By Jim Allen
Imagine if the NFL played their first 12 games of the season and then took off two months before another game was played? Or just when the baseball pennant races heated up in July, the MLB didn’t play another game until October? Well, welcome to the NARC 410 Sprint Car season! The last time we played in the dirt was July 27th at Santa Maria Speedway, a race won by Chase Johnson and the top three in the NARC championship standings somehow managed to crash out or break in three separate incidents. Unpredictable as a WWE match.
At that point on the calendar, 18 races were in the books and the excitement and momentum was at a fevered pitch. We had a tight points chase, 12 different winners, four rookie drivers in the top 15, and open wheel competition that has been off the charts. In fact, we still have those things, we just had to fast forward 70-days for the High Limit and World of Outlaws shows to come through.
Along those lines, California continues to be a powerhouse and hotbed of creating top national sprint car talent. Of the 15 combined High Limit and Outlaw shows on the West Coast, eight were claimed by California drivers (Michael Kofoid – 3, Carson Macedo – 2, Rico Abreu – 2, Corey Day – 1). Fresno car owner Dennis Roth scored five wins between the two series with Kofoid and Aussie James McFadden.
Honorable west coast mention goes to Trey Starks, who scored not one, but two HL feature victories (Grays Harbor & Skagit) helping to prove my point that he is one of the most underrated drivers in the country. Justin Sanders, Shane Golobic, Cole Macedo, and DJ Netto fared the best among the NARC locals with 17 top five finishes combined. Sanders and Golobic both scored a pair of runner-up finishes. Tim Kaeding even nailed down an impressive runner-up finish at Merced Speedway.
CHASE JOHNSON: While all that was going on, we have been talking and thinking and praying about Chase Johnson a lot lately. Who would have thought his scenario was even possible? Chase’s crash at the High Limit Gold Cup at Silver Dollar Speedway didn’t appear to be any worse than others we have witnessed, but the physical damage was painful to read. Chase broke his back in several spots which required a nine-hour surgery. Throw in additional setbacks like a rough bout of pneumonia, a collapsed lung, and a finicky feeding tube and you have a life-changing scenario.
The 28-year-old driver, who always possesses a positive outlook and a million-dollar smile, is a fighter and one of the toughest guys we know. After five long weeks in the ICU at UC Davis in Sacramento, Chase had stabilized enough to be airlifted to the Shepard Center in Georgia. It is a highly-renown facility that specializes in spinal cord rehabilitation injuries. We will continue to monitor social media posts from wife Haley Johnson and the Johnson family during this process.
On another note: The good news is Chase has medical insurance. The bad news is he has medical insurance. They say that the best insurance to have .., is insurance you never have to use because it seldom pays or covers the enormity of the expenses or allows coverage into premium world-class rehabilitation facilities. However, due to the amazing outpouring of support by fans, friends, and family of Chase, the Shepard Center became a reality and the best option for recovery. It’s a super expensive ordeal and he will be there for at least 11 weeks.
Please keep those positive vibes, thoughts, and prayers coming for the entire Johnson family, but also continue with the helmet passes, track barbecues, and t-shirt and decal sales. Or contribute to their house-payment program or make donations to the NARC Benevolent Fund and/or the GoFundMe account. His recovery requires a long-term plan of attack. He needs ongoing treatment so that one day soon, he can skip out of that facility under his own power. We know Chase is positive, strong-willed and is willing to fight with every inch of his soul. Please help him in the process.
By the way, you can donate to Chase’s GoFundMe account at … https://gofund.me/7ddbc02c
Want to send Chase a get-well card? Here’s the address:
Johnny Franklin’s Muffler
ATTN: Chase Johnson
128 Bellam Blvd
San Rafael, CA 94901
United States
In hindsight, it’s been a rough year on the NARC driver’s roster. It closely resembles a weekly NFL injury report. Let’s not forget that Ryan Robinson was forced to retire after his violent crash during the Mini Gold Cup back in March. In the good news department, Angelique Bell is almost fully recovered from her fiery June 12th crash at Southern Oregon Speedway. The burns have healed, but she still needs an occasional steroid shot in her vocal cords to get her voice back to 100%. She has managed to keep her sense of humor and upbeat attitude throughout the process. By the way, and this is a big “BY THE WAY,” Angelique will be making her second season debut at Hanford on October 5th in a new family-owned race car. We plan to work in an opening ceremony interview with her.
Then there was two-time NARC champion Dominic Scelzi, who was hearing church bells ringing in his head after his Super Dirt Cup crash at Skagit. Not to mention rib injuries of the type you would normally get in a fight with a Mike Tyson or Jake Paul. That took almost two months to recover from, but he is back to consuming tacos at his usual pace and frequency, so he is back to normal. Justyn Cox, who is currently third in NARC driver points, is expected to be out for the rest of the season in the Bates-Hamilton 42X with a back injury. He was hurt at a High Limit race, this one at the Douglas County Dirtrack in August. He is trying to nurse a broken and compressed T3 vertebra back into shape. Unfortunately, he will drop completely out of the top ten in points during the healing process. It’s been one of those years.
CALISTOGA SPEEDWAY: Yes, it’s hard to believe, but movement is finally being seen, or at least scheduled, at the Napa County Fairgrounds. There is a Fairgrounds Community Clean Up Day scheduled for October 19th. Unfortunately, that is Trophy Cup weekend so racer participation may be limited. The good news is that there is a buzz at the fairgrounds with the hiring of Shelly Wright as the Fair Revitalization Director. She is a former fair manager at Lakeport and is a fan of motorsports, which is a huge plus for reopening the historic ½ mile oval. Tommy Hunt is excited at the possibilities and feels that the Louie Vermeil Classic should become a reality in 2025.
NARC NOTES: Here is a strange fact for you. The October 5th race at Hanford will be the first visit by the NARC sprint cars this season. The first two shows, the Dave Helm Memorial and Peter Murphy Classic rained out. … Although we are not expecting to see Willie Croft at any of our final five NARC events, he will be at the Trophy Cup. Give the 53-year-old driver a proper send off for an entertaining and successful racing career. … Among the drivers who still are looking for a NARC 410 win in ’24 include Bud Kaeding, Caeden Steele, Gauge Garcia, Dylan Bloomfield, Nick Parker, Kaleb Montgomery, and Tanner Carrick. … Kalib Henry, who has been enjoying sprint car success racing in the Midwest, will be competing at the next two NARC shows …The numerical stat lines of Justin Sanders and Cole Macedo are almost identical with 80% of the season complete. The only real difference is Sanders has five wins to Macedo’s three. There is a three-point premium for winning (42-39), compared to second place. Sanders leads this horse race by only three-points. Stay tuned! … Speaking of identical, Sanders and Macedo both have seven heat race victories this season to lead all NARC drivers. The hot shoe with the most pockets $500 from Kimo’s Tropical Car Wash at the year-end banquet. … The NARC top wing wickerbill rule was changed to match the High Limit and WoO rules. …
… Gauge Garcia is attempting to zero in on the Williams Roofing season-long Hardcharger title, which pays $1,000 at the banquet. To date, Garcia has advanced 66 cars in the Keller Motorsports sprint car, to lead Nick Parker (57) and Cole Macedo (53). There is no prize for second place. … Special thanks to Ashley Smith, Katie Smith-Williams, Roth Motorsports, EMADCO, Southern Pacific Farms, and Hoosier for their financial support of this Saturday’s Morrie Williams Memorial. … Each 20-lap feature pays $3,000 to win and $300 to start., plus a $1,000 bonus to the overall champion. No tire changes are allowed. The intermission between the two mains is about 10-minutes. Only the first race is a NARC points race. The second one is for victory lane glory. … The NARC season finale at Stockton, will feature a racing Legends autograph session. That should kick off around 4:30 p.m. … The upcoming Friday night show (October 25th) at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway will blend asphalt and dirt track events. ARCA will be practicing and qualifying on the ½ mile paved oval in the afternoon, followed by the NARC sprint cars on the dirt oval. … Congrats to Brad Sweet on winning the inaugural High Limit Series championship – something he accomplished with four races still remaining on the HL schedule.
NARC BANQUET: The NARC Championship Celebration awards banquet will be held the day after the November 2nd season Tribute to Gary Patterson season finale at the Stockton Dirt Track. The venue is the Brookside Country Club in Stockton, located about 10-minutes from the track. Brookside has hosted the event five-times and is a first-class facility. The brunch, highlight show, NARC Benevolent Fund auction, and awards gets underway at 11:30 p.m. The food is good, and video-producer extraordinaire Mike DeHoogh always puts together entertaining videos. This event is open to not only race teams, sponsors, and promoters, but to race fans as well. For more information contact Jim Allen.
So, with all that, the NARC 410 Sprint Car Series will finish with a flurry of October events. It’s October 5th at Kings Speedway for the Morrie Williams Memorial Twin-20’s and October 12th for the Chris & Brian Faria Memorial at the Thunderbowl. A rare October doubleheader takes place on October 25-26th with a Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway October Classic and the Anthony Simone Classic back at Hanford. The season ends up with a Triple Crown event at the Tribute to Gary Patterson on November 2nd. The Stockton Dirt Track will host the NARC 410, SCCT 360, and Hunt Wingless Series season finales.
Coming to you live from Auburn, CA. Get well Chase Johnson. See ya!