Triplett's Eye on Cars: March 2019

Monday, March 25, 2019

The RJ Allen 100 at Irwindale Speedway

On Saturday night March 23, 2019 Irwindale Speedway hosted 34 Spears Manufacturing SRL Southwest Tour late models presented by Lucas Oil for the ‘RJ Allen Inc.100‘ presented by Traffic Management Inc. The SRL Modified Series and the South West Tour Truck (SWTT) series shared the card for a night full of racing excitement on the ½-mile progressively banked Irwindale oval.

The program opened with qualifying for all classes, and the SRL Southwest Tour late models destroyed the existing late model track record of 17.272 seconds. The first car to eclipse the old record was multi-time Irwindale track champion Trevor Huddleston with a best lap of 17.091 seconds, before Dylan Lupton took to the track and re-set a new track record of 17.055 seconds.

Once time trials were over, the top five late model qualifiers all recorded laps below the old track record while the 2018 Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) champion, 14-year-old Jesse Love, in his first race on a half-mile track, piloted his #38 Naake-Klauer Motorsports Toyota Camry to the 16^th fastest time of the 33 cars that took qualifying laps. The fastest SRL Modified qualifier, Trevor Christani reset the record for that class with a fastest lap of 18.424 seconds which broke the old record by .046 seconds.

The evening’s racing program opened with a 35-lap feature for the South West Tour Trucks, with the top six qualifiers fully inverted, so the fast qualifier Ronnie Davis Jr. started on the outside of the third row in his #78 truck. Davis used the low groove to move forward and took over from the early leader Curtis Brown in turn two of lap two, while Davis’ his nearest competitor Ron Nava was black-flagged from second place and assessed a stop-and-go penalty for passing before the starting line at the start of the race.

The penalty against Nava left Davis with a huge lead of 12 car lengths over the new second place runner Mike Kelperis. As the race progressed Davis built up a large lead of over five seconds at the checkered flag over Kelperis, Steve Reeves, Robert Vandermooren and Ron Nava who recovered from his early penalty to finish in fifth place.

The SRL Modifieds took to the oval for their first 40-lap segment after the top eight qualifiers re-drew for their starting positions. Jason Irwin took the lead from his outside front row starting position, while behind him back in the pack, cars ran four-wide through the fourth turn on the first lap. Teammates Ryan Schartu and Dylan Cappello settled into second and third place with fast qualifier Christiani in fourth place.

The top four cars separated themselves from the rest of the pack, and after the restart following a caution flag on lap 17, Christiani began to work the low line through the turns and by lap 22 challenged Irwin for the lead. The orange-and-black #24 rode the low line into the lead on lap 22 and Christiani steadily pulled away to win comfortably over Cappello, Irwin, Justin Johnson and Schartu. The race’s big mover was Ryan Partridge who started 16^th, went a lap a down early in the race and battled back to finish eighth.

The top eight Spears Manufacturing SRL Southwest Tour late model qualifiers also re-drew for starting positions for their first 50-lap segment, with 2018 SRL champion Jeremy Doss and Linny White on the front row and Lupton the fastest qualifier starting on the outside of the third row. At the drop of the green, Doss surged to the point with Derek Thorn in second and Preston Peltier in third place. After several caution flag periods, Peltier moved to the lead trailed by Thorn, Doss and Lupton, with Jesse Love back in the in 16^th place. At the drop of the checkered flag on lap 50, Peltier took the victory with Doss in second, Thorn third, Lupton fourth, Jacob Gomes in fifth and Craig Raudman sixth while the young phenom Jesse Love finished 17th.

The second SRL Modified 40-lap segment took the green flag with the top seven finishers from the first segment inverted which resulted in exciting side-by-side action with race cars three wide through the corners at times. Jeremy Kay held the point for the first seven laps, while the first segment winner Christiani settled into second place.

By lap 15, Christiani was pressuring Kay for the lead by utilizing the low groove through the turns, and the #24 car took the lead on lap 18. Christiani then began to stretch his lead which was up to 1.2 seconds to lap 30, and grew to 1.7 seconds by lap 35. Trevor Christiani took the second segment victory by 2.1 seconds over Jeremy Kay, Dylan Cappello, Ryan Schartu, and Justin Johnson. With his two victories, Christiani was declared the night’s overall SRL Modified winner.

For the night’s final event, the second Spears Manufacturing SRL Southwest Tour late model 50-lap segment, the top ten finishers in the first segment were inverted for the start, with winner Preston Peltier on the outside of the fifth row in the 28-car field. From the start, action was torrid with the top half of the field running in close order. The race’s first caution flew when 2018 SRL runner-up Eric Schmidt’s #05 wound up in the outside wall exiting turn two on the second lap.

After the restart on lap five, the #33 car of M.K. Kanke hit the turn four wall, then on lap eleven the #71 car of Kyle Neveau slid into the turn two wall from second place, then rebounded and grazed the right front fender of the third-place car driven by Peltier. Neveau and Peltier’s #18 both continued; Peltier in third place behind Thorn and Doss, but Neveau fell back into the field.

During the middle laps of the race, there were three separate incidents on the backstretch, as contact between cars caused spin-outs, with the third incident the most serious as Neveau’s car slammed in the third turn wall drivers-side first after apparent contact with Brandon Loverock’s #72. The hard contact necessitated a red flag, but the driver emerged uninjured but the car suffered heavy damage.

Peltier held the lead for the lap 31 restart ahead of Jeff Bischofberge, Jeremy Doss, Dylan Lupton and Jacob Gomes with young rookie Jesse Love in twelfth place. Unfortunately, on lap 39, Love’s evening came to an end as the cars of Cole Moore and Jack Wood made contact entering turn one, with Moore hard into the outside wall, which left Love nowhere to go but into the outside wall. The accident brought out another red flag, and all three cares were eliminated but none of the drivers were injured. Young Jesse expressed frustration in the pit area after the race, as his chance for a top ten finish in his first SRL Southwest Tour appearance was lost through no fault of his own.

Preston Peltier's winning machine following post-race inspection

After the race restarted, Peltier held a comfortable lead over Bischofberge, while the machines of Doss, Lupton Craig Raudman and Jace Hansen fought for third place, with the running order of those four cars changing literally every lap. The finishing order of the second segment was Preston Peltier, Jeff Bischofberge, Raudman, Hansen, Lupton and Doss in sixth. By winning both segments, Peltier claimed the overall victory in the ‘RJ Allen 100 presented by Traffic Management Inc.’ and the $5,000 winner’s check.

Irwindale Speedway’s favorite son, Trevor Huddleston, suffered problems with his #50 machine all night and was never a factor. In his post-race interview, the new track record holder Dylan Lupton shared that while his car was fast in qualifying, it never handled well in traffic, although the adjustments that the crew made during the break improved the car’s handling for the second segment, Lupton could not match the speed of the leaders.

On Saturday night March 30 Irwindale Speedway will present the ‘NAPA Auto Parts 150’ for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West cars together with the ‘Night of Destruction,’ presented by LKQ Pick Your Part. All the K&N West cars and stars are expected to be on hand, including Brittney Zamora, Jagger Jones, Ryan Partridge and the K& N Las Vegas race winner Hailie Deegan. Also on tap will be the Saugus Speedway Reunion with Grand Marshal Ron Hornaday Jr. Spectator gates are scheduled to open at 4 PM with the first race at 7 PM.

Check out the websites for the series mentioned in this article at:

https://www.srlsouthwesttour.com/

http://www.southwesttourtrucks.com/home.html

https://hometracks.nascar.com/regional/kn-pro-series-west/

For further information about Irwindale Speedway, check out the website at:

http://irwindalespeedway.com/

Thursday, March 21, 2019

Huddleston to do battle with

Spears SRL Late Models at Irwindale

Trevor Huddleston, the 4-time NASCAR All-American Series State of California champion, will compete in the ‘RJ Allen Inc. 100‘ presented by Traffic Management Inc. for the Spears Manufacturing SRL Southwest Tour late models presented by Lucas Oil on Saturday March 23, 2019 at Irwindale Speedway. Expectations for Trevor's performance will be high as the three-time track champion has 44 feature race wins at Irwindale Speedway, with his last Irwindale win on March 9, 2019.

In the 2019 SRL Southwest Tour inaugural event, Huddleston will do battle with SRL defending champion Jeremy Doss and 2018 series runner-up Eric Schmidt, as well as talented rookie Jesse Love, the 2018 Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) Midget champion and the INEX Legends Cars road course world champion. Love will be the youngest driver to ever compete in a SPEARS Southwest Tour Series event, at the age of 14 driving a Naake-Klauer Motorsports Toyota Camry Super Late Model.

The Spears Manufacturing SRL Southwest Tour late models will run twin 50-lap features on Saturday, and the best combined finisher will collect a $5000 purse offered by Senneker Performance. Also in action on March 23 will be the SRL Modified Series with scheduled twin 40-lap features, and the SRL Tour Truck Series.

After practice sessions Friday afternoon, on Saturday, the pit gates will open at 11 AM, and the spectator gates are scheduled to open at 4 PM. Qualifying for all three divisions will start at 415 PM, with the on-track O’Reilly Autograph Session scheduled for 545 PM, and opening ceremonies at 645 PM.

For more details check out Irwindale Speedway's website at http://irwindalespeedway.com/

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Danica Patrick to join NBC Sports for the 2019 Indianapolis 500

NBC Sports announced that Danica Patrick, an eight-time starter in the Indianapolis 500-mile race, will join the NBC broadcasting team for the 103^rd running of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Ms. Patrick will be paired as a studio analyst with veteran broadcaster Mike Tirico and will provide pre-race, in-race and post-race commentary for NBC Sports’ first broadcast of the Indianapolis ‘500.’

During a Wednesday press conference, Sam Flood, NBC Sports’ Executive Producer & President, Production, in his introduction stated that Ms. Patrick “was fearless in the car and will be fearless in her commentary.” Referring to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Ms. Patrick stated, “that the moment I drive into the facility, I’m flooded with positive emotions.” She related that she “feels deep respect for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway” and the Indianapolis ‘500’, as it was where it all started for me.”

She stated that her favorite memory of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway came with her first ‘500’,’ which she described as a “magical month” and a “transformative time as an athlete and a brand.” In her rookie year of 2005, Danica qualified fourth fastest and finished fourth after she led nineteen laps. She stepped away from IndyCar after the 2011 season to concentrate on NASCAR Cup Series racing, though she returned to Indianapolis for a final run in the ‘500’ in 2018. Danica qualified seventh fastest and crashed out on lap 67 and was scored 30^th.

Ms. Patrick said she has been traveling and working on her businesses, and that she doesn’t miss racing. In interviews after her last race, she did not rule out a potential broadcasting opportunity, but in today’s press conference, Danica stated that she is not looking for a broadcast career, that she considers this as a single event. She said she is looking forward to seeing the build-up on race day and that it will be “a cool perspective,” as when she raced at Indianapolis she avoided the build-up and focused on the race.

NBC Sports’ coverage of the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series continues March 24 with the INDYCAR Classic at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, at 1 p.m. ET on NBCSN, NBCSports.com, and the NBC Sports app. The 103rd Indianapolis 500 will air on NBC at 11 a.m. ET Sunday., May 26^th.

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Kern County Raceway hosts

historic first POWRi BCRA race

The Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) kicked off its 80^th year of racing action and entered a new era with the first-ever Performance Open Wheel Racing Inc. (POWRi) BCRA Lucas Oil Midget Series race Friday night March 15, 2019 on the 1/3-mile Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway near Bakersfield.

Seventeen mighty midgets posted qualifying times, topped by Austin Liggett in his own #83 midget. Liggett’s fast lap of 15.233 seconds edged out Chase Johnson in the Del Morris #47M by just .078 seconds, with Maria Cofer third in the John Cofer #57 at 15.331 seconds. Robert Dalby, Cory Elliott and Shannon McQueen rounded out the fastest six qualifiers.

The first heat started with a bang, as while the pole sitter Michael Faccinto streaked out of turn four on the first lap, CJ Sarna took a tumble back in the pack after contact with Jake Swanson. Sarna’s car was finished for the heat race, but Swanson’s crew replaced his flat right front tire and Jake rejoined at the back of the field for the complete restart.

On the race’s first recorded lap, Liggett dropped to the low side through turn four and took the lead from Faccinto. By lap four Swanson had worked his way up through the field to run second behind Liggett with Dalby in third. On lap seven, Faccinto pulled his #71R Morris Motorsports car into the infield, and the finishing order was Liggett, Swanson, Dalby and Ben Worth.

The second heat race was dominated by Bakersfield College student Cory Elliott, who obviously lost none of his talent in his during his short absence from midget racing, as the #11E went wire-to-wire. After eight laps, Elliott crossed the finish line ahead of Chase Johnson, Terry Nichols, Frank Guerrini III, Dylan Ito, and Robert Carson. Robert is the son of three-time BCRA champion Glenn Carson, and the grandson of the late BCRA legendary car owner Howard Segur. Robert’s grandmother is the owner of the #99 midget with which Robert is contending for 2019 POWRi BCRA Rookie-of-the-Year honors.

The third heat race had trouble on the first lap, as Shannon McQueen spun to a stop at the end of the backstretch after contact with another machine, but #7 McQueen Racing machine restarted and the 2011 BCRA Dirt Series driver champion rejoined the tail of the field for the restart. At the drop of the green, Maria Cofer shot into lead and streaked away from the field and the 2017 BCRA champion won the heat race in convincing fashion ahead of McQueen, rookie Troy Morris III, and Gage Rucker in the Cory Kruseman entry.

While POWRi BCRA officials totaled up the passing points from the heat races to determine the feature race lineup, Frank Guerrini III’s F&F Racing #63 was withdrawn with engine issues, but CJ Sarna’s hard working crew affected repairs to the #20 machine following the heat race mishap.

Top points earner Liggett shared the front row with Maria Cofer for the start while Elliott and Johnson were deployed in the second row, and Swanson and McQueen shared the third row for the start of the 25-lpa main event. At the drop of the green flag, Cofer shot into the lead with Johnson and McQueen in hot pursuit. The action was slowed on lap two as Rucker spun to stop in turn three, and on the restart, Cofer’s car pulled a big wheel stand which allowed Chase Johnson to slip by into the race lead.

On lap five, Cory Elliott moved into fourth place, but his charge forward was halted for the moment when the yellow flag flew on lap eight as the #71R Morris Motorsports entry piloted by Faccinto rolled to a stop in turn two with engine maladies. On the restart, the field charged hard into turn one, but Elliott’s car caught a rut and went for a ride that ended against the turn one outside wall. Cory emerged from the car uninjured, but the #11E machine was done for the night.

After the third restart, Johnson began to stretch his lead and built up an eight-car cushion by lap 14 over Cofer, as Liggett, McQueen and Swanson rounded out the top five positions. On lap 15, Dylan Ito’s Josh Ford Racing #73 lost its left rear wheel and came to a stop out of turn two on the backstretch. After the race’s final restart, Johnson again began to pull away as behind him Cofer fell to third place behind Liggett. Swanson began a late race charge to the front, and Jake moved into second place on lap 22 while Cofer reclaimed third place.

Johnson held a ten-car advantage over Swanson at the checkered flag, with Maria Cofer third, Austin Liggett fourth and Robert Dalby in fifth place. Sixth through tenth place finishers were Shannon McQueen, Ben Worth, Terry Nichols, Troy Morris III, and Kyle Beilman. Gage Rucker was eleventh with CJ Sarna twelfth and Robert Carson rounded out the finishers in thirteenth. The non-finishers were in order Dylan Ito, Cory Elliott, and Michael Faccinto with Frankie Guerrini, who did not start the feature, was scored seventeenth.

The POWRi BCRA midget series returns to the Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway on May 3, 2019 for the series’ next dirt track race.

The first pavement race for

POWRi BCRA midgets

at Madera Speedway

The Performance Open Wheel Racing Inc. (POWRi) Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) Lucas Oil Midget Series presented a non-points exhibition race for the MAVTV Midget Series at the historic 1/3-mile paved Madera Speedway on Saturday March 16, 2019, the first pavement race of the new POWRi BCRA era.

2018 BCRA overall champion Jesse Love in the 51Fifty Energy Drinks sponsored Van Dyne #5 topped the time trials speed chart with a blistering 13.974 second lap. Second qualifier Jerome Rodela in the Trench Shoring/Ed Pink Racing Engines #25 midget was just .019 of a second slower, while David Goodwill in his #3 midget wound up third with a best lap of 14.030 seconds.

Teammates Dylan Nobile and Cody Gerhardt claimed fourth and fifth qualifying spots respectively, while Toledo Ohio USAC Silver Crown racer Austin Nemire claimed sixth quick honors in the Charles Breidinger #80X Honda-powered midget. Rookie contender Robert Carson did not post a qualifying time with the Segur #99 and Cody Jessop unfortunately withdrew his #00 before qualifying with engine woes.

Both Nemire and Goodwill were late scratches as the field assembled on track for the heat race. At the drop of the green flag, Rodela shot into the early lead ahead of Gerhardt and Love. Love worked past Cody on lap three, then Nobile relegated his teammate to fourth place on lap five, as Carson pulled his machine into the infield. The finishing order for the eight laps was Rodela, Love, Nobile and Gerhardt.

After the new POWRi BCRA race director Don Thornburg totaled up the passing points from the heat race, Rodela started from the coveted pole position with the young phenom Love alongside while Nobile and Gerhardt shared the second row for the 40-lap feature race. At the drop of the green flag, Rodela and Love raced side-by-side around the track for the first lap before Jerome pulled ahead in his Toyota-powered machine as the pair crossed the stripe for the first time.

By lap seven, Rodela had extended his advantage to 10 car lengths over the 14-year old Love, while Nobile rode in third place ahead of Gerhardt. By lap fourteenth, the dominant red-and-white #25 midget held a straightaway advantage over second place, which was extended to ½ alp by lap 26. On lap 32, Rodela lapped past fourth place Cody Gerhardt on his way to a dominant nine-second $1500 victory at the drop of the checkered flag over Love, Nobile and Gerhardt, while 2019 POWRi BCRA series Rookie-of-the-Year contender Robert Carson in the Segur #99 scored a solid fifth place.

The Performance Open Wheel Racing Inc. (POWRi) Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) Lucas Oil Midget Series returns to action on April 27 at the lightning fast new Stockton 99 Speedway paved track along with the Gun Slingers Wing Sprint Car Series, North State Modified Series, Legends of Kearney Bowl, BCRA Midgets, Western US Midgets and the Vintage Midget division.

The POWRi BCRA Lucas Oil Midget Series returns to Madera Speedway for a double points MAVTV Midget Series $1500-to-win race on May 4 as part of a back-to-back POWRi BCRA dirt/asphalt midget racing weekend.

Sunday, March 10, 2019

Irwindale Speedway

hosted seven exciting

2019 season

opening races

On Saturday night March 9 Irwindale Speedway opened its 20^th anniversary season with “City of Irwindale Night’ sponsored by Sunrise Ford that featured racing in six divisions and seven feature races. Despite the chilly local temperatures, approximately 3000 fans saw some hot diverse racing action on both the ½ and 1/3- mile ovals.

The program began with the first of the LKQ Pick Your Park Late Model twin 30-lap features which started the 13-car field “straight up” based on qualifying times. Fast qualifier Ryan Vargas chose the outside front row position for the start.

The wisdom of Vargas’ choice was proven as the inside front row starter Jace Jones, the 14-year old grandson of racing legend Parnelli Jones spun his car’s tires at the start and fell to third place entering turn one. Jones rode behind Vargas and Blaine Perkins with Jones’ Highpoint Racing teammate four-time track champion Trevor Huddleston in fourth place.

The top four cars distanced themselves from the rest of the field, and at the halfway point, Vargas held a 4-car length advantage over Perkins, then on lap 20 Jones set his sights on Perkins – Jones’ and Perkins’ cars ran three laps side-by-side before Jones dropped back in line in third place.

With five laps to go, Huddleston began his march to the front, as he used the low line to pass Jones and Perkins as the leaders raced through lapped cars, but Huddleston could not catch the leader. Vargas went flag-to-flag and won by .648 seconds over Huddleston with Perkins third and rookie Jace Jones fourth.

Next up was the Enduro and Enduro Sport series feature for 1980 and newer compact cars competing for 25 laps around the modified 1/3-mile infield with a dogleg at the starter’s stand. It took a few laps for veteran sprint car racer Rodney Argo to break free of the pack and run down the early leader and he built up a 6-car length lead by lap 6. By lap 13, Argo built a 6-second lead as he ran consistent 18.1 second laps in his black #9 Enduro Sport Honda Accord.

On lap 19, the second-place car was involved in a hard crash in turn two and eliminated but the driver was uninjured. Once the green flag reappeared, Argo drove away from the pack and won by 8 seconds over Bory Molina with Bobby Ozman in third place. Back in the pack Brad Stellman took the stock Enduro class win.

Next up on the 1/3-mile track were the super stocks with V-8 powered muscle cars using their original equipment chassis. Young lady racer Bridgette Shaw led the first lap in her 1973 Petty Blue Dodge Dart but was soon passed by Rich Delong’s #84. At the end of 25 laps, DeLong who won three super stock races in 2018, won by ½ a lap over Jerry Toperek.

73-year old racing legend “Cowboy” Kenny Smith claimed a popular win in the YouRaceLA Spec Late Models 20-lap feature over Ventura’s Ed Cutler.

The INEX Legends series ran an action-packed 35-lap feature to close out the evening’s racing on the 1/3-mile course. The early laps featured wild three-wide action as the field started the race fully inverted. The fast qualifier Cameron Morga from Albuquerque, New Mexico worked his way through the field and took the lead on lap four. Mora put on a dominating performance as he won by six seconds, while Ricky Schlick just edged out 2018 champion Darren Amidon for second place honors.

In his Victory Lane interview, Mora who flew in from Albuquerque on Thursday afternoon and practiced at Irwindale on Thursday and Friday night, stated that “Irwindale is the most demanding track I run on. 35 laps here in a Legends car is as tough as it gets.”

Defending champion Lucas McNeil worked his way to the lead from his fourth row starting sport by the fourth lap of the Lucas Oil Irwindale Race Trucks 30-lap feature on the1/2-mile oval. McNeil and Andrew Porter battled for the lead as the leader’s brother Jacob McNeil, Ron Peterson, Niko Mongenel and Dennis Arena battled for third place. At the drop of the checkered flag, the McNeil brothers bookended second place finisher Porter.

The evening’s finale was the second LKQ Pick Your Part Late Models 30-lap feature, this time with the top ten finishers from the first race inverted for the start. As the tightly packed field raced three-wide through turn four on the opening lap, Rodney Peacher’s yellow #35 and the #88 of Japanese driver Takuma Koga touched, and Peacher’s car was turned and crashed hard head-on into the outside retaining wall which brought out the red flag to stop the action.

After track emergency workers extracted an uninjured Peacher from the wreckage and cleaned up the fluids spilled onto the track, action resumed with one lap complete. On the restart which included all but Peacher’s car, Trevor Huddleston got caught up in an accordion action as the cars ahead failed to pick up the throttle. Trevor’s blue #50 car spun into infield which brought out the yellow flag and the field reset for another restart, this time with the three-time defending champion at the tail of the field.

When the green flag reappeared Kevin Furden surged into the lead as action behind him was 3 and 4 wide at times as the faster cars came up through the field. On lap five, Furden’s #34 bobbled as he entered the backstretch and he fell to eighth place by the time the field reached the stripe. Lucas McNeil assumed the lead trailed by Blaine Perkins, Trevor Huddleston and Ryan Vargas. Huddleston claimed second place on lap 10, then on lap he dropped to the low side of the track to challenge McNeil for the lead.

The lead pair dueled side-by-side for four laps, then on lap 20 in turns 3 and 4, as they approached two slower cars, Huddleston dove beneath McNeil then split the slower cars to grab the race lead. Huddleston built a comfortable 2-second lead over McNeil over the final nine circuits, with Perkins third, Vargas fourth and rookie Jace Jones in fifth position.

After the first two races, Huddleston holds a four-point lead for the 2019 LKQ Pick Your Part late Model championship over Ryan Vargas, who in turn has a two-marker lead over third place Blaine Perkins.

Next up on Irwindale Speedway’s half-mile oval will be the Spears Modifieds and the RJ Allen 150 SRL Tour and the Southwest Tour Trucks series presented by Traffic Management on March 23. On March 30, Irwindale Speedway will host the NASCAR K & N West Pro Series for the NAPA Auto Parts 150 along with the Saugus Speedway reunion with Grand Marshal Ron Hornaday Junior.

Friday, March 1, 2019

Pelican Parts open house

Pelican Parts and Dempsey Motorsports recently held an open house at their shop in Harbor City, California and your intrepid author spotted by and took a few photos.

Pelican Parts was started in 1997 by veteran Porsche owners Wayne Dempsey and Tom Gould with the goal to provide affordable European Parts and accessories to enthusiasts worldwide.

Pelican Parts' customer focus is on the weekend mechanic - the fellow who loves to tinker and work on his car at any chance he can get. They specialize in parts for Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, Saab, Volvo and Mini.