Olsen Handles Traffic, Turns in Ventura Win

To win a main event at Ventura Raceway this season, there are two rules.

Be able to drive through rush-hour like traffic and don’t make a mistake in the turns.

Scott Olsen of Ventura accomplished both Friday night as he won a hard-fought battle in the Street Stock 20-lap main event.

Olsen broke out of the pack to take the lead on the first lap and maneuvered through traffic and four yellow flags while being hotly pursued by season points leader Paul Moore of Oak View and Lynn Brader of Somis, who had won the previous two main-event races at Ventura.

Olsen made a costly mistake in Turn 2 of Lap 18 as he went high, allowing Brader to take a short-lived lead, but Olsen atoned for his mistake on the white-flag lap as he put his Chevelle into a high, hard slide in Turn 4 that propelled him into the lead while Brader got caught in traffic and spun out.

It was the second oval main-event victory of the season for Olsen. Moore finished second with Jim Firsich of Port Hueneme third and Jerry Jones of Paramount fourth.

Oxnard’s Leonard Rowe, who had won the previous four Modified Mini Stock main events, had a big lead and was well on his way to victory when it all fell apart on Turn 2 of the checkered flag lap.

Rowe’s front-left wheel came off, leaving Rowe stuck in the mud while opening the door for Robert McMahon of Port Hueneme to sail past for the 10-lap victory.

Tony Petsco of Newbury Park lost control and the lead on the last lap to open the way for Ernie Malone of Ojai to win his first race of the season in a Mini Stock eight-lap heat race.

Other Mini Stock heats saw Gary Hubert of Somis and Damon Redman of Fillmore each picking up their first victories of the season.

In Street Stock action, Ventura’s Mark Heurung and Moore each took the lead on Lap 5 of their respective eight-lap heats and went on to victory.