Redwood Acres Raceway

06/06/2026

On-track rivals, champions, legends and friends. From racing to farming, Jim Walker and Larry Pries shared many similarities. Both Ferndale dairy men raced against each other on the dirt for many years. Each won three track championships in the 70s. Walker won in 1970, 1971 and 1972 while Pries won in 1974, 1977 and 1979.

Walker won two more titles when RAR was paved in 1988 and 1989 while Pries took a brief hiatus from racing. Pries returned to the track in the mid-90s and won the 1998 sportsman track championship. The two would renew their friendly on-track rivalry several times through the next decade and a half competing in Tri-State Challenge Series and North State Challenge Series late model events at RAR and other tracks in the region. Pries passed away in August of 2011 and posthumously won the track championship in the sportsman division that season.

Three-time dirt champions, two-time pavement champions. A life-long bond of racing and farming and friendship. Both remain highly respected and revered as racers and as men. As race fans, we were fortunate to watch them both compete so many times together for so many years.

06/05/2026

Rules for the Down & Dirty Hillbilly Boat Race on Sunday June 21st. Also available for download on our website RacinTheAcres.com.

06/05/2026

An interview with Jim Walker on Friday June 7, 1997 a day before racing the Nor-Cal Late Model event at Redwood Acres Raceway.

06/05/2026

06/05/2026

Redwood Acres Raceway isn't the only track that Jim Walker was successful at. In fact, Walker scored numerous big-time wins at tracks ranging from Shasta Speedway in Anderson, CA to Silver State Raceway in Carson City, NV to Douglas County Speedway in Roseburg, OR to Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, WA.

On August 15, 1982, Walker accomplished a feat that very few drivers did behind the wheel of an open comp super stock. In qualifying at was then known as Bernal Memorial Raceway (more famously known as Altamont Raceway Park), Walker set a qualifying time of 17.98 around the half-mile circuit. The average speed of his lap equated to just over 100 MPH. This put Walker among a handful of drivers who were able to set that mark in the class and he was honored with a jacket to commemorate the achievement.

Walker would later go on to win the main event which included drivers like Jim Pettit, II, Dave Byrd, Randy Olson, Bob Philpot and Tom Montes among others.

06/05/2026

3 NIGHTS OF MOTORSPORTS!!!!
Redwood Acres Fair 2026 June 18-21!

06/04/2026

Unlike in 1988, Jim Walker was quick to win his first main event of the 1989 season as it came on opening night, April 22nd. Walker would earn at least another two feature wins that season (we don't have documentation of the entire year's results) to earn his second straight super stock championship at RAR.

This is the main event for the super stocks

06/04/2026

While Jim Walker had won numerous main events and three track championships on Redwood Acres Raceway on the dirt, finding victory lane on the pavement took a bit longer than expected. It wasn't until June of 1988 that Walker took his first main event win in the super stock division. Walker would win three more features enroute to his track championship that season.

This is the main event for the super stocks

06/03/2026

Following his huge win in the Permatex 200 at Riverside International Raceway in January of 1976, Jim Walker and a group of local crew members made the 3,000+ mile cross-country journey from Humboldt County all the way to Daytona Beach, Florida to compete in the Permatex 300 NASCAR Late Model Sportsman race. This event was the prelude to the Daytona 500 and was held the day before the prestigious race.

Walker qualified 26th in a field that featured a huge number of drivers who were either established greats of the time or future racing legends. Just making the show was an accomplishment in itself. Drivers who started this race include Ray Hendrick, L.D. Ottinger, Darrell Waltrip, Red Farmer, Tommy Houston, Ron Bouchard, Morgan Shepherd, Dale Earnhardt, Sam Ard, Jack Ingram, Richie Evans and Harry Gant.

Walker's day in the 100-lap event would end on lap 32 when he was caught up in a savage melee not of his own making involving Larry Schild. Thank to Walker's quick thinking, he was able to able to avoid directly t-boning Schild in his passenger-side door preventing what could have been a far more serious accident.

Unfortunately video of this race or the wreck is not available but Motor Racing Network's call of the event is posted in full on YouTube. This video features Walker's wreck with Schild.

The incident was a minor setback for Walker but it didn't take him long to recover and not only get back to racing but also winning. Following that February 14 incident at Daytona, Walker would win the March 28 Nor-Cal 50 at Shasta Speedway.

While Daytona was a disappointment in terms of the result, it proved to be a unifying moment for the Humboldt County/Northern California racing community. Walker and his team represented every driver, crew member and fan from this area and did so admirably. It serves as one of the reasons why he is still so beloved, respected and revered racers in west coast racing.

06/02/2026