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Two Days Of Racing Culminate Bandit/VRA Grand Slam
Series by Norm Bogan |
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Over the past six weeks, racers that normally
travel close to home have gone on the road.
While this has been a trial for many with the outrageous
gasoline prices, “you do what you have to do to go racing”.
Ventura Raceway was the last stop on a four-venue odyssey for
these racers. For the
travelers from central California that have experienced temperatures
near triple digit for much of the summer, a visit to the coast was a
welcome weekend respite. Labor Day weekend traditionally is the end of
summer and marks the return to school for most students.
It is the last chance to enjoy the beach, relax and kick back
before digging into the books.
While this was a racing trip, it also allowed a number of
families the opportunity to have a recreational weekend at the
beach. Some racers
brought motor homes and camping trailers, staying right at the
fairgrounds with beach access only a short distance away.
Sharing the program with the forty-one sprint cars were
thirty-seven Dwarf cars from throughout the western U.S. Friday began with sprint car qualifying,
something foreign to many of these racers, who normally pea-pick for
starting positions. Greg
Taylor collected the fast time at 12.433 seconds.
This qualifying would set the grids for Saturday’s heat
races and this evening’s Agromin Challenge Invitational Main
Event. The top five in
Bandit points and VRA points filled ten positions, with the other
twelve determined by qualifying. Preliminary racing for this evening found the
Dwarf cars competing in four heat races of eight laps each. Jim Ewing, Neil Stinson, Brian Saxton and Mike Grenart were
the heat race winners. The
twenty-car Main Event saw Jim Ewing prevail over Ryan Cottrell, Zack
Hurst, Grenart and Bill Van Praag.
The top ten finishers in this feature would automatically
transfer to the front of the Saturday night feature. The Agromin Challenge Main Event found Dennis Rodriguez and Jimmy Crawford pacing the field. Crawford was definitely the class of the field tonight as his new engine had plenty of horsepower and a lot of nostalgia. The Steve Gresham engine was originally built for Steve’s brother Jim, who was also Crawford’s Crew Chief. Jim was lost in a highway accident, while returning from the 2004 Non-Wing Midwest Tour. With Jim Gresham overseeing the operations from above, Crawford never missed a beat and easily captured the feature. Garrett Hansen claimed the runner up spot, with
Josh Ford, Chris Wakim and Blake Miller (advancing from 21st
starting position) completing the Top Five.
Peter Murphy was announced as the first Bandit/VRA Grand Slam
Champ based on two victories and a second in the first three
outings. Murphy put on
a strong attack for the front spot, with many laps of dicing with
Crawford, until an altercation cause Peter to stop and restart at
the rear of the field. He
came back to finish seventh. Josh Ford was DQ’d after the race for failing
to report to Tech Inspection. This
moved everyone from fourth on back, ahead one position. Many of the teams left their equipment secured
in the pits overnight, so it wasn’t like the Oklahoma Land Rush
when the pit gates opened. Saturday
found the Dwarf cars running three heats for the remaining cars that
finished outside the top ten in Friday’s feature.
Jeff Connors, Neil Stinson and Gilbert Toste were victorious
in the heats. After the
heats the top ten from Friday night ran a Dash to determine the
lineup for the front ten in this evening’s Main Event.
Jimmy Ewing claimed the Dash win.
The Semi events saw Gilbert Toste and Neil Stinson as the
winners with the front seven from each Semi completing the field of
twenty-four cars. Each Sprint Car heat race would transfer the top four cars to the feature, with the balance racing in one of two B-Main Events. Kevin Kierce, Steve Conrad, Greg Porte and Michael Trimble collected the heat race spoils. Each B-Main would transfer three cars to the feature to complete the field at twenty-two entries. Making the transfers from Semi #1 was Peter Murphy, Darren Simas and Ronnie Case. Semi #2 saw Bruce Douglass, Rusty Carlile and Todd Hunsaker advancing. It was now time for the Dwarf Car Western
Regional. A few
altercations and mechanical breakdowns reduced the field, along with
some close in fighting among those still on the track.
At the checkers, Ryan Cottrell came home in front, followed
by Zack Hurst, Jimmy Ewing, Daniel Weger and Toste. The stage was set for the final feature of the 2005 Bandit/VRA Grand Slam. Garrett Hansen sat on the pole alongside Oren Prosser Jr., with Dennis Rodriguez and Jimmy Crawford breathing down their necks. Hansen jumped into the lead with the top eight doing a lot of positioning, most running on the bottom and a few looking for something up top. Crawford found something on the high side, which prompted both Peter Murphy and Derek Buckley to join him. In the meantime, Blake Miller had been riding the inside berm and closed up on Hansen. Hansen and Blake have raced against each other
often in Go-Karts and put on quite a clinic in close, clean racing
as Miller would poke a nose under Garrett only to be shut down.
This went on for a number of laps with neither touching the
other. While the dicing
with the front-runners was on, Crawford flew around the top trying
to overtake them with his momentum, but the youngsters were
undaunted as they would diamond off the turns and launch like rocket
ships down the straightaway. Murphy
was able get under Crawford coming off turn four and assume the
third position. Buckley
ran his patented path up near the wall to finish fifth. Garrett Hansen has run four events in the #15x.
His first outing last season resulted in his first sprint car
win. Later, he lost a
driveline and broke his ankle at Hanford.
Returning to the #15x cockpit for the first time this season,
he claimed the runner-up spot on Friday and his second sprint car
feature win on Saturday. Blake
Miller continues to be a top finisher, seemingly putting a lock on
his nickname, “The Bridesmaid”.
While scoring his only feature win on opening night this
year, he has a pile of second place finishes.
Jimmy Crawford appears to have returned after a trying year,
wrestling with many gremlins in the racecar and also rebounding from
the loss of his respected Crew Chief, Jim Gresham.
Derek Buckley is a rookie this year, but has worked with
several different teams and is not afraid to go up on top and run
against the fence. He
has shown great improvement this year and is definitely a force to
be considered by competitors. Third Place finisher on Saturday was Peter Murphy, the affable Aussie. Originally from Sydney, he now resides in Oakhurst near Yosemite and works for his car owner Tarleton and Sons. Many of the VRA racers had never been exposed to Peter prior to this Grand Slam Series. A number of the VRA racers commented how helpful and open Murphy was as some of the competitors stopped by his car as it was being prepped. Peter, first of all is a warm and friendly person, greeting all his visitors like old friends. He answered technical questions from his fellow competitors and offered advice to help them. He would take them to his car and explain why and how they did different setups on the racecar. Peter Murphy reminds me of Lealand McSpadden. The Tempe Tornado also took time to acknowledge anyone who would stop by and if a fellow racer came to him with a question, he would often take his wrenches and jump on the problem. Lealand once said that he would never mislead a fellow competitor, giving him bogus information. He wanted that racer to be as stable as possible on the racetrack. The Tornado felt he could still beat them with his skills. If you read this Peter, it is definitely meant as a compliment. This program looks as if it will expand next
year. More tracks are
interested in scheduling a race and other clubs are giving
consideration to joining with this group to make rules compatible
among the different organizations.
An indication of the positive approach, was the fact that
each racing team participating was given a survey to complete,
asking teams to voice their desires as far as rules, trying to unify
the various clubs throughout the western United States. It appeared that those who participated this year found the formulas used to be reasonable and achievable. There were minimum problems with someone questioning the format or the rules. The organizers also appear to be willing to work with the racers as well as the various sanctioning bodies and racing venues. The Promoter’s Workshop this winter could produce some interesting outlooks for the 2006 season. |
