2010 K&N Pro Series West preview part 1

This weekend, the newly-named NASCAR K&N Pro Series West kicks off with the TOYOTA/NAPA Bonus Challenge 150 at All American Speedway in Roseville, Calif.  As many as 15 cars are slated to compete in the entire 12 round series, giving it a true championship chase feel for the first time in several years.  2009 champion Jason Bowles has departed for East Series, ARCA, and Nationwide racing, but that doesn't necessarily play to the hand of Escalon, Calif.'s Eric Holmes. The 2006 and 2008 series champ might be the clear favorite in some circles, but for me, I see five drivers with a shot at this year's crown with three more just on the edge of a championship run.  And that eight car group doesn't even include the rookies!

The favorites:

#12 Paulie Harraka – Wayne, N.J.

Bill McAnally Racing

Paulie Harraka comes into the 2010 season as the favorite for the series title. Harraka had a slow start to his rookie season last year but rebounded to win at Colorado in August and Roseville in September. If Harraka can run up front at Roseville this weekend, he will give himself a huge head start on his championship campaign. He will be the driver to beat in all road course races this year as well.

#17 David Mayhew – Bakersfield, Calif.

MMI Motorsports / KHI

2010 is the season that David Mayhew has to finally breakthrough. Mayhew has never lacked in speed, and last year had a darling season with a win at Iowa. But he finished only sixth in the points. After a carousel of rides, Mayhew has landed on his feet with MMI and will be running a second full-time season for them.

#20 Eric Holmes – Escalon, Calif.

Bill McAnally Racing

The two-time West Series champion Eric Holmes may have though things would be getting easier for him with 2009 champion Jason Bowles exiting the series. But instead, Holmes is faced with one of the toughest fields the series has seen in many years. If Holmes can handle sharing the spotlight in the NAPA camp with Harraka, he will prove to be a strong contender for his third series crown.

#21 Blake Koch – Palm Beach, FL.

Golden Gate Racing Team

Blake Koch burst onto the West Series scene in 2009 and much of this has been credited to Jim Offenbach’s team and crew chief Steve Portenga. Koch’s most memorable race was a drive to the front at Colorado primarily running the high line. In 2010, Koch will look to prove that he is a talented driver on his own merit and not just on the team surrounding him. Many have labeled him “dark horse” and it’s a label that Koch will relish this year as he will be in the championship hunt.

#26 Greg Pursley – Parker, Ariz.

Gene Price Motorsports

The veteran and former NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champion had a solid performance racing for upstart Gene Price Motorsports. While the driver and the owner are not new to motorsports, they were expected to spend the year building up their massive and state of the art shop, and coming together as a team. Instead, Pursley opened the 2009 season with a win and continued to be strong all year to a third place finish in the points.

The rookies:

#6 Luis Martinez, Jr. – Long Beach, Calif.

Bruncati

Luis Martinez, Jr. comes to the West Series after finishing fifth in the 2009 Super Late Model points at Toyota Speedway. He will be behind the controls of the championship winning #6 car for Bob Bruncati. His karting and Super Late Model experience is strong but he has limited experience in touring. But the Bruncati team has a reputation for testing, and Martinez has already tested once at All American Speedway to prep for the opener.

#9 Josh Combs – Sacramento, Calif.

Bruncati / Corsaro

Perhaps the favorite to win the Rookie of the Year is SRL Spears Southwest Tour graduate Josh Combs. Combs finished third in that highly competitive series with his lone victory coming at Las Vegas. Combs ran very competitively in the top-15 in his debut during the Toyota All-Star Showdown. Look out for what the two Bruncati rookies might be able to do on the road courses this year as well. Combs will double dip and attempt to do the full SRL series as well.

#88 Michael Self – Salt Lake City, UT

Motorway Motorsports

19 year-old Michael Self will be campaigning only his second season in stockcars in 2010 but will run a full-time effort in the West Series. Self’s growth in Late Models was evident as he claimed a second place finish at Roseville and a win in the USLMA at Tucson late in the year. Self also overcame coming through the qualifying race at the Showdown to run in the top-15 for much of the race. Self should have a 2010 similar to Koch’s rookie season, as he continues to learn the craft and should be in contention for wins before the season is over. Self joins Harraka, Combs, and Martinez as road course threats with his extensive karting background.

Possible championship hopefuls:

#16 Moses Smith – Chandler, Ariz.

Bill McAnally Racing

Few fans may realize that veteran Moses Smith finished just 33 points behind Mayhew in the 2009 standings. Those 33 points have kept Smith out of the spotlight of racers considered a favorite for 2010. Smith had a second place finish in the opener in Texas last year and also had a second place qualifying effort at Roseville in September where he out-qualified teammate Eric Holmes. He also had an average road course starting position of ninth. Moses is just a few strong runs away from giving BMR three championship contenders in 2010.

#22 Jonathon Gomez - Twin Falls, ID

Gomez Racing

27 year-old Gomez will be running the West Series for his third season, but his first full-time campaign after limited efforts in the past. Expectations are high for Gomez but he managed to only qualify 33rd in the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown. Gomez has run strong at Iowa Speedway and his performance in that event in May will set the tone for how successful his summer will be. Gomez is slated to run the full SRL series in 2010 as well.

#50 Auggie Vidovich – Lakeside, Calif.

Team Cass Racing

Vidovich returns to west coast racing for his first career full-time effort in the West Series. Vidovich is most well-known for 11 wins in the NASCAR Southwest Series and for competing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Not only will Vidovich run the full West Series but also is rumored to be attempting the full SRL Southwest Tour. This team has not announced a title sponsor and has never run the full series.

I will return with part two of the West Series preview tomorrow, with details on part-time efforts from Chad Boat, Brennan Newberry, and Taylor Barton, and previews of the other full-time entrants in this year's field.

California motorsports talent evident at Chili Bowl

The 24th Annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals at Tulsa Expo Center is not only one of short track racing's premiere events, but also quickly becoming one of the best showcases of American auto racing talent on par with the 24 Hours of Daytona and other prestigious events.

A typical theme for the Chili Bowl is the mass number of gifted Californians who make the haul each year. Over 60 of the 260+ Midgets in the pits for this event have drivers who either hail from California or were raised in California.

Tuesday night was the first of four qualifying nights, and Californians Tyler Walker, Greg Bragg, and Matt Streeter all tasted victory in heat race competition. In Streeter's heat race, the top-four finishers were in fact all from California.

18 year-old Shane Golobic of Fremont, who I ranked as the number one driver under 18 years old in 2007 as a columnist for MUD-Racing.net, is living up to his expectations. Driving for West Sacramento native Bryan Clauson, Golobic led the charge of seven Californians in the feature with a third place finish. Walker ran in the top-three all night before a mistake by another racer cost him a good run. Future starts Keith Bloom, Jr., 17 and former Silver Dollar Speedway spec sprint standout, and Roseville's Colby Copeland, also had good runs.

On Wednesday night, Bryan Clauson, Brad Sweet, and Cole Whitt all were heat race winners. Not only do they all hail from California, they are among the top-ten names in all of open-wheel racing these days. Clauson was recently named Midget Driver of the Year after a 20 win season. Whitt wrapped up the night with a second place finish in the feature; Sweet came home fifth.

Tonight's qualifier includes standout Californians such as Darren Hagen, Tanner Swanson, Kyle Larson, Jason Leffler, Damion Gardner, Jay Drake, and P.J. Jones. That group alone possesses an amazing amount of ability behind the wheel. You could almost build an entire Chili Bowl feature around the California entries and save space for midwest stars Brad Kuhn and Brad Loyet to fill it in.

Check out the action at www.racinboys.com or www.chilibowl.com This truly is one of the greatest racing events today.

Silly season extends beyond the racers

The Silly Season is the time of the racing season when we hear about sponsor announcements, driver changes, and touring series schedules. But for the 2009 offseason in California, the Silly Season has included management changes at as many as four race tracks.

After averaging 20 asphalt NASCAR Late Models per race in 2009, All American Speedway and the Placer County Fairgounds in Roseville, Calif. made the surprise decision in October to let go Director of Competition Jeff Macey and Director of Operations Dennis Gage. Macey, former President and General Manager of Altamont Raceway Park, had joined the program in spring of 2009. Gage, who works with Padjen Motorsports promotions, had been with the speedway since 2007. Both were veterans of motorsports who had run a pretty good show in light of the serious economic woes facing America today.

Rumors swirled that Steve Fensler from the Stockcar Racing League was going to take over for both positions. But announced yesterday on the All American Speedway website "AAS has immediate opening for a Program Manager...AAS is seeking a Director of Competition." The site also has applications posted and they are due December 7. The timing of this is obviously not ideal, with sponsorships on the table and touring series schedules yet to be finalized. Will the speedway have a representative at the promoters workshop? That is yet to be seen.

There are at least three dirt tracks with possible changes coming for 2010. After Merced Speedway announced it was closing, many have pointed to Kenny Shepherd to step in and take over the speedway. Shepherd would have a monopoly at tracks within the central valley with Merced, Chowchilla, and Madera, and that is almost a necessity because the tracks are in such close proximity.

Antioch Speedway and Kings Speedway are also rumored to be moving to new promoters.

The task of taking over a race track is a huge undertaking, but even more so in this economy and at this late of a date. Hopefully all four tracks find promoters and are running strong this spring.

Clauson continues dream season

Sacramento-native Bryan Clauson continued his season of histroic prorportions by winning the Glenn Howard Memorial at Perris Auto Speedway on Saturday night. The USAC/CRA Sprint Car win on the half-mile dirt track came just two days after the Turkey Night Grand Prix win in the USAC National Midgets on the paved half-mile Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, Calif.

Clauson's win total now stands at 19 for the season if you go by the results posted on openwheeltimes.com Clauson's official website, www.bryanclauson.com, is currently down. For a kid having the best season of his life, it's a tough deal to have the website down.


Most important for Clauson this year is that he earned the National Midget Driver of the Year championship over Midget kings Brad Kuhn and and Brad Loyet. Both of the Brads ran over 60 Midget races in 2009, whereas Clauson started 36.

Also on the list of Clauson's accomplishments for 2009 are: Indiana Midget Week champion with 2 wins, Belleville Midget Nationals champion, Hall of Fame Classic winner, winner of the MSCS $10k to win "Haubstadt Hustler", and winner of the Turkey Night Grand Prix. As Brian's facebook page says, "pondering retirement.... im not sure how to follow up a year like this, its been simply unbelievable."

At 20 years old, Clauson is well on his way to establishing his legacy as one of the great open wheel racers in history. Up next for him will be a defense of his 2008 Twas the Midgets Before Christmas win.

In other racing news over the weekend, Brad Pounds won the Victorville Raceway Turkey Classic over a field of 40 Modifieds.

Big month for west coast motorsports

Last night's Turkey Night Grand Prix saw Bryan Clauson, who grew up in Sacramento, Calif., claim the prestigious 98 lap feature win aboard his Marc Debeaumont-owned entry. Fellow Californian Brad Sweet, Grass Valley, nearly played spoiler to Brad Kuhn's USAC National Midget championship but came up a few positions short in the final rundown.

For open-wheel fans, November has been a buffet of excellent racing including the Perris Oval Nationals, Phoenix Midget and Silver Crown races, Western World, J.W. Mitchell Classic, and the Turkey Night Grand Prix. Thanks to the live streaming coverage on USACRacing.com, I have been able to witness a good amount of this racing from my home office in Sacramento.

The busy month will come to a close this weekend at Perris Auto Speedway with the USAC/CRA Glenn Howard Memorial. The feature will pay a possible $32,500 with the $30,000 bonus for the winner if he can win from the back of the field. Dave Darland is among the contingent of national drivers expected to compete.

The other big show for the weekend is the $15,000 Wes Hurst Memorial at USA Raceway in Tuscon, Ariz. After hosting a strong Western World for wing and non-wing Sprint Cars with over 130 entries, the promoters of the speedway have offered up another amazing race weekend. Racing begins tonight with over 100 entries expected. Headlining the excitement is - what else - the massive purse that includes $1500 to start the feature, $700 to start the B-Main, and $300 to start the C-Main. Californians Bobby Hogge and Kellen Chadwick are among the early favorites.

It is a shame that there isn't a big west coast show for the asphalt Late Models, but that would only be possible with more national rules conformity. It would be amazing to see 100 asphalt Late Models competing for a $10,000 or $15,000 purse at a place like Altamont, Roseville, or Irwindale. The 2009  Toyota All-Star Showdown at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale came close to doing this, with over 120 cars total between the SLM and LM races. This asphalt LM fan can only dream for now, and wish everyone a safe race this weekend.