surfnsprint

This past season has been one incredible Saturday night after another. You can call it white knuckle fever and this Saturday was no different. I usually spend all the next day sorting out what happened and writing it down. This Sunday, however, my darling eight year old Kelly is having her birthday party. So this weekend, fellow race fans, we are doing a fast lap……

VRA Senior Sprints Heat One

Wiley Miller dominated this heat while Bob Hedlund (back from a horrific crash) stuck to him like Gorilla Glue. Nobody else showed up; oh wait… here comes Dave Marini and Bruce Douglas.

VRA Senior Sprints Heat Two

Bob Alderman was dominating this heat until Ron Bach passed him coming out of turn four with one of the most aggressive passes I’ve seen all year. Ron Bach and Bob Alderman again delivering what fans love, white knuckle fever! Check it out on Loudpedal… Tim Moon and Jeff Culver picking up what crumbs were left.

VRA Sprints Heat One

Fun watching kiwi Brendon Rowlands take the track again. If you go to vrafan.com and check out message board>surfnsprints comments>latest race> there is a link to some photos posted by the buzzard that show Brendon’s car back home and his pals having at it. You have to check out the whole story; it’s something else….Thanks Brendon for stopping in (and going easy on our cars!!) Nice profile in the program too.

Blake Miller quickly took charge. Prosser Jr. continues with his late season charge (Oren is really getting fast…) Luis Espinoza hit a really bad rut (literally and figuratively) which put him back to third. Dennis Rodriguez comes from the back (again) to take fourth.

VRA Sprints Heat Two

Greg Taylor ran strong and hard to the front. Especially enjoyed the slide job on Kershaw in turn three immediately followed by the slide job on Weitzman again in turn three to take the lead. Kershaw put up an awesome fight but had to settle for second. Michael Trimble looking nimble in third and Mark Weitzman drove an excellent race for fourth.

VRA Sprints Heat Three

Quite simply, Wakim got out front and Kierce was in relentless pursuit. Steve Chuhaloff defended the second spot for as long as he could, but fierce Kierce is almost impossible to hold back. Larry Lloyd ran a great race also. Wakim, Kierce, Chuhaloff and Lloyd.

VRA Sprints Heat Four

Steve Conrad out front with heavy competition from Angel Figueroa. Wes Richardson was in the hunt but overcompensated in turn one, toured the infield, almost took out fearless Frank from vrafan.com and never got back in contention. Steady Tom Hendricks took his place and Brandon Thomson insisted on fourth.

VRA Sprints Semi 1

Convention of the lost souls, Joe Henderson was the keynote speaker. He took the lead early, drove hard and never looked back. Jeff Fiscus put on a great race and refused to relinquish his second spot to a determined Wes Richardson. Wes tried to pass at the finish and just missed. John Nock took a clean fourth. Hard driving puts the walking dead at the back of the main event.

VRA Senior Sprints Main Event

This weird race started with a weird crash in turn one; Bob Hedlund drifted and gathered up Ron Bach and Danny Miller. Danny Miller got the hook and they rushed it back to pits for repairs (Blake Miller drives this car in the main event). They restarted Bach but things didn’t look normal. Hedlund was over and out.

On the restart Bob Alderman resumed the lead but he soon fell to Wiley Miller. Douglas and Marini did show up for this race and were chasing the leaders. Bach, who had restarted at the back, took his smoking and struggling car and tried to prevent Wiley Miller from lapping him. It was weird, as Naylor (“the greatest little dirt track announcer in America”) wailed “it looks like a battle for first between Miller and Bach!”

Tim Moon passed Marini for fourth and Bruce Douglas was trying to pass Alderman for second. Wiley “Way Out” Miller was way out front passing traffic when he spun in turn one. Ouch! Now we do have the two points leaders in the back, together again…except that, Ron Bach refuses to stay where he is put and has worked his injured and screaming engine back up to the fifth spot.

For us fans in the seats, this is exciting racing from Ron Bach! So as we come into the finish, you have consistent Bob Alderman, Bruce Douglas trying hard to take that win away from Bob, Tim Moon presenting his case, “Gentleman Jim” Porter protecting fourth, and in a complete inversion of the whole field, Ron Bach and Wiley Miller battling for the championship back in the fifth and sixth spots. Ron Bach won the battle, Wiley Miller won the war. Driving out the back, past the water tower and heading for the trailer Wiley was the 2005 VRA Senior Sprints Champion. He got it the old fashioned way; he earned it…...

VRA Sprints Main Event starting line up
Steve Conrad	Chris Wakim
Greg Taylor	Blake Miller
Rob Kershaw	Kevin Kierce
and everybody else

I turned to my friends and flatly stated “anyone in the first three rows can win this race”. Plenty of great drivers from row four all the way to the back, but if you weren’t in this first six, lots of luck!

The lovely Jammy Earnest introduced the drivers and Ventura’s ace track crew executed a flawless push off. These are all professional track workers who take enormous pride in their work. It really shows well.

With a heavy blanket of fog drifting over the metal halide lights, the line-up comes to the start, the lights go green, the flag is waving and we are racing. Wakim got out front right away with Steve Conrad pushing hard behind him. Blake was third and Taylor was just starting to get on the gas in fourth. Conrad was beating on Wakim and Taylor soon passed Blake for third. Conrad was beating on Wakim and Taylor soon passed Conrad for second. Now Wakim has Taylor beating on him when suddenly Taylor flames out and leaves the track with six laps completed.

On the restart, Conrad resumes beating on Wakim (who is riding the cushion at both ends of the track) while Miller has his hands full with Kierce. With nine laps completed, Prosser spins in turn three and is out.

On the restart, Conrad again resumes beating on Wakim and Kierce has found his bite moving up to third. Wakim is systematically hitting every rut in the track but never loses control and is always one half car ahead of Conrad. At fifteen laps, Chris wobbles, Conrad slows up for half a second and Kierce moves into second. Now Wakim has Kevin Kierce beating on him. This is an unrelenting assault and we are all wondering if Chris can hold these guys off. Conrad is trying to get back into the fight and Blake is trying to get around him. Kershaw bobbles badly and is out.

The next several laps have Kierce in screaming pursuit of Wakim. Every turn is up for grabs yet Wakim manages to maintain his grip. Brilliant white knuckle driving by Chris Wakim. Now Conrad suddenly takes second away from Kierce and is diving low trying to pass Wakim. Now, at lap twenty two, pushing the envelope he spins in two and has to go the back. Steve Conrad loves the hunt and this has to hurt!

On the restart, Wakim and Kierce are flying high and Blake is grinding the berm down below. Blake’s strategy is working and he takes the second position from Kevin. Now it’s Blake’s turn to pound away at Chris, driving the bottom while Wakim continues to fling out of the high pockets. John Nock spins in turn four and we have a restart with Wakim, Miller, Kierce and Figueroa (up front with the legends) in that order.

Now I have to wonder what is going through Blake Miller’s mind. He has not won a main event since the very first race. He has finished second about a million times. His biggest disappointment would be to win the championship with only one main event win. Here he is with five laps remaining, fast driving on all sides and he has wrestled his way past every heavy in the neighborhood, except one……

We are green and Wakim and Miller come tearing out of the start. Wakim is high, Miller is low and they are practically side by side on the straightaway. Chris continues to get in the turns first but you can almost see the vise tightening. With two laps to go, Chris hits turns three and four high but not exactly perfect. Blake hits turns three and four low exactly perfect. Blake pulls in front as they pass the grandstand. Blake low, Chris high, then coming out of two Blake slightly drifts up toward the wall in a textbook blocking motion. Chris tries to drop below but Miller now has eyes in the back of his head. Chris checks up and that’s all Blake needs. Coming out of four, I can see Blake reach over his shoulder, grab the monkey that’s been living there and fling it behind him as he crosses the checkered flag. It was so big, Chris was lucky he didn’t hit it.

Blake Miller / “these guys didn’t give it to me, they raced hard”
Chris Wakim / “one of the toughest races I ever ran”
Kevin Kierce / “let’s do it again tomorrow”

Postscript: Dan and Cody Codner were driving their motorcycle to the races Saturday when they were hit by a car. Cody is the cool guy that takes your ticket at the gate. His father Dan is one of my race buddies in turn one who shares his track knowledge with me. They are seriously injured and I want them to know we are all pulling for them.