The biggest complaint from local racing fans is the lack of local racing.
Since Cajon Speedway closed, fans have wasted a lot of time lamenting its passing and foolhardily believing another track was going to be opening in a year or two.
And drag racing and motocross fans long for the glory days of Carlsbad Raceway.
Guess what, people – those tracks are long gone. And it's highly unlikely they'll be recreated.
But racing still exists in San Diego County. You just have to drive a little farther to find it, then enjoy it for what it is.
Some five miles northeast of the Barona Casino on Wildcat Canyon Road are the eighth-mile Barona Drag Strip and the adjacent Barona Speedway. Across the road is the Barona Oaks motocross track.
Great racing, no – although the drag strip has some interesting events coming up over the second half of the 2008 season with an eye toward improving the track and adding stronger events in the future.
Fun racing, yes.
The quarter-mile dirt oval at Barona Speedway is pure grassroots racing.
As for the drag racing, the quality of cars is much higher than one might expect for an eighth-mile strip.
The quality will be very good Aug. 23 when the alcohol Funny Cars of the California Independent Funny Car Association compete in a 16-car ladder. Qualifying begins at 4 p.m., and the first eliminations start two hours later. It will be the final points event of the CIFCA season.
The track also could be hosting a Top Sportsman exhibition Aug. 23 with an eye on hosting that touring division in future years.
Later this season, the drag strip will be hosting three competitions for a variety of more powerful cars using a 5.8-second breakout index. Those two-day events will be held Sept. 6-7, Oct. 18-19 and Dec. 6-7.
This Saturday, the action will be on the Barona Speedway oval with the IMCA Modifieds joining the regular fare of stock cars, Dwarf cars and mini-sprinters.
Going into the final seven races of the season, Joseph Altig leads the points standings in the Street Stock division, Roger Harper is the Factory Stock leader and Paul Dyke leads the Pony Stocks.
Bob Brown Jr. leads the Pro Dwarf division, with Dartman Fritz first in Sportsman Dwarfs and Nathan Deragon first in Mini Dwarfs.
Barona is not the lone racing site in San Diego County.
The Quarry in Chula Vista will host two more Championship Off-Road Racing events, on Sept. 13-14 and Dec. 6-7.
The west access road at Qualcomm Stadium is the home to Friday night drag races for the street-legal RaceLegal.com series.
The stadium parking lot hosts races for the San Diego Karting Association as well as slaloms for the Sports Car Club of America, the Porsche Club and the BMW Club.
For those looking for nostalgia, the San Diego Automotive Museum in Balboa Park will continue to host the Motocross America: The Early Years exhibit through Sept. 25. The Motorcycle Hall of Fame exhibit features many local riders, including Broc Glover, Marty Tripes, Marty Smith and Rick Johnson.
Bill Center: (619) 293-1851; bill.center@uniontrib.com
