November 2006 Archives

The NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series, will make five stops in California in 2007. Two of those stops will be in Southern California.
The first will be at Irwindale Speedway on July 21. The second will be on the road course at California Speedway in Fontana on Aug. 11.
The race at California Speedway, which was part of the Labor Day NASCAR races in the past, looks like it will not be part of the track's scheduled events for the holiday weekend next year.
The race at California Speedway will be one of three road course races on the West Series schedule. The others are at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma in June and Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah in July.
There are two races on the 14-race schedule that will combine entrants from the West Series and Busch East Series. Elko Speedway in Minnesota and Iowa Speedway in Newton will host combination races in which drivers from the West Series and East Series will compete for starting spots and race together.
The combination races are being called tune-ups for the Toyota All-Star Showdown which will pit the top-15 drviers from each of the West Series and the East Series in a race at the end of the year.
The date and track of the All-Star Showdown has yet to be determined. The race at Iowa Speedway may be a prelude to the new home of the All-Star Showdown. It has been rumored to be one of a handful of tracks being considered as a new site for the race.
The previous four All-Star Showdowns have been at Irwindale Speedway
In addition to races at Irwindale Speedway, California Speedway and Infineon Raceway, the West Series will make two stops at Altamont Motorsports Park in Tracy.
The West Series season starts at Thunder Hill Raceway in Kyle, Texas on March 31.

2007 NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series schedule (track size in parentheses):

Sat., March 31 - Thunder Hill Raceway, Kyle, Tex., 150 laps (3/8-Mile)
Thurs., April 19 - Phoenix International Raceway, Phoenix, Ariz., 150 laps (1.0-Mile)
Sat., April 28 - Altamont Motorsports Park, Tracy, Calif., 200 laps (1/2-Mile)
Fri., May 18* - Elko Speedway, Elko, Minn., 150 laps (3/8-Mile)
Sun., May 20* - Iowa Speedway, Newton, Iowa, 200 laps (7/8-Mile)
Sat., June 2 - Colorado National Speedway, Erie, Colo., 150 laps (3/8-Mile)
Sat., June 23 - Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, Calif., 64 laps (1.99-Mile Road Course)
Sat., June 30 - Douglas County Speedway, Roseburg, Ore., 150 laps (3/8-Mile)
Sat., July 14 - Miller Motorsports Park, Tooele, Utah, 41 laps (2.2-Mile Road Course)
Sat., July 21 - Irwindale Speedway, Irwindale, Calif., 200 laps (1/2-Mile)
Sat., Aug. 4 - Evergreen Speedway, Monroe, Wash., 300 laps (.646-Mile)
Sat., Aug. 11 – California Speedway, Fontana, Calif., laps TBD (Road Course)
Sat., Sept. 15 - Altamont Motorsports Park, Tracy, Calif., 200 laps (1/2-Mile)
Date TBA - NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown (invitational, non-points race)

The organizers of the 39th running of the Baja 1000 are expecting a record turnout of competitors, racers and drivers. Nearly 450 entries have been submitted for the off-road race in Baja California that starts on Saturday.
The 1,050-mile course runs from Ensenada to La Paz. Among the entrants are some familiar names from NASCAR.
Robby Gordon, a veteran of off-road racing and the Baja 1000, is entered. Boris Said, known more for his sports car and road-racing prowess, is also in the race.
A couple of NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series, drivers are entered in the Baja 1000. Brian Ickler and Eric Hardin, who were both in the Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale Speedway last month, are in the race. Ickler is in the Class 1 division and Hardin is in the Protruck class.
“There are no accurate adjectives to describe my feelings right now.This is all so unbelievable,� said Sal Fish, SCORE President/CEO, on the eve of the world’s most famous desert race. “To think that after 38 previous classics, this year’s race has gone off the chart in terms of entries compared to other years is mind-boggling. The Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 is the Super Bowl of motorsports and I can’t wait to watch the world’s greatest desert racers and their amazing crews make some more SCORE Baja history this weekend. It’s also a special treat for us to host a record number of our cross-over and celebrity racers who will experience something that they will remember forever.�
The record for starters in the Baja 1000 was 346 set in 1977 when the course was a loop starting and ending in Ensenada. The race record for entrants on a course from Ensenada to La Paz was 307 set in 1992. The race record for finishers was 198 set in 2004 when the race finished in La Paz.

Buried deep in the release California Speedway sent out to announce the infield RV area has been reconfigured to improve sight lines at the track is the elimination of 157 of 1,800 RV spots.
According to the release, California Speedway president Gillian Zucker called every one of the RV owners who use the spots to let them know the changes that were being made to the track.
“The RV fan represents some of California Speedway’s most loyal, long-standing fan base so I called each guest personally to ensure that they knew that this wasn’t a decision that we came to lightly,� said Zucker. “Even though some of our displaced RV guests have enjoyed racing from their reserved spot ever since the track opened, they showed a clear understanding that we needed to take these steps on behalf of the NASCAR drivers, our safety workers and their extended NASCAR fan family. They are truly the best fans in all of sports.�
The reconfiguration was done to improve the view of the race from the grandstands and for television coverage. It was also done to improve the safety conditions for drivers and safety workers by providing NASCAR officials with a better view of the track’s backstretch from the tower.
“California Speedway has always been a leader in bringing great entertainment value to NASCAR fans, but we all know what brings fans back year after year is exciting racing," said NASCAR president Mike Helton. "This past Labor Day, we saw the best NASCAR race ever at California Speedway that included 43 lead changes around the track among 10 drivers and over 6,000 passes.�
The changes to the track will be made before the NASCAR races in February. The sight lines are supposed to be improved for the 40,000 lower grandstands seats
“With the revised infield RV footprint, fans both in the grandstands and watching at home will notice a dramatic improvement in their ability to see the action on the backstretch,� said Zucker. “The changes deliver what both NASCAR officials and our grandstand fans have asked for from California Speedway.�
NEXTEL Vision screens will be added to the backstretch so that infield RV guests will have an added view of the racing action and will be able to view in full detail all pre-race and on-track entertainment. The screens will be supplemented by FM band radio (104.7) transmitting the audio pulbic address signal and Motor Racing Network broadcast.
The infield RV reconfiguration comes on the heels of a year-long set of improvements at California Speedway that have taken place since Zucker was named track president of the track. In addition to traffic planning efforts that have resulted in quick and easy access in and out of the speedway, the new, multimillion dollar Opportunity, California FanZone featuring the Apex restaurant by Wolfgang Puck, the Impulse retail store, an entertainment stage, the Motorola Town Center and shade features debuted in September.