Drivers Take Fast Track Into Ventura Raceway Record Book : Auto racing: Moore wins title in two divisions; Firsich and Desbrow repeat as champions.

A mixture of the new and the old marked the 1991 Coors Light Stock Car Series at Ventura Raceway, which came to a close last weekend.

For the first time in seven years of stock-car racing at the venue, a driver won championships in two divisions, and two other drivers claimed back-to-back championships in the same division for the first time in the track’s history. No driver had won consecutive championships in any division before.

Paul Moore of Oak View became the first driver to win titles in both the Mini Stock and Street Stock divisions. Moore, who owns a welding shop in Oxnard, won both the Mini Stock oval track and figure-eight championships in 1988.

Moore moved to the Street Stock division this year and drove owner Greg Kauffman’s 1976 Camaro to the oval track championship. Moore did not race the car in the figure-eight competition.

Kauffman, who is blind, served as the chief mechanic and is the one Moore credits with his dominance in the division.

“The car ran great and we never really had any mechanical failures,” Moore said. “Greg is just amazing. It was nice to drive for someone who could keep the car together and we ran consistent all year long. That’s the key, to be consistent.”

Moore outscored second-place finisher Lynn Brader of Somis by nearly 600 points. Jim Firsich of Port Hueneme took third and Scott Olsen of Ventura and first-year driver Zeke DeRose of Sun Valley tied for fourth.

Firsich earned recognition by claiming the Street Stock figure-eight championship for the second consecutive year.

“I wasn’t really looking for the figure-eight championship,” said Firsich, 53. “I really want that oval championship, but we had a lot of mechanical problems this year. I have a good pit crew, but they just weren’t experienced enough for all the problems we faced this year.”

Olsen trailed Firsich by only 80 points in finishing second. Ventura’s Tom Stephens was third, and DeRose was fourth.

Ventura’s Marty Desbrow became the first repeat champion in the Mini Stock division when he won the oval track season points title.

Desbrow could have lost the title to Fillmore’s Steve Rowe during the final action of the season, but a season-ending trophy dash and main-event victory thwarted Rowe’s bid to dethrone Desbrow.

Jeff Drake of Santa Paula and Oxnard’s Pat Garrety finished third and fourth in the season’s points championship standings.

“I had a big lead earlier in the season but I didn’t place in a double-points race during the (Ventura County) fair and I had a couple of breakdowns and accidents that helped the other guys catch up to me,” Desbrow said. “This was my goal at the beginning of the year and we did it, thanks to a great pit crew that never gets any credit.”

Joe Silva of Port Hueneme won the first championship of his career in the Mini Stock figure-eight division after finishing second in the competition last year.

“The competition isn’t as tough as the oval division and there aren’t as many drivers, but it feels great to win it,” Silva said.

Silva wrapped up the championship by winning the final three figure-eight main-event races.

Mike Spencer, Silva’s nemesis all season, finished second. Art Cole of Ojai took third and Chris Dunn of Camarillo took fourth.

Leonard Rowe of Oxnard, Steve’s 58-year-old father, drove to the inaugural season points championship in the new Modified Mini Stock division. Bob McMahon of Port Hueneme was second and Jody Houchin of Ventura took third in the division that averaged only six cars throughout the season.

Raceway officials said they plan to return with all five divisions next year in addition to a new class of modified open-wheel stock car.

“Even though we ended the season early due to the slower economic times, we were very happy with the racing action and it was a great racing season,” said Cliff Morgan, raceway general manager.

“We gained some new cars and drivers locally and from those that used to race at Ascot. The competition was better than ever, we had lots of different winners and no one ran away with a championship.”