It was billed as “Night of Destruction.” Stockton 99 Speedway held a program on May 31 that was very different from the typical Saturday night of racing, and a very different crowd was there to enjoy it.
A drifting exhibition was the main course on the warm evening with multiple sessions of revving engines, screeching tires, doughnuts and plenty of lingering tire smoke. Taking the occasional break to catch their collective breath, the skilled lineup of drivers shared the track with two complementary side dishes. There were two sessions of spectator racing, with everything from a legit Legends car that competes at Stockton 99 to two clean and impressive Corvettes and “grandma’s Cadillac” adding to its 100,000-mile odometer reading by taking laps around the quarter-mile paved oval. And there was the boat trailer race that featured enough sparks to ignite the impressive fireworks show that capped the energetic night of fun.
“The crowds love it; that’s why we do it,” said Joe Freeman of Stockton. “We come out here to put on a show.”
Freeman knows Stockton 99 Speedway like the back of his hand; or rather, the back of 99. Freeman’s dad, Eugene Freeman, was a Street Stock racer decades ago and “did a lot of work” at a truck alignment shop on the other side of the backstretch. Joe Freeman and several others used to watch the weekly races from the roof of the building.
Interviewed while still sitting in the cockpit of his 1995 Nissan 240SX S14, Freeman reached over and patted the passenger’s seat, saying, “I was giving people rides all night. The car didn’t have an empty seat all night.”
Freeman and several drivers put their drifting skills on display solo, in pairs, threes and even foursomes throughout the night. Their performances were everything from wild and crazy to synchronized and even elegant. The drivers drifted into turn 1 and out of turn 2, driving into the infield figure 8 then sliding right and back onto the oval, into turn 3 and out of turn 4. There were plenty of doughnuts, and an oopsie spinout would turn into an ad-lib smoke show.
One driver hit the wall in the figure 8 and another blew a motor. Passengers riding shotgun in the roaring mobiles filmed video on their cell phones and pumped up the crowd as they drifted around the 76-year-old oval, followed closely by a whizzing drone.
Tire smoke was the overwhelming winner of the odor of the night award, and the vocal crowd – which included several teenagers, not-quite teenagers and young parents – loved it.
“It’s you and all your buddies feeding off each other,” said Lucas Fournier of Grass Valley. “And there is a competitive side of it. But even when you’re competing, it’s all your best friends and best drivers out there and you’re still having fun.”
While Freeman said he’s been drifting since its start roughly 12 years ago, Fournier caught the bug about eight years ago. He said his group of friends used to go “goofing around in the dirt, the mud and the snow, doing doughnuts, sliding corners. You catch the bug; it’s really an addiction. It’s a rolling car show, is what people like to call it.”
“The addiction” drove Fournier, who flies “Dirty5Thirty” on the car doors (in honor of his home area code), to start the NorCal Drift Academy in Sacramento. He says there are about 20 drivers in the group.
“I have the school to provide people with the safe environment to do it,” he explained. “I love getting any new people in this sport.”
Fournier drives a 1998 Nissan 240SX that sounds much more powerful (and louder) than its factory-tuned LQ9 motor. He said drifting is cheaper than other motor sports, describing his Nissan as a “super basic budget car.” He drifts on used tires and “does as little maintenance as possible,” adding, “I’m big on preaching the budget.”
Putting a spin on an old saying, where there was tire smoke, there were sparks. Stockton 99 held its first of three boat trailer races, and the oohs and aahs from the crowd rivaled that of the fireworks show.
Vehicles tow a boat and trailer around the course, with mayhem allowed. It’s equal parts demolition derby and professional wrestling in that fans never know what will happen, like the driver who steered his vehicle right through a boat that fell off a trailer in turn 1, or another who drove along the front stretch with a lost boat pinned between his racer and the wall, or still another driver whose trailer got turned upside down and, in true July 4 spirit, emitted a shower of sparks for the duration of the race. One vehicle blew a tire going into the figure 8, shooting into the air with a loud bang and drawing a collective “Whoa” from the fans.
In the end, K.C. Prill of Jackson drove his Ford Explorer to the checkered flag, hobbling on three tires.
The next boat trailer race is scheduled for July 19.
Next up, this weekend Stockton 99 welcomes the zMAX CARS Tour Super Late Models along with Pro Late Models, Legends of 99, Nor Cal Mini Stocks and NCMA Style Sprint Cars.
Stockton 99 Speedway also would like to thank its sponsors: Black Oak Casino Resort, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Shamblin Softwash and Pressure Washing, Hoosier Racing Tire, Community West Bank, Raising Cane’s, Bass Pro Shops, J. Milano Co. Hardware, Franks, N&S Tractor, Masellis Drilling, Sunoco Race Fuels, Lovotti Air, Garton Tractor, Kleen Blast and Tracy Ford.
