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Ventura, CA.....May 31......Contact
between leaders Chris Wakim and Troy Rutherford in the final corner of Saturday
night's 30 lap VRA unwinged 360 sprint car feature gave Greg Taylor the opening
he needed. He was able to squeeze between the dueling leaders and the crashwall
and score the $1,000 win. Despite missing two events to race on the USAC sprint
car circuit, Taylor has pulled back into the season point lead with the victory
as he came out of the night with a 50 point lead on Bakersfield's Tom Stansberry
and a 130 point advantage over Santa Maria veteran Mike Knopf. Taylor had led
early from his outside front row start, but both 8th starter Wakim and 11th
starter Rutherford got by him. Wakim ran a $750 second and Rutherford collected
$500 for third. Gary Curtis from Camarillo climbed into third place in the IMCA
Modified point standings with a win over a 17 car field in their 20 lapper. The
track's winningest modified racer Steve Greenland ran second and Paul Moore
closed to within a single point of point leader Wes Richardson with his third
place run. Point leader David Lidren won the VRA Modified main event ahead
of George Kreider IV and Ric Bronson. Andrew Greiman closed a little ground on
pony stock point leader James Brown with his feature win. Brown came from 8th
starting to place second ahead of defending champion Mike Frazier. Brown holds a
140 point lead on Greiman and a 155 point lead on Frazier.
A great turnout of 38 VRA
unwinged 360 sprint cars were divided into four qualifying heats and they
thrilled the crowd with a lot of passing on a very racy 1/4 mile clay oval.
Wakim came from sixth to win the first heat ahead of front row starter Richard
McCormick. Luis Espinoza started 9th and finished 3rd. Knopf won heat 2 from the
pole, but Rob Kershaw came from row five to finish second. Outside front row
starter Will Perkins won heat 3 with Taylor coming from 4th to place second.
Outside front row starter Chris Tramel won heat 4 with 5th starter Jeremy
Ellertson second. The top four in each heat advanced and the large field
required two B Mains with just the top two finishers in each climbing into the
30 lap A Main. Bill Welch beat Steve Conrad in the first B Main with defending
track champion Jimmy Crawford third. Crawford is just a part time racer in 2003.
Wheeling the car often driven by Cory Kruseman, Cory Witherill rode the
crashwall from his outside front row starting spot to win the second B Main
ahead of John Wright, Jake Ford and Jim Thomson. The 30 lap A Main had an 8 car
inversion that put Espinoza and Taylor on the front row ahead of Ellertson,
Knopf, Tramel, Perkins, Kershaw and Wakim. A flat tire sidelined Espinoza and
Ellertson spun twice to end his race. Taylor appeared headed for the win before
both Wakim and Rutherford drove by him. On the final lap, Rutherford put a big
slide job on Wakim going into turn 3. They touched, but didn't crash and third
place Taylor saw an opening. Taylor squeezed between the two leaders and the
crashwall and picked off the win in the top sprint car show of 2003. Wakim ran
second ahead of Rutherford, Clark Templeman III, Tramel, McCormick, 15th starter
Mike Kirby, 16th starter Kevin Kierce, Knopf and Stansberry. With 1,000 points
available for a feature win and a 50 point drop per position, fourth ranked
Kershaw is also in strong title contention as he stands just 470 points behind
the new leader. Wakim is solidly in fifth, 935 out of first.
The 17 car IMCA
Modified field included a surprise visit by former regional champion Jason Pike
from Pahrump, NV. Curtis won the feature race ahead of Greenland, Moore, Mark
Fullerton, point leader Richardson, Joe Porche, Bill Waltman, Randy Gens, Pike,
Brett Lynsky and Rick Johnston.
Summary
IMCA Modifieds
Main-Gary Curtis, Steve Greenland, Paul Moore, Mark Fullerton, Wes Richardson,
Joe Porche, Bill Waltman, Randy Gens, Jason Pike, Brett Lynsky, Rick Johnston,
Will Smith, Don Wright Jr, Brad Prows, Lyle Slater, Damon Redman, Kathy
Pierson.
Unwinged 360 Sprint Cars
Heat 1-Chris Wakim, Richard McCormick, Luis Espinoza, Tom Stansberry, Bill
Welch.
Heat 2-Mike Knopf, Rob Kershaw, Clark Templeman III, Kyle Hancock, John Wright.
Heat 3-Will Perkins, Greg Taylor, Troy Rutherford, Kevin Kierce, Jimmy Crawford.
Heat 4-Chris Tramel, Jeremy Ellertson, Mike Davis, Mike Kirby, Cory
Witherill.
1st B Main-Bill Welch, Steve Conrad, Crawford, J J Ercse, Joe Henderson, Randy
McGraw, Mike Whitcomb, Ron Butler, Steve Chulahoff, Guy Woodward.
2nd B Main-Witherill, Wright, Jake Ford, Jim Thomson, Brandon Thompson, Blake
Miller, Brett Butler, Tom Downing, Steve Gresham, Jonas Reynolds.
A Main-Taylor, Wakim, Rutherford, Templeman, Tramel, McCormick, Kirby, Kierce,
Knopf, Stansberry, Kershaw, Conrad, Perkins, Wright, Hancock, Welch, Davis,
Espinoza, Witherill, Ellertson.
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