Perris Auto Speedway

PERRIS AUTO SPEEDWAY 3-1-08 REPORT

BY: SCOTT DALOISIO

(LAKE PERRIS, CA, MARCH 1ST, 2008) Bank, Oregon’s Greg Walters made his first trip to Perris Auto Speedway a successful one when he won his heat the 25 lap main event in the Extreme Late Model division.

The miserable weather, which included a steady drizzle for much of the night, wind, cold and fog, kept many fans away, but it may have given Walters a sense of home as won both of his races. However, after finishing 10th and 11th in the Western All Star races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Thursday and Friday, Walters had anything but a good start at his outing at The PAS. The driver, who has “Hollywood” painted on the side of his car, received a rude welcome to the track, which is just a mere hour east of “Tinsel Town.” On his first qualifying lap, Walter slammed his multi-colored #97 into the turn four wall and coasted across the finish line with the slowest (27.985) time of the night.

That battle with the concrete proved beneficial for the Oregon based driver. It allowed him to start on the pole for the heat, and when he won the heat, the slow qualifying lap also earned him the pole for the main (The PAS format rewards the top four finishers from each heat to make up the first rows of the main event inverted with the slowest on the pole and the fastest starting eighth).

Once the green flag flew to begin the 25-lap main, Walters jumped out to a huge advantage. The only car to seem to have anything for him was veteran Ron Meyer from Anaheim Hills. Based on his convincing heat race win and fast qualifying time (18.582), Meyer started outside the fourth row. He wasted little time and blasted by the competition to quickly find his way to second place. When he arrived in second, he was a long way behind Walters until the pace setter found himself stuck behind a couple of lap cars.

On lap eight Meyer had closed to within striking distance of the race long leader with two lapped cars directly in front of them, but before he could take his shot, Meyer’s driver shaft broke and he was done for the night. From that point on it was all Walters. He was sizzling in the main and when put on the clock, he was turning laps at 18.250!

A late race caution brought Mike Kirby, who won the season opener in February, to Walter’s rear bumper for the restart. However, on this night the wily Torrance veteran was no match for Walters who once again walked away from the pack to record his first ever PAS win. Kirby stayed in second for the duration with Murrieta’s Jeff Dunham third, Bill Bartels of Marina Del Rey fourth and Kirby’s sister Carla Laney, also of Torrance, fifth.

Attrition plagued the Late Models even before qualifying started. Murrieta’s Mike Hixson, who is switching to a Rayburn chassis before the next race, was forced out before qualifying due to mechanical ills. The same fate struck John Crowe of Fullerton. Crowe, who traded his Modified to Tony Ferris for a Late Model, had to withdraw due to oil pump problems.

The 14 car Late Model field also lost Corona’s Johnny Malcolm and Jeff Shoemayer of Indio after the heat races.

“Bad” Brad Pounds of Bakersfield came from the middle of the field to win the 20-lap PASSCAR Modified main event on the same half-mile clay oval where his father Scott scored victories a dozen years ago. Once Pounds got to the front, he simply ran away from the remainder of the competition. Travis Gorsuch of Acton was second and he was followed by Watsonville’s Clay Daly, ageless J.D. Wilson of Costa Mesa and Hemet’s Kevin Busher.

The hardest hit of the night took place during the running of the 19 car Modified main event. Aaron Barnell of Merced and Hanford’s Jimmy Reeves got together on the front stretch. Before it was all over, Barnell ended up getting t-boned by Moreno Valley’s Scott Calvin. Fortunately they both walked away uninjured.

The Modified drivers made their way into the stands before their main event to collect money for injured driver Kellen Chadwick. Even with though the dismal weather kept many fans away, they still managed to collect over $500.00.

The 20 car Street Stock main started with a bang – literally. A large, chain reaction crash heading into turn one on the first lap saw five cars stacked up against the wall and three more stopped on the inside of the track. The crash eliminated 15 year-old sensation Tommy “Thunder” Malcolm of Corona. Malcolm, who cashed a check for $1,000.00 after winning the season opener two weeks ago, ended up dead last in the finishing order.

Once the wreckage was cleared and the race was restarted, it was all Jerry Knight. He led all 20 laps from his outside front row starting spot. It was the first ever win for the Murrieta driver. Defending series champion Curtis Dietzsch of Moreno Valley methodically worked his way back through the field after an early race pit stop to finish second with Perris’ “Red Hot Racing Grandma,” Ronnie Everhardt finishing third. 2006 Street Stock champion Henry Wesolowski Sr. of Temecula and Riverside’s Walt Kelly rounded out the top five.

Riverside’s Phil Holms easily outdistanced the field to win the track’s first ever Pick-A-Part Factory Stock main event. Jim Ramsey of Fallbrook was a distant second with Tony Kinnane third.

Racing returns to Perris Auto Speedway this Saturday, March 8th, on 1950s night. Any fan that shows a valid id at the ticket booth showing that they were born in the 1950s will get in for just $5.00. Temecula Valley Pipe & Supply will be presenting the popular USAC/CRA Sprint Cars and the Winged California Lightning Sprint Cars. PASSCAR Stock Car racing will return in Saturday’s March 15th with the Extreme Late Models, MC Builders Super Stocks, Street Stocks and the Pick-A-Part Factory Stocks.

For more information call The PAS Office at (951) 940-0134 or visit the tracks web site at: perrisautospeedway.com.