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TAYLOR AND MOODY HANDS VENTURA WIN TO CLARK TEMPLEMAN III by Gary Jacob |
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VRA Unwinged 360 sprints |
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Ventura, CA -April 1, 2000--Gaining the lead when
pacesetters Greg Taylor and Randy Moody tangled on lap 29, Clark
Templeman III won Saturday night's 30 lap VRA unwinged 360 sprint car
main event at Ventura Raceway. Second year racer Taylor had taken the
lead from Templeman on lap 22, but runnerup Moody banged wheels with
him exiting turn 2 on lap 29. They slid into the infield in turn 3 and
sat there locked together as the field ran the final 1 1/2 laps with
Templeman the winner over Chris Wakim, Steve Conrad, Denny McVey and
Jimmy Crawford. This year, Ventura is paying $1,000 to win in this
class with Wakim winning $750 and Conrad $500.
Another huge sprint car field of 31 cars turned out. The night started with a special race for the 9 rookie drivers in the class and Richard Renken gained that win ahead of Russell DeBlauw and Kenny Brown. The rookies then are forced to start in the rear of the four qualifying heats for the class. The top 4 finishers in each heat advance into the rich 30 lap A Main. Outside front row starter Taylor won heat 1 ahead of pole starter Bobby Graham. Gary Howard won heat 2 from the pole with 4th starter Templeman in second. Tom Stansberry came from fifth to win heat three as pole starter Jeff Heaton ran second. Crawford started on the pole of his heat 4 win with fellow front row starter Will Perkins second. This left just two spots to fill in the 30 lap lineup and 14 drivers battled for them with Ronnie Case the winner ahead of Rob Kershaw as rookie DeBlauw just missed with a third. Heat winners Crawford, Howard, Taylor and Stansberry started in that order at the front of the 18 car A Main and Howard raced into the lead over Crawford. Stansberry struck quickly to second on lap 2 and Templeman was fourth on lap 3. Templeman took third from Crawford on lap 7 and the leaders were into heavy lapped traffic when Graham spun for the first yellow flag on lap 13. Just after the race reached the half-way mark, Stansberry tried a slide job on leader Howard, but they made hard contact. Howard came to a stop and the officials elected to send Stansberry to the rear for his role in the incident. Fourth place Perkins was collected in the incident. Templeman inherited the lead and Taylor moved into 2nd ahead of Moody and Wakim. Both Taylor and Moody got around Templeman on lap 22, but their wheel banging incident on lap 29 ended their strong runs as they sat locked together in the infield as Templeman paced those final two rounds for the win. Wakim ran second ahead of Conrad, McVey, Crawford, John Wright, Heaton, Graham, Howard, Case and Stansberry. Summary Rookie Heat-Richard Renken, Russell DeBlauw, Kenny Brown, Daryle Henry, Jim Porter. Heat 1-Greg Taylor, Bobby Graham, Steve Conrad, Randy Moody, Dale Harwood. Heat 2-Gary Howard, Clark Templeman III, Chris Wakim, John Wright, Mike Davis. Heat 3-Tom Stansberry, Jeff Heaton, Brett Butler, Jim Thomson, Rob Kershaw. Heat 4-Jimmy Crawford, Will Perkins, Denny McVey, Brandon Springstead, Jim Gresham. B Main-Ronnie Case, Kershaw, DeBlauw, Brown, Henry, Luis Espinoza, Porter, John Woodward, Renken, Bill Welch. A Main-Templeman, Wakim, Conrad, McVey, Crawford, Wright, Heaton, Graham, Howard, Case, Stansberry, Springstead, Kershaw, Thomson, Taylor, Moody, Butler, Perkins. |
