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-California Dreamin'-
Remembering Orange County International Raceway
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-OCIR Manager Mike Jones
Talks to Drag News' Bud DeBoer
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Reprinted from Dec. 20, 1968 edition of Drag News "Drag Racing USA" by Bud DeBoer.
Appeared in January 18, 1969 OCIR Souvenoir Program "OCIR Raceweek"
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Contributed to California Dreamin' by
ANGEL NIEVES
www.teamwork-motorsports.com
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   PREFACE... our interview this week is centered around one of the sports most critical areas. An area which most of us are very ignorant about. Track management and track safety looks easy to those of us who sit in the stands or sip coffee and eat the free sandwiches in the press booth. we thought this would be a good subject to cover. our interview was with Mike Jones. Jones is a soft spoken but very well informed individual for his 32 years of age. Just recently he was selected by Car Craft Magazine as one of its elite "High Risers." He was also asked by Motor Trend to be one of it's five test drivers for the 1969 "Car of the Year" award. 
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   We feel thatwith these credentials, it leaves him highly qualified to speak on the subject. 
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   Mike is manager of one of the nations finest drag racing installations, Orange County International Raceway at irvine, California. The track was bulit in 1967 at the cost of nearly $750,000. We asked Jones to "tell it like it is." Like it or not... here it is...
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DRAG NEWS: What made you choose drag strip management as your chosen field? 

MIKE JONES: Well it wasn't so much that I really chose it, it just kind of happened. Putting the track together started more or less with a proposal for the Anaheim Stadium. Orange County International Raceway developed out of that proposal. It really wasn't something that I really went into in the beginning thinking that this is going to become a field or a career. 
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DRAG NEWS: How did Orange County actually come about? 
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MIKE JONES: During the time that I was employed at Bill Thomas Race cars we were asked by the City of Anaheim to submit a proposal for a drag racing operation of the Angels Stadium. They had lost their bid for a major league football team and so were faced with the problem of finding another operation that would provide them with enough revenue to offset their bond cost. So we put a proposal together. However, midway through the negotiations, it became very apparent, I think both to the City of Anaheim and ourselves, that it was not going to be compatible with that location or with that operation. At that point, after having too much time and effort invested, I took it to the Irvine Company and through a variety of circumstances became aquainted with Bill White and the other people that are shareholders. Wewere able to lease some property from the Irvine Co. on which the track was built. 
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DRAG NEWS: What is involved in putting together a weekly drag racing program? 
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MIKE JONES: A great deal. It's hard to say where it starts. You have got to getthe pre-entries together. You've got to write and produce your radio spots. Map out which media you are going to use to promote the particular event. In addition to that there is the economics. Working around the schedule of other race tracks to come up with a schedule of major events you might say on which you can base your future success. It's our feeling from watching other sanctioning organizations in other sports that the biggest problem that we are going to be faced with in the future is the lack of dates that will be available for major events. That prompted us to inaugurate a series of  annual events on a once a month schedule that we hope to guarantee our success. I think that we have been successful in doing this. Consequently we've been able to afford ourselves some protection for dates in the future. 
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DRAG NEWS: From a safety stand point how good is Orange County? 
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MIKE JONES: I like to think that it is one of the best, if not the best from a safety stand point. I don't think that anything has been spared in so far as trying to eliminate accidents from happening or to prevent them from becoming anymore serious than is absolutely necessary. In this regard we put guard rail for the full length of the track on both sides. We have to my knowledge, the only full time fire crew during events. We have two individuals standing down at the 'turn outs' whose sole responsiblity is to watch out for fires and crashes and be the first ones there when something does happen. They are equipped with not only fire extinguishers and cutting tools, but with flame proof suits. So that, in case of fire, they can go into the flames and pull the driver out. There are other advantages to Orange County over some of the other tracks. It's wider for one thing. It's 75 feet wide at the strating line and has an overall length of 4200 feet. At the end of that 4200 feet, we have a sand trap that is an additional 300 feet long. At the end of the sand trap we have water filled plastic barriers to further cushion the impact should a driver get into the sand with his foot still on the throttle perhaps in an unconsciuos condition and drive all the way to the end of the sand trap. We also do a lot of experiments with lighting. We have a win light system at the finish line that provides one of the best indications anywhere where the finish line is to the driver. We have tried to be very safety conscious throughout the entire operation. It was out of this regard for safety that the Mike Sorokin Foundation was developed. As you may or may not know, from our Nitro Champioships every year, $2500 of the proceeds are channeled to this fund which in turn can finance various research to make drag racing a safer sport. 
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DRAG NEWS: What do you feel can help drag racing get more exposure from the press media? 
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MIKE JONES: I think that one of the first things that have to be done is to legitimize the sport. Sport editors although they are not familiar with drag racing, do know about competition. They know what is and what isn't. they can not be sold circus acts or "booked in" races to the extent of having them regarded as major events. We are going to have to pay quite a bit of attention to the public. I think that beyond this it is just a matter of hard work on the part of strip operators. Those racers who become prominent in the sport, to present a good appearence, to be well spoken when they are around these paople and most of all to be honest with them. They aren't familiar with the sport. They are very hesitant to cover it. They would rather not cover it at all, as to make a mistake in coverage. If they are led astry unintentionally or intentionally by racers or strip management they can set drag racing promotion back a long ways.
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DRAG NEWS: How do you feel about current relationships between track management and the racers? 
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MIKE JONES: I think that basically they're pretty good. It's probably one of the most difficult areas for the track manager. You have to watch the relationships with the racers very closely. I doubt that there is a track manager anywhere who didn't get into the sport or into the management of the sport without previously developed friendships with the drivers and owners who afterward became his contestants. in order to gain the respect of those people who are competing at your track, it's an absolute necessity that you be fair with them at all times. Whether it means putting out the guy that you consider to be your friend. It has got to be by the rules and the rules have to apply in the same manner to everyone that is racing. One of the paradoies in drag strip-management-racer relationships is it seems like those guys who you've done the most for are the ones who ultimately end up being the biggest problem. If one guy feels that he is granted extra consideration, his gratitude is overcome by a suspicion that if he was accorded that kind of favor somebody alse must have gotten a better deal. So we have to do what is right. It has to be fair and just action. Those decisions were sometimes pretty tough. 
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DRAG NEWS: Many are complaining about the cost of admission prices, how do you feel about this? 
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MIKE JONES: They are going to continue to go up. Right now drag racing is a very expensive sport, for both the competitor and track operator. We know for a fact that the purses now do not afford the winners of the week to week events with much of a net profit. The cost of running these cars has gone up tremendously and at the same time the cost of running a drag strip has gone up. Insurance for example last year (1968), went up 15%, this year (1969) it went up 21%. Just a simple thing like trash collection has gone up 100% in a year and a half. We don't see these costs going down. Property taxes have gone up over 400% in two and a half years of operation. We just can't continue to up the purses to offset the cost of operating these cars if we expect to see the sport through. We are going to have to keep the cost in line. I don't believe that there is any track in the country right now that is really ia an enviable profit situation. It has become a very hard and tough business and the sport is going through a lot of transitions right now. I think that it is the responsibility of everyone to try and keep the cost in line as much as they can to see out this period of prior to national TV and prior to a lot of other things that I think will make this sport a lot more profitable for everyone. Inflation has increased the prices of entertainment of all kinds. It costs more to see a football game now, more to go to a movie- more just to eat. Drag racing is no different. I think that perhaps the best justification that we can give the admission prices is that we are not making any money and it's taking that to put on that kind of show. I think that the guy that is receiving the biggest benefit right now is the sports fan- he's getting more for less than any other time in history.
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California Dreamin'----- -----Biography: OCIR
 
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