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Ventura, Ca....June 15......Capping
an impressive drive from 9th starting spot, Greg Taylor won his second straight
30 lap VRA Unwinged 360 Sprint Car feature Saturday night at Ventura Raceway and
took over the track point lead in the process. The win was the sixth of the
season for the young driver and he was able to regain the point lead as
pacesetter Josh Ford was penalized out of a heat race transfer, then broke his
rear end early in the B Main. Taylor's win paid $1,000 with Chris Wakim an
impressive $750 second as young Luis Espinoza collected $500 for his career best
third place run. Having started the 2002 season late, Donald Houghton won the 20
lap IMCA Modified main event for the second time in five starts. Rookie Jeff
Graham had a season best second and point leader Randy McGraw was third.
Starting second and taking the lead on lap 2, Rick Rodarte won his fourth 20 lap
VRA Modified feature with fast improving Ric Bronson second. Impressive pony
stock rookie John Duque won his first 20 lap feature and stands a solid third in
the track points. Point leader Cliff Ashlock was second and second ranked Mike
Frazier ran third.
The unwinged 360
sprint car action drew another solid 33 car field and used four heats and a B
Main to determine the 20 car grid for the 30 lap A Main. Jimmy Crawford won the
first heat over Chris Tramel and Taylor. Like Crawford, Wakim won heat 2 from
the outside front row while Tony Dighera turned a lot of heads with his
impressive run from sixth starting to win heat 3 over Espinoza. Steve Stasa won
heat 4 from the pole with Ronnie Case. Josh Ford crossed the line fourth in his
heat, but was penalized back to a non-transferring fifth for rough driving.
Clark Templeman III flipped hard in his heat race. An incredibly wild B Main saw
Josh Ford break his rear end on the first lap, Steve Gresham flip in a tangle
with John Geyer, Mark Weitzman flip end for end down the backstretch, Russell
DeBlauw spin out of the lead and Jeremy Ellertson break running in a transfer
slot. Richard Terry won the B Main over Eric Severson and Trevor Brillman.
In the 30 lap A Main, Wakim took the lead at the start, but lost the spot to
Dighera. Dighera broke a torsion arm and Wakim was back in front. Taylor finally
made his way from the fifth row to challenge Wakim. Taylor was able to dive
underneath Wakim for the top spot, but Wakim used the top side to retake first.
The next time Taylor got by, he quickly moved up high and was not challenged
over the final rounds. Taylor won ahead of Wakim, Espinoza, rookie Tramel,
Crawford, Steven Conrad, Case, Gene Godepski, Rob Kershaw and Stasa. Espinoza
started 5th, Tramel came from 7th and Conrad advanced from 14th. Taylor ended
the night with a 300 point lead on Crawford and a 775 point advantage on Josh
Ford. Remember that 1050 points are available each night in the sprint car
action at Ventura.
The 18 car IMCA Modified
field included a pair of Bakersfield Speedway regulars, Regional rookie of the
year hopeful Lee Jensen and recent Bakersfield feature winner Jeff Miller. Daman
Redman won heat 1 over Graham and Gary Curtis. Bill Waltman won heat 2 over
Steve Greenland and Miller. It was a tough night for Jensen as he ran last in
both his heat and the 20 lap feature. Houghton won the feature race with Graham
second over McGraw, a fast improving Wes Richardson, Mike Furlong, Randy Gens,
Joe Porche and Greenland. With IMCA's point system giving just a one point
difference per position, McGraw has built a solid 16 point lead over Furlong
with Richardson two more points back. Redman ran 17th and fell 35 points behind
the leader, just one ahead of Graham.
There were 15 VRA Modifieds and Joe
Henderson beat Marty McLaughlin and Rodarte in heat 1. Tommy Fowler won heat 2
over Mark Gallimore and David Lidren. In the feature, Rodarte started in the
second row and had the lead on lap 2. Bronson finished second over McLaughlin,
Henderson, Gallimore, point leader George Kreider IV, Jody Davis and Ray
Martinez. This lead Kreider with a 65 point lead over McLaughlin, 100 ahead of
Gallimore and 125 over Rodarte. In the regular Ventura classes, 220 points are
the maximum earned each night.
There were 22 pony stocks
so the track elected to start everyone in the 20 lap feature rather than using a
B Main to eliminate a couple cars. Eric Chambers won heat 1 over Dave Revard
with Jim Nakashima winning heat 2 over Duque. James Brown won heat 3 over Jack
Fullerton. Duque has been strong all year, but this was his first feature win as
Ashlock ran second over Mike Frazier, Bruce Blackman Jr, Fullerton, Morgan Cole,
Darren Gunnell and Jon Mortensen. Ashlock holds an 85 point lead over M Frazier
with Duque 150 points behind the point leader.
Summary
Pony Stocks
Heat 1-Eric Chambers, Dave Revard,
Julie Masters, Mike Frazier, Joel Chavez.
Heat 2-Jim Nakashima, John Duque, Cliff Ashlock, David Peterson, John Mikkelsen.
Heat 3-James Brown, Jack Fullerton, Bruce Blackman Jr, Eric Hedlund, Andrew
Greiman.
Main-Duque, Ashlock, M Frazier, Blackman, Fullerton, Morgan Cole, Darren Gunnell,
Jon Mortensen, Tim Frazier, Chavez, Masters, Mikkelsen, Greiman, Nakashima,
Charlie Faraci, Adam McPhail, Hedlund, Brown, Kim Rose, Chambers, Revard,
Peterson.
VRA Modifieds
Heat 1-Joe Henderson, Marty
McLaughlin, Rick Rodarte, Daniel Shrubb, Andy Frank.
Heat 2-Tommy Fowler, Mark Gallimore, David Lidren, Ray Martinez, George Kreider
IV.
Main-Rodarte, Ric Bronson, McLaughlin, Henderson, Gallimore, Kreider, Jody
Davis, Martinez, Fowler, Travis Wickenden, Frank, Shrubb, Dino Delao, Lidren,
Art Justus.
IMCA Modifieds
Heat 1-Daman Redman, Jeff Graham,
Gary Curtis, Paul Lane, Mark Fullerton.
Heat 2-Bill Waltman, Steve Greenland, Jeff Miller, Donald Houghton, Randy
McGraw.
Main-Houghton, Graham, McGraw, Wes Richardson, Mike Furlong, Randy Gens, Joe
Porche, Greenland, Brett Lynsky, Waltman, Lane, Miller, Curtis, Fullerton, Lyle
Slater, Ed Shelton, Redman, Lee Jensen.
Unwinged 360 Sprint Cars
Heat 1-Jimmy Crawford, Chris Tramel,
Greg Taylor, Jake Ford, Russell DeBlauw.
Heat 2-Chris Wakim, Allan Ballard, Gene Godepski, Ron Bach, Josh Ford.
Heat 3-Tony Dighera, Luis Espinoza, Steve Chuhaloff, Rob Kershaw, Jeremy
Ellertson.
Heat 4-Steve Stasa, Ronnie Case, Oren Prosser Jr, Steven Conrad, Richard
Terry.
B Main-Terry, Eric Severson, Trevor Brillman, David Sinsley, Ron Rector, Trace
Glove, Danny Weaver, Renee Boudreau, Ellertson, DeBlauw.
A Main-Taylor, Wakim, Espinoza, Tramel, Crawford, Conrad, Case, Godepski,
Kershaw, Stasa, Bach, Prosser, Brillman, Ballard, Severson, Chuhaloff, Sinsley,
Rector, Dighera, Terry.
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