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Ventura, CA...May 22......Taking
the lead on lap 16 from front row starter Jordan Hermansader, point leader Rip
Williams wheeled the Sharon Jory entry to a 30 lap USAC/CRA unwinged 410 sprint
car feature win at Ventura Raceway on Saturday night. It was Williams second win
of the year. The 20 feature starters managed to run the entire 30 lap distance
without a single yellow flag. A veteran of 27 years of sprint car action, the 48
year old Williams also qualifies to race in the VRA Senior Sprint Cars and
Ronnie Case gave him a ride in his VRA mount this night. Third starting Steve
Ostling drove the Fischer car to a 2nd place finish ahead of 11th starter Danny
Sheridan in the Warren Dorathy mount. Point runnerup Damian Gardner was saddled
with 16th starting spot, but put on a passing exhibition as he wheeled the
Chaffin mount to 4th ahead of early leader Hermansader and Troy Rutherford. The
Senior Sprint 20 lapper was won by pole starter Jim Porter ahead of 3rd starter
Rick Lewis and fellow second row starter Wiley Miller. Bruce Douglas and John
Woodward rounded out the top five.
Twenty seven cars checked in to race in the first Ventura Raceway visit by the
new USAC/CRA group. The hotly contested time trial session found Gary W Howard
wheeling the Keene entry to quick time at 12.070. Former VRA champion Jimmy
Crawford ranked second at 12.073 and Rutherford ripped off a 12.182. Bobby Cody
ranked fourth at 12.201 and Williams was fifth at 12.207. Tony Jones, Ostling
and Hermansader rounded out the quick 8. Mike Kirby ranked 14th and Gardner
16th. J Hicks beat Howard and Williams in heat 1 while Kirby was the heat two
winner over Jones and Greg Bragg. Rutherford, Sheridan and Ostling ran 1-2-3 in
heat 3 and Gardner captured heat 4 ahead of Hermansader and Dan Hillberg. New
Mexico star Rick Ziehl put the Lancaster entry in the winner's circle for the B
Main ahead of Lightning Sprint superstar David Cardey, Crawford and Alex Pruett.
Crawford's failure to transfer through the heat action allowed 9th quick Brian
Venard to sit on the pole with the 8 car inversion for the 30 lapper. Venard and
Hermansader lined up ahead of Ostling, Jones, Williams, Cody, Rutherford and
Howard. After some track grooming, the 30 lapper got underway and Hermansader
raced toa quick lead in the Alexander car. Working lapped traffic, Williams was
able to take the top spot from Hermansader on lap 16 and Ostling raced his way
into second. Sheridan and Gardner were catching the fan's attention with their
passing clinics as Sheridan came from 11th to finish third and Gardner drove
from the 8th row to 4th. The caution free 30 lapper saw Hermansader salvage
fifth ahead of Rutherford, Kirby, Jones, Howard and Venard. The next four races
on the USAC/CRA schedule are at Perris Auto Speedway and they have a special 50
lapper on May 29. Williams holds a 44 point lead on the tied duo of Gardner and
Kirby. Rutherford is another 13 points back in fourth and Jones rounds out the
top five.
The VRA Senior Sprints are unwinged 360 sprint cars and 25 cars appeared with 23
surviving to start their main event. Ron Bach beat Williams and Dave Marini in
heat 1 while Ron Butler outdueled W Miller and Tim Moon in heat 2. Douglas
captured heat 3 ahead of Lewis and Porter. Porter and Marini had the front row
for the 20 lapper. Williams was scheduled to line up third, but had trouble
keeping the Case car running and stalled forcing him to the rear. Williams
managed to race up to the top ten, but spun on the last lap and finished 16th.
Pole starter Porter picked off the win ahead of second row starters Lewis and W
Miller. Douglas started 6th and finished 4th ahead of 18th starter J Woodward,
Moon, Butler, Mike Cook, Bob Alderman and Dayle Henry.
Ventura Raceway is dark on Memorial Day weekend, but returns with the VRA Sprint
Cars, Senior Sprints, IMCA Modifieds and VRA Modifieds on June 5.
Summary
Senior Sprint Cars
Heat 1-Ron Bach, Rip Williams, Dave Marini, Mike Cook, Chris McArthur.
Heat 2-Ron Butler, Wiley Miller, Tim Moon, Danny Miller, John Richards.
Heat 3-Bruce Douglas, Rick Lewis, Jim Porter, Bob Alderman, Bob Hedlund.
Main-Porter, Lewis, W Miller, Douglas, John Woodward, Moon, Butler, Cook,
Alderman, Dayle Henry, Curtis Richards, McArthur, Jim Stutzman, J Richards,
Marini, Williams, Grady Winkler, Mark Chulahoff, Dale Harwood, Bach, Oren
Prosser Sr, Hedlund, D Miller.
USAC/CRA Unwinged 410 Sprint Cars
Fast Time-Gary W Howard 12.070
Heat 1-J Hicks, Howard, Rip Williams, Brian Venard, Mike Knopf.
Heat 2-Mike Kirby, Tony Jones, Greg Bragg, Chris Wakim, Bill Camarillo.
Heat 3-Troy Rutherford, Danny Sheridan, Steve Ostling, Alan Ballard, Ronnie
Case.
Heat 4-Damian Gardner, Jordan Hermansader, Dan Hillberg, Bobby Cody, David
Cardey.
B Main-Rick Ziehl, Cardey, Jimmy Crawford, Alex Pruett, Tom Stansberry,
Camarillo, Knopf, Mark Heidenreich, Dennis Rodriguez, Case, Nadine Keller.
A Main-Williams, Ostling, Sheridan, Gardner, Hermansader, Rutherford, Kirby,
Jones, Howard, Venard, Crawford, Bragg, Cardey, Hillberg, Ballard, Hicks,
Pruett, Wakim, Cody, Case.
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