Not Exactly Everything
All right already, I’m finally going to shut up. Yesterday I was dragging and so glad the season was ending. But when I got to the track, that cool Ventura fog was floating around and my head started to feel better. I hooked up with a couple of friends and we got laughing about a couple of things. By the time I got up to the pits stand and watched a couple of senior sprints push off I was getting fired up. What’s better than a Saturday night under the lights at your local short track? I let it all go, kicked back and watched the small town heroes take us home…
Kevin Kierce Brought It To All Twenty-Five Races
Senior Sprints settle the closest championship race of the season. It’s Danny Miller, brother Wiley Miller, Steve Stassa and Bruce Douglas battling to the end. But everybody seems to feel this is between Danny and Wiley, two brothers who have carved a significant racing family out of the Southern California trackscape. The tale may be have been told in the heat races. A win by Wiley and a fourth place finish by Danny set the stage for the Main Event. Wiley is in the enviable second row, Bruce third row, Danny fifth row and Steve Stassa tenth row. Twenty-two cars jump and Ron Bach gets cream spinach in the first lap. This champion is gone. Restart and Rob Kershaw gets the jump. That’s Ron Butler, Wiley and Bruce right on top of him. Tim Moon and Danny Miller are running fifth and sixth. Cliff tells me it’s all about where Wiley finishes! With Danny only leading by forty points, if Wiley wins this race Danny has to finish second to keep the point’s lead. Danny seems to know this and gets past Moon for fifth (remember started tenth!). We are in traffic and now it’s Butler, Wiley, Kershaw, Douglas and Danny. Wiley gets past Butler. Mark Chuhaloff spins in turn two and they put Wiley back behind Butler. Butler is driving with almost vicious intensity. State of the art racing for several laps as Wiley tries to take down the cunning Butler with no luck. Gil Mahoney hits the wall in turn one and we are yellow. Restart with thirteen completed and seven to go. Wiley resumes his assault on Butler’s first place, Danny is striving in fifth. Kershaw gets in the back of Butler and goes to the back. Danny is now fourth. Green and its Butler, Wiley, Douglas (an outstanding run), Danny and Tim Moon. With about two laps to go, Wiley gets under Butler and grabs the lead. White flag and its Danny last chance. But Wiley clinches his fourth Senior Championship, Ron Butler is inspiring in second, Bruce Douglas looking ahead in third and Danny Miller misses his first championship really by a heat race.
Champion Line Up
Tommy Velasquez III got it done in VRA Mini Dwarf Pistons. Ricky Lewis had a pretty good lead on him most of the year. Tommy began chipping away at the points around September and posted consistent results for the rest of the year. He actually finished first in the last four races, an honor he shares with Sprint Car racer Troy Rutherford. Good sport Ricky took second in points, Cris Noe nabbed third, Cameron McCauley in fourth and Jimmy McDonald closes out your top five. I’ve said it before; kid’s classes are vital for the track’s future. Take a bow everyone.
Tommy Velasquez in Winner’s Circle With Ricky Lewis
Devin McCree took first in the last two VRA Mini Dwarf Super Charger races, but it was Riley Helland that finished as this year’s champion. Riley along with Brennan Rogers, Cameron Dougan and Tyler Jerman made all twelve races. They are Super Chargers. Devin McCree took second in points; Rogers in third, Dougan in fourth and Tyler Jerman top five. Get out of the way in 2008.
Mr. Casual, Riley Helland
Michaela Stanton wins her first VRA Junior Midget Main Event Saturday night and she was a pleased as a plum. But the second place finish of Amanda Green gave her the 2008 Championship over hard charging Jessica Clark. Amanda Green, Jessica Clark, Ramon Rivas, Luke Boles and Michaela Stanton made all thirteen races and finished in that point’s order. Brilliant work by all the Ventura Raceway staff and parents for an epic season.
Michaela Takes Her First VRA Main
VRA Junior Midget Champion Amanda Green
If you were watching carefully, you saw Ed Niedzwiecki take his heat and run from the back to the front. Then he went into the main event and ran from the seventh spot to the checkered flag. The guy shows up with that beat up of piece of whatever with a gas tank, simple flat trailer and a couple of tools. He sits there and eats his wrapped sandwich. Humble as dirt. Then he goes out and completely shreds his class. Maybe the best driver in Ventura, just my opinion. Put this guy in a sprint car or even NASCAR. Probably a country music star in his spare time. What makes it sweet is the quality of his peers. Van Pragg, Bellinger, Prechtl and Wes Harris didn’t miss one race. The Wild Bunch. The Senior Dwarfs went out every race and kicked butt from turn one to four and back again. We are not worthy.
Probably A Country Music Star In His Spare Time
Only three Pro Dwarfs made all fifteen races and you have to give them credit. That would be Chris Olson, Michael Sweeny Jr. and Dillon Hume. But Jim Scribellito only needed fourteen races to lock his 2007 VRA Pro Dwarf Championship. We watched as number two in points Brent Stevens gave him hell for ten laps before his car developed engine problems. Tough Marc Lippert ran second in the main. Finishing top five in points are Scribellito, Stevens, consistent Jeff Shelton, Greg Goodwin and hard charging rookie Chris Olson. It was cool watching Scribellito and Stevens go at it all season long. Hard to express the intensity of dwarfs three wide down the front! Get out of town!
Thanks To Jim Scribellito For Excelling
I would like to commend a few people for putting up with me this year. From the pit booth to the tower thanks to everyone in the first class Ventura Raceway staff. Hey Morris I’ll get that jerky next year! Buy Loudpedal, Mike has to be the coolest dad in the world to load up Tim with camera and tape (it seems like yesterday he was a kid)! Buy Raceway Video and insist that it’s Jeff original! Hey Buzzard you are the bomb, always speaking the truth. Check out Jon’s awesome photography at vrafan.com! Wolfman, you will always be the King. Special thanks to Scott, Mike, Jammy, Jedi Master Cliff and Jim Naylor. Thanks to both Wakim crew and K2 crew for inspiration. Every damn driver and crew on that holy ground. Hi Tech rules. Thanks to my editor Frank the Runbull for taking care of my s#&* and getting us all to look at racing in a different way. Raticall6 you have the most important job, keep that track clear and safe!
The Track Belongs To Those Who Rock Steady: John and Guy Woodward
Hats off to Kevin Kierce, Dennis Rodriquez and Jonathan Henry, the three sprint car drivers who made all twenty-five races this season. That’s dedication mixed with a pure love of racing. Huge Main Event kicked with pole sitter Oren Prosser getting out front. John Nock was in second and Troy Rutherford in third when all hell broke loose. Coming around turn four, something snapped on Clark Templeman’s car and it wrenched left! He almost took out Hendrix but Rick squeaked out of there. Gathered up in the carnage at the flag stand included Jonathan Henry, Dennis Rodriquez, Richard McCormick, Tony Dighera, Wakim caught a wheel and launched (Chris has more frequent flyer miles this year than most presidential candidates) and Mike Knopf got some air too. Wakim unbelievably landed upright and actually got the car to refire. The six other cars were out and we are green again. Before another lap can be completed Mark Weitzman gets tapped and gathers Chris Wakim. You can’t fight fate! Green again and we are delivered the most classic case of youthful exuberance this year. Clark Henry, a talented rookie, is running fourth and trying to hang with Nock, Rutherford and Kierce. He is passing down the backstretch and I think he just forget about turn three in his enthusiasm. He starts biking at the radius and then just completely leaves earth. He reconnects at the billboards in an explosion of wood meeting attitude (and altitude). I don’t know if you should say “way to go” to a guy who almost killed himself but I was impressed. (Is this a good spot to commend the awesome Ventura track crew?). Two laps are completed and we have eleven cars left. Green light and Oren Prosser finally connects with his car (he says Gary Howard stopped by)! Incredible seat of your pants racing as he stuffs red-hot Troy for several laps. It’s shaking out as Prosser, Rutherford, Nock and Hendrix but here comes Kierce. They are all riding high as Kierce gets around Hendrix. Wes Richardson bikes hard in turn two and loses a tire. I guess he can say the wheels finally came off (Wes tells me he will be running a reduced schedule next year)! Great guy with a lot of tough luck this year. We go green again and Prosser continues to thrill the crowd. At the halfway mark Rutherford finally slides him in two and starts his victory laps. Prosser tells me the first fifteen laps took forever and the last fifteen disappeared like a bullet train! But it ain’t over yet! Kierce now clears Nock and he is on the gas. Now he clears Prosser and he is bearing down on Rutherford as we enter final laps. It’s Rutherford, Kierce, Prosser and Nock in heavy traffic. Kierce brings all of his savvy and skill of his outstanding year (overall second) as they pass the white flag. But Troy Rutherford is on some kind of crazy rocket ship and takes that last lap of 2007 a nanosecond faster than the whole rest of the world. The fans fall out of the stands and Scott Holder starts rewriting the record books. Troy has seven wins in eight races and for once I’m speechless. Really an amazing run, Troy.
Warp Speed Ending
So at the end of the day someone got it right. In a world filled with missed opportunities and second-rate efforts someone took thirty years and got it perfectly right. You have all somehow ended up with a racing legend. Naylor insists it’s all about the people. This wild bullring is a place where people can connect. I think it’s where character roams and you can find the most interesting dramas. This place was built so you can win. But life is full of ironies. Tonight for me the most revealing moment was two brothers racing for a championship. One comes up short. I didn’t talk to Danny after that race, but I suspect it didn’t bother him. Hang around here long enough and you learn a powerful truth. Winning is not exactly everything.
: 12:31 AM
