MOTOR RACING / BRIAN MURPHY : Ventura Not Abandoning Its New Child

With the closing of Ascot Park in Gardena last November, stock car fans in Southern California were put in a bind--they were left without a racing venue in the metropolitan area.

Saugus Speedway in the Santa Clarita Valley graciously picked up the banner, using the slogan “L.A.’s Place to Race” to attract fans for the 1991 season--during which turnout generally has been good. But the closing of Ascot also figured to help Ventura Raceway, a short dirt track alongside the Pacific Ocean.

Strangely, crowds have not flocked to Ventura, which features some of the area’s more exciting racing, motocross and Class 10 buggies as well as Street and Mini Stocks. Attendance has not boomed, and the raceway’s attempt to add a new class--the Modified Mini Stock--has not created much interest.

The last time the Modified Mini Stocks ran at Ventura, just three cars signed up. That does not exactly make for the kind of paint-scraping, fender-bumping racing that fans come to see.

But Ventura promoter Cliff Morgan remains optimistic. He says that the raceway will continue to give the Modified Minis a chance through the end of the year.

“We’re not going to dump ‘em yet,” Morgan said. “I was hoping to build up the class, but there’s not a whole bunch out there.”

While trying to give the Modified Minis more time to grow, Morgan cast an eye to the future, saying that the raceway is seriously considering adding the Grand American Modified class to next year’s schedule. The Grand American Modifieds were added to Saugus this season, and while there have not been an abundance of Grand Americans racing at Saugus, those that do provide excitement and, for a small car, exhibit good speed.

The Grand American Modifieds would seem well-suited to Ventura Raceway; the vehicle’s open-wheel design and suitability for passing make for good racing on dirt.

Said Morgan: “We think they’d run real well at our track. We’re looking real strongly into it.”

Hitching a ride: The saga of Northridge’s Keith Spangler continues.

Spangler, at a loss for a Sportsman ride after his business relationship with car owner Joe Heath of Northridge was terminated, made it back to the track for the June 15 race when good friend Larry Krieger loaned him the No. 18 car.

Spangler raced Krieger’s car to a 15th-place finish, enabling him to stay afloat in the points standings--he is currently third (119 points)--still within shouting distance of leader Gary Sigman of Carson (186 points).

Krieger had loaned Spangler the car on a one-week contract, then extended the offer when he learned that Spangler still had not found a permanent ride.

“It’s still a wait and see,” Spangler said. “If a good car comes along, I’ll be there, but right now I don’t have anything.”

Spangler said that the situation is such that he might find himself pulling into the pit gate for tonight’s racing at the last minute, but he acknowledged that the chances of that happening were not good.

Spangler said that had he been close to securing a car on a permanent basis, he would have accepted Krieger’s offer for tonight only to stay in contention for the points title.

“If it would have helped me, he was gonna let me do it,” Spangler said. “But I told him that I don’t really have anything else going in the future.”

Krieger, meanwhile, will be back behind the wheel tonight in his No. 18 car, continuing his comeback from an accident in late March in which he suffered a neck injury.

Busy kid: Remember Frank Deiny Jr.? The Burbank High student who was making a splash on the local auto racing scene before he graduated from high school?

Deiny is still at it. He graduated from Burbank on Thursday and will spend his summer racing in the USAC three-quarter midget series. He is just 10 points out of the lead in the standings.

Deiny also is spending the summer training for an ambitious future. When not racing the three-quarter midgets, he races a Ford Probe owned by Gary Ebeling in the MSRA Outlaw Mini Stock series. Deiny’s racing in this car will be limited because of his commitments to the three-quarter midget sponsors.

After attending College of the Canyons next year, Deiny plans to chase his dream of driving in the Winston Cup Series by moving to Ashland, Va., in May and enrolling at Randolph-Macon University. From there, he plans to race in the Busch Grand National Series.

All the while, Deiny found time to captain the Burbank golf team and win a community-service award for tutoring children at an elementary school in Burbank.

Miscellany: Palmdale’s Ron Hornaday Jr. surged to the top of the Southwest Tour points standings with a second-place finish in the Kodalux 200 at Sears Point two weeks ago. Hornaday (1,084 points) leads Rick Carelli of Denver (1,080).