surfnsprint

“Holy Sodbusters, Batman!!”
Race 2
April 22, 2006

Somebody call the National Guard! BAM, WHAM, POW!#)*. The government now wants health advisories printed on Ventura Raceway tickets! “May be too much action for weak hearts!” ZING ZAM *&#!!BOOM! The Weather Channel showed up and was interviewing the track crew. Satellite photos showed the track at the center of a hurricane!! CRACK POP #&*!@ RRRRRrrr! Naylor says to me “don’t write everything you hear in the tower and don’t write about me!” I think I just broke two rules in less than a paragraph! RIP BANG #&!)*%WOW! Holy Sodbusters, Batman! What a race!!!

If you stayed home Saturday night, you were probably safe and sound. Those hardy souls that ventured out to the raceway (and the stands were full) were exposed to the most exciting racing Gotham has to offer. Some USAC troublemakers showed up and got into it with our local drivers. Naylor and his ace racing organization presented a show that could barely be contained by the crash walls. Driver Danny Sheridan even tried the walls but couldn’t get enough grip! But I’m getting ahead of myself……

I didn’t get off work until almost 4:15 so I tore up the coast trying to get to the track in time. I didn’t get to hear our National Anthem and by the time I got settled I had missed the Modified and Ford Focus heats. Scott Holder kindly provided me with result sheets that showed IMCA Modified drivers David Addamo and Donald Houghton taking their heats. For USAC Ford Focus, you had twenty nine cars pitted. They ran four heats with Bobby Michnowicz, Chris Veach, Jake Vail and Keith Janca leading their own parades. (Hey Larry O, why don’t you start writing about the Ford Focus races? Frank gives you all that web space, get to work! I can’t do everything! I am grasshopper, you are master) LOL

Senior Sprints are only racing 14 times this season (rain schedule) and I don’t want to miss one. I have really developed an appreciation for these guys. Ron Bach, Wily and Danny Miller, Bob Alderman, Bruce Douglas, Tim Moon and all the others knock me out every time.

Heat One brings an unrestricted Danny Miller (doesn’t have to keep that 10 car safe for his kid) into the pack. My prediction proves true as I watch him savagely back into almost every corner. The crackle of radio static says Culver has tanked in turn four, Stasa out with a broken part. Restart has Mike Cook in front with Bach now biting his heels. Soon it’s just Bach. It’s immediately apparent that Bach, Hendrix and Miller are all on the gas. Don’t know this Hendrix, but he’s fast going from the back to the second spot! He keeps denying Danny Miller. There’s also action in the back as Bruce Douglas is trying to pass Mike Cook for the transfer. I thought he was going to get it done, misses by a half car. Bach, Hendrix, Miller and Cook.

Heat Two announces Bob Alderman’s intentions. Get out of the way! Marini led at first but a spin by Porter created a restart that was all Alderman needed. Tim Moon was also primed to jump at the green. Quickly it finished Alderman, Moon, Chris McArthur and Tom Harper.

Heat three had Oren Prosser Sr. jumping the curb early but no yellow, he just raced the infield. Willey “Way Out” Miller is way out front, no change from last year. The battle is between Chulahoof and Ross Millar and it’s a good fight. Millar wins that skirmish, Willey wins the battle. Miller, Millar, Chuhaloff and Leonard. Ross Millar is looking very sharp this year.

VRA Heat One
Blake Miller’s hair has grown out but he isn’t any slower. However Rutherford’s not giving any quarter. Trimble steps up from the last row quickly and Conrad is always showing up. There’s not going to be any yellows here. They are spaced out nicely and you can tell this one’s going to be clean. Miller doesn’t look like he missed a day here (actually he’s only missed one day!) Miller, Rutherford, Trimble, Conrad.

VRA Heat Two
Chris Wakim took control of this race from the front row. He got in the wind and never looked back. The real battle was between USAC vets Alan Ballard and Josh Ford. That provided for tension as Ballard was half a step ahead of Ford. Ford kept pushing the bottom while everybody else was slinging the high hash. Espinoza was easily fourth and would have moved up but Ford and Ballard were hogging the track. I keep remembering that awesome drive Ballard had here last year. Ford finally edged Ballard for second place. Finished Wakim, Ford, Ballard and Espinoza.

VRA Heat Three
Good to see Clark Templeman lining up. He had some more bad luck last race.
On the green he quickly moved from the second row to the front. Oren “Plain Fast” Prosser Jr. and Mark Weitzman were mixing right behind with Kershaw closing in. Kershaw passes for third and Dennis Rodriquez is now stalking in the fourth slot. Weitzman is trying to hang but his fingers are slipping. It’s Templeman easily, Prosser, Kershaw and the hard working Rodriquez. After the heat I casually mention to Cliff and the others that there haven’t been any yellows! Well, Cliff held me down while the others kicked me. Rookie! There was nothing but yellows the rest of the night! Sorry guys.

VRA Heat Four
The last heat finished Taylor, Richardson, Sheridan and Crawford. First row, third row, last row, it doesn’t matter to Greg Taylor. He moved out front and started banging laps. If they were handing out trophies for confidence, Greg Taylor can go straight to the winner’s circle. This was a great heat. Wes Richardson slotted second and drove it like the pro he is. Kevin Kierce jumped up and then developed some kind of trouble. USAC driver Danny Sheridan took the third spot (no sign of the brilliance to come) and here comes Jimmy Crawford snapping the transfer. Kierce works all the way from the back to fifth but he’s going to the B Main. He doesn’t care, just another race, bring it on.

Junior Focus Main went off with Robby Josett landing first, Jonathon Henry taking second, Dakota Kershaw finding third and Justin Kierce in fourth. I really enjoy watching the teens get out there and drive. Give it sun and water and it will grow.

Ford Focus Semi advanced Nic Faas, Keith Iaia, Dennis Howell and Mike Collins. That completed twenty drivers for the main event.

VRA B MAIN #1
It’s Camarillo, its Weitzman. It’s Weitzman, it’s Camarillo, it’s Camarillo, it’s Weitzman spinning in one. Billy Camarillo smokes the competition and handles the front. John Wright is taking care of second and it looks like Hendricks has the transfer. Nock is pushing hard to take it away. But a couple of things happen on the way to the dance, Nock gets knocked up, Carlisle dumps in three, Hendricks is mugged and Weitzman is cited for repeat offences. Checkered goes to Camarillo, Wright and Tjaarda.

VRA B Main #2
I don’t think you can sum up the desire that a couple of these drivers are feeling. Henderson, Kierce, Angel Figueroa; I can sense it all the way up in the tower. Fiscus also shows up with a ton of need. And how about Jeremy Ellertson! He’s out front with Kierce crawling up his back. Henderson is strong and Fiscus is standing on his pedal. Angel’s in the hunt but it’s just not enough. A vicious hard fought race with Ellertson, Henderson, Kierce. Fiscus holds off Angel, barely, but it doesn’t matter. Goodbye.

The IMCA Modifieds Final was just a great toe to toe slugfest between Jack Parker and Gary Curtis. Before things kicked off I was looking down on these cars and appreciating their ugly beauty. They are big and less responsive than the sprints, they move in a herd, almost like watching elephant seals race! An exciting race where Parker came out on top but Curtis had nothing to apologize for! Bill Waltman and David Addamo did third and fourth.

Senior Sprints Final rolled twenty three cars, scratch that, twenty two cars as Willey Miller left the track without starting. Rick Hendrix, in a very authoritive manner, took the outside front row to the lead and never gave it up. Bob Alderman came from the second row and was settled in right behind him. A real race was developing between Danny Miller and Ron Bach, two bulls going at it! But a cluster cluck in turn three took out Danny Miller along with Ross Millar and Bill Leonard. I hope their cars didn’t take too much hurt, that stuff gets expensive. Hendrix sailed to victory with Alderman, Bach and “Lucky 13” Bruce Douglas.

The USAC Ford Focus is loading the field for their final. I wanted to make room for the USAC official in the tower so I cleared out and made for my friends in turn one. I grabbed a hot dog so I missed the first couple of laps but got to watch Cameron Veach who led from the pole position. Bobby Michnowicz gave him a run, but couldn’t get around him. Strong run by Cameron, Bobby, Chris Veach and Quinton Crye. That’s the second strong showing by Quinton at Ventura.

Now, finally, at about 9:30, the VRA sprints with some of the usual USAC suspects take to the track. What a powerhouse lineup. Trimble (who had the most passes in his heat victory) takes the pole. Josh “Strawberry Fields Forever” Ford lines up next to him. Chris Wakim and Clark Templeman III are behind them. Blake Miller and Greg Taylor up the ante behind them. Troy Rutherford and Oren Prosser Jr. are huge in the fourth row. Way back, Danny “Showtime” Sheridan sits quietly, waiting to explode. Up in turn one, we already know we are going to see a race! We’re on the edge of our bleachers, slowly nodding our heads. I’m gonna get some of this wrong so don’t worry, it’s like trying to cram a gallon of root beer into a soda can!

The green struck like a snake and all of that talent and muscle jumped at once. It was Trimble and Wakim going through turn two when they got together. Templeman came up on that mess and got the worst of it, slamming up against the straightaway wall. (I walked by his pit after the race and looked at the frame: pretzel logic.) Well that’s two of your front runners out of the picture. Wakim did get cleaned up, went to the back and finished the race. Blake Miller also stopped and had to go to the back. Trimble and Templeman were gone, way too early.

Now we have USAC experience up front in Ford and Rutherford. VRA (with USAC experience) right behind them in Taylor and Richardson. Crawford’s back there, Sheridan, Kershaw, Conrad and Ballard are all back there. On the restart, Taylor steps up, but we get another yellow. On the single file restart we now have Troy Rutherford grabbing lead with Ford and Taylor right behind him. This starts up some of the best racing I have ever seen. Rutherford is taking the high but it’s slick up there. Ford is taking the low but it’s slick down there. The slick stretches from the berm all the way up the bank. There is maybe a three foot cushion at the top and Taylor starts in with that. You are seeing high speed laps with Rutherford barely holding off Ford, Ford coming off the bottom just high enough to stuff Greg’s slingshot efforts. Lap after lap Greg tries to get around but Josh is playing it like a piano! Rutherford, Ford and Taylor are three abreast down the straight and around turns three and four. You are also seeing Crawford and Sheridan making big moves.

I am seeing some big time body checking and jabs. You gotta have thick skin for this style of racing. Now Sheridan is pushing the top three and great racing gets even better. I am watching four monster drivers all high on the turn one and two wall, inches apart, inches from the wall, moving in perfect high speed sync. Ford is sticking low, working on his own thing. You also see Crawford hugging the bottom as they all get into traffic. Ford wobbles, Taylor and Sheridan move up and Ford’s suddenly in fourth. Rutherford puts a little front runner distance, Taylor hits a slow turn and now Sheridan is in second chasing Troy. Super acceleration from Showtime, brave almost perfect driving as he rockets the high side at every corner! Then Ford in third, Taylor in fourth, Crawford in fifth and here comes Blake Miller bulleting from the very back! Rodriquez stalls and everybody gasps a breath.

Rutherford is desperately holding off a possessed Danny Sheridan. My pal Ron commented post race that it was almost as if Sheridan was going to climb the crash wall and race vertical to get around Rutherford! Ford keeps chipping at the bottom. Sheridan’s Kittle machine is now working a half inch off the wall. Now a quarter inch. All the drivers are googling “where do I go?” Ford gets the answer on the bottom and nicks both Rutherford and Sheridan and is back in the lead. As Blake Miller flips in turn four, they are at twenty five laps, it’s ten o’clock and Cliff suddenly checkers it. It’s Ford, Rutherford, Sheridan, Crawford and Conrad!

Gotta mention a couple of gems. Blake Miller had the most passes with about two hundred, but unfortunately didn’t finish the race. As a matter of fact, the Millers had a pretty rotten evening all around! Kevin Kierce started at the back of the main, had an unbelievable 14 passes and finished eighth! Tougher than the rest!
Danny Sheridan raced Hanford the night before where nine cars ran and he took first! This third had to be just as satisfying. Either way, he gave the fans a show I’ll never forget! Same for Rutherford. The quality of the competition on this track is off the scale.

See you next week! Support Ventura Raceway, It’s Your Raceway!