5/2/2013
Willamette Speedway
Getting Up To Speed With…Cory Penfold
Getting Up To Speed With…Cory Penfold
By Ben Deatherage
(Photo Courtesy of Doc's Photos)
In 2013 Cory Penfold will be the fulltime announcer at Willamette Speedway. Penfold was a co-announcer with this author last year and will be in his second year of the trade. The Salem native, now living in Albany, has attended the races at Willamette for over three decades and has spent time on some very prominent teams in the area even travelling abroad.
Employee Name: Cory Penfold
Title: Announcer
Facility: Willamette Speedway
Hometown: Albany, Oregon
Years Worked: 2
Age: 39
BD: Cory speaking with you over the last year or so you have been attending races at Willamette in one form or the other for quite some time?
CP: That’s very true. The first year I started going out was when I was two-years old in 1976. My father (Dan Penfold) ran off and on until 1978 and I would go watch him race. Over the years there have been very few races that I’ve missed.
Growing up Don Wilson was one of my first heroes watching at the track because he would give trophies away to the kids when he would win and also because he was the man to beat. I never got a trophy until later on when his son Ron gave his championship trophy that he won in 1976. I have kept that to this day.
BD: Over the years you have crewed on quite a few teams around the area. Correct?
CP: I have for a while from cars that have ran in the Sportsman division to Late Models. Some cars I’ve worked on were John Englegau, Don Eyerly, Bob Jeffrey, David Hawkes, Tom Conway, Rick Wyatt, and even Bill Pearson when he ran up here regularly. Don Eyerly was the first guy that I really learned how to work on Late Models and I learned a lot about how to setup cars and build bodies with Tony Whitney at Whitney Racing.
BD: You also did some travelling in the mid-90’s with David Hawkes, right?
CP: Yes I did. In 1996 we went to Eldora Speedway (in Rossburg, Ohio) for the UMP Summer Nationals and were the first car from Oregon ever to go to that track. We were about half a second off of fast time in qualifying and ended up timing in fifty-first out of like eighty-six cars.
The cool thing about that trip is that the promoter at the time, Earl Baltes, came up and talked to us for a good three or four hours and we signed one of our door panels and gave it to him to put in his museum. Later on that trip we even went to Batesville, Arkansas to Larry Shaw’s race shop to get a new race car from him.
BD: Of all the races that you’ve seen what would you say was the best one at Willamette?
CP: That is very tough because I have seen so many over the years. I really have to think about that one. Right now there are two that come to mind.
The first was in 1992 for a one-hundred lapper where Brian Drager led for a lot of that race. Drager had the preferred line but had Russ Sell, Darren Coffell, and Bob Jeffrey right behind him. Sell passed Drager for the lead late but would spin out on the last lap. That gave Coffell the lead with Jeffrey right behind him. Coffell had a six or seven car lengths over Jeffrey but Jeffrey drove his car so hard going into three and drove underneath Coffell, who was running the middle, and led like the last one hundred feet. The place went completely nuts over that one.
The other was the Firecracker 100 on July 4th, 1986. That was when Mark Howard, Jay Bugbee, and Robert Sprague were all running back then. Bugbee led the first ninety-seven laps and Sprague and Bugbee got together. Bugbee hit the wall and climbed the fence and flipped three or four times eventually landing near the pond in turn one. I remember the car was completely destroyed. But Bugbee got out and was walking under his own power. And if I remember right he walked all the way to Sprague’s car to tell Robert how he felt about the matter and let me tell you he wasn’t happy. Keep in mind Jay was one big dude and Robert was this little guy. I just remember it being so incredible that he was able to survive the wreck and walk away.
BD: Could you have ever imagined that you would have become an announcer?
CP: It was always something that I had been interested in doing. There were a couple of times that I had talked to Clair Arnold about it but the position was always filled. A big influence on me was listening to Robert Hood and from him I realized how much an announcer brings excitement to the show. One of the benefits of me is that I’ve worked on these kinds of cars for a long time and that helps me as an announcer because I can tell the crowd why a car is acting the way it is. It is a very fun job that can be very challenging. To be a good announcer you have to constantly interact with the drivers and do tons of research. I can’t thank the Schrams and Chris Nofziger enough for giving me the chance to do this.
The Willamette Speedway is in action this Saturday May 4th for the third race of the season. Classes that will be in action include the DIRTcar Super Late Models, IMCA Modifieds, Sportsman, Street Stocks, and Mini Trucks. To keep up to date on all information regarding Willamette Speedway be sure and check out their revamped website at www.trophymotorsports.com.
Submitted By: Ben Deatherage
