From Troy Hennig – Special Thanks to Bobby Gerould
ROSEVILLE, CA – (August 7, 2017) – Carmichael’s Johnny Anderson, who is a USAC veteran of sprint cars, midgets and dirt championship cars and a second ballot Calistoga Speedway Hall of Fame Inductee, has been named the 2017 Louie Vermeil Classic Grand Marshall. The 1976 Calistoga Speedway track champion is still regarded as one of the best from Northern California to sit inside the cockpit of any style open wheel race car.
Race fans can join Anderson during the 10th Annual Louie Vermeil Classic scheduled to take place September 2nd and 3rd at the Napa Valley Fairgrounds in Calistoga. On Friday night, September 1st, the newest members of the Calistoga Hall of Fame will get introduced during a reception inside the Tubbs building located right outside turn one of the historic half-mile dirt speedway.
On track racing begins Saturday night September 2nd and Sunday night September 3rd. The 10th Annual Louie Vermeil Classic will host the best non-wing sprint car and midget drivers with entrants from all over the United States vying for the chance to add their name to the winners list. Front gate will open at 5 pm with racing scheduled to start at 6:30 PM each night. Tickets for the Louie Vermeil Classic can be purchased by calling 916-773-7223.
In 2012, Anderson was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in Knoxville, IA. Anderson is a two-time Gold Cup Race of Champions winner. His first came in 1974 at West Capitol Raceway and then in 1980 when the race moved to Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico. He has won World of Outlaw feature events with and without wings in Illinois, Oklahoma, Florida and California. In fact, he won the Calistoga Classic in 1978. While known as a sprint car driver, Anderson has won numerous events in midget racing including the prestigious Copper World Classic in Phoenix, AZ. He is the 1976 NARC driving champion and the 1974 West Capitol Raceway Super Modified Track Champion. Anderson showed resilience throughout his brilliant career by winning NARC sanctioned races in three separate decades. Anderson is ranked fourth on the all-time Calistoga Speedway career win list.
Calistoga race historian Bobby Gerould added, “I am reminded at some of the incredible feats this man accomplished. How about the night at West Capital in the competitive Tri-Holiday series, where Anderson and Jimmy Boyd flipped on lap 31, only to return minus their wings for the final 19 laps on the quarter-mile dirt track. Anderson came back to win the 50-lapper without his top-wing by a car-length over the winged sprinter of Mike Wasina.”
For more information about this wonderful event please visit www.calistogaspeedway.org or please like our FACEBOOK page at Louie Vermeil Classic – Calistoga Speedway.