Moore Wins Street Stock Main Event at Ventura

Paul Moore won a Mini Stock oval track championship at Ventura Raceway in 1986. And if the Oxnard driver keeps his winning ways going in 1991, he might add a Street Stock championship to his resume.

Moore, who won his first Street Stock oval main event three weeks ago, added his second 20-lap main event victory Friday night at Ventura to take an early season points lead over Ventura’s Dave Hume.

In a wild affair, Moore powered past Ventura’s Mark Heurung on the front straightaway of Lap 9 to take the lead before the yellow flag came out, creating a long delay in the race.

The delay came when Ventura’s Jessie Verdun lost his cool during the yellow flag and cut across the track infield and rammed the cars of Tom Stephens of Ventura and Bill Famularo of Simi Valley into the retaining wall and up on the fence.

After the cars were removed and Verdun expelled from the track, the race resumed and Moore held on to win his second main event of the season, finishing a car length ahead of a hard-charging Jim Firsich of Port Hueneme.

Race Director Richard Walter said that Verdun would be permanently suspended from racing at Ventura.

In eight-lap heat race action: Zeke DeRose of Sun Valley led wire to wire to win the A heat; the father-son combination of Bill and Ron Bartells of Canoga Park finished one-two in the B heat; and Oxnard’s Paul Moore placed first in the fast-heat race.