AUTO RACING : Rainy-Day Plans Pay Off for Jordan Bros.

When the Santa Paula-based Jordan Bros. racing team went racing Saturday night, it brought an extra car, just in case of rain.

The move paid off, as the Sprint Car Racing Assn. program scheduled for Santa Maria Speedway was called off because of weather concerns.

After turning the trailer around and heading south to Ventura, the Jordan Bros. unloaded their International Motor Contest Assn. sprint car and watched their driver, Ricky Gray of Northridge, win Saturday night’s 30-lap main event at Ventura Raceway.

By three-quarters of a lap.

Gray started seventh, had moved up to second place by the end of the first lap, took the lead on the second lap and didn’t look back.

The only car that appeared to have any chance of catching Gray was piloted by Cory Kruseman of Ventura, who defeated Gray in the four-lap Trophy Dash and finished second to Gray in an eight-lap heat race.

Kruseman, who won the last IMCA race at Ventura three weeks ago, ran into bad luck in the feature, however, becoming the third car in a three-car collision on the first lap, then spinning out on the eighth lap after working his way up to fourth place from dead last.

The rules state that any car involved in a two incidents is out of the race, so Kruseman had to call it an early night.

Gray, who was competing for the sixth time in a Sprint Car, spent the whole evening looking for the proper set-up, and actually considered pulling off of the track prior to the start to make more adjustments.

“When we pushed off, I could feel it (getting traction) when I got on it in the corners,” Gray said. “It was perfect.”

Gray added that he had no idea that Kruseman had departed after eight laps.

“I was going as fast as my car could go, all race,” Gray said. “I didn’t let up for nothing.”

In the 25-lap Legends feature, Brian Stewart of Murrieta showed that there is racing ability in the genes he inherited from his father, off-road racing champion Ivan Stewart.

Stewart started in the third position, and grabbed the lead on the 11th lap.

The first of three caution flags flew on the 12th lap, preventing Stewart from totally running away with the race, although he had a 10-length lead over second-place Bill Helgeson of Riverside after the final eight laps were run at full power.

Stewart also won an eight-lap heat race, moving up from the fourth spot to take the lead on the opening lap.

Helgeson finished third in that race, but prevented a sweep by Stewart with a victory in the four-lap Trophy Dash, with Stewart finishing second.