ORANGE SHOW SPEEDWAY SEASON MOVES INTO HOMESTRETCH

Source: OSS/js
Date: 08/08/2007

SAN BERNARDINO, California – It’s about time for things to heat up at Orange Show Speedway.

Saturday, Aug. 11, when the first 500 spectators through the entrance gate on Del Taco’s “Beat the Heat Night” will get free battery-operated fans, the final third of the stock car season will get under way at 6:30 p.m. on the quarter-mile oval at the National Orange Show Events Center.

Only a handful of races remain for the Lucas Oil Outlaw Figure 8s, BSR West Late Models, ASA Stock Ponys and Leno’s Rico Taco Legends Cars and three are left for the Street Stocks, the five classes on this weekend’s schedule. That means every finishing position will become extremely important to the drivers involved in the various championship battles, and that should add some spice to what already has been an extremely competitive season.

Spectator gates open at 5 p.m. and racing gets under way at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors (62 and over), handicapped and juniors (13-16) and $2 for children (6-12). Active military personnel and veterans with valid military identification are admitted free of charge. Parking is $4 per car with entry through Gate 3 off Mill Street.

Those unable to make it to the speedway still can follow the action with “Orange Show Speedway Live,” the radio broadcast on KTTD (AM 1350) that begins at 8 p.m. and is simulcast on the Internet at www.nixacountry.com.

The likelihood of each race having added importance is particularly true for the drivers of the Leno’s Rico Taco Legends Cars, those quick and nimble 5/8-scale models of NASCAR Modifieds from the 1930s. They are part of a multi-level competition, with points awarded at the national, state and local track levels, and several of those who call Orange Show Speedway home are contending for both track and state titles.

The Orange Show Speedway points leader is 17-year-old Bree Brewer, who’s about to begin her senior year at Riverside’s Norte Vista High. She has a 16-point lead on Darren Amidon, of Santee, with four of 14 races remaining. Brewer has four wins and Amidon has three, and barring any unforeseen disasters one of them will win the track title since third-place Brent Scheidmantle is 88 points behind Amidon.

Both could wind up with California state championships, though, as could Gary Scheuerell of Murrieta, who is seventh in points. That’s because while they race in one group at the speedway, they are scored in separate divisions at the state and national levels – Amidon as a Pro, Brewer as a Semi-Pro and Scheuerell in the Masters category.

Amidon, 22, who works as a highway striper, is the top Pro driver in the state and No. 20 in the nation. Amidon is more than 500 points ahead of Frankie Marks, who races at Lakeport Speedway in Northern California and is 47th nationally. But Chad Schug of Oak Hills, who won his second Orange Show main event on July 28, is only 12 points behind Marks.

Brewer is second in the state and 48th nationally, 80 points behind Lakeport regular Derek Copeland, who is 41st in the nation. Brent Scheidmantle, 14, of Rancho Cucamonga, who’s third in points at Orange Show Speedway, also is third in the state, with Ryan O’Connor fifth.

Scheuerell, 51, who also has a main event win this season, is second in the state and 40th nationally in the Masters division, for drivers 40 and over. He trails state leader Randy Fellman, another Lakeport regular, by 97 points, and is followed by three more Northern California drivers and Orange Show regular Larry Meredith, who actually leads Scheuerell in points at Orange Show Speedway.

The points battles in the other classes that will be in action Saturday range from a runaway in the Outlaw Figure 8 class, where Tom Smith has won all 10 races, to a three-way tie for first in the Street Stock class. Three events are left in the eight-race Street Stock season and John Reiman, Bobby Dezarov and Cliff Conklin are tied at the top with 198 points apiece, with Conklin’s three straight wins giving him the edge.

Smith has a 44-point edge over Rusty Stewart with five races left for the Outlaw Figure 8s, Jim Conklin is 18 points up on Dave Arce and 24 ahead of Brian Malone with five Late Model mains to go, and Jim Edmiston has a 12-point advantage over Matt Goodwin with five races left for the Stock Pony class.

Racing at Orange Show Speedway is sponsored by Lucas Oil, Blackhawk Protection, Hype Manufacturing, Del Taco, Aflac Insurance, KTTD radio (AM 1350), Leno’s Rico Taco, Soboba Casino, Budweiser, Hoosier Racing Tires, Frank’s Radio Service, Torco Racing Fuels, Parker Pumper/BSR West, Eibach Springs, JP Striping, Center Chevrolet, Pepsi, Matich Coporation, L. Curti Truck and Equipment, One Stop Landscape Supply, Extreme Exhibits & Logistics, Little Green Onions and the San Bernardino County Sun.

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