A $50,000 bonus offered for

the 2018 Chili Bowl Nationals

 

 

 

Winning the Golden Driller at the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire is one of the hardest prizes to earn in any form of motorsports. With an entry list that exceeds 300 cars, just to make the 24-car Saturday night A-Feature is an accomplishment in and of itself. It would be even tougher to win the Chill Bowl from the back, but in 2018 drivers will have 50,000 reasons to try.

For the 32nd edition of the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals any driver who wins their preliminary night while using a seat from the Joie of Seating, they are in the running to take the Joie of Seating $50,000 Challenge. Following the “BC Forever” Pole Dash, the race pole sitter will be offered the choice to drop to the tail to start the A main event.

If the pole sitter doesn't take it, then next eligible preliminary night winner with a Joie of Seating seat will be offered the choice, and so forth until the list of eligible preliminary night winners is exhausted, so potentially four drivers could be offered the chance to say yes to the $50,000 Challenge.

Randy LaJoie, a two time NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion, began manufacturing seats in 1996 in order to produce what he felt was a safer, and much more custom fitted seat.  "On this deal, I am promoting my company because I want these drivers to be as safe as possible, but at the same time I want to add something fun, and give a driver a chance to make a little extra money. With the track crew they have, a guy can come through the field so it should be exciting to watch."

More details will be released by LaJoie as the Chili Bowl Nationals scheduled for January 9 through the 13th 2018 draws closer.

Information and graphics provided by the Chili Bowl Nationals

Everyone loves a Nomad -today

 

 

 

This understated 1955 Chevy Bel Air Nomad mild custom drew a lot of attention at the 2107 "Autos of Alamo" car show.

1955 Nomad wasn't the first two-door station wagon that honor goes to the 1950 Ford Country Squire wagon, but it groundbreaking with styling that copied the Chevrolet hardtop sedan. The Nomad traced its origins back to the 1954 General Motor Motorama  "Dream Car" car of the same name.

Although today we look back upon this 2-door design as iconic, sales of the Nomad the most expensive car in the Chevrolet showroom ($2571 in 1955), never met expectations.  Introduced four months into the 1955 model year there were 8,386 1955 Nomads produced, but full-year sales totals actually dropped in 1956 to 7,886 units and dropped again in 1957 with just 6,100 Nomads sold. Future Chevrolet Nomads were four doors, except for the short-lived 1976 Vega Nomad wagon.

The Pontiac Division of General Motors shared the same body and sold it as the Safari wagon. The Safari was even more expensive that the Nomad with a list price of approximately $500 more and Safari sales were less than half those of the Nomad for the same three model years 1955-1957. After 1957 Pontiac Safari wagon featured a four-door body design.  

All photographs by the author

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IOWA SPEEDWAY ANNOUNCES

2018 SEASON TICKET PACKAGES



 

 

 

Ticket packages start

at just $99 for a six-race season





 



 

 

 



Brady Bacon names finalists for Baton Award

Three finalists have been named for the first annual Brady Bacon Baton Award which will select a young up and coming driver whom Bacon foresees as a future racing star bound for greater glory. The identity of the winner will be revealed on November 11 as part of the 2017 Racers Reunion Banquet in Irving Texas.

Bacon, the two-time United States Auto Club (USAC) sprint car champion from Broken Arrow Oklahoma who began racing at age five and throughout his career Bacon has excelled in midgets, sprint cars and championship cars on both dirt and asphalt race tracks across the country.  With over twenty years of experience in building, working on and racing open-wheel racing cars has provided Brady a unique perspective to identify and evaluate future racing talents. The three finalists for the 2017 Brady Bacon Baton Award are Giovanni Scelzi, Logan Seavey and Tyler Thomas.

 

Giovanni Scelzi 

 

Giovanni Scelzi started his racing career at a young age in micro sprints on local California tracks when he was just 6 years old. Those early experiences and the mentorship of his older brother Dominic and his father, four-time National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) drag racing champion Gary Scelzi, has clearly helped the 15-year-old driver’s career.  After he notched a remarkable 24 feature wins and two track championships during the 2010 season, the following year, as a nine-year old, Scelzi moved up to the restricted micro sprint class and won another track championship.

In 2015 Giovanni led all 25 laps to claim the “A” class winged micro sprint main event and the “Golden Driller” at the famed Speedway Motors Tulsa Shootout held at the Expo Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 2016 Giovanni made the jump to full-sized sprint cars and collected eight victories and his first career California Speedweek championship. During the season, “Gio” claimed the King of Kings Speedway title and recorded a total of twelve top 10 finishes in 17 winged sprint car races and was voted the 360 Rookie of the Year by the North American 410 Sprint Car Poll voting panel.

This season, Giovanni has focused on the King of the West - NARC 410 winged sprint car series with the Dennis Roth Motorsports team and as of this writing leads the championship chase. Scelzi has not restricted his racing to just the state of California, as he scored a clean sweep at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa driving for BDS Motorsports with the Sprint Invaders series along with  three top five finishes in three American Sprint Car Series National series starts.

 

Logan Seavey celebrates

his Hockett/McMillin win

 

The next Brady Bacon Baton candidate, Logan Seavey, also hails from the Golden State. While Scelzi lives in the central California town of Fresno, Logan comes from the historic Gold Country town of Sutter in the northern part of the state.   Seavey began racing outlaw karts in 2002 at the ripe young age of 5 years old and won his first race when he was 6 years old behind the wheel of his box stock kart.

In 2007, just his fifth year behind the wheel, Seavey won his first championship, claiming the Box Stock title at the famed Cycleland Speedway in Chico California. Since then Logan has added five more outlaw kart championships that include back-to-back championships in the Red Bluff Outlaws Winter Indoor Series in 2015 and 2016 and the 2015 QRC Speed Sport Challenge.

2017 has been a breakout year for Logan, as he has scored two victories in the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League with victories in the ‘Camfield Memorial’ race at Macon Speedway in Macon Illinois and at Lincoln Speedway in Lincoln Illinois on the final night of Illinois Speedweek.

 

As of this writing, Seavey leads the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League championship chase with nine top five and nine top ten finishes to go along with his two victories.  Last month, Logan had a dream weekend  as he won all three nights of the seventh annual Hockett/McMillin Memorial race in the Daum Motorsports 5D with the POWRi Lucas Oil WAR (non-wing) Sprint Car League.  

 

 

Tyler Thomas in action

at the Chili Bowl

 

The third Brady Bacon Baton finalist, Tyler Thomas has been a standout for the last several years with the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League. Thomas from Collinsville Oklahoma began racing at just four years of age and recorded five championships on the Regional and Club level with 28 wins before he moved to Micro Sprints in 2009.  Tyler quickly put together 9 wins for his first season and quickly moved to the Ecotec Midget division in 2010 and won 6 of the 8 races in which he competed.

In 2011, Tyler debuted in the POWRI Midget Series, and he became the youngest driver to win a POWRI main event at the age of 15. 2012 and 2013 saw Thomas record more wins and podiums to finish 5th and 4th respectively in the POWRI National Midget standings. Last year Thomas added another win and 10 top-5 finishes

After he started his 2017 season with a strong fifth place finish in his preliminary night feature and a 17th place finish in the Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa Oklahoma, Tyler has scored three POWRi Lucas Oil National victories at Macon Speedway and Jacksonville Speedways in Illinois and Valley Speedway in Grass Valley Missouri. Thomas won the Sooner Midget Nationals with the Lucas Oil POWRi West Midget League at Red Dirt Raceway in Meeker, Oklahoma, and Tyler with the Brian Thomas #91T midget currently stands 12th in the USAC national midget points.  

The presentation of the Brady Bacon Baton Award is just one of the many exciting events on tap for the 2017 Racers Reunion in Irving Texas on November 11.  In addition to the special tribute to our nation’s veterans for Veterans Day, the banquet will feature as a special guest, three-time Indianapolis 500-mile race winner, the legendary Bobby Unser who will share stories of his many racing victories and times as a racing commentator for ABC Sports. 

 

 

Also scheduled for the eighth annual Racers Reunion are programs that will examine the first 50 years of the International Motor Contest Association (IMCA) and the life of pioneering Hall of Fame drag racer, Bobby Langley, and the USAC Hall of Fame induction of the legendary Texas racer Lloyd Ruby.

Tickets for the eighth annual Racers Reunion Banquet, which in addition to the feature presentations includes an afternoon guest speaker, autograph session and an afternoon of bench racing with a large collection of vintage race cars and memorabilia are available at http://www.radiusnation.net

 

1932 Chevrolet Confederate sedan

 

 

 

Given today’s poetically correct social environment, many people will likely be surprised to learn that in 1932, Chevrolet Division of the General Motors Company marketed its new BA series car as the “Confederate.” Chevrolet advertised that the Confederate had “V-16 styling at a six cylinder price" and emphasized that it was the "Great American Value."

 

The Confederate series encompassed fourteen different body styles and a total of 313,395 were built in five factories across the United States during the 1932 sales year.

 

Notice the Chevrolet Spark passing in the background

 

The wire mesh grille was standard

 

The chrome louvers on the hood dual spare tire side mounts and cowl lights on this car which was seen at the “Autos of Alamo” car show identify it as a Confederate Special sedan.

 

 

 

 The Confederate rides on 18-inch true spoke wire wheels.

 

 

 

 

The Confederate series was powered by the trusty 194 cubic inch 60-horsepower (up 10 from 1931) “Stovebolt Six” engine connected to the all-new three-speed “Silent Synchro-Mesh” transmission and the "Simplified Free Wheeling" mode was standard, which permitted the car to coast when the driver's foot was lifted from the accelerator via an over-running clutch, that disengaged the driveshaft from the output shaft.

 

 

 

This beauty is very well-equipped fitted with the dual front "Town and Country" horns, dual rear-view mirrors, luggage racks, front and rear bumpers and the optional passenger side brake and parking light. All of these options that could have been added either at the factory or the dealership.    

 

After one year of disappointing sales with many sales lost to the new V-8 Ford,  the Confederate  was replaced for 1933 by the CA series sold as the "Eagle" and "Master" which when combined sold 140,000 more units than the 1932 Confederate.  

 

All photos by the author

Cody Gerhardt wins season finale

Maria Cofer claims the championship

 

 

Ten of Bay Cities Racing Association’s (BCRA) best pavement midgets were on hand Saturday September 30 at the Madera Speedway for the 2017 season finale. Chad Nichols in the #17N Shanoian Special sped around the 1/3-mile paved oval in 14.193 seconds to claim the top qualifying honors, trailed by Scott Pierovich in the Morris #71R with a best lap of 14.267 seconds.

Cody Gerhardt timed in third fastest trailed by Mark Maliepaard as David Goodwill rounded out the fast five. Leading the second group was third generation racer Davey Hamilton Junior in the Bob Rosen #4, followed by Maria Cofer, JR Williams and Floyd Alvis.  Nick Foster Junior was unable to make the call for time trials in the second Shanoian Special as the #1N suffered from an engine vibration.

Alvis and Cofer led the field to the green flag for the first 8-lap preliminary heat race and Cofer surged into the lead and held the point for the first two circuits. Nichols moved up from his fifth starting spot into second place on the second lap with an outside pass in turn one, then claimed the lead one lap later with another turn one outside pass.

One lap later, Gerhardt charged past Cofer into second place, which dropped Maria in the Arata #88 into third place trailed by Goodwill and Alvis. The running order remained unchanged over the last three laps, all run under the green flag. Foster was unable to answer the call for the second preliminary heat race, which was led wire-to-wire by Davey Hamilton Junior trailed by Pierovich Maliepaard and JR Williams.  

Fastest qualifier Nichols pulled the number “6” pill in the redraw for the starting feature lineup, which positioned Davey Hamilton Junior on the pole position with David Goodwill alongside for the start of the 30-lap season finale feature. Foster was able to take the green flag shotgun on the field but the engine vibrations were so severe that he pulled off as the field entered turn one on the first lap. At the drop of the green flag, Hamilton sped into the lead trailed by Maliepaard Gerhardt Pierovich and Nichols.

Hamilton held a slim lead while the trailing four cars battled among themselves, as between laps seven and ten Maliepaard battled all around the track for second place with Gerhardt finally able to make the high groove work and he began to track down Hamilton. On lap 16, Gerhardt moved low underneath Hamilton as the pair entered turn three. On lap 19, as Goodwill headed down the back stretch his engine went off song, and the #3G came to a stop on lap 20 at the exit of turn two to bring out the race’s first caution flag.

Nichols had a head of steam on the restart and blasted past Maliepaard and Hamilton on the outside of turns one and two to claim second place, but Chad’s evening came to an abrupt end on lap 27 as the #17N coasted into the infield out of fuel.  Cody Gerhardt sped under the twin checkered flags to claim a popular win over Maliepaard, Pierovich, Hamilton, 2017 BCRA season champion Maria Cofer, Floyd Alvis and JR Williams in seventh place. Nichols was scored in eighth position ahead of fellow non-finishers Goodwill and Foster.

 

photo of Maria Cofer by the author

 

 

After the event in the pit area the Arata Brothers’ trailer was a scene of celebration in honor of Maria Cofer’s crowning as the 2017 BCRA champion. Maria continued her family’s tradition of championships, as her father (and crew chief) John was the 1994 United States Auto Club (USAC) Western States series king.

Maria piloted the Arata’s immaculate black #88 #88 on the pavement and drove her father’s red white and black #57 on the dirt portions of the 2017 BCRA schedule. Maria will collect her championship trophy at the annual BCRA awards banquet to be held on January 20 2018 at the Hilton Hotel in Stockton California.