MOTOR RACING / BRYAN RODGERS : After Driving 42 Years, He Goes Like 60

At a time when most senior citizens are enjoying the golden years, Pappy Pryor is just getting started.

The 64-year-old Idaho resident is a rookie on the Winston West Racing Tour and competes against drivers barely half his age. His son, L.J. who is 39, also drives on the tour.

But that hasn’t stopped Pappy Pryor, who is 13th in the Winston West points standings.

“I get a little bit of ribbing about my age from the other drivers,” Pappy said. “They used to come up to me and say, ‘Hey my dad raced against you.’

“Now they tell me I used to race against their grandfather.”

Even so, Pappy enjoys every minute of racing.

“I consider this the best circuit there is on the West Coast,” Pappy said. “I enjoy driving the heavier cars and think it makes for great racing.”

Pappy and L.J. will be competing against each other in their late-model cars when the Winston West Race Series visits Saugus Speedway on Saturday night at 7.

Pappy has raced at various levels in the Northwest for 42 years and he figures to do well at Saugus.

“I haven’t had a great year,” Pappy said, “but I have a lot of experience on short tracks so I should do better this week.”

Although L.J. said he would like to see his father do well, he has his own ideas.

“I’m leading Pappy in the points standings and plan on extending my lead after the Saugus race is over,” L.J. said.

Pappy didn’t seem too fazed about his son’s bold prediction.

“That OK,” Pappy said. “There’s a little more incentive for him to beat the old man and that makes it fun for both of us.”

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Because the 200-lap Winston West race has no break in it, there will be live pit stops at Saugus.

Track promoter Ray Wilkings said that three lighting generators have been brought in so spectators can watch drivers during pit stops.

It is only time during the racing season that pit stops are used at Saugus.

Because of dwindling attendance, the nine-year run of Friday night Stock Car racing at Ventura Raceway will become a thing of the past.

The last Friday night race will be Aug. 4. Ventura will run a Thursday night program on Aug. 17 in conjunction with the Ventura County Fair, and a season finale for Stock Cars on Sept. 30.

Although car counts have remained consistent, attendance has been consistently down this year for the programs.

“It’s apparent that running on Friday nights, people didn’t have time to get here after work,” track promoter Jim Naylor said. “It took about one or two Friday nights to figure it out.”

To make up the missed dates, a series of Stock Car races will be added to four of the International Motor Contest Assn. Sprint Car programs between now and Sept. 30.

There are dirt tracks in Santa Maria, Oildale and Hanford that feature Saturday night Stock Car programs, and many of the drivers at Ventura already participate in Saturday night races at these tracks.

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Cory Kruseman of Ventura has been on a tear, winning three of four Sprint Car Racing Assn. features in a 14-day span.

Kruseman won on June 24 and July 8 at Santa Maria Speedway, and July 3 at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix.

Kruseman could have won a fourth race had he not stalled and spun while in the lead halfway through the July 1 event at Ventura Raceway.

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Randy Moody of Ventura earned his first Sprint Car victory of the season in the June 10 race at Mojave Valley Raceway.

His celebration was short-lived. After returning from Mojave he unhooked the trailer containing the race car from his father’s Chevy Suburban and went to sleep. The vehicle was stolen around 3 a.m.

Moody borrowed a truck and competed in the July 8 event at Ventura, where he won his second feature of the season.

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M.K. Kanke of Granada Hills took the checkered flag in the Southwest Tour Race at Redwood Acres in Eureka on July 8.

Kanke’s victory comes on the heels of a second place at Bakersfield. Kanke’s sudden surge has propelled him to second place in the points standings. He is 14 points behind the leader, Jim Inglebright.