Ron Obertello (from left to right) waxes one of his race cars while Jesse Rodriquez Sr. and his son, Jesse, talk before Jesse’s race Saturday at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds.

Some say racing cars is in their blood, like it’s genetic. It may seem crazy, but if you get to know the drivers out at Ocean Speedway, it really does seem to be part of their DNA. Most of the drivers waiting for the start of Saturday’s races at the Santa Cruz County Fair seem to have been passed the trait from a family member.

For Bobby and Danny Scott, that gene came from their father. When Bob Scott Sr. decided to start racing cars at the age of 53, his two sons, ages 17 and 12, became his pit crew. Now, he works on their cars.

Danny, who began driving his own race car at 23, said he was in charge of priming and painting his dad’s roll bar. Now he paints cars at the family’s body shop in Santa Cruz.

“It’s part of life for me,” he said. “A lot of good times and bad times, mostly good. There’s always something that keeps us coming back.”

His older brother Bobby won the Feature Division on the Watsonville track in 1990, 2000, 2001 and 2002. He started racing at age 20.

“It kept us busy and out of trouble when we were young,” Bobby said.

“Then they got married and their wives kept them out of trouble,” joked his father. “There’s nothing better for families than something like this.”

The Scotts have a crew night on Tuesdays and the whole family gets together to work on the cars. All of them say it keeps the family together.

The Obertello family says the same thing. Andy Obertello, 23, grew up watching his dad race before giving it a try when he was 17. After trying some team sports in school, the Hollister native decided self-reliance was the way to go, and asked his dad if he could race cars.

“A friend of mine loaned us the money for a car and off we went,” said Ron Obertello, Andy’s father, who also races.

Ron Obertello is a full-time farmer. He owns Obie’s Nursery in Watsonville and is one of the few rose growers remaining in the Pajaro Valley. But he readily opts to swap the sweet scent of his rose business for the acrid smell of gas and oil. He’s been racing off and on for 29 years now. With two race cars on the Obertello Racing Team, he spends 10 to 12 hours per week with his son preparing them for the next race.

“It relaxes me after the everyday toil of the nursery business,” Ron said. “I can’t play golf worth a damn, so I work on race cars. I don’t know if I do any better, but I think I do.”

Andy said he has always felt comfortable racing, like he was born for it. He doesn’t get nervous before a race until he sits in the car right before start. “And then it goes quickly away,” he said.

Andy helped get his co-worker, 22-year-old Jesse Rodriquez, into a car. With just two races under his belt, Rodriquez was getting his car ready Saturday before the start of the 4-Banger Division.

Rodriquez, who lives in Salinas, said he started getting nervous about the race as soon as he woke up. He’s only been racing for a month. He didn’t make it to the Main Event the first time around, and then finished 15th in his second race. Now he was about to enter his biggest race yet, an event at the fair with more people than ever watching him.

“It will be a bigger crowd than usual and it will probably be even more nervewracking,” Rodriquez said.

Saturday night he ended up rolling his ’86 Honda Prelude during the main event. A little bruised and sore, he was fine and ready to race again soon, though his car would need more work. But that’s what dads are for.

“I find myself doing a lot of the work and being bossed around — ‘Do this. Clean this,’” joked Jesse Rodriquez Sr. “But it’s exciting and a good family thing. We spend about 10 hours a week together in the garage.”

But watching your son roll around on the track is a definite downside.

“They do have a few wrecks, so I’m a little nervous watching him out there … but as a parent, you always get nervous with your kid racing around.”

Ron Obertello had similar feeling about watching his son.

“It’s indescribable. You can’t put words to it — I can’t at least,” he said. “It’s a nervous time, but a happy time.”

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*Photos by Jon Chown*

(Published in 9/15/08 edition)

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