From Troy Hennig
Chico, CA — (August 14, 2013) — The History of the biggest continuously operating dirt track event on the West Coast will be recapped with a host of memory lane activities at the 60th Gold Cup Race of Champions schedule for September 4, 5, 6, and 7 at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, CA. Leading the way will be the four nights of competition on the ¼ mile clay oval located at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds. Led off by the California Civil War and Hunt wingless cars and capped by the World of Outlaw sprint cars a full slate of events will celebrate this historical event.
Work has already begun on a commemorative book detailing all 59 Gold Cups held up to the 60th. Each year will be punctuated with photos, quotes, and facts about each race. Summaries of the events will be added along with actual race stories published at the time. Individual biographies will be scattered among the pages along with personal notes about each year’s activities. Promising to be one of the most sought after books by both race fans and racers, the Gold Cup Memories book will go on sale at the Speedway on September 4. A limited printing will provide books on a first come basis.
History will gather in a Fairgrounds building as one of the most aggressive plans for a museum has been unveiled by organizers. “We’re attempting to recap the history of the three facilities and of the races themselves”, explained director Tom Herseth. “We’ve had a groundswell of interest and already a larger building has been selected for this museum”, he continued. Herseth and local historian Lew Lewis have plans to fully stock a museum with antique race cars, photos, programs, trophies, shirts, and memorabilia of 59 years of history. Herseth has located a car that won the Gold Cup more than 40 years ago.
Hours of operation for the museum are noon to 7 pm Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It will also be opened after the Thursday and Friday night races. We will have a plethora of former Gold Cup Champions signing autographs from noon to 3 pm each day. Large displays of vintage cars, vintage race parts and vintage racing clothing is a must see for any Gold Cup fan.
The oldest living Gold Cup Champion will be at the museum on Thursday signing autographs. Tony Goularte, 91-years-old, was the 1954 Gold Cup winner. Other Gold Cup winners from yesteryear that are expected to be signing autographs will include 1959 and 1962 winner Red Mullican, 1963 winner Mark Ward and 1968 winner Wally Baker. During the day on Saturday all of the modern day Gold Cup Champions have been invited to the autograph session including 12-time winner Steve Kinser and three-time Gold Cup winner Jac Haudenschild
A special Championship stamp will be used by each former winner to stamp a person’s book or paper before signing. Other key Gold Cup contributors will be added to list. Schedules will be published at Gold Cup of who will be available and when for autograph hunters.
On track, the nostalgia will continue. The night’s race divisions have been chosen based on their history and influence on past Gold Cups. The historic United States Auto Club Sprints cars will be joined by the BCRA/USAC midgets, and the Nor Cal Dwarf cars. BCRA midgets and hardtops were at the helm of open wheel racing after WWII and fostered auto racing mania in the 1950’s. The Dwarf cars sport bodies that are 5/8 replicas of the hardtops that spotted the racing scene and early Gold Cups.
The sounds of early Gold Cups will fill the air when the Vintage BCRA Midgets and Vintage Hardtops hit the speedway surface for a series of exhibition laps during the Thursday night program. Again, Herseth has found a former Gold Cup winning car that is restored and ready to take to the track during this exhibition. Herseth may be reached directly at 530-934-2726 or Lewis at 530-713-6491.
The 60th Annual Gold Cup Race of Champions begins its four day assault on September 4th through September 7th. Four day tickets and camping spots are available for purchase by calling (530) 350-7275. Wednesday night will feature the 360 Civil War sprints and Joe Hunt Magneto’s Wingless Sprint Shootout Series with general admission tickets starting at just $10.00! Thursday is billed as the Cavalcade of Gold Cup Memories and general admission tickets starting at just $15.00. Kids are FREE to attend on both Wednesday and Thursday nights. Friday and Saturday night will feature the greatest show on dirt, the World of Outlaws.
Single day Gold Cup tickets go on sale today, August 15th. Get yours by calling the track office number (530) 350-7275.
Please visit www.goldcup.