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Another week goes by and Justin and the #66 car remain on the sidelines. It’s anybody’s guess as to how long the treatment on his eye will take; it is a week to week affair.

The Stock Car Racing Association’s points chase has turned into a donnybrook. All the top drivers have been up and down from one week to the next. Going into last Friday’s race, Ron Poe, who has led the way most of the season, had an eight point lead over Bobby Erdman. Erdman, who won three titles in 10 years, two in the Factory Stock Division and the last one in the Super Stock Division in 1998, was inducted into the SCRA Hall of Fame in 2007. Near the end of 2007 Erdman came back to Factory Stock racing after 10 years on the sidelines. After some tough times trying to regain his touch, it appears that he is getting back in the groove, taking over first place in the standings on Friday night.

Although Erdman took over the lead, he appeared to fight success all night long. In the trophy dash, Bobby jumped out to an early lead only to slide off the track coming out of turn two on lap two. Deciding he was out of it, Erdman drove leisurely around the track. The first two cars spun each other coming out of turn four for the checkered flag, and there was Bobby cruising past them for the win. Going into his heat race, he needed to finish sixth or better to take over the points lead; instead, it appeared that he spun out on his own and finished last to tie for the points lead. The main event was a demolition derby with only nine cars finishing out of the 21 starters. Bobby was in the work area of the pits three times and he still finished third, putting him in the points lead. Ron Poe had a terrible night, losing his engine, and dropping to third in the points standings.

Justin Upton Racing, LLC
Larry

Upton Still on the Sidelines; #66 Pulls Off a Clean Sweep

Justin’s eye continues to improve, and he has high hopes that he will return to the track in the near future, but for now, Anthony Madrid remains behind the wheel.

It is natural that Anthony is driving the #66 car inasmuch as he has been Justin’s mentor for the last two or three years. In addition, #66 was built by Anthony in 2005 with which he won a championship. Justin bought the car in the off-season, held it out in 2006 and used it for public appearances, billing it as the “Stock Car Racing Association’s 2005 Factory Stock Championship Car.” It was not mentioned that Madrid had raced the car to the championship. Then in 2007 Justin brought the car to the track and immediately dubbed it “the magic car” for the terrific way it handled. As you know, Justin went on to win his own championship in the car for 2007.

Early in 2008 Justin determined that the suspension must be worn out on #66 and replaced all suspension parts. This was just in time for his eye problem to appear and Anthony to take over. Anthony stated that the car had never handled so good. He told Justin that when he gets back in the car to not change a thing, it’s perfect.
It was really no contest on Friday night, June 13th as Madrid roared to any easy win in the first heat race, thereby giving him the pole for the main event. In the main he took the lead going into turn one and never let up, leading wire to wire for the 20 lap race. The real action took place behind Anthony as Bobby Erdman took third place while the points leader, Ron Poe, finished 16th due to a flat tire. That moved Erdman within 11 points of Poe in the championship hunt. Obviously, Justin is out of the race for the title, but Poe’s bad luck and Erdman’s return to form after a 10 year retirement has created a most exciting championship run.

To top the night off, Becky Madrid drove #66 in the Lady Stock event and won.

The next race will be on Friday, June 27, 2008, at Manzanita Speedway at 7:30 p.m.

Justin Upton Racing, LLC
Larry

Car #66 is the Winner; Upton Stays on the Sidelines

Friday night’s action went on with Justin in the grandstands again. The doctor is keeping him on the sidelines while the medication does its work. The next doctor’s appointment is Monday, June 9, so we will see what happens then.

In the meantime, Anthony Madrid, a 10-time champion and member of the SCRA Hall of Fame, continued to drive Justin’s #66 car, racing to an easy win in the main event for his 116th career win, fourth on the all-time Manzy win list, and he’s still in his early thirties. Madrid opened up a half lap lead by lap ten when a yellow flag wiped it out with a two-by-two restart. He again pulled far away from the field when another yellow came out at lap 17. Madrid beat Ron Poe, the points leader, to turn one on the restart and he was gone. The car looked terrific. Poe increased his points lead as Matt Martinez, in second place, did not finish the race.

Stay tuned for further reports.

Justin Upton Racing, LLC
Larry

Disaster Strikes!

Race fans were treated to one of the most aggressive and exciting weekends of racing in the 2008 season. The disaster is that Justin Upton was not part of the show.

For most of his life Justin has had 20/10 vision, dropping to 20/20 in the recent past. This past week, however, he developed severe pain in his left eye. After an exam by an ophthalmologist that showed pressure building up in the eye, he was instructed not to race. Although his vision was still 20/20, if the pressure could not be released blindness could ensue. So for the first time in seven years, Justin was in the grandstands learning what it means to suffer through the races as I have for the past three years. He will continue to be treated with medication until the doctor gives him the go ahead, which he hopes will come soon.

In the meantime, the racing was exciting and dramatic. On Friday night, Bobby Erdman, a former three-time champion, won his first main event since coming out of retirement late last season. Ron Poe, who was leading in the points chase going into the night, blew an engine and watched as the field of leaders closed in on him. At night’s end, his lead was down to three points over Matt Martinez.

Saturday night was more like a demolition derby than a race. Among the top five leaders, only Poe, who installed a new engine overnight, was happy at the end of the event. Poe picked up his second win of the season, joining Matt Martinez as the only multiple winner of the year. At one point Larry Price got tangled up in lapped traffic, hit Bobby Taylor at an angle that sent him airborne and into the pits for repairs. Later in the event, Bobby Taylor and Daren Olney, who were both contending for the lead, touched coming out of turn four and hooked up, sending both of them into the wall. At the end only ten of 20 cars were running.

Matt Martinez entered the night only three points behind Poe but his car problems put him in the pits early. Poe retained his lead with Erdman moving into second place, 31 points out. Justin, who was one point out of third, dropped out of the top ten by missing both races.

The next race is Friday, June 6, 2008, at 7:30 p.m. at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix. Justin’s medical progress was reviewed today, and he will not be back on the track this weekend. This situation takes him completely out of the running for a repeat championship, leaving him to lick his wounds while he contemplates his racing future.

Justin Upton Racing, LLC
Larry

Upton Wins!

Three new springs and a little good luck was all Justin Upton needed last Friday night to post his first main event win of the year. For the past four weeks Justin has been struggling with the way the race car handles.  After the decision was made to replace the suspension, we discovered that China’s increased imports of steel have affected the availability of racing springs in the United States. As a result, the race car has raced on the old springs, then two new springs and, finally, last week we added a third spring. There’s no telling what might happen when all four springs are in place.

Justin began the night with another unlucky pill draw, which put him in eighth place for the start of his heat race. The car did not look good during the heat race, but Justin moved the car to fourth at the finish. When I asked him about it after the race, he said, “Well, when you start that far back in a fast field, there’s so little hope of winning that I was just focused on saving the car and making the main event.” It paid off because the traditional coin flip to determine whether or not to invert the field resulted in an inversion. This vaulted Justin from the fifth row outside to the front row outside. Interviewed after the race, Justin said, “There was no way I was going to get beat to turn one. I had not been to the front of the field all season, so I was determined to make the most of it. I thought that three new springs had to give me a better chance than four old ones.”

When the green flag dropped, Justin roared down the front straight going harder and deeper into turn one than he had all season. As it turned out, the outside, or the top, of the track was the place to race; it was fast! Justin had the lead coming out of turn two. I knew the car was different as soon as it came past the flag stand; Justin was standing on the throttle. It wasn’t long, however, before Larry Price and Bobby Erdman, both former champions, were hot on Justin’s rear bumper. Actually, Price and Erdman both took over the lead for short bursts of action. All three cars were fast, and it seemed that a single mistake by any one of them enabled the other to take the lead. Finally, with five laps to go, a yellow flag slowed the field. At the restart, Justin had the high line with Price on the inside. Justin beat Price to the corner. As the cars thundered out of turn two, Justin was in front with Price glued to his rear bumper. The crowd held its breath while Price pushed hard trying to find a passing lane, but Justin had the power and speed to hold him off as he passed the finish line.

The points standings have been in flux throughout the first five weeks of the season with drivers changing places each week. Ron Poe, who is a perennial contender, took the points lead two weeks ago and strengthened his hold on first place with a solid performance, garnering a second in the trophy dash, a heat race win, and a third in the main event. Matt Martinez moved into second while Justin had a big move from seventh to third, 33 points out of first. All of the top five are within easy striking distance of each other, and a bobble by any of them will reshuffle the standings. There are 18 races to go.

Join us on Friday, April 25, 2008, for another night of fast action. We’ll see you at 7 p.m.

The Ship Has Righted Itself

The “Good Ship, Justin Upton Racing,” has stabilized; however, before we go into that, tonight’s preliminary races featuring the Dwarf cars, reminded us once again that racing is a dangerous sport. Dwarf cars are 5/8th scale cars of the type that originally raced at Manzanita Speedway at its beginning in 1951. The cars are production-model 1928 to 1948 vintage coupe, sedan and pickups powered by four-cycle, four-cylinder biker engines. Jim Gemmell, driving #84, tangled with Chuck Vallone, #83, coming out of turn four. As the two cars veered toward the wall on the front straightaway, they made heavy contact, sending Gemmell nose-first into the wall at the flag stand, with Vallone spinning sideways, resulting in a series of barrel rolls along the wall. Vallone was rolling right in front of me and, while the car was rolling fast, I was so close that it seemed to slow down, coming closer to me as in a 3-D movie, and I could see Vallone’s head being jerked back and forth as the car rolled. There was an audible gasp as the crowd sensed the danger, and I, along with them, felt that this could be serious. Nevertheless, when the dust settled, both drivers popped out of their cars to the cheers of the crowd.

As reported last week, Justin lost his fan belts in the main event, giving him a DNF for the first time in two years. Later, while he was checking out the car, he discovered that he had also lost his left rear spring. Lastly, during the off-season, Justin replaced his gage panel, and it paid off last week. All last season Justin had what he thought was a carburetor problem as the car would hesitate when he punched the accelerator. The new fuel pressure gage has a light that comes on when the pressure is too high or low and records the reading. This is critical because the driver cannot watch the gages during a race. After the race, the fuel pressure gage displayed a low reading. After replacement of the fuel pump, the car was perfect.

Now, tonight’s action in the stock car division: luck is good or bad depending which side one is on. Last season, Justin’s worst pill draw gave him a third row outside starting position in the heat races. Tonight, he started eighth in a ten car race in the third heat. While the action was furious with Ron Poe and Bobby Taylor banging for the lead, Justin was blocked at the back of the field for a couple of laps until the field spread out. Patience was the watchword to get to the front. Finally, he began to pick off one car and then another, passing Danny Pearson coming out of turn four for a third place finish.

The main event featured Anthony Madrid on the pole with Larry Price on the outside with perennial contender Ron Poe on the second row inside and last week’s winner, Matt Martinez, the teenage whiz, next to Poe. Justin was on the fifth row inside. Madrid had indicated that he might set a new track record due to excellent track conditions tonight; however, Price beat him off the first turn and took the lead. With Martinez and Poe pressing Madrid, Price held all of them off and appeared to be on his way barring a miscue. Upton was pinned to the inside rail through turn one and half-way down the back straight on lap one, dropping to thirteenth. The fight was all up front with Price holding back Madrid, who was looking for his 113th main event win at Manzanita. Finally, Price blew a tire on lap five and went to the pits. Madrid took over the lead and would not be denied, putting him only five wins off the all-time Manzy record held by Hall of Famer Lealand McSpadden. With the field spreading out, Justin began moving up. Again, patience was the key as was demonstrated when Matt Martinez and Bobby Taylor crashed each other as they battled for third. Hall of Famer Bobby Erdman was in second place when he went to the pits with car problems. When it was all over, Madrid prevailed for his 113th win with Poe a second behind. Justin was happy with his sixth place finish, the solid performance of his car, and his movement from 12th to eighth in the points standings. It was not a spectacular night, but a solid performance. We’ll be back next Friday, March 28, 2008

A Championship Doesn’t Buy You Any Luck

Justin Upton, the 2007 Stock Car Racing Association (SCRA) champion, was in a position to win last night, but ended up having more bad luck on opening night than he had all last season combined. After 16 top five finishes in 17 starts in 2007, Upton did not finish the main event and was credited with a 16th place finish. It was a short night that seemed very long.

Upton’s luck started in the first heat as he was on the outside front row with Ron Poe on the pole. As the green flag dropped, Poe moved up the track toward Upton, forcing him to slow down or go into the wall. This opened the door for Anthony Madrid, a ten-time champion and the first driver elected to the SCRA Hall of Fame, and arguably the best stock car driver in Arizona, to shoot from the second row inside and take the lead coming out of turn one. He was gone! Upton battled back, took Poe, and finished a distant second to Madrid. This put Madrid on the pole for the main event. Jody Henderson won the second heat, placing him out the outside front row while William McCullough’s heat win gave him the second row inside for the main event. Other big names like Ron Poe, Matt Martinez, Bobby Taylor, along with Larry Price, who was late getting his car inspected, started farther back in the field.

Upton’s second place in the heat race placed him on the second row outside for the main event, right behind Jody Henderson who was on the front row with Madrid. As they roared into turn one, Madrid jumped in front followed by Henderson and Upton, bumper to bumper. They raced this way for nine laps, finally coming up on the back of the field, which sounds like fun until you realize there’s a reason they are running in the back of the pack: they’re running slower than the lead cars and they’re bunched up! Madrid got to the pack first, charged in, and found himself surrounded by slammers and bangers. Almost immediately, Madrid is hit, and brushes the wall, moving away with two flat tires. With the yellow flag out, Madrid goes to the pits while Henderson takes the lead with Upton in second. At the restart, Madrid comes out of the pits and is placed at the back of the field in 20th place. On restarts in the stock car division, the cars line up double-file; although Upton was in second place, the officials placed a lapped car in front of him for the restart. Guess what? The lapped car was slow, causing Upton to lose ground immediately. It really didn’t matter because he was overheating. At the same time Troy Mangano and Mike Lilly got tangled up, bringing out another yellow. The defending champion, Upton, pulled into the pits; all the belts had popped off and he had no power steering, water pump, or fan. Mangano’s car was used up in the crash while Lilly was taken to the hospital with a possible broken collar-bone.

At the end, Matt Martinez, the teenager, who has always been tough competition, won the race, followed by Price from the back of the field, with McCullough, Henderson, and Madrid respectively, claiming the remaining top five spots. Upton was philosophical, saying that he knew he couldn’t be lucky every night, but he felt very good about the car’s overall performance. He never was in a position to use all of his speed and power and believed that with just a little more luck, he could have won the main event. If only all of us had just a little more luck, life would be great!

We will be back to the track on Friday, March 21, 2008, and we’ll be looking for you there.

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