Hunsaker Wins Cruiser Main Event

By Joe Naiman

Ramona’s Bob Hunsaker earned his first auto racing win Aug. 13 with a victory in the Perris Auto Speedway’s Cruiser division main event.

The Cruiser class involves two drivers: one handles the steering wheel and brake pedal; the other controls the gas pedal. Kevin Martin operated the steering wheel while Hunsaker was in charge of the throttle.

“We finally got it all together,” Hunsaker said. “We’re just getting better and better.”

Hunsaker made his driving debut in 2004. Ramona High School graduate Dennis Allen, who now lives in Fallbrook and works at Fallbrook Hospital, had a hand in Hunsaker’s racing career through Martin, who also works at the hospital.

During lunch one afternoon, Allen mentioned to Martin that he would be unavailable for the first 2004 race and that Jim Ramsey would need another driver. Martin volunteered and made his driving debut with Ramsey.

Ramsey later told Martin about a station wagon for sale. Martin purchased the station wagon and turned it into a Cruiser. That Buick station wagon was totaled during a 2004 race, but Martin found a 1982 Chevrolet station wagon to replace it.

Martin’s wife, Debbie, is a regional manager for U-Haul and Hunsaker now works for Kearny Mesa Ford, but at one time Debbie Martin and Hunsaker worked together at the Oceanside U-Haul. Kevin and Debbie Martin often get together with Bob and Cindi Hunsaker, and one evening, Kevin Martin invited Bob Hunsaker to join him in the pits when Martin was racing.

Hunsaker accepted that invitation. “That night, we got hooked,” he said.

On May 21, Martin and Hunsaker earned their first top-five finish in a Cruiser main event by finishing fourth. They repeated their fourth-place finish in the next Cruiser race June 18. The Cruiser race prior to their Aug. 13 win took place July 30; Martin and Hunsaker were in second before spinning out after a three-wide maneuver, and they finished sixth in that main event.

Martin and Hunsaker began the Aug. 13 heat race in the fourth row but exited in the early laps after a wire became disconnected. They began the main event on the inside of the fourth row but were in second by the end of the first lap.

“There was a lot of chaos,” Hunsaker said. “We just kind of floated through it.”

That left only the No. 8 car of Cyndi Garnica and Lynn Lillie in front of the station wagon.“We had to pass them twice to win that race,” Hunsaker said. “That No. 8 car gave us a fight for it all the way to the end.”

Martin and Hunsaker first gained the lead in the eighth lap, but Garnica and Lillie regained first place. Martin and Hunsaker took the lead for good in the 11th lap of the 12-lap race.

“It felt real good,” Hunsaker said. “Look forward to the next race. Hopefully we can repeat.”

The Cruisers race next on Sept. 10.