Borges bags Madera title Veteran driver's persistence pays off big timeThursday, September 16, 2004 By Vince D'Adamo SPORTS REPORTER Little did St. Helena native Frank Borges know that his chances of winning the 2004 Track Championship in NASCAR's Premier Late Model Sportsman Division at Madera Speedway would drastically change over the course of three months. Then, there was Borges standing next to a 5-foot-8 championship trophy that is taller than some high school basketball point guards. The 12-race series began March 13 and ended Sept. 4. Borges had to bow out of one race in June because the motor's temperature reached 250 degrees. It was either that or risk incinerating the motor. Two of the main front air ducts that go directly into the motor to cool the radiator folded, causing the car to get hot and lose some fluid in the process. Borges' Aug. 14 win, coupled with a little good fortune courtesy of off days by his opponents, created a situation where he entered the final race on Sept. 4 with a 10-point lead. Borges needed to finish in the top five or better to secure his title. Borges finished second and took home the trophy that seemed to be eluding his grasp three months earlier. "I figured my chances for the track championship were probably doomed at that point," Borges said. "All the top racers at the Western region tracks are looking for the regional finish at the end of the year. To finish outside the top ten spells disaster. As it turned out this year, every competitor across the region had their share of outside of top ten finishes as well so we're in the top handful." Borges entered the final race with a simple mindset. He merely needed to make sure not to put himself in a position where he could have contact with another car or let the field take him out by catching up with him. His strategy was to stay out of trouble, stay in contact with the leader, finish in the top five and "basically play 'follow the leader' because I didn't need to win the battle, I just needed to win the war." "Once we got away from the field, my crew would let me know on the radio that, 'You're clear by five. You're clear by 10. You're clear by a straight-away,'" Borges explained. "Once I was clear by a large margin, all I had to do was pay attention to what I was doing with the other car and not put myself in peril." Borges registered another tremendous qualifying time of 15:78 and all but one race featured qualifying times of under 16:00. He also holds the track record and ran the four fastest times in qualifying this year. "I feel like it was all in the car prep," Borges said. "The crew gave me a car that was really set up. I could run as hard as I could and not mess up my qualifying times or my racing lines. The car was very consistent all year and literally kept improving all the time." "I get more comfortable with the car but so does everybody else. Their driving performance levels pick up. If you're in the cluster, what happens is people become less willing to give up the position and more willing to hold a hard line." Seeing Borges with the trophy is like the game of football, where quarterbacks, running backs and receivers are always in the limelight. By comparison, Borges' pit crew and sponsors are his edition of an offensive line in that the work they do might go unnoticed by some people -- but not by Borges. "Our whole racing crew isn't possible without our sponsors and our pit crew," Borges said. "Whatever we needed, they were there to help us out. You always here people say 'thank you' to the pit crew all the time on TV, but it is so true. It's unbelievable how much effort our pit crew has put in to help the car. Without it, you absolutely cannot go anywhere." As for next season, Borges does not yet know the extent of his involvement in racing. Borges, however, added that he would entertain the thought of racing at various tracks as opposed to simply going to Madera. The good news about the offseason is that it lends itself for having time to thoroughly address any issue with the engine -- big or small. "There are probably a half dozen things that can make a nice difference in the car," Borges said. "Even as fast as we went, we know there are gains to be made that were too big to tackle during the season. It would require tearing the motor completely down. The offseason is the time to do that." And, of course, celebrate the most recent success.

Back from break, Borges putting up fast times at Madera Speedway

Thursday, June 17, 2004

By Vince D'Adamo

SPORTS REPORTER

Speed does not necessarily guarantee winning but for St. Helena's Frank Borges, but the ability to accelerate always gives him the chance to come in first in any race.

The 1979 St. Helena High graduate competes in the NASCAR Weekly Series with Madera Speedway being the home track.

Borges took first Saturday with a qualifying result time of 15.370. He later took third in both the dash results and main results.

Borges has the fastest car of the 21-competitor field and is second in total points with 440 to Justin Westmoreland (460) with the season about halfway completed.

"We had been setting fast times," Borges said. "That's the bragging rights. It doesn't mean you're going to win the race but it means if the opportunity is there and you can take advantage of it, you have as good a shot or better than anyone else in the field."

Borges' speed has also enabled him to overcome big deficits. On May 29, Borges achieved the track record (15.48 seconds) in the time trials and taking first place in the daytime race.

Later that evening, however, he got tangled up with the other pack leader and crossed the finish line in eighth place. It was a suspenseful day as fans witnessed Borges take his second victory of the season.

On June 5, Borges set the track record again (15.41 seconds) but had engine-heating problems and was forced to pull out of the first race with only four laps to go, then returned in the evening to win the second feature race of the day.

Borges explained that because the motor's temperature reached 250 degrees, he had no choice but to shut the car down or risk losing the motor.

Borges added that the problem has been addressed and as a result, he started at the tail end of the field and won the race. When his car got into the back of another car, two of the main front air ducts that go directly into the motor to cool the radiator folded. That caused the car to get hot and lose some fluid in the process.

"What happened in this particular situation was that there was a rookie driver directly in front of me," Borges explained. "We came off of Turn 4. The caution (flag) was waving. He got on the brakes, which, in my mind, is a definite no-no. You want to let the car run free down the track. You don't want to get on the brakes especially when you are in front of the field because somebody is not going to be able to see through you to the flagman.

"If someone is braking, the speed differential is so great that someone will climb right on top of him. I talked to him about that after the race and gave him the advice if he sees the caution come out and the track is clear, make sure not to jam on the brakes and cause a collision."

Nonetheless, speed coupled with his skill allowed Borges to stay in contention. Borges, however, added that given the fact that the summer heat is increasing, he might be hard-pressed to improve his qualifying time but added, "If I put a good lap down, the car should do it if the conditions will allow. It's exciting to have that potential from the driver's standpoint."

Borges took two years off the racing front because of his business commitment with Borges General Contracting. In addition, the Borges family had been in the process of building a home. Between his April 17th first-place finish and May 29, Borges had 42 days to prepare. Recently, however, he has been going on consecutive weeks.

Borges added there are pluses and minuses to both long layoffs and racing for consecutive weekends.

"Just because of my workload, the gap was perfect timing for us," Borges said. "What we also did during the gap was take a couple of test runs. When you're running every weekend, you don't really have an opportunity to test the car and also get ready for a race but now that we feel we have a good baseline, I feel that the only plus of not having races back-to-back is you have to do car repairs. If you have some family time you want to take, it gives you an opportunity to get away from all of the racing and relax."

He added that the advantage to racing on consecutive weekends is that the car feels more comfortable to him all the time because the driving time in the car is growing. Borges has since added a Web site, www.borges99.com.

In fact, there is also a compelling story behind his choosing the No. 99. When Borges first started racing, he was car No. 9. The Westmoreland team was either car No. 6 or 8 but they asked for permission to assume the No. 9 for their car.

When Borges returned from his two-year hiatus, the Westmoreland team had car No. 9 established. Borges' car number choices went from 29, 47, 99. He considered No. 8 for Dale Earnhardt Jr. but then stuck with No. 99. Borges has admiration for Earnhardt and had a compelling story in relationship to him.

"After the feature event that we won, one of the Westmoreland fans came by our pits and I was wearing a Dale Earnhardt Sr. hat, No. 3," Borges said. "She had a comment, something like, 'Oh, you're wearing Dale Earnhardt's hat. Well, you drive like Dale Earnhardt, too.' She didn't mean it as a compliment but I took it as one."