http://www.thevillagenews.com/story.asp?story_ID=4508

Cajon drivers making other plans

Joe Naiman Village News Correspondent

Fallbrook's Cajon Speedway drivers who had planned to run during
the 2005 Cajon Speedway season are in the process of determining
their other plans for 2005. Scott Denton, Keith Krueger, and Mike
McGlone will likely be running on dirt tracks this year, Bob Caron
plans to compete in a touring series, Mike Salm may run occasionally
at Irwindale Speedway but will focus on his children's racing
activities, and former Fallbrook resident Pat Garity is contemplating
the choice between the dirt tracks and a year off. "Like
everybody else, we're disappointed," said Linda Costello, who
co-owns
McGlone's car along with her husband, Roy. McGlone and Denton ran
in
the Bomber Stocks division at Cajon Speedway. Perris Auto Speedway
doesn't have a Bomber Stocks class, but the regular racing
includes a
Street Stocks division. "They have the closest rules to the
Bomber
class we've been in," Costello said. Costello feels that the
Monte
Carlo McGlone drove at Cajon Speedway is too big to be competitive at
Perris. The Costellos purchased a Camaro in 2004. "Now we will
start to work on it," Linda Costello said. "Right now
it's a
bare frame." Costello and her husband will likely sell the Monte
Carlo, possibly to a driver at the Blythe track where they found a
buyer for the Gran Torino McGlone drove prior to the switch to the
Monte Carlo. The first Street Stocks race at Perris was run February
26, and the Camaro likely won't be ready for the next race March
19.
"We'll take our time and maybe by Summer we'll be able to
run a race
or two at Perris," Costello said. The 2005 Perris Auto Speedway
schedule calls for 17 Street Stocks races, including the February 12
race which was rained out and has not yet been rescheduled. The
Perris season runs from February through November. After building the
car, McGlone and the Costellos will also test the Camaro before
racing it. "It will be a nice little break for us, I think,"
Linda
Costello said. They will also observe other Street Stock drivers at
Perris during that time. McGlone drove a Speedway Midget on dirt
tracks before blowing an engine in 1999, so the switch to Perris will
be a return to dirt racing for McGlone. "He's familiar with
dirt, and
I think he'll actually shine up there," Costello said.
Pitting on the
dirt will be a new experience for the Costellos. "We're going
to miss
the concrete pits," Linda Costello said. Perris Auto Speedway is
approximately 40 miles from Fallbrook while Cajon Speedway is
approximately 55 miles away. Costello said that she won't miss
the
commute or the traffic to El Cajon. "We're going to miss our
Cajon
friends," she said. "We're just really going to miss all
that. It's a
real shame." McGlone was 13th in the Bomber Stock standings in
2004.
Denton finished second, nine points behind track champion Brian
Fitzgibbons. Although Denton had set his sights on the season
championship, the stakes of the competition in 2004 reduced his
enjoyment, and his second child was born November 5. Denton planned
to race only part-time in 2005, but now his part-time plans will
place him at dirt tracks. "I think I'm going to both Perris
and
Barona," Denton said. Denton plans to run the same Nova he ran at
Cajon Speedway in Perris' Street Stocks division. "Think
I'll do my
practice driving out at Barona, get that out of the way first,"
he
said. Denton also expressed the possibility of serving as a crew
member for another Street Stocks driver before racing on the track
himself. "I don't want to just bring my Nova out and trash
it," he
said. Perris is a half-mile oval while Barona is a quarter-mile oval.
Cajon Speedway has a 3/8-mile oval. On September 11, the Nova's
throttle stuck during a practice lap and Denton hit the wall, causing
significant frame damage. He borrowed the Chevelle he had sold to
Lyle Driscoll for the final three races of 2004. "I've
got some work to do to the Nova to get it back," he said.
Although Denton has never raced on dirt, he grew up in Lake Charles,
LA, and drove on numerous dirt roads before moving to San Diego
County. "Maybe it will all come back," he said. In addition
to his Nova, Denton also owns an LTD which competed in the Factory
Stocks division at Cajon Speedway. Keith Krueger was the usual driver
of the LTD at Cajon Speedway, although Denton sometimes substituted
in Krueger's absence, as did two of Krueger's brothers. After
the 2004 Cajon Speedway season ended, Krueger drove the LTD in the
Factory Stocks division at Barona. With the elimination of the 2005
Cajon Speedway season, Denton will be doing some of the driving in
the LTD. "I'll drive some and he'll drive some,"
Denton
said. Since the Perris season has already begun, the pressure of the
points race no longer exists for Denton - which means that he does
not have to compete in each race. "I can do it when I want,"
he said.
One of Denton's Cajon Speedway crew members, Dick Laycock, drives
in
the touring Lightning Stock class, and Denton may also spend some
nights on Laycock's crew. "He helped me out all these
years,"
Denton said. Krueger had planned to race part-time at Cajon Speedway
and part-time at Barona Speedway in 2005. The elimination of the
Cajon season means more races at Barona. "We're going to do
the Barona
season," he said. "I'll run the Factory Stocks out at
Barona."
Krueger's brothers Kevin and Kelly drove a Lincoln in the Factory
Stock division at Cajon Speedway when neither of the brothers
substituted in the LTD. "I talked to my brothers and they'll
be
switching over to the dirt," Keith Krueger said. "We'll
be racing if
we've got to race wagons. We're going to race something."
For
Krueger, the elimination of the asphalt season may be a benefit.
"I'm
way more comfortable on the dirt track than I ever was at Cajon,"
he
said. Krueger began his dirt racing career with karts on the dirt
oval in Carlsbad. While his only Cajon Speedway win came in a 2003
consolation main and he finished no higher than 13th in a Cajon
Speedway main event in 2004, he won his second-ever Factory Stocks
main event at Barona and had also been a winner in his second kart
race. Not only does he feel that his driving will be more competitive
on a dirt track, but he also feels that car repair work will diminish
since dirt tracks have a cushion at the top just before the
wall. "There's not as much carnage," Krueger said.
Krueger didn't
rule out the possibility of driving at Perris, although he would not
be able to do so in the LTD or the Lincoln without converting those
to the Cruiser class in which one driver controls the steering wheel
and brake pedal and the other driver operates the gas pedal. Although
Krueger looks forward to concentrating on dirt, he regrets the
closure of Cajon Speedway. "It was fun," he said. The
failure of the
negotiations to run a full 2005 season doesn't eliminate the
possibility of occasional races at Cajon Speedway in 2005. "If
they
run some racing out there, we're going to be there," Krueger
said. In
1955 Earle Brucker Sr. obtained a 50-year lease from the County of
San Diego for surplus Gillespie Field airport property. Brucker, a
former player and coach for the Philadelphia Athletics baseball team,
had planned to build a baseball stadium for use as a Spring Training
facility. After the ballpark was built, negotiations with the Detroit
Tigers fell through. In the 1950s what was then known as County
Stadium hosted motorcycle races, high school football games,
circuses, and rodeos. On January 24, 1961, the San Diego City Council
voted to expand Balboa Stadium, clearing the way for the Los Angeles
Chargers football team to move to San Diego. The Chargers' move
to
San Diego meant the end of stock car racing at Balboa Stadium, and in
1961 racecar owner Tom Jackman spoke to Brucker about the possibility
of hosting stock car racing. A quarter-mile dirt oval was constructed
at County Stadium, and the first stock car races at Cajon Speedway
were held on July 15, 1961. The track was enlarged to three-eighths
of a mile in 1964 and was paved in 1966. In 1986 Cajon Speedway
became a NASCAR-affiliated track. Management of the track spanned
three generations of the Brucker family. Steve Brucker took over as
promoter of the track after it received its NASCAR sanction while his
brother, Kevin, became the track's manager. On April 14, 2003,
Steve
Brucker was murdered at his home during a robbery attempt. The trial
of the four defendants is expected to begin this year. Tragedy
continued for the Brucker family when Kevin Brucker's wife,
Doris,
was diagnosed with brain cancer. The worsening of Doris Brucker's
brain cancer and the upcoming murder trial of the four defendants
accused of killing Steve Brucker led to Kevin Brucker's decision
not
to continue as promoter. On January 5 Brucker announced that he
would not serve as the track promoter in 2005. The announcement three
days before the awards banquet for the 2004 season allowed for some
discussion prior to the banquet about interested potential promoters
renting the track from the Bruckers, and by the banquet Brucker had
heard from three interested groups. Former racers Mark Norris and Bo
Lemler emerged as the partnership likely to operate the track in
2005. Successful negotiations, however, required not only an
agreement between the Brucker family and Norris and Lemler but also a
three-month lease extension from the county to complete the season
(the lease expires August 15) and negotiations involving the
concession rights. After nearly two months of negotiations, Norris
announced on March 1 that he and Lemler were not willing to meet the
conditions imposed to rent the track from the Bruckers. On March 4
Doris Brucker passed away. "This family's just been inundated
with
tragedy, not to mention the lease expiring," Krueger said.
Because
Gillespie Field receives grant money from the Federal Aviation
Administration, the FAA and not the county has the right to determine
which parts of Gillespie Field must be used for aviation-related
purposes and which parts can be used for non-aviation activities. The
FAA has informed County Airports that the Cajon Plaza property will
be used as aviation land, so it would literally require an act of
Congress to extend the Cajon Speedway lease past November 15.