06/29/2004

WHERE'S WALTER?
by Walter Johnston

   I attended a special show at Perris, Ca. Auto Speedway last night, and watched them make history. It was experimental in nature, as they converted their half-mile dirt oval into a road course.  This was accomplished by forcing drivers to make a sharp left 2/3 of the way through the second turn, cutting back to run inside the first turn, sweeping right towards the middle of the infield, where they turned left again towards the fourth turn, then making another right to bring them back onto the main track at the third turn. From there, it was ‘regular’ running down the main stretch and back into the first turn. The reason this was historic is because Perris is located in Riverside County, and a road course race hasn’t been run in the county since the closing of Riverside Raceway after their last Winston Cup race back in the 80’s.

  I should point out that while I’ve never been a big road-racing fan, this was very different, because you could see the whole race from any seat in the place. It provided an excitingly different angle to racing to be watching these cars, normally set up to run an oval, adapt to running a seven-turn road course. Other interesting aspects were brought up during the course of the show, but more on that later.

  The most difficult part of the course for all divisions was the beginning, just off the second turn. Almost a hairpin turn, it had the added feature of forcing them to drive up and over a bump/groove created in the dirt by the running of “normal” oval races, and the bump was about as severe as the one you encounter entering your own driveway from the street. They encountered the same thing exiting the inner course at turn three, but with not as much of a problem as they had entering the infield. Causing the cars to almost wheel stand, it made many cars jump to the right and ‘put a stripe’ on the inner Jersey barrier wall, and also caused a lot more than it’s share of flat tires.

  The first division to attempt racing was the “Hornets,” basically 4-cylinder cars, from Hondas to Dodge Shadows. They ran two 7-car heats, with some drivers taking right to the different course, and others seeming to not have an idea how to handle it. After them, the Street Stocks division ran two 10-car heats, with a bit better results, but with the same mixture of difficulties. The last division to run, Cruisers, had an extra-added twist, for me at least, to make it interesting. Let me explain.

   Cruisers are much like Riverhead Blunderbust cars, but with an unusual feature to make them wholely unique. You see, the driver of the car has the usual steering wheel and brake pedal, but has no accelerator pedal. That’s because he has a passenger in front with him, and that’s the person controlling the speed of the car. That person has a safety net on the right side window, seat belts, etc., but doesn’t’ get to steer or brake, so the two must work together as a team, much like train racers do, but with better results. The speeds I saw these cars run would have made you think they were under the control of one person, it was that good.

   I won’ t get into details of the outcome of the show, since you wouldn’t recognize the drivers’ names anyway, but I’ve got to say, if you’re ever in the Southern California area of Riverside County (Lake Perris), you should check out Perris Auto Speedway, (www.perrisautospeedway.com), the PAS, as they call it. It’s a fun show, usually over around 10 P.M. or so, with a start time of 6 P.M. Their season starts in March and runs thru November.  I’ve gone there 4 times in 3 weeks and will miss it when I get home, though I miss my local racers more. Good racing to everyone.

Sources:  Walter Johnston/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:  June 29, 2004