MOTOR SPORTS : Staying Hot, McCormick Goes Wire to Wire

When you’re hot, you’re hot, and Richard McCormick of Granada Hills is blazing.

McCormick went wire to wire in the 30-lap Three-Quarter Midget feature race Saturday night at Ventura Raceway for his third consecutive United States Auto Club victory.

It was the sixth victory for McCormick in USAC Western States competition, coming on the heels of victories last week at Bakersfield Speedway and two weeks ago at Ventura.

There were five caution flags during the race, which was also stopped completely on the fifth lap after Steve Davis and Paul Krueger of Buena Park got together in the second turn.

The first caution flag came out at the start, when Krueger spun out in front of Amy Wilson of Torrance.

Wilson picked her way through the pack and eventually finished sixth.

Points leader Scott Hansen of Simi Valley slipped into second place on the fourth lap, and spent the rest of the evening chasing McCormick. Hansen came into the race with a one-point advantage over Steve Alexander, who finished fifth.

Ricky Shelton of Huntington Beach was third, and Marc Hart of Ventura, who is currently third in the points standings, was fourth.

In the 30-lap Go Kart feature, Richard Renken of Santa Monica held off Clark Templeman of Santa Clarita for the victory.

The open competition race for 100cc Yamaha-powered karts was run on a special course set up in the infield.

Renken started on the pole, and had used lapped traffic to open up a two-length lead over Templeman by Lap 23, but Templeman was able to close the gap and keep things exciting for the finish.