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Paul McMahan from Elk Grove gets a Win in the World of Outlaws

McMahan Tames Charlotte from World of Outlaws Sprint Cars on Vimeo.

Paul McMahan from Elk Grove, California got his first win of the season in the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and he did it with car owner, Kasey Kahne, in attendance. Kasey, the driver of the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota was in Charlotte to race in the Coca Cola 600 Sprint Cup race and took time out to watch his sprint car teams race at the Dirt Track at Charlotte. Paul qualified first, winning his 5th quick time of the year. Bobby and Sean McMahan, Paul’s brother and nephew, compete in the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series, traveling around California.

The following is a media release from the World of Outlaws.

CONCORD, N.C. — May 28, 2011 — Paul McMahan had no idea what his 2011 racing plans were when he took off for a vacation in Cancun, Mexico, last fall. McMahan had filled in for injured Cody Darrah at Kasey Kahne Racing in 2010, even putting the car in victory lane at the famed Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. McMahan called Kahne and inquired about his future with the team.

“I called Kasey and asked him what the plan was for 2011 and he told me to give him a few weeks,” said a smiling and relieved McMahan. “Dennis (Roth) called me three weeks later and told me to call Kasey. When I did, he told me that he had found a ride for me.”

With Kahne looking on Saturday night at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, McMahan wheeled his #83 HR Cattle Maxim into victory lane in the Circle K NOS Energy Drink Outlaw Showdown at the Dirt Track at Charlotte. Heavy rains had delayed the event 24 hours, but as the ‘Greatest Show on Dirt,’ took to the speedway, McMahan was at the top nearly all night. A California native who resides near Nashville, McMahan set quick time for the fifth time on the season, which leads all drivers, and used the momentum to steer himself into a third-place starting position in the A-main.

Paul McMahan from Elk Grove, CA on the track in Las Vegas. Photo by Steve LaMothe.

Sammy Swindell, of Germantown, Tenn., started the A-main on the pole and led the first 14 laps until a restart bunched up the field and gave McMahan his shot. The two drivers raced feverishly and at one point made contact down the front stretch as the green flag flew.

“Sammy slid up into me a little bit and tried to block me but I was going to hold me ground,” said McMahan. “I wasn’t going to give an inch and I guess the old saying goes, “Rubbin’s Racin’.”

While Kasey Kahne Racing got to victory lane with McMahan, two of the four machines entered in to the nights events experienced trouble. Kevin Gobrecht a Rookie of the Year candidate and Cody Darrah experienced motor issues. The #49 of Brad Sweet from Grass Valley, CA also experienced an overheating motor after losing a left rear tire.

Early race leader Sammy Swindell was running second to McMahan until a flat left rear tire sent him into the pit area. When the Big Game Treestands crew arrived to change the tire, they discovered the front brake lines were broken which left Swindell with no brakes.

The Tony Stewart Racing tandem of Steve Kinser and Donny Schatz came home second and third respectively. According to Schatz, the race track lent itself to some great racing and tested the drivers stamina.

“We raced pretty hard tonight, there’s no doubt about that,” said the four time champion from Fargo, N.D. “The track widened out really well and we were just flat out the entire time. It was an extremely fast race track tonight.”

2010 Champion Jason Meyers from Clovis, CA came home fourth with Mechanicsburg Penn. native Lucas Wolfe rounding out the top-5. NASCAR star Tony Stewart made it around series points leader Joey Saldana to finish 10th on the night. Kinser cut into Saldana’s lead once again and now trails the Brownsburg, Ind. native by only nine points.

As always, our thanks to Steve LaMothe from Steve’s Racing Photos for the use of his photos.

A 1941 Ford: Some Dreams Do Come True

Jim Martin of Yuba City and his 1941 Ford.

“Some Dreams Do Come True” is painted on the back of Jim Martin’s beautiful 1941 Ford. I recently got the chance to talk to Jim after my Dad who is Jim’s neighbor in Yuba City, sent me some pictures of his car. Like a lot of us, Jim has always had a love for his first car, a 41 Ford, and when he got a little older and had the opportunity to buy another one, he did. Jim bought this car about 10 years ago. He said he not only bought it because it was a 41 but because of how nice it was. A father and son team in Yuba City had built it and had given it a nice custom paint job.

It has a strong Chevy 350 with an RV cam and a big carb. They added power brakes, power steering and a nice CD stereo system. The gray interior is super comfortable for the occasional runs Jim takes with the Central Valley Knights Car Club. He says it is a great driver and he needs to take it out more often.

Jim grew up in Santa Cruz in the 1950’s and loved fast cars. He fixed up his first 1941 Ford with a big flathead V-8 and 3 carburetors in his auto shop class at school. He belonged to the Santa Cruz Dragons an early car club in the area. He said they had cool jackets and club plaques. Next time I’m in Yuba City, I’ll get a picture of his plaque that he still has hanging on the wall in his garage. Jim and his buddies would often find a deserted road in the hills outside Santa Cruz and test out their cars by drag racing each other. He said it was a simpler time, no fights or drugs, just fun with fast cars. The other car club in town was the Santa Cruz Clockers, who were older and had more money and faster cars. They would all go to the Salinas Drag Strip and watch them race on a track instead of the street. Jim is a 1954 graduate of Santa Cruz High School and still goes back for the reunions, occasionally driving his car and participating in the Hot Rods at the Beach car show in Santa Cruz.

Our thanks to Jim Martin for allowing us to photograph his beautiful car and sharing his interesting story of growing up in Santa Cruz and his first 41 Ford.

A.J. Allmendinger of Los Gatos Visits Kentucky Speedway

A.J. Allmendinger from Los Gatos, California, is the driver of the No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion owned by Richard Petty Motorsports. He recently attended a media day function at Kentucky Speedway, where he spoke about driving for a legend and gave his impressions of the track and how it’s changed since his last visit.

A.J. ALLMENDINGER – No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion — WHAT ARE YOUR IMPRESSIONS OF KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY TODAY? “It’s cool. It’s been about three years since I’ve been here and just driving in and seeing the parking and what’s going on in the infield with all the updates is impressive. The grandstands, the new offices outside – just from what I remember three years ago to now is absolutely amazing, so I look forward to getting to this place in July when it’s all done and ready to go.”

PIT ROAD IS CLOSER TO THE FANS. WHAT WILL THAT MEAN AS FAR AS THEIR EXPERIENCE? “I think just being able to be close to the race cars in general is a good thing. On pit road, to see the work that actually goes on is great because TV doesn’t really do it justice. To be able to be close enough to see it in person and see what the pit crew does because they’re true athletes and, honestly a little crazy, especially to jump in front of me when I’m driving down pit road, so it’s gonna be really cool. It’s what NASCAR is all about. It’s fan-friendly, it’s exciting, and anything to get fans closer to the action and excited about is what we want.”

Los Gatos native, A.J. Allmendinger and the famous No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford.

HOW HONORED ARE YOU TO DRIVE THE 43? “It’s amazing. For me, I feel very fortunate to wake up every day and be able to get in a race car, especially an Indy car guy. I came from open-wheel, so to think I’m in such a famous number, and, honestly, to have a true legend walk into your hauler every weekend to come and talk to you, whether he’s yelling at you or not, is amazing. I love the history of all sports, and the history of NASCAR especially, and to know I have the man that’s walking into the hauler, and I get to hear stories from him and Dale Inman that fans would die to hear. I get to hear them on a weekly basis, so that’s something that I feel very fortunate about.”

DO YOU FEEL FANS RELATE TO YOU BECAUSE OF WHO YOU DRIVE FOR? “Yeah, and I get fans all the time that come up and say, ‘I’m rooting for you. I’ve been with Richard Petty for 30 years, so I’m rooting for you.’ I’ll take all the fans I can get because I think I’m upwards of 20 or 30 fans right now (laughing), so the more we can get each time is a good thing. It’s something to be a part of Richard Petty Motorsports and have all the great sponsors that we do, but, more importantly, to have the King on your side and single-handedly pick you to drive the 43 is something that when he told me that, it meant the world to me. Now, the next step is we’ve just got to get this thing to Victory Lane so everybody can be happy.”

WHAT DO YOU AND YOUR FELLOW DRIVERS THINK ABOUT COMING TO KENTUCKY? “I can’t really speak on behalf of the other guys, but I know for me it’s cool to always get some new excitement in the series, and we have a lot of great race tracks that we go to, but you need a change and to have a new race like this – a race that I think is gonna be really exciting because the track is wide, there are a lot of grooves, and it’s gonna be three and four-wide racing. I watched the Nationwide race this year on TV and the fan base that showed up for that race was amazing, so I can’t even fathom what it’s gonna be like for the Sprint Cup race. It’s just cool to have some new blood and to have Ford be a part of the race track and re-up and be the official pace car. To be able to come here, it would be awesome for all those reasons to maybe win the first one.”

For more information on Richard Petty Motorsports, please visit their website.