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Travis Berryhill Racing

“The Spirit of American Canyon ”

2006 A Race Season to Remember

By Steve Hazelton

It has been two years since our speedway, Vallejo Speedway2, has been closed. To stay tuned to the racing world, and around old friends, I pitted and supported Travis Berryhill, my neighbor, who lives a couple blocks away.

I accomplished my goals of seeing Floyd Alvis, Stu Donaldson, Vintage members, Ralph Cortez, the Griffins, and others at each event. Many of the racers got their start in racing at Vallejo Speedway 2, or were competitors there.

I met a lot of new friends and contacts, visited speedways that I had not been to before, and got a general feel for the racing community environment.

Travis finished second in the points, missing the championship by 85 points. A look back on the season shows where the points were lost, and how easily we could have had a better result. A look back provides many great memories that will last a long time and also provides positive areas to improve for the future.

The season started with a trip to the prestigious Chili Bowl Nationals, in Tulsa Oklahoma , which I did not attend. I listened to the race on the Internet and thought of Travis as an Ambassador representing American Canyon and named him “The Spirit of American Canyon” for the season.

The Chili Bowl race is not in the west coast BCRA series, but it is an event that draws the best racers in the country from many racing organizations. The event is held indoors on a ¼ mile dirt oval, built just for this one show each year, on the second week of the New Year.

Travis was running well at the 4 day event, winning his heat race and making the A main event on the preliminary night until some bad luck ended his night of racing. Regardless of the result Travis had a great run going, and this opened the eyes of a prominent west coast car owner attending the event, and it would spawn a relationship and sponsors to compete full time with BCRA in 2006. The bad luck regulated to a C main even on Saturday night, and maybe it was an omen of what was to come later in the year.

Rain cancelled the first 3 races of the season, so the opener was at Stockton 99 Speedway on April 22. The show was a BCRA/USAC Pavement show with a lot of cars at the storied speedway due to close at the end of the 2006 season.

On the 21st we participated in a practice session. We were confident that our LJ’s Speed and Machine, Red Line Oil, Fontana/Stealth, was in top shape. Hoosier tires supplied by Bob Rosen Racing and Glen Voyles would give us top quality rubber, so we were anxious to test and go racing. Let the season begin.

A few practice runs in disaster struck and Travis hit the wall due to a brake problem, destroying the front end. We were able to make repairs and get the car back together for the last practice of the night and prepare for the next days scheduled racing events. The motor ran hot in the main on Sat. due to a water pump that had not shown a need to replace. Travis was able to finish a respectable 12th with all the problems encountered over the weekend.

The next race was at the new Ocean Speedway, formally Watsonville Speedway, and we were back on dirt. Ignition problems plagued us all night, and we dialed in on the magneto. A change of the magneto and some luck put us on the front row to start the A main event.

Travis jumped into the lead and held the position throughout the race, leading all 30 laps fighting off multiple challenges for his first win of the season.

Next stop was beautiful Redwood Acres in Eureka , where Travis scored his second win of the season, making it two in a row, and held first place in the championship point standings with 1 win on each dirt and pavement.

Our first trip to Lakeport Speedway was on June 3rd. It was a test of our ability to adjust the car set up, and deal with a hot day. Travis finished a strong 4th at one of his favorite tracks, where he got his first pavement win back in 2002.

Reno/Fernley was the next race on the schedule, and I was unable to attend, due to my work schedule. Seven time champion, 71yr young Floyd Alvis, had the track wired, and put on a show to take the win. Travis was in the hunt, moving up, running third, when he had an on track encounter with another car. He was black flagged for ‘rough driving’ in a VERY controversial call by the head official for BCRA. The incident was brought up at the BCRA board meeting, and stood as the ruling. Travis received last place points for this event, taking a hit in the point standings.

It was back to the pavement at Lakeport on July 1st, with the LJ’s Speed and Machine/Fontana ready to go. We used the chassis set up information from the June 3rd event and were fast all night long, winning the Trophy Dash. In the main Travis battled with 2006 champion John Sarale to place second on the rear bumper of the winner.

Race #2 at Stockton 99 Speedway brought bad luck to TBR, with a blown engine in the first practice session, caused by a damaged rocker arm. Stu and Mike Donaldson stepped up to the plate and offered Travis their car for the main event, to stay in the championship point’s race. Travis accepted their generous offer and finished 12th to slavage the night, and again take a blow in points putting the top 2 within just a few marks.

July 22nd was a scorcher in Madera , co-sanctioned with USAC. With temperatures about 100 degrees, and track temperature at 160 degrees plus. Everyone was wilting, so it was a tough day in the pits and on the track. Kudos to all, especially the drivers wearing 3 layer firesuits with the heat of the engine, rearend and brakes.

Garret Boyden, a graduate of Vallejo Speedway 2, took the win in a tough field. Travis won the first heat and finished 11th in the main event.

The long haul to Douglas County Speedway, in Roseburg Oregon , left me at home, due to my work schedule again. The aged Fontana gave us problems again, and Travis finished 20th in the main just after moving into the top 5, and it was a long ride home after a good run was again cut short.

Back to dirt at Ocean Speedway on August 4th had us wondering when our bad luck would leave us as we saw our season slipping away. We were so successful at the beginning, but now we struggled at every event with mechanical problems even with all our hard work and maintenance. This event was no different, and we could not get the car running to start the main event fighting ignition and fuel problems. This was a huge hit in points, another race gaining little to no points.

We were left to scratch our heads in and in the week prior to the August 12th date at Placerville, the fuel system was taken apart, cleaned, and tested. Ignition was tested, replaced and tested again and the car still did not run correctly.

The hot lap session at Placerville proved we still had a problem, so we changed the fuel pump (which had been tested by LJ’s and the factory.) With the motor running much better now Travis won the semi main after not qualifying due to the poor running motor. After the semi main event win and a start in the back of the A main Travis raced hard and passed many cars and finished 5th in the main. A top 5 after all our struggles was something to be pleased with as we all held smiles on our faces.

We were looking for some good luck on our return to Reno/Fernley on August 26th.

As Travis pushed off the engine, again, would not fire, so out of dumb luck (and frustration) he pulled off the wire from the tachometer to the magneto, and bingo the car fired and pulled away from the push truck. We had been through 5 magnetos, and a complete rebuild of the fuel system, and the problem was an intermittent short in the digital tachometer, that caused all our misery and frustration.

Travis was now ready to get back on track with a strong running motor and car and went on to win the dash and finished 4th in the main. Another top 5 we could be happy with and climb back into the championship race with.

The only race on the fast half-mile track at Altamont was contested on September 2nd. Noise issues put us and all the other UAC/BCRA teams to work, after the motor had broke at the prior Oergeon race it was fresh and ready to go, albeit last minute. After a strong 2nd place finish in the heat race we were looking forward to a fast and tough main event. With the motor being completely fresh with many new parts the valves came out of adjustment and caused a bad vibration in the motor and Travis limped home to finish 17th in the main.

September 23 was my first time ever at Shasta Speedway in Anderson , CA . As a previous promoter and owner of Vallejo Speedway 2, I complement the management on a beautiful facility.

Travis was near the track record in the third practice session. The engine now adjusted and running correct was singing and car adjustments were lowering track times. The race was again co-sanctioned so the competition was fierce. Six laps into the main event, running with the top cars, the aged Fontana , let go, and Travis coasted to the infield to end his evening. Another disappointment due to issues out of our teams control and a blow to the point standings, this was our season in a nutshell.

Bob Rosen stepped in to help us, for the last race of the season, at Madera on October 21st. He rented a new experimental 200 cubic inch Fontana , from the factory, to keep Travis’s championship hopes alive.

It was a good night, with decent luck, (for a change) and Travis finishing 12th after coming into contact with a wrecked car that bent the front axle and required Travis to another limped home finish to end the season. Going into the championship night both Floyd Alvis and Travis Berryhill, 2-3 in points both mathematically had a shot to win the championship. In the end Travis did his job beating both Alvis and Sarale in the main event but not gaining enough points to knock off the 32 car for the championship. However enough points were gained at Madera to move Travis into second place for the championship ahead of the ageless Floyd Alvis.

Travis was asked to reflect on his 2006 season, stating, “I am proud of my team, and all our hardwork all year. At times it was a struggle as a driver because many times our finishes were out of my control and that’s tough, especially with all our hardwork and preventative maintnce we put in. But we never hung our heads or stopped fighting, we should be proud with our wins, strong finishes and 2nd place overall finish. We’ll get ‘em next year.”

As a team we went through a lot of struggles, success and we learned a lot. There is a saying “would you rather be lucky or good” in competition. We had both this season, but we could have used a little more luck. The Travis Berryhill Racing Team proved it is one of the best in the business, and most hard working with a great driver. I had a lot of fun.

I learned a lot this season, and I have come up with some new products for next season. First of all I have a kneepad to protect all our knees while working on the cars. Next I am working on a lift to work on the cars while standing, and I am thinking on more ergonomic products for all to use.

As the season transitions into wintertime and racing across the country wraps up Travis and his team are already busy at work planning for 2007. Travis will attend the 66th annual “Turkey Night Grand Prix” at the Irwindale Speedway lending his driving and setup experience as a top crew chief to one of the top teams eyeing the win. The next trip will take Travis across the country to Orlando , Florida for the Performance Racing Industry Trade Show. It is the worlds largest racing trade show where all the top teams, drivers, sponsors and vendors meet yearly. After the show Travis will finalize his 2007 plans.

To officially kick off 2007 it will again be the yearly trip to the 21st Annual O'Reilly Chili Bowl Midget Nationals January 10-13, 2007 in Tulsa Oklahoma . This is one of the most competitive events of the year, and also lot of fun. Travis enjoys the fierce, wheel to wheel racing, with stars such as Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne and nearly 300 other competitors. Travis ran well there ’06 and looks forward to an even better run in 2007. Make your plans now to come support Travis as the “Spirit of American Canyon” as the racing nation converges on Tulsa .