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| Racing Scene - By Tim Kennedy |
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Los Angeles, CA. - The annual Ventura County Fair races staged by Ventura
Raceway promoter Jim Naylor are fun events to attend. They occurred on
Wednesday-Thursday nights, August 1-2, the first two days of the 12-day (August 1-12)
fair. Night one had Ventura Racing Assn (VRA) mini dwarfs, VRA junior midgets,
NMRA-TQ midgets, VRA pro and senior dwarf cars and sport compacts, plus a
12-car demolition derby. Night two featured USAC Ford Focus midgets VRA junior FF
midgets, IMCA modifieds and a nine-car demolition derby. VRA Saturday night
racing is set to resume following the fair and will continue until September 29.
An all open-wheel program at the season closer will feature VRA 360 sprints,
USAC midgets, VRA/USAC FF midgets and VRA junior FF midgets. Ventura County Fair, "An Old Fashioned Fair", has the traditional carnival rides, games of chance and skill, food booths, music stage and special promotion days. Entertainment is free with the price of admission to the fair. That included both nights of racing and accounted for the full 3,000 or so capacity grandstands for racing. Musical acts at the Ventura County Fair this year featured country singer Tanya Tucker (Fri. 8/3), REO Speedwagon (Sat. 8/4), Tony Orlando (Tu. 8/7), The Beach Boys (8/7), country singer Jo Dee Messina with country group Sawyer Brown (Wed. 8/8), The Bangles and The Motels (Th. 8/9). A pro cowboy rodeo had center stage Friday-Saturday August 11-12. A five-member R & R band, Skinny Little Twits, provided excellent entertainment on the Pepsi stage in front of tables and chairs at the food court Thursday following the races. Notes from Ventura (Aug. 2): As usual there were no racing programs printed for the two nights of motor-sports at the Ventura County Fair. IMCA modifieds brought an impressive field of 41 cars chasing regional IMCA points. Drivers came from all over the California and Arizona. Regional IMCA V-P Paul Vetter came from his San Joaquin Valley base and announced the four IMCA heat races, two semis and 20-lap IMCA main event. He knew the cars and drivers and gave spectators excellent information about IMCA competitors. One USAC FF midget that competed had for sale flyers posted in the pits. It was the No. 1 Jake Hodges-owned 2004 Beast chassis (ex-No. 4 Klatt Racing car from Indiana). Specifics listed on the flyer follow--excellent condition with lots of spares; car has 10 races and engine has 12 races on it; fresh powder and paint; Duralite rims; Winters rear-end; Lee power steering; won last race out and finished in top three in last three races; spares include rims and tires; ignition parts, torque tubes, front axles and more $15,875 OBO-contact Jake at (805) 217-9436 or jakeinc17@aol.com. Some of the FF midgets saw double-duty in both the USAC FF Series and VRA junior FF series. Renowned open-wheel driver Cory Kruseman, of Ventura, developed a restrictor for the injector to reduce power for the age 13-16 VRA teens. Naylor mentioned that Cory was not present because he was racing in the Midwest with his own team. He had planned 19 races, including Indiana Midget Week events, in 17 days. Midgets that saw action in both USAC FF and VRA junior FF series were: USAC No. 1 Jake Hodges - VRA No. 1 Justin Kierce, 16; USAC No. 88 Aaron Schankerman - VRA No. 88 Jake Swanson; USAC No. 8 Garrett Hansen - VRA No. 8 David Perry. Jr, 14. Have you wondered about the absence of Chris Veach (No. 63) and younger brother Cameron (No. 53) in USAC FF racing this year? The reason, reportedly, is divorce. When parents split, racing equipment becomes part of community property, so the two feature-winning brothers are sidelined. Last year Chris, 21, won two California FF mains (one on dirt at Ventura and one at paved Altamont) and Cameron, 18, won three mains (all at Ventura). Chris lost the dirt championship by one point (754-753) and Cameron finished seventh in FF dirt points. The Livermore-based brothers also both finished in the top ten in 2005 California dirt and paved FF points driving a pair of Stealth chassis for their father Howard. Chris finished second to Robbie Ray (110-106) in the inaugural FF national championship two-race series at the dirt quarter-mile Lima, OH and paved quarter-mile Anderson, IN tracks on September 17-18, 2005. Car Histories: Nick Carlson's white and red No. 9 is the former Steve Lewis No. 9 Beast that Dave Darland raced on dirt tracks. Carlson, from Norwalk, won his first USAC FF feature in the season opener at Ventura on March 17 in his older No. 44 chassis. Garrett Hansen drove the ex-No. 21 Bobby Michnowicz TCR chassis for new owner Wells Racing. Bobby won the Ventura Fair USAC FF midget feature in it last year. Bobby also won three other 2006 features in the car and the 2006 FF dirt track championship. The first outing for the Hansen/Wells combination won the main event. In the VRA Jr. FF event, Perry, Jr. started 12th and finished 11th in Wells' No. 8. VRA FF midget chassis are primarily Spikes or Stealths. The VRA Jr. FF Midget Series started in 2006 by Naylor for youth ages 13-16 had numerous first-time winners. Robby Josett, 15, was the first champion and he has moved on to the USAC FF Midget Series this year and has won two of eight dirt track mains (at Hanford and Ventura) and has also raced well in the USAC FF paved track series. Again this year, the impressive VRA Jr. FF Midget Series has produced many different main event winners. The car count at the fair race was 13. Alex Bowman and Charlie Butcher won 7-lap heat races. Austin Smith led all 20-laps of the VRA Jr. FF feature. NIC FAAS: USAC FF midget dirt track series point leader Nic Faas, of Huntington Beach, will turn 18 on September 29. He is a fourth generation racer who traces his racing lineage back to his great grandfather Leonard Faas, Sr., a midget, sprint car, Silver Crown and Indy Car owner. Leonard, Sr. raced midgets in the 1940s. Nic's father is Jerry Faas. Nic is a second cousin of Cary Faas, of Yorba Linda. Cary raced midgets, CRA and USAC 410 sprint cars and S/C cars from the 1980s to the present time. Nic's great uncle is Leonard Faas, Jr. who owned CRA sprints, red-white-blue USAC midgets, sprints and S/C cars from the 1970s. His Don Edmunds-built King O'Lawn black & gold leaf No. 27 (raced by several feature winners, including Bobby Olivero, Ron Rea & Rick Goudy) is still used at times as a pace car for USAC-CRA main events at Perris Auto Speedway. Five-time CRA sprint car champion Jimmy Oskie or CRA feature winner Buster Venard drive the show car on those occasions for the new owner. Nic began racing at age 7 and has raced in nine different racing classes. He raced quarter midgets from 1997-2003 at tracks such as the recently closed Pomona track. Nic has one national title, ten top five national features, 12 state championships and 33 track records in quarter midgets. At age 16 in the USAC dirt track FF midget series, Nic had two main event victories and finished fourth overall in national points. Nic won his first USAC feature on 10/21/06 at Ventura in the California FF dirt track series with 23-cars present. This year Nic has separate chassis for dirt and paved track events. Both Beast cars use four-cylinder, 175-horsepower Ford Focus engines from Keith Iaia's SCREAM, Inc. in San Miguel, CA. His FF midgets use methanol fuel. In 2007 Nic has three feature triumphs on dirt-at Bakersfield (3/24) and twice at Ventura (4/7 and 5/19) and one victory on pavement at Blythe, CA near the Colorado River (4/28). As of August 12 Nic led USAC FF dirt track points by 99-points (517-418) over Dennis Howell. Nic ranked second in USAC FF paved track points, only 41points behind leader Tim Skoglund (724-683). The Faas team has purchased all of Harlan Willis' No. 45 sprint car stuff to go racing in the USAC-CRA 410 sprint car series next year. Personable Nic will be racing USAC full midgets on paved tracks in 2008 and he also is looking forward to racing in the Midwest. As luck would have it, I sat in the main grandstand at Ventura on August 2 with fellow scribe Norm Bogan and we were a row behind the Faas family. Much of this information about Nic came from that chance meeting. By the way, Norm will be writing for a new magazine about modifieds, so IMCA coverage will be getting more excellent coverage soon. Nic's dad Jerry and 15-year old brother Darek were in the pits helping Nic with car preparation. Nic's girlfriend, a junior at his Edison High alma mater in Huntington Beach, sat in the grandstand with Nic's mom Beth, his 13-year old sister Madison, and 10-year old brother Chad. Daredevil Madison did the bungie-cord jump from a crane at the county fair beyond the backstretch as we all watched her successful plunge. Nic graduated from Edison High in June and will be taking classes at a junior college and then enrolling at Cal State College Long Beach, where retired USAC and Indy 500 driver Pancho Carter graduated. Mom Beth Faas told me about the Faas' recent Ford tow vehicle problem. Following the July 3 USAC FF midget race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway three-eighths mile paved track, their month old 2008 Ford F-450 truck broke down (major radiator problem). They had it towed back to Las Vegas and learned that the radiator part was on back order for local dealerships. Dad Jerry phoned mom Beth at home in Huntington Beach to retrieve their traded in Ford and come to Vegas with it to get them and their race car. They had to get to the Saturday, July 7 USAC FF race in Madera, CA (near Fresno) to remain in the point race. Beth went to Huntington Beach Ford and said she needed their traded in 2006 Ford F-350 and explained the urgency. Staff said they could not in effect loan her the traded in truck. Beth elevated her request to the dealership owner, Otto, and he initially said he couldn't do what she requested. Beth refused to take no for an answer and she got more assertive and persuasive. Otto was smart enough to realize that you never cross a mother coming to the aid of her offspring. Finally, Otto allowed her use their traded in 2006 F-350. Beth drove it to Las Vegas, picked up her husband and son and they made it to Madera on time. Jerry flew to Las Vegas Sunday, August 5 to retrieve their now repaired 2008 truck and drive home. Nic Faas' No. 17 Beast dirt car is the ex-No. 11 Jake Vail car from the 2005 season. His pavement No. 17 Beast chassis is a new 2007 model. With his two separate No. 17 cars Nic won three of the first eight CA USAC FF dirt main events and one of 12 mains on paved tracks. Irwindale Speedway hosted three consecutive USAC FF 35-lap main events (July 28, August 4 and 11) and Nic had some tough luck. He started fifth and finished third (7/28). As fastest qualifier Aug. 4, he started sixth and was in second place on lap 27 when an oil filter gasket broke and he oiled turn two before pulling off the third-mile. He finished 13th in the 16-car field. On August 11, Nic had the ninth best practice time in the first session at noon. He had an engine failure and did not get on the track for the second practice session at 1:00 and also missed the 3:30 p.m USAC group qualifying session. Nic and Jerry borrowed a spare Ford Focus engine from sportsman Ron Sutton, owner of a four-car USAC FF paved track "Winner's Circle" driver development team based in Folsom, CA. Jerry and Nic made the engine change and had to start at the back of the 15-car FF feature. All 15 drivers finished the 35-lap, all-green flag race. Nic passed 11 cars to finish a closing fourth, right behind point leader Skoglund. By the way, sportsman Sutton enjoyed success too. Two of his drivers, Ian Miille, 17, and Mark Atkinson, 16, traded the lead August 11 and finished one-two. One of Sutton's four drivers, Beau DeBard, 19, also won the August 4 FF main event at Irwindale. |
