SHOWDOWN LOOMS AS HANFORD/TULARE DOUBLE PLAY WEEKEND AWAITS.

A great Saturday night spent at another great little dirt track makes for a fun weekend, even though Mrs Wags was off in Vegas with her mom and daughter. Well, the stage is set for the upcoming SCRA – USAC/CRA showdown at Hanford and Tulare, and is much awaited by dirt track fans in the Southland. Chris Tramel seems to have it all figured out as he won his third VRA race this season and took over the points lead at the best little racetrack by the sea in Ventura, California this past Saturday night. Showtime Danny Sheridan won at Hanford on Saturday night as non-wing racing is the hot ticket in sunny Southern California. Add Bullet Bob Ream Jr’s win at Manzanita and all my friends won this week, ain’t life great!

A marvelous day at the beach started out fun as I rode around the Ventura track with promoter Jim Naylor in his “wild water truck ride” that can be very exciting. His unending devotion to making his racetrack the best for his racers shows on his face as he works from dawn to racetime making it so. The new earlier curfew allows fans, especially with families, to come and enjoy great racing and still get home before the kids bedtime. On this particular day we were outa there by 8:30 pm, so I was able to get the Wagsmobile back and parked in its storage area by the 11 pm curfew, and home by 11:30. I spent the night in the announcer’s booth, with grandson Tory, enjoying the Naylor show. His presentation makes everybody have fun and we did that.

Watching Chris “the Hammer” Tramel win his 3rd race of his young career, and 3rd in a row at Ventura, was very special. Looking back in time to when Chris was shining tires on cousin Cory Kruseman’s sprinter, brings back memories of how far this young man has come. From his pony stock beginnings to this his VRA winnings, it’s pretty amazing. Earlier in the day, he told me he was “lucky” to win two races, but he earned this victory after a very spirited battle with early leader, Luis Espinoza. Is this young man following in the footsteps of the popular local boy done good, (aka Kruseman) or is he just doing his own thing? A little of both I imagine, but he was on the gas this night and never missed a beat in dominating this race. And if their were a shiny tire award for VRA, Chris’s car would have received it, although there were a dozen others who did the shiny tire routine very well.

Runner-up Luis Espinoza had a fine run himself this race as he is breaking in one of those new “Twister” styled Stinger chassis from Harveyland. He said it is coming along very well, but wants to win bad as his upcoming marriage needs a little cash! Hah, he just wants to win and drove like it this week as he held off Rocket Ronnie Case the last half of the 30 lap non-stop race. A great drive for 4th by really young Blake Miller as he continues to improve from his rookie start last season. This nice young man is polite and is showing signs of being a good driver. He too, once was a tire shiner for some SCRA drivers, and now look at him! A great show as fun was had by all.

This week should finally bring some end to all the trash talk as the SCRA finally opens their season with an afternoon show at the Thunderbowl in Tulare. It follows the USAC/CRA race the night before at Hanford, a place the So Cal non wingers haven’t raced at in over a decade. We’ve heard all the talk and now it’s time to do the walk. Fans will be getting a two day weekend of racing and hopefully some answers to many of their questions. Who will run both shows, who will run only one, and which one, and where are we headed out here in la la land, that is some of the questions foremost in the minds of all. While the season continues to go forward, will two associations be able to exist with many of the same fans and drivers, or will one come out the clear cut winner? I can only watch and see like the rest of you. Let’s relax and enjoy the racing and see.

VRA A-MAIN (30 Laps - With Starting Positions) 1. Chris Tramel (4th), 2. Luis Espinoza (2nd), 3. Ronnie Case (5th), 4. Blake Miller (1st), 5. Bill Welch (6th), 6. Chris Wakim (7th), 7. Rob Kershaw (11th), 8. Tony Dighera (18th), 9. Steve Ostling (8th), 10. Steve Conrad (10th), 11. Shawn Kautz (3rd), 12. Tom Stansberry (19th), 13. Joe Henderson (9th), 14. Larry Lloyd (20th), 15. Ron Butler (16th), 16. Will Perkins (12th), 17. John Wright (17th), 18. Ron Bach (15th), 19. Kevin Kierce (14th), 20. Bruce Douglas (13th)