surfnsprint
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
The Fans Win
I’m spending more time with sprint cars than my own kids lately, but that’s okay. I’m just blowing out Naylor’s Thirtieth Anniversary season the only way I know how. Had to be a hundred plus cars pitted in his seaside palace yesterday. You had sprints, dwarfs, TQ’s and Sports. Plenty of hot dogs, lame ducks, prima donnas, fisticuffs, drag racing, winners and losers. But the featured act of the Main Event was the quiet riot Greg Taylor, who took nine years, thirty nine main event wins and about two million power laps to etch his name on the concrete corners of Ventura Raceway, VRA Sprint Car Champion of 2007…
All Thrill No Fill: Greg Taylor Early In His Championship Season
How about that Oval Nationals they ran down at the Perris Auto Speedway. Outstanding! As a fan, I was just blown away by the quality of the staging, the level of competition and that unbelievable finish of the main event.
Outstanding Oval Nationals
Devin McCree Is A Super Charger Main Event Winner
The kids are restless. Last night in the Piston Class Mini Dwarf Tommy Velasquez took the lead from the start and cashed in. Point’s leader Ricky Lewis had car trouble and went from a fifty-five-point lead to a twenty-five-point deficit. I talked to Ricky after the race and he patiently explained to me how it has to go next week for him to prevail. He was good with it all. I also saw the soft-spoken Tommy Velasquez in the winner’s circle and it’s striking how young these kids are. Serious racers. Last night’s Pistons finished Velasquez, Jimmy McDonald, Chris Noe (third in points also), Nick Velasquez and Zachary Gilmore. Tommy and Ricky settle up next weekend.
Super Chargers have had a seesaw point’s battle between Riley Helland and Tyler Jerman all season long. Helland’s second place finish last night put him back in cat’s seat. Jerman is going to need a very good session next week to put things back together. Devin McCree won the feature race with Helland second, Cameron Dougan third, announcer Jammy Earnest’s son Joey Freshour in fourth and Austin Figueroa as top five. Both Riley and Tyler are in for all the marbles and it will be exciting next weekend from the heats to the beats.
Christian Copley Captured VRA Midget Main Event
Christian Copley nailed the main event of the VRA Junior Midgets. Amanda Green took second, Luke Boles in third, Michaela Stanton locked fourth and Drew Wright in the top five. Amanda Green has been trying to catch Jessica Clark all season long. Jessica started fourth row last night, was spun out in early in the race, went to the rear and raced her way back to a sixth place finish trying to protect her lead. I did not get an updated point’s sheet but they are neck and neck going into next week’s championship race. I suspect
Is There Anyone Cooler At
Sports Compacts ran a race for second. Joel Chavez clinched that championship two weeks ago and we talked about that. Last night he ran another first place finish followed across by Randall Dougan and David Peterson in that order. That order is how the points finally racked up for the whole season. Congratulations to second place Randall and David in third. But the real excitement for the evening was track veteran staff Mike Dyer climbing into car and showing the boys what it’s all about. His participation has reignited press interest in the Sport’s Compacts and bodes well for next year’s coverage. Mike ran a smoking race!
Nobody Could Touch Him All Year, Joel Chavez
On the VRA Senior Dwarfs Tom Bellinger got out front but lost it to Ed Niedzwiecki after several laps. But even the great Niedzwiecki is not immune from car problems. After a cluster in turn two that gathered up Dave Hume, John Lynch, Kevin Alverson and Dave Revard, the blue 17 seemed to develop some sort of mechanical problem. Tom Bellinger has been chasing down his first main event win for a long time and this was his chance. He took over that lead and held off Bill Van Praag for that win. John Lynch had a strong charge at the end but it wasn’t enough after going to the back. Naylor gave Bellinger a lot of credit for persevering for his first ever Main Event win. Niedzwiecki did clinch the championship but we’ll check that next week.
Tom Bellinger and Crew Tom Jr. Get The Job Done
Neither Jim Scribellito nor Brent Stevens showed up tonight for the VRA Pro Dwarf! What happened? I must have missed Naylor talking about it. Maybe somebody can clue me in? Marc Lippert took early control. Brian Saxton got gathered up in a turn four snafu that sent him to the rear. It was Lippert and Cory Pollock, then Michael Lewis got up to second. Now it’s Lewis up front, followed by Lippert and Pollock but holy smokes sodbusters here comes Brian Saxton like Batman! Now he’s in second and rapidly gaining on Lewis. He launches a turn four missile strike and completely dominates the race. It was Saxton, Lewis, Jeff Shelton, Marc Lippert and Lars Wolfe. You gotta be nuts to run with these guys. It’s like some secret wacko bat club. Just check out guys like Lippert and Saxton. Fun bombs. I guess Stevens and point leader Scribellito will settle their hash next week. Should be supersonic.
There Is Only One Brian Saxton
The NMRA TQ Midgets breezed a dozen cars and put on Walt Johnson Sr. Memorial. Walt was a big NMRA supporter and his son Walt Jr. has been a TQ Champion. Kenny Wiley has locked this year’s Championship and this is the final race of the season. They ran a lap with a heartfelt missing man formation and it was pretty cool. Their banquet is January 25th in
Randy Moody And His TQ Beast
The sense of anticipation for the VRA Sprint Main Event was palpable. Greg was locked from the heat races, so it wasn’t a matter of championship. It was just more of what we get every weekend. Taylor, Rutherford, Kierce, Rodriquez, Wakim, McCormick, Richardson, et all! It’s an incredible list of hardcore drivers who serve it up every Saturday night! Right off the bat Wes Richardson helicopters out of turn four and he’s gone. Restart has “Front Row”
Confirmed results are Rutherford, Kierce, Espinoza, Hendrix and Rodriquez. Equal hard chargers with nine passes are McCormick, Nock, Thomson and Hendrix. Your usual epic mind numbing fare.
It Takes A Team
Ten Years to the Day
So kill the lights, dump the water in the crash truck and sweep out the haulers. Load the cars and we all head into the dark. But this was a significant night in the annals of Ventura Raceway. Greg Taylor is the 2007 VRA Sprint Champion and that means a lot. Just about everybody who was anybody had to stop by and lock hands. Tough crowd. Lotta guys want it, precious few get it. Greg would blame everything on his awesome crew, big family and lovely Lea. He points at his sponsors especially Westco International Consulting (“they stepped up in a big way”). But us fans see it different. We just see full throttle down the back, huge and powerful in the corners. The Colonel said it best: “Thanks Greg for a whole season of (sometimes three wide) clean racing”! Funny thing. The fans win.
Greg Taylor
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