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Ventura, CA....April 5......VRA
Senior Sprint Car point leader Russell DeBlauw turned heads Saturday night when
he charged from 14th starting spot to win his second consecutive main event at
Ventura Raceway. Because he could only manage a 5th in his heat, DeBlauw started
behind the other top runners, but he passed everyone to post the second win of
his two year career. Seventh starter Steve Stasa ransecond ahead of legendary
stock car racer Oren Prosser Sr. Arriving too late to practice didn't faze Jimmy
May as he ran third in his heat and then won the main event for the NMRA TQ
Midgets. May started 2nd and third starting Walt Johnson ran second ahead of
pole starter Steve Lambert. After problems in the opening night feature placed
him on the pole position, Gary Curtis charged to a win in the 20 lap IMCA
Modified feature. Kathy Pierson skipped the season opener to run a two-night
show in Pahrump, NV but impressed in her return as she came from 9th to place
second ahead of Mark Fullerton. Mark Gallimore also turned a pole position start
into a 20 lap feature win in the VRA Modified action. Ric Bronson ran second
ahead of former champion George Kreider IV.
The Senior Sprints are for
drivers 45 years old and older. Mike Cook won the first heat race ahead of Wiley
Miller and Stasa. Rick Lewis took heat 2 ahead of John Richards and point
runnerup Ron Bach. Ron Butler beat Prosser and Jim Porter in heat 3. The front
of the field for the main event was Prosser, Butler, Lewis, Cook, W Miller and J
Richards. To gain his win from 14th starting, DeBlauw had to pass drivers like W
Miller, Prosser and Porter. Stasa also did a passing job coming from 7th to
place second. Prosser settled for third ahead of Cook and Danny Miller, who is W
Miller's younger brother. W Miller ran 6th ahead of Butler, Bach and Porter.
DeBlauw improved his point lead to 355 over former dwarf car star Bach and 595
ahead of Cook. Stasa is 145 back of Cook and 190 in front of W Miller.
The TQ midgets were
a regular fixture at Ventura when the group and track both were USAC venues.
Veteran racer Bobby Michnowicz won the first heat ahead of Johnson and Lambert.
Ron Ahrendt took heat 2 with Kenny Wiley second ahead of Jimmy May. The front of
the field for the 25 lap feature was Lambert, Jimmy May, Johnson, Wiley,
Michnowicz and Ahrendt. Johnson lost ground to Jimmy May when he got stuck in
lapped traffic in the 16 car field. Jimmy May won with Johnson second ahead of
Lambert and defending series champion Chuck West. West had lined up 13th. Tenth
starter Jody Bandfield ran fifth over Wiley, Michnowicz and Dennis Hart.
The 18 IMCA Modifieds
were split into three heat races. Curtis won the first heat with Pierson second
ahead of Paul Moore. Don Wright Jr beat Fullerton in heat 2. Chris Tonoli came
from 4th to win heat 3 ahead of Wes Richardson. In the 20 lap feature, Curtis
and Fullerton shared the front row. Fullerton paced three laps before Curtis
took over. Curtis closed the 2002 season as one of the track's hottest drivers.
Paul Lane and Tonoli tangled in turn 1 for a lap 3 yellow flag. Opening race
winner Joe Porche stalled for a late race caution. Bill Waltman scratched from
the main with drive line problems. Wright was a feature dropout and Pierson made
her charge up to 2nd. Fullerton ran third ahead of Moore, Jack Parker, Lyle
Slater and Richardson. John Aitken, Lane and Brad Prows rounded out the top ten.
With Randy McGraw moving into the VRA sprint cars, Prows has taken the wheel of
the team's IMCA Modified. The top 8 finishers were on the lead lap.
The 9 VRA Modifieds were divided into
two heat races. Kreider beat Bronson in heat 1 and David Lidren beat Gallimore
in heat 2. Gallimore and Kreider tied for the 2002 track champion and Gallimore
led all 20 laps of tonight's feature. Bronson came from 4th to place second
ahead of Kreider, Lidren and Andy Frank. Those five finished lead lap with Marty
McLaughlin out on lap 13 with a broken right front suspension. Rick Rodarte was
involved in two early yellows and done with both mini stock graduate Mike
Frazier and Darren Gunnell out early.
The April 12 show at
Ventura will be VRA Sprint Cars, VRA Modifieds and VRA Dwarf Cars.
Summary
VRA Modifieds
Heat 1-George Kreider IV, Ric
Bronson, Rick Rodarte, Andy Frank, Darren Gunnell.
Heat 2-Dave Lidren, Mark Gallimore, Marty McLaughlin, Mike Frazier.
Main-Gallimore, Bronson, Kreider, Lidren, Frank, McLaughlin, Rodarte, Frazier,
Gunnell.
IMCA Modifieds
Heat 1-Gary Curtis, Kathy Pierson,
Paul Moore, Jody Davis, Rick Johnston.
Heat 2-Don Wright Jr, Mark Fullerton, Paul Lane, Lyle Slater, John Aitken.
Heat 3-Chris Tonoli, Wes Richardson, Jack Parker, Mike Davis, Randy Gens.
Main-Curtis, Pierson, Fullerton, Moore, Parker, Slater, Richardson, Aitken,
Lane, Brad Prows, Johnston, Joe Porche, Gens, M Davis, Tonoli, J Davis,
Wright.
TQ Midgets
Heat 1-Bobby Michnowicz, Walt
Johnson, Steve Lambert, Jim Styer, Dennis Hart.
Heat 2-Ron Ahrendt, Kenny Wiley, Jimmy May, Chris Hedge, Jody Bandfield.
Main-Jimmy May, Johnson, Lambert, Chuck West, Bandfield, Wiley, Michnowicz,
Hart, Ahrendt, West Evans, Steve Parke, Michael Bliffen, Marc Hart, Hedge, Styer,
Jake May.
VRA Senior Sprints
Heat 1-Mike Cook, Wiley Miller,
Steve Stasa, Dave Martini, Mark Chuhaloff.
Heat 2-Rick Lewis, John Richards, Ron Bach, Curtis Richards, Russell
DeBlauw.
Heat 3-Ron Butler, Oren Prosser Sr, Jim Porter, Danny Miller, Dale Harwood.
Main-DeBlauw, Stasa, Prosser, Cook, D Miller, W Miller, Butler, Bach, Porter,
Lewis, Tim Moon, John Woodward, Harwood, Chuhaloff, Danny Weaver, Sammy Iaconis,
C Richards, Bill Leonard, J Richards, Martini, Bruce Douglas, Wayne Pardini.
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