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VENTURA RACEWAY PRACTICE SESSION NOTES
by Lee Elder
VENTURA, Calif. (March 2, 2009) – Ventura Raceway hosts its second pre-season practice Saturday, March 7. The event is open to all Ventura Racing Association classes and others scheduled to race at the Raceway in 2009, with the exception of the track’s youth divisions.
The pit gates open at noon and single-car sessions begin at 1 p.m. Group sessions will start at 4:30 p.m.
Pit passes cost $30 and spectator admission is free.
The 2009 Ventura Raceway season is scheduled to kickoff on March 14.
PRACTICE NOTES FROM FEBRUARY 31:
Michaela Stanton, the Camarillo High School sophomore, learned a new life skill recently.
The 15 year-old Stanton learned how to operate a manual transmission
Stanton, a veteran of Ventura Raceway’s youth racing divisions, made learning to drive a stick shift car a priority as part of her transition from the youth division to the track’s adult level. Stanton will make her debut in the Sport Compact class later this season, after her 16th birthday.
And make no mistake about it; Michaela Stanton wants to keep progressing through to racing’s highest levels.
“She doesn’t talk about NASCAR because it’s asphalt racing,” said Jeff Stanton, Michaels’s father. “She’s all about dirt. She talks about winning a VRA (Ventura Racing Association) championship and then becoming the first woman World of Outlaws champion.”
Stanton drove cars in three classes at a recent pre-season practice day at the Raceway. She drove her VRA Junior Midget, the family’s Sport Compact stock car and a friend’s Dwarf car.
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Port Hueneme’s Magana family racing team is now a two-car effort. Nathaniel Magana, a five year-old in the Raceway’s Mini Dwarf class, made his debut during the Feb. 28 practice at the track. His initial effort was cut short by a mechanical problem.
Joseph Magana, Nathaniel’s 10 year-old brother, was also on hand and practiced. Joseph Magana finished eighth in the Mini Dwarf-Superchargers class in 2008.
Mark Magana, the brothers’ uncle, was on hand for the event to the delight of Nathaniel and Joseph. Mark Magana was in the midst of a two-week leave from Afghanistan, where he is serving in the United States Army..
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Devin McCree will begin his fourth season of competition in the Raceway’s youth divisions, but he already has a reason to remember the 2009 season: A new nickname.
McCree’s Junior Midget had not been painted prior to the Feb. 28 pre-season practice at the Raceway. A passing youngster glanced at the shiny silver metal finish and christened McCree, “Tin Man.”
McCree is making the transition from the Raceway’s Mini Dwarf-Superchargers class, where he finished second in last season’s standings, to the Junior Midgets.
By the way, McCree was happy with the new car, giving a typical racer’s two-word summation: “It’s faster,” he said.
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