Track surface preparer a mainstay at the shows
Moural has given drivers great rides for 40 years
Lowell Moural, a consistent face at Silver Dollar Speedway, has been giving drivers great rides for 40years.
CHICO » Year in, year out at the Gold Cup at Silver Dollar Speedway drivers change and so does the staff. But there’s been one consistent face that drivers have seen for nearly 40 years at both Cycleland Speedway and Silver Dollar Speedway: Lowell Moural, the track surface preparer.
Moural is often first to arrive at the track and during Gold Cup week, the 71-year old said he receives just four hours of sleep per night. This year, Moural has worked eight straight days between the two Butte County tracks, spending Sept. 4 and 5 preparing Silver Dollar Speedway for last weekend’s Louie Vermeil Classic, Monday and Tuesday at Cyleland’s Outlaw Kart Showcase, and then back to Silver Dollar Speedway Wednesday through Sunday for the Gold Cup.
“I’m done when your car goes on the track,” Moural said he tells racers.
However, that is not entirely true, as Moural regularly resurfaces the track one or two additional times each night to prepare the best surface for drivers.
“That is his goal, is to give the fans as good of a show as our drivers can produce,” said Silver Dollar Speedway announcer Troy Hennig, who has known Moural since 1999. “Because if they have a terrible track, they’re going to do a terrible show.”
Moural’s passion and inspiration for track preparation comes from his days as a professional flat track motorcycle rider and the people who prepared tracks for him. Moural competed against many well-known racers, including Kenny Roberts.
“It was a magical time and you always want to give back so that’s kind of why I’ve done this the last 40 years,” Moural said.
In 1980 Moural took over ownership of Cycleland Speedway in Oroville, where he promoted and also raced motorcycles.
“I was always inspired by the men who worked so hard to give me a playground to race my hardest. I hated tracks that were wore out, no good, no thought went into it,” Moural said. “I hated going to them places. I go 100% every time whether I win or lose — it’s just like racing.”
Today, Cycleland has produced three current top-20 NASCAR drivers including Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick and Matt DiBenedetto. It has also produced many of the top drivers at Silver Dollar Speedway including seven-time track champion Sean Becker.
Becker grew up in Oroville, racing side by side with Moural and Moural’s son beginning with motorcycle races at Cycleland. Becker called what Moural has created at Cycleland the “field of dreams” for go kart racing or sprint car racing. Becker began racing outlaw karts at Cycleland in Moural’s second year the track started to race the karts. He explained as Cycleland evolved as a track he was evolving as a driver too.
“I felt like we were growing together, Lowell was all part of that,” Becker said. “All the drivers meetings, the intensity he brings to those, the knowledge he brings, it’s been an absolute pleasure to be a part of that.”
Becker has seen Moural’s work continue at Silver Dollar Speedway, where he raced Friday night. He said it is incredible what Moural has done, selflessly with no ego trying to put on the best product he can. Whether it be for fun, for a career, for the love of the sport and the racing community, Becker said he is grateful for not just Moural’s work but also his friendship.
“I just hope he understands the impact that he’s had on the number of people he’s touched throughout his life — my entire family,” Becker said. “I hope he can take a step back and really appreciate and grasp the impact he’s had on the amount of lives he has.”
One racer who both he and Moural agree have the closest relationship between a sprint car driver who did not race at Cycleland is four-time Silver Dollar Speedway track champion Andy Forsberg. Forsberg, who has been racing at the track since 2000 but has attended races of his fathers in Chico since the 1970s, said since Moural has been surfacing the track at the Speedway for the last 10 years, he knows drivers have really good odds of the track being right.
Forsberg, who won Thursday night’s Gold Cup race and will be racing once more Saturday, said he and Moural regularly joke because Forsberg is one of the few drivers who likes the surface of the track rough, heavy and wet. Many drivers who came from Cycleland are used to a hard-packed, slick, smooth surface similar to that of Cycleland.
“Hey put an extra load of water on there or rip it a little deeper for me,” Forsberg said he regularly tells Moural.
Moural listens to drivers but ultimately the final call is his own. When Forsberg won Thursday, the track was hard packed and smooth, and Forsberg remembered Moural telling him, ““That’s not your track, what are you doing winning tonight?”
Moural is now battling cancer and has been in and out of the hospital a couple of times over the last year. He has learned to lean on assistants such as Mark Cooper for track preparation at Silver Dollar Speedway or sprint car racer Colby Copeland, who now helps promote races at Cycleland. Copeland won Wednesday’s Gold Cup race in Chico and promoted the Outlaw Kart Showcase in Oroville the two nights prior.
Moural said if he regrets anything in his career, it is that he wishes he would’ve met and established a relationship with a quality promoter at a younger age. He said he envisions having that teammate would’ve brought great success.
“That is my only regret is that didn’t happen because I’m the racetrack side of it and I’m no good at the promotion side of it,” Moural said. “I can’t ask for anything. To promote the races you have to be able to go out and get support and I just won’t do it. That’s the way I am.”
While he does not know if that would have been possible, Moural said after working with the 29-yearold Copeland over the weekend at Cycleland he may have someone who may take Cycleland Speedway to the next level. As for the surface preparation at the speedway in Chico, Moural said if Cooper eventually wants to take over his duties he’ll be able to do it.
“Lowel’s main goal is just to have the best racing surface possible and he’s brought in the equipment and tools to do it,” Forsberg said. “He doesn’t always get it perfect and he’ll admit that. It’s dirt, you’re not going to get it right every time but I know in his heart he’s trying his ass off for sure.”
The final day of the World of Outlaws 410 winged sprint cars racing at the Gold Cup at Silver Dollar Speedway is Saturday. Pit gates open at 2 p.m., grandstand gates open at 5 p.m., qualifying begins at 6:30 p.m. with official races beginning at 7 p.m. A $5,000 purse will go to the winner of the Platinum Cup A race winner.
Tickets for Saturday can be purchased by visiting https://www.eventsprout. com/event/silver-dollarspeedway.