Denton fifth in Barona debut

Scott Denton finished fifth in his Barona Speedway main event debut May 14.

Denton, who drove in the Factory Stocks race, added a second-place heat race finish to his main event finish which actually occurred in the first hour of May 15.

“It was pretty exciting,” Denton said.

Denton spent five years in the Cajon Speedway’s Bomber Stocks division. After the end of last year’s Cajon Speedway season, Denton accompanied Keith Krueger to Barona for the Factory Stocks races held at the end of the Barona season, but Denton had not driven on the Barona track until this year.

Denton and Krueger will share the driving this year. Krueger took the LTD to the track April 30 but learned that the season’s initial Factory Stock race had been pushed back to May 14 and ran the LTD in the Bomber division. Denton ran the first actual Factory Stock race.

Cajon Speedway is an asphalt oval while Barona is a dirt track. Denton’s dirt racing debut began with four practice laps. “I was very unsure if I was going to like this or not,” Denton noted.

Denton was cautious during his initial racing on dirt. “I didn’t know if the car was going to spin out or crash into somebody or hit the guardrail or what,” he said. “Four laps wasn’t long enough to feel the car out.”

Denton began his heat race on the outside of the third row. “Right away I went up to third,” Denton noted.

One of the differences Denton noticed between the Bomber Stocks at Cajon Speedway and the Factory Stocks at Barona is that the Factories had more room between each other at the start of the race. “If they open up a gap, I’m gone,” Denton remarked.

That was what happened to start the Factory Stock heat race. “Right on the start I went three-wide,” Denton said.

Denton was in the middle of that three-wide maneuver. “They left a hole,” Denton noted. “I was sitting good, because I had a cushion on each side.”

Denton caught up to one of the remaining two drivers in front of him. “He was getting squirrelly and I was on his tail the whole way,” Denton said. “Once he got out of shape, I ducked up under him.”

Factory Stocks at Barona do not use mirrors, so Denton couldn’t see how close any of the drivers behind him were. “You’ve just got to keep going, hope nobody’s there,” he explained.

He stayed ahead of the driver in third place. “I held him off ’til the end of that race,” Denton noted.

One of the differences between a dirt track and an asphalt surface is that the texture of a dirt track will change. Denton felt that the Barona Speedway oval was to his liking in the heat race. “The track was really smooth that race,” he remarked.

“It all fell in place for me,” Denton said of the heat race. “It wasn’t like practice.”

Another difference between the Cajon and Barona tracks is that Cajon Speedway has an 11:00 p.m. curfew while Barona does not have a curfew. The Factory Stock main event had a midnight start. “We raced from Saturday to Sunday,” Denton quipped.

Denton began the main event on the outside of the third row, and once again he gained three spots nearly immediately. “I moved up to third place,” he said. “I stayed in third place for a long time.”

That position was less secure with three laps remaining. “I could feel the back end tugging,” he noted.

Two drivers passed Denton on those final three laps. He caught up with the fourth-place driver on the final lap. “I got up on the side of him and he slammed me,” Denton said. “We were crunched together going across the finish line.”

Denton was behind his competitor by a bumper and ended up with the fifth-place finishing position. “It’s kind of disheartening to give up two positions in the last two laps,” he remarked.

On the other hand, he realizes that the fourth-place and fifth-place drivers had to make their moves at that time. Denton was also pleased with the performance of the LTD. “That big giant tunaboat we have handled pretty good,” he said.

Denton also noted that by the main event the track wasn’t as smooth as it was for the heat race. “It was pretty rough,” he remarked.

Denton qualified that statement by noting that the track wasn’t as rough as it was for the season opener April 30.

The track, which had planned to open in February before heavy rains forced a delay, is also trying to fix some other matters. “I guess they’re having some troubles with the lights,” Denton said.

Denton watched the flagman rather than the lights, so he was not affected by any light problems.

Denton believes that the biggest difference between dirt and asphalt is how corners are taken. “No brakes,” Denton noted. “Don’t use the brakes; use the motor to slow it down and the motor to get out of the corner.”

Cajon Speedway is a 3/8-mile oval while Barona Speedway is a quarter-mile track, so the May 14 race was also Denton’s first on a quarter-mile oval. “I didn’t know where to let off the gas and stuff,” he said.

That was compounded by the lack of veterans, since when he was driving at Cajon Speedway the veterans advised him of such matters.

The race was also Denton’s first since his second child, Dacy, was born on November 5. Dacy Denton watched the race, so it was the first time Denton raced in the presence of his younger daughter. “She was excited,” Denton noted.

Cajon Speedway has a minimum pit entrance age of 16, but Barona Speedway allows children in the pits. Denton’s wife and both of his daughters were in the pits, making the race the first time in the pits for two-year-old Dara Denton. “She was pumped up for two days,” her father remarked. “She didn’t stop talking about it.”

Denton is sponsored by Alvarado Veterinary Hospital, Cardinal Auto Wrecking, DiGangi Pools and Spas, Dode’s Hobby Shop, Fallbrook Auto Parts, Fallbrook Muffler, Pala Mesa Deli, Ultragraphix, and Zebu Construction.