Troy Rutherford was the class of the field Saturday night and drove his 360 sprinter to a USAC/CRA Sprint Car Main win.
Bruce Douglass has won another Senior Sprint Main and now has two in a row.
Jarrett Kramer is on a roll at Ventura with another California Lightning Sprint Main.
Charlie Butcher wins his first WMR Midget Main.
Mike Leach Jr. wins the Focus Midget Main.
Ventura Raceway held a very special event Saturday night May 4. The USAC/CRA 410 Sprint Car Series made their one and only appearance at Ventura for the 2019 season. These high powered cars and drivers always put on a great night of racing action for fans in attendance. Four other classes, VRA Senior Sprints, California Lightning Sprints, Focus Midgets and WMR Midgets were on hand to put on an exciting night of racing.
Twenty-three USAC CRA 410 Sprint Cars signed into the pits for their visit to Ventura Raceway. This special event always draws the best cars and drivers in this division. The night began with single car qualifying with Damion Gardner took the fast time honors with a time of 12.254 seconds around the 1/5 mile oval track. They then ran three heat races, with wins going to Austin Williams in heat one, Troy Rutherford in heat two and Ricky Lewis in heat three. The 30 lap feature event went to Troy Rutherford, who started eleventh and worked his way to the lead passing Jeremy Ellertson on lap 7. He then battled Jake Swanson and Austin Williams to the checkered flag to claim the main event. Rutherford was really fast as he put his 360ci Sprint car out front over the 410ci sprinters. Following Rutherford to the finish were Austin Williams, (who started 22nd!), and drove to second, Jake Swanson, A. J. Bender, and Brody Roa.
The popular California Lightning Sprints were also on hand Saturday night. A strong car count of 23 cars ran three heats and a 25 lap feature. The heat race wins went to Gage Cheek, heat two to Dominic Del Monte and heat three went to James Turnbell. The 25 lap main was a very fast race that saw Jarrett Kramer take the win, making it two in a row at Ventura Raceway for him. Following Kramer to the line were Doug Nunes, Jeff Dyer, Dominic Del Monte, Aiden Lange and Dalton Sexton. This very popular class will return on July 6th, to Ventura Raceway.
VRA Senior Sprints were on hand with 9 cars in attendance. Bruce Douglass, took the win in their 20 lap main event over Wally Pankratz, Will Perkins, Greg Andrews and Chris Meredith. Douglass passed early race leader Greg Andrews on lap 16 and went on to take the win. Tyler Hatzikian provided a scary moment in the main, flipping very hard into turn three. After a few moments, he emerged from his car and was checked out by the Ambulance crew. They ran two heat races with wins going to Chris Meredith in heat one and Will Perkins in heat two. Chris Meredith now leads Wally Pankratz by 15 points in the season point race.
The WMR Midgets and Focus Midgets were our final group racing Saturday night. Mike Leach Jr. took the Focus portion of their 20 lap main event, in combination with the WMR Midgets, over Tres VanDyne and Tim Foy. Tim Foy won their one heat race. The WMR Midget main went to Charlie Butcher followed by Jackson Dukes, George Ito, Hobie Conway and David Prickett. Their one heat race went to Jackson Dukes.
Ventura Raceway will be dark next week, returning to action on Saturday May 18, with a full program of exciting racing featuring VRA Sprints, Senior Sprints, Dwarf Cars, IMCA Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and Motorcycles.
Ventura Raceway Race Results for 05/04/2019
USAC-CRA Sprint Cars
Race #1 05/04/2019
Main Event Results: 1. Troy Rutherford, Ojai, 30 Laps; 2. Austin Williams, Yorba Linda, 30 Laps; 3. Jake Swanson, Anaheim, 30 Laps; 4. A. J. Bender, San Diego, 30 Laps; 5. Brody Roa, Garden Grove, CA, 30 Laps; 6. Austin Liggett, Tracy, CA, 30 Laps; 7. Chris Gansen, San Bernardino, 30 Laps; 8. Damion Gardner, Concord, 30 Laps; 9. Rick Hendrix, Palmdale, 30 Laps; 10. Steve Hix, Ventura, 30 Laps; 11. Matt McCarthy, Riverside, 30 Laps; 12. Trent Williams, Hesperia, 30 Laps; 13. Verne Sweeney, Lomita, CA, 30 Laps; 14. Ryan Timmons, Pleasant Hill, 30 Laps; 15. Jeremy Ellertson, Lawndale, 30 Laps; 16. Ricky Lewis, Oxnard, 30 Laps; 17. Joel Rayborne, West Covina, 29 Laps; 18. Brent Owens, Rancho Cucamunga, 29 Laps; 19. Jeff Dyer, Bermuda Dunes, 29 Laps; 20. Eddie Tafoya Jr., Chino Hills, 24 Laps; 21. Austin Ervine, Bakersfield, 20 Laps; 22. Matt Mitchell, Yorba Linda, 5 Laps; 23. Tommy Malcolm, Corona, 3 Laps
Lap Leaders: Jeremy Ellertson (1-7), Troy Rutherford (8-30)
Heat Race Winners: Heat 1: Brody Roa; Heat 2: Troy Rutherford; Heat 3: Ricky Lewis
Ventura Raceway does not calculate points for this class
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VRA Senior Sprints
Race #3 05/04/2019
Main Event Results: 1. Bruce Douglass, Ventura, 20 Laps; 2. Wally Pankratz, Orange, 20 Laps; 3. Will Perkins, Oxnard, 20 Laps; 4. Greg Andrews, Fillmore, Ca, 20 Laps; 5. Chris Meredith, Thousand Oaks, 20 Laps; 6. Mark Sheppard, Las Vegas, NV, 20 Laps; 7. Paul Mircik, 19 Laps; 8. Tyler Hatzikian, El Segundo, 17 Laps; 9. Danny Parrish, Anchorage, Alaska, 7 Laps
Lap Leaders: Greg Andrews (1-15), Bruce Douglass (16-20)
Heat Race Winners: SpinTech Mufflers Heat 1: Chris Meredith; Saldana Racing Products Heat 2: Will Perkins
Top 10 in points: 1. Chris Meredith, 680; 2. Wally Pankratz, 665; 3. Danny Parrish, 615; 4. Greg Andrews, 580; 5. Paul Mircik, 510; 6. Bruce Douglass, 505; 7. Mark Sheppard, 495; 8. Tyler Hatzikian, 375; 9. Will Perkins, 225; 10. Bryan Drollinger, 215
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Cal. Lightning Sprints
Race #2 05/04/2019
Main Event Results: 1. Jarrett Kramer, Spring Valley, 25 Laps; 2. Doug Nunes, Kingsburg, 25 Laps; 3. Dominic Del Monte, Gardena, 25 Laps; 4. Aiden Lange, Lakewood, 25 Laps; 5. Dalton Sexton, Lakeside, 25 Laps; 6. Bobby Michnowicz, Lomita, 25 Laps; 7. Gage Cheek, Valencia, 25 Laps; 8. Brent Sexton, Lake Side, CA, 25 Laps; 9. Eric Greco, Palmdale, 25 Laps; 10. Jeff Dyer, Bermuda Dunes, 25 Laps; 11. Cody Nigh, Camarillo, 25 Laps; 12. Jonathon Conley, Camarillo, 25 Laps; 13. Robb Pelmear, Ventura, 24 Laps; 14. Jason Arnolde, Santee, 24 Laps; 15. Jon Robertson, Torrance, 24 Laps; 16. Shane Sexton, Lakeside, 24 Laps; 17. Grant Sexton, Lakeside, 24 Laps; 18. Dale Gamer, Anaheim, 24 Laps; 19. Frank Ditmar, Lakewood, 24 Laps; 20. James Turnbull, Indio, 24 Laps; 21. A. J. Bender, San Diego, 4 Laps
Lap Leaders: Jarrett Kramer (1-25)
Heat Race Winners: Heat 1: Jarrett Kramer; Heat 2: Dominic Del Monte; Heat 3: James Turnbull
Top 10 in points:
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Focus Midgets
Race #2 05/04/2019
Main Event Results: 1. Mike Leach Jr., Foothill Ranch, 20 Laps; 2. Tres Van Dyne, 20 Laps; 3. Tim Foy, Ojai, 20 Laps
Heat Race Winners: Heat 1: Tim Foy
Top 10 in points: 1. Tim Foy, 465; 2. Steve Durant, 255; 2. Mike Leach Jr., 255; 4. Tres Van Dyne, 230
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Western Midgets – WMR
Race #2 05/04/2019
Main Event Results: 0. Tim Foy, Ojai, 0 Laps0. Mike Leach Jr., Foothill Ranch, 0 Laps0. Tres Van Dyne, 0 Laps0. Jessica Swanson, Ventura, 0 Laps1. Charlie Butcher, Santa Barbara, 20 Laps; 2. Jackson Dukes, Clovis, 20 Laps; 3. George Ito, Ventura, 20 Laps; 4. Hobie Conway, Ventura, 20 Laps; 5. David Prickett, Fresno, 19 Laps; 6. Randi Pankratz, Atascadero, 19 Laps
Lap Leaders: Charlie Butcher (1-20)
Heat Race Winners: Heat 1: Jackson Dukes
Top 10 in points: 1. David Prickett, 640; 2. Jackson Dukes, 620; 3. Randi Pankratz, 580; 4. Charlie Butcher, 470; 5. George Ito, 405; 6. Hobie Conway, 375; 7. Tyler Edwards, 230; 8. Jimmy May, 200; 9. Dylan Ito, 185
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Report Created by Ventura Raceway Scoring Program
Report Created: 05/15/2019 11:52