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Tribute to the Legends of Nor-Cal 100 set for Roseville Saturday night
– By Bobby Gerould
September 15, 2008. Roseville, CA. …Paying homage to those that paved the way is idea behind the United States Auto Club’s Tribute to the Legends of Nor-Cal 100 which will receive the green flag Saturday (September 20th) at All-American Speedway. Specifically, the memory of three legends, in Larry Burton, Walt Ross, and DuWayne Starr will be honored while the USAC Western Sprint Cars do their thing on the lightning fast quarter-mile paved oval.
Carrying the nickname, “The Roseville Rocket”, Burton was synonymous with the Speedway. He won the 1955 track championship and later became a promoter of racing events at the Placer County Fairgrounds. The 1972 Gold Cup winner and the Superior Racing Association champion in 1956, Burton was also among the American pioneers of racing in Australia during USA winter months.
Walter T. Ross from Carmichael was a successful car owner and driver that campaigned the iconic blue #56 sprint car driven most notably by the late Gary Patterson. Ross first visited Roseville as a racer in 1956 and by 1958 he was winning with regularity at the track. He scored a rare “clean sweep” on May 13th, 1958 when he set quick-time, won his heat and the Main Event. According to his biography, Ross ran Roseville every Friday during the sixties. Ross followed the great Louie Vermeil as President of the Northern Auto Racing Club (NARC) when Vermeil stepped down in 1985.
DuWayne Starr was a fixture in the local racing community known for his innovative work at Tognotti’s Auto World as well as for being a Gold Cup winning car-owner and a Northern Auto Racing Club (NARC) car owner champion. He was inducted into both the Motor Sports Press Association’s, and West Capital Raceway’s Hall of Fame. Starr passed away in 1999.
The 2008 USAC Western Sprint Car season has been dominated by young sensation Tanner Swanson of Kingsburg, CA. The 17 year-old younger brother of 2005 series champion Kody Swanson, Tanner, won the most recent USAC event at All-American Speedway. He leads the point standings comfortably with four races remaining.
Swanson will be challenged Saturday by five-time USAC champion Tony Hunt of Lincoln, as well as San Francisco driver Nick Rescino Jr. Eric Humphries from Chowchilla sits in second place in the series point standings. He will be joined on the Roseville roster by Aztec New Mexico’s Porter Smith, and John Sarale of Stockton. Recently crowned USAC Rocky Mountain Region champion JoJo Helberg from Rohnert Park is expected to be in the field along with Scott Pierovich (Alamo, CA.), Greg Anderson (Roseville), Tim Skoglund (Fresno), and Shauna Hogg (Citrus Heights).
Front gates open at 4pm with racing scheduled for 6pm. For more information please call 916-786-2025 or visit AllAmericanSpeedway.com.
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