Wednesday, January 6, 2021

Let 2021 Begin!

 I generally don't do reports on practice night events, but I am so anxious to put 2020 in the rear view mirror that I am more than ready to write my first report on the 2021 racing season. 

The IMCA Winter Nationals begins an eight night run over the next two weeks starting on Wednesday night, January 6th here at the Cocopah Speedway near Somerton and Yuma Arizona and Tuesday night, January 5th was a practice night for all five classes that will see action at the track over that time span. IMCA sanctioned Modifieds, Stock Cars, Sport Mods and Hobby Stocks will race on seven of those nights with Sport Compacts and a pit crew competition set to take place next Wednesday night also. And all five classes were represented during the practice night. 

I first attended a race at Cocopah last January and was more than happy to get back out here with circumstances allowing that to happen. It is a looong drive from the Midwest for sure, but once out here the benefits more than make up for the long hours behind the wheel. After having seen all or parts of Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and then on to Arizona, I was ready to see and here some race cars in action and ran into a surprisingly large number of people in the pits that I knew.

Great pleasure is given to talking about the weather here in the Yuma area, particularly if you are coming here to avoid some of the toughest, on average, weeks of the Winter. I'm told that Yuma brags that they average 350 days a year of sunshine so the odds of hitting a rain out are much less than just about any track in North America. And I can tell you that the forecast is for bright sunshine and 70 degree temperatures for the next ten days. Sure it does cool off at night, but not a big deal if you are used to putting up with sub zero temps this time of year normally. 

The pandemic is ragging in Arizona right now and I was very concerned that there might be some kind of last minute cancellation of the event based on the size of the crowds expected over the next ten days for this event. Fortunately, that didn't happen but they are making some special requests as a result of COVID 19. Masks are to be worn when moving out of ones own pit area and I wear mine all the time as I am circulating through the pits constantly. Compliance is spotty, just has it has been at most race tracks over the course of the Summer. Race folks aren't the greatest at following the rules some times but I feel that it's not too much to ask for me to wear a mask if it will help guarantee that racing will continue. I don't want to be the one blamed if racing gets shut down based on not following the rules. If I can get by wearing a mask while officiating basketball, I sure as heck can wear one while I walk through the pits and while seated in the grandstand. Promoter Brad Whitfield told me that he was trying very hard not to ruffle the feathers of the local authorities and I am all about helping in that regard. 

Speaking of Whitfield, he has done quite a job bringing this beautiful facility back to prominence. Cocopah Speedway is a very impressive racing facility but it has gone through some rocky times in previous years and even sat dormant for awhile but the last couple years have seen great growth and with that, more special events and a longer and more aggressive racing season. Last year around one hundred and thirty cars raced in this event and on Tuesday night, just about that many cars practiced with many more expected to join in the action starting on Wednesday. I was told about two hundred and fifty cars had pre entered with nearly one hundred Modifieds alone so the growth of this event has been very large indeed. The pit area has been expanded with the third level of pits being expanded with new fencing in the area that is actually on the level with the spectator parking lot and entrance to the grandstands. The pit area is very unique with three levels of pit parking in tiers with levels one and two actually being subterranean but level one in line with where the race cars enter the track as the track sits in a hole beside the water canal that runs right behind the track with the grandstands built into the side hill with long cement slabs for each row. It is quite impressive. 

I was not able to determine just who all the entrants were on this practice night but a quick scan through the names I was able to determine should include some familiar names to race fans from the Heartland. Among the drivers spotted were Brett Vanous, Eric Knutson, Brandon Bombardo and David Crimmins in the Hobby Stocks, Brady Bjella, Erik Laudenschlager, Josh Most, Cam Reimers, Shane Paris, Logan Anderson, Brian Osantowski in the Sport Mods, Andy Altenberg, Brock Badger and Blake Adams in the Stock Cars, and Modified drivers Brandon Beckendorf, Dalton Magers, Jesse Rogotzke, Aaron Johnson, Tim Ward, Jason Wolla, Bone Larson, Travis Denning, Casey Skyberg, Casey Arneson and Bob Moore. A number of others are also expected to arrive starting on Wednesday. 

I stood in line with Most to get a pit pass and he told me he is not racing his own equipment out here but a Sport Mod for one of his customers in California. This car was a bare frame last Friday but Most flew in and they assembled the car to race here. Josh has sold quite a  few cars to racers in the California area and this team will be running two at this meet. They were busy during practice as it seemed that several new teething problems were appearing. 

Shock specialist Andy Eckrich was on hand, having flown in to provide technical assistance to the Bone Larson team from Illinois. Andy tipped that he will be racing the "Kosiski Series" as many of us call it with some occasional IMCA racing also. He is just spending a short week here as he will be returning to Iowa on Sunday. 

Aaron Johnson races out of Brainerd MN but they love to travel to big events and visit new tracks. One of their highlights last year was their first trip to 141 Speedway in Wisconsin and they were quick to jump on the chance to race at Bristol and they got their entry in quickly. A "once in a lifetime experience" is what they are labeling it, and that very well could be true. They always get the cars of WISSOTA national champion(several times) Shane Sabraski when he gets a new car but they are running the same car right now from last year as Sabraski had such a good year in 2020 he decided to keep the same car again! He does have a new Lethal chassis ready to go and when he switches, so then will the Johnson team. 

Another Minnesota traveler on hand was Josh Rogotzke from Southwestern MN. He is another driver I see racing all over the place and he told me that the reason he gets to travel so much is that he works a job where they put in many hours in Spring and Fall but his Summers and Winters are free so that is why he is able to travel so much. I kidded him that I was missing his pit partner, that "wild and crazy" Zach Docktor from North Dakota who always seems to be pitted next to him, where ever the racing is. 

Brian Osantowski, a prolific racer from Nebraska and very successful one also, was among the Sport Mods entered. He is sporting some very different colors on his car, gun metal gray with numbers the same color but outlined in black. I have a feeling that he is quickly going to draw the ire of people like Jerry Van Sickel and Tony Paris among others as the numbers don't show up at all on the track and those two won't hesitate to say so. Perhaps I might have to do some "damage control" before the Midwest season opens. 

As usual, I had to make a stop at the trailer of the #77x Modified of Austin Kuehl. I first noticed them at another track in Arizona a few years ago and then again last summer at Spencer Iowa when they were touring the Midwest. And the reason I noticed particularly is that Austin's helmet is painted to look just like a Green Bay Packer helmet and of course I would notice that and even though Austin lives in the Phoenix area he has always been a Packer fan. And what's not to love about that? So we spent as much time talking football as we did racing, but that is all good too. 

Austin did tip that he is hoping that once college is done for him in the Spring, that he would be moving to the Midwest and driving a WISSOTA Late Model which is something I found very interesting. 

One last Item to mention. I got a phone call from Gary Webb last week. He was on the road as normal but called to tell me that he is having a WISSOTA spec engine built for 2021 because he feels that is an ideal motor package for the "Kosiski Series" which he plans to race in often this year. Also, he can then take off the carb plate and race some of the big dollar WISSOTA events if he desires. His brother Robert is retiring from his job so Gary will have a traveling partner and plans to travel to different tracks and races. He has two Kryptonite cars and also an open motor and crate motor so he is well prepped to run a variety of racing events. 

More tomorrow as Cocopah drops the green on Wednesday for real. 

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