surfnsprint

Ventura, Ca – Last Saturday (April 12th) at Kings Speedway, a fantastic showing was put forth by the stars and cars of the Ventura Racing Association (VRA).

If one were to just go by the race results alone, it can be a bit deceiving. Yes, Peter Murphy won the race, but the drivers of VRA didn’t just hand it to him.

Let me start off by saying that I’m a huge Sprint car fan, not only in size, (sarcasm) but the sport has embedded itself deep within my soul. I live, breathe, and eat Sprint car racing…especially non-wing Sprint car racing!

To me, there’s nothing like watching a driver mash the gas, rip down the straightaway, and then crank that beast sideways, shooting rooster tails high into the sky!

I will never understand some people’s logic however, when it comes to 360 non-wing Sprint car racing. I have heard all the grumblings about 360 racing. I’ve heard things as crazy as that they’re slow, and the drivers aren’t as good as their “big brothers”? I only wish that we can throw these know-it-alls in a Sprint car for a few laps.

With that, we are going to throw that insane logic out the window right now. Just because some of these guys don’t have the budget of a 410 team, doesn’t mean that they aren’t as hungry for a win, or as exciting to watch.


-This guy has some races under his belt. It’s the legendary Rick Hendrix!

Don’t get me wrong here, I absolutely love 410 racing; I just think that sometimes these guys get thrown under the bus and that just doesn’t sit right with me.

Heck, I remember as a kid traveling with my step-dad from the Bay Area, to joints like Chula Vista, El Centro, and Ascot Park just to get our non-wing fix.

It’s an extreme honor to watch “The Ripper”, “Super Rickie”, “Showtime”, “The Kruser” and all of those guys that run 410’s. They’re bad, no questioning that!

And now we are starting to see second and even third generation drivers. I think it’s really neat when the kids of some of these drivers get the torch handed to them and continue the family legacy.

Take for instance the defending Bandit/VRA Grand Slam series champion and 2007 VRA champion, Greg Taylor. The 2nd generation driver was bad fast all night. What can I say about this guy that hasn’t been said already? I will say that I was absolutely speechless as the Ventura driver flew round the race track in is #1 Maxim during hot laps. Remember when we were talking about drivers mashing the gas? Greg was fast all night, and he dogged Murphy all the way to the checkered flag, eventually finishing 2nd.


-Pushing them off for hot laps!

You want to talk about a driver that never gave up last Saturday? Look no further than Reseda’s Kevin Kierce. Kevin didn’t make it out of his heat, so if he wanted to be in the main event he had to get with it. And get with it he did. Throughout the years of watching Kevin race, everyone knows that this dude is bad! He won semi #2. He then proceeded to take his #2s where only eagles dare to fly. He started 18th and finished a strong 5th.

What? Oh, you want to talk about racing history? Then you better take a look at Santa Clarita’s Clark Templeman III. He was another driver that wasn’t afraid to let it all hang out. Clark really impressed me. He was absolutely on the hammer and moving forward from his 14th starting spot. He eventually brought the #18T to a hard earned 6th place finish.

All in all it was a great showing for the VRA drivers and teams. These guys proved that they can race on the larger tracks. And it also proved that the crews can chase the track with the ever changing track conditions. Who ever doubted them? Not me!


-Big time masher and 2nd place finisher, Greg Taylor!

In my opinion, I do feel that the 360 Sprint cars deserve more press. I will be the first to admit that I need to be doing my part. We are all in this deal together, and to really get this deal off the ground we need everyone’s cooperation and support.

What do I mean by “get this deal off the ground?” I mean promoters need to cooperate with each other, and the fans need to do their part too. If things are done right, we can have 50 Sprint cars at the track on any given night.

Do you guys have any ideas? I care about what the drivers and teams have to say. I know most of you do to. We need to protect what we have, and by that, I mean help these guys out anyway that we, the fans can.

I’m sick of hearing about track closures or possible track closures. I’m also bewildered about hearing a team not racing, because of finances. They should be racing!

So I challenge all of us to think of ways to help our sport. Ways to make things better. We have the best sport in the entire universe, and I want to see it thrive. Complaining on a message board isn’t going to do help. Blasting drivers is unacceptable. It makes us all look bad.

Things are tough right now and we need to preserve all of the sponsors and prospective sponsors that we have, right?

Alright, alright! I will get off of my soapbox now.


-Paul Trevino caught Kevin Kierce pounding Hanford’s surface!

On another note, at this time, I would like to personally thank each and every one of you fans for making the trek down. You guys are great!

I also want to thank all of the sponsors and people that help get the cars to the race track. Without your sacrifice, we would have no cars out there. This racing thing that we love so much really does go full circle, so let’s all do our part before it’s too late. Should of, could of, would of, is just blowing a bunch of smoke.

It will be interesting to say the least when the Bandit/VRA Grand Slam Series visits Jim Naylor’s exciting 1/5 mile Ventura Raceway for the Grand Slam Series finale August 23rd.

Until then, sit back and enjoy watching some of the best race car drivers in the country!


Please feel free to contact me anytime gary_costa1@yahoo.com
Your friend in racing, Gary Costa