By Lance Jennings
VENTURA, CA – MAY 25, 2011… The Traditional 360 Sprint Cars of the Ventura Racing Association are back in action this Saturday, May 28th, at Jim Naylor’s Ventura Raceway. Joining the action packed card will be the VRA Midgets, IMCA Modifieds, Ford Focus Midgets, Junior Focus Midgets, and VRA Go Karts. The front gates will open at 3:00pm with racing at “The Best Little Dirt Track In America” to begin at 5:30pm.
Greg Taylor of Ventura sits atop the point standings. Driving the #7 Clark Engineering Construction / Westco International Consulting Inc. entry, Taylor claimed the May 14th victory after Cory Kruseman’s car had muffler problems. To date, the former track champion has five heat race wins, six top-10 finishes, and has led sixty-three feature laps. Greg will be looking for the Ventura win on Saturday.
Ninety points behind Taylor is Quartz Hill’s Steve Conrad. Piloting the #56 Roy Miller Freightlines / SC Grafix special, Conrad scored a twelfth place finish on May 14th. The veteran driver has one heat race win, two hard charger awards, six top-10 finishes, and led eighteen laps of main event competition. Look for Steve to have a strong performance on Saturday.
Don Gansen of Rialto is third in the point chase. Driving the #71K Sander Engineering / Lucas Oil machine, Gansen raced to fifth after starting twelfth on May 14th. The May 7th feature winner has one heat race win, five top-10 finishes, and has led thirty feature laps on the season. Don would like to add another Ventura main event win to his resume.
Camarillo’s Josh Ford is currently fourth in the standings. Driving the #73 King Racing Products / A&A Precision Machining entry, Ford claimed fourth on May 14th. Last year’s All Coast 360 Challenge Champion has two heat race wins, one hard charger award, and seven top-10 finishes to his credit. Josh will have his sights set on the Ventura main event victory.
“The Animal” Derek Buckley of Ojai sits fifth in the championship chase. Piloting the #76 Fatheadz Eyewear / Competition Suspension Inc. entry, Buckley was seventh on May 14th. To date, the hard charger has four heat race wins, four top-10 finishes, and led one main event lap. Derek will be looking to break through with a feature win on Saturday.
Among the other top contenders expected to be in action are Camarillo’s Brent & Brian Camarillo, Ventura’s Cory Kruseman, Marcus Niemela of Santa Barbara, Norwalk’s Brandon Thomson, Santa Clarita’s Clark Templeman III, Buena Park’s Brody Roa, Newbury Park’s Jimmy Crawford, 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. During the month of May, fans 18 and under (with proper ID) are admitted for FREE. In addition, parking for this Saturday’s event is $2. 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 1665; 2. Steve Conrad 1575; 3. Don Gansen 1460; 4. Josh Ford 1450; 5. Derek Buckley 1270; 6. Brent Camarillo 1245; 7. Brian Camarillo 1175; 8. Cory Kruseman 1170; 9. Markus Niemela 1015; 10. Brandon Thomson 1005; 11. John Nock 955; 12. Dakota Kershaw 940; 13. Clark Templeman III 920; 14. Kyle Smith 905; 15. Austin DeBlauw 800; 16. Brody Roa 795; 17. Jimmy Crawford 790; 18. Guy Woodward 730; 19. Tom Harper 710; 20. Justin Kierce 635.
NEXT VRA SPRINT CAR RACE:
May 28th – Ventura Raceway – Ventura, California