Perris Raceway
Speedway and Practice Track

1205 Burton Road
Perris, California 92570
(951) 443-7622

2008 Schedule
MARCH 16, 2008 - Joker Machine Season Opener
APRIL 13, 2008 - Friends of Speedway Spring Classic
APRIL 20, 2008 - GUMBALL RALLY
JUNE 8, 2008
OCTOBER 5 - Clubman Amateur National Championship
NOVEMBER 2, 2008 - Season Finale

PERRIS SCHEDULE CHANGE

August 23, 2008
Sorry folks, but once more the Perris schedule needs some revision. I have decided to not run a race on September 21st. There are two big races the night before with AMA Nationals Final Round and Costa Mesa. We have never done well at Perris running the day after a regular Costa Mesa night. Having consulted with a few of our most dedicated riders in the pits last night, it is very questionable to say the least that the event would be viable as each Perris event needs about 35 entries (who show up, not just sign up!) to break even, and that's without any D1 purse being considered.

Also personally need a little time to regroup as a lot of work, family time and future planning (on some exciting speedway projects) has been put to the back burner in the last three months (I have only had two weekends without having a race I have organized since Memorial Day). Its not so much the race days, but the 30 or so hours of work it takes to plan and organize the next race once the previous one has been done. I have already promoted 16 races this year!
We will be running our other two races there as planned. October 5th is the next Perris race and we will run in November too. The November date as it stands now is the 16th, though it may get brought ahead to the 2nd if no overseas riders plan to visit in November (sometimes we get a foreign rider or two who want to take a November race vacation).

I still want to do a 'Clubman Amateur National' and a Track Championship. I'm not yet 100% on which event will run on which date. I'm not sure if it will be AMA sanctioned as I have not heard back from USA Speedway as yet on this.

Victorville runs on Labor Day Saturday (30th Aug), October 18. I think we will most likely do at least the first of the November day races (8th) and will decide on the 22nd later. Ridgecrest runs on the 17th October.

Thanks to all for your support this year. It has definitely been a lot of work with having three venues to juggle (welcome to Jason's world!). I think given the economy (which is thinning out sponsors & riders at all tracks this year - even Costa Mesa) it is the right thing to trim the schedule a bit. I really love Perris and the main thing in the way of running more races there at this point in time is the fact that we only have two sponsors who help us there (Joker & Schlaman's) whereas Victorville has about 8-10 plus a better crowd base. If there is anyone out there who could help us get some sponsors at Perris (I would pay commissions if needed) it would open the door for an expanded (not contracting) schedule in 2009.

Thanks and see you all Labor Day weekend at Victorville.

GUMBALL RALLY SIGNUP INFORMATION

UPDATED April 4, 2008
Billy Hamill is proud to announce that Sargent Metal Fabrication will be making the Gumball Rally trophies again. Anyone who has seen their works of art will know why the riders cherish winning one of their creations. Eric and Jason at Sargent are very dedicated speedway fans and sponsors. Speedway is a better sport because of generous people like them.

Robert "The Sarge" Fiesler will be supplying the fuel for the Gumball Rally. Fiesler will be selling parts out of his trailer at Costa Mesa and Industry this season. This will be a very helpful for the riders because they will have a resource for parts and supplies on race night.

(March 25, 2008)
Sign ups for the 2008 Gumball Rally have officially begun. The annual event is scheduled for the weekend of April 19 and 20 at Perris Raceway. 1996 World Champion and current National Champion Billy “The Bullet” Hamill is promoting the event for the fifth time since resurrecting the event several years ago.

There will have at least five different divisions of competition: an exhibition team event, Powder Puff, Pee Wee (perhaps split into two divisions), Second Division Juniors, and First Division Juniors. The event will consist of an open practice on Saturday, April 19 with riders of all ages welcome to participate. The Gumball Rally meeting itself will be held on Sunday, April 20. There will be overnight camping at the facility.

Hamill is proud to announce that former World Champion Ivan Mauger has stated his intention to attend the event as well and will serve as Grand Marshall of the event.
Defending Gumball Rally Champion Jason Ramirez has already signed up to defend his championship. Ramirez also captured the Youth National Championship last year as well and he would like nothing better than to start 2008 by taking home another of the coveted Gumball machine trophies that are presented to the winner.

In keeping with the theme of younger riders and the tradition of the event’s junior roots, the intention of the team event will be to feature riders who are 21 or younger or are have raced junior speedway in the past. Riders who fit those two qualifications will have priority to participate in the team event.

Riders who wish to sign up can do so by e-mailing Ryan Evans at sideways31@aol.com through Thursday, April 17. Each rider who signs up for the race by this date is guaranteed a gift bag, so it is imperative to be signed up by this date. Entry fees for Sunday’s race are $40 per rider and $10 per mechanic. The spectator fee will also be $10 and there will be an open pit so family and friends can spend time with the rider that they came to cheer on.

There will be more announcements regarding this special event coming soon.

Desert Empire Fairgrounds Race 26 April

April 14, 2008
Saturday 26th April is the Inaugural staging of the 'High Desert Spring Fair Invitational' up at Ridgecrest's Desert Empire Fairgrounds. The race will start at 6pm, and features Speedway bikes plus one class of Speedway Midgets (these are not John Aden's Sprints, but the Midgets who sometimes race at his show who are based out of Ridgecrest).

Entries are limited. The plan is to have a 16 rider D1 Championship event, plus 6 man fields in D2 and D3. We will only run juniors and Pee Wees if there are 4 or more entries in each class. This event is an invitational, so placing an entry does not guarantee you will get to race until notified. Preference is given to riders who have supported Victorville & Perris, plus also based on their ability as far as D1 goes. This does not mean that you cannot enter have you not supported these tracks, but in D2 / 3, the riders who turn up for regularly will get the nod if entries are over 6. We will also be looking at attendance records if we have to chose between riders, since at an Invitational event, we cannot have riders as part of the show who have proven to be unreliable, since there is nothing worse to represent professional speedway as 2 and 3 man heats.

D1 will have a standard AMA sized minimum purse. It will most likely be distributed to the top 8 only (riders who make the semi's). We are also looking for a sponsor of $100-200 for a Last man Out Challenge. D2 maybe have a small purse for the winner only.

The track address is 520 South Richmond Rd, Ridgecrest, CA 93555. Look at Mapquest.com - it is up the 14 freeway and is about 150 miles / 2 and half hours From downtown LA. Pits will open at 3, races at 6. The fair is small, so riders will enter the main fair entrance and the pits will be sign posted. The Fair is promoting the race (I am bringing the Speedway program) and the Fair is charging $35 to race, the pits will be either $20 or 25 (I will post this later when they clarify). There is a fair going on at the time, so expect a large crowd and plenty of fun at the fairgrounds once the main event is run. The Fairgrounds are using their own insurance,as they run a Moto X track next door, so there are no memberships required.

Here are a list of entries I have received so far. If you have entered and you name is not here, please resubmit as due to a computer glitch, some of my e-mail have been lost. It is hoped that National Champion Billy Hamill will be racing. We are negotiating with a sponsor right now that may make this possible.

Riders are:
D1 - Ricky Wells, Nate Perkins, Greg Ayers, Robbie Sauer, Brad Sauer, Travis Henderson, Buck Blair
Bubble - Allen Doss
D2 - Scott York
D3 - Tony DeAlmeida
I think there a quite a few riders missing, so if your name is not here, please e-mail or call ASAP as we don't want to put you to the back of the line.
This will be an excellent event. I am honored to have been asked to promote it, as much like Nate Perkins last year, I am bringing speedway to a whole new audience.

I have a tentative agreement to hold a race at the Desert Empire Fairgrounds in Ridgecrest, California on April 26th. Last year a race was held there during their Spring Fair which featured Speedway Sprint Cars and Midgets.

The plan is to run Speedway Sprints on Friday 25th and an all Speedway Bike program on April 26th. The race date is a free Saturday before Costa Mesa and Auburn openers.

There are still details to finalize on the logistics, but at this stage it looks very good. Most likely we would hold a D1 Championship event with Support Classes and hopefully Sidecars. Ridgecrest is about 100 miles East of Bakersfield and is about 150 miles out of the LA area.

More news as we have it, but pencil this one in your calendar while we finalize the details.

2008 GUMBALL RALLY DATE ANNOUNCED

January 30, 2008
I am pleased to announce that we have confirmed a date for The Gumball Rally. We will hold the event at Perris Raceway on the weekend of April 19th-20th. We will have Open Practice on Saturday, the 19th, and The Gumball Rally will be held on Sunday, the 20th. It will basically be the same schedule as last year, and anyone who went last year can confirm what a success it was and how much fun they had. Overnight camping will be available for $20.00 for the weekend.

Steve Evans has a race at Victorville Saturday night at 6:00, so it's a great opportunity for an action packed Speedway weekend for riders and fans alike.

I am also trying to organize a Speedway School on either the 18th or the 19th, but can't confirm anything, yet.
Hopefully, this will give everyone enough time to plan for a fun weekend of Speedway. More details will be posted in the coming weeks.
Riders who wish to sign up can contact Ryan Evans at sideways31@aol.com

Thanks and I can't wait to see you out there,

Billy Hamill