Classic
I had my neighbor pounding on my door at five-thirty this morning. Fire! The hill across the street from us was completely engulfed in a Santa Ana firestorm. We grabbed the kids, the dog, the cat and wait…I ran and took the digital picture cards sitting on my desk. Can you blame me? They held all my photos from John Richards’ historical win at Ventura Raceway last night…
All Thrill No Fill: D-Rod Checks The Torque Levels
John Richards: VRA Senior Sprint Main Event Winner
VRA Senior Sprints regularly roll out great races. But last nights main event was stellar. Twenty cars pitted and you had the best of the best including Ron Bach, the Miller brothers, Steve Stassa and Tim Moon to mention a few. Green flag and John Richards took the pole and ran towards his destiny. Ron Bach was outside front row and in serious pursuit. Ron Butler was also standing on it with racing legend Oren Prosser in fourth. Further back I could see Wiley Miller and Steve Stassa getting their speed up. Bruce Douglas spins in turn three and somehow keeps in going in the middle a pack of snarling engines. Ten laps puts us halfway and we have racing all over the track (finally the seniors get a great track!). Richards and Bach are racing hard for first with Richards barely keeping him behind. Butler and Prosser are in deep in combat also, with Butler really tearing it up. The front four are showing radical speed and deep commitment in all turns, yet it’s all clean and free racing. Butler hits the wall and pulls into the infield and we are still green! Finally Gil Mahoney spins in turn three and we have our first yellow. Line up is Richards, Prosser, Bach, Wiley Miller and Stassa. Green again and you have a lot of talent in the front-runners. Richards is racing his heart out against fellow talent Oren Prosser. Prosser almost loses it in turn one, two cars pass below him; he hits the gas, rides the berm and has raced himself back into second before he’s done with turn two! Our jaws hit our laps! Mark Chuhaloff is moving up. Bill Leonard spins and we have our second and final yellow with seventeen laps completed. John Richards is three laps away from his first VRA Senior Sprint main event win and highly qualified individuals are determined to stop him. No matter. Phillip throws the green and it finishes Richards, Prosser, champ Ron Bach and Mark Chuhaloff (great to see Mark rocking the track) and Steve Stassa. Danny Miller is still your point's leader with brother Wiley snapping at his heels. Steve Stassa and Bruce Douglas are also still in what is the closest and most dramatic points race of the year! The whip comes down November 17th! One last note: John Richards will be 76 in two weeks. Get over it.
Ron Butler Was On Fire
VRA Junior Focus Main was for all the marbles. Season Championship was at stake for at least the top five point holders. This is a junior class for the popular Ford Focus series and is only at Ventura raceway. Jim Naylor and Cory Kruseman worked hard with others to make this happen. Buzzard says these racers are more exciting than the bigger Ford Focus. Austin Mero goes into this race with the biggest bag of marbles. However, Austin Smith, Alex Bowman, Justin Kierce and Dakota Kershaw are all still in it. The drivers line up three wide in perfect formation and saluted Jim Naylor with a souvenir flag. Fantastic sight. Let’s race. Charlie Butcher takes the lead and Jake Swanson is second. Justin Kierce is third and here comes Austin Smith and Austin Mero. Smith gets under Kierce for third. Scott Oliver spins and we are yellow. Green again and now Smith takes second from Swanson. It’s Butcher, Smith, Swanson, Mero and Kierce. Five laps to go and Smith adroitly takes first. Mero has moved to second and knows he has to stay within one or two spots of Smith for the championship. Suddenly Kierce gets turned around in turn three for the final yellow. We are green and it’s all about Smith holding off Mero. Mero takes his last shot at turn two but cannot get by. Smith wins the main event, but Mero by holding second has clinched the championship. Alex Bowman, Jake Swanson and David Perry Jr. round out your top five. Naylor does an interview later and Mero says, “thanks Dad”.
Austin Mero And Team Members Took Down The Championship
Now the Ford Focus Main Event kicks in. Nic Faas is holding a big lead going into this final championship race. Ricky Kirkbride gets out front and is being chased by Jet Davison and Aaron Schankerma. Kirkbride drifts sideways in turn two and gathers up his friends. The yellow lineup is Nick Carlson, Walt Johnson, Robby Josett and Nic Faas. We are green and Faas immediately gets around Josett. Now Jet Davison has a nasty flip coming out of turn four and we are red. He’s ok but the field is diminishing. We are green and Josett is pushing hard through turn three, catches Faas’ rear tire, gets sideways and gathers up Thomas Grey and Scott Oliver. Green again but now Josett and Schankerma drift in turn one and stop. That’s two for Josett and he’s gone. Nine laps remain and four cars remain. Nick Carlson is in front and Nic Faas is running second. Five laps to go and here comes Dennis Howell like he’s shot out of a cannon. It’s Carlson, Howell, Faas and Johnson at the checkered. Nic Faas has locked the championship.
Ford Focus Champion Nic Faas, He’s Good In A Sprint Car Too
VRA Sport Compacts still have one more race in November, but Joel Chavez got it all settled last night. He took the front row outside and drove it straight to his first VRA Sport Compact Championship. Although Randall Dougan, David Peterson and others tried, there is no stopping the stout barrel chested Joel Chavez. There has been no stopping him all year long. Joel has an amazing six main event wins in eleven races. He has completely dominated this season. I watched carefully last night trying to understand how one man can so dominate a singular class. First, he has made every race this season, a discipline only matched by David Peterson. Second he has a very aggressive driving style, belied by his choice of Tony Stewart orange. Finally, you have to give this driver credit for his skillful lines and careful positioning. Joel Chavez drove faster and better than everyone else for his Championship.
Joel Chavez Is Your 2007 VRA Sports Compact Champion
Troy Rutherford is on the front row for the VRA Sprint Car Main Event and that says a lot. Troy showed up and exploded for the final third of this season. He almost pulled off three consecutive wins last month and he might still accomplish that this year. He is dangerous in front and maybe the only racer Greg Taylor can’t catch. And vice versa! Hammer down and Troy gets right on it. Pole sitter Conrad is second with John Nock and Ronnie “the Rocket” Case stepping up right behind. Rutherford is sucking that clean air as Conrad and Nock squeeze the Rocket three wide down the backstretch. Reach out and touch somebody! John Nock takes second away from Conrad and Case and is looking very comfortable. I look to the back and I can see twentieth starter Kevin Kierce is already moving up. It’s Rutherford, Nock (how close is John Nock?), Conrad, Case, Dennis Rodriquez, Josh Ford, Eric Severson, Greg Taylor, Luis Espinoza and Rick Hendrix. Case nicks Conrad for third and Ford then takes him for fourth. Taylor is gutting it up to sixth and Brian Camarillo is also showing some muscle. They are all chasing Troy but he is getting smaller and smaller. Now there is some kind of problem and Brian Camarillo is dead in turn two. It’s our first yellow. Thirteen laps down. Quick interview with Sean “Jackslash” Buckley and a train floats by. The warm Santa Ana’s start licking the track. Some nights Ventura just gets spooky. Line up is good and Troy Rutherford gets right back to work. Nock is hanging and the Rocket is revving it up. Unfortunately he gets turned around in turn three and heads to the back. Josh Ford is third in the yellow line up and Taylor is now fourth. We go green again, Nock bikes badly in two, Taylor slides in to second and Ford is third. Kierce has crawled up to sixth. Troy Rutherford is doing everything right but so is Greg Taylor. Taylor starts applying pressure as Tom Harper inexplicably leaves out the back. Now Rutherford and Taylor are tracking in the middle of the bank, looking like twins from different mothers as they hook up the fast thing. All the lapped cars have disappeared and it’s Rutherford, Taylor, Ford, Espinoza and Hendrix. Five laps to go and Kierce is pounding on the back door. It almost looks like Taylor going to snatch it on the last laps but Troy handles it and checks out. That’s four wins in ten races and I can dig it. Super talent Taylor leads in both VRA and Grand Slam points. Kierce had most passes, Nock is most improved and it was great seeing Espy in the final four. Josh Ford belongs in Ventura. The fans love him and sometimes he almost looks like he enjoys it! Come home, Josh.
Troy Rutherford Is Focused And Winning
Kevin Kierce comes out of a racing tradition. His dad was CRA Rookie of the Year in 1963. Kevin knows what is important and honors his dad’s memory with the Second Annual Jim Kierce Memorial Super Senior Invitational. Like the Wagsdash, he gives the hard luck veterans a shot at some extra cash. Who doesn’t like a twelve-lap shootout? Mike Cook drives hard to the inside with Bill Leonard running after him. Leonard spins in two and collects Oren Prosser. He is also clipped by John Richards. They are all gone in lap one. New green and Cook drifts in turn two. Ron Butler says thank you and takes that lead. It’s Butler, Tim Moon, Cook and “Gentleman Jim” Porter showing up in fourth (in the Steve Stassa 22s). Cook and Porter are having a great time slugging it out for third place. Jeff Culver is finally on the move in fifth. Six completed, six to go… Butler is driving like a winner and Cook is giving his all. The laps spin by like birthday candles and Ron Butler wins the check and the most fun. Hard charging Mike Cook is second, Tim Moon is third and Jim Porter takes fourth. Jeff “Professor” Culver closes top five. Jim Kierce is sliding through a turn in hyperspace and laughing his head off.
Son Kevin Kierce and Grandson Justin Kierce Present 2nd Annual Jim Kierce Super Senior Invitational To Ron Butler
Oh yeah, my house is fine, that fire drove past like an Oren Prosser fast lap. I’m thinking about how victory comes at the most satisfying time. Oren, John and Ron are hooked up and driving hard. They are committed in the turns, clean and free on the straights. They have no schedule; they have huge expectations. They got some kind of style you don’t see much of. Can’t really put your finger on it. You just watch these guys race and it all rolls together and makes sense. For me it’s something about how I came to racing late. Leaving the track, we pulled into Carrow’s for some breakfast. John Richards wandered in around midnight. The whole room broke into applause. Classic.
