Page 9 - Sanger Herald 12-14-17 e-edition

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SANGER HERALD * PAGE 1B * THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2017
DePriest gets mini stock racing bug and rookie of the year
By Mike Nemeth
Sanger Herald
Robert Jackson gave his buddy Shawn DePriest a call early in the day, encouraging him to load his No. 11 mini stock race car onto the trailer and head up with him to Merced Speedway.
Jackson, likely his usual effervescent self, wanted to hit the first race of the year.
He was ready. DePriest wasn’t.
“Shawn had a car in pieces,” Jackson said. “I called him. Got him going. He worked his butt off to get his car ready.”
DePriest, who just won Rookie of the Year from the Merced Speedway, did indeed work overtime to get his 1995 neon orange Mitsubishi Eclipse assembled and every part in place. And he was the person to do it. After all, he won the 1999 True Value Pacific Coast Region NASCAR Mechanic of the Year.
DePriest, 46, and his dad, Wayne, have been part of the central San Joaquin
Mike Nemeth / Sanger Herald
Shawn DePriest, right, talks with his dad, veteran racer Wayne DePriest. Shawn recently was awarded Rookie of the Year at Merced Speedway.
willing to go, and push it to the limits.”
Jackson said he totally understands. Jackson, hot rod builder and owner of Crazy Bob’s mechanic shop at Academy and McKinley avenues, said he tells younger guys all the time that if they want to get into racing, mini stock is perfect. “Really cheap to get into, relatively safe and so much fun,” he said.
A mini stock is a four cylinder powered car stripped down with nothing but the gauges and a race seat and tuned to perfection. It has a roll cage added and no glass or carpet. Just add a fire extinguisher and it’s ready to go.
“If you’re somebody who likes a thrill,” Jackson said. “Most of us are poor-boy racers.”
The past year Jackson raced hobby stock, a class that features beefier cars with bigger engines and even bigger repair bills. He said he’s likely going to return to the four-bangers.
The story of that night when DePriest tried to get ready for the race
didn’t end well. But it does illustrate his dedication to a sport that has a rich history in the Central Valley. Despite all their combined talent, DePriest and his dad couldn’t overcome a little thing called time that night. They put together the Eclipse, which like other mini stocks had been gutted of all niceties like interior and glass. But it wasn’t quite track worthy.
“I made the wrong call,” DePriest said. “I pushed us before we were ready. I had a 3 p.m. cutoff time, and we left at 4 p.m.
“I broke my own rule.”
This was back in March 2016. The drive from Sanger takes about an hour and a half. DePriest just made it before the start of the race, towing little No. 11 behind their Ford Ranger, which has a stock V6 engine.
Wayne DePriest took the driver’s seat at that particular Merced Speedway competition. Shawn hadn’t quite yet decided to assume the title of driver. And he wouldn’t
See DePriest, Page 2B
Valley racing scene for the past 38 years. “The family is known all over the Valley,” Jackson said. “All the old-timers know them.”
However, Shawn DePriest’s involvement until recently had been in the pits, wrenching on vehicles, making them run just right so they could win
races. He didn’t get behind the wheel until after that little dustup when he wasn’t really ready to take the race car to Merced. His dad drove the car that day.
Shawn subsequently rebuilt it and took it to multiple race tracks over the past year. “I’m the new guy,” he said. “I just went
out and had fun.”
He finished third in his
first race. And although it took its sweet time, the race bug finally caught him. He knew it after that first race. “I was like, ‘I want to do this some more,’” he said. “That was fun. It’s not often you get to drive a car as fast as it will go, or as fast as I’m
Apache wrestlers building program & wins
By Mike Nemeth
Sanger Herald
The wrestlers circled, testing each other.
Each looked for an opening, an opportunity to surprise the other.
Thalia Williams said she didn’t know anything about her opponent from the visiting Redwood team on that Dec. 6 meet. But once on the mat she decided relatively quickly what to do. And she did it, winning the exhibition that started the event.
“This is my first month,” Thalia Williams said. “I’m still getting a feel for it.”
Girls wrestling at Sanger High is heading into its third season. To some degree, the entire team is getting a feel for the sport.
But the athletes are invested and competitive. And Sanger High has hired Narciso Juarez, a college level wrestler who worked as an assistant to the Sanger High boys’ team, to head up the program. Juarez wrestled for Fresno City College and Doane University in Crete, Neb.
“We’re doing really well this year,” Juarez said.
And as evidence he offered the Lady Apaches’ performance in Lemoore’s Last Girl Standing tournament. Nine of the 15 girls on the roster competed, and Sanger ended the day with three medalists and a top six finish out of 22 schools represented. Visalia took the top three spots with Mt. Whitney first, Golden West second and Redwood third.
In the tournament, Apache Elizabeth Zarate defeated her opponents in the first three rounds before losing in the final to Vanya Mariscal of Golden West. Apache Brianah Stafford defeated her first two opponents before losing in the third round. But she won the next two matches, one over Alondra Rivera of Redwood and for third place in her weight
Miike Nemeth / Sanger Herald
Brianah Stafford takes down her Redwood opponent on the way to victory at a dual meet last week. Alexa Ortiz, below right, also grabs a victory.
class over Natalia Quiroz of Mission Oak.
Apache Anika Schneider defeated her first three opponents before losing to Jessica Sanchez of Tulare Union in the final.
“It’s the fastest growing sport in the U.S.,” Juarez said. “A lot of colleges are starting women’s wrestling programs. It’s great to see, honestly.”
The National Wrestling Coaches Association corroborates Juarez’s statement. “Women’s wrestling is one of the fastest growing sports at the scholastic and collegiate levels,” the association says on its
website. “The NWCA is committed to growing women’s wrestling from the grassroots level to the colleges. The NWCA is currently in the process of pursing emerging sports status for women’s wrestling in the NCAA.”
And newspapers like the Denver Post and Idaho Statesman have done recent stories chronicling the growing programs in their regions. The NWCA said the number of girls wrestling in high school has grown to 11,496 from 804 in 1994. However, the association’s figures appear to be more than year old, and judging by
the anecdotal evidence the sport has added a lot more girls.
Of course, there are differences between the boys and girls programs. For one, girls often have more hair. And many of the Apache athletes wore French or corn-row braids.
Carisse Olivo, who is not an official member of the team, braided the long tresses of wrestler Destiny Reyna before the Redwood match. “It’s very important. It’s easier when your hair is in braids,” Reyna said, adding that she wants every advantage she
See Wrestling, Page 2B