SCFTA Awards
Feburary 3rd, 2013
Photos by Janice Blunt
Article by Jamey Blunt
As usual Donna Edwards the driving force at Perris made sure
everything ran smoothly through the luncheon, awards, and more than
$5000 worth of prizes raffled off.
On March 16th Jim and Nikki will tie the knot and become Mr. & Mrs. Rosa!
Marriage is a great institution and Jim says he's decided to spend the rest
of his life in an institution.....
At the last rounds in 2012 Jim Steet suffered a heart attack.
The question had been asked since,"how's he doing?" As shown
quite well thank-you... Jim had two stints inserted and is good to go
for the 2013 season... Glad all is well!
The Petton racing stable was responsible for four class victories.
With Travis the fourth taking two classes, Colin capturing one,
and grandpa Travis the second winning top honors in the Senior +50
expert field. The rest of the family cheers them on.
A Jay Hateley in his first full season in the Pro ranks fought his way
to the top winning the number one plate by a mere single point! Shown here
with "SAM" who was rumored to be a Russian mail order bride?????
At the completion of the awards ceremony all class champions
posed for this rare photo. Some were double class winners as well.
After all the Youth class awards were handed out all the top
finishers in the six different categories were called up for a group shot.
Allan Girdler was the oldest class champion being the tops
in the Premier Senior +70 class for racers over the age of seventy.
Girdler stated when asked "I've been competing for six decades!"
Colin Petton was the youngest class champion at four years of age.
He took the top honors in the Youth 50cc Beginner class and started
his racing career at age three!!!!
Colin Petton was the youngest class champion at four years of age.
He took the top honors in the Youth 50cc Beginner class and started
his racing career at age three!!!!
Well over two hundred people attended the awards banquet for the
S.C.F.T.A. 2012 season. The event held at Perris raceway was also a
catered affair....
After a rain delay the previous week; overcast cloudy skies
greeted the over two hundred attendees for the 2012 season S.C.F.T.A. awards
banquet. A high temperature of seventy three degrees was reached just after the
1:00 p.m. start time of the
catered luncheon. Several racers of note were on hand just to absorb the
atmosphere, share bench racing stories, and partake in the fine Mexican dishes
offered. Current national numbers Jimmy Wood and Briar Bauman along with past
national number John Hateley were just a few of notable celebratory racers
putting in an appearance. Who could forget Preston Petty, famous for a lifetime
of inventions and products in the motorcycle world that seems to be making
several trips to the Perris California quarter mile oval.
At 2:00 p.m.
sharp the awards for the twenty five classes available for competition began to
be handed out, with the class champion in each division receiving an
embroidered custom S.C.F.T.A. jacket with their name and class represented on
same. Not to forget the bag full of goodies presented from Lucas Oil. A framed
glossy 8x10 photo was also awarded each class champion courtesy of DW Media
Services, a nice touch indeed. Touching on some of the highlights; Colin Petton
was the youngest class champion at age four, with Allan Girdler the oldest at,
shall we just say he's been competing for over six decades and was the top dog
in the Premier Senior +70 field. Also of note was Paul Ott's sportsmanship as
he awarded the championship to Paul Herman who held a thirty point lead
entering the final rounds but was unable to compete due to a medical issue. As
Ott stated, "had he shown up there was no way he would have lost the
championship." Good sportsmanship on the part of Ott and a lot of
integrity to boot. The closest championship of the season was the Pro class
where A Jay Hateley (youngest son of John) earned the number one plate by a
single point over Robert Bush. As Robert Bush pointed out, had his brother Dave
pulled over in the last race of the year and let him past, Robert would have
gotten the number one plate. Guess there were no team orders here, and Robert
was all right with the way things turned out. But if we see a wall dividing
their pits in 2013 like Rossi and Lorenzo had we'll know different.
After the awards the raffle was held with over $5000 worth
of merchandise up for the lucky ticket holders. Last years overall winner in
prize totals was the Wood family, the competition carried over to this year as
well. As the tickets were drawn the Perkins camp jumped into the lead but the
Woods camp made a strong run and pulled even. Every time the Perkins would
nudge ahead the Woods would even things up. At mid point in the drawings the
Gil camp made a strong showing with the Iverson's notching up a few prizes as
well. In the end the final tally with Jimmy Wood taking one of the very last
prizes stood at a tie with the Perkins ten to the Wood's ten, with Gil's seven
and Iverson's four. After all the flat screens, surround sounds, patio
furniture, BBQ's, were loaded up it was 4:30
p.m. and time to head home. Rounds one and two are scheduled for
the 16th and 17th of Feb. and one hopes the weather will
be just as this day was, perfect.
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