Heritage 500 race was all about fun
IMPERIAL — Bringing the excitement of motorsports back to the California Mid-Winter Fair & Fiesta here was the first-ever Heritage 500 race on Wednesday night.
Eleven teams of two drivers competed in a 50-lap race using junk cars in a race to the finish line and a cash prize. The race was organized by the CMWFF Heritage Foundation,
Finishing in first place were Holtville residents Cole and Steve Mamer.
“I was on fire, but luckily my car wasn’t,” said Cole on the Honda Accord 1998 his team entered. “She came in as a loser, and tonight, she leaves as a winner.”
In second place was Joey and Eric Dollente from Imperial, driving a customized 1969 SUV, while El Centro residents Kevin Nilson and Juan Ramirez, who drove a Toyota MR2 1986, finished in third place.
With their 1997 Dodge Neon, Holtville residents Paul Nilson and Kennan Kennedy finished in fourth place, while El Centro residents Matt Scaroni and Elliot Watson finished in fifth with their Honda Accord.
The race was held in a tag-team fashion, with one driver completing 25 laps while turning left. The second driver would finish the race running the other direction, turning to the right.
“You get used to driving and turning left, then you gotta get in the car and turn right, and it’s a little difficult to race and turn right,” explained Chris Bostic of the CMWFF Heritage Foundation.
Each racer paid an entry fee of $150, which cumulated to the total cash prize of $1,650. The total cash prize was split among the racers who finished in the top five places.
The team that placed last in the race, which were El Centro residents Jeremy and Jered Tucker in a 2003 Volkswagen GTI, was awarded their entry fee back as a generous compensation.
“We’re doing one hundred percent payback; we’re not keeping any of the money,” Bostic said. “We’re not in it to try and make money out of anybody. We’re trying to do it to have fun and get some people out.”
Each team supplied its own car, which had to be a four-cylinder, two-wheel drive and be valued at no more than $1,000.
Each car also had roll cages installed into them and each window removed.
Nine out of the 11 teams were Imperial Valley residents. Just a few days before the Heritage race, NASCAR veteran racer Greg Biffle was at his home in the Glamis Sand Dunes and was convinced by some friends to enter the race.
“For a guy whose raced all his life, it doesn’t take a lot to get the blood flowing, so I just decided to come out and check it out,” said Biffle, a North Carolina resident. “It’s all for fun and charity, so we just tried to have a little fun and tried to make it to the end.”
The creation of the race was inspired by the Monterey County Fair’s Farmer 500 race, Bostic said.
“They do just left turns, so I decided to make it a little unique and add the right turns and add two drivers, just to get more of a local crowd involved and make it a good family deal,” he said.