VENTURA, California — Taking advantage of a night off with the USAC/CRA 410 Sprints and USAC Western Midget Series, Ventura's Cory Kruseman won the 30-lap feature in front of his hometown fans at "The Best Little Dirt Track In America." Kruseman passed pole sitter Brandon Thomson on the third lap and led the rest of the way to claim his second VRA Sprint Car triumph of the year at Jim Naylor's Ventura Raceway.
Kruseman, who operates a Sprint Car and Midget Driving School at the Ventura facility, won a week earlier with the USAC/CRA Sprint Cars at his home track. Sharing the front row with Brandon Thomson, the veteran driver lost the start to Thomson as the green flag waved. Brandon, who was looking for his first win of the year, immediately jumped to the outside groove of the Ventura clay oval as Kruseman faced pressure from VRA point leader Troy Rutherford and Brody Roa.
Entering turn one of the third lap, "The Kruser" powered underneath Thomson to take the lead. At the same instant, Rutherford looked to slip underneath Kruseman for the top spot. Motoring down the back straight, Cory used the extra momentum of the outside line to reclaim the lead from Rutherford. Thomson mounted a charge underneath the point leader to claim second place.
On the following lap, the trio momentarily battled three wide for the lead as it became a drag race down the back straight. Kruseman held the advantage, followed by Thomson, Rutherford, Roa, Greg Taylor, and Rick Hendrix.
As the laps counted down, Thomson continued his close pursuit of Kruseman. After a late race restart, Brandon shot for the lead in turn two, but nearly spun to a stop. Luckily, the field missed Thomson as he gathered his machine only to lose a few positions. The track stayed green and at the checkered flags, it was all Cory Kruseman, followed by Troy Rutherford, Brody Roa, a rebounding Brandon Thomson, Josh Ford, and Brent Camarillo, who charged to sixth after starting twentieth.
Driving the #21K Lucas Oil / Sander Engineering machine, "The Kruser" Cory Kruseman was second in his heat race to Greg Taylor. In four starts with the VRA Sprints, the USAC Western Midget point leader sits twenty-second in the point chase with two feature victories, three heat race wins, and three top-10 finishes.
With his second place finish, Ojai's Troy Rutherford took another step towards the series championship. Piloting the #11 Trench Shoring / L&H Consulting entry, Rutherford won the Steve Watt Enterprises Heat Race #2. To date, the former SCRA Sprint Car Rookie of the Year has five feature victories, fourteen heat race wins, and eighteen top-10 finishes. Rutherford currently holds a 575 point lead over Greg Taylor.
Buena Park's Brody Roa had his best finish of the season with a third place run. Last week, the young driver won the special Wagsdash feature with the USAC/CRA 410 Sprints and continues to impress. Driving the #91R L.A. Prep / Crow Safety Gear machine, Roa was second in his heat race to Troy Rutherford. Currently tenth in the point standings, the Rookie of the Year candidate has six top-10 finishes on the year.
Norwalk's Brandon Thomson recorded his best finish of the year with a fourth place run. Piloting the #92 Limitless Design / ThunderHead Apparel entry, Thomson was second in his heat race to Rick Hendrix. Brandon led the first two laps on the feature before falling to Cory Kruseman. Thomson gave chase and after a late race bobble, he recovered and salvaged a fourth place finish. Brandon is sixteenth in the point chase with one heat race win and three top-10 finishes.
Camarillo's Josh Ford had his sixteenth top-10 finish of the year with his fifth place performance. Driving the #73 King Racing Products / A&A Precision Machining car, Ford was third in his heat race. Currently third in the point standings, the March 20th winner has five heat race victories and one semi-main win on the year.
Palmdale's Rick Hendrix won the 10-lap LRB Manufacturing Heat Race #1. Piloting the #15 Rick's Gate Works Inc. / Wilwood Disc Brakes entry, Hendrix had a ninth place finish in the main event. The May 1st feature winner is fourth in the point chase with six heat race wins and twelve top-10 finishes.
Ventura's Greg Taylor was victorious in the Kaeding Performance Heat Race #3. Driving the #7 Taylor Trucking & Crane Service / Four Paws Pet Grooming car, Taylor was thirteenth in the main event. The 2007 series champion is second in the point standings with four feature victories, seven heat race wins, and fifteen top-10 finishes.
Camarillo's Brian Camarillo won the twelve-lap ITI Performance Semi-Main. Driving the #22 Agromin / Waste Management entry, Camarillo was sixth in his heat race and eleventh in the main event. Brian is fifth in the point chase with nine heat race wins and ten top-10 finishes.
Following Camarillo to the feature were Simi Valley's Scott Hansen, Visalia's Jesse Mack, John Nock of Newhall and Camarillo's Brent Camarillo. Hansen flipped in the feature and walked away with a seventeenth place finish. Mack finished twentieth and Nock claimed fifteenth after starting nineteenth. Brent Camarillo earned the Sushi Fresh Hard Charger Award with a sixth place run after starting twentieth.
Ventura Raceway held six other companion main events on the night. Ventura's Russell DeBlauw led the final fifteen laps to score the win in VRA Senior Sprint competition. Sunland's Lars Wolfe held off Angel Figueroa to claim the VRA Pro Dwarf Car victory, while Oak Park's Tanner Kershaw won in the USAC Young Gun Focus Midget division. Camarillo's Brennan Rogers triumphed with the Junior Midgets and Simi Valley's Conner Wakim took the top spot in the Mini Dwarf Car Piston class. Camarillo's Tommy Velasquez III won the twelve lap Mini Dwarf Car Supercharger feature.
The VRA Sprint Car Series would like to thank Fast Undercar, ITI Performance, Kaeding Performance, LRB Manufacturing, Lucas Oil, Snap On Tools, Steve Watt Enterprises, Sushi Fresh, and Twister-X for their support.
Ventura Raceway will be dark this Saturday, October 9th, for the annual Highland Games Festival. The VRA Sprint Car Series will be back in action on October 16th at "The Best Little Dirt Track In America" with the VRA Senior Sprints, Pro Dwarf Cars, USAC Midgets, USAC Ford Focus Midgets, USAC Young Guns Focus Midgets, and VRA Go Karts. The Front Gates will open at Noon, Time Trials will start at 5:00pm, with racing to follow.
For more event information, please visit www.venturaraceway.com.
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VRA SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS:
Ventura Raceway - Ventura, California
October 2, 2010
ENTRIES: ( Car / Driver Name / Points)
3k Kevin Mahoney 5; 3M Denny McVey 10; 5K Kenny Perkins 130; 6 Brent Camarillo 160; 7 Greg Taylor 155; 11 Troy Rutherford 240; 14 Tom Hendricks 110; 15 Rick Hendrix 175; 20K Dakota Kershaw 125; 21k Cory Kruseman 255; 22c Brian Camarillo 140; 24 Guy Woodward 5; 27K Cody Kershaw 155; 33 Scott Hansen 110; 55s Kyle Smith 115; 56 Steve Conrad 165; 69 Marcus Niemela 150; 71m Jesse Mack 95; 73 Josh Ford 195; 81 Don Gansen 165; 83 John Nock 115; 91R Brody Roa 220; 92 Brandon Thomson 210; 96k Charlie Butcher 10.
LRB MANUFACTURING HEAT RACE 1: (10 laps)
1. Rick Hendrix, 2. Brandon Thomson, 3. Josh Ford, 4. Don Gansen, 5. Steve Conrad, 6. Brian Camarillo, 7. Denny McVey, 8. Kevin Mahoney.
STEVE WATT ENTERPRISES HEAT RACE 2: (10 laps)
1. Troy Rutherford, 2. Brody Roa, 3. Marcus Niemela, 4. Dakota Kershaw, 5. Tom Hendricks, 6. Scott Hansen, 7. Charlie Butcher, 8. Guy Woodward.
KAEDING PERFORMANCE HEAT RACE 3: (10 laps)
1. Greg Taylor, 2. Cory Kruseman, 3. Kyle Smith, 4. Cody Kershaw, 5. Kenny Perkins, 6. Jesse Mack, 7. John Nock, 8. Brent Camarillo.
ITI PERFORMANCE SEMI-MAIN: (10 laps)
1. Brian Camarillo, 2. Scott Hansen, 3. Jesse Mack, 4. John Nock, 5. Brent Camarillo, 6. Charlie Butcher, 7. Denny McVey, 8. Guy Woodward, 9. Kevin Mahoney (DNS).
FEATURE: (30 laps - With Starting Positions)
1. Cory Kruseman (2nd), 2. Troy Rutherford (4th), 3. Brody Roa (3rd), 4. Brandon Thomson (1st), 5. Josh Ford (8th), 6. Brent Camarillo (20th), 7. Steve Conrad (13th), 8. Don Gansen (11th), 9. Rick Hendrix (5th), 10. Cody Kershaw (10th), 11. Brian Camarillo (16th), 12. Marcus Niemela (7th), 13. Greg Taylor (6th), 14. Kenny Perkins (15th), 15. John Nock (19th), 16. Dakota Kershaw (12th), 17. Scott Hansen (17th), 18. Tom Hendricks (14th), 19. Kyle Smith (9th), 20. Jesse Mack (18th).
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-2 Brandon Thomson, Laps 3-30 Cory Kruseman.
SUSHI FRESH HARD CHARGER: Brent Camarillo (20th to 6th)
VRA SPRINT CAR POINT STANDINGS:
1. Troy Rutherford 4320; 2. Greg Taylor 3745; 3. Josh Ford 3730; 4. Rick Hendrix 3250; 5. Brian Camarillo 3150; 6. Steve Conrad 3140; 7. Kevin Kierce 3055; 8. Don Gansen 2785; 9. Brent Camarillo 2755; 10. Brody Roa 2205; 11. Cody Kershaw 2080; 12. Justin Kierce 2000; --. Kenny Perkins 2000; 14. Dakota Kershaw 1955; 15. John Nock 1845; 16. Brandon Thomson 1790; 17. Guy Woodward 1735; 18. Marcus Niemela 1645; 19. Scott Hansen 1570; 20. Ronnie Case 1335.
NEXT VRA SPRINT CAR RACE:
October 16 - Ventura Raceway - Ventura, California
