Camaraderie is just as big as winning at the racetrack
Editor’s Note: This is the third and final part of a series about racing in the South County area.
WATSONVILLE
A collection of young and old, some suited and booted and ready to jump into the cockpit on a moment’s notice while others are wearing simple T-shirts and jeans, line the pits of Ocean Speedway in Watsonville. Smoke emanates from all angles – engines pumping out plumes in anticipation of taking the track, a barbecue sending out a signal to those passing by like a dinner bell, creased lips letting out carcinogens in between raceway observations.
The sounds have their own personality: Honking horns send out a warning to move or be run over; cars of varying shapes and sizes whine or roar depending on the driver’s mood; and drivers, mechanics and fans speak a dialect that is distinctly American.
Perhaps more American than anything to be heard are the tattoos which cover the bodies that line the track. Hours spent under the hood or behind the wheel have inspired many to decorate themselves with the nation’s stars and stripes or a car company’s logo, and many times a combination of the two.
If the sights, smells and sounds aren’t enough to let a person know they’re watching athletes of steel exert themselves to the breaking point, some to the point of ruin as motors pop like hamstrings, the not-so-subtle reminder comes in the form of clods of mud splattering spectators situated just off the turns. The other contact to be felt and seen, other than the more than occasional brushing of tires and fenders on the track, are firm handshakes or slaps on the back.
“It’s not just about being on the track racing – it’s making friends and stuff,” says Gilbert Toste, a 50-year-old Gilroy native who wasn’t racing Friday at Watsonville but spends most of his weekends taking his No. 88 dwarf – a “scaled-down version” of the 1932 and ’38 Model-A Fords – to tracks across the state.
“I’ve always loved speed. I’ve always loved motorized vehicles … It’s so much fun, it’s so cheap and it’s something to do. But the people here, the friends you make – we go all over.”
Toste says he has driven just about every kind of car one can take to Watsonville over his 35-year racing career, but the dwarfs offer a cheaper alternative to the winged and wingless sprint cars which were carving up the Ocean Speedway track on Friday.
Tommy Tarlton, who made his way from Fresno to take part in Friday’s 360 Civil War Sprint Cars Series race and placed second in the main event, got into racing with a professional career in mind but had to make his passion a hobby to take over his family’s business.
“Now I do it for fun,” Tarlton says, “but there are some guys who do it for a living.”
Morgan Hill’s Devon Ostheimer, a 15-year-old racer who added another accomplishment to his resume Friday by winning the wingless sprint car main event, is one of those racers who wants nothing more than to take laps for a living. But as competitive as he and his opponents can be inside a rollcage, it’s the camaraderie that can be found in between races that makes the time and money put into the cars all the more worthwhile.
“Everyone is fighting for that same spot, everyone is going there to win. It makes it really intense,” Ostheimer says. “Guys have respect for you and you do develop those friendships, but obviously there are no friends when you’re on the racetrack. You want to kick their butt when you’re out there. But you also want to have something to entertain you when you’re off of it.”
Ostheimer’s focus on winning could be considered as American as apple pie, and it doesn’t seem to allow the youngster to ever completely relax when it comes to racing. But Toste, at a different stage in his life, compares the raceway atmosphere to another leisurely activity that often requires a motor.
“There is a lot of fun out there on the racetrack, but it’s like going on a boat,” Toste says. “It’s just another form of hanging out.”
Correction: In last Tuesday’s edition of the Free Lance, in an article titled “Driving for Glory,” an error was made. The Free Lance incorrectly stated that Mike Hill was racing on the Firestone IndyCar Lights series last year when his season was cut short due to sponsorship complications. Hill was, in fact, racing on the Star Mazda series at the time. The Free Lance regrets this error.
