedure hasn’t been announced, but it should guarantee that the fast qualifier won’t be able to simply start in front and stay there.

That should create more excitement for racers and spectators alike.

On Saturday, March 27, the JAM Sportswear Late Models will run a 100-lap main event on a program that includes the Pick-A-Part Street Stocks, Stocks Cars USA and two of this year’s new classes – Tour Trucks and Stock OHV Karts.

Changes, new faces expected for Super Late Models at Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (March 12) - It's eight days until the racing season opens at Orange Show Speedway, an ASA Member Track, and those planning to attend should be ready for some changes.

Mark Shackleford, who won the 2009 Super Late Model championship, said he'll put together the race car scattered across his shop in time for the 100-lap main event on March 20 and begin his quest for a third class title.

he Riverside (Ca.) resident also said he's heard there'll be a lot of Super Late Models on hand to help launch Best in the West Racing's second season at the paved quarter-mile oval.

The questions are: Which cars, and with what drivers.

Shackleford (2 wins), Barry Karr (2), Toni McCray (1), Dee Cable, Frankie Gould, Jack Madrid, Jimmy Rouse Jr. and Matthew Hicks have indicated they're planning to run full seasons and Andre Prescott is expected to return. But beyond that it's new faces and guesswork.

Linny White, the 2008 champion who won 5 races but lost last year's battle with Shackleford on the final night of the season, won't be a contender. White, of Colton (Ca.), said he is taking at least a year off to concentrate on building his business, Who's That Guy Chassis Works. But he plans to field cars for Tony Edwards and Brett Edwards.

Rob Kiemele, third in the point standings with 1 win, said he'll be a part-time driver at best, citing a desire to spend more free time with his family. Kiemele, who owns Unlimited Landscaping, said he will provide some sponsorship for Team Too Pony Stocks drivers Adrianne Murlin and Robby Hornsby Jr. and possibly field a car for veteran Glen Cummings.

Cummings, of Highland, said he and Kiemele are talking, but his plans aren't finalized. There's also uncertainty about John Manke, Dave Scheidecker and others. But Kendall Scheidecker is planning to join the class and Shackleford said several drivers from other area tracks are rumored to be bound for Orange Show Speedway, too.

Joining the Super Late Models on opening night will be the Team Too Pony Stocks, Interstate Batteries Factory Fours, Budweiser Legends Cars and M.C. Erectors Bandoleros.

Spectator gates will open at 4 p.m., with an on-track autograph session from 6 to 6:30 p.m. and the first race at 7 p.m.

Tickets are priced at $10 for general admission, $8 for seniors (60 and older), students 11 to 18 and military personnel with valid identification. Children 10 and under are admitted free. A Family Pack, which includes admission for four plus a hot dog and small soft drink for each person, is priced at $45.

Parking is $5, with entry through Gate 4 off Mill Street.

A season pass also will be available at the box office on opening night. The pass, which is good for all 29 Best in the West Racing programs including the seven special events, is $250.

Interstate Batteries add power to Factory Fours and Orange Show Speedway for 2010 season

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (March 9) - Rick McCray proposed, Mark Katsikaris said yes, and Interstate Batteries became one of Best in the West Racing's major sponsors for the 2010 season.

Interstate has agreed to sponsor the Interstate Batteries Factory Four class during the season that gets under way March 20 at Orange Show Speedway, an ASA Member Track. The company also will have an ad on the back page of the souvenir program, a half-page coupon insert inside, and signage at the historic quarter-mile paved oval adjacent to the National Orange Show grounds.

"I've known Rick for 25 or 30 years," said Katsikaris, whose company had done some promotions in conjunction with Best in the West's inaugural season in 2009. "He approached me and made a proposal and I decided just to try it.

"Physically, we're about a mile from the track (at 444 No. Waterman in San Bernardino), so I don't know what could be better. I don't know if it will work out or not, but I figure proximity has to have some value. Hopefully, the relationship will be fruitful."

The addition of Interstate, which has a long history in motor sports, further strengthens the impressive list of sponsors that have signed on for the 29-night season and discussions are continuing with several other companies in the Inland Empire.

"Mark and I talked for about four months," Best in the West Racing owner McCray said. "I'm delighted Interstate is joining us. I know the company's involvement will be a great thing for the track and the Factory Fours. We're going to do our best to make sure this is just the start of a long-term relationship."

Katsikaris said about 94 percent of Interstate Batteries' business is wholesale, but the company still has a strong retail base at both its San Bernardino facility and its Coachella Valley warehouse at 68805 Perez Road in Cathedral City.

Further information may be obtained by calling Interstate Batteries at 909-381-2082.

The Interstate Batteries Factory Fours will make their debut on opening night, March 20, as part of a program that includes a 100-lap main event for the Super Late Models and separate races for the Team Too Pony Stocks, Budweiser Legends Cars and M.C. Erectors Bandoleros.

Spectator gates will open at 4 p.m., with an on-track autograph session from 6 to 6:30 p.m. and the first race at 7 p.m.

Tickets are priced at $10 for general admission, $8 for seniors (60 and older), students 11 to 18 and military personnel with valid identification. Children 10 and under are admitted free. A Family Pack, which includes admission for four plus a hot dog and small soft drink for each person, is priced at $45.

Parking is $5, with entry through Gate 4 off Mill Street.

A season ticket also is available for $250. The season ticket is good for admission to all Best in the West Racing promotions at Orange Show Speedway, including the seven special events that will be priced at $15 and $13.

Those seven events are the Spears Southwest Tour Series race on April 17, the return of the USAC Western Sprint Cars and Ford Focus Midgets May 8, the July 3 racing and fireworks program, the Rockstar Modifieds programs on July 10 and Sept. 11 and the season-ending 200-lap races for JAM Sportswear Late Models Oct. 16 and Super Late Models Oct. 23.

New Tour Trucks class preparing for Orange Show Speedway debut

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (March 4) – It’s always nice to be able to fill a need. Filling two at once is even nicer, and that’s what Best in the West Racing has done with the creation of the Tour Truck class for the 2010 season.

The class is one of four additions to the weekly schedule at Orange Show Speedway, an ASA Member track, and Best in the West owner Rick McCray thinks it will be a positive addition for the racers, the track and the spectators.

It provides a home for racers looking for one and gives the fans another exciting division to follow.

McCray said the class will be open to the trucks that have run in the ASA Speed Truck, Super Truck or Spec Truck and SouthWest or West Coast Pro Truck series, and the rules package now being finalized will include provisions to compensate for the differences in the various trucks and equalize the competition.

“These truck guys just want a place to race,’ said McCray, who is offering potential Tour Trucks entrants a private Test and Tune session from 4 to 7:30 p.m. Friday (March 5).

The final Test and Tune opportunity for all classes is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday (March 6).

“Right now, with the cost of traveling (to races), some people can afford it and some can’t,” McCray added. “If they have a race track they can go to for a weekly series, that’s what they’re going to do. That’s what we’re trying to give them so they’ll have a place to run.”

Jocelyn, who is the owner and crew chief of the car his son Cameron will drive, echoed McCray’s comments in calling it “all a cost deal.” He said the team could have raced all season at Orange Show Speedway for what it spent to run half of the Speed Truck schedule and he was looking for an alternative to another year of part-time competition.

“We just want to come and play. That’s the general consensus with most guys, I think,” said Jocelyn, who’s hopeful the rules package will feature enough cost-control measures to “help the guys who have had the trucks setting in their garages who don’t have the latest of everything so they can get in and race and get these guys who can’t afford to do the tour thing out to Saturday night racing.

“We just want to come play. That’s the general consensus with most guys, I think. And the track wants us. That’s half the battle. They want us.”

The Orange Show Speedway season will open March 20 with a 100-lap Super Late Model race topping a program that will include the Team Too Pony Stocks, Interstate Batteries Factory Fours, Budweiser Legends and M.C. Erectors Bandoleros.

The Tour Trucks will make their debut March 27 along with the JAM Sportswear Late Models, Pick-A-Part Street Stocks, Stock Cars USA and Stock OHV Karts.

Spectator gates will open at 4 p.m., with an on-track autograph session from 6 to 6:30 p.m. and the first race at 7 p.m.

Tickets are priced at $10 for general admission, $8 for seniors (60 and older), students 11 to 18 and military personnel with valid identification. Children 10 and under are admitted free. A Family Pack, which includes admission for four plus a hot dog and small soft drink for each person, is priced at $40.

Parking is $5, with entry through Gate 4 off Mill Street.

A season ticket good for admission to all events except the Route 66 Rendezvous Burnout also is available for $250 and may be purchased at the speedway box office during the March 6 Test and Tune session or on opening day.

Team Too looking forward to another season of family ties at Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (Feb. 25, 2010) – Team Too, one of the nation’s leading pest control companies, has joined the impressive roster of sponsors partnering with Best in the West Racing for the 2010 season.

The family-owned company this year will sponsor the Team Too Pony Stocks at Orange Show Speedway, an ASA Member Track. It will be Team Too’s initial season as a class sponsor after beginning its affiliation with the track last year by sponsoring the Team Too Heatblast 200 special event.

“We really felt like it was a good match and something that would work real well for us,” Team Too Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer Bryan Houtchens said of the decision to become a class sponsor. “We see it as building on the relationship we were able to begin developing last year.

“Last year we did the one race and we thought that was a good opportunity to kind of get started. We got a lot of support from the fans and the racers and it really helped us. People became more aware of what we do and why we do it. We think that’s something that as we go forward we can continue to increase each year.”

Houtchens said in past years the company had been involved in the NASCAR weekends at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, but decided to curtail that involvement this year in order to “do more with ASA and specifically Best in the West.

“One of the things Team Too really promotes is the family aspect,” Houtchens said, “and the folks at Orange Show Speedway, the McCray family (which owns Best in the West Racing) and the racing family really embraced us. We had many of our employees that we didn’t think were interested in being part of the program that became regulars at the track each weekend.”

Team Too was founded by the Houtchens family in the fall of 1978 and the Corona-based company has remained a family enterprise while expanding throughout the West and into the Washington, D.C., area. It has become an industry leader in pest control for commercial buildings, multi-family dwellings and single-family residences with unmatched services and warranties, and is the only company in the nation to have been certified by all of the major environmental agencies.

More information on Team Too Termite and Pest Control may be obtained by calling 1-800-818-TEAM (8326) or by visiting the web site at www.teamtoo.com.

The Team Too Pony Stocks will be one of the featured classes on opening night, March 20. The last of 12 races for the class will be run on the final night of the season, Oct. 23, and could decide what is expected to again be a tense competition between five-time and reigning champion Jim Edmiston, of Highland, and Yucaipa High School senior Robby Hornsby.

Initial practice points to good season of racing at Orange Show Speedway

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (Feb. 22) – The first race of the year at Orange Show Speedway is less than a month away and indications are that when the green flag waves on March 20 it will be the start of an extremely interesting and exciting season.

“I’m really anxious to get going. I think it’s going to be a good year for everyone,” Best in the West Racing owner Rick McCray said Saturday afternoon during a Test and Tune session that served as a preview of things to come.

Despite cool temperatures and the threat of rain, teams from San Diego and Orange counties and the High Desert joined those from the Inland Empire, and the vehicles on hand represented a cross-section of the classes that will be in action on the historic, ASA-sanctioned quarter-mile oval during Best in the West Racing’s second season.

Those classes will include the holdovers from 2009, led by the Super Late Models and JAM Sportswear Late Models; the return of the Pick-A-Part Outlaw Figure 8s; and the addition of USAC sprint cars and midgets, karts, Dwarf cars and a Tour Truck class. That class will incorporate ASA Speed Trucks, SouthWest Tour or West Coast Pro Trucks and similar vehicles.

They’ll all be competing on a regular basis during the season that kicks off with a 100-lap Super Late Model event March 20 and concludes with a 200-lap race for that same class on Oct. 23. There also will be an appearance by the Spears SRL Southwest Tour stock cars April 17 and two visits by the Rockstar Modifieds July 10 and Sept. 11.

There will be racing every Saturday night except April 4 (Easter weekend), May 29 (Memorial Day weekend, when the National Orange Show will be held), and Sept. 25.

Spectator gates will open at 4 p.m., with an on-track autograph session from 6 to 6:30 p.m. and the first race at 7 p.m.

Tickets are priced at $10 for general admission, $8 for seniors (60 and older), students 11 to 18 and military personnel with valid identification. Children 10 and under are admitted free. A Family Pack, which includes admission for four plus a hot dog and small soft drink for each person, is priced at $40.

There will be a $5 increase in all ticket prices for the five “special events” on the calendar – the Southwest Tour race, the two Modified appearances and the season-ending 200-lap races for the JAM Sportswear Late Models Oct. 16 and the Super Late Models Oct. 23. The Route 66 Rendezvous Burnout Contest Sept. 18 will have a separate admission price.

However, Best in the West Racing is offering a season ticket, good for all events other than the Burnout Contest, for $250. The season tickets may be purchased at the speedway box office during the second Test and Tune session, March 6, or on opening night.

Parking is $5, with entry through Gate 4 off Mill Street.

McCrays 2nd and 4th in South Africa race

By Jim Short

(Toni McCray, of Highland, a main event winner in the Super Late Model and Late Model divisions at Orange Show Speedway in 2009, finished second in Sunday's (Jan. 31) ASA Transcontinental Free State 500 at the Phakisa Freeway Circuit in Welkom, Free State, South Africa. Her father, Best in the West Racing owner and former NASCAR driver Rick McCray, of Highland, had been forced to cancel his trip early last week for business and personal reasons, but decided late in the week to attend. He arrived on Saturday and finished fourth in the 207-lap, 500-kilometer race.)

Toni McCray, of Highland, the first woman in history to win a Super Late Model main event at Orange Show Speedway, backed up her strong showing in the 2009 Best in the West Racing season with a strong second place finish to John Mickel of the United Kingdom in Sunday's ASA Transcontinental Free State 500 at the 1.5-mile Phakisa Freeway Circuit in Welkom, Free State, South Africa.

McCray, who had qualified sixth, stayed in the top 5 throughout the 207-lap, 500-kilometer race and with just 3 laps to go took the lead when former NASCAR star Geoff Bodine had his 4-second lead erased by engine problems. McCray led into the final lap before Mickel got by and took the checkered flag.

The highlight of the race was watching McCray and her father, former NASCAR driver Rick McCray, swap positions on within the top 5 throughout the race, with Rick finishing fourth. The two never had raced each other before and almost didn't get the opportunity this time. Business and personal reasons had forced Rick McCray to cancel his flight early last week, but the Orange Show Speedway promoter decided late in the week to attend and arrived in South Africa on Saturday.

The top 10:

1. John Mickel, Cambridge, UK, Chevrolet, 207 laps

2. Toni McCray, Highland, Ca., Chevrolet, 207

3. Marc Davis, Silver Springs, Md., Chevrolet, 207

4. Rick McCray, Highland, Ca., Chevrolet, 207

5. Johan Spies, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa, Chevrolet, 207

6. Gary Lewis, Bothell, Wash., Chevrolet, 207

7. Tiffany Daniels, Smithfield, Va., Toyota, 207

8. Greg Barnhart, Oklahoma City, Okla., Dodge, 206

9. Geoff Bodine, Chemung, N.Y., Chevrolet, 206

10. Danie Correia, Welkom, Free State, South Africa, Chevrolet, 204

Budweiser strengthens ties with Orange Show Speedway by taking on sponsorship of Legends Cars division

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (Jan. 26, 2010) – Budweiser, the legendary American beer, is joining Best in the West Racing and the INEX Legends Cars for an exciting season of racing at Orange Show Speedway.

The Budweiser Legends Cars series will be an integral part of the racing activity at the speedway, with 15 races during the 29-night season that is scheduled to begin March 20 and continue through Oct.16.

The agreement continues and strengthens an association that began last year, when Budweiser became the official beer of Orange Show Speedway and one of the major sponsors for Best in the West Racing’s inaugural season at the historic, ASA-sanctioned quarter-mile oval.

It is, however, the first time Budweiser has elected to sponsor a racing division and Rich Leavitt, director of marketing for Anheuser-Busch Sales of Riverside, said the involvement with the popular, competitive Legends Cars “lets us get our feet wet in terms of a series sponsorship before we look at jumping into a bigger division.

“This is our second year with Best in the West Racing and we believe they’re a first-class organization. We’ve enjoyed our relationship with the McCrays and hope to continue it into the future.

“The benefit of the sponsorship is that it lets us connect with our customer base by being associated with and helping support events and properties that are important to them.”

Rick McCray, the San Bernardino businessman and former NASCAR racer who promotes Orange Show Speedway, said: “We’re extremely proud to be able to continue our association with Budweiser and all the good people at Anheuser-Busch Sales. I’m sure their involvement will raise the interest in the Legends Cars to new levels.”

Legends Cars, which were introduced in April, 1992, are 5/8-scale, full-fendered, fiberglass replicas of the once-popular NASCAR Modifieds powered by 1,250cc Yamaha engines. There are four divisions – Pro (experienced drivers), Masters (40 years old and older), Semi-Pro (novice drivers) and Young Lions (drivers 12 to 16 years old) – and all can be active in the same race.

The first race of the season for the Budweiser Legends Cars will be on opening night, March 20, on a program that also includes Bandoleros, Factory Fours, Pony Stocks and a 100-lap main event for Super Late Models.

Spectator gates will open at 4 p.m., with an on-track autograph session from 6 to 6:30 p.m. and the first race at 7 p.m.

Toni McCray's Blog on South Africa Race

By Jim Short

(Toni McCray, of Highland, a main event winner in the Super Late Model and Late Model divisions at Orange Show Speedway in 2009, is in Welkom, Free State, South Africa, to compete in this weekend’s ASA Transcontinental Free State 500 at the Phakisa Freeway Circuit. The 207-lap, 500-kilometer race on Sunday, Jan. 31, is a cooperative effort between the ASA and Motorsports South Africa. The group of 19 American drivers making the trip includes NASCAR veterans Geoff Bodine and Ron Barfield and short-track stars from throughout the nation. Best in the West Racing owner Rick McCray was one of the invitees, but had to cancel for business and personal reasons. Below are some of Toni’s thoughts and impressions on the trip thus far for use at your discretion.)

Wow! What a week it has been so far. Filed all the paperwork and everyone had what they needed to make this exciting journey to South Africa.

My dad and I flew out (Monday) a day earlier than the guys. But we had a little unexpected stop in Phoenix, AZ. Dad (Rick) had to stay to take care of some personal business and I got on a flight Tuesday morning to Atlanta, where I was to meet all the crew. Needless to say, I didn’t have much sleep over the past few days. I guess I better suck it up, as my mom (Sandy) would say.

The guys arrived in Atlanta and of course we stopped at TGI Friday’s for a little dinner before our 15-hour flight to South Africa. Oh, and of course dessert, as we all know that’s my favorite part of a meal.

So we finally board the plane and we are on our way. These poor flight attendants have to deal with all these racers that are loud, wild and a little on the crazy side, but my uncle Larry (McCray) seemed to keep the whole plane entertained all flight long.

After arriving in South Africa and claiming our bags we headed for the bus for a 3-hour drive to the hotel. The natives hounded us for money to help with our bags. And just so you all know, they drive on the opposite side of the road, like maniacs. It was almost dark, but I did get a few pictures of the sun setting on Johannesburg. It was pretty astonishing. Our bus driver seemed to be a little lost, though, and had to stop three times for directions. Kind of scary, I tell you.

We arrived at the hotel and Dennis Huth and the entire ASA staff was there to greet us. We checked into our rooms and got our hard cards and food vouchers for lunch and dinner. Then it was up to the room to shower and go to bed as we had to get up fairly early to go to the track. I talked to my mom and dad and everything was good so I felt a lot better about everything. Plus, dad told me he told everyone he had to come up with some excuse to go home because he couldn’t handle being beat by his daughter. That made me feel so proud and I cannot wait to bring the trophy home to him.

We all met for breakfast in the lobby. Let me tell you the food is very interesting here. Then we headed for the buses to haul us to the race track. When we arrived at the track it was nothing more than a waiting game as Customs had not shown up. So Geoff Bodine took Tif Daniels, Mark Davis and myself for a ride around the track. Then my crew and I walked the track to check out everything. I looked at pickup points and references around the track.

I am ready to go. Once we unload the containers with the cars and pit equipment we’ll prepare the cars for practice tomorrow morning. Tonight we will be going to an Italian restaurant close to the hotel and I have my fingers crossed that I will like it.

Tomorrow (Friday) will be the first time I hit the track in the race car and I cannot wait.

Pick-A-Part expands Orange Show Speedway sponsorship

By Jim Short

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (Jan. 11) – San Bernardino Pick-A-Part, an Inland Empire leader in the supply and sale of recycled automobile parts and equipment, has expanded its sponsorship of Orange Show Speedway for the 2010 racing season.

The company was one of the first to sign on in support of Rick McCray and Best in the West Racing last year, when it sponsored the Pick-A-Part Street Stocks. This year, it will provide sponsorship for both the Street Stocks and the Pick-A-Part Outlaw Figure 8s.

In addition, racers presenting their Orange Show Speedway membership cards will receive a 10 percent discount on their purchases at the San Bernardino Pick-A-Part, at 434 East 6th Street in San Bernardino.

“Their (speedway) customers are our customers so it will probably work out well for both of us,” said Ted Smith, who also owns Pick-a-Part facilities in Riverside and Hesperia. “I just like being involved in the community.”

Smith for some time has made auto racing one of the primary marketing platforms for his business. He is the oldest continuing sponsor at Perris Auto Speedway, having been with the dirt track since it opened in 1996, and sponsors several drivers, among them Outlaw Figure 8 stars Steve and Rusty Stewart.

“I think that’s (Outlaw Figure 8 racing) the most exciting thing out there, so I don’t mind putting our name on that race, too, and I know Rick will do a good job promoting it,” Smith said of his decision to sponsor a second class this season.

“I appreciate the vote of confidence in Best in the West Racing,” McCray said, “but what I really appreciate is Ted’s willingness to expand San Bernardino Pick-A-Part’s involvement. That kind of support really gives us a chance to be successful at rebuilding the interest in Orange Show Speedway and we’ll do everything we can to make sure Ted and Pick-A-Part want to be here as long as we are.”

Orange Show Speedway’s 2010 season will open March 20 with a program featuring a 100-lap main event for the Super Late Models. The Pick-A-Part Street Stocks will debut March 27, in support of a 100-lap Late Model race, and the opening Pick-A-Part Outlaw Figure 8 event is scheduled for April 21.