Forum: Northern California Sprint Car (go)
Moderators: StuDeedooo

A friend of mine is from Vacaville and I am thinking about going out in 2015 to visit and hopefully see a few races.  I would like to see Chico and 1 or 2 other tracks while I'm there.  Any suggestions as to when to come out and where to see a race?

Chico, Stockton, Antioch?

Thanks

Shafner79; Hi, we live in Calistoga, CA. about an hour from Vacaville, Calistoga is a great half mile dirt track, we highly recommend the Labor Day weekend races here, the best racing in California that weekend. Chico is about an hour from Vacaville also. Placerville has weekly shows and is about an hour and half from Vacaville. Antioch is about and hour away also. The Calistoga shows are midget and sprint car non-winged shows, all the rest are winged sprint car show tracks. Always good weather here over the Labor Day period, harvet time and lots to see. Come and have fun. Best regards, Marcia and Jerry Phillips.

Try to come out during the Outlaws spring break tour! You can see a good amout of races at different tracks in a few weeks time! I have been to all the following tracks except for Merced, but I heard it is about the same size of Placerville. I personally like the small, bullring style tracks, that we have here in CA, but Calistoga is a big 1/2 mile.  I just went to Stockton a month ago and thought it was a good bigger track. I live 1 hour north of Sacramento. Where do you live?

Looking forward to the new Golden State King of the 
West series schedule! 

Winged sprintcars = the fastest and most exciting 
racecars on dirt! 

Go to Petaluma for a Saturday night weekly show. It's 45 minutes from Vacaville and you won't be dodging flying bullets like Antioch, roasting in the 100 plus degree weather and getting dusted out like Placerville or getting stuff stolen in the parking lot like Stockton, plus, there are no weekly sprint cars at Antioch or Stockton. Calistoga has like four shows a year, so a bunch of fail for those suggesting Calistoga unless it's one of the holiday shows.

Assuming next year's schedule will be the same as the schedule in recent years, you want to be here for Labor Day and the week that follows. The Vermeil Classic at Calistoga on Labor Day weekend has consistently excellent racing, and Calistoga is a track that every sprint car fan should visit. The Gold Cup at Chico is the following Wednesday through Saturday. The Gold Cup isn't quite the event that it used to be, but it offers a lot of variety and is always fun.

The other great race in the region is the Trophy Cup in mid-October at Tulare. That's about a 3 1/2-hour drive from Vacaville. 

I agree with everything you suggested, to catch a show at Calistoga, if thats the desire, is best during the Vermeil Classic on Labor Day weekend. However, in 2015, the Gold Cup will be run a week later then it has been, running Sept 9th-12th. It is still a great mix of racing with 360's, 410, midget, winged and non wing racing. Trophy Cup is probably the best value for your racing $$'s IMO, with quality of racing and quantity of racing over 3 straight days. 

Labor Day weekend in 2015 is September 5,6 and 7. So I would expect to see the usual schedule of two days for the Vermeil race, two days to relocate and restock supplies, and then four days for Gold Cup. Best racing week of the year on NorCal. 

I stand corrected then, I didnt realize the first Monday in Sept wasnt until the 7th next year. That explains why the Gold Cup seems so much later then it has been in recent yrs. 

It's a bit of a haul from Vacaville, but Ocean Speedway in Watsonville is a better Friday night sprintcar option than Chico in my opinion. Better field of cars, nicer track. and the opportunity to spend the day at the beach beforehand.