Silver Dollar to host Louie Vermeil Classic
Weekend will Calistoga Hall of Fame banquet; beer, wine tasting festivals
CHICO >> The legacy of Louie Vermeil has been honored with a prestigious race at Calistoga Speedway for the last 13 years, with 2020 being an exception.
The prominent event which has been hosted at the Calistoga Speedway has a temporary home for this year — the Silver Dollar Speedway.
The Silver Dollar Speedway will host the 13th annual Louie Vermeil Classic. Promoters made the decision in February to move the event from Calistoga to Chico because of COVID-19 crowd restrictions from Napa County health officials, according to a press release.
“Unfortunately, we were not able to host the Louie Vermeil Classic at Calistoga Speedway in 2020 due to this awful pandemic,” said promoter Tommy Hunt in the release. “We knew that the prospect of hosting this year’s event in September at Calistoga were slim to none. So collectively we decided to make a tough choice and move the race to Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico with help from track manager Dennis Gage and the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds.”
Though it’s a two-night racing event, the Louie Vermeil Classic runs three days beginning on Friday.
On Friday, the 10th annual Calistoga Speedway Hall of
Fame banquet will be held. Inductees include Shane Scott, Roger Henderson, Rick Hurst, Gene Figone, Ray Smith, Dewey Gatson (Rajo Jack), Paul Worden, Dick Golden and the Hunt family.
Racing will take place Saturday and Sunday with the USAC-CRA non-winged sprint cars and Northern Auto Racing Club King of the West 410 winged sprint cars in action. Racing begins at 6 p.m. on both nights.
Aside from racing, the weekend will also feature a wine tasting festival and a beer tasting festival. The wine festival, which also includes live music and food vendors, will run from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday while the beer festival will run from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday. The wine festival is presented by Explore Butte County and the Sierra Oro Farm Trail. The beer festival is presented by Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Louie Vermeil was the co-founder of the Northern Auto Racing Club and was a significant figure in sprint car racing as well as the Calistoga Speedway. He is also the father of former NFL head coach and Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist Dick Vermeil. He was named the Motorsportsman of the Year in 1982 by Northern California’s Motoring Press Association.
Louie Vermeil died March 19, 1987 after a battle with cancer.
The event will also serve as an unofficial prelude to the Gold Cup Race of Champions, which returns to the Silver Dollar Speedway on Wednesday and runs through Saturday, Sept. 11.
Damion Gardner, of Concord, will be racing as part of the USAC CRA Sprint Car Series. Gardner is a former winner of the Louie Vermeil Classic and also leads the field with the most wins at Silver Dollar with three. Gardner also enters Saturday’s race as the current points leader.
Gardner said winning the Louie Vermeil Classic is much like winning a Gold Cup race, it comes with something extra.
“This is probably like the Gold Cup for the nonwinged cars,” Gardner said. “It has that feel of a big event and it’s not just a Saturday night race.”
Gardner said racing for the USAC series means he competes out of the area more often. Since he’s from Northern California, racing in Chico is almost like a homecoming.
“It’s where I grew up and started racing. I see a lot of people I haven’t seen,” Gardner said. “It’s more than just a race, it’s an event.”
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea will also be the honorary grand marshal of Saturday’s race. Honea will fly into the Silver Dollar Speedway on the Butte County Sheriff’s Office helicopter. On Sunday, Cal Fire-Butte County Battalion Chief Byron Vance will ride in on a fire engine and be the honorary grand marshal.
Tickets are on sale online at https://bit.ly/3yCdzKm. General admission for the weekend races are $35 and reserved seats are $40. Tickets for the wine and beer tasting experiences are $20.