By Lance Jennings
VENTURA, CA – MARCH 30, 2011… After last weekend’s show was cancelled due to rain, the VRA 360 Sprint Cars are back in action this Saturday, April 2nd. Joining the action packed card at Jim Naylor’s Ventura Raceway are the Senior Sprints, Dwarf Cars, Sport Compacts, Mod Lites, Mod Lite Juniors, Junior Midgets, and Mini Dwarfs. The front gates will open at 3:00pm with racing at “The Best Little Dirt Track In America” to begin at 5:30pm.
Ventura’s Greg Taylor sits atop the point standings entering Saturday’s event. Piloting the #7 Taylor Trucking & Crane Service / Four Paws Pet Grooming car, Taylor scored a fourth place finish on March 19th after starting eighth. The 2007 track champion holds a fifty-five point advantage as he looks for his first win of 2011.
Troy Rutherford of Ojai is currently second in the championship battle. Driving the #11 Trench Shoring / State Ready Mix entry, Rutherford took the $3000 All Coast Challenge victory on March 19th. The defending series champion has two wins in three starts and is poised to make another charge at the title.
Quartz Hill’s Steve Conrad is third in the point chase. Piloting the #56 Roy Miller Freight Lines / SC Grafix machine, Conrad won the March 12th feature after starting fifteenth. The USAC TQ Midget graduate scored a ninth place finish at the All Coast Challenge and will have his eyes set on another victory.
Justin Kierce of Reseda sits fourth in the point standings. Driving the #43 JDCE Transportation / Concrete Specialties entry, Kierce was eleventh at the All Coast Challenge. The hard charger has two semi-mains to his credit and will be working for his first main event win on Saturday.
Rialto’s Don Gansen is fifth in the points. Driving the #71K Sander Engineering / Lucas Oil machine, Gansen won the fourth heat race on March 19th and claimed twelfth in the feature. The California Lightning Sprint graduate will be looking to break through to Saturday’s main event win.
Among the other top contenders expected to be in action are Camarillo’s Josh Ford, Norwalk’s Brandon Thomson, Derek Buckley of Ojai, Camarillo’s Brian and Brent Camarillo, Marcus Niemela of Santa Barbara, Jimmy Crawford of Newbury Park, and many more.
Ventura Raceway is located on the Ventura County Fairgrounds at 10 West Harbor Blvd. in Ventura, California. 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 or call (805) 985-5433.
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 is scheduled to begin at 5:00pm PST.
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VRA SPRINT CAR POINT STANDINGS:
1. Greg Taylor 690; 2. Troy Rutherford 635; 3. Steve Conrad 520; 4. Justin Kierce 510; 5. Don Gansen 485; 6. Josh Ford 480; 7. Brandon Thomson 440; 8. Derek Buckley 430; 9. Brent Camarillo 425; 10. Cory Kruseman 400; –. Brody Roa 400; 12. Brian Camarillo 365; 13. Marcus Niemela 340; 14. John Nock 315; 15. Tom Hendricks 300; 16. Kyle Smith 285; 17. Austin DeBlauw 275; 18. Johnathon Henry 225; 19. Dakota Kershaw 220; –. Steve Hix 220.
NEXT VRA SPRINT CAR RACE:
April 2nd – Ventura Raceway – Ventura, California
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