3/27/2012
Sprint Source
The Battle Begins For VRA Midgets This Saturday Night
(Oxnard, CA. 3-26-2012)Ventura Raceway returns to action this Saturday night March 31, with a full program of exciting short track racing at its Ventura County Fairgrounds facility, conveniently located just off the 101 freeway in Ventura CA. Saturday night we will present our first night of VRA Midget racing for 2012 as they compete for the Battle at the Beach title. We will be highlighting four of our adult classes and three of our kid's classes tonight. VRA Midgets, VRA Senior and Pro Dwarf cars, VRA Sport Compacts and Junior Midgets and Mini Dwarf Cars will all be in action on Ventura Raceways tight, highly competitive 1/5 mile oval. This Saturday night is also Boy Scout Night. Any scout in uniform will be granted free admission.
VRA Midgets are opening their season with the first of five scheduled Battle at the Beach Series races during the 2012 season. Returning VRA Midget drivers will be racing to see who will start the year off on top of the points race in both the Battle at the Beach series and VRA Midget Series standings. We will also be using a new point system that allows drivers who get a poor pill draw a better chance to move into the main event or receive a higher semi main starting position. This change has been requested by drivers and crews for some time. We hope to see most of our top drivers from 2011 back in 2012 to compete for the season championship that was won by Cory Kruseman in 2011. The class will compete in a series of 8 lap heats, semi mains as needed and a 30 lap feature.
VRA Dwarf Cars will be racing Saturday night in two classes, Seniors and Pros. These downsized cars always put on a great show for the fans in attendance. Last year's champions, George Calvo in Seniors and Ray Estrada in Pros are back to battle their peers to try to repeat as champions in 2012. On opening night Mach 3, Mike Lewis took the Senior Division win while Kevin Calvo took the win in the Pro Division. Saturday night they will be going for two in a row.
Our entry level Sport Compact class returns to action with a full program of racing. These rear wheel drive four cylinder racers provide a place for drivers to get into competition at a reasonable cost and learn the ropes of close dirt track racing. Last year's champion was Trevor Fitzgibbon with Jess Carlucci taking second. Their first race on March 3 saw Trevor Fitzgibbon take the win as he goes for his third track championship in a row this season.
Our final groups racing Saturday night will be our three kid's divisions, Junior Midgets, Mini Dwarf Pistons and Mini Dwarf Superchargers. 2011 Champion Devin McCree is back to defend his 2011 series championship in the Junior Midget Class. He finished third last week to main event winner Tommy Velasquez and Miles Hedrick. Nick Velasquez took the win in the Superchargers last week and will be back to go for another win Saturday. In Pistons, a class that sees drivers as young as 5 years old race, no points are given. The class is designed for beginning drivers to get a start on circle racing. Blake Hendricks took his second win of the new season last weekend.
Admission prices for this event are: $14.00 for Adults, $11.00 for Seniors, Military and Juniors with kids 12 and under free with adult admission. Pit gates will open at 12 noon with warm-ups getting under way at 3:30 and racing at 5:30.
For more information, please call Ventura Raceway at (805) 985-5433 x115.
Article Credit: Cliff Morgan
Submitted By: Ventura Raceway
