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LEGENDARY WALLY PANKRATZ RACING AT PERRIS
ON SATURDAY!
By Scott
Daloisio
(Perris, CA, May 22, 2019)
Perris Auto Speedway fans will
get an extra treat at the annual “Salute
to Indy” this Saturday night, May 25th.
Legendary West Coast open-wheel driver
Wally Pankratz will be making his first
appearance in two years at the famous
Riverside County clay oval in The PAS
Senior Sprint Cars.
Wally Pankratz
at Craig Road Speedway in Las Vegas in
1979. Scott Daloisio Photo.
Pankratz, the
son of former racer and Indy Car builder
Bob Pankratz, has been racing open wheel
cars for 49-years. He has competed in and
won across the country in sprint cars,
super modifieds, midgets and silver crown
cars. He has won championships in the USAC
Western Midget Series, the old Super
Modified Racing Association, Hanford
Speedway Sprint Cars, Ascot Super Midgets
and two years ago, at the young age of 71,
in the Ventura Senior Sprint Cars. All
told, he has won 114-main events in his
career and he was inducted into the
National Midget Racing Hall of Fame in
Belleville, Kansas in 2006 (one year
before his father).
About a dozen
years ago, Pankratz, now 73-years-old,
officially retired from racing. However,
someone apparently forgot to tell him that
in order to retire, you must stop driving
in races. Even though he announced that he
was done, he just kept on competing.
“I actually
did retire for a couple of years,” the
Orange resident said with a laugh. “I was
trying to get my driving school off the
ground, and somebody had a friend who
wanted to get into racing and take the
school, but they had never heard of me. I
told my wife maybe I should start racing
the Focus Midget to keep my name out
there. She went for it and I am still
racing today.”
These days
Pankratz confines most of his racing to
the Senior Sprint Car Series (drivers 40
and older) at the Ventura Raceway. He
drives for car owner Ray Swann and says he
will keep on driving for as long as Swann
wants him to.
“I keep
driving because of Ray Swann,” Pankratz
said. “He is 84-years-old, and he just
loves it. His crew guys say he beams when
they go to the races. At the end of last
year, he asked me if I wanted to do this
again. I told him if he wanted to, yes, I
would do it. So, we are back at it again.
My wife Barbara is on board and she loves
Ray. As long as he wants to do it, I will
do it to.”
A former
defensive back at Fullerton Junior College
and Idaho State, Pankratz attended
training camp as a free agent with the San
Diego Chargers in the 1960s. He once joked
that the size of the players in camp
convinced him to get into racing. Joke or
not, he fashioned a wonderful career. One
of the goals of his was to race Indy Cars
and he did get the opportunity in the
early 1980s driving for former CRA driver
Norm Hall at Phoenix International Raceway
and Riverside Raceway.
If Pankratz
ever stops racing himself, the family name
will still be around. His daughter Randi
began her racing career at the old quarter
midget track in Pomona in the early 1980s.
Competitive like her father, she
progressed from the quarter-midgets to the
now-defunct USAC Three-Quarter Midget
Series. For more than two decades now, she
has been a regular, and one of the most
popular drivers, in the USAC Western
Midget Series.
All active and
retired California Highway Patrol Officers
will be admitted to this Saturday’s race
free. All they have to do is show their
CHP badge or id at the ticket window and
they will be given a free ticket.
Spectator
gates for Saturday’s race will open at
5:00 P.M. and the first 200 fans through
the front gate will receive a free stadium
cup courtesy of the American Cancer
Society. The first race will take the
green flag at 7:00.
Tickets for
Saturday’s race are $25.00 for adults.
Seniors 65 and over get in for $20.00. For
active military with proper id and their
spouse or date, it is $5.00 each. Teens
13-18 with their school id and kids 6-12
get in for $5.00. Children 5 and under are
free. Parking on the fairgrounds is $8.00.
Camping on the
fairgrounds opens at noon on Friday.
Tailgating on the grassy area outside of
turn four begins at 1:00 P.M. on Saturday.
Advance
tickets for all Perris Auto Speedway
events are available 24-hours a day online
at https://bit.ly/2Aa50Lj or by calling
1-800-595-4849. If you do not wish to buy
tickets in advance for any race, there
will be plenty of tickets for everyone at
the ticket window on race night.
Perris Auto
Speedway is conveniently located on the
SoCal Fair and Event Center (home of
October’s Southern California Fair),
approximately one hour east of Los Angeles
and one-hour North of San Diego. To get to
the track, take the 215 freeway, on the
Ramona Expressway and go three miles east
to the fairgrounds. For directions on
MapQuest, the address to enter is: 18700
Lake Perris Drive and the zip code is
92571.
Perris Auto
Speedway wants to thank its corporate
partners for the 2019 season. All Coast
Construction, Austin Hutchinson Realtor,
Battery Systems, Brass and Bass Firearms &
Fishing Supplies, Budweiser, Bud’s Tire
Pro, Chris’ Hauling, City of Perris,
Daytona Boat & RV Storage, Ed Moore Bullet
Proof Driveshaft, Flowdynamics, HD
Industries, Hoosier Tires, Inland Rigging,
K2 Displays, Living Water’s Hospice, LKQ
Pick Your Part, Luke’s Transmission,
Pepsi-Cola, Pole Position, PrintItNow.com,
Rainbow Bolt & Supply, Shaver Specialties,
Square H, Sunoco Race Fuels, Sunstate
Equipment, Trench Shoring, Varner
Construction, VIA RV Service and Vista
Paint.
To keep up
with all the latest Perris Auto Speedway
news, photos, gossip and receive special
offers, please use the following links:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Perris-Auto-Speedway/113876798686480?ref=hl
Twitter:
Perris Auto Speedway on Twitter.
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/perrisautospeedway/
Website:
http://perrisautospeedway.com/
Video and DVD
productions of all racing sprint cars
events at Perris Auto Speedway are
available from Loudpedal Productions. For
more information on these productions you
can contact them by calling (805)
844-3854, E-mailing
mailto:trtruex@gmail.com or you can visit
the website LoudPedal Productions.
DVD’s of all
the PASSCAR/IMCA racing and Nights of
Destruction at The PAS are available from
Fourvideos. For more information call
(714) 225-9500.
racesatthepas@aol.com is the only
authorized Internet address to issue
official media news released from The
Perris Auto Speedway or Oval
Entertainment.
2019 Perris
Auto Speedway Schedule
May 25th
“Salute to Indy” Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint
Cars, PAS Senior Sprints and PAS Young Gun
Sprints American Cancer Society Night
Benefiting the “Up Down ‘n Dirty 4 a Cure
Mud Run
June 1st LKQ
Pick Your Part Presents Night of
Destruction III: Demo Cross, Figure 8’s,
Trailer Figure 8’s, Mini Stocks, Double
Deckers, Formula X Autocross and Cross
Karts American Cancer Society Night
Benefiting the “Up Down ‘n Dirty 4 a Cure
Mud Run
June 15th
PASSCAR Super Stocks, Street Stocks,
American Factory Stocks and IMCA Modifieds
June 29th
Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Cars, PAS Senior
Sprints and PAS Young Gun Sprints
July 4th
FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR LKQ Pick Your Part
Presents Night of Destruction IV: Demo
Cross, Figure 8’s, Trailer Figure 8’s,
Mini Stocks, Double Deckers, Formula X
Autocross and Cross Karts American Cancer
Society Night Benefiting the “Up Down ‘n
Dirty 4 a Cure Mud Run
July 13th
Amsoil USAC/CRA & USAC Southwest Sprint
Cars, PAS Senior Sprints and PAS Young Gun
Sprints
July 20th
PASSCAR Super Stocks, Street Stocks,
American Factory Stocks and IMCA Modifieds
July 27th LKQ
Pick Your Part Presents Night of
Destruction V: Demo Cross, Figure 8’s,
Trailer Figure 8’s, Mini Stocks, Double
Deckers, Formula X Autocross and Cross
Karts
August 17th
“California Racer’s Hall of Fame Night”
Amsoil USAC/CRA & USAC Southwest Sprint
Cars, PAS Senior Sprints and PAS Young Gun
Sprints
August 24th
PASSCAR Super Stocks, Street Stocks,
American Factory Stocks and IMCA Modifieds
August 31st
LKQ Pick Your Part Presents Night of
Destruction VI: Demo Cross, Figure 8’s,
Trailer Figure 8’s, Mini Stocks, Double
Deckers, Formula X Autocross and Cross
Karts
September 14th
PASSCAR Super Stocks, Street Stocks,
American Factory Stocks and IMCA Modifieds
September 21st
“Glenn Howard Classic” Amsoil USAC/CRA
Sprint Cars, PAS Senior Sprints and PAS
Young Gun Sprints
September 28th
LKQ Pick Your Part Presents Night of
Destruction VII: Demo Cross, Figure 8’s,
Trailer Figure 8’s, Mini Stocks, Double
Deckers, Formula X Autocross and Cross
Karts
November 6th
Budweiser Oval Nationals Presented by All
Coast Construction Practice Session
November 7th
Budweiser Oval Nationals Presented by All
Coast Construction USAC National, CRA and
Southwest Sprint Cars
November 8th
Budweiser Oval Nationals Presented by All
Coast Construction USAC National, CRA and
Southwest Sprint Cars
November 9th
Budweiser Oval Nationals Presented by All
Coast Construction USAC National, CRA and
Southwest Sprint Cars
November 16th
“Champions Night” PASSCAR Super Stocks,
Street Stocks, American Factory Stocks and
PAS Modifieds
*** Schedule
Subject to Change |
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