Early results indicate Orange Show Speedway
experiment with Factory Fours class is a success
SAN BERNARDINO (May 16, 2007) –
Five races into the season, the Orange Show Speedway’s experiment
with the Aflac Factory Fours division seems to be a success. “I
like it,” Toyota truck driver Spencer Samaro said of the division
created by merging the Sport Compacts and 
Sport
Trucks into one class of stock vehicles using 4-cylinder engines. “There
are some difficulties in it, but it’s a good class to be in. You
have to be much more competitive, the level of racing has been moved
up so much higher.
“I personally like it more. I like the
competition.”
Samaro, 17, who won the Sport Truck championship
in 2005, has a comfortable lead in the Factory Fours standings going
into the fifth race of the season on Saturday, May 19, so his feelings
are understandable. But Jered King agrees with Samaro, and King’s
title chances were dashed when he was disqualified from the third race
for violating a rule that since has been modified.
King
said he’ll concentrate on his duties as crew chief for Hype Manufacturing
Super Late Model contender Frankie Gould, but still compete in some
Factory Fours races to support a unique division he originally thought
might fail.
“I was skeptical, but I think it’s
going to work out,” said King, 36, the 2005 Sport Compact champion.
“I think overall it will be a good division as long as both groups
(trucks and cars) can keep it in their brain that it’s all one,
it’s not between one or the other.
“The last Trophy Dash (May 5) it was
two cars and two trucks. You can’t ask for anything better than
that.”
The Factory Fours will be joined by the Super Late
Models, ASA Pro 4s, Stock Cars USA and Mini StocKars for Saturday’s
activity on the paved quarter-mile oval at the National Orange Show
Events Center .
Spectator gates open at 5 p.m. and racing gets under
way at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors (62 and
over), handicapped and Juniors (13-16) and $2 for children (6-12). Active
military personnel and veterans with valid military identification are
admitted free of charge. In addition, in May and June members of the
California Department of Forestry (CDF) and California Department of
Corrections (CDC) who present their badges at the ticket office may
receive up to four free tickets, courtesy of Orange Show Speedway management.
Parking is $4 per car with entry through Gate 3 off
Mill Street .
Glen Cummings and Eddie Secord have won the past
two races in Super Late Model and Pro 4s, respectively, while Mark Whitson
in Stock Cars USA, Mike O’Hara in Mini StocKars and Benjamin Mahan
in Jr. Mini StocKars all are three-for-three this year.
Tony Dumont of Irvine is the only repeat winner in
Factory Fours, the driver of the Five Star Auto Care Mercedes Benz having
taken the checkered flag in the season opener March 10 and the most
recent race May 5. King won in his Public Wholesale BMW on March 31
and Samaro’s family-sponsored Toyota inherited the win when King
and others were disqualified April 21.
There was concern when the division began racing
in the Winter Series that the trucks would dominate the events. That
hasn’t happened in large part because of the development of a
new Hoosier tire that has helped equalize the competition. The cars
use a 13-inch tire and the trucks use a 15-inch tire of the same compound.
There is competition between the two groups, however.
“It really is the trucks against the
cars. We kind of stay away from them,” Samaro said. “The
trucks have always been a great class to be with. We help each other
out.”
King said during the Winter Series, “sitting
next to a truck (on the starting grid) was a weird feeling. I think
we do kind of a team up a little bit. The biggest ego trip is in qualifying,
trying to prove something to each other. But once we’re in race
mode, in the main event, everybody is one and there’s none of
that going around.”
Racing at Orange Show Speedway is sponsored by Lucas
Oil, Blackhawk Protection, Hype Manufacturing, Del Taco, Aflac Insurance,
KTTD radio (AM 1350), Leno’s Rico Taco, Soboba Casino, Budweiser,
Hoosier Racing Tires, Frank’s Radio Service, Torco Racing Fuels,
Parker Pumper/BSR West, Eibach Springs, JP Striping, Center Chevrolet,
Pepsi, Matich Coporation, La Salle Medical Associates, L. Curti Truck
and Equipment, One Stop Landscape Supply, Extreme Exhibits & Logistics,
Little Green Onions and the San Bernardino County Sun.
For further information, contact Jim Short at 951-203-2649
or jimshort65@sbcglobal.net, call Orange Show Speedway at 909-888-6788,
X438, or visit the web site at www.nosevents.com.
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