Drake Bides His Time Before Emerging With Main-Event Victory at Ventura

Jay Drake of Val Verde used a combination of patience and skill to win the U.S. Auto Club’s three-quarter Midget 20-lap main event before 2,526 at Ventura Raceway on Saturday night.

Cory Kruseman of Ventura led for 12 laps before a broken steering mechanism sent him to the pits. Marc Hart of Ventura led for the next three laps before an accident involving Melanie Eckhardt of Chino delayed the race for about 35 minutes.

On the restart, Drake beat Hart to the inside corner of the first turn and went on to his first main-event victory of the season. Walt Johnson of Sun Valley was second, Scott Hansen of Simi Valley was third and Rick Hendrix of Simi Valley finished fourth.

Eckhardt got tangled with a couple of cars coming out of the second turn on Lap 15 and flipped three times along the backstretch wall. She was taken to Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura with possible neck and back injuries.

Sleepy Tripp of Costa Mesa, the winningest USAC Midget driver, recorded his 13th main-event win at Ventura in the 30-lap feature. Jordan Hermansader of Rancho Palos Verdes was second.