By Lance Jennings
VENTURA, CALIFORNIA – MAY 14, 2023… In just his second career start, David Gasper (Goleta, California) earned the first USAC West Coast Sprint Car victory of his career at Ventura Raceway. Driving the Gasper Racing & Kittle Motorsports’ #18 AR Air Repair / Valley Precision Triple X, the two-time California Lightning Sprint Car Champion powered by Kyle Edwards on the seventh lap and led the rest of the way to become the 62nd winner since 2009. Edwards, hard charger Brody Fuson, Cody Majors, and point leader Ryan Timmons followed the new leading rookie contender to the checkered flags.
Tom Hendricks (Simi Valley, California) opened the night by winning the “Lucky Pill Draw” presented by High Tech Performance and earned ten gallons of fuel. With a thirteenth place finish in the feature, the driver of the #14 Snap-On Tools / Powerhouse Performance ITI also claimed the Wilwood Disc Brakes “Lucky 13 Award.”
Cody Majors (Simi Valley, California) won the Mystery Pill Draw and received a $100 certificate from Brown & Miller Racing Solutions. Racing the family owned #54 Rovers Elite / Pit Image Maxim, Majors scored fourth in the second point race of the season.
Troy Rutherford (Ojai, California) returned to USAC West Coast action and posted the ninth Woodland Auto Display Fast Time Award of his career. Now ranked fourth overall, the owner/driver of the #11 Trench Shoring / Woodland Auto Display Spike arrived with a new Don Ott Chevy Engine and posted a time of 12.318 seconds over the 18-car roster. The veteran driver finished sixteenth in the 30-lap “Sammy Bahr and Ray Stansberry Feature” after an early tangle ended his night.
Tom Dunkel (Menifee, California) made his first start of the campaign and won the 10-lap Extreme Mufflers First Heat Race. Piloting the Tom & Christy Dunkel #17A Inland Rigging / Dunkel Farms DRC, Dunkel scored an eleventh place finish in the main event.
Steve Hix (Ventura, California) earned a hard fought victory in the Brown & Miller Racing Solutions Second Heat Race. The owner/driver of the #57 No Limit Powder Coating / FK Rod Ends Triple X finished seventh at the Ventura County Fairgrounds.
Kyle Edwards (Fountain Valley, California) won the night’s third heat race, sponsored by Competition Suspension Incorporated. Racing the family owned #39 Safehouse Security / Van Dyne Engineering Triple X, the third generation driver led the first six laps before scoring second in the Saturday night feature.
After flipping on the sixth lap of the main event, Brody Fuson (Bakersfield, California) rebounded to earn the night’s “BR Motorsports / Rod End Supply Hard Charger Award.” The driver of the Bob & Toni Van Meter #51 Race Pa Motorsports / W.E. Spike restarted at the rear of the field and put on a show by officially racing from tenth to third.
Earlier in the night, it was announced that Ray Stansberry, a former driver, car owner, official, and friend to racing passed away. In remembrance, the racers performed a missing man formation prior to the feature led by Steve Hix. In addition to Sammy Bahr, the series will honor Ray by dedicating each main event and the series ending feature points award in their names. Series officials send their condolences to both families.
The non-winged 360 sprint cars will return to action on Saturday, June 3rd at Bakersfield Speedway.
For more information on the USAC West Coast Sprint Car Series, visit usacracing.com and the social media for USAC Racing. You can also find exclusive content on the USAC West Coast Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.
USAC WEST COAST SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: May 13, 2023 – Ventura Raceway – Ventura, California
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFICATONS: 1. Troy Rutherford, 11, Rutherford-12.318; 2. Cody Majors, 54, Majors-12.352; 3. Ryan Timmons, 29T, Timmons-12.407; 4. David Gasper, 18, Gasper/Kittle-12.442; 5. Brody Fuson, 51, Van Meter-12.570; 6. Kyle Edwards, 39, Edwards-12.588; 7. Ron LaPlant, 69, LaPlant-12.686; 8. Steve Hix, 57, Hix-12.690; 9. Tyler Hatzikian, 27, Hatzikian-12.852; 10. D.J. Johnson, 33, Johnson-12.960; 11. Bryan Whitley, 22, Whitley-12.998; 12. Tom Hendricks, 14, Hendricks-13.043; 13. Tom Dunkel, 17A, Dunkel-13.173; 14. Hannah Mayhew, 43, Hayhew-13.494; 15. Jon DeWees, 63D, DeWees-13.551; 16. Joey Bishop, 45, Bishop-13.937; 17. Elexa Herrera, 5J, Herrera-14.127; 18. Camie Bell, 29C, Bell-14.538.
EXTREME MUFFLERS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Dunkel, 2. Rutherford, 3. Johnson, 4. Gasper, 5. LaPlant, 6. Bishop. NT.
BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Hix, 2. Fuson, 3. Whitley, 4. Majors, 5. Mayhew, 6. Herrera. NT.
COMPETITION SUSPENSION INCORPORATED THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Edwards, 2. Timmons, 3. Hatzikian, 4. Hendricks, 5. Bell, 6. DeWees. NT.
SAMMY BAHR & RAY STANSBERRY FEATURE: (30 laps, With Starting Positions) 1. David Gasper (3), 2. Kyle Edwards (2), 3. Brody Fuson (10), 4. Cody Majors (5), 5. Ryan Timmons (4), 6. D.J. Johnson (11), 7. Steve Hix (1), 8. Ron LaPlant (8), 9. Tyler Hatzikian (9), 10. Bryan Whitley (12), 11. Tom Dunkel (7), 12. Jon DeWees (15), 13. Tom Hendricks (13), 14. Joey Bishop (16), 15. Elexa Herrera (17), 16. Troy Rutherford (6), 17. Camie Bell (18), 18. Hannah Mayhew (14). NT.
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**Fuson flipped on lap 6 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-6 Edwards, Laps 7-30 Gasper.
BR MOTORSPORTS / ROD END SUPPLY HARD CHARGER: Brody Fuson (10th to 3rd)
WILWOOD DISC BRAKES LUCKY 13 AWARD: Tom Hendricks
NEW USAC WEST COAST SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Ryan Timmons-151, 2-David Gasper-125, 3-Ron LaPlant-124, –Brody Fuson-124, 5-Tyler Hatzikian-116, 6-Cody Majors-107, –Kyle Edwards-107, 8-Tom Hendricks-98, 9-Jon DeWees-91, 10-Steve Hix-90.
NEW WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY TOP QUALIFIER POINTS: 1-Brody Fuson-8, –David Gasper-8, –Ryan Timmons-8, 4-Cody Majors-7, 5-Troy Rutherford-6, 6-Kyle Edwards-5, 7-Tyler Hatzikian-1.
NEW PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Jon DeWees-13, 2-Ron LaPlant-11, –Elexa Herrera-11, 4-Tom Hendricks-10, 5-Heath Holdsclaw-10, 6-Brody Fuson-7, 7-Chris Ennis-6, –Trent Carter-6, 9-Adam Christian-5, –D.J. Johnson-5.
NEW SAMMY BAHR & RAY STANSBERRY FEATURE POINTS: 1-Ryan Timmons-128, 2-Ron LaPlant-113, 3-David Gasper-105, 4-Tyler Hatzikian-104, 5-Brody Fuson-101, 6-Cody Majors-90, –Kyle Edwards-90, 8-Tom Hendricks-89, 9-Jon DeWees-85, 10-Steve Hix-75.
NEXT USAC WEST COAST SPRINT CAR RACE: June 3 – Bakersfield Speedway – Bakersfield, California