Travis Berryhill Racing Ends the 07 Season

Plans building for 2008

By Steve Hazelton

 

Travis Berryhill, the Spirit of American Canyon, ended the 2007 BCRA season with a second place finish at Kings Speedway in Hanford, on September 29^th.

The event was a two day show, the Tachi Open Wheel Invitational sponsored by Tachi Palace Indian Casino and Hotel providing a $55,000 purse over the two days of racing action. The team was organized and pumped after several weeks of intense preparation and work to repair the fast car from crash damage received at Petaluma Speedway. After a successful hot lap session and a good heat race run on a hooked up super fast track, bad luck again haunted the team. A small problem had gone unnoticed from the prior crash, as it was discovered a small bolt in the throttle linkage had bent. As the main event started the throttle momentarily hung up near wide open throttle, causing an easy flip. It however was enough to break the front axle among other essential suspension components, ending Friday night competition for the team.

Saturday morning the determined team was up early to replace the front axle and other critical components in the motel parking lot. Enough spare parts and a borrowed nerf bar helped the successful effort. The flat, paved parking lot provided a good open space to not only work on the car but also put a setup on the car as if it were back at the shop. The throttle linkage had been repaired and the car was now back to 100%. The hard work showed its worth early on as Travis was one of the fastest cars in the hot lap practice session. Confidence restored Travis qualified 3^rd in a tough 23 car field, of west coast competitors. Travis timed in @ 17.254 on the big 3/8ths mile dirt track, and the top qualifier timed in @ 17.145.

The Spirit of American Canyon started 4^th in the main event, on a very abrasive dry track surface, much different from the previous night of racing. The track was so bad that the race was shortened to 15 laps because so many racers experienced flat tires due to tire wear. Travis and his prepared crew had a hard compound (durometer) tire on the right rear to compensate for the “rubber down” track conditions. The harder tire allowed Travis to drive the car harder than some of the other drivers trying to conserve for tire wear as the rubber comes off the tire and literally sticks to the dirt creating a very unique racing surface. Consequently the harder tire provided a double edge sword as the “grip” in the turns is not as good as the softer tires. Travis was able to overcome the ill effects of the harder tire with a brilliant drive and superb setup from his crew. Travis moved up to second off the bat and chased down NHRA’s Gary Scelzi owned car of Michael Faccinto who was running the quicker, softer tire. Now it was a race to see whose tires would last longer as Travis ran faster lap times with the harder tire and pressured the leader looking for an opportunity to get by. Track conditions, and a one groove track ended the possible chance for a win as the shortened race ended on a yellow flag. Travis finished with about 5 laps left of wear on the tire where the leader and other top 5 finishers tires were completely bald and worn down to the cord, barley finishing. The LJ’s Speed and Machine prepared engine did not miss a beat, now that the fuel and ignition problems have been resolved.

Although not a win, the second place finish was a big turnaround from just 24 hours previous as the car sat in pieces. Travis and his crew expressed that their hard work was well worth it as success in never possible without effort and consider the night a victory to close out the 2007 season.

The 2008 season will officially begin on 10/27 with a celebration at Papa Joes Lounge in Vallejo. Berryhill Racing will host the second annual Fan and Sponsor Appreciation Day at Papa Joes, 335 Couch St Vallejo, from noon to 5pm.

The event will feature race car displays, food and refreshments, great raffle prizes, and official Travis Berryhill Racing hats and apparel. Photos will be taken of children and adults in the race cars as Travis signs autographs. Come on out and get the true feel of what a race car cockpit feels like, and have your picture taken in it. More info and a flyer for the event can be found at www.TravisBerryhill.com This event will thank all of our past sponsors and fans for the great support and kick off Travis’s road to the 22nd Annual Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, OK January 8-12, 2008.

The number one plan for 08 is to get the cars wrapped in a red, white, and blue flag scheme, to represent American Canyon at all the races and shows. The team invites local artists and fans to submit their flag scheme suggestions for the 2008 cars. The scheme should be red, white, and blue, in a flag waving theme. It should also include a Napa Valley wine industry bench mark (grapes, wine glass, wine bottle, etc). Suggestions should be sent to Travis@TravisBerryhill.com. The selected paint scheme artist will be publicly acknowledged throughout the season.

 A sponsorship plan is in the works, which will break down the racing budget to accommodate both small and large sponsorship opportunities. Full sponsorship proposals are now available with 2008 Budget soon to follow as plans and race dates are set. Plans for a new trailer are also in the works. The trailer, from Larry’s Custom Truck Toppers, will feature a lot of advertising space on all sides, for sponsors to advertise on throughout the season. The team is also shopping for a new truck to pull the trailer. TBR is soliciting local truck dealers, especially fellow AC chamber members for this purchase and sponsorship. Travis can be contacted at 707-812-2307 in regards to the truck needs of the team.

Travis Berryhill, the Spirit of American Canyon, thanks all sponsors and fans from the 07 season, and invites all to return and bring more friends and sponsors to the enticing 2008 season.