August 31, 2002

In 1977 Cale Yarborough won his second straight Winston Cup Championship in grand fashion. A.J. Foyt would capture his fourth Indianapolis 500 and Janet Guthrie would be the first woman to qualify for a starting position in the Daytona 500.

Little did we know of the events taking place in El Cajon, California. The birth of Austin Cameron would go uncelebrated by most race fans and teams that year but would mark yet another historic date in a future NASCAR atlas of winning facts.

Austin would start his competitive racing career in go karts at the age of nine and step up to stock cars, where he would win the rookie of the year award at Willow Springs Raceway in 1996. That late model division venture would eventually land Cameron in the Winston West series in 1998 where, once again he would win the Rookie of the year award and, go on to finish an impressive fourth in the series points.

The aspiring Cameron holds a business degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara and was noted among one of the Winston West drivers asked to compete in Japan in 1998 in an exhibition event in which Mike Skinner would take the win.

Austin recently hoisted the winning trophy in the Winston West series at Irwindale in a strong showing in the Bill McAnally owned No. 16 NAPA Chevrolet Monte Carlo, in what can be described as dominating form in the closing laps of the twilight event. Austin was able to drive around such Winston West notables as Eric Norris and Kevin Richards, who seemed to be on jack stands as the Orleans Monte Carlo cruised to the win.

We suggest that if there is an up and coming star in this sport Austin Cameron certainly fits that mold. The McAnally owned Orleans racing team with Cameron at the wheel made their first Winston Cup start this year at Sears Point in the Dodge/Save Mart 350 and the team chalked up some great experience in that road course event. Ricky Rudd would go on to win that day at Sears Point and Austin would suffer clutch problems, ending up with a 42nd place finish. The Orleans team held their heads high that day knowing that they made the race at what McAnally refers to as his home track in Sonoma, California.

With the influx of new stars in the Winston Cup racing series we wonder how long it will take for a pro caliber team to level their sights on Austin Cameron and thrust him to the ranks of rookie driving sensation. We wish Austin the best in the future and look for him to show up at a Winston Cup or Busch racing event in the future.

You can contact Joe at: Insider Racing News