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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
USAC PACIFIC COAST SPRING NATIONALS COMING TO ALTAMONT SATURDAY
April 18, 2008
TRACY, California – Saturday afternoon, Altamont Motorsports Park will present the USAC Pacific Coast Spring Nationals, the first of seven events on the 2008 slate for the USAC-sanctioned track. United States Auto Club Sprints, Midgets, and Ford Focus Midgets will tackle the half- and quarter-mile ovals, with NCMA Limited Sprints and Altamont Formula-4’s also on the bill.
Saturday’s Sprint car feature will be the feature event of the weekend, with 50 laps of feature racing on tap for the 145 mile per hour open-wheeled cars.
Altamont will be the home track for sprint cars in 2008, with seven of the series’ 16 rounds scheduled there. The series features many storylines, including a crop of competitive young guns, drivers from families with strong racing backgrounds, and the introduction of new chassis and engine suppliers.
2007 series champion Ryan Kaplan of Chico, CA has relocated to Indiana but has left his seat in good hands, with Altamont SRL feature winner Porter Smith of Aztec, NM at the helm.
USAC racing has bred some of the top NASCAR stars, including Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman, and Tony Stewart. Several drivers in action on Saturday appear poised to join this list.
Tanner Swanson of Kingsburg, CA, the hard-charging 17 year-old, who scored two wins at Altamont last year, is one of the favorites to watch. Swanson won the dash race last week in Roseville and recovered from an early race incident to finish fourth.
Swanson will be going head-to-head with teenager JoJo Helberg of Rohnert Park, CA, who finished third in the series standings in 2007.
Both drivers are excited to visit the Altamont speedplant.
“I’m definitely excited to get back to Altamont,” Swanson said. “The racing is fast, close, and side-by-side.”
“At Altamont you gotta be gutsy,” Helberg said. “It has two complete grooves and it’s all about smooth movements.”
The series also features young guns Eric “Hot Rod” Humphries of Chowchilla, CA, three-time Ford Focus champion Tim Skoglund of Fresno, CA, and Washington’s Snake Livernash.
Swanson enjoys the competitive nature of the young drivers.
“With all the young drivers out there, it’s fun,” Swanson said. “You know what’s going through their heads and the butterflies they’re feeling, because you’ve felt them too.”
Joining the crop of up-and-coming talent, are several well established drivers looking to make waves in 2008.
For Nick Rescino Jr. of San Francisco, old is new again. Rescino has returned to his 2006 car, and is hoping to return to the form that made him a multiple-time CASA champion.
Tony Hunt of Lincoln, CA will be looking for his record extending fourth championship in 2008, and the Alan Kaiser-owned team has moved to Toyota power. Hunt will join Western Speed Racing drivers Skoglund and Chase Scott in Toyotas.
New chassis company Hornet Chassis, based near Altamont Motorsports Park, will feature BCRA champion John Sarale and Jimmy Riddell as pilots of its entries.
Teams are excited to have Altamont as the home track for USAC in 2008.
“It’s awesome that they are thrilled to have us,” Swanson said. “We feel welcome there and that they respect the series. We are as happy to have them as they are to have us.”
“It’s great to have a track support us like this,” Helberg said.
Five of the seven United States Auto Club events at Altamont will feature the Midgets, with four-cylinder power. The mighty midgets are currently led by Scott Pierovich and Nic Faas atop the points standings.
More young gun racing will take place on Altamont’s quarter-mile on Saturday, with the identically powered USAC Ford Focus Midgets.
The NCMA Limited Sprints are lower horsepower versions of USAC Sprints, and will take to Altamont’s half-mile for the first of nine appearances this year.
Rounding out Saturday’s line-up will be the Altamont Formula-4’s. This fan-favorite, affordable class, features completely stock four cylinder race cars running on Altamont’s 1.1 mile road course. Two 10-lap features are scheduled for this non-contact class.
Fan gates open at 11 a.m. Saturday, with time trials at noon and the first heat races at 2 p.m. Altamont’s new family-friendly racing schedule will find racing ending before sundown. Fans will have the opportunity to feast on the award-winning Kinder’s BBQ, Altamont’s official purveyor of fine BBQ.
Ticket prices are as follows: General Admission 12 and over $25 Seniors 65 + & Military with ID $20 Children 6-11 $15 Family Package 2 Adults & 2 Children $65
Altamont Motorsports Park is the bay area’s only NASCAR-sanctioned track, and the only USAC-sanctioned race track in the country.
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