CONCORD, NC – June 4, 2009 –
HEADED NORTH: With its racers rested and ready to get back on the championship trail, the Western Allstars DIRTcar Late Model Series will roar back into action this Saturday night (June 6) with a trip to Northern California's Marysville Raceway Park.
Idle since a May 9 date at Santa Maria (Calif.) Speedway, the West Coast's premier dirt Late Model tour is set to invade a quarter-mile oval where open-wheel Sprint Car racing is the weekly attraction.
Anticipation is high and still building for the Marysville's rare full-fender event. Saturday's 30-lap feature marks the second straight year that the Western Allstars Series is paying a visit to Marysville. A.J. Kirkpatrick of Castroville, Calif., was victorious in the facility's only previous WAS show, run on April 26, 2008.
The Western Allstars teams won't find the same Marysville Raceway Park that they challenged last year, however. After the '08 event produced concern that the track was a bit too short and narrow for the fast dirt Late Models, promoters Paul and Kathy Hawes oversaw an off-season project to lengthen and widen the venerable oval, which is located 40 miles north of Sacramento.
While WAS points leader Bobby Hogge IV will have a three-and-a-half-hour haul north from his home in Salinas, Calif., there's a strong contingent of local dirt Late Model racers who are anxious to race in their backyards. That group includes Matt and Ken Michelli of Live Oak, Calif, who rank 10th and 14th, respectively, in the current Western Allstars points standings; Ryan McDaniel and Leroy Perry, both of Marysville, Calif.; and Yuba City, Calif.'s Jerry Bartlett and John Johnson.
Pit gates for Saturday's ‘Top Gun Challenge' are scheduled to open at 3 p.m. The spectator gates will be unlocked at 5 p.m., with hot laps set to begin at 6 p.m.
For more information, visit www.marysvilleracewaypark.com or call 530-743-1327.
TOP GUY: Considering the momentum he built up in the season's first three events, Bobby Hogge IV is certainly chomping at the bit to get back into Western Allstars DIRTcar Late Model Series action.
The 32-year-old Hogge is two-for-three on the WAS tour in 2009, winning the season-opening Gary Jacob Memorial on March 28 at Kings Speedway in Hanford, Calif., and the May 9 event at Santa Maria Speedway. A fourth-place finish on April 18 at Chowchilla (Calif.) Speedway is the only blemish on his ledger.
“We've definitely started our season off well,” said Hogge, who holds a 43-point lead (475-432) in the points standings over Jeff Decker of Morgan Hill, Calif. “You're gonna have those bad nights – that's racing – but so far everything is going our way.”
Hogge's triumph in the '09 lidlifter was especially memorable. It was his last win in front of his grandmother, who passed away one week later.
“That will always be a special race for me,” said Hogge, whose 12 career Western Allstars wins leads the tour's alltime victory list (2006-2009). “My grandmother got to attend that race and see me win.”
Hogge, whose engine-of-choice for much of '09 has been a steel-block 360 powerplant with SB2 heads built by North Carolina's Steve Hendren, is looking forward to the remainder of the 2009 campaign. After missing a race and finishing second in the '08 points standings, he's looking for his first career title in the tour's fourth season of competition.
“Our intention is to run the whole (Western Allstars) schedule and go after the championship,” said Hogge, who drives family-owned equipment. “I like the schedule this year. I like going to different places and that's what we're doing this year.”
STRAIGHT-LINE INVADER: Hogge's fast start, solid fields of cars (an average of 27 per race) and packed grandstands have been the big stories so far this season on the Western Allstars DIRTcar Late Model Series, but don't forget the headlines that were made when the tour was invaded by a national motorsports star on May 9 at Santa Maria Speedway.
NHRA Funny Car points leader Ron Capps made a special appearance at Santa Maria – not to sign autographs, but to climb behind the wheel of a dirt Late Model fielded by Zach Forster of Bakersfield, Calif. With the car's body (provided by Victory Circle Chassis) carrying the same NAPA Auto Parts logos and colors as his 330-mph, 7,000-horsepower Don Schumacher Racing Dodge Charger Funny Car, Capps qualified through a heat race and drove to a respectable 14th-place finish in the 30-lap feature.
“It was a challenge,” bottom-lined Capps, whose previous dirt Late Model racing experience was limited to his three annual runs in the ‘Prelude to the Dream' event at Tony Stewart's Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio (he finished a personal-best fourth in the inaugural 2006 race). “I was just trying to get lap time and get comfortable in the car. I felt great that I was able to qualify right into the A-Main and not get in anybody's way.”
Capps, 43, has long had an interest in dirt-track racing, so he jumped at the opportunity to race with the Western Allstars on an off-weekend from his NHRA activity. He knows he has a long way to go before he can battle it out at the front of the pack with the tour's top talents, but if his name-recognition can bring some attention to a dirt-track race – well, that's good enough for him.
“I've always loved dirt racing,” said Capps, who grew up in northern California and now resides in Carlsbad. “As a kid I went to Santa Maria almost every weekend. My Dad even worked on a Sprint Car.
“I know Chris Kearns (Santa Maria's promoter) and we always talked about me coming to one of his races. We finally worked something out and hopefully it helped him out. Anytime there's a track like Santa Maria that's been there in the community forever, I want to see it keep going. If I can help get the TV stations and newspapers talking about it, I'm happy.”
Capps, whose plan to make a fourth attempt at Eldora's ‘Prelude to the Dream' event was postponed by rain on Wed., June 3 (it's rescheduled for Sept. 9), would like to find openings in his schedule to enter more Western Allstars shows later this year. He said additional starts will not only develop his dirt-racing talents, but also actually help his skills on the dragstrip.
“I truly believe the dirt racing helps me (in the Funny Car),” said Capps. “When a (dragster) loses traction early in a run, it becomes a ‘pedal-fest.' That's basically like driving a dirt car – you're driving by the seat of your pants.
“The thing is, in a drag race, you have to hold on for only a few seconds. In a dirt race, you're driving by the seat of your pants for 30 laps, or 15 minutes, or however long the race is. You gotta be on your game every lap.”
GREAT START: The tour's breakout star this season just might be Jeff Decker, a resident of Morgan Hill, Calif., who enters this Saturday night's action ranked second in the points standings.
A native of Shippensburg, Pa., Decker has been competing in the dirt Late Model division since 2003. He owns three consecutive Late Model track titles (2006-2008) at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif., and a 2007 championship at Antioch (Calif.) Speedway, but he's never won a Western Allstars DIRTcar Late Model Series A-Main.
That looks like it might change this year. Decker finished second in the first two events of 2009, at Kings Speedway and Chowchilla Speedway. Motor maladies on May 9 at Santa Maria left him with a disappointing 17th-place finish, but he's ready to get back on track at Marysville Raceway Park.
LOOKING FOR HIS RHYTHM: Defending Western Allstars champion Chris Shannon of Merced, Calif., is hoping Saturday's program at Marysville helps him shake out of some early-season doldrums.
Shannon started the season off in fine fashion, charging from the 17th starting spot to finish third at Kings Speedway. But his ensuing starts produced progressively worse finishes – seventh on April 18 in his hometown Chowchilla Speedway's event, and 20th on May 9 at Santa Maria. He's currently fifth in the points standings, 67 points behind Hogge.
NEXT UP: After this weekend's stop at Marysville Raceway Park, the Western Allstars DIRTcar Late Model Series will have a week off before heading to Wine Country for a big doubleheader at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif. (June 19) and Antioch Speedway (June 20) built around the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekend at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. The road course is located 150 miles from Silver Dollar and just over 50 miles from Antioch.
Additional info on all of the series, sanctioning and member tracks of DIRTcar Racing is available at www.DIRTcar.com.
Western Allstars DIRTcar Late Model Series Points Standings (after 3 events):
1. Bobby Hogge IV 475
2. Jeff Decker 432
3. Nick Bartels 429
4. Rob Sanders 427
5. Chris Shannon 408
6. Ron Bartels 406
7. Johnny Malcolm 404
8. Mike Johnson 404
9. Andy Obertello 399
10. Matt Michelli 392
11. Bill Bartels 385
12. John Lowery 336
13. Billy Griffin 296
14. Ken Michelli 295
15. Tom Malcolm 248
HEADED NORTH: With its racers rested and ready to get back on the championship trail, the Western Allstars DIRTcar Late Model Series will roar back into action this Saturday night (June 6) with a trip to Northern California's Marysville Raceway Park.
Idle since a May 9 date at Santa Maria (Calif.) Speedway, the West Coast's premier dirt Late Model tour is set to invade a quarter-mile oval where open-wheel Sprint Car racing is the weekly attraction.
Anticipation is high and still building for the Marysville's rare full-fender event. Saturday's 30-lap feature marks the second straight year that the Western Allstars Series is paying a visit to Marysville. A.J. Kirkpatrick of Castroville, Calif., was victorious in the facility's only previous WAS show, run on April 26, 2008.
The Western Allstars teams won't find the same Marysville Raceway Park that they challenged last year, however. After the '08 event produced concern that the track was a bit too short and narrow for the fast dirt Late Models, promoters Paul and Kathy Hawes oversaw an off-season project to lengthen and widen the venerable oval, which is located 40 miles north of Sacramento.
While WAS points leader Bobby Hogge IV will have a three-and-a-half-hour haul north from his home in Salinas, Calif., there's a strong contingent of local dirt Late Model racers who are anxious to race in their backyards. That group includes Matt and Ken Michelli of Live Oak, Calif, who rank 10th and 14th, respectively, in the current Western Allstars points standings; Ryan McDaniel and Leroy Perry, both of Marysville, Calif.; and Yuba City, Calif.'s Jerry Bartlett and John Johnson.
Pit gates for Saturday's ‘Top Gun Challenge' are scheduled to open at 3 p.m. The spectator gates will be unlocked at 5 p.m., with hot laps set to begin at 6 p.m.
For more information, visit www.marysvilleracewaypark.com or call 530-743-1327.
TOP GUY: Considering the momentum he built up in the season's first three events, Bobby Hogge IV is certainly chomping at the bit to get back into Western Allstars DIRTcar Late Model Series action.
The 32-year-old Hogge is two-for-three on the WAS tour in 2009, winning the season-opening Gary Jacob Memorial on March 28 at Kings Speedway in Hanford, Calif., and the May 9 event at Santa Maria Speedway. A fourth-place finish on April 18 at Chowchilla (Calif.) Speedway is the only blemish on his ledger.
“We've definitely started our season off well,” said Hogge, who holds a 43-point lead (475-432) in the points standings over Jeff Decker of Morgan Hill, Calif. “You're gonna have those bad nights – that's racing – but so far everything is going our way.”
Hogge's triumph in the '09 lidlifter was especially memorable. It was his last win in front of his grandmother, who passed away one week later.
“That will always be a special race for me,” said Hogge, whose 12 career Western Allstars wins leads the tour's alltime victory list (2006-2009). “My grandmother got to attend that race and see me win.”
Hogge, whose engine-of-choice for much of '09 has been a steel-block 360 powerplant with SB2 heads built by North Carolina's Steve Hendren, is looking forward to the remainder of the 2009 campaign. After missing a race and finishing second in the '08 points standings, he's looking for his first career title in the tour's fourth season of competition.
“Our intention is to run the whole (Western Allstars) schedule and go after the championship,” said Hogge, who drives family-owned equipment. “I like the schedule this year. I like going to different places and that's what we're doing this year.”
STRAIGHT-LINE INVADER: Hogge's fast start, solid fields of cars (an average of 27 per race) and packed grandstands have been the big stories so far this season on the Western Allstars DIRTcar Late Model Series, but don't forget the headlines that were made when the tour was invaded by a national motorsports star on May 9 at Santa Maria Speedway.
NHRA Funny Car points leader Ron Capps made a special appearance at Santa Maria – not to sign autographs, but to climb behind the wheel of a dirt Late Model fielded by Zach Forster of Bakersfield, Calif. With the car's body (provided by Victory Circle Chassis) carrying the same NAPA Auto Parts logos and colors as his 330-mph, 7,000-horsepower Don Schumacher Racing Dodge Charger Funny Car, Capps qualified through a heat race and drove to a respectable 14th-place finish in the 30-lap feature.
“It was a challenge,” bottom-lined Capps, whose previous dirt Late Model racing experience was limited to his three annual runs in the ‘Prelude to the Dream' event at Tony Stewart's Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio (he finished a personal-best fourth in the inaugural 2006 race). “I was just trying to get lap time and get comfortable in the car. I felt great that I was able to qualify right into the A-Main and not get in anybody's way.”
Capps, 43, has long had an interest in dirt-track racing, so he jumped at the opportunity to race with the Western Allstars on an off-weekend from his NHRA activity. He knows he has a long way to go before he can battle it out at the front of the pack with the tour's top talents, but if his name-recognition can bring some attention to a dirt-track race – well, that's good enough for him.
“I've always loved dirt racing,” said Capps, who grew up in northern California and now resides in Carlsbad. “As a kid I went to Santa Maria almost every weekend. My Dad even worked on a Sprint Car.
“I know Chris Kearns (Santa Maria's promoter) and we always talked about me coming to one of his races. We finally worked something out and hopefully it helped him out. Anytime there's a track like Santa Maria that's been there in the community forever, I want to see it keep going. If I can help get the TV stations and newspapers talking about it, I'm happy.”
Capps, whose plan to make a fourth attempt at Eldora's ‘Prelude to the Dream' event was postponed by rain on Wed., June 3 (it's rescheduled for Sept. 9), would like to find openings in his schedule to enter more Western Allstars shows later this year. He said additional starts will not only develop his dirt-racing talents, but also actually help his skills on the dragstrip.
“I truly believe the dirt racing helps me (in the Funny Car),” said Capps. “When a (dragster) loses traction early in a run, it becomes a ‘pedal-fest.' That's basically like driving a dirt car – you're driving by the seat of your pants.
“The thing is, in a drag race, you have to hold on for only a few seconds. In a dirt race, you're driving by the seat of your pants for 30 laps, or 15 minutes, or however long the race is. You gotta be on your game every lap.”
GREAT START: The tour's breakout star this season just might be Jeff Decker, a resident of Morgan Hill, Calif., who enters this Saturday night's action ranked second in the points standings.
A native of Shippensburg, Pa., Decker has been competing in the dirt Late Model division since 2003. He owns three consecutive Late Model track titles (2006-2008) at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif., and a 2007 championship at Antioch (Calif.) Speedway, but he's never won a Western Allstars DIRTcar Late Model Series A-Main.
That looks like it might change this year. Decker finished second in the first two events of 2009, at Kings Speedway and Chowchilla Speedway. Motor maladies on May 9 at Santa Maria left him with a disappointing 17th-place finish, but he's ready to get back on track at Marysville Raceway Park.
LOOKING FOR HIS RHYTHM: Defending Western Allstars champion Chris Shannon of Merced, Calif., is hoping Saturday's program at Marysville helps him shake out of some early-season doldrums.
Shannon started the season off in fine fashion, charging from the 17th starting spot to finish third at Kings Speedway. But his ensuing starts produced progressively worse finishes – seventh on April 18 in his hometown Chowchilla Speedway's event, and 20th on May 9 at Santa Maria. He's currently fifth in the points standings, 67 points behind Hogge.
NEXT UP: After this weekend's stop at Marysville Raceway Park, the Western Allstars DIRTcar Late Model Series will have a week off before heading to Wine Country for a big doubleheader at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif. (June 19) and Antioch Speedway (June 20) built around the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekend at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. The road course is located 150 miles from Silver Dollar and just over 50 miles from Antioch.
Additional info on all of the series, sanctioning and member tracks of DIRTcar Racing is available at www.DIRTcar.com.
Western Allstars DIRTcar Late Model Series Points Standings (after 3 events):
1. Bobby Hogge IV 475
2. Jeff Decker 432
3. Nick Bartels 429
4. Rob Sanders 427
5. Chris Shannon 408
6. Ron Bartels 406
7. Johnny Malcolm 404
8. Mike Johnson 404
9. Andy Obertello 399
10. Matt Michelli 392
11. Bill Bartels 385
12. John Lowery 336
13. Billy Griffin 296
14. Ken Michelli 295
15. Tom Malcolm 248
