Sprint
VRA sprint cars PAS preview
VRA sprint cars make first PAS appearance Saturday, (LAKE PERRIS, CA - JULY 30, 2002) Racing history will be made Saturday night when the VRA Sprint Cars and Senior Sprints take to the famous Perris Auto Speedway half-mile clay oval for the very ...
Published: Aug 1, 2002, 10:43 AM
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VRA sprint cars make first PAS appearance Saturday,
(LAKE PERRIS, CA - JULY 30, 2002) Racing history will be made Saturday night when the VRA Sprint Cars and Senior Sprints take to the famous Perris Auto Speedway half-mile clay oval for the very first time. VRA will make their second appearance at The PAS on August 17th.
In addition to it being VRA's first appearance at The PAS, it will be their first race away from their home track at the Ventura Raceway. This means that for many of the drivers it will be their first time away from the tight fifth-of-a-mile semi banked oval at Ventura. Going to the half-mile at The PAS is a major change. Over 30 VRA drivers ventured to The PAS last Tuesday in an effort to get acclimated to the bigger track.
The VRA (Ventura Racing Association) is the brainchild of legendary Ventura promoter Jim Naylor. Adding the Sprint and Senior Sprint classes for the first time in 2000, VRA is now one of the largest Sprint Car organizations west of the Mississippi.
Ventura's Jimmy "Neutron" Crawford leads the VRA Sprint Car point standings heading into Saturday's race. Although Crawford has yet to post a win in 2002, he has finished in the top five an amazing 12 times in 15 main event starts on the Ventura County Fairgrounds beach side oval. Twenty year-old Greg Taylor, of Ojai, is second in the points and has racked up eight main event wins in 2002. Third in points, with two victories on the year, is Camarillo's Josh Ford.
Other notable entries for Saturday include SCRA regular Gary W. Howard, Chris "Ready to Run" Tramel, Clark Templeman III and Dwight Cheney. Tramel, who will not be 20-years old until August 16th, is the cousin of defending SCRA Champion Cory Kruseman and has four top five finishes in ten main events thus far in 2002. Templeman is the son of former CRA & USAC standout Clark Templeman II and the grandson of ex-Indianapolis 500 racer Clark "Shorty" Templeman. Cheney, who owns the car J.J. Yeley drove to the SCRA season opening victory at The PAS in February, will be making his first appearance behind the wheel in several years.
Ex-USAC TQ Midget driver and sometimes SCRA competitor Wiley Miller leads the points in the Senior Sprint Class. All drivers in the Senior Class must be at least 45-years old. Several familiar names will dot Saturday's entry list including 61-year-old former Saugus Speedway superstar "Roarin'" Oren Prosser. Prosser, whose son will also be racing on Saturday, won over 500 Stock Car main events on pavement during his illustrious career. Also in the lineup is former American Speedway Motorcycle star Steve Gresham. Gresham, who quit racing Speedway in 1983, formerly represented the USA in World Team Cup competition and was a teammate of Bobby "Boogaloo" Schwartz on the Reading Racers of the British Speedway League.
Popular Eddie Wirth, the 1985 CRA Sprint Car Champion, is a sometimes competitor in the VRA Senior Sprints. As this piece went to press, it was undetermined if Wirth would race this Saturday night.
Also on Saturday's card will be the California Champ Trucks. Corona's Dino Napier has been a multi-time runner up in the California Champ Tuck point standings. However, with five races to go in the season, Napier is in the point lead as he battles for his first ever Perris Auto Speedway Championship. Murrieta's Mike Hixson and Art Peterson of Cathedral City are tied for second just two markers behind Napier.
Spectator gates will open at 4:00 PM on Saturday and the first race will be at 6:30.
Don't forget that at intermission the entire family can "Boogie" in The PAS Dance Contest with prizes for the winning dancers ages 12 and under.
Perris Auto Speedway is the world's premiere clay oval stadium. The fan friendly track features an amazing 60,000-watt digital sound system, daytime bright lighting, a wide variety of delicious food, clean restrooms and paved spectator parking. Best of all, the track supplies clean, wholesome family entertainment every Saturday night.
Advance tickets for Saturday's race are on sale now by calling (909) 940-0134 or by going to the PAS website at www.perrisautospeedway.com and clicking on the online tickets icon.
Perris Auto Speedway is conveniently located on the Lake Perris Fairgrounds approximately one hour east of Los Angeles. Take the 215 Freeway, exit at the Ramona Expressway and go east two and a half miles to the fairgrounds.
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