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Ventura, CA...July 17......Clark
Templeman III used a late race slide job to take the lead from Jimmy Crawford
and he posted his second straight $1000 VRA unwinged 360 sprint car feature win
at Ventura Raceway on Saturday night. Templeman had started on the pole, but
lost the lead to Crawford early in the action. Steve Conrad put on a show coming
from the 8th row to finish the $750 second and Crawford ran third. Crawford
normally races with the unwinged 410 sprint cars and was only making his fifth
VRA start of 2004. Richard McCormick moved around point leader Bruce Douglas
late in the race and got his second VRA Senior Sprint Car feature win in four
appearances in the Sparky Edmonston car. The race ended early when Dayle Henry
flipped violently down the front stretch, but he was unhurt. Richard Terry ran
third. With several teams on hand to practice for the August fair race, the IMCA
Modifieds had a 19 car turnout. Third starting Wes Richardson got his first win
of 2004 as he finished a half lap ahead of runnerup Kathy Pierson. Point leader
Gary Curtis placed third and holds a 12 point lead on Pierson. Front row starter
Brad Long won his second 20 lap pony stock main of 2004 as he fended off a stiff
late race challenge from point leader and defending champion Mike Frazier. Point
runnerup David Peterson ran third.
The VRA sprint cars split 25 cars into four heat races. Ronnie Case beat Bill
Camarillo in heat 1 and Crawford won heat 2 from the pole over fifth starting
Templeman. Kevin Kierce got heat three from third ahead of pole starter Dwight
Cheney. Rob Kershaw also came from third to win heat 4 over Luis Espinoza. The B
Main had 7 drivers chasing four transfers and Chris Wakim won over Nicholas
Lima, Ron Wade and Larry Lloyd. Templeman, Camarillo, Crawford and Kershaw
started at the front of the 20 car field in the 30 lap feature and Templeman
took an early lead. Crawford used an early race slide job to take the lead from
Templeman, but Templeman returned the favor in the final ten laps for the win.
Conrad only managed a fourth in his heat, putting him deep in the pack for the
30 lapper and he used a pass in the last turn to take second from Crawford, who
won $500 for third. Kershaw started fourth and finished fourth with Luis
Espinoza in fifth. Chris Tramel was sixth ahead of Case, Bill Welch and runaway
point leader Tom Stansberry. Stansberry started 9th and finished 9th.
Stansberry's point lead is 1595 over Kershaw and 2285 ahead of Conrad. Welch has
a solid hold on fourth ahead of Wakim and Kierce.
The Senior Sprints returned to action with 22 cars in the heat action and 21
starting their main event that was stopped early at lap 17. Terry came from
fourth to win heat 1 over Bob Hedlund. Pole starter Wiley Miller won heat 2 over
Ron Bach and Oren Prosser Sr. Douglas had another strong night as he won heat
three from the pole over McCormick and Jim Porter. McCormick started 6th and
passed second starter Douglas for the lead just one lap before the race was
called early for Henry's flip on lap 17. Terry ran third ahead of W Miller,
Brett Butler, Dave Marini, Bob Alderman, Bach and Tim Moon. With 1050 points
available each race, Douglas holds just a 355 point lead on W Miller with Bach a
distant third. Bach is 1855 behind the leader and 175 up on Danny Miller.
The visiting cast in the IMCA Modifieds included California State point leader
Bill Saltzman, Bakersfield Speedway point leader Larry Hood and former Western
Region champion Jason Pike from Pahrump NV. Hood came from sixth to win heat 1
over Josh Houghton and Mark Fullerton. Third starter Chris Tonoli won heat 2
over third row starter Saltzman. Pierson lined up 4th in her heat 3 win ahead of
Richardson and Pike. J Houghton and Will Smith had the front row for the 20 lap
feature, but it was third starter Richardson dominating as he won by a half lap
ahead of Pierson. Curtis started 7th and finished third ahead of Jack Parker,
Smith, Donald Houghton, Damon Redman, J Houghton and Bill Waltman. Joe Porche
was a scratch, Hood went out on lap 11 and Pike fell out on lap 16. Saltzman
finished one lap down in 12th. Richardson is third in points, 7 behind Pierson
and now 6 ahead of 14th place finisher Tonoli. Smith climbed to within 10 points
of Tonoli.
The pony stocks split 18 cars into a pair of heat races. Frazier beat Andrew
Greiman in heat 1 and Jim Evans won heat 2 over Peterson and Greg Raap. Long
started outside front row and won his second 20 lap main event ahead of 7th
starting Frazier and sixth starter Peterson. Raap ran fourth ahead of Charles
Utts, Adam McPhail, Jon Mortenson and Jon Everhart. With 220 points available
each race, the point fight remains tight with Frazier just 90 points up on
Peterson, 115 ahead of McPhail and 145 in front of Everhart.
Ventura's July 24th date will include the USAC Midgets, USAC Ford Focus Midgets,
VRA Modifieds and pony stocks. .
Summary
Pony Stocks
Heat 1-Mike Frazier, Andrew Greiman, Tom Fish, Dave Revard, Charles Utts.
Heat 2-Jim Evans, David Peterson, Greg Raap, Brad Long, Adam McPhail.
Main-Long, Frazier, Peterson, Raap, Utts, McPhail, Jon Mortenson, Jon Everhart,
Fish, Joel Chavez, Eric Hedlund, Jesse Farless, Lance McLaughlin, Brent
Camarillo, Greiman, Evans, Paul Johnson.
IMCA Modifieds
Heat 1-Larry Hood, Josh Houghton, Mark Fullerton, Gary Curtis, Ed Shelton.
Heat 2-Chris Tonoli, Bill Saltzman, Damon Redman, Will Smith Bill Waltman.
Heat 3-Kathy Pierson, Wes Richardson, Jason Pike, Jack Parker, Donald Houghton.
Main-Richardson, Pierson, Curtis, Parker, Smith, D Houghton, Redman, J Houghton,
Waltman, Luke Ailken, Brett Lynsky, Saltzman, Pike, Tonoli, Fullerton, Hood,
Shelton, Brad Prows.
VRA Senior Sprint Cars
Heat 1-Richard Terry, Bob Hedlund, Brett Butler, John Richards, Dayle
Henry.
Heat 2-Wiley Miller, Ron Bach, Oren Prosser Sr, Bob Alderman, Mark Chuhaloff.
Heat 3-Bruce Douglas, Richard McCormick, Jim Porter, Danny Miller, Dave Marini.
Main-McCormick, Douglas, Terry, W Miller, Butler, Marini, Alderman, Bach, Tim
Moon, Mike Cook, J Richards, Prosser, Sammy Iaconis, Curtis Richards, Henry,
Grady Winkler, D Miller, Chuhaloff, Dale Harwood, Hedlund, Tony Lema.
Unwinged 360 Sprint Cars
Heat 1-Ronnie Case, Bill Camarillo, Mike Whitcomb, Dennis Rodriguez, Mike
Broome.
Heat 2-Jimmy Crawford, Clark Templeman III, Blake Miller, Mike Knopf, Chris
Wakim.
Heat 3-Kevin Kierce, Dwight Cheney, Chris Tramel, Bill Welch, Oren Prosser
Jr.
Heat 4-Rob Kershaw, Luis Espinoza, Tom Stansberry, Steve Conrad, Ron Wade.
B Main-Wakim, Nicholas Lima, Wade, Larry Lloyd, John Nock, Prosser Jr, Victor
Davis.
A Main-Templeman III, Conrad, Crawford, Kershaw, Espinoza, Tramel, Case, Welch,
Stansberry, B Miller, Whitcomb, Cheney, Kierce, Lloyd, Knopf, Wade, Wakim,
Rodriguez, Lima, Camarillo.
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