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See You At The Races!!! |
| ROOKIE JOSH FORD SNAPS WAKIM
THREE RACE WIN STREAK by Gary Jacob |
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Unwinged 360 Sprint Cars, IMCA Modifieds, Street Stocks and Pony Stocks |
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Ventura, CA -September 22, 2001--Having started
outside front row, fast improving rookie Josh Ford waged a war with
Chris Wakim for Saturday night's VRA unwinged 360 sprint car feature
win at Ventura Raceway. Chasing his fourth straight win, Wakim ended
up spinning late in the race as Ford won for the first time. The
$1,000 win elevated Ford to 13th in points and it was his third top
five finish of the season. Tony Dighera was a $750 second ahead of
runaway point leader Gary Howard, who won $500 after coming from 7th
starting. Ironically, IMCA Modified feature winner Bill Waltman also
stands 13th in the track standings after his 2nd win of the season.
Rookie Bill Hiney, who resides in the San Francisco Bay Area, had a
season best 2nd ahead of defending track champion Mike Furlong. With
just one point race left in this class, Randy McGraw holds a nearly
uncatchable 23 point lead over Donald Houghton. In the street stock 20
lapper, sixth ranked Steve Bulpitt posted his first win. Craig
Germanetti is chasing a third straight track title and he closed to
within 15 points of point leader Greg Raap with his 2nd place run as
Raap ran fourth behind Paul Moore. Darren Gunnell won the 20 lap pony
stock main for his 2nd win of the season. Andy Frank was second and
rookie Jody Davis placed third to cut Bryan Rungaitis' point lead to
just 55 points.
The unwinged 360 sprint cars had a 32 car turnout and they were divided into four qualifying heat races. Howard won the first heat from the pole with 4th starter Ford second. Jimmy Crawford won heat 2 from the outside front row with Wakim coming from 4th to place second. Greg Taylor won heat 3 from the pole and Dighera came from 4th to place second. Second year racer Luis Espinoza won heat 4 from the pole with Jeff Heaton coming from sixth to place second. The top 4 finishers in each heat advanced to the 30 lap A Main and they were joined by four transfers from the B Main. In the B Main action, second ranked Richard McCormick won with John Wright second over Ronnie Case and Steve Chuhaloff. Top runner Clark Templeman III was 13th after he missed the heat action. CDCRA dwarf car ace Trevor Brilman made his debut with a 12th after he just missed getting out of his heat with a fifth. Wakim came from 5th starting in the invert 4 grid in the 30 lapper to duel Ford for the win before spinning late. Pole starter Dighera continued his great season with a 2nd ahead of Howard, third starting Heaton and TQ Midget graduate Gene Godepski, who started 6th. Espinoza was sixth over Wright, another dwarf car runner Ron Bach and Wakim. McCormick and Taylor ran 19th and 20th. Howard now holds a 2770 point lead over McCormick and Taylor is 970 points back of McCormick. Crawford is fourth ahead of Wakim and Dighera in the point race. The IMCA Modifieds had an 18 car field for their next to last point race as IMCA doesn't allow points to be awarded once the calendar hits October. Daman Redman won the first heat over Ed Shelton and Chris Tonoli. Rookie Wes Richardson won heat 2 over Hiney and Steve Greenland. Waltman won the 20 lap main over rookie Hiney, Furlong, Redman and rookie Richardson, who also enjoyed his best run of the season. Rich Wolfe was sixth ahead of Greenland, Houghton, McGraw and Scott Olsen. Houghton moved a single point ahead of John Aitken, who ran 13th. Greenland holds down fourth in points. The 16 street stocks were also divided into a pair of heat races. Harvey Jones won the first heat over Dennis Boyle and Germanetti. Raap won heat 2 with Wayne Heurung second over John Hard. After placing 5th in his heat, Bulpitt was the $100 feature winner ahead of Germanetti, Moore, Raap, Heurung, Bradley Prows, Tracey Pallais and Boyle. Raap holds just the 15 point lead over Germanetti with Prows another 20 points back. Heurung also remains in title contention, just 80 points behind the point leader. The pony stock count was down to 22 cars with Joel Chavez, Davis and Gunnell winning the three heat races. Gunnell then won the feature race ahead of Frank, Davis, Jack Fullerton, point leader B Rungaitis, Steve Klingberg, Jeff Graham and Mike Frazier. Gunnell has only raced a partial schedule and is 20th in points. B Rungaitis stands just 55 points ahead of Davis, 110 in front of Tom Burroughs and 210 ahead of Graham. Summary Pony Stock Heat 1-Joel Chavez, Mike Frazier, Scott Bulpitt, Bryan Rungaitis, Jon Everhart. Heat 2-Jody Davis, Steve Klingberg, Andy Frank, Dave Little, Bruce Blackman Jr. Heat 3-Darren Gunnell, Shane Rungaitis, Jack Fullerton, Tom Burroughs, Dave Revard. Main-Gunnell, Frank, Davis, Fullerton, B Rungaitis, Klingberg, Jeff Graham, Frazier, Bulpitt, Julie Masters, Burroughs, Cliff Ashlock, Everhart, Revard, Little, Blackman, Tim Doyon, Aaron Main, Chavez, Dennis O'Brien, S Rungaitis, Adam McPhail. Street Stock Heat 1-Harvey Jones, Dennis Boyle, Craig Germanetti, Chris Tramel, Ernie Malone. Heat 2-Greg Raap, Wayne Heurung, John Hard, Tracey Pallais, Steve Bulpitt. Main-Bulpitt, Germanetti, Paul Moore, Raap, Heurung, Bradley Prows, Pallais, Boyle, Stephen Suchowirsky, John Romero, Jones, Hard, Malone, Brenton Spies, Tramel. IMCA Modified Heat 1-Daman Redman, Ed Shelton, Chris Tonoli, Mike Furlong, Bill Waltman. Heat 2-Wes Richardson, Bill Hiney, Steve Greenland, Randy McGraw, Mark Fullerton. Main-Waltman, Hiney, Furlong, Redman, Richardson, Rich Wolfe, Greenland, Donald Houghton, McGraw, Scott Olsen, Fullerton, Tonoli, John Aitken, William Kruft, Brett Lynsky, Kathy Pierson, Shelton, Don Wright. Unwinged 360 Sprint Car Heat 1-Gary Howard, Josh Ford, Gene Godepski, John Woodward, Brett Butler. Heat 2-Jimmy Crawford, Chris Wakim, Bob Moody, Ron Bach, Steve Chuhaloff. Heat 3-Greg Taylor, Tony Dighera, Steve Stasa, Kenny Brown, Trevor Brilman. Heat 4-Luis Espinoza, Jeff Heaton, Oren Prosser Jr, Larry Lloyd, Jim Gresham. B Main-Richard McCormick, John Wright, Ronnie Case, Chuhaloff, Mark Weitzman, Rob Kershaw, Gresham, Mike Davis, Mike Knopf, Butler. A Main-Ford, Dighera, Howard, Heaton, Godepski, Espinoza, Wright, Bach, Wakim, Woodward, Lloyd, Weitzman, Chuhaloff, Crawford, Prosser, Stasa, Case, Moody, McCormick, Taylor. |
