By Jay Schlemer / Times Sports Columnist
The uninitiated fan sitting in the stands at the Santa Maria Speedway can see the mass of blue jackets in the pits, most often moving as a group much like a gang looking for a war. From the pits, one can see the same sea of blue in large groups in the grandstand. This is not a bunch of gang-bangers picking a fight, this is the largest and probably most respected clan of racers at the track.
They may be ganging around a car trying to help a driver that has had some bad luck. An up close look at the embroidery on the back of the jackets makes it clear who these people are: "Claborn Racing"
The Claborn legacy actually starts in the dust bowls of depression ridden Oklahoma where Kirk and Les Claborn hopped a freight train and headed to the Golden State is search of a better life. Soon after landing in the Santa Maria Valley, they were followed by other family members and put down deep roots in the Santa Maria soil. Les and brother Jimmy eventually planted the seed that grew into a large family racing tree.
Les's sons Randy and Bobby's earliest racing memories go back the old Atascadero Speedway days. They taged along with their Dad to watch the Jalopies careen around this long ago defunct track tucked into a hillside just east of Atascadero. When Doug Fort opened his now famous track on Hutton Road in 1964, Jimmy and Les Claborn decided that they would give racing a try, putting together a '38 Chevy with an Oldsmobile motor. Even back then, the sophistication of their future efforts was foretold as the car had a center positioned driver behind a set-back motor. All the while the young sons learned the sport as 'pit rats' helping their Dad and Uncle with assorted chores.
Bobby had been drawn to drag racing and by 1972 had a beautiful 1955 Chevy that he raced at local events. When his uncle Jimmy asked him to help with his SMS effort and promised to "pay my way in and buy me some beer," Bobby was given the chance to "wheel pack" (drive the car slowly around the track). Ignoring his uncle's signal to bring the car in, he took the green flag for hot laps and was hooked.
Bobby then "took a cherry 1955 Chevy drag car and turned it into a super stock dirt car" which resulted in rookie-of-the-year honors. Randy was helping with Bobby's car at this time and in 1975 bought a 1964 Oldsmobile F-85 to run in a new class called "rookie stock." Stock was not a misnomer as Randy and Bobby reminisced about the old car having "bench seats, lap belts and even the original dash radio that we listened too while we worked in the pits." Three wins in a row, and Randy was, by rule, kicked out of the class. He used his winnings to get married the very next week.
After a freak accident resulted in a severe neck injury in 1988, Bobby was told by doctors that if he continued driving, he might never walk again. The timing was right to hand over the keys to the family late model to brother Randy who has been driving it ever since. Son Joey started running a street stock a few years later and won the Family's only track championship in 2001. Joey will soon be moving to the Late Model class. Other Offspring run in the Mini-Stock class. Bobby and Randy are convinced that the strength of the family unit is what has kept them in racing all these years.
In a sport filled with grudges and animosities between competitors, the Claborns have few, if any enemies. There have been minor feuds in the past, but as Bobby states about racetrack mishaps "you got to get over it or it's just no fun ... Sunday is a new week, you got to let it go."
When asked what gives them the most pride about their racing legacy, Randy says it's being friends with everybody in the pits. Bobby claims it's the respect they've acquired from those they compete against. A good example of this positive attitude came on Memorial Day weekend. After what has been a frustrating start to the 2003 Late Model season, Randy's night came to a fiery premature ending on the front stretch. I knew that he wanted to spit nails, but when timmy stuck that pit microphone in his face, he responded with a smile and upbeat remark for the fans in the stands.
In a small shop on South Oakley in Santa Maria sits the hub of motor racing on the central coast. Randy has parlayed his racing background into a successful racing parts and fabrication business. He is quick to thank Alan Johnson and Chris Barker of Johnson Racing and Jerry Rein of AmeriGas for their help. On any given day you can stop by and run into any of a number of racers from the area buying parts or looking for some information. You'll be greeted by a smile, some straight advice, and maybe a story or two from four decades of racing history
