NASCAR-SWT: LA Street Race: Ron Esau & Lucas Oil Can't Wait
5 September 1998
It's not very often that Californians get treated to a spectacular event like this. On September 7th, Ron Esau, an El Cajon native, will eagerly strap into his Lucas Oil owned Monte Carlo and rip through the streets of LA. With Lucas being in their rookie year as car owner, they're feeling fortunate to have a veteran road course racer like Esau in their corner. Esau has four wins on the well-remembered Riverside track and successful runs at Sears Point in Sonoma, CA., but the LA street race threatens to be a challenge with sharp, flat turns and fast straightaways. The Los Angeles crowd won't be disappointed!As NASCAR celebrates its 50-year anniversary, many firsts are set to take place throughout 1998. One of which is the stop in Los Angeles on Labor Day weekend by the Featherlite Southwest Tour for an inaugural 1.4 mile street race. The race will weave through the heart of the city, surrounded by a potential audience of well over ten million people. Along with the well-known regulars of the tour, many of the renowned Winston Cup drivers will test their talent on the new course. West Coast favorites such as Ron Esau, Steve Portenga, Matt Crafton and M.K. Kanke will trade paint with the likes of Ken Schrader, Mark Martin, Chad Little and Ron Hornaday, Jr.
While East Coast spectators are given multiple opportunities all year long to attend major motorsports events, those of us on the West Coast must take advantage of these rare opportunities. Guaranteed, the fans will turn out by the thousands -- something our drivers look forward to and deserve. The atmosphere will be absolutely electrifying all weekend long, and there's nothing better than watching the diehard fans feeding on the frenzy of racing, or the newest race attendee becoming addicted to the sport. That's what this sport was born from, that's how it survives and that's what will take it successfully into the next 50 years. NASCAR is the heart of American racing.
