Post by sheriberibebop on May 8, 2016 23:16:18 GMT
Saturday night May 7, saw a great night of short track racing, as Ventura Raceway held a very special event with USAC/CRA Sprint 410 Sprint Cars headlining the show. VRA Seniors Sprints and Focus Midgets were also there to complete a full night of exciting racing action.
The USAC Sprints were on hand with 30 cars signed into the pits. Qualifying saw Jake Swanson set quick time with a lap of 12.619 on a slick track. Logan Williams, Austin Williams and Brody Roa rounded out the top four fast qualifiers. There were four heat races run with wins going to Mike Spencer in heat one, Jace Vanderweerd in heat two, Tyler Walker in heat three and Troy Rutherford in heat four. With 30 cars present a 12 lap Semi Main was run to fill the field for the main event. Tom Malcom took the win followed by Parker Colston, Logan Williams, Cody Williams, Cody Majors and Jeremy Ellertson. These six cars transferred to the Main Event. Chris Gansen was added to the field on a provisional, making the starting field 23 cars. The 30 lap feature was fast and furious with Mike Spencer jumping out to a lead followed by Troy Rutherford. They battled for half of the race to a yellow flag on lap 19. Rutherford got by Spencer and led to the finish, taking the win in his 360 powered sprint car, showing that a good 360 sprint car with a top driver can compete with the 410's on Ventura's 1/5 mile oval. Following Rutherford an Spencer to the finish were Brody Roa, Damion Gardner, Austin Williams, Jake Swanson, Guy Woodward, Richard Vanderweerd, Kyle Smith and Cody Williams.
Senior Sprints saw a repeat winner as Chris Meredith took his second win in a row in 2016. Going back to 2015 this was his third win in a row. A large field of 14 cars ran two heat races that went to Clif Warren and Tom Hendricks. Their 20 lap main event was a green white checker event that saw Meredith jump out front and dominate leading all 20 laps to take the win over Tom Hendricks, Clif Warren, Steve Brown and Mike Cook. Meredith leads the points by 65 points over Clif Warren and 70 points over Steve Brown after two races in 2016.
The final group racing Saturday night was the VRA Focus Midgets. Daniel
Anderson took the 20 lap race in a green white checker main event over Ashley Hazleton,
Joel Rayborne, Mike Leach and Randi Pankratz. Their one heat race went Randi Pankratz. In the season point race, Daniel Anderson is leading Mike Leach by 175 points.
Ventura Raceway continues its 2016 season next Saturday May 14, with a full program featuring VRA Sprints, IMCA Modifieds, VRA Dwarf Cars and the winged California Lightning Sprints.
-Cliff Morgan
The USAC Sprints were on hand with 30 cars signed into the pits. Qualifying saw Jake Swanson set quick time with a lap of 12.619 on a slick track. Logan Williams, Austin Williams and Brody Roa rounded out the top four fast qualifiers. There were four heat races run with wins going to Mike Spencer in heat one, Jace Vanderweerd in heat two, Tyler Walker in heat three and Troy Rutherford in heat four. With 30 cars present a 12 lap Semi Main was run to fill the field for the main event. Tom Malcom took the win followed by Parker Colston, Logan Williams, Cody Williams, Cody Majors and Jeremy Ellertson. These six cars transferred to the Main Event. Chris Gansen was added to the field on a provisional, making the starting field 23 cars. The 30 lap feature was fast and furious with Mike Spencer jumping out to a lead followed by Troy Rutherford. They battled for half of the race to a yellow flag on lap 19. Rutherford got by Spencer and led to the finish, taking the win in his 360 powered sprint car, showing that a good 360 sprint car with a top driver can compete with the 410's on Ventura's 1/5 mile oval. Following Rutherford an Spencer to the finish were Brody Roa, Damion Gardner, Austin Williams, Jake Swanson, Guy Woodward, Richard Vanderweerd, Kyle Smith and Cody Williams.
Senior Sprints saw a repeat winner as Chris Meredith took his second win in a row in 2016. Going back to 2015 this was his third win in a row. A large field of 14 cars ran two heat races that went to Clif Warren and Tom Hendricks. Their 20 lap main event was a green white checker event that saw Meredith jump out front and dominate leading all 20 laps to take the win over Tom Hendricks, Clif Warren, Steve Brown and Mike Cook. Meredith leads the points by 65 points over Clif Warren and 70 points over Steve Brown after two races in 2016.
The final group racing Saturday night was the VRA Focus Midgets. Daniel
Anderson took the 20 lap race in a green white checker main event over Ashley Hazleton,
Joel Rayborne, Mike Leach and Randi Pankratz. Their one heat race went Randi Pankratz. In the season point race, Daniel Anderson is leading Mike Leach by 175 points.
Ventura Raceway continues its 2016 season next Saturday May 14, with a full program featuring VRA Sprints, IMCA Modifieds, VRA Dwarf Cars and the winged California Lightning Sprints.
-Cliff Morgan
