Raceway opens season with a roar
Stands filled with avid race fans
By J.J. Calvacca
Special to www.victorville-auto-raceway.com

VICTORVILLE - The promise of a sub-40 degree night didn't keep those tried and true race fans from lining up in droves to spend opening night enjoying the thrills of opening night at Victorville Auto Raceway at the Fairgrounds on Saturday night.
Those diehards weren't disappointed a bit as Track Promoter Mike Gibson presented a race program of four of the track's most popular divisions to kick off the 2008 racing season in the High Desert.
The festivities got off on a high note with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the ticket booth attended by Garner Morris, Community Service Liaison for First District County Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt and Victorville Chamber of Commerce Member Marilyn Buttleworth.
Track official Dena Gibson was presented with a plaque commemorating the occasion and fans in line were greeted by the track's new mascot, "Motor Mutt", who thrilled the youngsters in line with his antics.
A trip through the pits revealed some of the changes that the fans would be seeing throughout the night, with lots of cars sporting new paint schemes, some drivers bringing new cars to campaign this season and some of the cars that once competed in the now-defunct Super Street division restructuring their cars and dropping down to race in the Street Stock class.
At the drivers' meeting, promoter Gibson recounted some of the newly-implemented rules changes to the drivers, mainly put in place to improve track safety but also designed to improve the flow of the program and make it even more pleasing to the fans in the stands. Despite some typical opening-night glitches, the program worked out extremely well.
In the 360/410 Sprint feature event it was Victorville's Heidi Tresler who got off to the early lead but, before long, Apple Valley's John Aden, driving the #1 car instead of his usual #7, was able to grab the lead from Tresler. Tresler's car was one of those sporting new colors and a new major sponsor for this season.
For the better part of the race it seemed as if Aden had the race almost all to himself, as he was able to use most of the width of the track to his advantage. As sometimes happens, Aden got caught up in slower traffic and it was Yorba Linda's Blake Miller, driving the racecar of Norco's Nadine Gardner, who threaded his way through the traffic and got past Aden.
From that point on it was Aden trying to reel Miller in, to no avail. Miller captured the win, with Aden in second position and Rialto's Don Gansen coming across in third position.
The race was punctuated by an accident that actually appeared far worse than it actually was. In the heat of the race, Hesperia's Kris Stauffacher caught another car with his wheel and was thrown violently into the wall just before Turn 1. In a testament to the safety of theses cars, after a few tenuous moments, Stauffacher was able to walk away, still holding his steering wheel while waving to the fans. When asked about the incident and how he felt, Stauffacher commented that he was " I'm just a bit sore.  Looks like the car needs a bit of work, though".
In the Street Stock feature, the race belonged almost entirely to Norco's Chris Tooley, whose only real threat came early in the race from Apple Valley's Nicho Searls. Searls kept the pressure on for a while before a blown motor forced his early retirement from the race. Finishing in second place was Victorville's Carl Shockley while Apple Valley's Keith Prischman came under the checkered flag in third place.
In a new feature this season feature event winners are awarded their trophies on the main straight immediately following the race and given the opportunity to address the crowd. Also new this year is the addition of an official track Trophy Girl, in the person of Marie Froelich, who made all of the trophy presentations.
In his address to the crowd, Tooley was quick to acknowledge his sponsors and especially thanked his son, Bryce, for all his help with the car.
Also of mention here is the new paint and graphic scheme sported by the Street Stock Camaro of Staff Sergeant Kevin Scott, an Army National Guardsman who is a perennial crowd favorite here. Scott's car now bears a strong resemblance to that of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhart, Jr.'s #88, a really nice touch there.
Next out on the track were the IMCA Modifieds and for the most part it was a three-way contest among Bakersfield's Troy Morris, Barstow's Roger Gordon and last season's track champion, Apple Valley's Tony Kinkade, Jr. Apple Valley's Randy Thornell also contributed to the mix and stayed in contention as well.
The yellow flag kept things tight throughout the race and kept closing the gap among the three leaders, but Morris just had too much car on this night and prevailed to take the win, with Gordon finishing second and Thornell coming under the flag in third place.
Kinkade managed a fourth place finish with his brand new car, stating, "typical new car glitches tonight, it'll take a while, but we'll get it dialed in before long". It also seems like Daggett's Wayne Francis, who has spent his share of time on Victory Lane, wasn't able to get hooked up on this night, either, and finished back in the pack.
There must be something about the number "07" when it comes to the Modifieds, since there were three cars (or was it four) sporting that number on this night. It has to be tough on the scorers in the booth keeping things separated, but they somehow manage to get it done.
In the final event of the night it was a short field of only three cars that came to the line in the All American division. The results were identical for both the heat race and the feature as well, with Victorville's Dan McGuire completing the sweep, winning both the heat race and the feature. Apple Valley's Steve Feulner finished in second place and Hesperia's Bev Stauffacher ended up in third place in both races.
All in all it turned out to be an exceptional opening to the new racing season and the schedule holds the promise that there are exciting things in store throughout the 2008 season.
In two weeks, on April 19th, Victorville Auto Raceway will play host to a huge, big money, one-class event featuring the roaring 360/410 Non-Winged Sprints for the entire program, with a projected $4000 top prize going to the winner of the "A-Main" feature. Fans are advised to visit the track's website at www.victorville-auto-raceway.com for more information.

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Victorville Auto Raceway Results
April 5, 2008

DRIVER        CAR # CITY
STREET STOCK
1.  Chris Tooley        24 Norco
2.  Carl Shockley       35 Victorville
3.  Keith Prischman        43 Apple Valley
4.  Augie Schulte       14 Palmdale
5.  Robert Schrimsher III       55 Fontana

360/410 SPRINTS
1.  Blake Miller        16 Yorba Linda
2.  John Aden        1 Apple Valley
3.  Don Gansen        7G Rialto
4.  Robert Ellis        43 Sun City
5.  Seth Wilson        17 San Clemente

IMCA MODIFIEDS
1.  Troy Morris        07 Bakersfield
2.  Roger Gordon        10 Barstow
3.  Randy Thornell        07X Apple Valley
4.  Tony Kinkade, Jr.       59 Apple Valley
5.  Shane Jones        3S Bakersfield

ALL AMERICANS
1.  Dan McGuire       17 Victorville
2.  Danny Childress        54 Hesperia
3.  Bev Stauffacher        52 Hesperia
* only cars entered

John