(Doug Allen Photo)
From Scott Daloisio
Perris, CA — (June 30, 2015) — Officials, fans, drivers and crews are anxiously looking forward to the big July 4th race at Perris Auto Speedway this Saturday. After all, it is an annual affair that is one of the famous Riverside County clay oval’s signature events. However, in another way, it is a night they wish would never come. Yes, it will be filled with great racing in the “Budweiser Firecracker 40” and the beautiful “We the People” fireworks sky concert presented by The City of Perris will light up the summer sky, but it will end with a sad twinge that is going to bring a tear or more from many in the crowd and in the pits. When the checkered flag ends the 40-lap main event, it will also signal the end of Rickie Gaunt’s sprint car racing career.
Gaunt, a 45-year-old who lives in Torrance, California, is one of the few drivers left at The PAS who also raced at Ascot. He started racing sprint cars in 1989 at Ascot, one year before it closed. This year is his 27th straight season of racing sprint cars and along the way, he has collected some very impressive hardware.
The affable star has 20 wins and is ranked 20th overall on the all-time CRA win list (CRA, SCRA and USAC/CRA) that dates back to 1946. Of those 20 victories, 11 of them have come at Perris Auto Speedway. He won six times with SCRA at The PAS and five times with USAC/CRA. Amongst those wins are the 1999 Budweiser Oval Nationals, 2002 July 4th Firecracker race, 2004 Jack Kindoll Classic and the 2009 Sokola Shootout. The Sokola Shootout win came in a show that not only featured USAC/CRA, but also the USAC National Sprint Cars. In addition to those prestigious victories, Gaunt also picked up a couple of series titles. In 2004 he won both the SCRA and Non Wing World Championships.
Popular Rickie Gaunt will be retiring after Saturday’s “Budweiser Firecracker 40” at Perris Auto Speedway. Please give photo credit to Doug Allen.
On Sunday night the always entertaining Gaunt was a guest on the San Diego Motorsports radio show. The segment was slated for 15 minutes, but host Dave Stall enjoyed the first segment so much, he asked Gaunt to stay on for another 15 minutes to close the show
“I was in the first race at Perris Auto Speedway and if it is time to call it a career, this is the place to do it at,” Gaunt told Stall when asked why he is hanging up his helmet. “When we get into this deal, everybody wants to win. The competitive side of you says, ‘hey, I want to go out and kick everybody’s butt.’ I have not been doing that. I am getting older, my kids are racing (off road) and I am not racing enough to be competitive at the level that you have to be to go out there and win races.”
Gaunt went on to tell Stall how he got the nickname “Super Rickie.”
“Years ago Simpson built a “Superman” firesuit for Dale Earnhardt and one for Steve Kinser,” the veteran driver laughed. “I looked at them and thought that was so cool. I have always loved the super hero stuff. They said, ‘hey, if we build one for you, would you wear it?’ Kinser would not wear it and neither would Dale Earnhardt. I said, ‘heck yeah.’ I figured I ain’t any good, but I may as well look good doing it. I guess I was the only one arrogant enough to wear that dang suit.”
Perris Auto Speedway promoter Don Kazarian was listening to the show and decided to call in and add his thoughts on Gaunt and his imminent retirement.
“Rickie and I have been close friends for probably 30-years,” Kazarian reminisced. “It is going to be a sad night on Saturday to see him hang up his helmet. He is absolutely one of the fan favorites and he has had the best interviews over the 20-year period we have been open. I think Saturday night he is probably going to cap it off with a great interview.”
As Kazarian had high praise for Gaunt, the popular racer also had high praise for Perris Auto Speedway where he has contested a majority of the races during his career.
“I have been to every world famous racetrack in the country,” Gaunt said. “I have raced at Williams Grove, Lincoln, Eldora, Knoxville, Terre Haute. I have raced everywhere. I hope the fans appreciate what they have here (Perris Auto Speedway). It is absolutely top notch. You will not get any better.”
When Gaunt was done heaping the praise on The PAS, he also went on to throw some huge kudos in a direction they are hardly thrown in the racing world.
“I also want to compliment the Lake Perris Fair Board (Lake Perris Fairgrounds where Perris Auto Speedway is located on),” he stated. Most fair boards are idiots. The Lake Perris Fair Board had the foresight to get the Kazarian family in and they are a family of racers. What a great job by the fair board. It is one of the few fair race tracks that I know of that has not changed promotional hands. Hats off to them because most fair boards are just idiots except for Perris. Thank god Perris has a good fair board.”
Rickie Gaunt at Perris Auto Speedway earlier this year. Please give photo credit to
Doug Allen.
As usual, Gaunt, who plans on staying involved in sprint car racing after his retirement, had an amusing anecdote on the radio show when asked if he ever beat the great Steve Kinser.
“Did I ever beat Steve Kinser,” he repeated the question with a laugh. “Only if he broke. It is a lot easier to beat him if he is parked on the trailer.”
Car owner David Miller, who Gaunt has primarily driven for the past few years, will be retiring as an owner and will be selling all of his equipment after Saturday’s race.
In addition to the Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Cars, The PAS Senior & Young Gun Sprint Cars and the California Lightning Sprint Cars will also be in action on Saturday. Spectator gates will open two hours earlier than normal at 3:00 PM and the first race will be at 7:00. For early arriving fans there will be an autograph session on the track with all the drivers, games where the kids can compete with the drivers and a live band. The “Hollywood Legend,” Pink’s Hot Dogs will be available and there will be a vintage plane fly over just after the national anthem.
Residents of the City of Perris will be admitted free to Perris Auto Speedway when the popular Riverside County racing facility celebrates Independence Day on Saturday. All they have to do is show their driver’s license with a Perris address or produce a utility bill from The City of Perris.
Adult reserved tickets are $30.00 and children’s (6-12 years old) reserved seats are $10.00. General admission is $25.00 for adults, $20.00 for seniors 65 & over. General admission is also available for $5.00 for active military members with proper id, teens 13-18 with their school id and kids 6-12. Children 5 and under get in for free.