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RICHARDS, 76, WINS SPRINT CAR RACE AT VENTURA RACEWAY
by Lee Elder
VENTURA, Calif. (April 19, 2008) – John Richards, the 76-year old sprint car driver, won the Senior Sprint Car class main event at Ventura Raceway and probably became the night’s oldest winning race car driver in the country.
Richards, who lives in Ventura, started on the pole and repeatedly used strong restarts to hold off challenges from Ron Bach. It was the second career victory for Richards. His first victory came last season.
“I’ve been notoriously bad on restarts,” Richards said. “I was concentrating on them.”
The other winners at Ventura included Charlie Butcher of Santa Barbara (in the Ventura Racing Association’s Ford Focus Midget class), Ventura’s Rick Rodarte (VRA Modifieds), Ojai’s Troy Rutherford (VRA Sprint Cars) and Joel Chavez (Sport Compacts) of Santa Paula.
The VRA Senior Sprints is for drivers aged 45 and older. The cars in the class are identical to those in the regular VRA Sprint Car class. They are powered by 360 cubic inch engines.
Richards said Bach was close enough at times during the race that he, Richards, could see the nose of the second-place car. But Bach never got close enough to pull ahead.
Asked how he felt about possibly being the oldest winning sprint car driver in the country, Richards said, “I don’t feel that old, really.”
A former extreme distance runner, Richards listed off the keys to a successful life for those approaching retirement age.
"If you’re not active, get active,” Richards said. “I used to run 100-mile foot races when I was in my fifties. My wife looks after me and that’s a big thing. She makes sure I eat right. I’m still working and she makes sure I don’t work too hard.”
He races hard, though.
The two sprint car classes attracted 50 entrants. All of those cars and teams are eligible to enter next week’s D’Angelos Sprint Car Shootout, the first race of a special three-race series that pays $2,000 to the winner of each race and $500 to the winner of the series.
More information on Ventura Raceway is available at www.venturaraceway.com.
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