Ronnie Gardner was going to be content with second and then on a late race restart his team mate Jake Swanson bobbled and he grabbed the lead to take another checkered flag.

Johnny Conley showed why he is the defending Dwarf Car Champion by winner the Feature.

Luis Espinoza is finding his stride and won another IMCA Modified Main.

Mike Stanford became the happiest man Saturday night by winning the Hobby Stock Main in front of all his daughters.

Saturday night May 13, saw a great night of racing at Ventura Raceway as the USAC Midgets returned to the 1/5 mile clay oval for the first time in 2017.  Along with the Midgets, VRA Pro Dwarf Cars, IMCA Modifieds and VRA Hobby Stocks were on hand to fill out the night’s racing action.

The USAC Midgets had a great turnout of 27 cars.  Other than for the 2016 Turkey Night Grand Prix, this is one of the largest midget car counts in many years!  The night started out with Robbie Jossett setting quick time with a run of 11.969 seconds.  He was followed by Jake Swanson with a run of 11.990 seconds and Courtney Crone with a 11.998 second run.  The top 19 cars were all within one second in time, with the 19th qualifier C J Sarna posting a time of 12.967 seconds. There were three heat races run with wins going to Robbie Jossett in heat one, Cory Elliott in heat two and Ronnie Gardner in heat three.  The large car count necessitated a 12 lap Semi Main to set the final 22 car Main Event field, where Austen Figueroa took the win over C J Sarna, Clayton Ruston, Jake Vermeer, Terry Nicholes and J J Ercse.  These seven cars transferred to the feature.  The 30 lap Main Event saw Jake Swanson check out on the field on more than one occasion, only to be brought back to the other cars after several yellow flags for spins and on track incidents.  After leading the first 24 laps, he bobbled in turn two after a restart allowing his teammate Ronnie Gardner to get by him down the backstretch to take the lead.  Gardner then led the final six laps to take the win over Swanson, Cory Elliott, Robbie Jossett, Frankie Guerinni, David Prickett, Courtney Crone Troy Rutherford and Robert Dalby.  Gardner’s win keeps him out front in the 2017 USAC Western States Midget point race.

VRA Pro Dwarf Cars saw the Conley family dominate the 20 lap Main Event.  Past series champ Johnny Conley took another feature win over his dad David Conley who finished second and his brother Tim Conley who finished third.  Jason Horton finished fourth and Tommy Velasquez III finished fifth.   Dwarf Cars ran four heat races with wins going to Tommy Velasquez in heat one, Tim Conley in heat two, Michael Tobiason in heat three and Nick Velasquez in heat four.  A semi was run to make the main field of 16 cars, where Tommy Velasquez III took the win.  After four races in 2017, David Conley leads Tim Conley and Johnny Conley, who are tied for second by 105 points.

A smaller than usual field of six IMCA Modifieds raced Saturday night.  They ran one heat race with the win going to many time track champion, Jack Parker.  Their 20 lap main event saw Parker lead laps one through nine only to be passed by Luis Espinoza, who led lap ten to the finish.  Following Espinoza across the line were Chris Crompe, past track champ, Robbie Witwer, Jack Parker and David Phipps.  Chris Crompe now leads the IMCA point race by 4 points over Luis Espinoza.

There were seven VRA Hobby Stocks on hand Saturday night. They ran one heat race with the win going to Chris Whitford.  Their 20 lap main event went to Mike Stanford, who led the first two laps, then had to go to the back of the track after an on-track incident.  He then roared back to pass Sam Garvin on lap twelve to regain the lead, which he then held to the checkered flag. Following Stanford across the line were Sam Garvin, John Romero, Gary Garvin and Christina Garvin.  After four races this season, Sam Garvin leads his dad Gary Garvin by 105 points and his sister Christina Garvin by 130 points in the season long point race.

Next week May 20, Ventura Raceway returns to action with a full program of short track racing featuring  VRA Sprint Cars, Senior Sprint Cars, VRA Pro Dwarf Cars and IMCA Modifieds.

LIGHT UP THE WORLD BEVERAGES USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET SERIES RACE RESULTS: May 13, 2017 – Ventura, California – Ventura Raceway

WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Robby Josett, 2, Josett-11.969; 2. Jake Swanson, 68W, Six8-11.990; 3. Courtney Crone, 25, Rodela-11.998; 4. Michael Faccinto, 35F, MF-12.049; 5. Troy Rutherford, 73, Ford-12.194; 6. Ronnie Gardner, 68, Six8-12.311; 7. Ryan Bernal, 73X, Ford-12.414; 8. Cory Elliott, 11E, Elliott-12.438; 9. Danny Sheridan, 11B, Brutton-12.527; 10. Randi Pankratz, 8, Pankratz-12.544; 11. Austen Figueroa, 49JR, Bach-12.554; 12. J.J. Ercse, 9E, Dodenhoff-12.570; 13. Shannon McQueen, 7, McQueen-12.612; 14. Frankie Guerrini, 63, Guerrini-12.624; 15. Robert Dalby, 4D, Dalby-12.697; 16. Ron Hazelton, 15, Hazelton-12.809; 17. David Prickett, 22Q, Neverlift-12.842; 18. Nate Wait, 35W, MF-12.935; 19. C.J. Sarna, 20, Sarna-12.967; 20. Kyle Beilman, 31, Beilman-13.086; 21. Tyler Dolacki, 18, Dolacki-13.094; 22. Kyle Smith, 55, Smith-13.131; 23. Terry Nichols, 1P, Nichols-13.140; 24. Clayton Ruston, 7X, Ruston-13.597; 25. Jake Vermeer, 87JR, Vermeer-14.695; 26. Bryan Drollinger, 71, Drollinger-NT; 27. Brennan Rogers, 20X, Rogers-NT.

EXTREME MUFFLERS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Josett, 2. Bernal, 3. Faccinto, 4. Pankratz, 5. McQueen, 6. Smith, 7. Hazelton, 8. Vermeer, 9. Sarna. NT

BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Elliott, 2. Swanson, 3. Rutherford, 4. Guerrini, 5. Prickett, 6. Figueroa, 7. Nichols, 8. Beilman, 9. Rogers. NT

KEIZER ALUMINUM WHEELS/SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Gardner, 2. Sheridan, 3. Crone, 4. Dolacki, 5. Dalby, 6. Ruston, 7. Drollinger, 8. Ercse, 9. Wait. NT
Smith, 9. Hazelton, 10. Beilman, 11. Drollinger. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION INCORPORATED/PYROTECT RACING CELLS SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Figueroa, 2. Rogers, 3. Ruston, 4. Vermeer, 5. Nichols, 6. Ercse, 7. Sarna, 8.

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Ronnie Gardner, 2. Jake Swanson, 3. Cory Elliott, 4. Robby Josett, 5. Frankie Guerrini, 6. David Prickett, 7. Courtney Crone, 8. Michael Faccinto, 9. Troy Rutherford, 10. Robert Dalby, 11. Tyler Dolacki, 12. Danny Sheridan, 13. Shannon McQueen, 14. Terry Nichols, 15. Clayton Ruston, 16. Austen Figueroa, 17. Jake Vermeer, 18. Randi Pankratz, 19. J.J. Ercse, 20. Ryan Bernal, 21. Brennan Rogers, 22. C.J. Sarna. NT
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**Nichols flipped on lap 7 of the semi. Ercse flipped on lap 1 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-24 Swanson, Laps 25-30 Gardner.

ESSLINGER ENGINEERING HARD CHARGER: David Prickett (14th to 6th)
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Ventura Raceway Race Results for 05/13/2017

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VRA Pro Dwarf Cars
Race #4     05/13/2017

Main Event Results: 1. Johnny Conley, Camarillo, 20 Laps; 2. David Conley, Oxnard, 20 Laps; 3. Tim Conley, Oxnard, 20 Laps; 4. Jason Horton, Oxnard, 20 Laps; 5. Tommy Velasquez III, Camarillo, 20 Laps; 6. Gage Cheek, Valencia, 20 Laps; 7. Tom Stephens Jr, Ventura, 20 Laps; 8. Nick Velasquez, Camarillo, 20 Laps; 9. Tom Morley, Woodland Hills, 20 Laps; 10. Michael Tobiason, San Diego, 20 Laps; 11. Chase Lippert, Thousand Oaks, 18 Laps; 12. Jeff Brink, Ventura, 14 Laps; 13. Trevor Fitzgibbon, Camarillo, 12 Laps; 14. Korey Cowan, Lancaster, 11 Laps; 15. Tommy Velasquez, Camarillo, 4 Laps; 16. Trent Morley, Woodland Hills, 4 Laps
Lap Leaders: Johnny Conley (1-20)

Heat Race Winners:  Heat 1: Tommy Velasquez; Heat 2: Tim Conley; Heat 3: Michael Tobiason; Heat 4: Nick Velasquez

Top 10 in points:  1. David Conley, 925; 2. Tim Conley, 820; 2. Johnny Conley, 820; 4. Tommy Velasquez III, 790; 5. Jason Horton, 765; 6. Nick Velasquez, 745; 7. Trent Morley, 660; 8. Trevor Fitzgibbon, 655; 9. Tommy Velasquez, 600; 10. Tom Stephens Jr, 580

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IMCA Modifieds
Race #4     05/13/2017

Main Event Results: 1. Luis Espinoza, Castaic, 20 Laps; 2. Chris Crompe, Nipomo, 20 Laps; 3. Robbie Witwer, Ridgecrest, 20 Laps; 4. Jack Parker, Simi Valley, 20 Laps; 5. Dave Phipps, Simi Valley, 20 Laps; 6. Andrew Greiman, Newbury Park, 20 Laps
Lap Leaders: Jack Parker (1-9), Luis Espinoza (10-20)

Heat Race Winners:   Heat 1: Jack Parker

Top 10 in points:  1. Chris Crompe, 152; 2. Luis Espinoza, 148; 3. Dave Phipps, 142; 4. Jack Parker, 137; 5. Andrew Greiman, 133; 6. Scott Olsen, 98; 7. Austin Rodarte, 71; 8. James Stowe, 66; 8. Aaron Rodarte, 66; 10. Justin Dunn, 62

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VRA Hobby Stocks
Race #4     05/13/2017

Main Event Results: 1. Mike Stanford, Oxnard, 20 Laps; 2. Sam Garvin, Oxnard, 20 Laps; 3. John Romero, Port Hueneme, 20 Laps; 4. Gary Garvin, Oxnard, 19 Laps; 5. Christina Garvin, Oxnard, 10 Laps; 6. Chris Whitford, Santa Maria, 8 Laps; 7. Heath Morton, Oxnard, 1 Lap
Lap Leaders: Mike Stanford (1-2), Sam Garvin (3-11), Mike Stanford (12-20)

Heat Race Winners:  Heat 1: Chris Whitford

Top 10 in points:  1. Sam Garvin, 920; 2. Gary Garvin, 815; 3. Christina Garvin, 790; 4. Heath Morton, 785; 5. Mike Stanford, 715; 6. Ryan Avila, 345; 7. Travis Avila, 260; 8. John Romero, 205; 9. David Bettencourt, 195; 9. Chris Whitford, 195

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Report Created by Ventura Raceway Scoring Program
Report Created: 05/14/2017 08:28