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May 09, 2012 at
11:38:32 PM
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Joined:
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01/15/2007
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Posts:
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178
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?This Friday and Saturday is the first double-duty Sprint Car weekend at Ocean Speedways Watsonville and Chowchilla, and two veteran drivers are up for the challenge.
?In Watsonville, Sprint Car Night #4, sponsored by Taco Bravo, is on tap. The
Winged 360 Sprint Cars will take to the one-third mile clay track at Ocean Chowchilla Speedway for this first time this Saturday night, with drivers sizing up the track for eight more visits through the season.
?“We’ll be trying a bunch of things out at Chowchilla,” said veteran winged sprinter driver Ronnie Day. “We’ll have a new engine. We’ll be testing shocks. We’ll be making all kinds of changes to the car to see where we are at on this new surface.”
?Day, from Salinas for the past five years, raced the world in the winged cars. He’s traveled and won throughout North America, Australia and New Zealand. He’s since settled down to raise a family and race close to home in California. Brother Keith is the owner of the sprint car Ronnie drives, and brother-in-law Rick Bragg is the crew chief.
?“The racing is as competitive here as it is anywhere – I would even say even more competitive here - because you have a pack of experienced veteran drivers and a good number of enthusiastic young drivers,” Day continued.
?Ocean Watsonville Speedway’s point standings show Day in fifth in points after three winged sprint car features this season. He’s five points behind another cagey veteran - Craig “Cowboy” Smith, who will also be riding into Chowchilla on Saturday night.
?“I’ve heard there’s some good clay at Chowchilla now, and I’m looking forward to putting it to the test,” Smith said. “It’s definitely going to be the old guys riding fast - and hopefully in front of the young guns.”
?Smith, too, is relatively new on the California scene. He’s a fierce competitor who galloped from Montana’s Rookie of the Year in 1982 to Montana State Champion in 1986. Since relocating to California a decade ago, he’s registered wins and track championships at several tracks.
?“It will be interesting to see who figures out the Chowchilla track first on Saturday night,” he added.
?For Day, expectations are that Chowchilla Speedway will be a fast track.
?“With the enthusiasm and passion shown for racing in Watsonville (Speedway), I’m sure things are going to be better than ever at Chowchilla (Speedway),” he explained.
?Who, then, has the advantage?
?“I’ve always believed that the race track is the same for everyone. Therefore,
nothing beats experience. The cream will rise to the top,” he said. “An experienced driver has finesse. As the track dries out, it gets real slippery. That’s when finesse on the throttle and finesse on the steering comes in handy.”
?Day is cautious, however.
?“The kids are after me - it can be anyone’s win Saturday night. Like I said, the competition is especially tough here in California,” he added.
?
Chow Down This Weekend:
At Chowchilla, local eyes will be on Chowchilla High School hero Christian Hickman, who debuted his new sprint car two weeks ago. Hickman had dad Robbie and grandfather Joe Diaz helping him in the pits two weeks ago, making adjustments to the new car. They’re preparing for an onslaught of new drivers arriving at their hometown track.
“We got it going pretty good, I think we are getting everything figured out,” Hickman said this week. “We finished second twice this year, now we are looking for a win in the new car.”
Not only will two sprint car divisions be doing double duty, but so will the IMCA SportMods, American Stocks, “Four Bangers” and Dwarf Cars.
The growing field of International Motorsport Contest Association (IMCA) SportMod stock cars has provided competitive action at Ocean Chowchilla. Different drivers have been battling for the lead in each of this season’s features, but local favorite Cody Brown has been the most consistent finisher. Brown brought home a third and a second in his last two outings at the 1/3-mile clay oval.
Turlock’s Chris Falkenberg won two in a row in the American Stock division before being schooled by teacher Kristie Shearer in last week’s feature event. In “Four Bangers” Katie Brigs became the third different winner in three weeks.
All of the above divisions will be part of Saturday night’s big show. Racing will begin promptly at 6 p.m. Ocean Chowchilla Speedway is located in the fairgrounds at 1000 S. Third Street, Chowchilla. Admission for Saturday’s big show is $14 for adults, $10 for children over five years old. A family four-pack of tickets is $40.
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