Faccinto completed the “clean sweep”

at Fernley 95A Speedway

 

 

Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) racer Michael Faccinto unveiled a new Simpson driver’s uniform before the evening’s races at Fernley 95A Speedway Saturday, which he hoped would change his luck. In recent weeks Michael’s racing luck has been a roller coaster ride, as Michael flipped the Mike Sala midget at Placerville Speedway and took a precautionary trip to the hospital, but came back and won at Petaluma Speedway. Last week at Marysville Raceway, after he won the heat race, Faccinto had the field covered in the feature only to have the engine in the Sala midget fail with less than ten laps to go.

The night at Fernley started out well for Faccinto as he set quick time during the group qualifying session with his second lap which stopped the clocks at 17.244 seconds, which edged out BCRA points leader Maria Cofer’s 17.613 second lap. Third quick qualifier was Bobby Wilson at 17.704 seconds, with Floyd Alvis and JR Williams rounding out the top five qualifiers.  Williams battled back from an earlier drive line problem prior to hot laps to make successful repairs with the assistance of Rick Holbrook using parts provided by John Cofer.

Pole-sitter Bobby Wilson led the first ¾ of the first lap in the heat race before both Faccinto and Cofer swept by, and then Wilson and Alvis dueled for position before Bobby’s car got loose as he exited turn two and brushed the outside backstretch wall. Wilson recovered and maintained his third positon to the finish as Alvis settled into fourth place as Williams’ car missed the call.   

Young guns Faccinto and Cofer shared the front row for the start of the 20-lap feature event, and at the drop of the green Michael powered away from the field and built up a three-car length advantage over Cofer.  Wilson and Alvis dueled for third place during the race’s first three laps before Floyd established himself in third place and pulled away from Wilson.

During the middle laps of the race, Maria Cofer reeled in the leader; first she closed to within two car lengths then was right on the bumper of the #19 midget for several torrid laps. However, as track conditions changed, on successive laps Cofer’s car bobbled as she exited turn two which allowed Faccinto to pull away and rebuild his three-car length lead in the later laps of the race.  

The standing-room only crowd watched as Faccinto in his new “lucky” driver’s uniform cruised under the checkered flag to complete his “clean sweep” of the night’s racing program. Maria Cofer padded her points lead with a strong second place finish while the ageless Floyd Alvis scored his second straight third place finish ahead of Bobby Wilson. JR Williams encountered handling problems with his #74 midget and pulled into the pit area mid-race.

The BCRA mighty midgets return to the pavement on August 5 with the second annual Tom Manning Memorial Race at Stockton 99 Speedway, with opening ceremonies set to begin at 6 PM. See you there!

A hotly contested 
midget race on a hot night

 

 

 

The mighty midgets of the Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) made their only appearance of the 2017 season at Marysville Raceway on a steaming hot Saturday night July 22. The track was in excellent condition for single-car qualifying and Bakersfield’s Cory Elliott eclipsed the old track record of 14.312 seconds which he set last year with an even faster lap of 14.176 seconds.

Second fastest qualifier Alex Schutte also wheeled his #28 midget around the Marysville ¼-mile clay oval faster than the old track record as well with a best lap of 14.269 seconds. BCRA points leader Maria Cofer was third-fastest in time trials at 14.588 seconds and Nate Wait debuted a new chassis with a lap of 14.796 seconds.

Mason Daniels’ engine troubles with the #33M midget continued and he surrendered his scheduled pole position starting position in the heat race as pulled into the Marysville infield before the green flag. Daniels’ troubles moved Michael Faccinto in Mike Sala’s #19 midget to the pole position and at the drop of the green flag, Michael shot into the lead and fellow front row starter

Wait held down second place as Schutte and Cofer dueled for third place as Elliott’s car intermittently stopped running which left him in fifth place. Behind Elliott, JR Williams and Floyd Alvis staged a spirited duel over the entire eight lap distance. Faccinto led the field to the checkered flag by ten car lengths over Wait, Cofer, Schutte, Elliott, Williams and Alvis.

The re-draw for starting positions for the 25-lap feature placed Wait and Faccinto on the front row with Cofer and Schutte side-side in row two. At the drop of the green flag, once again Faccinto, the winner of the last race at Petaluma Speedway roared into the lead, as Wait ran over the wheel of another car in traffic in turn two and fell back to fifth place at the end of the first lap behind Faccinto, Cofer, Schutte and Elliott. 

Cofer and Schutte dueled for position for several laps until both Alex and Cory Elliott slipped past Cofer’s red-white and black #57 machine. On lap 4, Mason Daniels pulled his #33M into the infield done for the night, and then entering turn three on lap 6, Schutte’s #28 midget bicycled onto two wheels and veered into the outer retaining wall. The damage to the right front of Alex’s machine was too severe to continue and his battered machine was towed into the infield.

Schutte’s retirement moved Cory Elliott into second place for the restart and a few laps later, Nate Wait moved into third place after he passed Maria Cofer. Unfortunately for Nate, his third place only lasted a few laps before his car suffered mechanical troubles and he was forced to pull into the infield trailed by JR Williams’ #74 midget.   

On lap 16 the Esslinger engine in the #19 Sala midget broke a valve and Michael Faccinto rolled to a stop in the third turn and was done for the night. Faccinto’s retirement left Elliott in the lead trailed by Cofer and Alvis. The green flag came out with night lap to go, and Elliott appeared to have the race well in hand, but on the last lap, Elliott’s engine troubles reappeared and Cofer closed the gap and Maria followed Cory by less than a car length across the finish line.

The finishing order for the 25-lap feature was Elliott, Cofer, and Alvis with the non-finishing cars in order: Faccinto, Wait, Williams, Schutte and Mason Daniels.

The BCRA midgets return to action of Saturday night July 29 at the 3/8-mile dirt Fernley 95A Speedway in Fernley Nevada in a program with the Sprint Car Challenge Tour. Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 645 PM followed by racing at 7 PM. Hope to see you there!  

“Fatty’s” custom 1914 Renault type EF

 

 

Photo by the author

 

Comedian Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle was one of the biggest stars in the Hollywood during the silent movie era until his disastrous fall from grace in 1921.  Acting as both the director and acting star, “Fatty’s” slapstick comedic short films were hugely successful and he earned over a million dollars a year.  Arbuckle lived a lavish lifestyle which included his ownership of several custom cars including this 1914 Renault, a 1919 Pierce Arrow model 66 and later a 1923 McFarlan originally ordered by fellow actor Wallace Reid.

 

Photo by the author

 

The most striking styling detail of the Renault EF on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum is the characteristic sleek sloping nose. The nose slopes dramatically because the car's radiator is positioned behind the 158 cubic inch four-cylinder side-valve engine.

“Fatty” wanted a sportier look than the right-hand drive four-seater torpedo body. To build his vision, Arbuckle went to the firm run by Los Angeles coachbuilder Jacob W Earl Earl Automotive Works located at the corner of Pico Boulevard and Los Angles Street in Los Angeles. 

 

 

photograph of a Renault EF four seater

torpedo courtesy of Bohams

  

Jacob's son Harley J. Earl later become renowned as the head of design at General Motors. Harley graduated from Hollywood High School in 1911 and enrolled in 1912 at the University of Southern California then  transferred to Stanford University in 1914. Harley at 6 feet 6 inches tall, was active in sports and the Phi Delta Theta fraternity  and finally graduated from Stanford University in 1918. Harley joined his father’s firm as a designer to support himself and his bride.    

According to a 1956 New York Times article, while his father on vacation young Harley took over and his first sale was to “Fatty” Arbuckle –  for the work on this car. Upon his return the elder Earl reportedly was furious when he learned about what his son had been doing, but the profit from the build changed his mind.  Soon after the Renault with the sloping windscreen was completed, it appeared in the 1920 short silent picture The Garage with Arbuckle and Joseph “Buster” Keaton.

The Earl Body Works became a division of the Don Lee empire and later built customs for movie stars and industry executives including the cowboy actor Tom Mix and built Arbuckle a second custom, his Pierce Arrow finished in a vivid purple color which was the car ‘Fatty” drove on his fateful trip to San Francisco for Labor Day weekend 1921.  Following the scandalous death of Virginia Rappe, Arbuckle was arrested and arraigned on the charge of manslaughter on September 17, 1921.

 

After a third trial, he was exonerated, but Arbuckle was financially ruined and due to his inability to find work in Hollywood, Arbuckle lost all the trappings of his success, including the Renault, the Pierce-Arrow and the McFarlan.

The custom Renault is in the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, with the Earl custom bodied Pierce-Arrow displayed several years ago at the Petersen while the magnificent McFarlan is part of the permanent Nethercutt collection in Sylmar California.

Faccinto returns 

and wins a thriller at Petaluma

Twenty-three midget cars drivers and crews were on hand Saturday night July 15 at the 3/8-mile Petaluma Speedway for the Jack London Hall of Fame race co-sanctioned by Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) and the United States Auto Club (USAC). In the afternoon before the racing program began, BCRA hosted the annual Jack London Bash Picnic and the 2017 BCRA Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Behrens Park on the Sonoma - Marin Fairgrounds.

Among the race entries were four female drivers- Randi Pankratz, Courtney Crone, 2011 BCRA dirt series champion Shannon McQueen and current BCRA points leader Maria Cofer. Four midget drivers- Ronnie Gardner, Geoff Ensign, Britton Bock and Cory Elliott did “double duty” as they also raced in winged 360 cubic inch sprint cars which were also a part of the evening’s racing program. 

Ronnie Gardner in his #68 Stewart chassis midget powered by an Esslinger engine was the fastest qualifier with a best lap of 14.635 seconds, followed by Michael Faccinto who posted a lap of 14.665 seconds and Geoff Ensign third with a time of 14.679 seconds.

At the start of the first 8-lap heat race, front row starter Danny Carroll took the point and the Australian driver now living in Roseville California held the lead throughout in Sean Dodenhoff’s #9C.   Frankie Guerrini charged up from his fourth starting spot to run second behind Danny with Gardner third. On the last lap, Alex Schutte in #28 tried a ‘slide job’ in turn three to take third from Gardner but settled for fourth place. Young Mason Daniel finished in the important fifth place as the top five heat finishers kept their qualifying times to determine the starting position for the feature race.

In the second heat race, Cory Elliott charged into the lead at the drop of the green from the outside of the front row and held on despite his #11E machine experiencing an electrical issue which periodically caused the Esslinger engine to nearly stop running at times. Courtney Crone and Michael Faccinto battled hard for second place while David Prickett and CJ Sarna dueled for fourth place. Elliott was first under the checkered flag trailed by Crone, Faccinto, Prickett and Sarna as the top five finishers.

The third heat race featured three of the female drivers starting in the first front two rows, and Maria Cofer led the first two circuits before she was passed by Anaheim’s Robert Dalby in his new #4D Esslinger powered Spike midget. Sixth place starter Geoff Ensign aggressively moved through traffic to run in third place then in the closing laps pushed underneath Cofer to finish the heat race in second place. Shannon McQueen capitalized on Cofer’s detour out of the turn three and four racing groove to finish third as Maria recovered to finish in fourth place ahead of Tyler Dolcaki who charged into fifth on the last lap.

Fast qualifier Ronnie Gardner pulled the number “8” pill on the re-draw for the line-up of the 30-lap feature which placed Courtney Crone on the inside of the front row for the start with Guerrini alongside. The feature race action came to a halt quickly after the initial green flag however, as Nate Wait got tangled up in traffic and flipped the #35 midget in turn one of the opening lap which necessitated a complete restart less Wait’s machine.  On the second start, Guerrini blasted into the lead in the F&F Racing #63 trailed by Crone, Ensign, Gardner and Faccinto and the front five cars soon pulled away from the rest of the field by several car lengths.

The night’s first caution flag flew on lap nine for a spin by Sparky Howard in turn two, with his #3 machine soon pushed away to rejoin the field. On the restart, Gardner and Faccinto shot past Ensign as his car had broken a front brake line after contact with another car and Ensign without brakes soon exited to the pit area. On lap ten Daniels pulled his #33M machine into the infield while the racing action continued as Gardner began to press Crone for second place.

On lap 13, Guerrini bobbled in the rough inner section of turns one and two and both Crone and Gardner roared past to drop Frankie to third place. As the leaders entered lapped traffic on the 18^th lap, Gardner scooted past Crone and into the lead. On lap 20, young Santa Monica driver Kyle Beilman had a problem with his car’s Mopar engine and coasted through turns three and four and down the front straightaway and off the ramp to the pit area.  Although Beilman’s retirement did not interrupt the action, on the following lap after contact with another car, Prickett’s #22Q midget lost a wheel and rolled to a stop on the inside on turn one to once again slow the field.

Under caution with nine laps to go, the crowd began to buzz with excitement as they realized that Gardner who earlier won the winged 360 sprint feature in dominant fashion had a chance to become only the fourth driver in Petaluma Speedway history to win two features on the same night. On the restart, Faccinto charged past Crone for second place before the caution flag flew for a three-car tangle in run four that involved Dalby, Dolacki and Pankratz. The cars of both Dalby and Dolacki were too damaged to continue but Randi restarted her #8 Fontana-powered Edmunds midget at the tail of the field.

On the restart, Gardner encountered his own trouble on the high side of the rough turns one and two and his bobble allowed Faccinto and Crone to streak past. Gardner charged back and passed Crone in turn three on the next lap, but the pass was nullified when the caution flag flew as Terry Nichols’ #1P came to stop in turn three with an apparent broken rear end.  On the restart, with Faccinto ahead in the lead Crone and Gardner dueled side-by-side for over a lap, and as the pair exited turn two side-by-side the pair made wheel-to-wheel contact. Crone’s car crossed over from the inside and began a series of end-over-end flips down the backstretch along the outer fence. Behind Courtney, Gardner’s car also turned over once and came to rest on its wheels near the inside of the racing surface. 

Ronnie quickly emerged from his #68 car and the track crew pushed his car off the racing surface, while other safety workers rushed to Crone’s #25 Toyota-powered Malloy midget which was resting on its side midway down the back straightaway.  Once the car was righted, Courtney slowly climbed out but she soon laid on the ground behind the machine and was tended to by emergency personnel.

After several anxious minutes, Courtney walked with assistance to the ambulance to cheers from the crowd.  The author visited with Courtney after the race and is glad to report that after she spent part of Saturday night in a local hospital for observation, Courtney was reportedly quite sore from her rough ride and she and her father Jack returned home to Southern California on Sunday. 

The running order for the restart after the red flag was withdrawn with five laps to go was Faccinto, Alex Schutte, Guerrini, Cory Elliott (up from 13^th at the start) and Shannon McQueen in fifth. Elliott immediately charged past Frankie to grab third place, then powered into second while Danny Carroll moved past McQueen.  On race’s the last lap, Elliott’s machine suffered an apparent rear end problem and suddenly slowed in turn four, which created a traffic jam as the field packed up behind Elliott while winner Michael Faccinto streaked under the double checkered flags.

Fans will remember that at the last BCRA dirt track race at Placerville Speedway, Faccinto left the track in an ambulance after a scary-looking flip which makes his return to victory lane in the Carrillo Rod sponsored #35F midget a sweet one indeed.  Frankie Guerrini emerged from the last lap scrum to finish second to cap a strong feature performance, with Alex Schutte third and Shannon McQueen in fourth place. Danny Carroll got caught up in the confusion of the final turn to finish in fifth place, while Ronnie Gardner recovered from his earlier flip to finish in sixth place, one position ahead of Cory Elliott who coasted across the line in his wounded machine.

Maria Cofer edged Randi Pankratz for eighth, with the ageless Floyd Alvis in tenth place, CJ Sarna eleventh and JR Williams who solved his nagging fuel line problems of the past few events finished in twelfth position in his Carson City-based #74 midget. The non-finishers from thirteenth on back were Crone, Nichols, Dalby, Dolacki and Prickett with Britton Bock who grandfather Doug was inducted into the BCRA Hall of Fame earlier in the day in eighteenth place. Bielman in his second ever midget race placed nineteenth followed by Howard, Ensign and Daniel as Nate Wait rounded out the 23-car field.

The mighty midgets of the BCRA return to action on July 22 at Marysville Raceway in an exciting twin-bill with the BCRA midget lites division.   The racing program will also feature the track’s wingless sprint car division, economy sprint cars and super stocks on the program with hot laps scheduled to start at 6 PM.

    

A collection of Packards

at the Automobile Driving Museum

 

The Automotive Driving Museum (ADM) located at 610 Lairport Street in El Segundo California near the LAX airport featured a number of Packard collector cars, making this museum a great place to visit.

 

 

 

One of the earliest Packards on display is this 1916 Packard “Twin Six” 12-cylinder 4-passenger convertible. In response to Cadillac’s introduction of a V-8 engine, Packard’s new chief engineer Jesse Vincent designed and developed the “Twin Six” which was introduced to the buying public in 1916. This first production V-12 engine which in its first year did not have detachable cylinder heads produced 88 horsepower from 424 cubic inches.

Next in the chronological history of the ADM’s Packards is this 1929 Packard 633 4-passenger convertible one of four Packard models (629, 633, 640 and 645) offered that year. This particular car sold in Australia this it is equipped with right-hand drive, is also equipped with the extra-cost sold Disteel wheels.

 

 

 

We will close this article with another Packard twelve cylinder, this 1937 V-12 Convertible Sedan. The V-12 powerplant produces 174 horsepower from 473 cubic inches connected to a three-speed manual transmission in a chassis with a 144 inch (12-foot) wheelbase.

 

 

 

All photographs by the  author  

ALEX SCHUTTE

CAPTURES

 PLACERVILLE GOLD

 

Fourteen “mighty midgets” from the Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) invaded “Knoxville on the Hill” Placerville Speedway on Saturday July 1 2017 for a dramatic evening of racing in tandem with the track’s 360 cubic inch winged sprint cars.

There were two interesting entries; new BCRA member Ronnie Gardner, the reigning four-time USAC Western States midget champion was behind the wheel of Ted Finkenbinder’s Esslinger powered #3F midget, and Bakersfield’s Cory Elliott was the only driver to pull “double duty” as he debuted his new winged sprint car.

Elliott’s night started off with a problem as his #11E midget refused to fire off for wheel-packing, but the Elliott crew quickly diagnosed and resolved the mechanical gremlins in time for Cory to join the field for the warm-up sessions. Anaheim’s Robert Dalby was the fastest in hot laps with a best lap of 12.069 seconds with a back-up lap of 12.269 seconds.

Alex Schutte toured the Placerville banked ¼-mile oval in 12.325 seconds followed by Michael Faccinto in Mike Sala’s #19W at 12.378 seconds and Elliott rounded out the top four with a best lap of 12.407 seconds. Randi Pankratz’s car failed to fire for warm-ups with assistance from John Cofer and BCRA officials the #8 Edmunds machine’s fuel delivery problem was quickly rectified.  

The BCRA drivers had earlier drawn for starting positions in  the two seven-car 8-lap preliminary heat races. The first heat race featured the ageless Floyd Alvis on the pole with Terry ‘the Panda’ Nichols alongside.

 

As the field raced into turn three on the first lap, the cars of Alvis, Schutte and Frankie Guerrini made contact. Schutte and Guerrini were able to continue but Alvis spun to stop and was hit by defending BCRA champion Bobby Wilson’s #87. With the track blocked, Faccinto’ s #19W midget rolled over once and came to rest on all four wheels.

Michael indicated that he was suffering from neck pain and the Placerville Speedway safety crew did a superb job of removing him from the car on a back board. After he was transported to the local hospital, X-rays proved negative and Michael was released, albeit very sore but otherwise OK. All BCRA officials fans and drivers wish Michael a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him back in action soon. 

When the race restarted with all the cars except Faccinto’s, Terry Nichols took command and used the groove around the inside of the track trailed by Aussie driver Danny Carroll in the Sean Dodenhoff #9C and Wilson. Frankie Guerrini was the only driver to try and use the high groove in the F& F #63 but did not experience any success. Wilson slipped by Carroll to take second place for a few laps, but at the finish Carroll slipped past to finish second behind Nichols with Guerrini fourth, and Schutte who battled brake problems fifth and Alvis sixth.

In the second heat race, Ronnie Gardner in the #3F grabbed the lead at the drop of the green flag as Maria Cofer hung tough in second place and fought off passing attempts first by David Prickett in the #22Q and late in the race from Cory Elliott who moved up from his sixth starting spot. At the drop of the checkered flag the finishing order was Gardner, Cofer, Elliott, Prickett, Pankratz, Dalby and the #74 of JR Williams.

The winner of the first heat race, Terry Nichols drew the ‘10’ pill for the feature re-draw, so Randi Pankratz was scheduled to start on the pole position, but first she and her crew thrashed to change out the birdcage on her Edmunds midget’s rear suspension. Meanwhile, Elliott was doing his ‘double duty’ in the sprint car B main but fell just short of transferring to the feature.

At the drop of the green flag for the 25-lap feature, Randi Pankratz took the race lead and held on as she used the low groove around the inside of the clay oval with Schutte in close pursuit.  Fifth place starter Elliott immediately began to use the top groove and raced up to battle for second place before his car began to experience an apparent fuel delivery problem which got progressively worse. 

The caution flag flew on lap 7 when Wilson hopped over Dalby’s rear wheel as the pair entered turn three which eliminated Wilson for the night, The top five running order under caution was Pankratz, Prickett, Schutte, Cofer and Carroll with Gardner in sixth place. Elliott took his #11E to the work area under the caution, but the Elliott crew was unable to diagnose the problem and he returned at the tail of the field. Meanwhile Guerrini retired with a flat left front tire and JR Williams retired his #74 midget with a fuel leak.

After the restart, Ronnie Gardner used the high groove to move the #3F midget up to battle for third place but he soon retreated back to the sixth. On lap 11, Schutte moved back into second place, and then on lap 21, Alex squeezed underneath Randi as the pair entered turn three side-by-side. The pair bumped and Schutte emerged from the scramble with the lead as Prickett and Carroll took advantage to drop Randi’s #8 midget to fourth place.

The action slowed on lap 23 after Maria Cofer who was battling a rear brake issue collided with Pankratz and both cars came to a stop between turns one and two. Cory Elliott was scored in fourth flag under the caution flag behind Carroll, but when the green flag was displayed, Elliott powered into third place as Carroll also encountered brake problems.

Alex Schutte battled back from problems early in the evening to win the 25-lap feature with David Prickett second while Cory Elliott recovered from his earlier misadventures to finish third in a car that Cory complained was not running right. Terry Nichols finished a strong fourth after he started in tenth place, while Danny Carroll finished fifth ahead of Alvis, Pankratz, Gardner and Cofer, as Williams, Dalby, Guerrini and Wilson failed to finish.

The BCRA midgets return to action on the 1/3-mile Madera Speedway pavement next Saturday July 8 for the 100-lap Gerhardt Classic which will feature the racers taking the green flag in a three-abreast start. It will be an action-packed night of racing with the   BCRA midgets vintage division will also be on the program along with the Western Winged Super Sprint Series, USAC HPD Midgets, NCMA Sprints, CSS/360 Super Modifieds, Legends of Kearney Bowl, Senior Open Vintage Super Modifieds, and the NCPRO 4 Modifieds.

One final note - be sure to get your ticket orders in now for the July 15 Jack London Picnic and BCRA Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Details are available on the BCRA website at http://www.bcraracing.com/