KIDS CANDY GIVEAWAYS AT ALL REGULAR PERRIS AUTO SPEEDWAY RACES By Scott Daloisio (Perris, CA, March 16, 2022) When Perris Auto Speedway kicks off its 26th season of racing this Saturday night, March 19, with the PASSCAR Super Stocks, Street Stocks, American Factory Stocks along with the IMCA Modifieds and Sport Compacts, a tradition will return to the track. At intermission, all the drivers will park their cars on the front straightaway, officials will open the crossover gates and all fans will be admitted onto the track to collect autographs and for the kids to collect free candy from the drivers. Gates will open at 5:00 p.m. with racing at 7:00. The candy giveaway started about six years ago, and it has gone from a one-night idea, into a tradition at all regular races. The only shows it will not happen at in 2022 are the upcoming World of Outlaws race and November’s Oval Nationals. “The candy giveaway/autograph session has become a PAS tradition,” promoter Don Kazarian said. “Six or seven years ago we had a race a couple of days before Halloween. A few days before the race, Shelly Wooldridge (the track’s fuel, tire, and parts supplier) suggested we have the drivers pass out candy to kids in costume at intermission. We figured we would get 35 or 40 kids. About 200 showed up. We tried it again the next couple of years and the numbers doubled.” Verne Sweeney meets a young fan during intermission at Perris Auto Speedway. Charles Fawcett photo. The candy giveaway was working well and that spawned another idea. Steven Fangmeyer, who grew up at the track and ended up being one of the most popular stock car drivers in PAS history, suggested the track try doing it at all stock car races to pump up the crowd. Of course, since it was not around Halloween, no costumes were required. The move paid immediate dividends as the crowds grew. That led to bringing it to adding it to the sprint car races as well. “When we tried it at our stock car shows it was all positive,” Kazarian explained. “We then decided to try it at our sprint car shows. It worked there, too. Like the stock car shows, it resulted in an increase in our crowd size. It has also introduced a lot of new, young families coming out to the races. And those families keep coming back.” “What other sport can kids go to, walk on the event surface, meet the athlete, get an autograph, a piece of candy, and 10-minutes later cheer for that athlete as he competes,” Kazarian continued. “It is a unique deal, and it makes the kids want to come back. It works great for the families, the racing teams, sponsors, and the track. It is a very big deal. Fans crowd the track to meet the drivers during intermission at Perris Auto Speedway. Kenny Lonngren photo. Great racing and the candy giveaway are not the only keys to the show. An entertaining, well-run program is also necessary. “It is not all about the candy giveaway,” said the longtime promoter. “You need to have an entertaining, well-run show. Our drivers put on great races and ideally, we like to have the whole show done in three hours or less. Every so often those plans get derailed if there is a big crash or a lot of crashes on the night, but our goal is to be done by 10:00. A couple of the worst things you can ever see at a racetrack is a kid sleeping on the bleachers at midnight because the show has dragged on for five hours or you watch people leaving early because the show dragged on, and the kids got bored. Those kids are not going to want to come back, so we do our absolute best to keep the kids entertained and get them in and out in a decent amount of time.” Adult tickets for Saturday’s show are $20.00. For kids 6-12, tickets are $5.00. Children 5 and under get in for free. The fairgrounds charges $10.00 for parking. Advance tickets for all Perris Auto Speedway events are on sale now. Fans can order the tickets online at https://www.tix.com/ticket-sales/pas/7 or by calling 1-800-595-4849. Tickets for the remainder of the season will be on sale soon. For fans who do not wish to purchase tickets in advance, there will be plenty available for everyone at the gate each race night. Fans can stay up to date on track and driver news on The PAS social media efforts at the links below. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Perris-Auto-Speedway/113876798686480?ref=hl Twitter: Perris Auto Speedway on Twitter. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perrisautospeedway/ Website: http://perrisautospeedway.com/ Perris Auto Speedway wants to thank the following corporate partners. Ahern Equipment Rentals, Anderson Chevrolet, Battery Systems, Bud’s Tire Pro, Chris’ Hauling, City of Perris, Communication Innovations, Daytona Boat & RV Storage, Ed Moore Bullet Proof Driveshaft, Flowdynamics, HD Industries, Hoosier Tires, Inland Rigging, Living Water’s Hospice, LKQ Pick Your Part, Luke’s Transmission, Moose Racing, Pepsi-Cola, Performance Online, Pole Position, PrintItNow.com, Rainbow Bolt & Supply, Rugged Radios, Shaver Specialties, Square H, Sunoco Race Fuels, Trench Shoring, Upland Rock, Varner Construction and Vista Paint. Video and DVD productions of all racing sprint cars events at Perris Auto Speedway are available from Loudpedal Productions. For more information on these productions you can contact them by calling (805) 844-3854, E-mailing mailto:trtruex@gmail.com or you can visit the website LoudPedal Productions. DVDs of all the PASSCAR/IMCA racing and Nights of Destruction at The PAS are available from Fourvideos. For more information call (714) 225-9500. mailto:perrisautospeedway1@gmail.com is the only authorized Internet address to issue official media news released from The Perris Auto Speedway or Oval Entertainment. Perris Auto Speedway 2022 Schedule April 2nd PASSCAR SERIES - SUPER STOCKS, STREET STOCKS/IMCA STOCK CARS, IMCA MODIFIEDS, AMERICAN FACTORY STOCKS AND IMCA SPORT COMPACTS March 26th NOS ENERGY DRINK WORLD OF OUTLAWS SPRINT CAR SERIES, AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS AND PAS SENIOR/YOUNG GUNS SPRINT CARS April 2nd PASSCAR SERIES - SUPER STOCKS, STREET STOCKS/IMCA STOCK CARS, AMERICAN FACTORY STOCKS AND IMCA SPORT COMPACTS April 23rd LKQ Pick Your Part Presents NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION II - DEMO CROSS, FIGURE 8'S, TRAILER FIGURE 8'S, MINI STOCKS AND DOUBLE DECKERS April 30th "SOKOLA SHOOTOUT" AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS, PAS SENIOR/YOUNG GUNS SPRINT CARS AND IMCA MODIFIEDS May 14th PASSCAR SERIES - SUPER STOCKS, STREET STOCKS/IMCA STOCK CARS, AMERICAN FACTORY STOCKS AND IMCA SPORT COMPACTS May 21st LKQ Pick Your Part Presents NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION III DEMO CROSS, FIGURE 8’S, TRAILER FIGURE 8'S, MINI STOCKS AND DOUBLE DECKERS May 28th "SALUTE TO INDY" AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS, PAS SENIOR/YOUNG GUNS SPRINT CARS AND IMCA MODIFIEDS June 4th PASSCAR SERIES - SUPER STOCKS, STREET STOCKS/IMCA STOCK CARS, AMERICAN FACTORY STOCKS AND IMCA SPORT COMPACTS June 11th LKQ Pick Your Part Presents NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION IV DEMO CROSS, FIGURE 8'S, TRAILER FIGURE 8'S, MINI STOCKS AND DOUBLE DECKERS June 25th “BUBBY JONES / RAY SHEETZ MEMORIAL” AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS, PAS SENIOR/YOUNG GUNS SPRINT CARS AND IMCA MODIFIEDS July 2nd FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR LKQ Pick Your Part Presents NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION V - DEMO CROSS, FIGURE 8'S, TRAILER FIGURE 8'S, MINI STOCKS AND DOUBLE DECKERS August 13th LKQ Pick Your Part Presents NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION VI DEMO CROSS, FIGURE 8'S, TRAILER FIGURE 8'S, MINI STOCKS AND DOUBLE DECKERS August 20th “CALIFORNIA RACERS HALL OF FAME NIGHT" AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS, PAS SENIOR/YOUNG GUNS SPRINT CARS AND IMCA MODIFIEDS August 27th PASSCAR SERIES - SUPER STOCKS, STREET STOCKS/IMCA STOCK CARS, AMERICAN FACTORY STOCKS AND IMCA SPORT COMPACTS September 3rd LKQ Pick Your Part Presents NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION VII DEMO CROSS, FIGURE 8'S, TRAILER FIGURE 8'S, MINI STOCKS AND DOUBLE DECKERS September 10th PASSCAR SERIES - SUPER STOCKS, STREET STOCKS/IMCA STOCK CARS, AMERICAN FACTORY STOCKS AND IMCA SPORT COMPACTS September 17th "GLENN HOWARD CLASSIC" AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS, PAS SENIOR/YOUNG GUNS SPRINT CARS, IMCA MODIFIEDS AND Lucas Oil POWRi SOUTHWEST LIGHTNING SPRINT CARS September 24th PASSCAR SERIES - SUPER STOCKS, STREET STOCKS/IMCA STOCK CARS, AMERICAN FACTORY STOCKS AND IMCA SPORT COMPACTS October 1st AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS, PAS SENIOR/YOUNG GUNS SPRINT CARS AND IMCA MODIFIEDS October 15th LKQ Pick Your Part Presents NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION VIII DEMO CROSS, FIGURE 8'S, TRAILER FIGURE 8'S, MINI STOCKS AND DOUBLE DECKERS October 22nd PASSCAR “CHAMPION’S NIGHT” SUPER STOCKS, STREET STOCKS/IMCA STOCK CARS, AMERICAN FACTORY STOCKS, PAS MODIFIEDS AND PAS SPORT COMPACTS November 2nd 26TH ANNUAL OVAL NATIONALS - Practice Night November 3rd 26TH ANNUAL OVAL NATIONALS - AMSOIL USAC NATIONAL AND AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS November 4th 26TH OVAL NATIONALS - AMSOIL USAC NATIONAL AND AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS November 5th 26TH OVAL NATIONALS - AMSOIL USAC NATIONAL AND AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS November 12th LKQ Pick Your Part Presents NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION IX DEMO CROSS, FIGURE 8'S, TRAILER FIGURE 8'S, MINI STOCKS AND DOUBLE DECKERS THIS SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.