|
Ventura, CA.....May 24.....Despite
missing two nights of racing to compete on the USAC Western States circuit, Greg
Taylor leaped back into point contention with his $1,000, 30 lap VRA unwinged
360 sprint car feature win Saturday night at Ventura Raceway. Interestingly,
Taylor started on the pole of the 20 car lineup, but fell back to 4th before
climbing back into the lead. The 30 lapper was run without a single yellow flag.
Fellow front row starter Rob Kershaw was a $750 second with Steve Conrad coming
from 8th to finish a $500 third. Chris Tramel ran 4th. Taylor's win pulled him
to 4th in points, 410 behind new point leader Tom Stansberry. Stansberry gained
the point lead by finishing fifth as former point leader Mike Knopf was 8th. Ron
Bach, who also raced in the dwarf car action, won his third 15 lap Senior Sprint
car feature. The victory snapped a two race winning streak for defending
champion Wiley Miller, who finished third behind two time winner Russell
DeBlauw. Curt Cook won the 20 lap VRA Pro Dwarf Car main ahead of the dueling
duo of Loren Bradbury and Brent Stevens. Cook came from fifth. Mike Sweeney won
the 20 lap Senior Dwarf Car main event from 4th starting. Outside front row
starter Ken Lippert was second ahead of pole starter George Sack. The top three
finishers all use High Velocity Motors built by Chuck Lippert.
The VRA sprint cars divided 29 cars
into four heat races. Tramel won the first heat from a front row start ahead of
fifth starter Kershaw. Bill Welch also turned an outside front row start into a
heat win ahead of fourth starter Clark Templeman III. Kevin Kierce came from
third to win heat 3 ahead of front row starter Conrad. Jeremy Ellertson won heat
4 from the pole with fifth starter Taylor in second. The top four from each heat
advanced into the 30 lap A Main. Having crashed with Guy Woodward at the start
of his heat race, Knopf had to come from 7th to win a second straight B Main.
Fifth starter Steve Chuhaloff ran second ahead of Jake Ford with Joe Henderson
in the final transfer slot. The front part of the A Main lineup saw Taylor,
Kershaw, Ellertson, Welch, Tramel and Kierce ahead of the 20 car pack. Taylor
faded in the early laps, but raced his way back to the front. Ellertson had
climbed to 2nd before a flat tire ended his top run. Kershaw ran second ahead of
Conrad, Tramel, 13th starter Stansberry, 9th starter Chris Wakim, 11th starting
Luis Espinoza, Knopf and Kierce. Knopf ended the night 145 points back of
Stansberry. The VRA point system has a 50 point drop from one position to the
next in the feature action. Kershaw ended the night just 30 points ahead of
Taylor.
The Senior Sprints
divided 22 cars into three heat races. Richard McCormick won heat 1 ahead of
Steve Stasa. Pole starter Danny Miller won heat 2 ahead of Mark Chuhaloff. Jim
Porter also turned a pole start into a win in heat 3 with Richard Terry second.
The feature lineup had 22 starters with Bach and DeBlauw on the front row ahead
of Stasa and Porter. Seven cars had retired after just 3 completed laps. Bach
and DeBlauw ran 1-2 in the 15 lapper with 10th starter W Miller in third. Porter
ran fourth ahead of D Miller, Rick Lewis, Chuhaloff, Dale Harwood and Stasa.
The Pro Division of
the VRA Dwarf Cars divided 11 cars into two heat races. Cook came from third to
win heat 1 ahead of former CDCRA champion Rob Anderson, who started 4th. Brent
Stevens won heat 2 from the pole ahead of John Lynch. Carl Behmer and Stevens
shared the front row for the 20 lap feature, but it was fifth starter Cook
racing to the win ahead of fourth starter Loren Bradbury. Bradbury had passed
Stevens on lap 15. Stevens finished third ahead of Jeff Sheldon, Anderson and
Behmer. Those six cars finished 20 laps with both Dawn Stutzman and Lynch two
laps down. Sheldon is the point leader with a 55 point margin on Cook.
The Senior Dwarf Car division
fielded 15 cars, but Senior Sprint star Wiley Miller was a feature scratch after
a 7th place heat run. Jim Stutzman came from 4th to win heat 1 over 2nd starter
Sweeney. Mike VanAcker won heat 2 from an outside front row start with pole
starter Ken Lippert 2nd. The main event lineup put George Sack and Lippert on
the front row ahead of VanAcker and Sweeney. Sweeney struck quickly to the lead
while Lippert was a race long second. Sack ran third ahead of Rick Denny, Gary
Conditt, Jon Prechtl, Glen Monk and Ed Niedzwiecki. Again, the top six were lead
lap with Monk and Niedzwiecki both one lap down. Conditt and Denny are tied for
the point lead.
Summary
Senior Dwarf Cars
Heat 1-Jim Stutszman, Mike Sweeney, Gary Conditt, George Sack, Jim Koch.
Heat 2-Mike VanAcker, Ken Lippert, Ed Niedzwiecki, Rick Denny, Glen Monk.
Main-Sweeney, Lippert, Sack, Denny, Conditt, Jon Prechtl, Monk, Niedzwiecki,
Steve Addison, Stutzman, Dwight Cheney, Ron Bach, Koch, VanAcker.
Pro Dwarf Cars
Heat 1-Curt Cook, Rob Anderson, Carl Behmer, Dawn Stutzman, Mark McLeroy.
Heat 2-Brent Stevens, John Lynch, Jeff Shelton, Loren Bradbury, Mike Bradley.
Main-Cook, Bradbury, Stevens, Sheldon, Anderson, Behmer, Stutzman, McLeroy,
Cindy Addison, Lynch.
Senior Sprints
Heat 1-Richard McCormick, Steve Stasa, Russell DeBlauw, John Woodward, Ron
Butler.
Heat 2-Danny Miller, Mark Chuhaloff, Rick Lewis, Curtis Richards, John
Richards.
Heat 3-Jim Porter, Richard Terry, Ron Bach, Wiley Miller, Dale Harwood.
Main-Bach, DeBlauw, W Miller, Porter, D Miller, Lewis, Chuhaloff, Harwood,
Stasa, C Richards, Bruce Douglas, Danny Weaver, J Richards, Dave Marini, Terry,
Sammy Iaconis, Butler, George Tuttle Jr, Bob Hadlund, McCormick, Tim Moon,
Woodward.
VRA Unwinged 360 Sprint Cars
Heat 1-Chris Tramel, Rob Kershaw, Luis Espinoza, Tom Stansberry, Brett
Butler.
Heat 2-Bill Welch, Clark Templeman III, Chris Wakim, Randy McGraw, Jonas
Reynolds.
Heat 3-Kevin Kierce, Steve Conrad, Josh Davis, Will Perkins, Guy Woodward.
Heat 4-Jeremy Ellertson, Greg Taylor, Tony Dighera, Blake Miller, Shawn Kautz.
B Main-Mike Knopf, Steve Chuhaloff, Jake Ford, Joe Henderson, Mike Davis,
Brandon Thompson, Woodward, Reynolds, Jim Thomson, Steve Gresham, Butler, Kautz.
A Main-Taylor, Kershaw, Conrad, Tramel, Stansberry, Wakim, Espinoza, Knopf,
Kierce, Perkins, Dighera, J Davis, McGraw, Ford, Chuhaloff, Miller, Henderson,
Welch, Ellertson, Templeman.
|
