surfnsprint

Race # 19

September 30, 2006

Today is my daughter’s ninth birthday party, watch me race through this review! Significant VRA championship moves last night from Ventura’s great drivers! Incredible USAC Midget precision driving was also on the program. Also on display were some interesting parallels. Point leaders Espinoza and Crawford both had to go to the semi. Wakim and Kierce both have a tendency to DNF then come back and win. And lastly, multiple rising stars have finally found their grip as we come out of turn four. We are seeing incredible new talent emerging. But before the end of the evening, we will have parallel lines diverging….

Midgets in the mud!
Matt Streeter leads Christian, Stewart, Decker and Hansen through the turns, heat three.
photo: surfnsprint

VRA Sprint Heats:

Steve Conrad took heat one and put himself in the second row of the main event. Stansbury is starting to show up again and he’s getting back in the groove, second place in that same heat. Most impressive is Buckley making hustle from the third row to the third spot. Conway went from the pole to fourth, but Espinoza couldn’t get around this nominated rising star! Wakim had to leave the track due to a mud packed tire, he will be at the back of the semi and Luis will be at the front.

Second heat has Wes Richardson dominating from the front row to the checkers. Fast and clean. Tom Schneider and Tom Harper took second and third. The crowd was focused on the fight for four between Joe Henderson and Jimmy Crawford, both coming from the fourth row. Jimmy could have had a monster advantage in the main, but Mighty Joe put him in the semi where he would sit front row next his point buddy.

Third heat featured Kevin Kierce tearing to the front and stretching out. He blew past Taylor over in turn two and I’m still trying to figure out how he did it. He was flatfooted and flying. Taylor in second, the always charging Guy Woodward in third and Ron Tjaarda denies Rob Kershaw. Kershaw will be second row in the semi.

The final heat belongs to two nominated rising stars, Brandon Thomson taking first and hard working Angel Figueroa in second. Brandon was huge, powerful sweeping turns and confidence. Mike Knopf was back and in third. Persistent John Nock nailed fourth. Bruce Douglas and Tom Hendricks were going to the semi; Brandon would be on the pole in the main.

The semi would contain heavyweights Espinoza, Crawford and Wakim. The main event front row would contain young talent Brandon Thomson and Wes Richardson. The winds of change were blowing in from the ocean.

The young Justin Kierce is putting in the time,
VRA Junior Focus Midgets
photo: surfnsprint

VRA Junior Focus Midgets Main Event:

The talented Jonathan Henry clocked this event from start to finish. Point’s leader Robby Jossett (with an incredible 992.2 average) gave him a go as did Rick Wright and Brent Owens. Kierce left with an axle problem and finished fifth. With only six cars in the series, that didn’t hurt too badly. Jossett leads the series with Jonathan and Justin in striking distance with only two events to go. Smoking!

Jossett 8930

Henry 8770

Kierce 8175

VRA Sprint Semi Main:

With leaders Espinoza and Crawford on the front line, this was a closely watched match. Fireworks at the green flag took out Victor Davis and sent Brian Camarillo, Wakim and Tressler to the back. Crawford got to the hole and locked into first. Espinoza hung for ten laps and took second, Hendricks in third and Douglas nabbed fourth. Wakim came from the back with too little too late and missed qualifying for the first time in a long time.

VRA/USAC Ford Focus Midgets Main Event:

Dennis Howell got out front and was never seriously challenged. Point’s leader Bobby Michnowicz was on the job but his fight was with third place Quinton Crye in heavy traffic. Brian Camarillo flipped in lap seventeen and they decided to checker. Gordon Edwards had the most passes with nine. Interestingly, I think it was Edwards who tangled with Camarillo on the lap that checkered it at seventeen. Also a tight point’s race with Michnowicz barely holding Chris Veach and Keith Janca. Beautiful buzzing bees that sting. One more Ventura race in late October.

Michnowicz 8110

Chris Veach 7850

Janca 7560

Sea Park Sunset
photo: surfnsprint

USAC Midgets Main Event

After a couple of ducks quacked up the start, the USAC Midgets roared into action with Greg Bragg out front. Josh Lakatos was running third but was on the gas and worked up to first. He clearly had the fastest car, but about halfway through the event Rick Hendrix got sideways in three and gathered him up. Really a shame because Lakatos was on his game. On the restart, Bragg again got to the front but he was under heavy pressure from Danny Ebberts and Garrett Hansen. Hansen was in a hurry and muscled past Ebberts and Bragg into first. Chris Rahe was right behind him and settled into second. First class racing with Hansen, Rahe and Bragg side by side for a few laps. Once Hansen got into some clear air he pulled ahead and took the A train to the checkered. Rahe in second and Bragg in third. Ryan Kaplan took the fourth spot. Jereome Rodela leads the points with Chase Barber behind him.

These guys won’t be back to Ventura this season. Thanks for coming!

Always a fashion statement.
Brother Brett
photo: surfnsprint

VRA Sprint Main Event:

Interesting because a DNF for either Espinoza or Crawford would be deadly. Here, they are both starting at the back and have to shoot the gauntlet. Also interesting with Brandon Thomson on the pole and Wes Richardson on his shoulder. Those two came out swinging with Richardson to turn one and two but Brandon taking three and four. But Stansbury gets sideways in three and gathers Woodward who is out. Green restart and this time Thomson picks off the lead. These two youngsters (Hey Wes, you can thank me later for calling you a youngster) clearly in control except that here comes the yellow car and the red car. Kevin Kierce stands on it and takes it from Richardson. Taylor is right behind him and also clears. Brandon is out in the clean air but Kierce and Taylor is a lot of pressure. Conrad is in the middle of all of this but lacked the set up. Espinoza and Crawford are trading blows and have actually moved to mid pack mid race! Kierce finally gets around Brandon but the kid isn’t done and continues to stuff Taylor. We are at fifteen laps when Mighty Joe Henderson takes a doozy coming into turn three, flipping hard enough for the track to go red! He gets out and walks off into the darkness. Closed red, no pit crew access which turned out to hurt some drivers. On the new green, Kierce is now in control and shoots the hole cleanly. Another awesome driving display from one of Ventura’s greatest. Championship or no championship, this guy is at the top of his game and makes it happen for every fan in the stands! Thomson is holding down second, huge battle in third between Conrad, Taylor and “Espinoza”! The point’s leader has slogged his way to fifth and the Neutron isn’t too far behind him. But with only a few laps to go, Crawford’s tire is going flat and he is slowing down dramatically! It almost looks like he isn’t going to make it but his steel will keeps pushing the car towards the finish. Taylor finally nicks Thomson for second and the leaders blast the finish, Kierce, Taylor, Thomson (incredible top three finish), Espinoza and Tom Stansbury! Crawford crosses wounded in the twelfth spot. Espinoza took it from the semi to the back of the main and raced his way to fourth. That’s a championship performance. That’s deep.

Espinoza 16180

Crawford 15270

Taylor 15250

Kevin Kierce 14200

Chris Wakim 12260

Justin and Kevin Kierce wind it down
photo: surfnsprint

PS The poor pony stocks can’t get no respect. They ran post main with Joel Chavez taking the win!

posted: 2:01 PM