Motor Sports Beat: Old Fremont Dragstrip will be honored at Sac Raceway

More than 200 vintage dragsters and hot rods will be entered Saturday at Sacramento Raceway for the 21st annual West Coast Timing Association Fremont Reunion Drags.

The event honors Fremont Dragstrip, which closed in 1987. The cars competing this weekend were built while the track was still operating, with entries restricted to 1976 models or older.

Northern California's only all-nostalgia drag races and hot-rod drive-in, the event features alcohol-fuel dragsters, old-style rails and seven-second coupes. A highlight at this year's reunion will be 1940s Fords on the track and in a car show. Admission costs $20 and includes a pit pass.

Catching up to Speed

Team Red Bull has a real-life Speed racer but isn't pushing him too fast – no matter the potential movie tie-ins.

Manteca's Scott Speed, who has found a new home in NASCAR after Formula One, is making steady progress in his switch to stock car racing. He won his first Automobile Racing Club of America event April 25 at Kansas Speedway and will compete Saturday at Kentucky Speedway.

He's also scheduled to drive eight more NASCAR Craftsman Truck races this season, as well as some Nationwide Series events. He might make his Sprint Cup debut this fall.

With "Speed Racer" the movie opening today, Speed would be a natural for promotions in the sponsor-friendly NASCAR world. But this racer is taking his conversion from open-wheel to stockcar racing slowly, at least for now.

"Obviously I still have a lot to learn," Speed told ESPN the Magazine. "I want to do this right, and I want to be ready when I finally do make it to Cup. There's no rush. I know my car is waiting for me, no matter how long it takes."

A 'Flintstones' guy

On NASCAR's Cup circuit, Los Gatos' A.J. Allmendinger – another member of Team Red Bull – is back in the No. 84 Toyota. Ricky Viers, his crew chief, was a big fan of the original "Speed Racer" cartoons, but not Allmendinger.

"Every day I'd come home and watch 'Speed Racer' after school while I was doing my homework," said Viers, 44. "That way, I could watch more TV later on. I remember 'Speed Racer.' I'm an old-timer, but I remember watching it. I loved watching 'Speed Racer' when I was growing up."

Allmendinger, 26, preferred other cartoons. "I watched a little bit of 'Speed Racer' growing up, but I can't say I was a fanatic," Allmendinger said. "I'm not going to lie – I was more of a 'Scooby Doo' and 'Flintstones' type of guy."

A former Champ Car star, Allmendinger will try to make his third Cup start in a row when he attempts to qualify today at Darlington, S.C. He qualified a career-best fourth at Talladega two weeks ago but was eliminated by an accident. He also crashed out last week at Richmond after qualifying 18th.

Qualifying for Saturday night's Dodge Challenger 500 is set for 2 p.m. today with live coverage on the Speed channel.

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• Call The Bee's Debbie Arrington, (916) 326-5514.