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| WIRE TO WIRE WIN FOR TAYLOR
GAINS HIM POINTS by Gary Jacob |
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Unwinged 360 Sprints, Street Stocks and I-4 Modifieds |
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Ventura, CA -October 14, 2000--Having raced to a hard
fought win in the first heat, Greg Taylor then charged into a huge
early lead in the 30 lap feature for the VRA unwinged 360 sprint cars
and he was never headed as he posted the $1,000 win Saturday night at
Ventura Raceway. That combined with a 18th place finish for Chris
Wakim left Taylor just 130 points back of Wakim in their duel for 2nd
in track points. Point leader Gary Howard maintained his solid margin
with a $750 second ahead of Jeff Heaton, who won $500. It only took
Greg Raap one week to add a second career street stock feature win to
the victory that he posted last week as he won that 20 lapper over
Wayne Heurung and point leader Craig Germanetti. Marty Desbrow made it
6 wins in 13 starts in the I-4 Modified 20 lap feature, but still
stands 55 points back of point leader George Kreider IV as he missed
one early season race.
The addition of several newcomers grew the sprint car field to 32 cars and they were divided into the usual four heat format. Taylor swapped the lead with Tony Dighera a couple times before winning the first heat ahead of Dighera and Dale Harwood. Point leader Howard beat Jim Porter in heat 2 and Heaton beat Wakim in heat 3. Jim Gresham ran a strong 10 laps to win heat 4 over Jessie Denome with Jeremy Ellertson and John Woodward also transferring into the 30 lapper. Gresham and Taylor shared the front row for the 30 lapper and Taylor had built a half lap lead over the field in just 10 rounds. Gresham was running second over Heaton, who lost third to point leader Howard. The career best run for Gresham ended on lap 14 as he lost power and coasted to the infield. That stacked up the field and Dighera nearly stopped. He was hit hard by Wakim. Wakim was out of the race, costing him valuable points. The race restarted with Taylor leading Howard and Heaton. Taylor again pulled away and Richard McCormick moved up to challenge Heaton for third. On lap 22, Bill Welch stalled to force a yellow. Taylor won over Howard, Heaton, McCormick, Rob Kershaw, Dighera and Porter. Howard's point lead is 280 over Wakim, who is 130 ahead of Taylor. Heaton stands just 70 points back of Howard. The 16 street stocks were split into a pair of heats. Will Smith beat Randy Miller and Michael Lee in heat 1. Bradley Prows had his best night yet and won heat 2 over John Uccellini and John Romero. Raap credits Gary Curtis with making him more competitive in the class. After a sixth place heat finish, Raap raced to his second straight 20 lap feature win as Heurung ran second over defending champion Germanetti. Prows was fourth ahead of Steve Suchowirsky, Mike Riccardi, Tom Stephens and Will Smith. Uccellini settled for 12th and has fallen 125 points back of Germanetti. Riccardi is third in points, just 40 ahead of Stephens, but 160 back of Uccellini. Desbrow celebrated his 44th birthday a day early with his I-4 Modified feature win. Marty McLaughlin led the first 7 laps before Desbrow took over. Chris Tramel had crashed to force a restart and Desbrow raced ahead of McLaughlin on the restart. McLaughlin ran second over point leader George Kreider IV, Mark Joe, Steve Chuhaloff, David Rhodes and Dino Delao with 12 cars racing. Kreider's point lead is 65 over Desbrow. Joe stands third, just 25 ahead of Chuhaloff, but 225 behind Desbrow. McLaughlin has climbed into fifth in points. The local divisions don't race again until November as Oct 21 is an SCRA sprint car night and Oct 28 is dark. Summary I-4 Modified Heat 1-Marty Desbrow, Steve Chuhaloff, David Rhodes, Tommy Fowler, Dan Coburn. Heat 2-Marty McLaughlin, George Kreider IV, Chris Tramel, Joe Henderson, Mark Joe. Main-Desbrow, McLaughlin, Kreider, Joe, Chuhaloff, David Rhodes, Dino Delao, Coburn, Fowler, Tramel, Henderson, Rick Rodarte. Street Stock Heat 1-Will Smith, Randy Miller, Michael Lee, Dan Murphy, Craig Germanetti. Heat 2-Bradley Prows, John Uccellini, John Romero, Tom Stephens, Tracey Pallais. Main-Greg Raap, Wayne Heurung, Germanetti, Prows, Stephen Suchowirsky, Mike Riccardi, Stephens, Smith, Pallais, Romero, Miller, Uccellini, Lee, Steve Bulpitt, Erick Karlsen, Murphy. Unwinged 360 Sprint Car Heat 1-Greg Taylor, Tony Dighera, Dale Harwood, Rob Kershaw, Jeremy Ellertson. Heat 2-Gary Howard, Jim Porter, Ronnie Case, Kenny Brown, Sparky Edmonston. Heat 3-Jeff Heaton, Chris Wakim, Richard McCormick, Brett Butler, Jimmy Crawford. Heat 4-Jim Gresham, Jessie Denome, Bill Welch, John Wright, Russell DeBlauw. B Main-Jimmy May, Jimmy Crawford, Ellertson, John Woodward, Luis Espinoza, DeBlauw, Dayle Henry, Josh Ford, Edmonston, Mark Weitzman. A Main-Taylor, Howard, Heaton, McCormick, Kershaw, Dighera, Porter, Wright, May, Case, Denome, Butler, Harwood, Crawford, Ellertson, Brown, Woodward, Wakim, Welch, Gresham. |
