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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ventura Racing Association Sprint Car Series
#7 Greg Taylor. Photo by surfnsprint.com.
TAYLOR BENEFITS FROM KRUSEMAN MISFORTUNE
By Lance Jennings & Cliff Morgan
VENTURA, CA – MAY 18, 2011... Last Saturday night, Ventura's Cory Kruseman looked to have scored his first VRA Sprint Car Series win of 2011. It was not to be on this night.
According to VRA Competition Director Cliff Morgan:
He (Kruseman) did not finish the race with both mufflers intact and on the car. VRA Rules state that all cars must have mufflers at all times and Kruseman's fell off just before he took the white flag. There was not enough time to black flag him so he took the checkered without the required muffler. After officials conferred and looked at the rules the decision was made to place Kruseman on the lap he finished at the time the muffler fell off, placing him in a final11th position for the race. Kruseman was informed and took the news in a positive manner understanding that the rule is the rule. The fact that he was placed lower does not diminish the great race he ran against Greg Taylor, Dakota Kershaw and Markus Niemela.
Dakota Kershaw and Tom Harper led the twenty-car main event field to the green flag. As the powerful 360 sprint cars roared through the first turns, Troy Rutherford looked to go underneath the duo in a three-wide battle for the lead. Riding the high line of the Ventura clay oval, Harper had the advantage at the start/finish line, followed by Kershaw, Rutherford, Cory Kruseman and Jimmy Crawford.
Harper set the pace as Kershaw remained within striking distance. On the fifth circuit, Kershaw seized an opening and used a turn one "slide job" pass to take command from Harper. On the next lap, Rutherford who was pressured by Kruseman for third, used a similar move to secure second. As Kershaw looked to stretch out his advantage over the competition, Rutherford gave chase, Kruseman slid underneath Harper, and Josh Ford followed Cory's line to fourth. Now in fifth, Harper was under attack from Greg Taylor, Jimmy Crawford, and Markus Niemela.
Rutherford got out of shape and bounced his machine off the back stretch wall. Kruseman made contact and continued on, as Troy's night was done with front end damage. With the field in a single file restart, Kershaw led the way with Kruseman, Ford, Harper, and Taylor behind the leader. Taylor and Crawford motored past Harper as Ford applied pressure to Kruseman for second. Using his veteran experience, Kruseman was able to shake free from Ford and caught Kershaw. While the leaders sliced through slower traffic, Taylor closed the gap in a tight three way battle for the lead.
On lap eighteen, Kruseman slid underneath Kershaw to take the top spot. While Cory secured his lead, Taylor shot underneath the new leader from third. The move fell short and Taylor settled into second. Unfazed, Kershaw's bid to regain second from Taylor did not work with Markus Niemela close behind. Still racing through the back markers, Kruseman led the way with Taylor in second. Niemela moved into third and Kershaw sat in fourth.
Niemela found his rhythm and was in a fierce battle with Taylor for second. The two hard chargers battled back and forth while passing slower traffic. A yellow flag for Brent Camarillo briefly slowed the action, and on the restart, Kruseman continued his march to the checkered flags. After a post race inspection of Kruseman's machine, Taylor was declared the winner followed by Niemela, Kershaw, Ford, and last week's winner Don Gansen in fifth. Kruseman was scored eleventh.
Driving the #7 Clark Engineering Construction / Westco International Consulting Inc. machine, Greg Taylor of Ventura, was declared the winner of the 30-lap feature. The former track champion won his fifth heat race of the year and leads the point standings with a ninety point advantage over Steve Conrad. In addition, Taylor has six top-10 finishes and led sixty-three laps of main event competition.
Santa Barbara's Markus Niemela earned the night's "Hard Charger / Best Passing Job" honors on the night with a second place run after starting tenth. Piloting the #69 Steve Watt Enterprises / Christian Stover Foundation entry, the young driver was fourth in his heat race and sits ninth in the point chase. In the 2011 campaign, Niemela has led eight feature laps and scored three top-10 finishes.
Oak Park's Dakota Kershaw led twelve laps of the feature before settling into third. Driving the #28 KMS Racing / Interprise Capitol Investments machine, Kershaw was second in his heat race and is now twelfth in the points. The young driver has one heat race win, led thirty-five feature laps, and three top-10 finishes on the season.
Josh Ford of Camarillo raced the #73 King Racing Products / A&A Precision Machining special to a fourth place finish. Last year's All Coast 360 Challenge Champion was third in his heat race and is currently fourth in the championship points. To date, Ford has two heat race wins, one hard charger award, and seven top-10 finishes to his credit.
Piloting the #71K Sander Engineering / Cory Kruseman's Sprint Car & Midget Driving School entry, Rialto's Don Gansen took fifth in the night's action. The California Lightning Sprint graduate was fourth in his heat race and sits third in the point standings. In 2011, Gansen has one main event victory, one heat race win, five top-10 finishes, and led thirty feature laps,
Jimmy Crawford of Newbury Park took his #17 Twister-X special to victory in the night's first heat race. The former track champion was eighteenth in the main event and is currently seventeenth in the point chase. In limited action, Crawford has four top-10 finishes on the year.
"The Kruser" Cory Kruseman of Ventura won the program's second heat race. Driving the #21K Lucas Oil / Sander Engineering car, Kruseman looked to sweep the program with a feature victory until a muffler issue denied the win. To date, the veteran driver has three heat race wins, twelve feature laps led, and three top-10 finishes on the season.
Camarillo's Brent Camarillo won the 12-lap semi-main. Also earning transfer spots to the feature were Brian Camarillo, Steve Conrad, Kyle Smith, Guy Woodward, Austin DeBlauw, Clark Templeman III, and John Nock. Brent scored tenth in the 30-lap event, Brian claimed seventeenth, Conrad scored twelfth, and Smith was twentieth. Woodward took sixteenth, DeBlauw placed fifteenth, Templeman raced to thirteenth, and Nock was fourteenth.
Ventura Raceway had five other companion classes scheduled on the night. Robby Josett won the VRA Midget feature, Gary Marshall Jr. won in the Spot Compact division, and Nick Carlson won in Ford Focus Midget action. Cole Custer Jr. led all 20-laps to claim the Junior Focus Midget victory and Johnny Conley won in the Go Kart class.
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.
Ventura Raceway will be dark this weekend, but will return to action May 28th with the VRA Sprint Cars, VRA Midgets, IMCA Modifieds, Ford Focus Midgets, Junior Focus Midgets, and VRA Go Karts. During the month of May, fans 18 and under (with proper ID) are admitted for FREE. The Front Gates will open at 3:00pm with Racing to start at 5:30pm. For more event information, please visit www.venturaraceway.com or call (805) 985-5433.
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VRA SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS:
Ventura Raceway - Ventura, California
May 14, 2011
HEAT RACE 1: (10 laps)
1. Jimmy Crawford, 2. Troy Rutherford, 3. Josh Ford, 4. Don Gansen, 5. Steve Conrad, 6. Brent Camarillo, 7. John Nock, 8. Clark Templeman III.
HEAT RACE 2: (10 laps)
1. Cory Kruseman, 2. Tom Harper, 3. Derek Buckley, 4. Markus Niemela, 5. Brian Camarillo, 6. Austin DeBlauw, 7. Brandon Thomson, 8. Charlie Butcher.
HEAT RACE 3: (10 laps)
1. Greg Taylor, 2. Dakota Kershaw, 3. Ronnie Gardner, 4. Cody Kershaw, 5. Kyle Smith, 6. Guy Woodward, 7. Steve Hix.
SEMI-MAIN: (12 laps)
1. Brent Camarillo, 2. Brian Camarillo, 3. Steve Conrad, 4. Kyle Smith, 5. Guy Woodward, 6. Austin DeBlauw, 7. Clark Templeman III, 8. John Nock, 9. Brandon Thomson, 10. Steve Hix, 11. Charlie Butcher.
FEATURE: (30 laps - With Starting Positions)
1. Greg Taylor (6th), 2. Markus Niemela (10th), 3. Dakota Kershaw (1st), 4. Josh Ford (7th), 5. Don Gansen (12th), 6. Ronnie Gardner (9th), 7. Derek Buckley (8th), 8. Tom Harper (2nd), 9. Cody Kershaw (11th), 10. Brent Camarillo (13th), 11. Cory Kruseman (4th), 12. Steve Conrad (15th), 13. Clark Templeman III (19th), 14. John Nock (20th), 15. Austin DeBlauw (18th), 16. Guy Woodward (17th), 17. Brian Camarillo (14th), 18. Jimmy Crawford (5th), 19. Troy Rutherford (3rd), 20. Kyle Smith (16th).
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS:
Laps 1-5 Tom Harper, Laps 6-17 Dakota Kershaw, Laps 18-29 Cory Kruseman, Lap 30 Greg Taylor.
HARD CHARGER: Markus Niemela (10th to 2nd)
VRA SPRINT CAR POINT STANDINGS:
1. Greg Taylor 1665; 2. Steve Conrad 1575; 3. Don Gansen 1460; 4. Josh Ford 1450; 5. Derek Buckley 1270; 6. Brent Camarillo 1245; 7. Brian Camarillo 1175; 8. Cory Kruseman 1170; 9. Markus Niemela 1015; 10. Brandon Thomson 1005; 11. John Nock 955; 12. Dakota Kershaw 940; 13. Clark Templeman III 920; 14. Kyle Smith 905; 15. Austin DeBlauw 800; 16. Brody Roa 795; 17. Jimmy Crawford 790; 18. Guy Woodward 730; 19. Tom Harper 710; 20. Justin Kierce 635.
NEXT VRA SPRINT CAR RACE:
May 28th - Ventura Raceway - Ventura, California
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