By Gary Thomas
Placerville, California – March 24, 2010…Famous for its steep banks, distinctive red clay and extremely close action the Placerville Speedway is also known for having some of the most loyal and vocal fans seen in Northern California auto racing and this Saturday night the Golden State Challenge Sprint Car Series will open the 2010 season in front of what is expected to be a packed house at the quarter-mile oval.
When it comes to having fans that passionately root their favorite drivers on during a night of racing the Placerville Speedway has certainly seemed to be second to none in this area for a number of years. In addition to that often times the entire grandstand at the track can be seen dancing in unison to the beat of YMCA, or as in the case last September during the final Civil War Series event having a “hug the flagman night.”
Not only was flagman Ed Entz the beneficiary of “hug the flagman night” he is also known as the ringleader of YMCA at the track and has been dubbed the “Dancing Flagman” of Placerville. “Crowd participation is always fun and we have some loyal fans here at Placerville and they’re always up to help with YMCA to make it fun for everybody,” Entz said. “Some of the drivers that have helped with YMCA have had their fair share of problems of actually spelling YMCA, but nonetheless it’s always fun to get some newcomers to join in.”
Placerville Speedway announcer and director of communications Bill Sullivan also shared his thoughts on the fans and the tracks’ fun-loving flagman. “The fans at Placerville are the greatest,” said the man who sported a new Billy Idol hair-style last week. “We rarely have a dull race night but on those rare occasions they still find a way to have fun. Ed Entz, our dancing flagman is a great asset to our family entertainment venue here and the fact that he is willing to share his Village People dance moves with our racing family is pretty awesome. I know it’s just a matter of time until we will lose him to Dancing with the Stars.”
For avid sprint car fan and supporter Mike Avilla of San Jose the Placerville Speedway has always been a favorite of his due to the grandstand atmosphere. “I’ve always enjoyed going to Placerville and sitting in the stands because the fans really get into the racing and it makes it a lot of fun,” he said. “Sometimes at other tracks the crowd can be kind of quiet on occasion, but that’s never the case at Placerville and it makes for a great spectating experience.”
For Golden State Challenge Series competitor Kyle Larson racing at the Placerville Speedway holds a little extra meaning, as it’s the track where he won his first career sprint car race and in doing so also became the youngest winner in the history of the speedway. “Placerville is probably one of my top-three favorite tracks to race at because it builds up the biggest curb and is one of the slickest tracks we go to so it usually produces some pretty exciting racing,” said the Elk Grove driver, whose victory at the track in August of 2007 came just a few days after his 15th birthday.
Last season saw Larson earn Rookie of the Year honors with GSC and for 2010 he has hooked up with California sprint car legend Brent Kaeding to pilot the Stadelhofer Construction, Peppermill Resort Spa & Casino No. 99 in pursuit of his first King of California title. “I’m looking forward to starting the season this weekend because I’m with an awesome team and they have a great crew so I think we should be in for a very competitive year,” said the now 17-year-old, who scored an impressive 10th place finish at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in January. “I believe we have a good shot at contending for the GSC championship and can’t wait to get it started.”
Due to its high degree of banking the Placerville Speedway is also one of the fastest tracks on the Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series tour, with the all-time track record being 9.913, which was set by San Jose’s Tim Kaeding in 2004 and was also matched by Scotts Valley’s Evan Suggs at last year’s season-opener. Larson also shared his sentiment on the speed factor at the tight bullring, “I always tell people that Placerville is the scariest track to qualify at because the corners are so tight and you’re carrying so much speed into them that it’s amazing how fast it feels like you’re going,” he commented.
Competing at the Placerville Speedway also holds a little more meaning for Elk Grove’s Bobby McMahan, who began his sprint car career at the track in 1982 garnering Rookie of the Year. “It’s always special for me to go back to Placerville since that’s where I started racing sprints,” McMahan said in a team related press release. “We weren’t sure if we’d go to Chico for Silver Cup or Placerville for GSC this week, but the opportunity to run a 410 at Placerville doesn’t come around very often so we decided that P’ville will be our destination this Saturday.”
After a hiatus from racing from 2003-’08 the veteran driver came back last season to full-time action and captured the Silver Dollar Speedway championship aboard the Steve Harris owned Racing for the Troops No. 26b. McMahan and the team last weekend also made their first start since the passing of Harris in the off-season. “It’s definitely tough for all of us to be going back racing without Steve by our side,” said McMahan, who finished second in the 1996 NARC standings and was also the ’97 GSC runner-up. “He was a great man not only in racing, but in business and as a husband and father as well. Continuing on is what he wanted us to do and that’s what we’re doing.”
Larson and McMahan will be just two of a number of drivers expected to be in action when the Golden State Challenge Series opens its 25th season of racing this Saturday night at the Placerville Speedway. Also scheduled to be on hand will include 13-time King of California Brent Kaeding of Campbell, two-time King of California Jonathan Allard of Chico, ’04 King of California Jason Statler of Grass Valley, three-time & defending USAC Silver Crown Series champion Bud Kaeding of Campbell, four-time Civil War Series titlist Andy Forsberg of Auburn, Scotts Valley’s Evan Suggs, Placerville’s Andy Gregg, Ripon’s Brandon Carey, West Linn, Oregon’s Zach Zimmerly, West Sacramento’s Kyle Harris and more.
The front gate will open at 5pm on Saturday with all seating being general admission and adult tickets costing $17, juniors $12 and children $5. The Placerville Speedway is located at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds in Placerville, California. For more info on this weekend’s event log onto http://www.goldenstatechallengeseries.com and http://www.placervillespeedway.com