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| TAYLOR $1000 WINNER AS
VENTURA FINALLY BEATS RAIN by Gary Jacob |
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Wingless 360 Sprint Cars, Midgets, Ford Focus Midgets and Pony Stocks |
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Ventura, CA...April 8...After having their 2006 season opener delayed by
rain for several weekends, Ventura Raceway opened with a big five division show
on Saturday ngith. After earlier winning his heat race from the pole, Greg
Taylor drove to a $1000 win in the 25 lap VRA wingless 360 sprint car feature
from third starting. Jimmy Crawford put on a show as he battled from 9th to get
the $750 runnerup money and front row starter Troy Rutherford was a $500 third.
Rounding out the top five were fourth row starter Steve Conrad and pole starter
Joe Henderson. With over 100 cars in the five classes, all the feature events
saw their laps cut to beat curfew. The USAC Western States Midget feature was
originally cut from 30 laps back to 25 but further shortened to 20 rounds while
they were on the tight ¼ mile clay oval. Third starting Garrett Hansen won the
USAC Midget feature ahead of Arizona invader Jerry Coons Jr and Tyler Brown.
Fast timer Jerome Rodela ran fourth and Michael Lewis protected his point lead
with a 7th. The Ford Focus Midgets had their main event shortened to 14 laps and
second ranked Keith Janca beat former outlaw kart star Quentin Crye from Chico
for the win. Janca is a former California Lightning Sprint ace. Point leading
Chris Veach was third and will bring a 7 point lead over Janca into their next
race which is back here in Ventura on April 22. Because of the potential curfew
problems, the pony stock feature was run at the end of the night and heat winner
Jack Hoyt won that 15 lapper from fifth starting as star Andrew Greiman had to
come from the 7th row to get second. Steve Klingberg ran third from third and
pole starter Jim Evans was fourth. The track has started a new Junior Ford Focus
Midget program for young racers between 13 and 16 years old. Dakota Kershaw won
the first 15 lap feature ever for the class as modified midget veteran Robby
Josett ran second in a five car field. With several of the senior sprint car teams joining the action, the VRA wingless 360 sprint cars fielded a 40 car turnout. They were divided into four heat races with the top four finishers in each moving into the scheduled 30 lap A Main. San Jose's Michael Trimble closed 2005 as a track regular and he returned to win heat 1 from the pole over Joe Henderson and sixth starter Angel Figueroa. Rob Kershaw turned an outside front row start into a win in heat 2 over third starting Conrad and the son-father team of Brandon and Jim Thomson. Former IMCA Modified star Wes Richardson showed steady improvement in 2005 and he opened 2006 with a bang as he captured heat 3 from third starting. Pole starter Ross Millar was second ahead of 8th starter Crawford. Taylor had the pole for heat 4 and he fended off the challenges of 7th starting Rutherford and 8th starter Bill Camarillo for that win. A pair of time shortened 5 lap B Mains transferred just two cars each into the back two rows of the 20 car A Main. Chris Wakim won the first B Main ahead of Bob Alderman as Tom Schneider and former midget star Danny Stratton just missed. Derek Buckley caught fire in his heat to end his night and Richard Terry, Clark Templeman III and Jeff Culver were all scratches from the first B Main. Senior star Bruce Douglas and former track champion Kevin Kierce missed the transfer out of the second B Main as they ran 3-4 behind winner Tom Harper and runnerup Errol Sack. Dirt Modified star Donald Houghton made his wingless sprint car debut with a sixth in the second B Main. The field was now set for the time shortened 25 lap A Main with Henderson and Rutherford sharing the front row ahead of Taylor, Trimble, R Kershaw and Richardson. Both R Kershaw and B Thomson were out on lap 1 and they were joined by Trimble and Oren Prosser Jr before midway. Sack was the final dropout on lap 17. Henderson led early before Rutherford took command. Taylor used a slide job to take second from Henderson and set his sights on Rutherford. Taylor is finally able to pull his winning pass on Rutherford and then Crawford moved to an extreme low line to race into second. Rutherford salvaged third ahead of Conrad, Henderson, Bill Camarillo, Luis Espinoza, Tom Hendricks, Wakim and Harper. Alderman, J Thomson and Millar also finished lead lap. Rodela was the fastest in a 24 car USAC Western States Midget field at 12.159. Coons drives for the potent Burkhardt team from Phoenix and he was second quick at 12.299. Lewis put his Western Speed machine in third at 12.378 and Chris Rahe ranked fourth ahead of Hansen, Brown and Danny Ebberts. Josh Lakatos won the first heat over Rodela and female racer Randi Pankratz. Rahe's night ended as his mount broke. Scott Pierovich beat Central California stars Dallen McKenney and Greg Bragg in heat 2. Brown outraced another female racer Shannon McQueen in heat 3 as 2005 Ford Focus Midget star Chase Barber ran third. Ron Bach broke in this event and Lewis was the B Main victor over Hansen, Matt Mitchell and Johnny Rodriguez. Ebberts led the first lap of the A Main before Hansen took command. Hansen was never headed in the 19 remaining laps. Coons ran second ahead of Brown, Rodela, Rodriguez, Pierovich and Lewis as only those 7 cars finished the race. Lakatos had been sidelined before a lap was scored. Ebberts only lasted two laps and the trio of Barber, Rick Hendrix and McKenney were out on lap 5. A five car incident further shortened the field on lap 8 with Alex Pruett, McQueen, Pankratz, Matt Streeter and Steve Davis done. Finally, Mitchell, Garratt Boyden and Bragg were all done on lap 12. Lewis holds a 34 point lead over Brown headed to an April 22 race at Stockton. Mitchell is 17 points back of Brown and 7 ahead of Coons. Twenty five Ford Focus Midgets checked in but both Mike Collins and James Fryslie missed their heat races. Both tagged the B Main. Crye won the opening heat race over Janca and Chris Veach. Brett Engstrom beat double division R Kershaw and Cody Williams in heat 2. Nick Carlson outraced Jake Vail and Bobby Michnowicz in heat 3. Ageless J R Williams from Carson City NV won the short B Main ahead of Dennis Howell and Collins. Twenty cars started the shortened feature and the trio of Keith Iaia, Aaron Schankerman and Howell were all eliminated on the first couple laps. Janca was a wire to wire winner as he beat Crye, Chris Veach, Vail, R Kershaw, Carlson, Michnowicz, Engstrom, Gordy Edwards and Charlie Holmes. Chris Veach is just 7 ahead of Janca and 8 in front of Michnowicz. Carlson is just 2 behind Michnowicz and 11 ahead of Engstrom. Fifteen pony stocks were divided into two heat races. Mike Frazier won the opening heat over Brad Long and Paul Johnson, but scratched from the feature along with John Jay. Hoyt beat Klingberg and Randal Dougan in heat 2. The top 8 cars were on the lead lap in the 15 lap main event with Hoyt winning ahead of Greiman, Klingberg, Jim Evans, Jon Everhart, Johnson, Dougan and Joe Weaver. Josett beat Jonathon Henry in the Junior Ford Focus Midget heat race, but it was third place heat finisher D Kershaw getting the feature win over Josett, Henry, Dustin Petty and Justin Kierce. Despite the many lost weekends, Ventura will still be dark on Easter Weekend and return on April 22 with the wingless 360 sprints, senior sprints, IMCA Modifieds and both the Ford Focus Midgets and the Junior version of this class. Summary Junior Ford Focus Midget Heat-Robby Josett, Jonathon Henry, Dakota Kershaw, Dustin Petty, Justin Kierce. Main-Kershaw, Josett, Henry, Petty, Kierce. Pony Stock Heat 1-Mike Frazier, Brad Long, Paul Johnson, Jerrod Twomey, Jon Everhart. Heat 2-Jack Hoyt, Steve Klingberg, Randal Dougan, Jim Evans, Martin Nettring. Main-Hoyt, Andrew Greiman, Klingberg, Evans, Everhart, Johnson, Dougan, Joe Weaver, Twomey, Nettring, Lisa Brokett, Long, Jeff Houghton. Ford Focus Midget Heat 1-Quentin Crye, Keith Janca, Chris Veach, Bobby Owens, Cameron Veach. Heat 2-Brett Engstrom, Rob Kershaw, Cody Williams, Joseph Fabozzi, Keith Iaia. Heat 3-Nick Carlson, Jake Vail, Bobby Michnowicz, Gordy Edwards, Charlie Holmes. B Main-J R Williams, Dennis Howell, Mike Collins, Ricky Kirkbride, Brian Camarillo, Robby Hawks, James Fryslie, John Nickel Jr, Tom Fish. A Main-Janca, Crye, Chris Veach, Vail, R Kershaw, Carlson, Michnowicz, Engstrom, Edwards, Holmes, Cameron Veach, Owens, J Williams, C Williams, Kirkbride, Fabozzi, Collins, Iaia, Aaron Schankerman, Howell. USAC Midget Fast Time-Jerome Rodela 12.1598 Heat 1-Josh Lakatos, Rodela, Randi Pankratz, Danny Ebberts, Jimmy Voitel. Heat 2-Scott Pierovich, Dallen McKenney, Greg Bragg, Jerry Coons Jr, Johnny Rodriguez. Heat 3-Tyler Brown, Shannon McQueen, Chase Barber, Garratt Boyden, Michael Lewis. B Main-Lewis, Garrett Hansen, Matt Mitchell, Rodriguez, Matt Streeter, Rick Hendrix, Alex Pruett, Steve Davis, Voitel. A Main-Hansen, Coons, Brown, Rodela, Rodriguez, Pierovich, Lewis, Mitchell, Boyden, Bragg, Pruett, McQueen, Pankratz, Streeter, Davis, Barber, Hendrix, McKenney, Ebberts, Lakatos. Wingless 360 Sprint Car Heat 1-Michael Trimble, Joe Henderson, Angel
Figueroa, Luis Espinoza, Chris Wakim. Heat 2-Rob Kershaw, Steve Conrad, Brandon
Thomson, Jim Thomson, Tim Moon. Heat 3-Wes Richardson, Ross Millar, Jimmy
Crawford, Tom Hendricks, Dennis Rodriguez. Heat 4-Greg Taylor, Troy Rutherford,
Bill Camarillo, Oren Prosser Jr, Tom Harper. 1st B Main-Chris Wakim, Bob
Alderman, Tom Schneider, Danny Stratton, Ty Schlender, Rodriguez, Cody Kershaw,
Brian Camarillo, Victor Davis. 2nd B Main-Harper, Errol Sack, Bruce Douglas,
Kevin Kierce, Tony Everhart, Donald Houghton, Moon, Heidi Tresler, John Nock,
Ron Tjaarda. A Main-Taylor, Crawford, Rutherford, Conrad, Henderson, Bill
Camarillo, Espinoza, Hendricks, Wakim, Harper, Alderman, J Thomson, Millar,
Figueroa, Richardson, Sack, Trimble, Prosser Jr, R Kershaw, B Thomson. |
