They Compete as They’re Horsing Around
Kathy Pierson has come up with the perfect nickname for the car she races in the Pony Stock Division at Ventura Raceway.
“Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.”
Based on the points standings, that is exactly what the female contingent of drivers is having.
Pierson, who lives in Camarillo, is atop the standings and Tina Verdun of Ventura is close behind in second place.
The Pony Stock division at Ventura is an entry level for stock car racing and is chock-full of women drivers.
There are 10 females who have competed this season and four occupy spots in the top 10.
Fran Gill of Somis is eighth in the standings, and last year’s division champion, Tracy Jewett, is ninth.
Each woman competing emphasizes the underlying element attracting her to the quarter-mile dirt oval at Ventura.
“I do this for fun,” Pierson said. “It’s all I want to do and I have a good time doing it.
“Once it stops being fun I am out of here.”
This season has been far more enjoyable than last year was for Pierson.
The 33-year-old driver, who used to race dragsters, didn’t even complete a lap last year.
She totaled her car on the first lap of the first event on opening night.
“The car was bent pretty bad so I had to get everything new for this year,” she said.
Finances have put a damper on Jewett’s season, but the Oxnard native still looks forward to Saturday nights at the track.
“I haven’t been able to compete as much I’d like to this season,” Jewett said, “but I still go out to the track and have a good time.”
Jewett, the only woman in Ventura Raceway history to have a won division championship, said she feels a void when she can’t race.
“I’m sad when I’m not out there, but I root for my friends when I can and that helps,” she said.
Verdun is excited about being in a battle for the points championship.
“Other than having three kids, this is one of my greatest achievements,” she said.
“I’ve never been so stressed out in my life since I moved into second place. But even if I don’t pull it out and win the championship, I can say that I’ve had a good time.”
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Simi Valley’s Tommy Fry has been almost as hot as the weather.
The rookie Late Model driver scorched the competition at Mesa Marin Raceway by claiming the last two feature races at the half-mile oval in Bakersfield.
On Saturday night, Fry will be seeking a victory in his third straight main event, a feat that has not been accomplished by any other driver this season.
Fry started his streak by jumping out to a lead on the second lap and winning the 75-lap main on July 13. He added to it last week by taking the checkered flag in the feature.
“I’m surprised at my success right now,” Fry said. “When I set my goals earlier this year I didn’t want to set them too high, but I didn’t want them too low either.”
Fry didn’t start racing until January and he managed to hold off some of the top competitors at Bakersfield, including Dick Shepherd, Sean Woodside and two-time track champion Kevin Vernon.
Fry’s recent streak has moved him to 44th in NASCAR’s Pacific Coast Regional standing.
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Corey Kruseman of Ventura is proving to be a versatile driver this season.
A few days after winning a Sprint Car race in Santa Maria, the 25 year-old driver is in Lincoln, Neb., to compete in the United States Auto Club Midget races at Eagle Raceway.
Scott Hansen of Simi Valley and Jay Drake of Val Verde also are scheduled to compete in the two-day event, which begins today.
Kruseman won consecutive Sprint Car races earlier this month and has taken checkered flags in three of the last four SCRA events.
“Corey is one of our top guys right now,” said Glen Howard, a promoter for the SCRA.
The races in Nebraska start a span of nine USAC Midget races being held outside California.
Kruseman is expected to enter a majority of those races.
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Sleepy Tripp notched the 99th Midget victory of his career last week at Ventura. It was Tripp’s first win since April 1995, gained at Saugus Speedway. . . . Bobby Lyon of Agua Dulce had his best finish of the season, fourth place, in a Southwest Tour race at Madera. Frank Maronski of Quartz Hill took fifth in the same race. Maronski has been in the top five in three of four Tour races and is 12th in the point standings.