Jonathon Henry.... Who? What? Are you kidding me!?
Wow, what a race from a kid who doesn't even have a drivers license yet! I have never seen a rookie flag look so out of place as it did on his sprint car last night. It was Greg Taylor's race all night with Kevin Kierce holding a strong second and "the Kid" following close behind. From early on in the race you could see that those three were going to finish 1-2-3. But I figured it would be Taylor, Kierce then Henry.
I was already excited for "The Kid", looking like he was going to finish 3rd in the main and driving so well all night. And then the last 2 laps happened. Lapped cars, the right line and a Rookie driving like a Veteran! Congratulations on your first VRA Sprint Main win last night Mr. Henry, it sure was something to watch.
Hats off to Greg Taylor and Kevin Kierce. They showed why they are number 1 and 2 in the points. I know neither guy was racing for second last nigh but as a fan I thought it was a great show. Good - hard - clean racing. Week in and week out these are the Drivers the fans pay to see and they almost never disappoint.
Great run buy Steve Conrad. It's nice to see him back up front again. Good to see Dennis Rodriguez is having a solid year. It seems he is almost always finishing in the top 5 and he is 4th in points at this time. Excited to see Derek Buckley back. It's a blast to watch that guy ride the rim of the track. Often, it looks as if he is surfin the walls. Nice to see Dwayne Marcum's luck change for the better, he finished 7th in the main. The guy is always fast and runs up front and then something breaks. Didn't see Wes Richardson out last night. He had that nasty crash a couple weeks ago. I hope everything is O.K. He is one of my favorite drivers at the track. A nicer guy you can not find.
What can you say about the Sr. Sprint class. It is all Willey Miller all the time. It was his track last night and everyone else was racing for second. Took him a few laps to get the lead but once he did he was gone! Nice to see Tim Moon running with the Seniors again. He had the lead for a while and then it looked like his car and the track started to argue a bit. He fell back some but was still able to hang on for a respectable 6th. Hope to see more of you Tim.
What a finish to the Pro Dwarf Car Main. Good to see Rob Anderson "steal" a victory after he had one "stolen" from him a few weeks ago. I have to say it has been a lot more fun watching the Dwarf Cars this year. It appears it is becoming the usual instead of the unusual for them to restart the motor and drive away after a spin opposed to just sitting there waiting for the officials to throw the yellow flag. With fewer yellows per race it has made the racing much more fluid and entertaining to watch. I hope they continue this trend. How about Ed Niedzwiecki in the Sr. Dwarf Cars, does this guy ever lose a race!?
I would like to give a big thumbs up to Jim Naylor, Cliff Morgan, Jammy Earnest and Mike Sweeney. I think we can say that the Kid Classes are a huge success! There were a few big questions that members of the site raised when the Kid Classes were originally announced. I think every one of them has been answered.
Was it going to take up to much time and therefore cut laps for other classes? The answer is a definite no! I do not see any difference in the length of a show from then to now.
What about all the kids in the pits, are there going to be safety issues? I have not seen any problems what so ever. Clearly they were aware of the possible problems and took the necessary precautions to insure everyone's safety.
Are there enough kids out there that want to participate? All you have to do is look at the car count to know the answer to that question is an absolutely positively yes.
Would anyone other then the families want to watch them race? Without question. I see plenty of people watching them from the stands and I hear fans talking about their races. I know I am amazed at how competitive they are and how little fear they have. Personally I love to watch them race, it's just fun.
Getting Kids involved in this sport we all love is paramount in helping to assure another generation of dirt track racing. I think this program will launch many of these young drivers into different classes as they move up in age and ability. It may turn out to be one of the best moves Mr. Naylor has made in his 30 years of promoting Ventura Raceway.
Looking forward to next week. I like watching the Modifieds at Ventura. When they are out there it always seems like to much car and to little track. It takes a ton of skill to drive those beasts around that bull ring. Watching them make a pass, trying to squeeze that big car through those little holes or passing on the outside about 1 inch from the wall. All while sitting in a car whose rear end just wants to swing around to the front. I have a lot of respect for drivers like Steve Smith, Jack Parker, Brad Prows, Randy McGraw, Andrew Greiman, Jim Evans and all the other guys who are able to coral that horsepower and make it work for them. I am interested to see how Jonathon Henry will respond to his first VRA Sprint Car Main event win. I won't be surprised if he is back up front again fighting for the win. But then with drivers like Greg Taylor, Kevin Kierce, Steve Conrad, Luis Espinoza, Dennis Rodriguez, Eric Severson, Wes Richardson to name just a few, you never know, it can be anyone's night.
Frank
Wow, what a race from a kid who doesn't even have a drivers license yet! I have never seen a rookie flag look so out of place as it did on his sprint car last night. It was Greg Taylor's race all night with Kevin Kierce holding a strong second and "the Kid" following close behind. From early on in the race you could see that those three were going to finish 1-2-3. But I figured it would be Taylor, Kierce then Henry.
I was already excited for "The Kid", looking like he was going to finish 3rd in the main and driving so well all night. And then the last 2 laps happened. Lapped cars, the right line and a Rookie driving like a Veteran! Congratulations on your first VRA Sprint Main win last night Mr. Henry, it sure was something to watch.
Hats off to Greg Taylor and Kevin Kierce. They showed why they are number 1 and 2 in the points. I know neither guy was racing for second last nigh but as a fan I thought it was a great show. Good - hard - clean racing. Week in and week out these are the Drivers the fans pay to see and they almost never disappoint.
Great run buy Steve Conrad. It's nice to see him back up front again. Good to see Dennis Rodriguez is having a solid year. It seems he is almost always finishing in the top 5 and he is 4th in points at this time. Excited to see Derek Buckley back. It's a blast to watch that guy ride the rim of the track. Often, it looks as if he is surfin the walls. Nice to see Dwayne Marcum's luck change for the better, he finished 7th in the main. The guy is always fast and runs up front and then something breaks. Didn't see Wes Richardson out last night. He had that nasty crash a couple weeks ago. I hope everything is O.K. He is one of my favorite drivers at the track. A nicer guy you can not find.
What can you say about the Sr. Sprint class. It is all Willey Miller all the time. It was his track last night and everyone else was racing for second. Took him a few laps to get the lead but once he did he was gone! Nice to see Tim Moon running with the Seniors again. He had the lead for a while and then it looked like his car and the track started to argue a bit. He fell back some but was still able to hang on for a respectable 6th. Hope to see more of you Tim.
What a finish to the Pro Dwarf Car Main. Good to see Rob Anderson "steal" a victory after he had one "stolen" from him a few weeks ago. I have to say it has been a lot more fun watching the Dwarf Cars this year. It appears it is becoming the usual instead of the unusual for them to restart the motor and drive away after a spin opposed to just sitting there waiting for the officials to throw the yellow flag. With fewer yellows per race it has made the racing much more fluid and entertaining to watch. I hope they continue this trend. How about Ed Niedzwiecki in the Sr. Dwarf Cars, does this guy ever lose a race!?
I would like to give a big thumbs up to Jim Naylor, Cliff Morgan, Jammy Earnest and Mike Sweeney. I think we can say that the Kid Classes are a huge success! There were a few big questions that members of the site raised when the Kid Classes were originally announced. I think every one of them has been answered.
Was it going to take up to much time and therefore cut laps for other classes? The answer is a definite no! I do not see any difference in the length of a show from then to now.
What about all the kids in the pits, are there going to be safety issues? I have not seen any problems what so ever. Clearly they were aware of the possible problems and took the necessary precautions to insure everyone's safety.
Are there enough kids out there that want to participate? All you have to do is look at the car count to know the answer to that question is an absolutely positively yes.
Would anyone other then the families want to watch them race? Without question. I see plenty of people watching them from the stands and I hear fans talking about their races. I know I am amazed at how competitive they are and how little fear they have. Personally I love to watch them race, it's just fun.
Getting Kids involved in this sport we all love is paramount in helping to assure another generation of dirt track racing. I think this program will launch many of these young drivers into different classes as they move up in age and ability. It may turn out to be one of the best moves Mr. Naylor has made in his 30 years of promoting Ventura Raceway.
Looking forward to next week. I like watching the Modifieds at Ventura. When they are out there it always seems like to much car and to little track. It takes a ton of skill to drive those beasts around that bull ring. Watching them make a pass, trying to squeeze that big car through those little holes or passing on the outside about 1 inch from the wall. All while sitting in a car whose rear end just wants to swing around to the front. I have a lot of respect for drivers like Steve Smith, Jack Parker, Brad Prows, Randy McGraw, Andrew Greiman, Jim Evans and all the other guys who are able to coral that horsepower and make it work for them. I am interested to see how Jonathon Henry will respond to his first VRA Sprint Car Main event win. I won't be surprised if he is back up front again fighting for the win. But then with drivers like Greg Taylor, Kevin Kierce, Steve Conrad, Luis Espinoza, Dennis Rodriguez, Eric Severson, Wes Richardson to name just a few, you never know, it can be anyone's night.
Frank
posted by runbull at 10:26 PM
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