BUZZ SODEMAN The Buzzman SPECIAL TO THE PVT One of the more memorable IMCA modifieds to appear in races at the Pahrump Valley Speedway was the No. 11, driving by Robin Ruud. Advertisement

I pulled out some of my racing articles that appeared in the Mohave Valley Daily News, circa 1992-93 and the Valley Observer, circa 1995.

After blowing the dust off, I discovered some rather interesting information that "old-time" fans might appreciate. I could easily call this "Remember When" or "Do You Remember."

Most IMCA pilots take pride in the appearance of their cars; one of the first to debut a "show quality" paint job in this area was Pahrump resident "Rockin' Robin" Ruud.

In the Fourth of July edition of the Observer, it was discovered that the racing slump that Ruud was experiencing was due in part to his reluctance to use alcohol as his racing fuel.

On July 1, it was discovered that Ruud had been using just regular pump fuel in his Ford-powered IMCA. This was the first race that he used alcohol and the engine reacted like a rocket. Ruud took second in his heat, claimed the trophy dash, as well as, the feature.

Dustin Oliver's "Spiderman" imitation of climbing the front stretch wall isn't the first time that the concrete retaining wall has kept a vehicle from planting itself in the bleachers.

On June 10, Terry "Rocket Man" Thomas, driving at that time what was a street stock, provided his own rendition of the "Joey Chitwood Thrill Show."

Thomas went high into turn three, skidded in what we lovingly refer to as "the marbles," and kissed the wall. He wasn't content with just contacting the wall; he climbed the wall and munched down about 40 feet of chain link and supporting cable.

Thomas was reluctant to exit the car while it dangled from its precarious perch. Unlike Dustin, who indicated that his mini stock had absorbed considerable damage to his driveline, the only damage to Thomas' car was a bent tie rod and broken shock.

It was later learned that Thomas had re-torn connective tissue in his shoulder that couldn't be reattached. His career came to a crashing end and Wyatt Erhp took over the driving chores for Thomas.

The small turnout of Dwarf cars isn't the first time that their numbers were as diminutive as the little "crotch rockets" that they pilot. On June 24, I reported that there was speculation that the winner of that night's race just might be the last Dwarf car feature winner.

The driver that night was Kurt Busch, who bested just six competitors. He defeated Mike Spina and his father, Tom, in the feature. That evening's festivities also included the arrest of a LV street stock driver (who shall remain nameless) for assault with a deadly weapon, namely his racecar.

This particular visitor decided to mete out his own style of retribution for on-track incidents by trying to run over the Clendennin brothers. The brothers escaped unscathed but their racecar was badly damaged by their competitors Camaro.

Speaking of Dwarf cars, here's a pearl from the Mohave Valley Daily Times. On the evening of July 26, 1993, Mohave Valley hosted its first ever Dwarf Car Classic. There were four heats, a trophy dash, and an A and B main.

Dave Hall, now the promoter of Pahrump Valley Speedway, " won Heat 2. At that time, Hall was sponsored by Sheri's Ranch.

He bested Tempe, Arizona's Paul Taylor and Las Vegan Dennis "The Menace" Wall. In fact, that was the year that Mohave Valley Speedway and Pahrump Valley Speedway worked in conjunction to put together the "AZNEV" series of races.

On Aug. 31, Hall held a slim eight-point lead over Adam "The Dirt Man" Daffner. Then Las Vegas resident Jim Bonetti held down fifth place that was three places higher than another Pahrump resident, Kevin Mayer.

Rounding out the top 10 was Tom Busch (father of Kurt and Kyle). Daffner would eventually be the recipient of the first ever AZNEV trophy, as well as capture Mohave's Dwarf car championship.

Hall was runner-up, as he completed the season with the following statistics; Heat races: two firsts, four seconds, Trophy Dashes: one first, one second, and one third, Features: one second and one third.

Here is another "blast from the past," from a promotional piece that I wrote for the Dwarf car USA Western Nationals, held in October 1994. See if you recognize any of these names.

"From the north comes drivers that are regular competitors at the Speedway. PV Speedway's Dwarf car points champion Mike Spina has teamed up with Tom and Kurt Busch.

"Mohave's track champion, Pahrump's Kevin Mayer has committed others who will attend Ray Elam (current track announcer) a Mohave feature winner ... 'Jungle Jim' Bonetti, and Bob Clark who will be piloting Dave Hall's car."

Hall is recuperating from a broken foot (actually it was a fractured arch and broken toes which required surgery). Another driver who received recognition was Dwarf car "old timer," Pahrump's Dick Tremaine.

While talking to various drivers in the pits, I've discovered that drivers come and go and nobody seems to remember them, especially the current crop of youngsters that race every Saturday night.

Here are just a few IMCA drivers who called Pahrump Valley Speedway home; Dave Erwin, Ricky McLellan, Jerry Walton, Jim Pike, and Bobby Norman. Tommy Warburton, Darren Smothermon, Tom Bowsher, Steve Smothermon, Bob Forster Jr., Ron Erey, Deane Fountain, Gary Brannon, the three Berger brothers (Donnie, Dave, and Mike), Sam Stringer, and Brad Hopper also raced extensively at the track.

The stock classes had Tom Baird, Danny Fitzgerald (a.k.a. Dan Sean), John Jewell, Donovan Allison, Kelly Monahan, Herman Salaz, Adrian Sandoval, Doug Dessaints, Danny Dutton, Dave Prim (deceased), and Steve Giannini.

Perhaps most missed by track regulars is Michael J. Rollins. Rollins turned mundane races into epic battles; he had a pre-recorded song for each class of cars. He was a proponent of "no dead air!"

Before the races he was down in the pits getting as much factual material on drivers, checking on the scuttlebutt, and getting the correct pronunciation of each drivers' name.

If you enjoyed this stroll down memory lane, let the Pahrump Valley Times know. In fact, I've had many favorable comments, while this is nice, it is more important to let those that publish my articles aware of how you appreciate the coverage.