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Ventura, Ca.....July 20........After
a lap 28 caution wiped out his full straightaway lead, Greg Taylor waged a war
with Chris Wakim over those final two rounds and posted his second straight
$1,000 win in the VRA unwinged 360 sprint car feature Saturday night at Ventura
Raceway. Taylor's 8th win of the season left him just 260 points back of Jimmy
Crawford. Crawford charged forward from 19th starting to finish 4th and protect
his season point lead. Randy McGraw won his fourth 20 lap IMCA Modified main
event and stretched his season point lead to 28 points in the process. Rick
Rodarte continues to battle back from an early season disqualification as he
chases the title in the VRA Modifieds in his rookie season in that class. He won
for the fifth time and is now just 105 points back of winless point leader
Geroge Krieder IV. Dave Little won his first 20 lap pony stock feature with
point leader Cliff Ashlock second.
The turnout for the
unwinged 360 sprint cars was down to a season low 22 cars, so they raced three
heat races and allowed everyone to race the 30 lap A Main. Richard Terry flipped
in hot laps and point leader Crawford took down some of the signboards in turn 3
as he tangled with Steve Chuhaloff. Jake Ford beat older brother Josh Ford in
heat 1 after coming from fifth. Wakim started outside front row in heat 2 and
beat fourth starter Taylor. Outside front row starter Steve Conrad won heat 2
over Russell DeBlauw and Jimmy Thompson. Sixteen year old rookie Allan Ballard
and Thompson shared the front row for the 30 lap feature. Ballard jumped into
the lead, lost it to Thompson and then regained it when Thompson hit a rut and
bicycled. Taylor and Wakim got by Thompson and chased down Ballard to take the
lead. Ballard impressed when he retook second from Wakim only to break an engine
on in the closing rounds. The late caution gave Wakim a final run at Taylor and
he found enough moisture up high to make it interesting. Taylor collected the
win over 7th starter Wakim, 6th starter Conrad and the impressive drive from
19th for Crawford. Chris Tramel started 17th and ran fifth despite having to go
to the rear when he got collected in a Ronnie Case-Conrad tangle. Tony Dighera
got into the fence on lap 4 and Josh Ford got blackflagged when contact racing
with Russell DeBlauw left him minus his nerf bars. Luis Espinoza was sixth over
John Wright, Larry Lloyd and DeBlauw. The win paid $1,000, Wakim won $750 and
Conrad $500.
The IMCA Modifieds had a
14 car turnout as third ranked Wes Richardson has elected to finish the year
racing on the road. Gary Curtis beat Mark Fullerton in heat 1 with Paul Lane
taking heat 2 over Steve Greenland. McGraw ran fourth in his heat and won the 20
lap feature with point runnerup Mark Furlong second over Fullerton, Lane,
Curtis, Don Wright Jr, Joe Porche and Daman Redman. Rookie Jeff Graham moved
into third in track points. The 13 VRA Modifieds were divided into two heat
races. Point leader Krieder won heat 1 over Mark Gallimore and Ric Bronson. Joe
Henderson won heat 2 over Marty McLaughlin and Rodarte. Rodarte was the feature
winner with Gallimore second over Bronson, Krieder, Jody Davis, Ray Martinez and
Travis Wickenden. Krieder's point lead is 85 over Gallimore with Rodarte 20 more
points back. McLaughlin ran 10th and fell 130 points back of the point leader.
Bronson is fifth in points.
The pony stocks also had a 22 car field. Little won the first heat over Adam
McPhail and John Duque beat Jim Nakashima in heat 2. Mike Frazier won heat 3
over Bruce Blackman Jr. Top female racer Julie Masters was a feature scratch.
Little won the feature over Ashlock, Frazier, McPhail, Blackman, Joel Chavez,
Duque and Travis Furr. Ashlock's point lead is 80 over Frazier and 185 over
Duque.
Ventura
Raceway has fair time events scheduled for both Wednesday, July 31 and Thursday,
August 1. The sprint cars don't race at Ventura during the fair, but this year
they are scheduled for two Saturday nights of action at the much larger Perris
track during the fair break in the schedule. Both fair nights at Ventura will
feature figure 8 racing and destruction derbies in addition to the regular stock
car classes.
Summary
Pony Stocks
Heat 1-Dave Little, Adam McPhail,
Andrew Greiman, Cliff Ashlock, James Brown.
Heat 2-John Duque, Jim Nakashima, Jody Davis, Travis Furr, Dave Revard.
Heat 3-Mike Frazier, Bruce Blackman Jr, Jack Fullerton, David Peterson, Morgan
Cole.
Main-Little, Ashlock, Frazier, McPhail, Blackman, Joel Chavez, Duque, Furr,
Peterson, Jon Everhart, Cole, Ed Graham, Jon Mortensen, Lindsay Klingberg, John
Mikkelsen, Brown, Fullerton, Revard, Davis, Greiman, Nakashima.
VRA Modifieds
Heat 1-George Kreider IV, Mark
Gallimore, Ric Bronson, David Lidren, Daniel Shrubb.
Heat 2-Joe Henderson, Marty McLaughlin, Rick Rodarte, Ray Martinez, Tommy
Fowler.
Main-Rodarte, Gallimore, Bronson, Kreider, Jody Davis, Martinez, Travis
Wickenden, Shrubb, Henderson, McLaughlin, Andy Frank, Fowler, Lidren.
IMCA Modifieds
Heat 1-Gary Curtis, Mark Fullerton,
Daman Redman, Randy McGraw, Jeff Graham.
Heat 2-Paul Lane, Steve Greenland, Mike Furlong, Brett Lynsky, Rick Johnston.
Main-McGraw, Furlong, Fullerton, Lane, Curtis, Don Wright Jr, Joe Porche,
Redman, Graham, Lynsky, Lyle Slater, Randy Gens, Johnston, Greenland.
Unwinged 360 Sprint Cars
Heat 1-Jake Ford, Josh Ford, Allan
Ballard, Ryan Devitt, Ronnie Case.
Heat 2-Chris Wakim, Greg Taylor, Tony Dighera, John Wright, Luis Espinoza.
Heat 3-Steven Conrad, Russell DeBlauw, Jimmy Thompson, Rob Kershaw, Larry Lloyd.
Main-Taylor, Wakim, Conrad, Crawford, Chris Tramel, Espinoza, Wright, Lloyd,
DeBlauw, Devitt, Trevor Brillman, Steve Chuhaloff, Richard Terry, Ballard,
Kershaw, Jake Ford, Steve Gresham, Case, Thompson, Josh Ford, Renee Boudreau,
Dighera.
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