TULARE, Calif. – Like so many parts of the Trophy Cup that are possible due to volunteers, the event website had been completely redesigned.
A former late model stock car driver who works in web development stepped up and volunteered his time to create a new site.
George Oberle has been involved with racing since the late 1970’s when he bought a car from the Keldsen family at what was then called Watsonville Speedway. During his racing years, Oberle notes he, “Spent way too much money and wasn’t very good.”
Despite having an A main car, he never won a feature, calling himself, “the king of the fifth-place finish.” He primarily raced at what is now called Ocean Speedway and the San Jose Fairgrounds Speedway at a time when San Jose drew over 50 late model stock cars.
Oberle also got involved with engine building at a shop in San Jose, Calif., owned by Dick Boutry. The shop built truck engines by day and race engines at night, the latter done for no charge. Drivers brought the parts and appropriate beverages and the shop built the engine. The open-wheel car of that era was the square box tubing supermodified.
They built engines for drivers such as Mark Sargent, Joey Santos, the Ron McGee Winston West car, and an engine that qualified for the Ontario 500.
Now working in web development, Oberle has volunteered the time to give the web site a makeover with several new features. Along with the current list of 75 entries, other sections include a blog, format, payout, and just about anything connected with the Trophy Cup a fan might want to read.
Oberle is particularly enthusiastic with the driver profile section. He is encouraging drivers from everywhere, not just Trophy Cup drivers, to submit a profile to provide information to readers about their team.
Located at www.trophycup.org, the new website is regularly updated with information not only about the Trophy Cup, but sprint car racing in general.