Press Release by Jim Pluhar
Santa Maria, CA - August 8, 2009

VRA Grand Slam West Coast 360 Sprint Cars and Papich Construction IMCA Modifieds showed up in large numbers Saturday night at Santa Maria Speedway for "Z93.3 KZOZ Night at the Races". KZOZ,s Jeff & Jeremy of the Jeff & Jeremy show were the guest pit announcers. Toste Grading & Paving Mini Stocks had a respectable 20 car field themselves.

It was the finale of the Grand Slam and point leader Jonathan Henry, of Stockton, was poised to take the title. That dream went away in the 30-lap "A" main event when something apparently broke on the front of his mount sending him straight into the wall in turn one. With Henry out of the running, a seventh place finnish by Kerman's Davey Pombo gave him the Series title. The race, however, belonged to Greg Alexander, of Gardena, who grabbed the lead at the drop of the green and never relinquished it. Danny Faria, Jr., of Tipton, charged through the field from his eleventh starting position to finnish second. Third was Rick Hendrix, of Palmdale, followed by Chris Ennis, of Bakersfield, and Chris Wakim of Simi Valley. Pombo won the 15-lap "B" feature and Henry, Alexander, Wakim, and Hendrix captured 10-lap heat race wins.

Modifieds started 24 cars in their 25-lap "A" main event with Cody Burke, of Salinas, starting 21st in the lineup and working his way through the field to score his second victory of the season at Santa Maria. Bakersfield's Brad Pounds raced his way to second with local point leader Chad Weber, of Arroyo Grande, third. Fourth was Arroyo Grande's Tony Toste, who moved to second in points, and fifth was Shawn Calderwood of Bakersfield. Burke won the 12-lap "B" main to put himself into the "A" and 8-lap heat race victories were scored by Pounds, Arroyo Grande's Jason Papich, Santa Maria's Daylan Coffey, and Lompoc's Jimmy Justice.

The Mini Stock "steam roller", Tom Grzincic who now lives in San Luis Obispo, chalked up his ninth 20-lap feature win in-a-row and continues to stretch his points lead over Jeremy Heroux, of Nipomo, who finished third behind Kurt Larsen, also of Nipomo. Robert Dye, of San Luis Obispo, and Robby Cervantes, of Arroyo Grande, filled in the top-five. Eight-lap heat races were won by Grzincic, Heroux, and Cervantes.

Next Saturday night West Coast 360 Sprint Cars, Papich Construction IMCA Modifieds, NMRA TQ Midgets, and Toste Grading & Paving Mini Stocks will be on the docket. Tickets will cost $14.00 for adults, $12.00 for seniors and military and their spouses, and $5.00 for children six to twelve. Kids five and under are free. Gates will open at the new time of 4:00 p.m., with qualifying at 5:00 p.m. and racing at 6:00 p.m. The Speedway is located 1/4-mile north of the US 101/166 interchange on Hutton Road.

RACE SUMMARIES:
Sprint Cars:
Heat 1 - Jonathon Henry, Brent Camarillo, Troy Rutherford, Clark Templeman III, Chris Ennis, Brandon Thompson, Kevin Kierce, Bill Jones.
Heat 2 - Greg Alexander, Albert Pombo, Josh Ford, Jeff Culver, Davey Pombo, Greg Taylor, Jay Waugh, Charlie Butcher.
Heat 3 - Chris Wakim, Tyler Edwards, Cory Kruseman, Rusty Carlile, Hobie Conway, Jonathan Logan, Justin Kierce, Kyle Smith.
Heat 4 - Rick Hendrix, Jimmy Crawford, Danny Faria, Jr., Brian Camarillo, Michael Steele, Mike Knopf, Bruce Douglass.
"B" Main Event - D. Pombo, Ennis, Taylor, Thomson, K. Kierce, Steele, Conway, Douglass, Waugh, Knopf, J. Kierce, Butcher, Logan, Smith, Jones.
"A" Main Event - Alexander, Faria, Hendrix, Ennis, Wakim, Edwards, D. Pombo, Ford, Templeman, Brent Camarillo, Carlile, Rutherford, Thomson, Crawford, Brian Camarillo, Steele, Douglass, A. Pombo, Henry, Kruseman, K. Kierce, Culver.

IMCA Modifieds: Fast Time - Ricky Childress, Jr., 16.426.
Heat 1 - Jason Papich, Jared Domingos, Ken Kehs, Nick Sylvester, Danny Lauer, Tina McGowan, Dale Underwood.
Heat 2 - Brad Pounds, Doug Thornton, Joey Claborn, Childress, Keith Smith, Rick Becker, Cody Burke, Josh Vogt.
Heat 3 - Daylan Coffey, Chad Weber, Bob Diaz, Larry Hood, Paul Terrones, Justin Crockett, Randy Thornell, Tim Ward.
Heat 4 - Jimmy Justice, Kenny Kirkpatrick, Tony Toste, Shawn Calderwood, Jay Henson, Jacob Pombo, Lance Mari, Robby Sawyer.
"B" Main Event - Burke, Becker, McGowan, Sawyer, Underwood, Ward, Thornell, Vogt, Mari, Crockett, Pombo.
"A" Main Event - Burke, Pounds, Weber, Toste, Calderwood, Terrones, McGowan, Sawyer, Hood, Sylvester, Coffey, Kehs, Lauer, Diaz, Kirkpatrick, Claborn, Smith, Childress, Becker, Domingos, Justice, Henson, Papich, Thornton.                                

Mini Stocks:
Heat 1 - Robby Cervantes, Kurt Larsen, Rich Stevens, Taelor Janes, Travis Peterson, Adrian Guzman, Hardy Ensign.
Heat 2 - Jeremy Heroux, Pat Fausel, Ben Caswell, Robert Dye, Mike Keebler, Ed Rains, Evan Menane.
Heat 3 - Tom Grzincic, Dustin Ensign, Jeff Dye, Kevin Dye, Zack Miller, Phillip Sewell.
Main Event - Grzincic, Larsen, Heroux, R. Dye, Cervantes, Janes, D. Ensign, Keebler, J. Dye, Fausel, K. Dye, Stevens, Caswell, Sewell, H. Ensign, Guzman, Menane, Peterson, Rains, Miller.

POINT STANDINGS:
IMCA Modifieds:
1. Chad Weber, 347; 2. Tony Toste, 311; 3. Doug Thornton, 306; 4. Danny Lauer, 291; 5. Daylan Coffey, 272.

Mini Stocks:
1. Tom Grzincic, 549; 2. Jeremy Heroux, 482; 3. Kurt Larsen, 430; 4. Dustin Ensign, 400; 5. Ben Caswell/Robby Cervantes, 378.