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Ventura, CA.....Sept
25.....Third ranked Steve Conrad from Aqua Dulce was able to drive
underneath dueling leaders Chris Wakim and Luis Espinoza as they
drove off the final corner and win a drag race to the checkered flag
to score a $1000 win Saturday night in the 30 lap VRA Unwinged 360
sprint car feature at Ventura Raceway. Conrad started 7th and 3rd
starter Wakim led the majority of the race in his first ride back in
a bar car after giving up on his coil car. Wakim won $750 for second
and 4th starting Espinoza was a $500 third. Kevin Kierce ran fourth
ahead of point runnerup Rob Kershaw and point leader Tom Stansberry.
Fast timer Steve Paden took advantage of a tangle between leaders
Jerome Rodela and Wally Pankratz on lap 22 to win the 30 lap USAC
Western States Midget feature. Jimmy Christian ran second ahead of
Robby Flock. Bobby Michnowicz led all 20 laps to win the USAC Ford
Focus Midget South feature ahead of Chris Rahe and double division
racing Rob Kershaw.
The unwinged 360 sprint cars split 37 cars into four heat races and
Wakim won the first heat over Mike Knopf and Stansberry. VRA Senior
Sprint point leader Bruce Douglas won heat 2 from second ahead of
Kierce and Steve Chuhaloff. Guy Woodward won heat 3 from the pole
ahead of sixth starting Larry Lloyd and Ron Wade. Espinoza came from
fifth to capture the fourth 10 lap heat race ahead of third starter
Conrad and Bill Welch. The top four finishers advanced from each
heat and they were joined by just 2 transfers each from a pair of B
Mains. Danny Ebberts won the first B Main ahead of Mike Whitcomb,
Ryan Devitt and Shawn Kautz. Outside front row starter Mike Broome
won the second B Main ahead of pole starter Clark Templeman III,
Blake Miller and Oren Prosser Jr. The inversion for the 20 car, 30
lap A Main came up a four putting Woodward and Douglas on the front
row ahead of Wakim and Espinoza. The talented field managed to rip
off 20 laps before the first caution flag. Wakim continued to set
the pace after the lap 21 restart, but Conrad was applying heavy
pressure in the bottom groove. When Wakim moved down to protect his
spot, the rim riding Espinoza came into play. Coming off the final
corner, Wakim moved up to block Espinoza and Conrad saw an opening
down low. The trio drag raced to the flag with Conrad nosing ahead
to win by a half-car. Wakim settled for second ahead of Espinoza,
Kierce, 13th starter Kershaw and Stansberry. Greg Taylor ran 7th
ahead of Lloyd, Rodney Argo and 20th starter Templeman. Stansberry's
point lead is 2270 over Kershaw with Conrad another 1240 back in
third. Kierce is ranked fourth over Welch and Wakim.
The 24 USAC Midgets had time trials and Paden led the way in the
Farrier car at 12.142 seconds on the short 1/4 mile clay oval.
Double division Ebberts ran a 12.258 and Pankratz a 12.412. Robby
Flock put the Sala car in fourth at 12.448 and Tyler Brown was fifth
ahead of Rodela, point leader Johnny Rodriguez and Stephen Graves.
Rodriguez won heat 1 over Dallen McKenney and Flock while Matt
Mitchell outraced newcomer Michelle Decker and Graves in heat 2.
Double division Josh Lakatos won heat 3 over point runnerup Pankratz
and Rodela. The scratches of Robert Ellis and Garrett Hansen left
the feature grid at 22 cars. The 30 lapper was restarted twice
before a lap was scored. Kirk Kubik, Tyler Brown and Garratt Boyden
were all flip victims in the feature. Rodela led 21 laps before he
and Pankratz locked wheels, collecting Brown. Rodela's race was over
along with Brown, but Pankratz restarted in the rear. Paden led the
remaining laps for the win ahead of San Jose's Christian, Flock,
McKenney, Rick Hendrix, NorCal's Shain Matthews, Rodriguez and
Lakatos. Rodriguez holds a 93 point lead on Pankratz headed into
their Oct 9th date at Kings Speedway in Hanford. Rodela is another
60 points back in third and Paden is ranked fourth ahead of Hansen
and Flock.
The Ford Focus Midgets brought 23 cars and all were allowed to start
their main event. After J J Ercse won heat 1 over Alex Harris and
point leader Chris Rahe, Kershaw outraced Lakatos and Eric Pace in
heat 2. Female racer Ashley Swanson won heat 3 over Bradley
Galedrige and Michnowicz. It was announced that the scheduled 20 lap
feature would be expanded to 30 laps, but a pair of early restarts
and a red flag on lap 12 found the race reverted back to 20 rounds.
Ercse flipped twice, once on lap 2 and again on lap 13. Michnowicz
paced all 20 laps to beat Rahe, Kershaw, Galedrige, Ryan Pace, E
Pace, Chase Barber, Bobby McGowan and Steve Koster Jr. Their next
race is Oct 9 on the pavement at Irwindale and Rahe's point lead is
111 over Galedrige and 171 over Michnowicz. Barber, Lakatos, McGowan
and R Pace are locked in a four way duel for fourth.
Summary
Ford Focus Midgets
Heat 1-J J Ercse, Alex Harris, Chris Rahe, Steve Koster Jr, J R
Williams.
Heat 2-Rob Kershaw, Josh Lakatos, Eric Pace, Steve Davis, Ryan Pace.
Heat 3-Ashley Swanson, Bradley Galedrige, Bobby Michnowicz, Jeff
Gregory, Cal Smith.
Main-Michnowicz, Rahe, Kershaw, Galedrige, R Pace, E Pace, Chase
Barber, Bobby McGowan, Koster, Davis, Smith, Randi Pankratz, Jake
Vail, James Miller Jr, Williams, Gregory, Tom Fish, Harris, Ercse,
Lakatos, Scott Nogrady, Jet Davison, Swanson.
Midgets
Fast Time-Steve Paden 12.142
Heat 1-Johnny Rodriguez, Dallen McKenney, Robby Flock, Paden, Rick
Hendrix.
Heat 2-Matt Mitchell, Michelle Decker, Stephen Graves, Danny Ebberts,
Tyler Brown.
Heat 3-Josh Lakatos, Wally Pankratz, Jerome Rodela, Shain Matthews,
Shannon McQueen.
Main-Paden, Jimmy Christian, Flock, McKenney, Hendrix, Matthews,
Rodriguez, Lakatos, Pankratz, Miller Jr, Graves, Rodela, Brown,
Mitchell, Jimmy Voitel, Tony Everhart, Decker, Garrett Boyden,
Ebberts, McQueen, Kirk Kubik, Victor Mencarini.
Unwinged 360 Sprint Cars
Heat 1-Chris Wakim, Mike Knopf, Tom Stansberry, Rob Kershaw, Danny
Ebberts.
Heat 2-Bruce Douglas, Kevin Kierce, Steve Chuhaloff, Wally Pankratz,
Clark Templeman III.
Heat 3-Guy Woodward, Larry Lloyd, Ron Wade, Rodney Argo, Ryan
Devitt.
Heat 4-Luis Espinoza, Steve Conrad, Bill Welch, Greg Taylor, Mike
Broome.
1st B Main-Ebberts, Mike Whitcomb, Devitt, Shawn Kautz, Bill
Camarillo, Jim Thomson, Tom Harper, Chris Tramel, Hobie Conway, Bob
Alderman.
2nd B Main-Broome, Templeman, Blake Miller, Oren Prosser Jr, Ron
Bach, Jesse Denome, Brett Butler, Victor Davis, John Nock, Brandon
Thomson.
A Main-Conrad, Wakim, Espinoza, Kierce, Kershaw, Stansberry, Taylor,
Lloyd, Argo, Templeman, Whitcomb, Broome, Douglas, Welch, Knopf,
Wade, Chuhaloff, Ebberts, Woodward, Pankratz. |
