Brian Camarillo Wins Wild Ventura Feature

VENTURA, California — Last Saturday night, Brian Camarillo led the final twenty laps to score his second victory of the season with the VRA Sprint Car Series. Taking the lead from Markus Niemela on lap eleven, Camarillo fought off Niemela's counter moves to retain the lead. From there, Brian steadily inched away from the field to claim the wild main event at Jim Naylor's Ventura Raceway.

At the start of the 30-lap main event, pole sitter Cody Kershaw got the jump on fellow front row starter Guy Woodward. Taking the early lead, Kershaw had his sights on his first victory of the 2011 campaign. Third starting Brian Camarillo quickly took second from Woodward, as point leader Greg Taylor and Markus Niemela looked to advance by passing Woodward and pressuring Camarillo for second.

After a yellow flag bunched the field, Kershaw looked to shake free from the field as Taylor executed a two car "slide job" pass for the lead in turn four. With Taylor now out front, Camarillo countered with his own slider for the lead. Taylor motored past Camarillo to keep the top spot, but now had to deal with Niemela. Markus was able to take command from Greg on the seventh circuit and Camarillo took second.

Niemela looked strong, but a determined Camarillo was on the hunt. The lead duo began to wage their own personal war for the lead by trading "slide jobs" throughout the speedway. Camarillo eventually won the exchange and looked to distance himself from the field. A battle royal began to take shape behind the leaders as "slide job" passes were being thrown wholesale for position.

The battle for second tightened up as Taylor and Brent Camarillo soon caught Niemela. Racing in tight quarters, a late race bobble by Markus resulted in a Taylor flip and collected Brent. Niemela was able to restart at the rear of the field and the other cars were out of contention. Brian Camarillo led the remaining laps to take the victory, followed by Cody Kershaw, Kyle Smith, a rebounding Markus Niemela, and Dakota Kershaw. After the race, a happy Brian Camarillo remarked, "It was pretty wild out there tonight. Thankfully we got out in front and it wasn't too bad from there."

Driving Steve Watt's #81 Christian Stover Foundation / Steve Watt Enterprises machine, Camarillo's Brian Camarillo not only won the 30-lap main event, but also the program's first heat race. Climbing to third in the championship points, Camarillo has eight heat race victories, one semi-main win, and ten top-10 finishes on the season.

Oak Park's Cody Kershaw led the first four laps of the main event before fading back in the field. The pilot of the #27 Interprise Capitol / Roll Control entry battled back to claim the runner-up finish at the checkered flags. After claiming second in his heat race, Kershaw now sits fifteenth in the point chase with one heat race victory and five top-10 finishes to his credit.

Kyle Smith of Moorpark had one of his best career nights with a third place run after eighth. Driving the #55S Agromin Soil / Waste Management special, Smith place fourth in his heat race. Now sixth in the hunt for the championship, Smith has one hard charger award and four top-10 finishes in 2011.

Santa Barbara's Markus Niemela rebounded after a late race tangle to salvage a fourth place finish. Piloting Steve Watt's #69 Surfnsprint.com / Steve Watt Enterprises car, Niemela was fourth in his heat race and led four laps before falling to Camarillo. Currently ninth in points, Markus has two heat race victories, one hard charger award, and nine top-10 finishes on the season.

Dakota Kershaw of Oak Park earned the night's "Hard Charger / Best Passing Job" honors with a fifth place run after starting thirteenth. Driving the #28 Interprise Capitol / Roll Control entry, Kershaw placed seventh in his heat race and is now eleventh in the standings. Dakota has three heat race victories and seven top-10 finishes in the 2011 campaign.

Ventura's Greg Taylor was back at the helm of his #7 Clark Engineering Construction / Westco International Consulting Inc. machine and won the night's second heat race. Looking for his third win in a row, Taylor briefly held the lead in the main event. Still running towards the front, the point leader was caught in a late race tangle and flipped his machine. Scoring a ninth place finish on the night, Greg holds a 550 point lead over Steve Conrad heading into this Saturday's show at Ventura Raceway. To date, Taylor has four feature wins, nine heat race victories, two hard charger awards, and fourteen top-10 finishes on the year.

Ventura Raceway scheduled seven other companion classes on the night. Bruce Douglass won a nonstop feature with the Senior Sprint Cars and Devlin Autry won in the Pro Dwarf Car division. Bill Van Pragg scored the Senior Dwarf Car triumph and Jack Parker returned to victory circle with the IMCA Modifieds. J.D. Brown won in the Mini Dwarf Piston class and Nick Velasquez claimed the Mini Dwarf Supercharger main event. Brennan Rogers won the fifteen lap Junior Midget feature.

To catch all of the action of the VRA Sprint Car Series and Ventura Raceway, Mike Truex's Loudpedal Productions has DVD videos available for purchase. For more information, call (805) 407-7229 or visit www.loudpedalvideo.com. In addition, Ventura Raceway offers a live feed of every event at www.venturaraceway.com/live.html. The live feed will begin at 5:00pm PST.

This Saturday night, October 1st, Ventura Raceway will host the VRA Sprint Cars, Senior Sprint Cars, Dwarf Cars, Mod Lites, Mod Lite Juniors, Go Karts, Junior Midgets, and Mini Dwarfs. For more event information, please visit www.venturaraceway.com or call (805) 985-5433.

VRA SPRINT CAR SCHEDULE:

October 1 - Ventura Raceway - Ventura, CA

October 15 - Ventura Raceway - Ventura, CA

October 29* - Ventura Raceway - Ventura, CA

November 12 - Ventura Raceway - Ventura, CA

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*All Coast Construction 360 Challenge.