Burns Is More Than Ready for His Big Chance

For eager and talented young race car drivers, being seen on the track by a big-time car owner or wealthy sponsor is almost as important as having family money -- because if the right person spots him, it can mean financial backing or possibly a ride in a championship car.

Todd Burns is a young man who needs to be seen. He is as good as it gets in NASCAR late model stock car racing, one of the lower rungs on the ladder to Winston Cup. He has won 34 main events at Irwindale Speedway, more than any other driver in the track’s five years. After losing the first two races this year, he has won eight in a row. Last year he won the track title.

Burns, 29, will be in the late model race Saturday night at Irwindale, driving his Chevrolet Monte Carlo in a 50-lap preliminary to the Winston West main event.

To give himself double exposure to NASCAR people in the audience, he will also drive his father-in-law’s 2001 Pontiac in the 200-lap Winston West race. It was purchased from Winston Cup driver Buckshot Jones.

“Family money can only go so far in racing,” said Burns, who during the week is a race car fabricator in Riverside. “This is about as much as we can do, even with sponsorship from Ed Lopes’ Villa Roma Sausage Company. We want to run the Featherlite Southwest Series next year. Because of all the travel involved, it would probably cost four times as much as our $65,000 late model budget.

“Maybe someone will spot us Saturday night. It happened to Greg Biffle and Kevin Harvick and Ron Hornaday. It might as well happen to us. We’ve gone about as far as we can in late models.”

Biffle was spotted by former Winston Cup champion and TV commentator Benny Parsons, who recommended him to Jack Roush. Biffle went on to win Craftsman Truck and Busch series championships and is now in Winston Cup, where he won his first race on July 6 in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona Beach, Fla.

Dale Earnhardt was impressed with Hornaday in a Winter Heat race in Tucson and later added him to his team. Likewise, Harvick was spotted by car owner Richard Childress in a Winston West race at California Speedway in which Childress’ son-in-law, Mike Dillon, was driving.

Burns, with his eight wins, holds a 48-point lead over Scott Youngren of Fallbrook with Mike Price of San Pedro another 18 back. Youngren and Price won the Irwindale races when Burns didn’t.

A smooth racing style, neither cautious nor impatient, has made Burns a fan favorite Saturday nights. Two weeks ago, after starting third, he waited for the right moment to pass the leader and once in front, was never challenged.

His most impressive win, financially, came in the Firecracker 100. He collected a record $4,650, which included the track purse, a $2,000 bonus from the race sponsor -- which also happened to be Burns’ car sponsor -- and an additional $1,650 in lap money. He led every lap.

Growing up in a racing family, Burns began his career racing hobby cars at Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino. His father, Everett, and brother, Chad, both race at Perris Auto Speedway, driving super stocks.

“They both like running on dirt and I prefer asphalt,” Todd said in explaining the family split. It was while working as a mechanic at the Evernham-Hawley racing school at Irwindale that he began racing late models.

“I owe a lot of my success to my spotter, James Valk. A good spotter at Irwindale is almost as important as a good set of tires. Take that Firecracker race, for instance. He helped me miss a crash in the fourth turn. Two cars collided and spun and I was able to get under [Jeff] Green’s car with about a foot to spare.

“The spotter is also important when you are coming up on back-markers who are a lap or so down. He goes to their spotters and asks them to have their driver move aside. It’s a courtesy deal, but it’s important in traffic when your spotter is a diplomat too. “

Valk has been with him since 1996. His sister, Renee, became Mrs. Burns last May 23 after an eight-year courtship.

“His family is pretty important to me,” Burns said. “He’s my spotter, his dad helps sponsor my car and his sister’s my wife. And she’s a part of the crew too. Renee not only keeps all the statistics on lap times, tire wear, gas mileage, stuff like that, but she also cooks for the crew on race nights. I have a crew of seven, all volunteers, who work on my car some nights in my garage in Riverside and come to the races Saturday. I think one reason they keep coming is Renee’s cooking.”

They’re also the envy of other teams. On one blistering summer night, she was busy in the team motorhome -- making homemade ice cream.

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Southland Scene

The Sprint Car Racing Assn. will run two main events Saturday night at Perris Auto Speedway before leaving for the Midwest and nine races in the Non Wing World Championships. They will return Labor Day weekend for races Aug. 30 at Ventura Raceway and Aug. 31 at Perris.

The first race of the Perris doubleheader is a makeup race from the rain-postponed April 26 event. Rip Williams will start on the pole. Following the main event, there will be a full program of heats, trophy dash and another main event.

Ventura Raceway will be dark Saturday night but will hold full racing programs Wednesday and Thursday nights on the seaside track as part of the Ventura County Fair. Both nights will have Figure 8s and a demolition derby.

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Last Laps

J.J. Yeley won three of four Indiana Sprint Week races last week to give him 18 U.S. Auto Club feature wins this year, one shy of the all-time USAC single-season record shared by A.J. Foyt, Sleepy Tripp and Jay Drake. It was Drake who denied Yeley his record win last Saturday night in Putnamville, Ind.... Indy car driver Felipe Giaffone is home in Sao Paulo, Brazil, after being released from the Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana. Giaffone suffered a broken right leg and pelvis in an accident with Dan Wheldon on July 6 at Kansas Speedway.

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Passings

Bob Latford, 67, arguably the most respected historian of NASCAR stock car racing, died Tuesday of heart failure at his home in Concord, N.C. Latford is best known for having devised the championship point system NASCAR uses to determine its Winston Cup champion. He also was the author of “Built for Speed: The Ultimate Guide to Stock Car Racetracks.” He sold programs on the Daytona Beach course before NASCAR built superspeedways and worked at numerous race tracks during his lifetime in racing.

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This Week’s Races

NASCAR Pennsylvania 500

* When: Today, qualifying (TNT, noon); Sunday, race (TNT, 10 a.m.).

* Where: Pocono International Raceway (triangular oval, 2.5 miles, 14 degrees banking in turn 1, 8 degrees in turn 2, 6 degrees in turn 3), Long Pond.

* Race distance: 500 miles, 200 laps.

* 2002 winner: Bill Elliott.

* Next race: Brickyard 400, Aug. 3, Indianapolis.

WINSTON WEST King Taco 200

* When: Saturday, qualifying, 4 p.m.; race, 7 p.m. (Speed Channel, 5 p.m. Aug. 18).

* Where: Irwindale Speedway (low banked oval, 0.5 miles).

* Race distance: 100 miles, 200 laps.

* 2002 winner: Austin Cameron.

* Next race: 99 Speedway, Aug. 16, Stockton.

* Note: Twelve motor racing personalities, including Indianapolis 500 winner Rodger Ward, will be inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame tonight at the Sheraton Four Points Hotel in Monrovia. Other inductees include Dan Gurney, winner of five Winston Cup races at Riverside; drivers Dick Bown, Sonny Easley, Erick Erickson, Rajo Jack, Eddie Pagan, Frank Phillips and Bob Ross; track promoters Bob Beadle and Margo Burke; and Times motor racing writer Shav Glick.

BUSCH SERIES TrimSpa Dream Body 250

* When: Today, qualifying, 3 p.m. (Speed Channel, 5 p.m.); Saturday, race (Channel 4, 12:30 p.m.).

* Where: Pikes Peak International Raceway (d-shaped oval, 1 mile, 10 degrees banking in turns); Fountain, Colo.

* Race distance: 250 miles, 250 laps.

* 2002 winner: Hank Parker Jr.

* Next race: Kroger 200, Aug. 2, Indianapolis.

CART Molson Indy

* When: Today, qualifying, 3:15 p.m.; Saturday, qualifying (Speed Channel, 1:30 p.m.); Sunday, race, 1 p.m. (Speed Channel, 6:30 p.m.).

* Where: Concord Pacific Place Street Circuit (temporary road course, 1.781 miles, 12 turns); Vancouver, Canada.

* Race distance: 178.10 miles, 100 laps.

* 2002 winner: Dario Franchitti.

* Next race: Mid-Ohio Grand Prix, Aug. 10, Lexington, Ohio.

CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS Sears 200

* When: Today, qualifying, noon; Saturday, race (Speed Channel, 10 a.m.).

* Where: Michigan Speedway (D-shaped oval, 2 miles, 18 degrees banking in turns), Brooklyn.

* Race distance: 200 miles, 100 laps.

* 2002 winner: Robert Pressley.

* Next race: Power Stroke Diesel 200, Aug. 1, Indianapolis.

IRL Michigan Indy 400

* When: Saturday, qualifying, 8 a.m.; Sunday, race (Channel 7, 11:30 a.m.).

* Where: Michigan Speedway.

* Race distance: 400 miles, 200 laps.

* 2002 winner: Tomas Scheckter.

* Next race: Emerson Indy 250, Aug. 10, Madison, Ill.

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NHRA CarQuest Auto Parts Nationals

* When: Today, qualifying, 3:30 p.m.; Saturday, qualifying, 11:30 a.m. (ESPN2, 5 p.m.); Sunday, early eliminations, 11 a.m. (ESPN, 1 p.m.), final eliminations (ESPN2, 5:30 p.m.).

* Where: Seattle International Raceway.

* 2002 winners: Darrell Russell, Tony Pedregon and Jeg Coughlin Jr.

* Next event: FRAM Autolite Nationals, Aug. 3, Sonoma, Calif.