Battle of the ages heating up at Orange
Show Speedway
SAN BERNARDINO (May 9, 2007) –
It may not be a battle for the ages, but it is a battle of the ages.
And chances are if you tell Jim Conklin and Richard Hooper that youth
must be served in the BSR West Late Model series at Orange Show Speedway,
they’ll give you a Hannibal Lecter smile and reply, “sure,
with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.”
Conklin
and Hooper, both in their early 50s and with designs on a track championship,
are starting to see younger and younger drivers behind the steering
wheels of the other cars – fuzzy-cheeked kids like Jimmy Rouse
Jr., 14, and Logan Mainella, 15, and young men like Justin DeJaynes
and Sean Hodgdon, both 22 and only recently able to legally consume
adult beverages.
Those six and more will resume their points battle
when the 15-race Late Model series reaches the one-third point Saturday
(May 12) on the quarter-mile paved oval at the National Orange Show
Events Center . The Lucas Oil Outlaw Figure 8s, ASA Stock Ponys, Leno’s
Rico Taco Legends Cars and Bandoleros will round out the program.
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 .
Fans unable to make it to the track still can follow
the action through “Orange Show Speedway Live,” the 8 p.m.
radio program that is broadcast by KTDD (1350 AM) and simulcast on www.nixacountry.com.
Jimmy Rouse Jr. |
Richard Hooper |
Jim Conklin |
Conklin, the owner of Conklin Hot Rods in Big Bear,
is 53 and has been racing for eight years. He won the speedway’s
Street Stock title in 1998, is the defending Late Model champion, and
leads this year’s standings thanks to two wins and two seconds
in four starts. He’s also the crew chief for younger brother Cliff,
who races in the Street Stock class.
Hooper,
a Rosamond resident who’ll be 52 on Sunday, has a win and a second
in the past two events and is tied for third in the standings, 18 points
behind Conklin. The president of Hooper’s Rear End Exchange in
Sun Valley has been racing for 36 years and his three championships
include the 2005 Late Model crown. He’s also the owner or a sponsor
of many other Orange Show Speedway entries, among them Anthony Mainella
and his son, Logan, and Rouse Jr.
Anthony Mainella, 41, who is Hooper’s teammate
and employee, shares third in the standings with his boss and they are
six points behind Brian Malone, 39, who holds second after a season-opening
win and three straight top four finishes.
Rouse Jr. is fifth, with three top six finishes including
a second to Conklin on March 17. A rookie who raced Bandoleros a year
ago, Rouse Jr. won two main events in the Stock Cars USA class during
Orange Show Speedway’s recent Winter Series. He continues to compete
in that class, along with father Jimmy and step-mother Michelle Rouse,
and is third in the standings after three races.
Santee ’s Dave Arce, 47, the runner-up to Hooper
in 2005’s Late Model series, is sixth now, with DeJaynes seventh
and Logan Mainella eighth. Logan, who’ll be 16 on Thursday, also
is a rookie who made three starts in the Street Stock class a year ago.
Rounding out the top 10 are Butch Bruhn, who’s 60 and has been
racing for 45 years, and Steve Smith, 32.
Tom Smith of Lakewood will be after his fifth straight
win in the Lucas Oil Outlaw Figure 8 main event, Jim Edmiston of Highland
will try to make it three in a row and four of five in the Stock Pony
feature and Santee ’s Darren Amidon will be after his third win
in four Legends Cars outings.
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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