For those of you who enjoy auto racing, July 26th was a special day of racing for me. That night, the Santa Maria Speedway hosted the 23th annual Bud Stanfield Memorial in memory of my father who was killed in the pits during  nights racing. My father’s passion was racing, all kinds of racing throughout his life, and now racers show up from all over the state to participate. I was lucky to be the driver of the family sprint car for several years prior to dads passing and to this day racing is still in the blood. This event has featured up to 50 sprint cars showing to go after the coveted hand machined trophy by Dave Mussels machine shop and an increased purse for the main event winner.

At this year’s Memorial Race, I enjoyed watching over 40 fire-breathing 360’s go at it. By Main event time, the track was spent, leaving very little moisture for the 23 starters for the Main event.  Winner Danny Faria Jr. found the setup to be able to wrestle the lead from Clovis ace, Peter Murphy, and hold on for the win of the 30 lapper. Danny told me Memorials are special to him and he was proud to win the Bud Stanfield Memorial.  He certainly earned it.  It was a tough night for past Memorial winner Greg Port, as he took a hard ride on the front straightaway after running near the front all night. I talked to Greg’s dad afterwards; Greg was probably awfully sore Sunday morning. 

This year I donated $500.00 towards the purse for the night’s racing, spreading it between finishers 3rd, 4th and 5th places of the Main event.  It was nice to help out the racers I so dearly love to watch.  Good job to all at the speedway!