Hershel McGriff Takes On Chuckwalla Valley Raceway For A Shakedown Run

The Money Shot - "Wheel Up" - This image was captured on July 11, 2010 while Hershel McGriff was taking his first runs in his new 2010 NASCAR K&N Pro Series campaign car during its first Shakedown Trial held at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway (CVR). Turns #8, #9, and #10 are a series of curves designed to mimic the challenges posed in the famed "Corkscrew" at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Turn # 9 is an off-camber right, left-hand turn that drops off into the strong right-hand turn #10. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)

Hershel McGriff Takes On Chuckwalla Valley Raceway For A Shakedown Run

A funny thing happened on the way to perform a photo shoot of the West Coast Stock Car Hall Of Fame induction ceremony for the class of 2010, held on July 2, 2010 at the AZUSA Greens Golf Club ... I met Hershel McGriff.

Oh sure, Parnelli Jones was sitting at the same table with other presenters, WCSCHOF members, inductees and Master of Ceremony - Vice President/General Manager Iowa Speedway, Craig Armstrong. They were all there to usher in and honor the 7th class of 12 inductees (many posthumously), and the two hour ceremony was truly an honor to just witness ... but I met Hershel McGriff.

We were talking after dinner, before the ceremony and the subject came up about race tracks in the southwest. I told him that I had attended a track opening last April and that this track was very well designed. The track is located between Blythe and Indio off of California Interstate 10, and is called the Chuckwalla Valley Raceway (CVR). The funny thing was that Herschel then asked me if the track would allow him to make his first shakedown runs in the new car he had put together to compete in the 2010 NASCAR K&N Pro Series campaign. He mentioned that he was running short on time and it would be of great service to be able to check out the car before he hit the track in Portland to race in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, Bi-Mart Salute To The Troops "125" event held the weekend of July 17-18, 2010.

Well, I had talked with the President of Chuckwalla Valley Raceway, Micky Grana, back in April. I had also met his wife Aimee and so I figured, why not? Just give it a go!

Micky was gracious enough to have a conversation with Hershel and they put together a time this last Sunday, July 11, 2010 at 7:00 am PT.

When I rolled into the paddock area around 7:15 a.m., the McGriff family was already there with the car rolled out of the trailer transporter, Hershel was suited up in the cockpit, the car was cranking up to start, and it caught the spark and roared to life. Ahhhh the sound of a race engine in a Busch, ahh, er, Nationwide, err, NASCAR K&N Pro Series car (once known as a Winston West Series car).

Hershel took to the track and came back quickly. When he rolled up, he was greeted by the one person who has almost always set up his cars to run over the decades, Hershel McGriff Jr., a credible driver in his own right.

The "Hershels" discuss vibration and possible solutions before the car is put up on jacks. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)

McGriff, the senior, complained that there was a front wheel vibration right off the bat as he entered the track so they pulled the car next to the transporter, placed it up on jack stands and went to work on identifying the problem. Herschel Jr., with the assistance of his cart-racing daughter, Mariah, found that at cold, or low tire pressures, the front sway bar's outside bolts stuck out and rubbed the inside wall of the tire.

Shakedown pit captain, Hershel McGriff Jr. and his daughter, Mariah diagnose the problem with the front sway bar. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)

After about 30 minutes, the car was ready to resume its Shakedown Trial which it passed with flying colors.

Shakedown pit captain, Hershel McGriff Jr. as he re-shims the front sway bar. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)

Inside the McGriff Coach, after the Shakedown, Hershel commented on how he is familiar with the area around Desert Center, California and the Chuckwalla Valley Raceway. He has had a longtime association with Park Corporation which also sponsors his cars. Park Corporation has as part of its business mission the purchase and operation of mining businesses throughout the country.

Hershel talked about the anticipation of being at the Portland event this year. He observed that in 2009 the media crush was very intense due to multiple factors. It was the first NASCAR sanctioned race held at Portland International Raceway since 1986, McGriff had won this last race in 1986 and thus was the defending champion, and at 81 he became the oldest driver ever to race in a sanctioned NASCAR event. ESPN, Associated Press, FOX Sports, and all of the media attention that NASCAR could bring was in the mix ... it is amazing that Hershel had enough time to prepare and finish the race at P13. Some people would say, "Geeeez, from Champion to 13th?, What is that about?" Try asking this of the drivers who had been driving the whole season, every season since 1986 and were only able to finish in 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, and so on through the field of 27 cars who all came to compete and win.

About the track at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway? Hershel liked the layout and especially liked the dropping "S" turn combination of #11 and #12 after the slow rising straight that follows the mini "Corkscrew". He said that it reminded him a series of turns that he will encounter at Portland next weekend.

Looking back across the track at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway from turn #14 to the long, banked, 180 degree right-hand turn #13 at the southern end of the facility. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)

Further, he wished he had more time and less self-imposed restrictions based upon the shakedown trial task at hand because he really wanted to figure out where the best place would be to place the car in the long, banked, 180 degree right-hand turn #13 reminiscent of the long, banked sweeper at the former Riverside International Raceway which he raced on many times throughout his career.

The McGriff family - Hershel, wife Sherrie, Sherrie's daughter-in-law Sharon (Shakedown pit captain, Hershel Junior's wife), granddaughter and future racer Mariah were getting ready to continue on to Portland, Oregon where the next scheduled stop of those riding in the Coach Sunday night was Bakersfield.

Hershel McGriff at the end of a successful Shakedown Trial in his coach parked at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)

Herschel McGriff at 82, still has the drive and the grace to express a disappointment on not being able to carry enough speed to have his front wheel rise up off of the pavement for a great action photograph of his 2010 NASCAR K&N Pro Series campaign car during the Shakedown Trial at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway (CVR). As one can easily tell, he was even able to deliver on this internal wish (photo evidence at top of posting), in that, he never communicated this desire of his to be able to create a circumstance that would produce such a shot.

Never count Hershel McGriff out once he gets his mind around any goal ... once one meets him and gets to know him on any level, one comes away with the feeling that Hershel may be just the person that could actually deliver on the goal.

... notes from The EDJE



TAGS: 2010, 50th Anniversary, BI-MART, Chuckwalla Valley Raceway, Corkscrew. Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, CVR, Hershel McGriff, Impala SS, K and N Pro Series, NASCAR, Park Corporation, Portland, The EDJE

Chuckwalla Valley Raceway Opens To The Press, BBQ, & Stellar Rides

Maserati MC12 Stradale driven by Douglas Magnon, President of the Riverside International Automotive Museum, with The EDJE riding in the shotgun position. This image was captured while Doug was negotiating the most challenging series of corners (description below) of Track No. 1 ... the off camber turn #9 [ctrl-click to launch video impressions taken around the track]. Image Credit: Steve Munch (2010)

Chuckwalla Valley Raceway Opens To The Press, BBQ, & Stellar Rides

A new road course race track operation is opening just off an airstrip down California's Interstate 10 between Coachella Valley (Palm Springs) and Blythe. Desert Center had been famous for mining, a fuel and food stop on the way to either LA or Phoenix, and Palm Trees planted in a circle (gone fallow) to attract attention to passing motorists. Get off and head North toward Highway 62 at the intersection of Interstate 10 and 177 and after four miles turn right at the sign heralding the "Chuckwalla Valley Raceway - Bringing the Future to you!"

On April 23rd, members of the automotive press from all over the Southwest were invited to preview this new private racing facility and learn first hand what might be involved in starting up a new racing operation when some tracks might be shutting their doors in economic hard times. First impressions and the attentions to detail leave one with the feeling that this effort will be a resounding success.

Chuckwalla Valley Raceway - Phase 1: Front straight at bottom of graphic. While acting as an observer, speeds were getting pretty close to 110 mph at the end (a racing club BMW driven by Matthew Kogan). Most straights are moderate in length. The most challenging section are in turns 8, 9, and 10 where one encounters and off camber slope to the right as one has to make a hard left to a blind apex ... then the turn drops in elevation into turn 10 on to a slightly uphill straight. It is a corner that once one learns how to enter it, one can muscle and control the corner as opposed to having the corner dictate terms to the driver (ctrl-click image to enlarge). Scanned Image From Media Guide: CVR (2010)

Chuckwalla Valley Raceway (CVR) is planned to be Southern California's premier automobile and motorcycle racing, training, and testing road course race track facility. CVR occupies 1,100 acres that is completely fenced and secured. The facility currently has one road course track operational that is 2.68 miles long (a little longer than the old Riverside International Raceway) and features seventeen (17) turns, is 40 feet wide, multiple elevation changes, a couple of double apex turns, a long banked turn, and a tricky three turn off-cambered section that mimics (to a lesser degree) the famed corkscrew at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The track was designed by internationally known motorcycle racing school operator, designer, and author ("Features of Race Track Design") Ed Bargy.

Jason Pridmore's Star Motorcycle School transport showed up to introduce their program which will make appearances here, Streets of Willow, Thunderhill, High Plains Raceway, and Oregon Raceway Park. For this year, the Star Motorcycle schedule will be at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway more than at any other venue ... one might say CVR is it's home track! Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)

This connection to racing motorcycles is no accident, the President of CVR, Micky Grana, has been working to build and run a first class racing facility for about 15 years and this dream and drive came from his love of having talented drivers pilot sophisticated two-wheeled vehicles in very fast competition on curvy roads ... safely. It is a passion that comes through every aspect of CVR including the black and yellow roll curb that is at every turn on the track, one that can be run in either the traditional clockwise as well as counterclockwise operation safely because of the design and execution of the track build.

Chuckwalla Valley Raceway Upon Completion (ctrl-click image to enlarge) - Scanned Image From Media Guide: CVR (2010)

Over the next 18 to 24 months, Chuckwalla Valley Raceway plans to develop into a complex that will have two more operational tracks. Track No. 2 can be combined with Track No. 1 to form a long track of 4.3 miles, making it one of the largest single road course racing and testing track available outside of Road America (14 turns at 4.048 miles) at Elkheart Lake Wisconsin ... pretty ambitious. Track No. 3 is in a preliminary design specification to be a stand-alone road course that is 2.2 miles long.

Ralt RT5 Super Vee once campaigned by Roger Penske in the early 1980's. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)

Since one of the corporate officers is a pilot, CFO Matt Johnson has done some investigation into the prospect of holding airship races around the complex ... after all, there is an airport (Desert Center Airport [L64]) right next door that has a 50 foot wide runway that is 4,200 feet long. According to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the rental of the small space to put up the large air filled pylons for the airships to guide on for the racing course is minimal. The Red Bull Air Race World Championship event was discussed, along side the main pit-wall that separated the front straight from the paddock, by one of the owner/drivers of a vintage open-wheel formula car (A Ralt RT5 Super Vee once campaigned by Roger Penske) and Matt Johnson. It turns out that this owner/driver was a competitor in the Red Bull "challenge" and felt that CVR would make a perfect venue, in that, it would be one of the few courses that would be run on dry land - most are run on courses set up in large ocean harbors (Perth, AU / San Diego, CA, USA).

Maserati MC12 Stradale parked on the paddock at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)

The business end of a Maserati MC12 Stradale pictured here with Doug Magnon getting ready to take the course at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway [ctrl-click to launch video impressions taken around the track]. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)

One of the cars that was attracted to the event, and garnered the most attention, was an extremely rare Maserati MC12 Stradale of which only 50 street legal models were produced and of those ... only two have ever made it to North America. The very proud and capable owner of this beautiful and rare piece of automotive performance art, Douglas Magnon, just happens to be the President of the Riverside International Automotive Museum (RIAM) which houses one of the largest collections of Maserati automobiles anywhere. As the RIAM site puts it - "RIAM's MC12 is the centerpiece of its 28 example Maserati Collection, one of the most complete assemblages of production Maseratis in North America ... Supercars, racing cars, and a couple of Maseratis!"

Lunch offered some of the best BBQ sandwiches, served up from several lengthwise-cut 55 gallon drum BBQ pits, to be had this side of Kansas City. Big T's BBQ (an operation run by Tony), the on-site caterer, chief, and evening security guard contractee, had chicken and pulled pork open-faced sandwiches with a side of beans and potato salad ready by noon and all of the participants gathered in the paddock tent area. The talk about the nuances of driving (or riding) Track No. 1 filled the air as the moist and tender BBQ was raved about between bites.

SolFocus solar cell collector array. A solar energy collector farm will be installed upon which CVR will get its power. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)

It turns out that CVR will contribute to the electric power grid here in Riverside County. Those in the paddock tent area were treated to a short presentation by SolFocus about how the CVR facility was to be powered . A farm of high-tech solar panels are to be put in place that will generate enough power to where CVR's needs will amount to only a fraction of what will be produced allowing CVR to sell the rest to the County of Riverside to distribute as the County sees fit.

Chuckwalla Valley Raceway will be run as a membership operation where memberships in the race track will be similar to a membership in a golf course. Memberships are designed to give members additional privileges and unlimited access to the facilities. Better race track amenities equate to more exclusive membership. Monthly membership rates will vary depending on amenities and CVR memberships are available for individuals, families, or corporations.

Maserati MC12 Stradale running down the straight between turns #3 and #4 before the nice double apex of #'s 4 & 5 at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway. What a beautiful racing venue. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)

As this author first wrote to his Facebook page wall after arriving back in the Coachella Valley/Palm Springs area for the balance of this excellent desert springtime weekend - "Just came back from spending an incredible day at the debut of a race track located near Desert Center on out the 10 ... halfway between Indio and Blythe. What a perfect track, day, cars, and group of attendees!

The track is called the Chuckwalla Valley Raceway and most motorsports enthusiasts will hear about this 2.68 mile dedicated road course (with a mini corkscrew feature and a long banked turn) before the year is out. Motorcycle clubs are already all over this place but it is a grand automobile venue as well."

... notes from The EDJE




TAGS: Chuckwalla Valley Raceway, Douglas Magnon, Ed Bargy, Maserati MC12 Stradale, Micky Grana, Red Bull Air Race World Championship, RIAM, Riverside International Automotive Museum, The EDJE