Team Simkins

Team Simkins Four generations. 80 years of dirt track racing. Ran by Sunnie and Billy

09/15/2026

Older footage of our prostock when it was a leaf. We had it going pretty good before we switched it to a 3-link. 10 inch arches, all the leafs slid forward, lots of angle from rear end to front pickup.

Do you believe in divine intervention? I’ve been thinking about my fire. Sammie and myself did a memorial lap. There wa...
09/11/2026

Do you believe in divine intervention? I’ve been thinking about my fire. Sammie and myself did a memorial lap. There was nothing that would indicate a fire would happen. A few minutes later, the exact moment I came down the hill entering the track, the car started smoking bad.

I just found it interesting. She would have been terrified being in a car and a fire breaks out while doing a memorial lap.

Losing the locals only track pride mentality. The driver mentality has changed some over the years. There’s was a local...
09/10/2026

Losing the locals only track pride mentality.

The driver mentality has changed some over the years. There’s was a locals only mentality where drivers didn’t care about track surface, they cared about letting other drivers know you weren’t going into their turf and rolling everyone over. Drivers had pride in their home track and they sure as sh@t didn’t care what you thought about it.

Someone told me a story of my dad racing the North vs South. He told the drivers up North they weren’t going to beat him when they showed up at his track. He wasn’t f@cking around. He didn’t care what they thought about him or his track, the surface, in his mind he wasn’t going to just let guys come in and win. He had pride in Santa Maria Speedway. With all the good and bad, those were his people, that was his track.

The same goes for the drivers at Bakersfield Speedway. Pounds, Shepherd, Bradshaw. They didn’t care what Danny Simkins thought of their Bakersfield Speedway conditions. In their mind he wasn’t just going to show up and roll everyone over. And when they beat him it felt good to them to let him know that.

I’d like to see more of that return. Drivers having pride in their home tracks, with more of a home field attitude of not letting outsiders come in and stealing your spotlight, not caring what outsiders think of your home tracks.

It’s like living in a town that’s not perfect. You still have pride in your town because it’s your home, your people.

That’s how the rivalries were made that kept the fans into it.

Danny Simkins vs Barry Bradshaw at Bakersfield Speedway, 1987.

09/10/2026

How the OG's saved the day.

Having 2 cars to manage can be nerve wracking. You never really get to stop. Then add in the event obligations and it's a lot.

I was rushing to grind my tires for the heat and Doug Jeffers was standing by saying, "Hey, something's not right." My RR rotor was sitting on the housing. I thought, I'm screwed here because there's probably major damage and I don't have the fine thread bolts. I go scrambling around and come back.

Doug is working on the car with Robert Matthews. Robert is floored there's no damage, the rotor was just sitting in the brake pads. Wayne Dotson has a hand full of bolts. I say, how did you get those. Like a mafia boss he says, don't worry how I got them. I later found out it was from Dave Pearson. Thanks, Dave. These guys get this back together as I'm finishing the grinding just in time for the heat, which we won.

It was cool to have all those guys around. Good friends I've made over the years. Robert was awesome to have with us, I hope he comes more.

No guarantees but our youngest daughter Sammie has moved from “I’m never racing” to “you think I’d be good?” If you do...
09/10/2026

No guarantees but our youngest daughter Sammie has moved from “I’m never racing” to “you think I’d be good?” If you don’t know, Sunnie is friendly, Sammie has no off button.

09/10/2026

JCL Podcast #30 — Billy & Sunnie Simkins

In between Night 1 and Night 2 of the Simkins Memorial at Santa Maria Speedway, John Candy sits down with Billy and Sunnie Simkins for a special race-weekend edition of the JCL Podcast.

This one was recorded right in the middle of a weekend that means a lot to the Simkins family and the Santa Maria Speedway racing community. Billy and Sunnie talk about the Simkins Memorial, the family behind the event, racing, memories, and what it means to see everyone come together to honor the Simkins name.

It’s a quick conversation, but a special one — recorded after an incredible first night of racing and before everyone gets ready to do it all again for Night 2.

If you enjoy grassroots dirt track racing, driver stories, racing history and behind-the-scenes conversations from California motorsports, subscribe to John Candy Live and follow along for more JCL Podcasts, race coverage and live broadcasts.

John Candy Live
Live racing • Podcasts • Interviews • Motorsports coverage

09/09/2026

A post I made on Motor City Throwdown that’s worth passing along.

The covers on the fuel line saved this fire from melting the fuel lines. Would have had my a$$ handed to me without the...
09/09/2026

The covers on the fuel line saved this fire from melting the fuel lines. Would have had my a$$ handed to me without these. Just ordered a bunch to put on all the cars. 20 dollar insurance.

09/09/2026

I really need learn to respect fire more. During this race all I thought was, I hope they didn’t see that. My car looked like the sun and I thought nobody could see. Then when I saw the video it was a spectacle.

The needle was so far up my arm with a car working so good, I honestly thought I was going to do 25 laps on fire. Good grief.

I need to rethink my priorities 🚙🔥🔥🔥

😭 commentary from John Candy Live LLC !

09/09/2026

The nice thing about having Sunnie in a bar car it's helped our R&D program. I can throw something on that car and send her out to see if it works. If it does, then we can use it on other stuff. If it doesn't, she gets to find out for us, lol.

Anyway, here's her 3rd heat win of the season at the Simkins Memorial.

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