Newspaper's Deegan drives in Spectator Race at Perris

In his role as an ambassador for the Fallbrook/Bonsall Village News and the Temecula/Murrieta Valley News, Village News and Valley News advertising representative Tim Deegan drove in the April 25 Spectator Race at Perris Auto Speedway.

Deegan was eliminated in the first round of the Spectator Race session, although he realized that his 2005 Chevrolet Impala SS wasn't likely to be competitive.

"It was all for promotion," Deegan said. "We have a fantastic promotional sponsorship going with Perris Auto Speedway now and we wanted to draw attention to the newspaper and the new market it is bringing our advertisers. We have a farther reach north now and a new automotive after-market racing inclined readership for our advertisers."

Perris Auto Speedway has five Night of Destruction events this year. Three of those races tend to result in damage to automobiles. Demo Cross is a demolition derby run on the quarter-mile oval track; drivers face obstacles on the track as well as each other. Two races are run on the Figure 8 course: a regular Figure 8 race and a Trailer Figure 8 competition whose rules require the trailer to remain connected to the driver's car.

The Night of Destruction event with the least contact is Spectator Racing, where two spectators driving their own registered cars start on opposite sides of the quarter-mile track to determine the faster vehicle over two laps.

The Spectator Race was Deegan's first time driving on a dirt oval. "I've never done that before," he said. "I had no idea what the car would do. My only dirt track experience prior to this was racing go-karts at Carlsbad Raceway back in the mid-80s."

The Valley News coverage area includes Perris. Deegan participated in a Valley News promotion during the March 28 Night of Destruction. He learned about the Spectator Race and determined that the race might be a way to promote the Valley News. He conferred with Valley News publisher Julie Reeder about attaching a Valley News banner to the top of his car during the Spectator Race and obtained Reeder's support.

Although six Spectator Race drivers participated, the spectator turnout in the stands April 25 was reduced due to the day's rain and uncertainty whether the races would be held or cancelled. While light rain makes an asphalt track unsafe for racing, minimal rain is actually a benefit to a dirt track since it wets down the dust and a dirt track will cancel races only if mud would bog down the drivers. If there is no rain a dirt track is watered to reduce the dust. Deegan thus felt that the wet track due to the rain had no effect on his Spectator Race action. "That's the way they prepare the track anyway," he said.

Deegan and the Impala had a two-lap time of 54.12 seconds, which was more than 5 1/2 seconds slower than that of his opponent's pickup truck, although Deegan was not disappointed with his time.

"I didn't want to ruin the car," he said. "When I took off in the car, it feels like you are floating into the first corner. When it does start to turn, all you can see is the concrete wall and I thought 'This is the car I have to drive to work on Monday...'"

Debbie Ramsey contributed to this story.