Months after the death of his car owner and friend, Alan Cress finds new way to win races
Bill PoehlerThere was always someone missing from Alan Cress’ victory lane celebrations.
Cress raced for car owner Bruce Latta for a decade, and they won a lot of races together. Inevitably, Latta would shy away from the attention by hiding in a timing tower or in a tech inspection station while everyone else celebrated.
When the emotion of the moment subsided, Cress would hunt down his car owner and the two would drink a few beers and talk.
But after Saturday night’s win of the South Sound 125 for the Northwest Super Late Model Series at South Sound Speedway in Tenino, Washington, Latta wasn’t around. He died of natural causes at the age of 68 in November 2018.
“We would love to celebrate with him, and he’s just not there,” said the 39-year-old Cress, who lives in Stayton. “It’s not a hollow victory. It just feels like a piece is missing, still. But it’s also our motivation.”
A kid becomes friends with a car owner
Bruce Latta was born in Spokane, Washington and attended college in Portland before moving to Salem where he got his first experience as a paramedic. He moved to Reedsport and eventually to Coos Bay in 1985, where he bought and operated Bay Cities Ambulance along with numerous side businesses.
Latta drove race cars briefly, but after purchasing the ambulance company gave up driving.
He joined with driver Robert Sprague as truck driver and fuel man on Sprague’s NASCAR Winston West team before purchasing the team in 1993
Cress, who grew up in Coquille, first came into Latta’s orbit as a child when his father, Stan, and Latta teamed as car owners for driver Mike Sackett.
Though his job was limited to tending to tires, Latta made the youngster feel like an integral part of the team.
“Everybody loves him,” Cress said.
Cress started racing at Douglas County Speedway in Roseburg at age 16 in cars owned by his father, and they won seven championships together, often racing against Latta’s drivers.
But Cress got a call from one of Latta’s crew members before the 2009 season asking if he would drive for Latta on the ASA Northwest Tour, a huge leap from the friendly confines of Roseburg, and he accepted.
For the first time in Cress’ driving career, he had someone who would fund a racing team at a high level. In one season they went through three engines in a short span, but never missed a race.
“It was a lot different, that’s for sure, showing up at a race track knowing that you basically have to just drive the car,” Cress said.
It also gave Cress the opportunity to race throughout Washington, California, Montana and Nevada at any big race at which they desired to compete.
In most situations now, the driver brings funding and the car owner supplies the equipment and crew.
“And Bruce is old school,” said Jarrod Goodwin, director of the Northwest Super Late Model Series. “Alan would not be where he is today without Bruce. Alan would still be running at Roseburg here and there where he could without Bruce.”
A couple weeks before last year’s Miller 200 at South Sound Speedway – one of the most prestigious races in the northwest – Cress had a poor showing at a race in Eureka, California.
He found a few small things he thought could be problems, but to find out he needed to drive the car.
The day before the race, Cress purchased 14 tires, had them mounted and laid them out in the pit spot next to theirs. When Latta saw what had been purchased with his money, he shrugged his shoulders.
“Anyway, we ended up winning by quite a lot,” Cress said.
Latta a benevolent soul
Latta’s generosity went beyond fielding cars for Cress and other drivers over a 25-plus year period.
He purchased timing and scoring systems for tracks across the country and series including the Northwest Super Late Model Series.
When someone needed a safety item like a seat or helmet and couldn’t afford one, Latta would purchase them.
“He was the fuel salesman for a long time at (Douglas County Speedway),” Cress said. “I think he lost so much money doing that. He just gave fuel away. You’d go to pay him, he’d just shrug his shoulders.”
After racing the same car for five years, a chance to purchase a new Fury chassis car from car owner Chance Overholt presented itself, and Latta agreed to buy the car in September.
Latta never got to see the new car race before he died so they finished the worke and put his name all over it, including “BRUCE” in orange letters in the grille, and named the car ABBA after Latta’s favorite band.
Latta’s widow, Gloria, gave Cress permission to race the new car this season, expressing it was what he would have wanted, and Overholt joined the team as crew chief.
After a promising third place at the Leonard Evans 150 in Wenatchee, Washington to start the season, Cress placed eighth at Yakima Speedway in the Apple Cup 125, a race held in honor of Latta.
The Northwest Super Late Model Series renamed its car owner’s season championship trophy the Bruce Latta Championship Car Owner trophy.
“If he were still alive and I said the champion team owner trophy was going to be named for Bruce Latta going forward, he would be yelling at me,” Goodwin said.
“He deserves to get the recognition he’s going to get. There’s a long list of people that he’s helped. Alan’s one of many.”
Cress figures after the season ends, he’ll purchase the car and some of the equipment from Gloria Latta and sell the rest of the racing equipment and give the proceeds to her.
But the funds to race this season are coming out of Cress’ pocket – he is a crew leader for Pioneer Waterporofing Company – and race winnings, the first time in years he’s been in that situation.
Winning championships never seemed important to Latta and Cress.
In their decade together, they won one championship, the 2012 late model championship at Douglas County Speedway, preferring to pick and choose where they wanted to race.
But after the win at South Sound, Cress is leading the points in front of northwest stock car legend Garrett Evans after three of seven races, and the trophy with Latta’s name on it in his sights.
“That is kind of our main goal,” Cress said. “I think it would be special to have the first name on that trophy be Gloria Latta.”
bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com or Twitter.com/bpoehler