Street Stock Victory Caps Perfect Effort by Stephens

Tom Stephens of Ventura enjoyed the finest performance of his professional career Saturday night at Ventura Raceway, winning each of the four races in which he competed, including the 20-lap Street Stock main event.

Stephens held off the series’ top two points leaders, Oakview’s Paul Moore and Los Angeles’ Bill Bartels, in the Street Stock event.

“You’ve got to drive your butt off to beat Paul Moore,” Stephens said. “This is the biggest thrill of my career.”

Stephens took the lead on the sixth lap when leader James Weston, who edged Stephens last week, crashed into the wall. “I thought I had a good shot at catching Bartels even when I was behind Weston,” Stephens said. “But the driving I did to catch Moore was some of my best ever.”

Stephens entered the night in fifth place in the points standings and moved to fourth behind Weston. Moore and Bartels remained atop the standings. Stephens also won the figure-8 Street Stock main event as well as his Street Stock heat and Trophy Dash.

Camarillo’s Jan Hubert won for the third week in a row when she captured the 12-lap Pony Stock main by edging out points leader Scott Boucher in a photo finish.

Rob Hansen of Simi Valley won the 15-lap Dwarf main event for the second consecutive week. Hansen trailed Rich Catalano after six laps, but took command of the race when Catalano collided with Justin Power. It was the last appearance of the year for the Dwarfs at Ventura.

In other figure-8 main events, Jody Houchin of Ventura won the Pony Stock 12-lap race. Camarillo’s Tim Gill took the the checkered flag in the six-lap Mini Stock.