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At one point last night, Jim Naylor was talking to legendary promoter JC Agajanian and JC grabs the mike and starts ranting “this is one of the premier short tracks in the country and when you put unlimited horsepower into this short oval JUST STAND BACK AND WATCH!” I couldn’t have said it better myself. Mud, metal and points were flying as Ventura hosted the 410 engines. Damion Gardner was determined to hang onto his points lead; a couple of the local 360 boys wanted to crash the party; Parnelli Jones was hanging out and the 15th Annual Wagsdash was going off. This entire racing spectacle under a clear fall night on the Ventura coastline….

With 44 cars in the pits, they ran qualifying with Cory Kruseman getting quick time of 11.86. In order to maintain four heats, they ran a C Main prior to the heat races. Top four drivers from this C Main advance to the last position in each of the four heat races. Anybody slower than fourth will park it for the evening.

C Main Starting Positions
69 David Sinsley	85 Matt Stewart
91 Bobby Ferro	34 Joshua Williams
29 Shawn Kautz	36 Eric Severson
88 Dan Tedrick	37 Hobie Conway
55 Tony Everhart	0t Ron Tjaarda
2x Jason Willey	87 Tony Jones

Right out of the gate, Tedrick, Jones, Everhart and Kautz have a knitting party in turn two. On the restart, Sinsley is racing infield and Tjaarda spins in one. When we finally get going, Sinsley is in front, Stewart behind him, Everhart in third and Williams in fourth. They space out kind of even and hold position throughout the heat. Tedrick wanted to get involved, but he was drifting in turns and couldn’t mount a challenge. Kautz ran fifth but that isn’t enough. Sinsley wins and goes to the back of heat one. Stewart makes it into heat two, Everhart goes to heat three and Williams get the final slot in heat four.

Heat One Starting Positions
91x Steve Conrad	55x Dennis Rodriquez
35R Ryan Devitt	44 Mike Spencer
10 Jon Stanborough	5x Blake Miller
6 Mat Neely	38 Cory Kruseman
69 David Sinsley

Bad start for Conrad. Rodriquez gets the jump with Spencer and Kruseman behind him. Before we can get a lap completed, Neely gets upside down in turn one. On the restart, Dennis gets out front again with Spencer, Kruse and Conrad in pursuit. The Kruse is high lining and getting his speed up. Dennis has run with this crowd before and he is not intimidated. However, he is drifting in a few critical corners and he is passed by both Kruseman and Spencer. Stanborough has moved up to fourth and Conrad hasn’t given up on taking it away from him, but it’s too late. Stanborough notches one more over Rodriquez. Surprisingly didn’t see Miller or Devitt until the end of the race. Kruseman takes first and then Spencer, Stanborough and Rodriquez. Rodriquez (360) showed a lot of heart, Kruseman (410) showed a lot of speed.

Heat Two Starting Positions
09 Luis Espinoza	8 Ronnie Case
22 Mark Heidenreich	5 Troy Rutherford
18 Danny Sheridan	17 Seth Wilson
4 Jordan Hermansader	50 Damion Gardner
85 Matt Stewart

Naylor is interviewing Parnelli Jones up in the announcer’s stand and asks him if it was easier being a driver or a car owner? Parnelli replies with an old saw about “I had plenty of money for the rest of my life until I bought a race car.” Meanwhile, down on the track, car owner Luis Espinoza is on the pole with Ronnie Case sitting on his shoulder. Not really thinking about money. On the drop it’s Luis, Ronnie and Troy. Ronnie instantly goes high and starts pushing Luis in the straights. Hermansader and Rutherford are running third and fourth. In turn three they are three wide going in, with Wilson squeaking through, but Sheridan getting bicycled and banging with Heidenreich. Sheridan keeps it upright but stalls. On the restart, Case passes Espinoza in turn four with Wilson and Hermansader third and fourth. Suddenly everything gets unglued. Apparently Hermansader got over the white line coming out of four. I’m told his reentry was a little harsh, coming into Damion Gardner and Troy Rutherford with those two flipping badly down the stretch and climbing the fence in turn one. The track crew had to restrain Damion from having a personal conversation with Jordan. I think he wanted to explain something about the points race. Jordan stayed on the track; Damion and Troy took a long walk, the two cars were on the hook. I’m sitting in the stands wondering if it’s harder to be a driver or an owner. On the new green, Case maintains his lead with Espinoza and Wilson holding. The battle is on for the transfer between Stewart and Hermansader. Wilson gets around Espinoza and Hermansader bests Stewart. Espinoza is really trying but his 360 can’t match Wilson. Case has an outrageous lead as he crosses the finish with Wilson, Espinoza and Hermansader bunched as they trail in. Ronnie Case sets the stands on fire (figuratively). We all wonder if Gardner can get the car ready in time for the semi main.

Heat Three Starting Positions
66 J. Hicks	33 Greg Bragg
77 Danny Ebberts	97 Alan Ballard
16 Rickie Gaunt	3 Rip Williams
15x Garret Hansen	67 Ross Millar
55 Tony Everhart

This heat looks interesting, Ricky and Rip looking for position, wunderkind Garret looking to slay a few giants and Alan Ballard back at a track where he started. On the green flag, Hicks, Bragg and Ballard get around the corner first, but quickly Gaunt and Williams mix in turn one. It spins Williams and puts him at the back and breaks Gaunt and puts him in the pits. On the new flag, Hicks, Bragg and Ballard again grab the front but this time Ebberts flips hard coming out of four and tumble down the stretch. More crashes than Cheerios tonight. Next restart, we still have Hicks, Bragg and Ballard. Hansen is running fourth and I can see Williams is on the move from the rear. Ballard starts aggressively driving the cushion and it’s an awesome sight. With five laps down, five to go, he is dominating the track yet Williams has muscled up to fifth. Between Ballard and Williams you have to be feeling the squeeze. Hansen falls to Williams and then Bragg falls. Hicks must feel the Ripper’s breath on his neck. These cars are in full throttle within inches of each other. Ballard is possessed as he crossed the finish with Hicks, Williams and Bragg also all certifiable. Awesome driving, tough competition and a well-earned heat win for Alan Ballard. Garrett seemed outgunned by the 410’s. I wonder about the motivation to race with the bigger cars. He has done so well against the VRA; maybe they’re checking his muster with the bigger boys. Huge future there. Tough break for Gaunt, he’ll be back for the semi.

Heat Four Starting Positions
48 Tom Stansberry	98 Jeremy Ellertson
2k Kevin Kierce	15 R.J. Johnson
45 Steve Ostling	96 Mike Kirby
73 Josh Ford	19 Rodney Argo
34 Joshua Williams

On the green light, former VRA champ Stansberry takes turn one, with Kierce, Ostling and Ellertson right on his arse. Within a few laps Kevin Kierce aggressively takes it away from him and they are locked in battle with the rest bunching up in the corners. You have Kierce, Stansberry, Ellertson and Johnson. Now Johnson nicks Ellertson but nobody cares because they’re all watching Kierce. Kevin Kierce, with a smaller engine and bigger heart is driving an awesome race. He pushes out ahead of the crowd and is racing by himself. Stansberry is looking wobbly, maybe something wrong with the car. Johnson has taken second, Ostling third and track local, Josh Ford, has moved up to fourth. The locals are cheering Kevin Kierce as he takes the flag and the others follow in that order. Horsepower got out of the way for local smarts and fierce driving in this heat. Mike Kirby did not advance in the fifth position. It’s going to be an interesting semi.

Semi 1 Starting Positions
50 Damion Gardner	15x Garret Hansen
19 Rodney Argo	6 Mat Neely
5x Blake Miller	16 Rickie Gaunt
96 Mike Kirby	18 Danny Sheridan
5 Troy Rutherford	77 Danny Ebberts
35R Ryan Devitt	22 Mark Heidenreich
98 Jeremy Ellertson	91x Steve Conrad
67 Ross Millar	48 Tom Stansberry
69 David Sinsley	85 Matt Stewart
34 Joshua Williams	55 Tony Everhart

This twelve lap semi is stacked with talent. Garret Hansen and Blake Miller both do fine in VRA but they are scraping in this crowd. Ricky Gaunt and Mike Kirby usually skip the semi. Danny Sheridan is USAC/CRA top ten; Steve Conrad is VRA top five. And at the last minute, they push point leader Damion Gardner’s resurrected car body onto the track and fire it off. Lots of points at play here. On the starter’s signal, we have Damion and Garrett bring them down with Argo and Neely following them through the turn. Next lap it is Gardner, Hansen, Neely, Argo and Gaunt with Conrad pushing. Ellertson then spins in turn three and we are yellow. Starting again, Damion is still in front with Garret doing an impressive job of holding down second. Neely is pushing third and Argo is fourth. Garrett is lifting coming out of turn three and Neely passes for second. Neely starts working Gardner but that’s a handful to catch. At lap six somebody spins in three and takes out Mike Kirby. Bad break for Mr. Saturday Night. On the restart it’s again Gardner, Neely and Hansen with Danny Sheridan moving up to the transfer spot. Ricky Gaunt wants that spot and is tagging Sheridan at every turn. He slides Sheridan for the spot and Sheridan takes it right back. They reverse again, then again, but time is running out. They are so in lockstep they seem to be actually pushing Garrett Hansen’s car through the turns. White flag goes out and we suddenly have Argo in front, then Gardner, then Hansen and it’s Sheridan for the transfer. Argo did an awesome job of catching Gardner and taking the flag. This was incredible wheel to wheel racing.

Main Event Starting Positions
45 Steve Ostling	97 Alan Ballard
10 Jon Stanborough	17 Seth Wilson
73 Josh Ford	3 Rip Williams
4 Jordan Hermansader	38 Cory Kruseman
50 Damion Gardner	15x Garret Hansen
6 Mat Neely	18 Danny Sheridan
44 Mike Spencer	15 R.J. Johnson
33 Greg Bragg	2K Kevin Kierce
55x Dennis Rodriquez	8 Ronnie Case
66 J. Hicks	09 Luis Espinoza
87 Tony Jones

Lots of VRA drivers sitting up in turn one. It’s like Ventura’s version of the Rat Pack, there’s Taylor, Crawford, the Buckley brothers and assorted other drivers enjoying the race. The air is cooling down but the crowd is warming up for this main event.

Front row sitters Ostling and Ballard took the green flag and made it through turn one in that order. In lap two, the second, third and fourth row all tried to get into turn one at the same time. Seth Williams caught up Rip Williams who caught up Kruseman. Rip Williams, in a tough points battle with Gardner, got the hook. Kruseman, also in that same points battle, went to the back of the line. The Gardner team pulled the car together while the yellow was out and he joined Kruseman at the back.

On the restart, Ostling again got the jump with Ballard, Stanborough and Ford right behind him. Ballard started flying the cushion again, it worked for him before and it was looking good here. With his hard charging entries and catapulting out of the corners he soon passed Ostling. Gardner was also on the move and worked his way form sixth to third. Now you have Ballard, Ostling, Gardner, Ford, Sheridan and Stanborough. We are into lapped cars and Ostling and Gardner are trying to chase down Ballard. Ballard continues to work the cushion wherever traffic allows. Everybody is taking the high line. The roar is immense and at the halfway mark Ostling slips, Gardner takes second, Ford takes third and Sheridan moves into fourth. If you are Alan Ballard, you know you have the Demon on your case, but he continued to drive as if he owned the track, setting his entries and rocketing out of the corners. Gardner was hoping for a yellow and he didn’t have to wait long. R.J. Johnson spins in turn two and at the same time third place Josh Ford drifts too high coming out of three and hits the wall.

On the new green, we now have Ballard and Gardner side by side in the turns and straights, locked into close combat. Sheridan is in third and trying to get into the front mix. Spencer has passed Stanborough for fourth and has his sights on Sheridan. Now Ballard and Gardner begin trading positions, executing slides and crossovers and the crowd is starting to rise. This is an incredible job by Alan Ballard as he strives to hold off the top driver in USAC/CRA. Suddenly Hicks checks up in the front straightaway and then stalls completely. Both Ballard and Gardner are behind him and nimbly steer their way around him standing on their brakes as we go to yellow.

We have completed 28 laps with 2 to go.

As they line up for the restart you have Ballard (two laps away from his first USAC/CRA main event win), Gardner (who doesn’t seem to be thinking safe in regards to his points battle), Sheridan and Spencer.

Hammer down and Ballard goes high and Gardner swings low. They take the white flag side by side and continue that way around the track, Gardner on the inside and Ballard on the outside. Coming out of turn four and heading for the checkered, they are literally side by side and the crowd is standing and screaming. Ballard wins, Gardner second, Sheridan third and Mike Spencer in fourth.

Later I’m walking through the pits and I see Ballard. He looks like a happy, flushed, exhausted kid. First main event win, against a determined Damion Gardner, at the beautiful Ventura Raceway, in front of family and friends. That’s one for the scrapbook.

Blake Miller finished an excellent season with a Wagsdash win putting twenty five hundred dollars in his pocket. It was a fun race, I’d like to tell you about it but I’m out of time!

Stay tuned to vrafan.com during the off-season for information and occasional articles.

Thanks to Jim Naylor, Cliff Morgan and an exceptional raceway staff for an incredible season. If you don’t think this is the most exciting racing entertainment in the nation, check in with your doctor!