VENTURA, California — Ventura’s Austin Rodarte has made consistency a winning habit.
Winless in his IMCA Modified racecar at Ventura Raceway this season, Rodarte leads the division’s championship standings anyway with 371 points.
Rodarte and his IMCA Modified competitors are scheduled to race again at the track Saturday, July 18, part of a big Ventura Racing Association race card. The racing schedule on the 18th includes the Sprint Cars, Senior Sprints, Dwarf Cars, IMCA Modifieds and the Raceway’s youth divisions.
The spectator gates open at 3 p.m. and the racing starts with the VRA youth divisions at 3:30. The traditional flag salute starts at 5:30.
Rodarte has finished among the top 10 in all 10 of his starts at Ventura this season and has been in the top five eight times.
Damon Redman, the Santa Paula star, has three wins this year but is second in points with 351. Redman has fewer top 10s than the points leader (8) and fewer top fives (6). Jack Parker, the two-time track champion from Simi Valley, is winless this year with seven top 10s and six top fives.
Saturday’s race is the kind that can change a season. There are only two dates remaining prior to the biggest races of the year, the Ventura County Fair races (on Aug. 5 and 6). Traditionally, the final two events leading up to the Fair events draw as many racers as the Fair dates because racers planning on competing at the Fair want laps at the track.
Of course, Ventura Raceway has had large entry lists all season. The track has draw 100 or more entries for every race except two.
More information about Ventura Raceway is available at www.venturaraceway.com.
