|
Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
|
A DELICIOUS SPRINT CAR MENU AT VENTURA RACEWAY
by Norm Bogan |
|
|
|
Nearly each week, sprint cars appear on the
program at Ventura Raceway, running either the VRA 360 Pro or Senior
class or both. On three
Saturday evenings during the racing season, the USAC/CRA 410
sprinters bring their show to Ventura County.
September 10th was the second venture for these
410 racers this year as thirty-five cars were on hand to entertain
the beach folks. Joining
them was a somewhat slim field of thirteen VRA Senior sprint cars
for the evening. USAC/CRA came in as the high dollar New York
Steak dinner, while the VRA Boys represented the Blue Plate Special
with a senior discount. At
this restaurant, anything on the menu is tasty!
The same could be said for the racing as the good crowd of
fans got to witness some outstanding competition from both camps
throughout the night. One of the sprint car masters at Ventura is Mike Kirby and he
once again set the pace with a quick time of 12.076 seconds on the
fast little bullring. The
VRA Senior group passed on qualifying and established their line up
through a pill pick. A number of the regular VRA Pro racers stepped
up to race against the USAC visitors, with most running their
regular 360 steeds. Among
those joining the field tonight were Steve Conrad, Wes Richardson,
Kevin Kierce and Shawn Kautz with Kevin Mahoney and Ron Tjaarda in
Cory Kruseman school cars. Tjaarda
was introduced to the task of qualifying and biked the car in turn
four, doing a nasty flip. Ron
walked away, but the damaged racecar was towed back to the pits,
done for the night. The VRA Senior drivers participated in two heats with Wiley Miller and Tim Moon claiming the victories. The 410 cars ran four heats with Greg Bragg besting R.J. Johnson in a race long dice in the first heat. Rodney Argo had his strong running Ford powered sprinter dialed in and easily won the second heat. The third heat found heavy hitters like Kruseman, Wilson, Spencer, Crawford and Gardner all vying for transfers. Kruseman battled early with Wilson, but emerged in front. The fourth heat saw Tony Jones charge from sixth to the point and hold off all challengers. The Main Event for the VRA cars saw Bruce
Douglass start on the pole and hold off all the others to score his
first feature win. Douglass
is a unique racer, who lives nearby with a successful business.
He is an avid surfer and participates in a number of
competitions right across the street from the raceway, until trading
his wet suit for a fire suit and saddling up in one of the Cory
Kruseman school cars. Bruce has raced in different disciplines over the years, but
prefers competition close to home.
He says that being able to work out the yearlong rental
agreement with Kruseman allows him to step into a well-prepared car
and go racing for fun. It
is less time consuming with his busy schedule and provides a first
class ride. The USAC/CRA Semi was loaded with many heavy
hitters, who missed the transfer from their heats.
Among those running in this “last chance” race were Mike
Kirby, Damion Gardner, Steve Ostling, Alan Ballard and Jordan
Hermansader. Ostling
collected the spoils, followed by Kirby, Ballard and Gardner all
transferring to the 30-lap feature. During the intermission for some track
grooming, fans queued up at the concession stand for some hot coffee
or cocoa, as the gentle ocean breeze created a chill in the stands. The final race of the evening was the USAC/CRA
Main Event with twenty starters led by the front row of Rodney Argo
and Josh Ford. As Argo
jumped into the lead, Tom Stansberry and R.J. Johnson tangled with
R.J.’s racer perched on the hood of Tom’s steed.
Both cars suffered some broken parts and were towed to the
pits, finished for the night. Kruseman
was on a charge from his fourth row starting position and by lap
four had upstaged Argo as the leader.
In close pursuit of the Kruser were the Smiley Twins of
Rickie Gaunt and Charles Davis Jr. Josh Ford appeared to have something break in his steering
while in the mix with the others up front.
Ford’s car nearly went into the turn four wall until making
a sharp left turn across the track and safely into the infield. After a couple of laps in battle with Gaunt and Davis, early
leader, Argo pulled into infield. Kruseman kept the lead for the balance of the event, sometimes stretching out to a comfortable lead before Davis and Gaunt caught up. Rip Williams ran a steady race staying near the front, but never challenging for the lead. With Damion Gardner having an uncharacteristic night of running back in the pack, Rip was able to move eleven points back in front of the Demon for the Championship chase. At the checkers, the popular hometown boy,
Kruseman claimed the top of the podium.
Davis finished second, which was like a victory for him.
Charles has been the victim of much bad luck at Ventura over the
years, so he was elated to gain the high finish and roll the racecar
into the trailer unscathed. Gaunt followed his teammate to a third place finish.
The always jovial, Super Rickie claimed if he could have
caught his buddy, “Kruserman”, he would have crashed him for the
win. Rip Williams collected another top five finish, as consistency
has kept the veteran atop the standings nearly all year. Rip’s main competition, Damion Gardner had an off night,
finishing eighth, never displaying his normal “slashing &
dashing” driving style. Steve
Ostling, Mike Spencer and Tony Jones finished fifth, sixth and
seventh. Well, the main course was outstanding, but what
was for dessert? Well,
the fans were able to view some of the best traditional sprint car
drivers in the country, just out for a Saturday Night Cruise.
All that was missing was the Hot Fudge Sundae! |
