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Ventura, CA.....June 14.....Clark
Templeman III got his first VRA unwinged 360 sprint car feature win in more than
three years Saturday night at Ventura Raceway. Templeman also ran strong last
week, but Luis Espinoza got his first win that night. Templeman collected $1,000
for the win and Espinoza was a solid $750 second. Templeman paced the final 13
laps for the win after starting 8th. Chris Wakim came from 17th starting for a
$500 third. Wakim climbed to third in points with his strong run. Veteran dwarf
car racer Ron Bach has become a constant feature win threat in the Senior Sprint
Car class and he won for the fourth time in 2003 Saturday night. He also won his
heat and another heat winner John Woodward ran second ahead of Jim Porter and
legendary stock car star Oren Prosser Sr. Bach started 5th and Woodward 6th.
Chuck Lippert turned a pole start into his first Ventura Raceway win in the VRA
Pro Dwarf Cars. Third starting Curt Cook ran second and cut a little bit of Jeff
Shelton's point lead. Shelton ran third. Pole starter George Sack got his first
win in the Senior Dwarf Car action with Mike Sweeney charging from 4th to place
second.
The VRA sprint cars
split a 30 car turnout over four heat races. Third starter Mike Knopf beat fifth
starter Jake Ford in heat 1. Templeman charged from fourth to take heat 2 over
sixth starter Kevin Kierce. Espinoza won heat 3 from the pole as Bill Camarillo
ran second. Tony Dighera won heat 4 from third ahead of Rob Kershaw. Point
challenger Tom Stansberry broke his own mount in the heat action and borrowed
the Bill Leonard car for the B Main. he charged from last to a third place
transfer spot. Wakim won the B Main ahead of Blake Miller and Stansberry. Steve
Chulahoff was the final transfer ahead of newcomer Kim Lewis and Mike Whitcomb.
Ford and Espinoza battled for the lead over the first 17 rounds of the 30 lap
feature with Templeman out front for the final 13 laps. Early in the race, Alex
Pruett got into the tires at the track exit, collecting Kershaw, Knopf and
Dighera. Then Chris Tramel, Stansberry, Kenny Brown and Brett Butler tangled to
leave just 13 cars in action. 8th starter Stansberry won ahead of fifth starter
Espinoza, 17th starter Wakim, Ford, Kierce, Bakersfield visitor Rick Gifford,
Dighera and Ryan Devitt. Despite missing the action to race the USAC show in
Tucson, AZ, Greg Taylor remained in the point lead with a 15 point margin over
Kershaw. Wakim is just 165 points out of the point lead and Knopf ranks fourth
ahead of Stansberry. Espinoza has climbed to sixth in points and Santa Clarita's
Templeman ranks 10th.
The Senior Sprints field
identical cars to the VRA Sprints, but the drivers have to be 45 years old or
older. They split 22 cars into three heat races. Former champion Jim Porter won
heat 1 from the pole over Mike Cook. Bach came from third to win heat 2 ahead of
Russell DeBlauw. Woodward started 4th in his heat 3 win with Ron Butler second
over 2002 champion Wiley Miller. Third row starters Bach and Woodward were
1-2 in the feature race ahead of 4th starter Porter and Prosser, who charged
forward from 15th. W Miller ran fifth ahead of R Butler, Rick Lewis and Mark
Chulahoff. Bach is the point leader with a 400 point margin over W Miller.
DeBlauw ran 19th and fell 1115 points back of the point leader in third. Lewis
is fourth in points ahead of Porter.
The Pro Dwarf Cars split their
10 car turnout into a pair of heat races. Cook won the first over Lippert with
Shelton edging Carl Behmer in heat 2. The feature lineup was a four car
inversion off the heat finishes and pole starter Lippert won the 20 lapper ahead
of Cook, Shelton and Mike Bradley. Behmer ran fifth ahead of Josh Newton and
Charlie Back. By racing the out of town shows in Bakersfield, Shelton has built
a 220 point lead over Cook. The Senior Division fielded 12 cars, but the early
action took it's toll and only 8 cars started the main event. Sweeney came from
third to win heat 1 over Jon Prechtl. Sack won heat 2 from the pole with Ed
Niedzwiecki second. Ed McBride broke in hot laps and he was joined as a feature
scratch by Jim Stutzman, John Haag and Senior Sprint winner Ron Bach. Sack won
the 20 lap main event from the pole as he fended off the challenges of Sweeney.
Rick Denny from Taft ran third ahead of Prechtl, point leader Gary Conditt and
Glen Monk. The top five were lead lap and Niedzwiecki joined Monk one lap down
to the winner. Conditt holds just a 25 point lead over Denny with third ranked
Prechtl 195 points behind the leader.
Summary
Senior Dwarf Cars
Heat 1-Mike Sweeney, Jon Prechtl, Gary Conditt, Glen Monk, Steve Addison.
Heat 2-George Sack, Ed Niedzwiecki, Rick Denny, Jim Stutzman, John Haag.
Main-Sack, Sweeney, Denny, Prechtl, Conditt, Monk, Niedzwiecki, Addison.
Pro Dwarf Cars
Heat 1-Curt Cook, Chuck Lippert, Mike Bradley, Charlie Back, Josh Newton.
Heat 2-Jeff Shelton, Carl Behmer, Cindy Addison, John Lynch, Delaney Bakke.
Main-Lippert, Cook, Shelton, Bradley, Behmer, Newton, Back, Lynch, Addison,
Bakke.
Senior Sprint Cars
Heat 1-Jim Porter, Mike Cook, Bruce Douglas, Richard Terry, Bill Leonard.
Heat 2-Ron Bach, Russell DeBlauw, Curtis Richards, Danny Miller, John
Richards.
Heat 3-John Woodward, Ron Butler, Wiley Miller, Dale Harwood, Oren Prosser Sr.
Main-Bach, Woodward, Porter, Prosser Sr, W Miller, Butler, Rick Lewis, Mark
Chulahoff, Douglas, D Miller, Sammy Iaconis, Terry, Bill Jones, Harwood, J
Richards, Dave Marini, Bob Hedlund, Tim Moon, DeBlauw, Cook, C Richards,
Leonard.
VRA Unwinged 360 Sprint Cars
Heat 1-Mike Knopf, Jake Ford, Ryan Devitt, Brett Butler, Blake Miller.
Heat 2-Clark Templeman III, Kevin Kierce, Kenny Brown, Alex Pruett, Mike
Whitcomb.
Heat 3-Luis Espinoza, Bill Camarillo, Kyle Hancock, Larry Lloyd, Nadine
Keller.
Heat 4-Tony Dighera, Rob Kershaw, Chris Tramel, Rick Gifford, Brandon
Thomson.
B Main-Chris Wakim, B Miller, Tom Stansberry, Steve Chulahoff, Kim Lewis,
Whitcomb, Keller, Joe Henderson, Guy Woodward, B Thomson.
A Main-Templeman, Espinoza, Wakim, Ford, Kierce, Gifford, Dighera, Devitt, B
Miller, Hancock, Butler, Kershaw, Chulahoff, Brown, Tramel, Stansberry,
Camarillo, Knopf, Pruett, Lloyd.
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