LINCOLN, Calif. – The four tracks in California dedicated solely to micro sprint racing continue to develop talented drivers, and some have moved to full size sprint car programs.
Examples of talented open wheel drivers who started in micro sprints include four sets of brothers. Dominic and Gio Scelzi, Carson and Cole Macedo, as well as Mitchell and Michael Faccinto started their open wheel racing careers at Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia and Lemoore Raceway, located 25 miles west.
Tim and Bud Kaeding raced micro sprints further north as did Ryan Bernal, Justin Sanders, and Justyn Cox. D.J. Netto, Tony Gualda and Koen Shaw plus many more now race full size sprint cars after starting in micro sprints. While not in the Golden State, Christopher Bell first race micro sprints in Oklahoma.
Outlaw karts have produced numerous sprint car drivers with Kyle Larson and Buddy Kofoid being two examples of going from beginner box stock outlaw karts to national prominence in their careers.
It seems that micro sprints have become the primary route in California to reach 360 or 410 sprint car racing. Having successful micro programs at four tracks and the quartet of ovals scheduling cooperatively allows plenty of race nights each year.
Northern-based tracks are Delta Speedway in Stockton and Dixon Speedway, a few miles south of the city of Dixon off of Interstate 80. Plaza races Friday, Lemoore on Saturday, but both northern tracks predominately race Saturday. The northern pair show 33 race nights on their schedules with no conflicting dates for 2020.
The most recently built track is Dixon, constructed in 2004 after the track in Vallejo closed. The Campbell Ranch brothers were big into motorcycle racing and had built a practice track on the ranch. When Vallejo closed, a club group built the track as it is now where the motorcycle track had been.
The initial name was CORA Speedway, which stood for California Outlaw Racing Ass’n. It is part of a multi-track complex on land owned by Campbell Ranch and was initially an outlaw kart track. It was struggling to stay open when Jeremy Prince took over nine years ago and he added micro sprints to the schedule.
For a while both type of race cars shared the pit area, but eventually the micro sprint teams convinced Prince that more micros would race Dixon if it became solely a micro track.
Prince’s background in racing started at Antioch Speedway in the pure stock class. He won a title in 2000 then raced street stocks, limited late model and eventually modifieds until changing from racer to car owner in 2004. A friend of his daughter raced outlaw karts so Prince bought one from them for his child. She raced beginner box stock, box stock, and 250 before her interest shifted to cheerleading. By that time Prince was running Dixon as well as continuing a full time job in construction.
A big step forward for Dixon Speedway was investing in becoming a MyRacePass track. The significant investment means purchasing transponders, loop, computer support and software and decoder. Prince feels this was money well spent as it raises the visibility of his track and enhances the running of a race program.
All four tracks see their highest car count class being the non-winged group. Prince believes lower costs are a significant factor in the numbers. The winged super 600 class needs top level equipment but remove the down force and lower cost engines become more competitive. Some drivers use the same car in both divisions. Not buying top wings is also a big part of the cost difference.
Delta Speedway is the leader in car count, drawing mid-80s and higher for weekly shows, but all four tracks are usually 60+ minimum. Each track has multi-day specials and the yearly Speedweek runs one night at each track with drivers from many states participating, pushing the count to well over 100.
It is a big plus for racing in California to have a successful micro sprint program, one that has stood the test of time and continued to develop talent. With a junior sprint program starting at age 5, micro sprints have been able to create their own talent for the higher-level divisions.