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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
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VENTURA
RACEWAY HOSTS 2004 WAGSDASH
by Norm Bogan |
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It was WAGSDASH Day, which meant an early start for race teams and
fans, as this was a special Saturday. With festivities beginning at noon, the race
teams towed to the Seaside Park venue early only to find a number of
dedicated fans already there and busy with preparations for the
day’s events. While one group was setting up the many items for bids on the
silent auction, others were staging the propane heater for the chili
pots, the barbeque for the hot dogs and all the trimmings, which
make up the Chili Feed. Early arrivers took time to peruse the auction merchandise and
raffle items such as the “Pocket Rocket”.
Others provided additional items to help build a purse to be
paid out during the evening’s activities. At high noon, attendees queued up to sample this year’s version
of Mrs. Wags Chili, while adding a hot dog or two, some chips and a
cold drink. During
this time, search parties were unearthing race drivers hiding in the
back of haulers, trying to go unnoticed by the deputies, who were
issued handcuffs to capture the more incorrigible drivers and bring
them to justice, otherwise known as the Sexy Driver Contest.
Being worthy competitors, these usually meek individuals,
unable to blame the ploys of alcohol, flaunted their bodies to gain
the crown for this year. Well,
there has been a kink added with lady driver, Nadine Keller claiming
the title over the hairy-legged set. We have seen some outstanding performances by race crews on red
flag conditions during the season, but the Pit Crew Race, found the
forth generation Gardner family taking the 1986 & 87 CRA
Champion, Brad Noffsinger to a quick time of about 45 seconds to
change a shock and a right rear tire on Nadine Keller’s second
car. So, as the crowd
dined on gourmet chili and “charred-broiled” hot dogs, while
enjoying the entertainment, race teams were busy in the pits
preparing for the evening of racing. Wheel packing and hot laps were underway before five p.m.,
followed by qualifying twenty-nine USAC/CRA racecars. The twenty-four VRA Senior racers do a pill pick as opposed
to qualifying and soon the grids for the heat races were set. There were three VRA Senior heats with Dale Harwood, Danny Miller
and Wiley Miller claiming checkers for each one. Everyone
would transfer to tonight’s A-Main.
Four USAC/CRA heats followed, with Steve Ostling, Mike Kirby,
Ronnie Case and Greg Bragg picking up the victories. The first of the special WAGSDASH events was the “Little Dawg
Dash” with four cars going five laps for $2500. The four entrants were drawn from the twenty-one names of
drivers, who had received Wagbucks during the season. The lucky entrants were Danny Sheridan, David Cardey, Ronnie
Case and David Sinsley. It
appeared the Sheridan would sew up victory, until Cardey rooted
under him, with Sheridan spinning.
Cardey captured the $1000 prize, with Case in second with
$750, Sinsley took home $500 and Sheridan ended up with $250. Now it was time for VRA Senior A-Main.
The Miller family continued their dominance with Danny
winning and brother Wiley finishing second.
Bob Alderman, Oren Prosser Sr., and Jim Porter, nursing a
seven-cylinder engine, completed the top five.
A couple of good outings for racers coming from back in the
pack, were Tony Lima advancing from 14th to 6th
and Sammy Iaconis, who came from 24th to 13th. The “Big Dawg Dash” was up next with the top six in points
starting inverted and racing eight laps for a $3000 purse.
Two of the top six did not run, Troy Rutherford was not
entered and Rip Williams also passed.
This added the 7th and 8th place cars
to the field. The
results had Tony Jones collecting $1100 for the victory, Steve
Ostling $800 for second, Bobby Cody with $500, Damion Gardner
collected $300, Mike Kirby claimed $200 and Greg Bragg picked up
$100. As the USAC/CRA B-Main staged on the track, spots appeared before
the bright lights as liquid sunshine appeared. The cars made a number of laps trying to keep the track
surface in working condition, however, as the green fell and the
cars raced into turn one, it was obvious that the clay was way too
slippery and immediately the yellow came out and soon the B-Main was
cancelled. Since it was only about 8:30, the track preparation staff decided
to do their best to bring the racing surface back to suitable
conditions. Since this
race was contributing to the season long points race and the delay
was caused by Mother Nature, the Seaside Park officials opted to
overlook the 10 P. M. curfew in order to complete the evening’s
entertainment. After a valiant effort by the track crew, sprint cars began to
appear on the track, with the front five starters from the B-Main,
added to the rear of the field.
Several of the competitors had already loaded up and left the
facility, assuming that the race had been rained out.
Additional cars from the B-Main were added to fill the
twenty-car field. Mike
Kirby had suffered driveline problems in his racecar and moved into
the Dan Hillberg #82 to collect the main event points. The A-Main cars lined up and the green flag flew.
Rip Williams started on the outside pole and took the point
immediately. Rip
maintained his front running position, while being chased by Mike
Spencer and Damion Gardner. On
lap 15, there was an altercation, causing Greg Bragg to tip over and
catch on fire. With the
race under red flag conditions and the drizzles returning, the
checkers came out ending what had started early as a festive
occasion and ended like many shows over the years, “called for
rain”! Williams gained the normal CRA purse of $2500, plus an
additional $2500 from the WAGSDASH coffers.
The main event did get run and the points were allotted
toward the championship. Mike
Kirby took his borrowed ride to a tenth place finish, keeping him in
the heat of the point race. Ronnie
Case was named the WAGSDASH Champion as the top finishing Low-Buck
racer in the feature and was rewarded with a $2500 check, while Alan
Ballard received the “Lafond Jar of Change” ($783.12) for the
Low-Buck Hard Charger in the feature.
For the hardcore fans they put in about twelve hours at the
track, with the kickoff of the Chili Feed at noon and progressing
through the night, with the final rewards paid out near the midnight
hour. While the rain
caused many to endure hardships, they held out in support of Jim
Naylor, Cliff Morgan and all the Ventura Raceway crew, being
rewarded with an abbreviated feature, highlighting some outstanding
racing. |
