MOTOR RACING / PAUL OLSON : This Rookie Drives Like a Veteran

A lot of superlatives are being thrown around when the topic is rookie midget racer Jay Drake.

The 23-year-old Val Verde resident and graduate of Buena High had already made his mark in USAC racing as a two-time Three-quarter Midget champion before deciding to move up to the more powerful full Midget division this year.

And to no one’s surprise, except maybe for Drake himself, he is turning in performances that many veteran drivers would envy. Drake currently is in third place in the points standings behind seven-time champion Sleepy Tripp of Costa Mesa and current leader and two-time champ Robby Flock of Temecula. Those three drivers will battle it out for the championship. No others are in contention.

Drake led the standings the first month of action. No rookie had ever done that. For icing on his cake, Drake won the ESPN-televised midget main event at Ventura Raceway in early May, another feat never accomplished by a rookie.

“My plan was to run good, to run fast and try to possibly win the Rookie-of-the-Year honors,” Drake said. referring to his goals for this season. USAC coordinator Dick Hindman says Drake is almost a lock even with four months remaining on the schedule.

“His talent is extraordinary and his dad and their crew keep his car in excellent shape,” Hindman said. “He is the first rookie to run a full-season schedule and win a main event in his first year, and no one, ever, has been totally in the hunt for a season points championship in the 11 years that I have been involved with USAC.”

Drake has surpassed his preseason goals of just being competitive and running well.

“It was all brand new to me and I didn’t know how I would make the transition,” Drake said. “Everything is just in the right place and with a lot of smart guys working together on my experienced crew, we have been a real successful team.”

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Sprint Cars return?: Not since the 1991 closing of Ascot Park in Gardena has a Sprint Car race been held in Southern California.

The return of the mighty sprints could could come as early as next year if a planned four-to-six car exhibition race at Ventura Raceway on July 24 is successful.

Harlan Willis, a veteran California Racing Assn. Sprint Car driver from Ventura recently ran a few hot laps between stock car events at Ventura’s quarter-mile dirt oval and was surprised and happy with his performance.

“When (Ventura Raceway promoter) Jim Naylor asked me to take a few laps on the track I thought there was no way I would be able to keep that powerful a car on that small track,” Willis said. “The dirt had good traction, the corners were wide enough and the bank steep enough that I think it could be a possible venue for us. That’s what we will find out more about on the 24th.”

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Dr. Sweet Tooth: In an interesting twist, Oxnard dentist and Three-quarter Midget racer Tracy Van Blargen is supplying Naylor with bags of candy that Naylor throws from his announcing booth to children waiting on the grandstand walkway during intermission of every race program.

“I’d like to get sugarless candy for Jim to toss, but I don’t think the kids would like it too much,” Van Blargen said. “I think I’m going to talk to Jim about a toothbrush giveaway at the end of the season to help pay back the parents for all the candy that I have given to their kids’ teeth.”

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Too tough to stop: Antique flat-track motorcycle racer James D. Holbrook of Oxnard was the most seriously injured rider from the many mishaps that occurred two weeks ago during the event at Ventura Raceway.

Holbrook, 60, was racing his vintage 1956 AJS 500 single scrambler. When trying to pass, he hit the rear tire of another rider’s bike and went sprawling down the back straightaway.

Holbrook was transported to the Ventura County Medical Center where he spent four days being treated for two broken collarbones, broken ribs and assorted bumps and bruises. He is recovering at home.

Holbrook, who also competes in vintage road race cars, says his rough and rocky ride at Ventura did not convince him it’s time to retire.

“I’m not going to give up riding. Life’s too short to sit in the corner and feel sorry for myself,” he said. “You have to get out and enjoy life while you can.”

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Fireworks, too: Saugus will hold its annual Fourth of July spectacular tonight with an early starting time and overflow crowd expected.

NASCAR Grand American Modofieds and Street Stocks along with an Ego Challenge and Train Racing are on the schedule. Fireworks will follow. Saugus officials encourage early attendance because of the expected large crowd.