[i By Bill Sullivan, Handy Racing Promotions Media Relations]
[bPLACERVILLE, CA –] When it comes to open wheel racing legends, a former Placerville resident sits high on the coveted list of talented wheelmen. However, this decorated champion of many venues is still turning his share of fast laps and Saturday night he returns to the track he once called home. The legendary Jimmy Sills will take the green flag at Placerville Speedway this Saturday night.
"I've raced all over the world and nothing compares to coming back home to race," said Sills, who now races in select open wheel events while operating his own professional racing school in Marysville. "I spent many years in Placerville, it's where my kids grew up and I always loved the race fans there. They are very energetic and passionate about that track."
Saturday night Sills will grace the roster of the Bay Cities Racing Association Midget Division. For the second time this season he will take to the Placerville red clay aboard a competitive midget owned by Dave Thurston. During the previous visit this year Sills was charging to the front of the field, twice, when "someone just got in his way," as he likes to put it, and ended his night with damage.
This Saturday the multi-time open wheel champion will do his best to bring Thurston's team to victory lane before his hometown crowd. That crowd always welcome's Sills with open arms and plenty of applause on the rare occasion they see him behind the wheel here.
After spending much of his adult life in Placerville, Sills now lives on his family homestead in Elverta which is close to his racing school that operates during the week in Marysville. When time allows and the opportunity arises, Sills rarely turns down an offer wheel an open wheel race car.
Sills is well known for his temporary retirement in the late 1980's but it was his colorful return to the sport using a creative nickname of Luke Warmwater from Hot Springs Arkansas that garnered a great deal of national attention. After soul searching and considering a career change, Sills learned that auto racing was where he was meant to be and attempted a subtle return to the sport.
"They had made a big deal of my retirement at Baylands Raceway," explained Sills in a 1990 news article. "I really did retire I even took a career placement test to see what I should be doing for a living; it told me I was already doing it. So I came back with the alias but it didn't last too long."
It was a Friday night at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico when Luke Warmwater showed his true colors with a charge to the front of the field in a winged sprint car. It was then that Sills had no choice but to reveal he was back behind the wheel and the race fans were just fine with that.
"I hadn't really thought about what would happen if I won again," said Sills. "That night track promoter John Padjen walked up to the car on the front stretch and asked 'Luke' how he was going to pull this one off. I thought about it for a second, took the helmet off and came out from behind the curtain. It felt good having my real name back."
After that memorable night in Chico, Sills picked up right where he left off, racing anything as fast as he could and winning races. His career has a list of accolades far too long to list but it includes six Northwest Dirt Cup Championships, three USAC Silver Crown Championships, two Jayhawk Nationals Championship titles as well as titles at the Austraila Pan Pacific, Silver Dollar Speedway, All Star Ohio Speedweek, the Perris Speedway Oval Nationals and more.
Sills has competed in more than 400 open wheel races throughout the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In his time with the National World of Outlaws Tour he claimed victories at the Indy Mile in Indianapolis, Santa Maria, Rapid City Speedway, West Capital Raceway, Silver Dollar Speedway, Devils Bowl Speedway, Rolling Hills Speedway and a preliminary win in the Knoxville Nationals.
In 2006 Sills was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame that is based in Knoxville, Iowa. Saturday night the ageless professor of speed will lead the roster of the Bay Cities Racing Association Midgets at Placerville Speedway.
The BCRA Midgets will be joining the sprint cars of the Golden State Challenge Series as they compete in round 13 of their 25 event traveling tour and bring the excited of 410 sprint car racing to the Placerville bullring.
The grandstands to Placerville Speedway will open at 5 p.m. on Saturday night. All seats at the speedway are general admission and no reserved seats are permitted. Adult tickets are $17, Juniors are $12, Children are $5. Five and under are admitted for free. All seats at Placerville Speedway are general admission and no reserved seats are permitted prior to opening. For complete point standings and additional information on Saturday's event check out www.placervillespeedway.com or www.goldenstatechallengeseries.com or call the track business office at (916) 969-7484.
- Bill Sullivan on Jun 02, 2010
- Article Date: 6/2/2010