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

On the way to Calistoga I wrestled with whether it was the third or fourth annual of this event and while I finally convinced myself it was the fourth it's just so hard to believe we've already had that many. Anyone who attended this event really needs to thank the people who bust their asses to make it happen. I don't think there is a member of the Hawkins family that doesn't have some kind of role in making the event special. They had some great raffle items with me who rareley wins anything managing to score Argabright's "Lone Wolf" which is a hard book to put down and an autographed 8 X 10 of Johnny Anderson. All of the people associated with tha Napa County Fairgrounds - all of which are volunteers - deserve so much praise for all the work they did. I commented to Napa County Fairgrounds CEO Carlene Moore that the only thing you can't control is the weather and even that was perfect as was just about eveything else. The wine event was first class and while it may get better over time it really doesn't need to improve by much. The beer event was good with a casual atmosphere and a good variety of beers available. The Firestone Union Jack IPA was fantastic as was Big Daddy's IPA. There are things in the works that will make this event even better over time. Saturday night's racing surface really showed just how much of a difference the new clay has made to the speedway. The racing surface was a little tricky but gone were any concerns about tire wear. I don't know if I've ever seen as many wheelies with a non-wing car at Calistoga let alone a winged car EVER as were seen this weekend.The main event going non-stop was both a blessing and a curse for me as I had made a last minute dash to grab a slice of pizza for me along with a final beer for my wife. They rolled the feature and waived the green flag before I could get back to my seat. Not willing to get in anybody's way I watched the race from the foot of the grandstands right behind the flagman instead of about half-way up in the stands behind me. Any one of the top three guys could have won that race as just one bobble would have allowed the guy in second or third an opportunity to move forward. Sunday was a different racing surface with a wider racing groove. I can't say which night had the better racing but I would say that both nights were good in their own way. I had never seen Ryan Bernal race before but I can say that I am definitely now a fan as the kid can really drive. Bobby Gerould was making a lot of noise about tire wear as Sunday night's feature progressed. There were really only two tire "issues" on Sunday night one of which was Andy Forseburg's right rear which went down because it was cut. The other was Robert Ballou's right rear that went down while leading under yellow and it probably went down due to a brush with the wall a few laps earlier. It appeared that USAC was going to at first let Ballou try to finish the race with that tire then changed their minds demanding that he pull into the pits. At that point they proceeded to pretty much screw the team by not giving them so much as a lap to get back out on the speedway. I hope that Gerould went down to the pits after the races because if he had he would have seen that the tires on the cars were fine and that Calistoga Speedway, with a few exceptions at the Civil War race, has turned a page with the new racing surface in terms of its reputation as a "tire eating monster" which is a good thing. I don't know who the idiot driver was on Sunday to decided to pull a "Drinan" and run out on the race track during the midget feature in an effort to get a pointless yellow but I hope he got a hefty fine. Personally I thought he should have been escorted out of the pits by security for one of the dumbest things I've ever seen at a racetrack. Tony Hunt did about as well as I expected him to in his first appearance on the big dirt half-mile. I can't believe I didn't make it to Suzie's at least once but still managed to have a good time wherever we did end up each evening. Already looking forward to next year!

I was told by Robert's dad that the exhaust had burnt the tire causing it to go down...