Brad Sweet
I’m at Perris Auto Speedway in Southern California, with my teammate Brady Bacon and the guys from Kasey Kahne Racing. In a little while, we’re going to practice our Mopar® USAC Sprint Cars for the “Oval Nationals” this weekend. I’ve always followed the history of this sport, and forever all the top Sprint Car racers have come to the West Coast in the fall to run big races at tracks like Ascot Park, which used to be in Los Angeles, and Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix. Over the past several years, this race at Perris has become one of those events.
It’s strange to me that I’ve found myself getting into the rythym of coming out here. I’ve done the “Oval Nationals” since 2004 and Manzanita for the last three years, and I realize that I already know my way around the two areas. It makes me feel like I’m part of these races, and that’s cool. I used to dread coming to Perris because every big non-wing Sprint Car driver in the country was there, and that was intimidating. But now that I’ve run the USAC National series for a while, I’ll stop and think, Hey, now me and my guys are the same kind of team I used to be scared of!
I’ve been out West for about two weeks, and I absolutely love coming back to California. I grew up in Grass Valley, in the hills about an hour north of Sacramento. From Grass Valley, you have access to so many things. Drive about an hour to the northeast, and you’ll be at a lot of really fantastic snow resorts. Drive the other way, and you’ll find a lot of nice things in Sacramento.
All the fun things I used to do before I moved to Indianapolis, I make sure I do them again when I’m out here. Like, I always try to find an In-N-Out Burger for something to eat and a nice milkshake, because that instantly tells me I’m home. You won’t find an In-N-Out Burger in the Midwest, so I hit one up as soon as I get out here.
I love the people and the racing back in Indiana, but this is home to me. It’s the California attitude, I guess, and I think the weather is a big part of that. Out here you’ve got sunshine and warm temperatures, and it’s just so predictable. You go to the Midwest, and in the summer you get these huge pop-up rainstorms one day, and muggy heat the next day, and even in the spring and fall it can get so cold. When I fly home to California, I just know I’m going to step out of that plane into nice, pleasant sunshine. I mean, right now it’s 85 degrees and everybody in the pits is dressed in shorts and T-shirts. That’s an awesome way to spend a night at the track.
Next week, we’ll run our Mopar Midgets at Phoenix International Raceway, and the USAC Sprint Cars at Manzanita. I don’t enjoy Arizona quite as much as coming home to California, but it’s still a place I like. Anytime you can race in warm weather while other parts of the country are freezing, that’s fine with me!