Ventura Raceway ended its 2012 racing season with a bang Saturday night as the third and final All coast challenge race was run. On a cold and windy night 32 Sprint cars signed into the pits. With several high powered visiting drivers here to compete for the $5,000 to win purse payout, the fans were in for a night filled with exciting racing action. Heat races started the night off with wins going to Danny Faria in the Extreme Muffler Heat number one, Greg Alexander in the LRB Manufacturing Heat number two, Johnathan Henry in the B R Motorsports Heat number three and Troy Rutherford in the K & N Heat number 4. With a full field of racers, a 12 lap semi main event was needed. Fifteen cars took the green flag that flew for the cars trying to make the final 4 transfers to the All Coast Challenge Main Event. The race ran fast and exciting with the win going to Bruce Douglass followed by VRA point leader Kyle Smith, visiting USAC driver Jon Stanbrough and Brody Roa who had won the last All Coast Challenge race on July 21. These four drivers joined the other 16 drivers to make up the 20 car field for the 30 lap All Coast Challenge Main Event.
The main event saw USAC West Coast 360 driver Richard Vanderweerd on the pole with many time VRA winner Troy Rutherford on the outside. Vanderweerd took the lead from the green flag and led until Greg Alexander passed him on lap 7 and the lead then went back and forth between Vanderwerd and Alexander until lap 14 when Rutherford got by both of them to take the leaf and never look back as he led the rest of the way to take the checkered flag and the $5,000 first place check. Both Vanderweerd and Alexander would fall out of the race before the checkered flag. While these three drivers battled for the lead, USAC/CRA and Oval Nationals Champion Mike Spencer, Cory Kruseman, Brian Camarillo and Don Gansen all moved up into contention. Gansen was running third when he suffered a flat tire with one lap to go and fell to 14th. Spencer drove from 7th starting position to finish second behind Rutherford. Cory Kruseman finished third followed by Brian Camarillo and Rick Hendrix. In the battle for the All Coast Series Championship, Mike Spencer finished 15 points ahead of Cory Kruseman to take the $5,000 All Coast Challenge point champion's check and a $2,500 check for second place in the race. All the drivers and Ventura Raceway want to thank Mike Grosswendt and All Coast Construction for making this race possible.
VRA Sprints also crowned its 2012 series champion Saturday night. Kyle Smith took the year's championship by 105 points over Brian Camarillo. This is Smith's first ever VRA Championship.
Also racing Saturday night were the VRA Dwarf Cars. They raced in two divisions, Seniors and Pros. In Seniors, Tom Stephens Sr. took his first Dwarf car win over Mike Neal, Bob Kauffman, Bill VanPraag and George Calvo. Their heat race went to Mike Neal. The Senior points championship goes to Bill VanPraag by 100 points over Tom Stephens Sr. In Pro Division action three heats were run with wins going to Johnny Conely, Randy Gordon and Eric Moore. Their 20 lap feature went to Randy Gordon followed by Hannah Mayhew, Luke Boles, Curt Cook and Shawn Egan. Luke Boles took the 2012 Pro Series Championship by 90 points over Cook. Boles championship is even more special as he was a rookie this season in this division
Wally Pankratz secured the VRA Focus Championship with a heat race win and a third place finish in the 20 lap main event. The race went to first time winner Brennan Rogers, a graduate and series champion in VRA's Junior Midget program. He was followed by Christine Breckenridge, Pankratz, Clayton Ruston and Michael Steele.
Our final class Saturday was our VRA Go Karts. Heat race wins went to Ashley Hazleton and Kenny Byers Jr. The 20 lap feature went to Dylan Ito followed by Byers, Matt Jones, Johnathan Henry and Cody Majors. The 2012 Season point race went to Cody Nigh by 165 points over Kenny Beyers Jr.
Ventura Raceway will now prepare for its 2013 season. Our schedule will be out as soon as possible. Keep watching our webpage, venturaraceway.com, for updates and the release of the new schedule. We want to thank all our fans, teams, drivers and our crew for their support and hard work in 2012.
Ventura Raceway Race Results for 11/10/2012
VRA Sprint Cars/All Coast Challenge
Race #12 11/10/2012
Main Event Results: 1. Troy Rutherford, Ojai, 30 Laps; 2. Mike Spencer, Temecula, 30 Laps; 3. Cory Kruseman, Ventura, 30 Laps; 4. Brian Camarillo, Camarillo, 30 Laps; 5. Rick Hendrix, Palmdale, 30 Laps; 6. Kyle Smith, Moorpark, 30 Laps; 7. Johnathon Henry, Stockton, 30 Laps; 8. Brody Roa, Buena Park, 30 Laps; 9. Ronnie Case, Camarillo, 30 Laps; 10. Jon Stanbrough, brownsburg, IN, 30 Laps; 11. Guy Woodward, Santa Clarita, 30 Laps; 12. Jace Vander Weerd, Visalia, 30 Laps; 13. Bruce Douglass, Ventura, 30 Laps; 14. Don Gansen, San Bernardino, 30 Laps; 15. Victor Davis, Simi Valley, 29 Laps; 16. Greg Alexander, Gardena, 28 Laps; 17. Richard Vander Weerd, Visalia, 24 Laps; 18. Danny Faria Jr, Tipton, 13 Laps; 19. Russel Deblauw, Ventura, 12 Laps; 20. Brandon Thomson, Ventura, 10 Laps
Lap Leaders: Richard Vander Weerd (1-6), Greg Alexander (7-8), Richard Vander Weerd (9), Richard Vander Weerd (11-13), Troy Rutherford (14-30)
Heat Race Winners: Extreme Mufflers Heat 1: Danny Faria Jr; LRB Manufacturing Heat 2: Greg Alexander; BR Motorsports Heat 3: Johnathon Henry; K&N Engineering Heat 4: Troy Rutherford
Lucas Oil Hard Charger: Brody Roa
DJ SAfety Hard Luck: Richard Vander Weerd
Top 10 in points: 1. Kyle Smith, 2410; 2. Brian Camarillo, 2305; 3. Tom Hendricks, 2040; 4. John Nock, 1880; 5. Clark Templeman III, 1840; 6. Guy Woodward, 1445; 7. Bruce Douglass, 1395; 8. Richard Ortega Jr, 1155; 9. Troy Rutherford, 1150; 10. Jeremy Ellertson, 940
Top 10 in All Coast Challenge points: 1. Mike Spencer, 695; 2. Cory Kruseman, 680; 3. Troy Rutherford, 675; 4. Brian Camarillo, 590; 5. Kyle Smith, 555; 6. Johnathon Henry, 545; 7. Tom Hendricks, 405; 7. Danny Faria Jr, 405; 9. Zach Sawyers, 345; 10. Victor Davis, 320
VRA Pro Dwarf Cars
Race #12 11/10/2012
Main Event Results: 1. Randy Gordon, Simi Valley, 20 Laps; 2. Hannah Mayhew, Acton, Ca, 20 Laps; 3. Luke Boles, Goleta, 20 Laps; 4. Curt Cook, Santa Paula, 20 Laps; 5. Shawn Egan, Saugus, 20 Laps; 6. Eric Moore, Ventura, 20 Laps; 7. Cody Majors, Simi Valley, 20 Laps; 8. Tim Conley, Oxnard, 20 Laps; 9. Chase Lippert, Thousand Oaks, 20 Laps; 10. Lee Majors, Simi Valley, 20 Laps; 11. Johnny Conley, Oxnard, 20 Laps; 12. Thomas Velasquez, Camarillo, 20 Laps; 13. Jacob Ganzer, Murrietta, 20 Laps; 14. Ira Henry, Bakersfield, 20 Laps; 15. Tom Stephens Jr, Ventura, 19 Laps; 16. April Banvelos, Sylmar, 19 Laps; 17. Tommy Velasquez III, Camarillo, 18 Laps; 18. Kevin Calvo, Agua Dulce, 4 Laps; 19. Craig Clements, Palmdale, 4 Laps; 20. David Cantu, Did not show
Lap Leaders: Luke Boles (1-10), Hannah Mayhew (11-19), Randy Gordon (20)
Heat Race Winners: Heat 1: Johnny Conley; Heat 2: Randy Gordon; Heat 3: Eric Moore
Top 10 in points: 1. Luke Boles, 2555; 2. Curt Cook, 2465; 3. Randy Gordon, 2425; 4. Eric Moore, 2220; 5. Johnny Conley, 2125; 6. Lee Majors, 2060; 7. Ray Estrada, 2050; 8. Thomas Velasquez, 1980; 9. Cody Majors, 1910; 10. Tom Stephens Jr, 1530
VRA Senior Dwarf Cars
Race #12 11/10/2012
Main Event Results: 1. Tom Stephens Sr, Ventura, 20 Laps; 2. Mike Neal, Northridge, 20 Laps; 3. Bob Kaufman, Santa Clarita, CA, 20 Laps; 4. Bill Van Praag, Ventura, 20 Laps; 5. George Calvo, Agua Dulce, 20 Laps; 6. George Sack Jr, Agua Dulce, 20 Laps; 7. Steve Addison, Oxnard, 3 Laps
Lap Leaders: Tom Stephens Sr (1-20)
Heat Race Winners: Heat 1: Mike Neal
Top 10 in points: 1. Bill Van Praag, 2490; 2. Tom Stephens Sr, 2390; 3. Bob Kaufman, 2300; 4. Mike Neal, 2255; 5. George Calvo, 2115; 6. George Sack Jr, 1970; 7. Keith Vondersaar, 1280; 8. Rick Lapka, 1085; 9. Bobby Lague, 795; 10. Linda Taylor, 660
Ford Focus
Race #9 11/10/2012
Main Event Results: 1. Brennan Rogers, Camarillo, 20 Laps; 2. Christine Breckenridge, Irvine, 20 Laps; 3. Wally Pankratz, Orange, 20 Laps; 4. Clayton Ruston, Yorba Linda, Ca, 20 Laps; 5. Michael Steele, Palmdale, 20 Laps; 6. Austin Blair, 20 Laps; 7. Alexander Bissett, Hemet, 20 Laps; 8. Ashley Hazelton, Northridge, 12 Laps; 9. Parker Colston, Lake Elsinor, 3 Laps
Lap Leaders: Brennan Rogers (1-20)
Heat Race Winners: Heat 1: Wally Pankratz
Top 10 in points: 1. Wally Pankratz, 1830; 2. Parker Colston, 1715; 3. Christine Breckenridge, 1390; 4. Ashley Hazelton, 1245; 5. Austin Blair, 1185; 6. Michael Steele, 1045; 7. Brennan Rogers, 1035; 8. Cory Elliot, 960; 9. Cole Custer, 905; 10. Leroy Anderson, 565
Go-Karts
Race #11 11/10/2012
Main Event Results: 1. Dylan Ito, Newberry Park, 20 Laps; 2. Kenny Byers Jr, Ventura, 20 Laps; 3. Matt Jones, 20 Laps; 4. Johnathon Henry, Stockton, 20 Laps; 5. Cody Majors, Simi Valley, 20 Laps; 6. Steven Ito, Ventura, 20 Laps; 7. Connor Lovingfoss, 20 Laps; 8. Travis Smith, Pasa Robles, 20 Laps; 9. Ashley Hazelton, Northridge, 20 Laps; 10. Tanner Jordan, 20 Laps; 11. Justin Raper, Paso Robles, 6 Laps; 12. Cody Nigh, Camarillo, 6 Laps; 13. Logan Lovingfoss, 6 Laps
Heat Race Winners: Heat 1: Ashley Hazelton; Heat 2: Kenny Byers Jr
Top 10 in points: 1. Cody Nigh, 2340; 2. Kenny Byers Jr, 2165; 3. Justin Raper, 2000; 4. Ashley Hazelton, 1870; 5. Dylan Ito, 1695; 6. Mike Evans, 1680; 7. Steven Ito, 1270; 8. Henry Ito, 900; 9. Taylor Haley, 745; 10. Logan Lovingfoss, 480; 10. Tyler Stover, 480
- Ventura Raceway on Nov 12, 2012
- Article Date: 11/12/2012 by Ventura Raceway/Cliff Morgan