VENTURA, CA, OCTOBER 18, 2003 - Ventura Raceway is the ultimate sprint car
bullring, so, it seems only fitting that "Cowboy" Tony Jones would
dominate the final NAPA Auto Parts / Auto Trader Magazines SCRA race of the
season at Jim Naylor's Seaside Park.
Quick out of the chute, Jones starting the evening by riding Johnny Vermeer's
Ferreira Dairy #2 to the Sander Engineering Fast Time Award. Jones would
end the night by roping and hog-tying his second straight 30-lap SCRA main
event.
"I love this place. It's real fast, with lots of close racing.
It's one fun race track to drive, I just hope it's around for as long as I'm
racing because I couldn't go a year without racing at Ventura. I just wish
we raced here more," Jones said, after posting his second career win at
Ventura.
Nearly perfect on the night, Jones' quest for a program sweep ended with a
runner-up finish in his heat race to Rip Williams. For Williams, it was
his 15th heat win of the year, which broke his own 2001 record for heat wins in
a season. Charging from the sixth starting spot in the six-lap JE Pistons
Dash, Jones came-up just short of preventing Richard Griffin from winning his
series-high sixth dash on the year.
Driving the Ron Chaffin / Arizona Race Mart #50 Jon Boy, Griffin comfortably led
the 20-car field into the first turn at the start. Jones bobbled entering
the second corner allowing Troy Rutherford to slip ahead of him for second
place. Immediately finding the bottom groove to his liking, Rutherford
hugged the infield berm and muscled the Mark Preistley / Roy Miller Freightlines
#7 Kunz into the lead entering turn three.
Griffin took the lead back during the second lap only to have Rutherford launch
past him exiting turn two on the following circuit. With Jones
optimistically eyeing their battle, Griffin moved down from the cushion just
long enough to dart by Rutherford on the bottom of turn two.
Rutherford skated wide exiting turn four allowing Jones to jump into the second
spot on the eighth lap. The first caution flag of the race came out one
lap later after Rodney Argo spun to a stop in turn two. Fifth place Bobby
Graham retired during the yellow flag, which moved Damion Gardner, who started
13th, into the fifth position for the restart.
Rutherford pulled back into second when racing resumed and had just taken the
lead from Griffin on lap ten when the yellow flag flew for Richard McCormick,
who began to slow with rear suspension damage. Griffin reassumed the lead
for the restart and felt a bumping from Rutherford coming down for the green
flag. Jones took advantage of the contact and jumped into the second
position.
With ten laps to go and Griffin in control of the race, a three-car dogfight
between Jones, Rutherford and Gardner had the fans on the edge of their seats.
Rutherford seemingly lit a fire under Jones after he briefly dropped him
back to third. Jones responded by passing Rutherford back coming down to
complete lap 21. Carrying more speed than the leader along the
backstraight, Jones proceeded to give Griffin one of his monster slide jobs
entering turn three.
"We were fighting Rutherford and Griffin, and Gardner stuck his nose in
there. I don't think I did anything out of the ordinary that lap, I could
just feel that the fuel load had gone down," Jones later recalled of his
race-winning pass. "As soon as I got out front I wanted to pass as
many lapped cars as fast as I could just in case we had another yellow
flag."
Because of all the previous caution flags, Jones only had to pass two cars
during the remainder of the race, but, in typical Tony Jones fashion, it was
spectacular. Trapped behind the two lapped cars as they battled
side-by-side three laps from the finish, Jones secured his 16th career SCRA win
by sliding between the two cars entering turn three.
"You can't let up at Ventura," Jones said passionately, after leading
Griffin, Rutherford, Gardner and rookie sensation Josh Ford across the finish
line. "If I would have followed those guys for a quarter of a lap, the
guys behind me would have gobbled me up and smoked me. Getting past those
guys really sealed the deal."
After the completion of the race, the 13th Annual Wagsdash took the track for
30-laps of sprint car action. As usual, Ken Wagner's invitation race
provided its share of thrills, spills and passing. Sixteen year-old Alan
Ballard started seventh and grabbed the $2,500 payday after taking the lead from
Mel Murphy on the fourth lap.
Jordan Hermansader started 16th and finished second ahead of 2001 Wagsdash
winner J Hicks, who started 18th. Charles Davis, Jr. and Mike Spencer each
began the race in the tenth row and finished fourth and fifth respectively.
SCRA RACE #33 - VENTURA RACEWAY, VENTURA, CA
Date of Race: 10/18/03
SANDER ENGINEERING TIME TRIALS
1. Tony Jones, Orange CA, Vermeer 2, 11.890 2. Mike English, Norwalk CA,
Sertich 92, 11.966 3. Steve Ostling, Corona CA.,Fischer Mtrspts 29, 12.081
4. Jordan Hermansader, Long Beach CA, Ferro 91, 12.105 5. Levi Jones,
Olney IL. Crossno 38, 12.117 6. John Scott, Pittsboro IN, Scott Mtrsprts
83, 12.133 7. Richard Griffin, Silver City NM.,Chaffin 50, 12.150 8.
Troy Rutherford, Ojai CA, Priestley 7, 12.165 9. Brian Venard, Irvine CA,
Venard, 47, 12.202 10. Alan Ballard, (R) Bakersfield CA, Ballard 97,
12.333 11. Bobby Graham, Riverside CA, Lancaster 14, 12.336 12. Josh
Ford, (R) Camarillo CA, Willis/Ford 54, 12.374 13. Richard McCormick, Agua
Dulce, CA, Kautz 27K, 12.376 14. Damion Gardner, Concord CA, Willis
45, 12.387 15. Mike Kirby, Torrance CA, Alexander 4, 12.387 16. Seth
Wilson, (R) San Clemente CA, Racing Optics 17, 12.400 17. Rip Williams,
Yorba Linda CA, Jory 3, 12.451 18. Verne Sweeney, Lomita CA, Sweeney 98,
12.459 19. Dan Hillberg, Whittier CA, Hillberg 82, 12.459 20. Steve
Conrad, Agua Dulce CA, Wells 15W , 12.479 21. Kyle Hancock, Ventura CA,
Bach 49K, 12.499 22. Rodney Argo, El Segundo CA, Argo 19, 12.511 23.
Rickie Gaunt, Torrance CA, Smiley 2A, 12.513 24. Marc Hart, Ventura CA,
Hart 15, 12.535 25. Mike Spencer, Temecula CA, Engstrom 44, 12.548
26. Charles Davis, Jr., Buckeye AZ, Davis 94, 12.552 27. Chris Tramel,
Ventura CA, Tramel 77, 12.560
28. Steve Venard, Silverado CA, Glover 49, 12.591 29. Ron DiDonato,
Riverside CA, DiDonato 57, 12.634 30. Bobby Cody, Costa Mesa CA, Cody
Racing 41, 12.637 31. Duane Marcum, Fresno CA, Ruth 25, 12.638 32.
Greg Taylor, Ojai CA, Taylor 7T, 12.671 33. Greg Bragg, (R) Visalia CA,
Pratt 12, 12.671 34. Jake Ford, Mission Oaks CA, Ford Bros. 72, 12.690
35. Bill Camarillo, Ventura CA, Camarillo 40C, 12.699 36. Mark
Heidenreich, Upland CA, Heidenreich 22, 12.834 37. Josh Wise, Riverside
CA, Sala 19S, 12.835 38. Mel Murphy, Riverside CA, Murphy 62, 12.853
39. Jimmy Crawford, (R) Ventura CA, Crawford 18, 12.880 40. Lewis
Espinoza, West Hills CA, Espinoza 09, 12.905 41. Mike Hess, Agora CA, Hess
11X, 13.047 42. Steve Chubaloff, Camarillo CA, Camland Mtrspts, 5C, 13.184
43. Mark Chuhaloff, Ventura CA, Camland Mtspts 10C, 13.215 44. Cal Smith,
Montclair CA, Pratt. 39, 13.367 45. J Hicks, Torrance CA, Miller 66, No
Time 46. Cory Kruseman, Ventura CA, Stewart 21, No Time.
C FEATURE
1. Jimmy Crawford. 2. Josh Wise. 3. Jake Ford. 4. Bill Camarillo. 5. Mark
Heidenreich, 6. Lewis Espinoza, Mel Murphy, 8. Mike Hess. 9. Steve Chuhaloff.
10. Cal Smith.
SO-CAL PERFORMANCE HEAT 1
1. Rip Williams, 2. Tony Jones, 3. Richard McCormick, 4. Levi Jones, 5. Brian
Venard, 6. Kyle Hancock, 7. Charles Davis, Jr, 8. Jimmy Crawford, 9. Bobby Cody,
SHAVER ENGINES HEAT 2
1. Rodney Argo, 2. Damion Gardner, 3. Alan Ballard, 4. Verne Sweeney, 5. John
Scott, 6. Chris Tramel, 7. Josh Wise, 8. Mike English, 9. Duane Marcum,
SPIN TECH MUFFLERS HEAT 3
1. Richard Griffin, 2. Marc Hart, 3. Mike Kirby, 4. Bobby Graham, 5. Dan
Hillberg, 6. Steve Ostling, 7. Steve Venard, 8. Greg Taylor, 9. Jake Ford,
STINGER CHASSIS HEAT 4
1. Josh Ford, 2. Troy Rutherford, 3. Jordan Hermansader, 4. Greg Bragg, 5. Steve
Conrad, 6. Mike Spencer, 7. Bill Camarillo, 8. Seth Wilson, 9. Ron DiDonato,
JE PISTONS DASH
1. Richard Griffin, 2. Tony Jones. 3. Troy Rutherford. 4, Josh Ford. 5. Bobby
Graham. 6. Levi Jones. 7. Alan Ballard. 8. Jordan Hermansader.
SIMPSON B FEATURE
1. Steve Ostling. 2. John Scott. 3. Mike English. 4. Charles Davis, Jr. 5. Seth
Wilson. 6. Brian Venard. 7. Dan Hillberg. 8. Duane Marcum. 9. Steve Conrad. 10.
Josh Wise. 11. Mike Spencer. 12. Kyle Hancock. 13. Steve Venard. 14. Bill
Camarillo. 15. Ron DiDonato, 16. Jake Ford. 17. Chris Tramel, 18.
Greg Taylor, 19. Bobby Cody.
A FEATURE (30 Laps)
1. Tony Jones. 2. Richard Griffin. 3, Damion Gardner. 4. Troy Rutherford. 5.
Josh Ford. 6. Mike Kirby. 7. Mike English. 8. John Scott. 9. Levi Jones. 10. Steve
Ostling. 11, Rip Williams. 12, Charles Davis, Jr. 13. Rodney Argo. 14. Greg
Bragg. 15. Marc Hart, 16. Alan Ballard. 17. Verne Sweeney. 18. Richard
McCormick. 19. Bobby Graham. 20. Jordan Hermansader.
Laps Led: Rutherford 1, Griffin 2, Rutherford 3-6, Griffin 7-21, T. Jones
22-30.
WAGSDASH (30 laps)
1. Alan Ballard, 2. Jordan Hermansader, 3. J Hicks, 4. Charles Davis Jr., 5.
Mike Spencer, 6. Greg Bragg, 7. Brian Venard, 8. Danny Sheridan, 9. Will
Perkins, 10. Seth Wilson, 11. Cal Smith, 12. Jimmy Crawford, 13. Steve Venard,
14. Ronnie Case, 15. Mel Murphy, 16. Chris Tramel, 17. Duane Marcum, 18. Dan
Hilberg, 19. Mark Heidenreich, 20. Gary W. Howard.
DIVISION: SCRA DRIVERS
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CAR NAME
HOMETOWN
STARTS POINTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. 50 Richard Griffin Silver City NM 32
2015
2. 7 Troy Rutherford Ojai CA 32 1877
3. 45 Damion Gardner Concord CA 32
1846
4. 3 Rip Williams Yorba
Linda CA 33 1682
5. 44 Mike Spencer Temecula CA
31 1199
6. 29 Steve Ostling Corona CA
23 1197
7. 2 Tony Jones Orange CA
25 1066
8. 2A Rickie Gaunt Torrance CA
22 1040
9. 54 Josh Ford (R) Camarillo CA
33 1010
10. 92 Mike English Norwalk CA
27 1004
11. 21 Cory Kruseman Ventura CA 18
868
12. 38 Levi Jones Olney IL 19
850
13. 99 Adam Mitchell Escondido CA
26 823
14. 97 Alan Ballard (R) Bakersfield
CA 33 778
15. 94 Charles Davis, Jr Buckeye AZ
17 651
16. 17 Seth Wilson (R)San Clemente CA 33
628
17. 98 Verne Sweeney Lomita CA
22 601
18. 75 J.J. Yeley Phoenix AZ 9
552
19. 47 Brian Venard Irvine CA
18 526
20. 18 Jimmy Crawford (R) Ventura CA 28
503
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