{"id":3789,"date":"2009-08-13T07:07:25","date_gmt":"2009-08-13T12:07:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/100.24.212.105\/?p=3789"},"modified":"2023-08-08T16:40:35","modified_gmt":"2023-08-08T20:40:35","slug":"rising-star-nick-bartels-seeks-breakthrough-western-allstars-dirtcar-late-model-series-win-saturday-aug-15-at-bakersfield-speedway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dirtcar.com\/divisions\/late-models\/rising-star-nick-bartels-seeks-breakthrough-western-allstars-dirtcar-late-model-series-win-saturday-aug-15-at-bakersfield-speedway\/","title":{"rendered":"Rising Star Nick Bartels Seeks Breakthrough Western Allstars DIRTcar Late Model Series Win Saturday (Aug. 15) At Bakersfield Speedway"},"content":{"rendered":"
Bakersfield, CA<\/strong> \u2014 Nick Bartels is young, fast and ready to break into Victory Lane on the Western Allstars DIRTcar Late Model Series.<\/p>\n The 21-year-old, third-generation talent from El Segundo, Calif., would certainly love to realize that milestone moment this Saturday night (Aug. 15) when the West Coast\u2019s high-profile full-fender tour makes its lone appearance of 2009 at Bakersfield Speedway.<\/p>\n Racing at the one-third-mile oval where he launched his dirt-track career in 2005 behind the wheel of a Hobby Stock, Bartels could cement his rising-star status with a triumph in a 30-lap A-Main that offers an increased $2,500 top prize thanks to sponsorship from Cow-Boy Bail Bonds.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be cool to get my first (Western Allstars) win at the track I started racing at,\u201d said Bartels, whose home outside Los Angeles is roughly a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Bakersfield. \u201cI love racing at Bakersfield because it probably has more exciting racing than anywhere, and I definitely feel like I have the speed (to win) if I can just put 30 consistent laps together.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the problem is, it\u2019s one of the most unfriendly tracks for me. I always seem to have some sort of bad luck there, so I\u2019m looking forward to finishing the race more than anything.\u201d<\/p>\n The grandson of 69-year-old Bill Bartels and son of 50-year-old Ron Bartels \u2013 both familiar faces in Western Allstars competition \u2013 Nick has already visited Bakersfield twice this season for unsanctioned events and was involved in a tangle each night. His misfortune there is a frustrating blight on his otherwise fine 2009 campaign, which includes two top-five and seven top-10 finishes in the eight Western Allstars A-Mains contested to date. He\u2019s finished as high as second (on May 9 at California\u2019s Santa Maria Speedway) and no worse than 11th in a series race, putting him fourth in the points standings behind leader Bobby Hogge IV of Salinas, Calif., and former Western Allstars champions Chris Shannon of Merced, Calif., and Mike Johnson of Lompoc, Calif.<\/p>\n In addition, Bartels leads the new-for-\u201809 UMP DIRTcar Racing Pacific Region points standings, which combine drivers\u2019 finishes in Western Allstars and Northwest I-5 DIRTcar Late Model Tour events. Bartels made a haul of nearly 20 hours north to enter three Northwest I-5 shows in Oregon surrounding the Independence Day holiday, giving him extra UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned starts that have helped push him to the top of the regional points race.<\/p>\n \u201cI know that realistically, with my skill level right now, it\u2019s going to be tough for me to beat Hogge, Shannon and Johnson (in the Western Allstars points battle) because they\u2019re great drivers and they\u2019re so consistent,\u201d said Bartels, who is in his fourth season of dirt Late Model racing. \u201cAt the beginning of the season my goal was to be in the top five in the points, so if I could end up fourth behind them I\u2019ll be real happy.\u201d<\/p>\n The UMP DIRTcar Racing Pacific Region title, meanwhile, is well within Bartels\u2019s grasp.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to win that regional deal \u2013 that\u2019s why we ran more races (in Oregon),\u201d said Bartels, whose best Northeast I-5 Tour finish was a sixth on July 4 at Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Ore. \u201cHopefully we can win it for something else to put on my resume.\u201d<\/p>\n Attracting attention is important for Bartels, who has big dreams of making a living in the dirt Late Model world. He\u2019s currently a student \u2013 earlier this year he graduated from El Camino Community College in Torrance, Calif., and in the fall will begin taking business classes at California State University, Dominguez Hills \u2013 but hopes to concentrate fully on racing after finishing his studies in 2011.<\/p>\n \u201cCollege is my backup plan right now,\u201d said Bartels, who is using DIRTcar Racing Western Region Super Late Model action as a springboard to national prominence. \u201cI want to take a shot at racing fulltime while I\u2019m young. Hopefully I can make some contacts so after I\u2019m done with school I can make a move back East (closer to the heart of such dirt Late Model circuits as the World of Outlaws Late Model Series and UMP DIRTcar) and see if I can make it.\u201d<\/p>\n Bartels has already turned some heads during his short dirt Late Model career, authoring many impressive runs while learning the ins-and-outs of the division driving battle-tested equipment previously campaigned by his father and grandfather. He races out of the expansive racing stable owned by his grandfather, who operates a huge Harley-Davidson dealership in Marina del Rey, Calif., but hasn\u2019t simply been gifted shiny new cars. In fact, when Nick, who has become known as \u2018Kid Harley,\u2019 debuts a 2009 Victory Circle dirt Late Model next month, it will mark the first time in his career that he\u2019s driven a brand-new machine.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always run hand-me-downs from my dad and grandpa,\u201d said Bartels, whose primary car this season is a 2006 Rayburn chassis. \u201cI feel like I\u2019ve been getting faster and closer (to a win) running my older car, so I feel like I\u2019ll be better still when I get in the new car.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m real excited to run the new car. I\u2019ve spent all my money getting enough parts to put it together and it\u2019s almost a \u2018roller\u2019 now.\u201d<\/p>\n Bartels does feel fortunate to have access to a vast reservoir of racing knowledge possessed by his grandfather and father, as well as his grandfather\u2019s fulltime mechanic, Chris Laney, and former wingless Sprint Car champion Mike Kirby of Torrance, Calif., Laney\u2019s brother-in-law who is now a dirt Late Model driver racing out of Bill Bartels\u2019s shop.<\/p>\n \u201cMy dad and my grandpa have taught me everything I know \u2013 from working on the cars to driving the right way so you make friends, not enemies, on the track,\u201d said Bartels, whose personal dirt Late Model win list includes four victories at Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway and a DIRTcar Racing-sanctioned triumph in the 2008 Southwestern Dirt Racing Association (SWDRA) series opener at Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria, Ariz. \u201cAnd it\u2019s great to have Chris (Laney) around to help me when I have questions and to have a guy like Mike Kirby \u2013 who has so much racing experience \u2013 with his stuff at our shop.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, with more experience comes higher expectations for Bartels.<\/p>\n \u201cLast year I was happy to get a top 10 in a Western Allstars race, but this year I\u2019m going out there expecting to go for a top five,\u201d said Bartels, who led the spring WAS event at Santa Maria until a late-race scrape with a lapped car that damaged his car\u2019s rear spoiler and a charging Hogge kept him from reaching Victory Lane. \u201cThe biggest difference this year is that I can jump out there and be confident from the start of the night and I\u2019m getting better at passing cars.\u201d<\/p>\n Bartels will try to overtake all the dirt Late Models in front of him on Saturday night (Aug. 15) at Bakersfield Speedway, which has hosted more Western Allstars events than any other track during the tour\u2019s existence (2006-present).<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re excited to make some more history with the Western Allstars DIRTcar Late Model Series at Bakersfield Speedway,\u201d said DIRTcar Racing Western Region director Chris Morgan. \u201cBakersfield has played an important role in the growth of the Western Allstars and Saturday night\u2019s special event will continue to bring the tour to the forefront of Super Late Model racing on the West Coast.\u201d<\/p>\n Saturday\u2019s program has been dubbed \u2018Dick Shepherd Night,\u2019 with speedway officials planning special activities to celebrate the career of Bakersfield\u2019s own racing legend. Shepherd will be on hand to meet fans and sign autographs.<\/p>\n Bakersfield\u2019s gates will open at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, with racing scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. General admission is $15 and $5 for kids 6-12, with children 5-and-under admitted free of charge.<\/p>\n