PLACERVILLE, Calif. — The last few years it was concerns over drought that dominated the winter season in the Golden State. Thousands of acres of farmland laid dormant since there was not enough water available to grow anything but hardy weeds.
Cities regulated watering of landscaping to make the decimated water supply last as long as possible. People went to synthetic lawns or stopped watering and let vegetation fade.
Then came the winter of 2022-’23.
California has a water year, running from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30 of the following year. Normally, little or no rain occurs from April to the October/November months. That makes the rainy season of November through March critical as reservoirs need filling, a substantial snowpack in the mountains helps feed reservoirs into spring and ground water is slowly replenished by hours of rain.
But this season seems to be making up for the dry years all at once as this area is 150 to 200-percent above normal and the rain is showing no signs of quitting. California has to deal with the overabundance of precipitation which has washed out roads, demolished homes and businesses and led to huge expenditures that will be needed to repair the damage.
Last year there were some rumblings that dirt tracks might be unable to water sufficiently to have an event. Now it’s become more of a guessing game as to what day this or that track will have to cancel its next race because of too much rain.
Merced was first to cancel its early February events. When cancellations came on Jan. 10, it seemed way too early until a photo was posted that showed how Merced Speedway had become Merced Lake. An updated video on March 17 showed progress to the point that two weeks later the first race may happen.
Last weekend the cancellations ran from Bakersfield to Chico but one that beat the odds was Placerville Speedway.
At its 1,867 feet above sea level, Placerville is prone to more rain than the Sacramento Valley with even some snow thrown in occasionally. Promoters Scott Russell and Kami Arnold worked many hours last week to make it possible to have their season opener March 18 and made it happen.
The track was helped by a couple of sunny days leading up to Saturday and it was amazing how dry the pits and track were except for a couple of low areas. Days of pumping the track, paid off and the evening ended with a classic duel for the winged 360 win.
When the front two rows consist of Colby Copeland, Tanner Carrick, Shane Golobic and Justin Sanders, two things can be safely assumed to happen. One of those four will win and it will be a great race to see who leads lap 25.
Twenty-five laps of excellent racing for the win ended in dramatic fashion when Sanders dove toward the bottom of turn four on the final lap and got to the finish line about two feet before Golobic. Sanders led just the last few feet for the win. Sanders won five times last year at Placerville and does not race there regularly.
That was the first race for the newly created CaliDirt streaming, also an affiliate to SPEEDSPORT.tv for all Placerville races plus the Sprint Car Challenge Tour.
Marysville Raceway also raced Saturday night, pushing their race total to an amazing twice this year. Dawson Hammes won the winged 360 main. Hammes, like so many sprint car drivers in Northern California, worked his way into a sprint car by racing outlaw karts.
Marysville is streamed on NorCal Speed, also a SPEEDSPORT.tv affiliate.