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I recently got a copy of this race from Bruce Velo at
cmpvideo2go.com. Bruce has his hands on some history with a ton of old
San Jose, Baylands and this one from Petaluma amongst others. Contact
him on this board for more info or go to www.cmpvideo2go.com for a list
of what he has:
LIVE! Petaluma Speedway's 3/8ths hooked up adobe track in September,
which, in Petaluma means "slight chance of rain". We start off with
qualifying. I don't have times, but was in attendance for sure as a 16
year old way back when, and will give you names and remind you of
numbers and owners if the brain recalls correctly. For those I don't
have names of, I'm sorry. I'm working completely off of memory here.
Feel free to fill in some blanks:
- Marv Webster, Napa, CA/Webster Gears #76
- Rick Bussell, Saratoga/Bussell 1b
- Jerry Miller in the maroon 2c
- ???/Powder Blue 53f, and off the pace due to what looks to be lack of horsepower/funding
- Jerry Bonnema in the black 58
- Jim Appleton in the red 55
- Bill
DeChamps's/ DesChamps Automotive 44 out of Lakeport. Depending on if
the driver changes happened already, this could be Bill himself, or
more likely Jamie Cavagnaro, who I believe took over for Bill.
- Kevin Urton in the yellow 14. Nice to see an old school wing! (small right side panel)
- Pete Bellotti's 03, with the driver (due to black helmet and blue suit) I'm going to say Memphis, TN's JT Hayes.
- Sacramento's Jason McMillen in his NARC winning year in the Jack Gordon/Gordon RV 1c
- Brent Kaeding of Campbell in the Shine On T Shirts (1)69.
- Jeff Swindell of Memphis, TN in the Casey Luna Ford #91. This was Luna's debut as a car owner with a Ford powerplant.
- White
with red tail stripe 2...In normal times I'd say the Bob Neilson entry,
but this car does not look like a Nielson car since his were
predominantly white with blue.
- Dave Bradway, Jr. of Roseville in Clyde Lamar's 3c Tri C Machine/Tognotti Auto World entry
- Shane Scott of Chico in the K&S Cabinets #47
- Grass Valley's first lady of NARC Sheila Boivin in her 99.
- Chuck Gurney of Livermore/Pleasanton in Bob Consani's 4c/Pioneer Concrete/LeDuc & Dexter Plumbing entry
- A maroon #38 driven by ????????
- Eddie
and Sandy Chinen's Challenge of California House Car driven by, at
different times Tommie Estes, Jr., Jimmy Sills, Craig Keel...Pick one
- Rick Hirst in DuWayne Starr's #18 Tognotti Auto World/Bill's Custom Machine entry
- Sammy
Swindell of Bartlett, TN in Raymond Beadles #1 entry...the fans go nuts
because Sammy just went under 13 seconds for the first time in Petaluma
Speedway history.
- a Red 77 with "Service Center" on the side fighting mechanical problems...No clue on the driver
- multi colored #56, no idea on the driver. Not the Walt Ross 56.
- Millersburg, OH's Jac Haudenschild in Daryle Saucier's 1st Nance house car
- a white 55x with a huge CAR down the side of it, no clue on the driver
- Roger Henderson's 7n. Could be any of a number of drivers. Around this time, I believe Jimmy Boyd was still driving it.
- Blue 76 with DIEHL FORD...Gary Willey?
- ????
in a maroon 32 on the loud pedal hard. Sponsored by Golden Gate
somethingorother, he's almost dumped the car 3 times in qualifying.
- 41t of Troy Rozendahl
Heat 1:
41t 56
55 99
32 14
7n 76
53f
No idea how many xfer to the main event. No idea how these were
lined up, although this looks to be the slow heat. Green is out and
Rozendahl flies outta there and just as quickly goes amiss as he's
limping around 1 and 2. He eventually comes to a stop in 3 and 4 and
heads to the pits. Boivin inherits the lead and gets a big jump on the
56 in second who is quickly passed by the 14 of Urton for 2nd place.
Appleton works his way up to 3rd as the 56 is in reverse. Boivin has
lengthened her lead to about a turn as Urton has separated from
Appleton in 3rd. Our first red is out for the 56 as he dumps it going
backwards. The driver is a redhead with a porn stache for lack of a
better term. Back to racing and Boivin is the class of this field as
she keeps breaking away from the pack. Urton is second and Appleton 3rd
as the order looks about right speedwise. Sure enough, they run that
way until the checkered falls to a roar from the crowd as female driver
Sheila Boivin wins heat 1 followed by Urton and Appleton.
Heat 2
A star studded affair:
18 38
58 1c
1 1st
99?
Boivin is back out for some unknown reason, and this is an open show
so who knows what the procedure is? Green is out and Hirst takes off,
but Sammy knifes through the field and is second after a lap. Haud is
right behind him and on the pump hard as usual. Yellow for a spinning
38, still without a driver name. Back green and Hirst and Sammy go away
a little as Haud had to go back a spot, but dispatches of McMillen
quickly and sets his sights on the top 2. Sammy gets by Hirst and makes
himself very small as he is flying around the Petaluma 3/8ths. Haud is
trying like he always does, but can't make a dent. Hirst is a solid
3rd, and Sammy wins this one easily. Haud 2nd, Hirst 3rd.
Heat 3
55 03
44 4c
(1)69 47
14 55
Green and a quick yellow for no start, but the 14 doesn't see it and
runs over the 55 and carnage takes them both out. Back to green and now
a 6 car field. 44 with the jump, as Hayes settles into second
inasmuchas immediately passed by Kaeding means settles. Red is out for
Hayes, who makes it two for two for guys going backwards turning it
upside down, joining the 56 as rollover victims. Remember the rollover
fund? Green flag and the 44 is leading but Kaeding is coming and Gurney
is 3rd. kaeding catches the 44 and tries to slide job but didn't have
the momentum in 3 so he backs off and looks like he's going to try and
time it better next time. 2 laps later, Kaeding completes the slide job
in the spot he couldn't do it and puts the exclamation point on it with
a GIANT wheelstand out of 4 and takes the point. Gurney is third but
not going anywhere and that's the way they finish. Kaeding, 44, Gurney
Heat 4
2c 1b
2 76
3c 20
32 76
First lap sees Bradway nearly upside down out of 2. Up on two wheels
and as close as you can get without going over. Bussell takes the point
with Miller chasing. Willey is 3rd challenged by the 2 car. Bradway
catches the field quickly and is on the tail of the 76 Webster. Bussell
widens his lead on Miller, who is now challenged by the 20 when a
yellow comes out. Scan of the field shows Bradway in 5th. Green and
Bussell again checks out over Miller with the 20 and Bradway 3rd and
4th. Checkered flag says it's over in that order.
Fast Heat?
1 44
(1)69 2c
Over before it started as Sammy lays a 4 lap whoopin on the field
and airs by about a straightaway after 4 laps. Fast time...heat
win...dash win....only one to go.
Match Race: Sammy vs. Jeff Swindell, best 2 of 3.
I'll spare you the details and tell you Sammy won the first two
races convincingly, making the car 4 for 4 on the night vs. other
vehicles and 5 for 5 if you count qualifying.
B Main
55x 38
58 2
76(Edson?) 55
76 32
14 41t
7n 99
And you thought Civil War lineups could favor someone that may not
have done well all night? How about a Heat Race winner starting dead
last in the B? Also, Urton in the 14 had a great run in his heat, but
then had to run another heat and still ended up in the B. Talk about
having to earn a spot in the A...
We're off and the 38 gets the jump, but then the 2 car nearly flips
over in turn 1, and is one upped by the 58 of Bonnema who actually gets
the job done and brings out the red and a restart...green again and a
better start by the 38 is cancelled by another spin around and get
upside down easily by the 2, whose driver casually walks up to the 55x
and discusses the night's proceedings apparently. We're back green and
the 38 car continues to rocket past the 55x on the restart, but a
spinning 32 car slows us down again. How do you spin out a sprint car
at Petaluma Speedway? It's near impossible. The 58 of Bonnema is back
witha completely flat wing due to the roll over earlier in the race.
Let's try this again..Now at least we're single file. The 38 car again
darts away, with the 55x and the 76 of Webster 2nd and 3rd. Urton is
4th and I guess the flipper wasn't the 2 car since he's now 5th. Order
looks about right speedwise and indeed that's the case as the 38 wins
the B, with the 55x and 76 rounding out the top 3.
A Main
1st 47
20 1
3c (1)69
4c 1c
44 1b
2c 18
38 55x
55 14
At this point Sammy is on the verge of a clean sweep as he is
fastest qualifier, won the fast heat, the match race in 2 straight and
"surliest interview" afterwards. Green is out and in turn 1, the Chinen
mount gets upside down as it looks like Sammy may have squeezed him
into the inside berm and the driver tossed it sideways to avoid a major
disaster. Either way, the wing just explodes. There is shrapnel
everywhere, although the car looks fine actually. Somehow, the 47 of
Scott is on the towed off as well. Back green and Sammy, moving up due
to the Scott DNF, sets sail and off into the sunset until Hirst spins
in turn 1. This is like a 410 vs. 360 race. Another restart, this time
single file, which basically hands Sammy the Main Event right there.
Sammy of course, scurries away with Haud in 2nd and Kaeding in third.
The camera focuses on the 2nd and 3rd place battle as Bradway joins the
fray fro 4th. You see very little of Sammy so far as he has checked out
into another area code as Haud and Kaeding run 2nd and 3rd still. We're
into lapped traffic now, and the camera focuses back on Sammy as he has
put the 76 and 38 away. Haud and kaeding knife through the back markers
as well. It's now Appleton's turn to go a lap down and he does so
willingly. Sammy is up to the 44 now and now to the 18 of Hirst. 2c
Miller is next and Sammy is showing them how it's done as he's not
really breaking stride at all. Haud gets by and actually has closed the
gap a little, but now Sammy's got clear sailing ahead of him for
awhile. The 38 car sees the 1 car go by him for a second time, and I
wonder out loud how many cars are even on the same lap? Urton is next
in the 14 as Haud gets by the 18 of Hirst. LOOOONG green flag period
here as Sammy is no longer in the picture. Camera goes back to third
place and Bradway has passed Kaeding. Oh look! There's Sammy a
straightaway behind the 4th place car. This is a masterful performance
if I've ever seen one. Bussell is up next, but Sammy can't get by
him...I have Bussell unofficially in 5th. White flag is out and Sammy
cruises around behind Bussell the last lap and wins this thing easily.
This was as clean of a clean sweep as you will ever see. Complete
domination by a legend. 23 years later, they could've still been racing
that show and they never would've caught him.
Thanks to Bruce Velo for the show! Again, check him out at
www.cmpvideo2go.com to see his library and send some business his way.
Ron
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