By Lance Jennings
VENTURA, CA – OCTOBER 12, 2010… The VRA 360 Sprint Cars will headline an action packed program this Saturday, October 16th, at Jim Naylor’s Ventura Raceway. Joining the Traditional Sprints will be the USAC Midgets, USAC Ford Focus Midgets, Pro Dwarf Cars, USAC Young Guns Midgets, and Go Karts. The Front Gates will open at 3:00pm with Racing to start at 5:30pm at “The Best Little Dirt Track In America.”
Ojai’s Troy Rutherford has a commanding 575 point lead over the competition. On October 2nd, Rutherford took the #11 Trench Shoring / L&H Consulting entry to his fourteenth heat race win and second in the feature. To date, the veteran driver has scored five feature victories and eighteen top-10 finishes on the year. Troy will be looking for another feature victory on Saturday.
Ventura’s Greg Taylor is second in the point chase. Piloting the #7 Taylor Trucking & Crane Service / Four Paws Pet Grooming car, Taylor won his seventh heat race of the year on October 2nd. The 2007 champion had a rough night with a thirteenth place finish, but will look to rebound this Saturday with a win. Greg has four feature victories and fifteen top-10 finishes in 2010.
Camarillo’s Josh Ford sits third in the point standings. On October 2nd, Ford drove the #73 King Racing Products / A&A Precision Machining entry to third in his heat race and fifth in the main event. The former USAC National Sprints Rookie of the Year has one feature victory, five heat race wins, and sixteen top-10 finishes on the year. Josh leads the All Coast Construction 360 Challenge points and will be looking to score another Ventura win on Saturday.
Palmdale’s Rick Hendrix is fourth in the point chase. Driving the #15 Rick’s Gates Works / Simpson machine, Hendrix won his sixth heat race of the season on October 2nd. The former USAC Western Midget champion also claimed his twelfth top-10 finish with a ninth place run. Rick won the 30-lap feature on May 1st and would like to add another victory on Saturday.
Camarillo’s Brian Camarillo is fifth in the point standings. On October 2nd, the pilot of the #22C Agromin / Waste Management car was sixth in his heat race, won the 12-lap semi-main, and finished eleventh in the feature. To date, Camarillo has nine heat race wins and ten top-10 finishes on the year. Brian will be looking to break through with his first win of 2010 on Saturday.
This Saturday’s race will be the last opportunity for drivers and teams to test-and-tune before the $5000-to-win All Coast Construction 360 Challenge on October 23rd. Ventura’s Cory Kruseman and Newbury Park’s Jimmy Crawford will be on hand to battle the stars of the Ventura Racing Association. As this writing goes to press, more special guest drivers are looking for rides to compete at the Ventura clay oval.
Among the other top contenders expected to be in action are Steve Conrad of Quartz Hill, Rialto’s Don Gansen, Camarillo’s Brent Camarillo, Buena Park’s Brody Roa, Reseda’s Justin Kierce, Brandon Thomson of Norwalk, Santa Barbara’s Marcus Niemela, and many more.
The VRA Sprint Car Series would like to thank Fast Undercar, ITI Performance, Kaeding Performance, LRB Manufacturing, Lucas Oil, Snap On Tools, Steve Watt Enterprises, Sushi Fresh, and Twister-X for their support.
Ventura Raceway is located on the Ventura County Fairgrounds at 10 West Harbor Blvd. in Ventura. Adult tickets are $14, Senior, Military, and Student tickets (ID Required) are $11, while Children’s tickets (12 and under) are FREE. For more event information, please visit www.venturaraceway.com.
To catch all of the action of the VRA Sprint Car Series and Ventura Raceway, Mike Truex’s Loudpedal Productions has DVD videos available for purchase. For more information, call (805) 407-7229 or visit www.loudpedalvideo.com. In addition, Ventura Raceway offers a live feed of every event at www.venturaraceway.com/live.html. The live feed will begin at 5:00pm PST.
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VRA SPRINT CAR POINT STANDINGS:
1. Troy Rutherford 4320; 2. Greg Taylor 3745; 3. Josh Ford 3730; 4. Rick Hendrix 3250; 5. Brian Camarillo 3150; 6. Steve Conrad 3140; 7. Kevin Kierce 3055; 8. Don Gansen 2785; 9. Brent Camarillo 2755; 10. Brody Roa 2205; 11. Cody Kershaw 2080; 12. Justin Kierce 2000; –. Kenny Perkins 2000; 14. Dakota Kershaw 1955; 15. John Nock 1845; 16. Brandon Thomson 1790; 17. Guy Woodward 1735; 18. Marcus Niemela 1645; 19. Scott Hansen 1570; 20. Ronnie Case 1335.