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Kern County Raceway Park Reworks Dirt Track
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For the past five weeks, John Piker has been reworking The Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park. What was, essentially, a tri-oval is now an oval.
“We started in the entrance of turn one, just past the pit stands,” said Piker, who’s the Dirt Track Manager at KCRP. “MD Concrete Cutting cut the wall in 30 pieces and we took the wall out and made the track, at its widest point, 45 feet wider.
“It makes it one nice big round turn instead of before (when) the track was really three corners, like a tri-oval,” Piker continued.
Piker said the unique previous layout wasn’t so bad, as long as there were not large fields of cars.
“It was great for 10-12 cars to put on a great show. It was a fun track,” he said. “But our vision for the track has always been bigger shows, draw more cars to Kern County, hold bigger Modified shows, Sprint Cars, Late Models, and the way the track was we just couldn’t do that.
“On restarts and initial starts, if the guy up front made a mistake, it could wreck a guy coming out of four. That’s just not fair. Third or fourth would get together and it would just stack the field on the front straightaway.”
The reworked 1/3 mile clay oval was put to the test when the first race on the reconfigured track took place.
“It’s a fun layout; it’s really fast for these things,” said 2016 Mod Lite track champion Jerry Flippo after his heat race. “Turns one and two are a lot wider so you can get a better run down the back straightaway. Into the corner, it’s not as rough as it used to be. It’s nice and fun now.”
Zack Forster won the 25-lap Mod Lite feature, followed by Jeff Thompson and Flippo.
“The track is nice and smooth, just a few wrinkles, but it’s awesome for opening night,” Forster said.
Brad Pounds and Robby Sawyer both won A-Mod races at the track last year and said while there is more room exiting turn two, getting into turn one remained tricky.
“Driving on it, it definitely doesn’t feel too much different,” Pounds said after his heat race. “It definitely feels a lot wider, a lot smoother; the surface is a lot better. It still has that tight radius getting into turn one there, but it opens up tremendously.”
Sawyer found the track to his liking in the 30-lap feature, going low into turn one on the 25th lap and coming out of turn two with the lead over Rob Sanders.
Sawyer led the rest of the way for the win, while Sanders, who led the first 24 laps, was second and Pounds third.
“It was fun; it was our first win of the year,” Sawyer said. “I can’t thank Piker and the rest of the people at KCRP for their constant efforts to make the facility better. It means a lot to us.”
Michael Scruggs won the 25-lap Hobby Stock feature over Lloyd Wren Jr. and Don Mead. Eric Cimental led the first 22 laps before suddenly slowing as the field roared past.
James Bradburn won the 20-lap Bakersfield Hard Top feature. Justin Yadon was second and Tom Dugan third.
“We started in the entrance of turn one, just past the pit stands,” said Piker, who’s the Dirt Track Manager at KCRP. “MD Concrete Cutting cut the wall in 30 pieces and we took the wall out and made the track, at its widest point, 45 feet wider.
“It makes it one nice big round turn instead of before (when) the track was really three corners, like a tri-oval,” Piker continued.
Piker said the unique previous layout wasn’t so bad, as long as there were not large fields of cars.
“It was great for 10-12 cars to put on a great show. It was a fun track,” he said. “But our vision for the track has always been bigger shows, draw more cars to Kern County, hold bigger Modified shows, Sprint Cars, Late Models, and the way the track was we just couldn’t do that.
“On restarts and initial starts, if the guy up front made a mistake, it could wreck a guy coming out of four. That’s just not fair. Third or fourth would get together and it would just stack the field on the front straightaway.”
The reworked 1/3 mile clay oval was put to the test when the first race on the reconfigured track took place.
“It’s a fun layout; it’s really fast for these things,” said 2016 Mod Lite track champion Jerry Flippo after his heat race. “Turns one and two are a lot wider so you can get a better run down the back straightaway. Into the corner, it’s not as rough as it used to be. It’s nice and fun now.”
Zack Forster won the 25-lap Mod Lite feature, followed by Jeff Thompson and Flippo.
“The track is nice and smooth, just a few wrinkles, but it’s awesome for opening night,” Forster said.
Brad Pounds and Robby Sawyer both won A-Mod races at the track last year and said while there is more room exiting turn two, getting into turn one remained tricky.
“Driving on it, it definitely doesn’t feel too much different,” Pounds said after his heat race. “It definitely feels a lot wider, a lot smoother; the surface is a lot better. It still has that tight radius getting into turn one there, but it opens up tremendously.”
Sawyer found the track to his liking in the 30-lap feature, going low into turn one on the 25th lap and coming out of turn two with the lead over Rob Sanders.
Sawyer led the rest of the way for the win, while Sanders, who led the first 24 laps, was second and Pounds third.
“It was fun; it was our first win of the year,” Sawyer said. “I can’t thank Piker and the rest of the people at KCRP for their constant efforts to make the facility better. It means a lot to us.”
Michael Scruggs won the 25-lap Hobby Stock feature over Lloyd Wren Jr. and Don Mead. Eric Cimental led the first 22 laps before suddenly slowing as the field roared past.
James Bradburn won the 20-lap Bakersfield Hard Top feature. Justin Yadon was second and Tom Dugan third.
