RACERS GET BIG CHANCE OWNERS, DRIVERS SEEK TO SCORE IN L.A. MARKET.

Byline: Chris Cocoles Staff Writer

Bob Farmer calls this weekend's L.A. Street Race the biggest event of the year for his NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series team.

Farmer's Palmdale-based REF Motorsports is competing in the heart of Los Angeles, which offers the Southwest Series its largest market in a 19-race schedule.

The media coverage, both print and broadcast, that Farmer's team will receive over the next two days is unrivaled compared to other stops on the tour. Sunday's 125-mile race at Exposition Park will be televised live by Channel 4 at 3 p.m.

``With the exposure we're going to get and being on TV is just fantastic for us,'' said Farmer, whose Southwest Tenant Development Pontiac Grand Prix is driven by Saugus' Sean Woodside.

The Southwest Series doesn't have the sponsorship clout of NASCAR's higher-profile divisions such as the Busch and Craftsman Truck Series.

``Hopefully it helps a lot of the teams attract sponsors for upcoming races,'' Farmer said. ``Most of the teams are low budget (with) volunteers. There's only a couple teams out here that really have big, corporate sponsors.''

Driver MK Kanke, fifth in Southwest Series points, isn't one of the lucky ones with a lucrative sponsorship deal.

``I think (the race) is pretty much important for the whole series,'' said Kanke, who lives in Frazier Park. ``It kind of recognizes what we can do.''

The L.A. Street Race is also a big deal to the drivers and teams due to the event's oddity of a road course laid out on the streets of a major city. It's the only such race among over 2,400 sanctioned by NASCAR each year.

The Southwest Series has one traditional road course - Sears Point in Sonoma - on its schedule. But this one-mile track with a series of s-shaped curves poses a difficult challenge.

``It's totally different (from Sears Point). It's a lot narrower. A little bit slower,'' Kanke said.

``And there are a lot of transitions to different track surfaces. That's the hardest part. You come off the concrete, you go onto to the parking lot, then you go out into the street. The car handles different on the concrete. It handles different on the parking lot. And different on the street.''

--Odds and ends: Also racing this weekend are the Ultra WheelSpec Trucks, the North-South Road Course Trucks, the Vintage Cobras and the Pro Racing Series. . . . Keep an eye on Newhall's Greg Pursley in today's NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series qualifying run. He's sat on the pole in this race the last two years. Pursley was just the 23rd fastest in Friday's practice session. But many of the drivers stayed conservative while describing the track as ``slick.'' <L.A. STREET RACE

When: Today and Sunday 

Where: Exposition Park, adjacent to the Los Angeles Coliseum.

Tickets: A two-day general admission pass is $25; a reserved grandstand pass is $45. Tickets for today only are $15 and $20.

Information: [phone]

Today's qualifying schedule

--9:30 a.m.: North-South Road Course Spec Trucks

--9:45 a.m.: Ultra Wheel Spec Trucks

--11:15 a.m.: Vintage Cobras

--1 p.m.: NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series

--3:15 p.m.: Pro Racing Series

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Box: L.A. STREET RACE (See text)