2013 Racing Archive Stories

Little by little, piece by piece, Timmy Reese has been progressing as a dirt track racer.Ever since coming on the scene during the inaugural Cocopah Speedway season in 2010, Reese has driven hard, sometimes too hard, and paid the price. He's endured crashes, including a rollover, and heartaches, having come close to tasting victory o

You have to wonder if, when Brett Simala was a young boy, was he the type of youngster who did exactly the opposite of what he was told to do?Because that's been his mode of operation recently at Cocopah Speedway, and it's working out quite nicely for the driver in the Pro-Stock Division.In eight feature event starts so f

On the night before Chester Daffern shipped off to Afghanistan for his seventh tour of duty in September, he was at Cocopah Speedway where he watched his cousin win a race.On the night he returned from that tour of duty he was at Cocopah Speedway, again, watching his cousin win, again.The fact that his cousin won another

So far, Ty Rogers is a perfect 7-0.His plan is to go 10-0.But that, he said, will take a lot of luck.“About 90 percent,” he said this week as he prepared for the next round in the 2013 Cocopah Speedway Racing Series Saturday night at Cocopah Speedway.Since the season opened in January,

When Miles Morris arrived at Cocopah Speedway Saturday night, he wasn't dressed to go racing.Not hardly.Fresh from the father-daughter ball at his daughter's school, wearing dress clothes and a tie, he quickly put on his driving suit, traded his dancing shoes for his driving shoes, and got down to the business of winning

While working in his lab late one night …OK, Greg Burgess is no mad scientist, but the director of operations at Cocopah Speedway is starting to see a transformation take place at the Somerton oval, a transformation he is orchestrating not with a scalpel, electrodes and a lightning bolt, but with an eye on the future.

You can't judge a book by its cover.Apparently you can't judge a race track by its video, either.Just ask Damion Gardner.Gardner, from Concord, Calif., had never been to Cocopah Speedway, so to prepare for the Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series, two-night show he watched a lot of footage of other sprint car rac

The Model T has certainly come a long way – on the race track.Dirt track racing, or to be more specific, sprint car racing, dates back to the 1930s when drivers would strip down a Ford Model T and turn it into a race car. This was referred to as “dirt track racing.”Somewhere around 1950 the term “s

On a July morning in 2012, Matt Mitchell woke up to discover he was blind.A horrendous wreck the night before at Terra Haute Action Track in Terra Haute, Ind., in which Mitchell's car tumbled end over end down the front straightaway, resulted in the driver from Yorba Linda, Calif., being transported to a local hospital.&l

Don't tell Brody Roa that Disneyland is "The Happiest Place on Earth."As far as the 22-year-old sprint car racer is concerned, it's Cocopah Speedway that puts the biggest smile on his face.In 2012, in his rookie season in the Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series for 410 non-winged sprint cars, Roa won his first career featur

The United States Auto Club's CRA (USAC/CRA) Sprint Cars made their debut on March 6, 2004, at Perris Auto Speedway.Using non-winged, 410 cubic-inch powerplants, the series showcases some of America's most traditional sprint car classics in the Southwest.Many of the stars in the series have campaigned on the West Coast fo

Fact: In the history of the Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series for 410 non-winged sprint cars, Rip Williams has logged 104 feature event wins.That is the most wins ever recorded in the series by anyone, except fellow Sprint Car Hall of Fame driver Dean Thompson, who also has 104 wins.So, here we have Rip Williams, one win

In 1998, officials wondered just how fast these sprint cars were that frequented then-Yuma Speedway.And a radar gun, positioned outside of Turn 1, pointed down the front straight, caught a sprint car going 110 mph.Damion Gardner wants to go faster. A lot faster, more than 100 mph faster, like about 250 mph, in a sprint ca

The next Tony Stewart is on the way up.Or at least that's the way Ryan Bernal sees it.And looking at the 19-year-old's credentials so far, he might not be far from right.The teenager from Hollister, Calif., already has a list of accomplishments that would make many seasoned drivers envious, including four cham

There is no panic button on the dash of Mike Spencer's race car.Although the perennial champion in the Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series for 410 non-winged sprint cars has gotten off to a rocky start in 2013, and some skeptics are already whispering Spencer won't win another crown this year, he's remaining positive.As in,

Generally speaking, there's not much overlap between the world of librarians and the world of drag racers.Derek Sanchez bridged that gap. And according to friends, it's what made him one of a kind.The 47-year-old Yuma resident and NHRA racer died Thursday after a crash April 6 left him in a coma. Jeff Nolte, w

The sun was just starting to rise as Joey Miller passed mile 50 of the Mint 400 race in Las Vegas on March 23.It'd been a rough 50 miles for Miller, who noticed something wrong with the Jeep he'd built after finding it abandoned on an off-roading track.“It was acting up the whole time,” Miller said. “We'

Bobby Horton said he wasn't going make any mistakes.But he didn't expect the mistakes to come to him.While pulling away to what appeared to be a sure win in Saturday night's IMCA Modified Division feature event in Round 6 of the Cocopah Speedway Racing Series at the Somerton oval, Horton collided with a car that spun in f

Zumba, anyone?Now is the time when local dirt track racers who aren't in a physical fitness program are wishing they were working out.In a rare occurrence on the 2013 Cocopah Speedway Racing Series schedule, drivers in the 16-race season will be back on the track Saturday night for Round 6, just a week after completing Ro

The search is on to find Ty Rogers' kryptonite.After winning the first four feature events in the IMCA Sport Mod Division in the 2013 Cocopah Speedway Racing Series, Rogers made a mistake during Saturday night's finale, spinning his car.But just when it looked like the driver who has dominated the division so far this sea

Neither one of them knows a wrench from a screwdriver.They can't tune a motor.And they don't have a clue when it comes to tire stagger or strategy.But they are still two of the biggest reasons behind the success of local dirt track racers Brett Simala and Joe Haines.Simala credits his 18-month-old

Note to racing fans at Cocopah Speedway: Bring your mud shoes.In what is being billed as “Fan Appreciation Night,” before anybody stands on the gas pedal Saturday in Round 4 of the 2013 Cocopah Speedway Racing Series, all of the cars on hand will be pushed out onto the track in front of the grandstand, the gate below the

Sixty laps later, Jason Johnson is $13,000 richer.And, the driver from Eunice, La., is looking to more than double his money.The Ragin' Cajun led all 30 laps of Saturday night's Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV American Real Cocopah Cup Challenge feature event at Cocopah Speedway to take the win and

Looking ahead to the 2013 racing season, Jason Johnson made it clear that winning another driving championship would be his top priority.But when the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV American Real, National Tour got under way in Tucson a week ago, it was clear to Johnson that some serious work needed to be done

Jackpots are generally Cocopah Casino's business, at the casino.But if a driver plays his cards right, he or she could strike it rich, to the tune of $41,000 by winning four races across the street at Cocopah Speedway in the Cocopah Cup Challenge presented by Cocopah Casino.The big payday is all part of the 2013 Lucas Oil