A dirty job to open up Supercross
By Louis Brewster | brewspts@gmail.com | Correspondent
January 3, 2013 at 12:00 a.m.
The 2013 AMA Supercross season doesn't open until this Saturday night at Anaheim Stadium, but that doesn't mean the sport was idle over the holidays.
The unsung heroes have been at work since last Saturday to make sure the track will be ready. More than 500 truckloads of dirt will have been hauled (more than 6,500 cubic yards weighing more than 1.5 million pounds) "just to be perfect," series director David Prater said.
"Typically, it's a four-day project," Prater said, "but because this is the opening round there's more to it. Our crews have been off a while and there's plenty to be done by Friday."
Saturday's race will be the 57th Supercross race at the stadium and will mark the 23rd time the series has opened in Anaheim. According to Prater, of the 56 previous races, each race has been held on a different course.
"In 2008, we had a throwback race to the 1986 race," said Prater, the director for the past seven years. "I think that's a pretty impressive record. Everyone keeps coming up with different ideas."
The course will strike a balance between racing and safety.
"That's most challenging," Prater said. "When we get a good race, help produce a good race, there's a tremendous amount of personal satisfaction on the work that was done."
Prater, who once raced motorcycles on the amateur level, said the traveling group of workers numbers about 30. That number grows on Thursday, and by the time the races begin Saturday, with television and race personnel in place, it will be about 130.
The track builders, who put together the creation of Dirt Works' designer Rich Winkler, work a total of five months on the series. They started on Dec.27 and will go non-stop until May 8.
"Some will take a week or two to go home," Prater said. "I usually work through Sunday, fly home and get back on Thursday.
"It's very similar to what some NASCAR crews go through."
And where does all that dirt come from?
"The employee parking lot," Prater said. "It's elevated about four feet by our dirt, with some crushed asphalt on top. It lives in the stadium year-round, like it does at some of our other venues.
"However, in Atlanta and Toronto we keep it under an overpass. Others, we have to truck four or five miles."
Prater also said there is an expiration date, with seven years being the maximum time the dirt can be continually used.
"I didn't know dirt was going to be this complicated," said Prater, a sentiment echoed by the thousands who will be in Angel Stadium on Saturday.
High Desert Racing Association did not die after the death of Walt Lott. In fact, thanks to Roger Norman, the HDRA has returned to its previous position of 20-30 years ago as a premier racing organization.
Norman's purchase of SCORE International from Sal Fish last week was huge news in the industry, the result of long talks between the two key figures in desert off-road racing.
It brings the sport closer to one sanctioning body and additional television coverage. It's Norman's plan to announce the plans within weeks.
"Races will be nationally televised in the U.S.," Norman said. "The vision of a world championship will be monumental for our sport. We will look forward to honoring the legacy of SCORE and the colossal contribution to our sport by Sal Fish."
Norman has already announced three separate championships for 2013: HDRA, SCORE and a new world championship that will be comprised of three HDRA races in America and three SCORE races in Baja. The Nov. 14-17 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 in Ensenada, Mexico, will reward double points.
The first race of the new season is the HDRA South Point Vegas 250 on Jan. 12 in Jean, Nev.
Norman is a Nevada businessman who owns the Crystal Bay Club Casino in Lake Tahoe. His father, Don, competed in IMSA races and his stepfather was the late Unlimited hyroplane racer Bill Muncey.
There appear to be no major changes to the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series 2013, but there won't be a repeat of last season.
First, the season finale has been moved from Firebird Raceway in Chandler, Ariz., to Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park. Richie Lewis also has been appointed as race series director. Lewis moves over from the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.
"We feel confident that Richie Lewis and his new management team have the passion, enthusiasm and expertise to make that happen … 2013 is shaping up to be a very, very good year for our off-road series," Lucas Oil founder Forrest Lucas said.
The series will start March15-17 at Firebird. In addition to the Oct. 25-27 finale at Lake Elsinore, the series will visit the venue May 15-17.
Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino will host its annual weekend July 26-28, with night races on Saturday and Sunday.
Glen Helen also will play a key role in one of three groups of the company's Lucas Oil Regional Off Road Racing Series, which will serve as a grass-roots program for young talent and offer a cheap alternative to the premier series. Glen Helen and Lake Elsinore will host three rounds of the Kartek Southern California Regional Series beginning Feb.23 in San Bernardino.
Before the track closed several years ago, the West End Quarter Midget circuit in Pomona was best remembered as a venue where a young Jeff Gordon raced while he still was living in Vallejo.
Perhaps a future Jeff Gordon is waiting for an opportunity in Southern California.
The Orange Show Quarter Midgets track in San Bernardino will host its second Arrive and Drive session Jan. 19. The two-hour event starts at 11 a.m.
Children ages 5-14 are eligible to participate. Track organizers will charge $25 for a 10-lap session.
Reservations can be made by e-mailing OSQMRA president Leslie Nehring at lanehring@yahoo.com.
Notes scribbled on the margins of the notebook:
One of the best weekly NASCAR television shows, "Inside NASCAR," has been dropped by Showtime. For three seasons, the show gave cable viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the weekly Cup. The 2012 show was hosted by Chris Myers with Kyle Petty and Michael Waltrip.
The show was produced by NASCAR, which will shop it around for 2013, and featured radio conservations between drivers and crews. Among its best footage was a fight in Phoenix between the crews of Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer.
IndyCar drivers are breathing a bit easier these days with the announcement that Firestone signed a five-year extension with the sanctioning body through the 2018 season.
During the past year there were serious concerns about Firestone's future. Two key company figures – executive director Al Speyer and motor sports manager Joe Barbieri – will retire this year.
Former IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard also had mentioned Continental as a possible replacement.
Louis Brewster | Columnist
Lou Brewster is a nationally recognized motorsports journalist who has staffed NASCAR and NHRA events since 1969. Has also staffed high school football, in five different states, since 1967. Has won several national awards in writing and breaking news.
brewspts@gmail.com
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