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SPORT COMPACT TITLE RACE JAMMED NEAR THE TOP
VENTURA, Calif. (July 16, 2008) – Santa Paula's Darren Gunnell has been as consistent as any driver at Ventura Raceway in his last three races. He has won the last two Sport Compact Division main events and finished second in the race before that.
With all that, he's still third in the championship standings.
The Raceway's A July to Remember promotion continues Saturday, with all youngsters 12 years and younger admitted free of charge. The Sport Compact racers will share the track with the Ventura Racing Association Sprint Cars, VRA Senior Sprint Cars, IMCA Modifieds and the United States Auto Club Junior Focus Midgets.
Saturday's race is the final event before the annual Ventura County Fair. The final race before the Fair typically draws a large field of cars, hoping to prepare for the Fair event. A victory in the annual Fair race is something VRA racers prepare for all season.
Joel Chavez, another Santa Paula resident, leads the Sport Compact standings with 1,640 points, followed by Camarillo's Randal Dougan (1,565) and Gunnell (1,550) is third. Chavez and Gunnell have three wins each. Dougan has won once.
The Sport Compact division is limited to cars with four cylinder engines and narrow tires. It is open to both front wheel drive and rear wheel drive cars but the rulebook keeps the entries close to their original street applications while allowing for racing modifications, mostly in the area of driver safety.
Chavez is the defending series champion but Gunnell has the hot hand. He finished second on May 17, then won on May 24 and June 21.
And lurking in fourth place is young Trevor Fitzgibbon of Camarillo. Fitzgibbon has yet to win a race, but he has more top five finishes, four, than any driver except the three ahead of him in the standings. He finished second to Gunnell on May 24 and was fourth on June 21.
Racing starts with heat races at 5:30 p.m. The spectator gates open at 3:30.
More information on Ventura Raceway is available at www.venturaraceway.com.
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