Jake Wins at Ventura in Moose Racing's 360 Sprint Debut!

Written by Laurie Sertich

Really, you want The Moose Rig at the track at what time? And, the pit gate doesn't open until 12? Really, you are kidding us!! WIth the length of the Moose Rig, and pit space being so limited, it was requested that we arrive about 8 am being the first rig in line ensuring easier access to pit parking. The alarm clock blared at 4:45 and the rig with birthday boy, Jim, Tom & Laurie was on the road
by 6. A traffic free highway let the rig travel up the coast without hassle and arrived at Ventura Speedway in record time of 1 hour, 35 minutes!! WIth hours to wait prior to pit parking Tom was able to catch a few zzzz's and there was also a bit of bench racing with many of other early arrivals.

This night was the debut for the Moose Racing 360 car. Recently, a good friend of TeamMoose purchased a 360 which would enable the team to run more races then just the lkimted schedule of the USAC/CRA 410 series. With the engine addition of the 360, tom pulled out one of the previous chassis, Buckley #1...and deamed it to be the 360 car. As weights, engine power etc varies from the 410 tot he 360, last night was to be a night of learning - no expectations - just get a handle on what the car liked and didn't like.
USAC/West Coast 360's versus the VRA regulars - and the format here is no qualifying. You pull a pill that will basically tell you where what heat race and what position you will start in. From there it's all about passing points. SO, starting 6th in the 1st heat, Jake had the potential of gaining quite a bit of points. Finishing 2nd gave him 113 points!! After 3 Heat races, it was Jake in the Moosemobile that found him high point man of the night!! That's all good and dandy, bu that also means that when the top 6 are inverted for the Main, Jake would start outside row 3, in 6th. With stellar drivers in front of him, and ones that have ouddles of 360 experience, Jake paced himself for the first 1/2 of the 30 lap Main. A yellow flag coming out with 5 laps to go, Jake was running 4th.... and us in the stands could just see his calculating mind going to work -- and it worked out just as he planned. Taking to the high side of the track, Jake was able to make some stellar moves and parked the 92 Moosemoble in Victory Circle!!!!
As the Moose Crew rushed to the track, it was all of 6'1" Jake balancing a top the cage of the Moosemobile in celebration!!!
What an incredible night - JC was there to watch his recently purchased engine perform flawlessly...George- Ram/Bull Racing had made a last minute decision to drive to Ventura from Vegas to be on hand, Phil & Eileen King ( the Moose's biggest fans and sponsor ) probably have no voices left after cheering Jake on and of coarse The Moose Crew : Dave, Jim, Jimmy, & Chris!! Jessica, Jake's girlfriend, Rich & Nicole were also there lending helping hands. Missing in action was Don & Tammy, David and Tom "Gunk" . wish they all could of been there to share in the excitement.
To the companies that support Moose Racing, this should make you all proud: Huntington Beach Glass & Mirror, Ram-Bull Racing, Phi & Eileen King, Circle Track, RC Performance, JC, ARS Shocks, Keizer Wheels, Specialized Powder Coatings, Freeway Auto Supply,Lucas Oil,K & N, Rod End Supply,CRC, Trackside Racing, Saldana Products.
Great photos from Sprint Car Scotty & Chris. More photos and story to follow late Sunday at sprintcars.com!!!

RAM-BULL PRESS RELEASE

*******  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   *********

July 16, 2014

Ram Bull Racing announces  that it has recently increased its Sponsorship support of  USAC CRA sprint car driver Jake Swanson and his Moose 92 Sprint car Team owned by Tom and Laurie Sertich of Hunington Beach, CA. As a result of Jake’s excellent 1^st half of this current CRA season,  highlighted by his 2 fast time qualifying efforts , an average qualifying effort in the top 3 positions over 9 races, plus a “Hard Charger” award, Ram Bull Racing has upped its  financial sponsorship commitment by a substantial percent above the previously promised level!  Also, for the first time in its history,  Ram Bull Racing will be sponsoring a driver, Rowdy McClenon,  in the upcoming Gold Cup World of Outlaw sprint car event at Silver Dollar race track in Chico, Ca.!                                                                                                        Learn more details of Ram Bull Racing, Jake, Rowdy, & the Gold Cup in  “About Ram Bull Racing” section below.

About Ram Bull Racing:

Ram Bull Racing was founded by and is solely owned by Mr. George Blacker, a retired part time racer and  race team owner,  a full time racing enthusiast & fan, and a sponsor of emerging young racers.  George, aged 59,  has raced Go Karts, USAC  Midgets, Sprint cars, and Porsche Carrera 911 Cup cars on some of the most prestigious tracks in America.  As a race team owner and as an individual or corporate sponsor , George has helped finance drivers such as Justin Bell in the Daytona Rolex 24 where Justin , the former speed channel analyst and son of F1 driver Derek Bell, set pole position & overall  fast time for the 2003 Daytona Rolex 24 race in a Z6 sponsored by Extreme Lens- a company in which George was Chief Officer.  George has financed Travis Kvapil and Mike Skinner via the both of them being teammate drivers for George’s co-owned NASCAR Craftsman 2 truck team where his race team won the first race ever for Toyota in a major NASCAR series -the 2004 Michigan 200 Craftsman Truck Race won by Travis Kvapil!  George was a minority owner in that team along with co-owner Larry McReynolds. Larry is famous both as a race analyst for the Fox Network and as Dale Earnhardt’s  and Donny Allison’s Daytona 500 winning crew chief.  George is still very proud that his crew chiefs on that NASCAR team, Rick Ren, Eric Phillips, and Frankie Kerr had or have made their own success both before and after their time with George and Larry- Rick as crew chief for Truck Champion Hornaday, Phillips as Kyle Busch’s current truck crew chief, and Frankie as a top notch World of Outlaws sprint car driver prior to joining George‘s team.  In 2005, Kvapil was recruited by Mr. Don Miller, George’s friend and founder of Penske South, to become a NASCAR Cup level driver for Penske!  George was honored that Don even mentions this fact in his recent retirement life story and book entitled “ It’s Miller’s Time”.  Of Course, Don is credited with discovering emerging drivers Rusty Wallace and Ryan Newman!  Also,  George has supported and sponsored recent NASCAR Camping World and Nationwide  rookie racer Ryan Ellis since Ryan was age 14.  George’s home in Las Vegas metro area was Ryan’s west coast headquarters when Ryan, a Virginia resident, won his west Coast Mazda championship in 2009!  George’s support helped Ryan win ST Rookie of the Year honors in the Grand AM Continental Tire race series in 2011.  Recently, George has turned back to sprint car racing and so Ram Bull racing currently sponsors 2 up and coming sprint car drivers in the state of California.  One is the CRA 2012 Rookie of the year, Jake Swanson of Anaheim , CA, the primary subject of this press release  and the other is Rowdy McClenon of Anderson , CA who drives his own, Ram Bull sponsored , 410 c.i. winged sprint car at Silver Dollar  race track and also drives for Dave Johnson in Dave’s  Ram Bull sponsored #32 Spec Sprint car at various northern California tracks. Rowdy won 2 Spec Sprint track championships under Ram Bull sponsorship in 2013 -1 each at Marysville and Silver Dollar! In this years upcoming Gold Cup World of Outlaw races at Silver Dollar, Rowdy’s 410 sprinter will be the first time that Ram Bull has sponsored a car in a World of Outlaw event!

Why the “RAM BULL” name?

The Ram Bull name was derived by matching my birth year, 1955, with the Asian calendar designation for that year and then also matching my birth month , May, with the Zodiac sign for that month and then combining those two matched results.  1955 is the Asian Calendar year of the sheep/goat, the male of which is a Ram, and the month of May in the Zodiac is  a Taurus - the Bull.  Ergo the name:  Ram-Bull Racing!

Contact:  Mr. George Blacker,  RAM BULL RACING.  Gfbhome@hotmail.com  Media only- no Solicitations.

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The Month of March

Canyon

    The month of March proved to be an exciting one as I was able to race many different cars in many different locations and track surfaces. We kicked off the season in full force in Peoria, Arizona on 2/28 and 3/1 running double duty in both the sprint and midget. The midget was our blue Ram-Bull Racing #5 Swanson/Van Dyne Partnered Spike Chevy. As for the sprint, this was a very exciting weekend for me because it was the first race driving for Tom & Laurie Sertich in the Moose Racing #92 sponsored by Huntington Beach Glass & Mirror and Phil & Eileen King.
    After practice on Thursday in the sprint car, the weather became a big factor in whether we raced the next two days or not. Luckily it held off on Friday for the most part and we were able to get the show in. In the midget I started 4th in the feature and quickly moved into the 2nd spot. While running close behind the leader, RJ Johnson, the RR tire got punctured. Lucky for us a red flag came out as it was going down, so we were able to get it in the pits and changed in time. I restarted at the back and tried the car on the top to see if I could start building the momentum up there. I got into turn 3 hard and bit the cushion. The car went way up on two wheels but luckily I was able to set it back down just before it tagged the fence.
    I had qualified 10th in the sprint car so that was our starting spot for the feature. The track got pretty dried out despite the damp weather. As the race went on, the rubber finally went down across the track and I was able to move forward a couple spots to finish 8th.
Perris Auto Speedway

    The next show for us was March 15th for the Perris Auto Speedway opener back in the #92 Moose mobile. We had lots of friends and family come out to support us at our home track, and even sold some T-shirts. In qualifying I had a bit of an exciting first lap and a solid second lap which was quick enough to put me 5th out of a 31 car field. I started 5th in the heat and climbed a spot to finish in the transfer position (4th). There was a 6 car invert for the feature based on qualifying times which means I would start outside front row. Inside of me, starting on the pole was Ronnie Gardner. He and I led the field around the start of the race. He worked low, and I worked the cushion. I closed in on him and just as I got beside him, he went to the top shelf of 3&4. We made a little contact but nothing too major. I fell back to finish 7th by the end of the 30 laps.
    I think we have extremely good potential to shine over the course of this 2014 season with our equipment and because of the people we have supporting us. We are only two races in and we've got a couple solid top 10's under us. Finishing consistently is the key to progressing and I have no doubts that we will continue to improve in putting the Moosemobile further up in the field.
Madera
    The final show we raced in the month of March was on the pavement in two different midgets. One was an HPD Ignite midget for Alex Frazin. The other was Van Dyne's beautiful #5 Beast Midget. This was my first time back in a full USAC midget in quite awhile. We practiced on Friday but the rain struck again on Saturday causing a delay of the race day until Sunday. We were very fast all day in both cars. I won the heat race in both cars which put me on the front row in both features. In the Frazin #59 with Zac Bozanich on the wrenches, I jumped out into an early lead and won the feature!
    In the midget feature, I started outside front row. I got a good jump on the pole sitter and was leading going into turn one. The pole sitter got into the corner a little hot for the cold tires and got into the side of me. The damage wasn't too major so we were able to restart. The green flew and the top 4 cars were all pretty equal. It was a good battle for over half the race. On a restart, we all took off and drove down into turn one. But the thing about pavement is, brakes are key. If you don't have those you're in some serious trouble. The brake pedal went to the floor. Lucky for me, there was somebody in front of me. I hated to use the poor fellow in front of me like that, but I really didn't want to smash into the wall at full speed. I squared up the bumpers and made contact. The hit sent me spinning downwards and luckily the driver I used as brakes only glanced off the wall. It was an unfortunate end to an otherwise fairly successful weekend.
Thanks...
    I have a lot of people who are helping me by choosing me as their driver and people who are giving me the funding to be able to do what I love. In the sprint car, I'd like to thank Tom and Laurie Sertich for everything they do. Those two have sprint car racing in their blood and love the sport so much. The entire Moose Racing team consists of  hard working individuals and they possess great morale as well; Dave Price, Jim Powers, Jimmy, Don.com, the Cardey family, Gunk and David Cardey for his coaching. Moose Racing's sponsors include; Huntington Beach Glass&Mirror, Circle Track, Phil & Eileen King, Victory Chassis, RC Performance, Ram Bull Racing, Specialized Powder Coating, Saddleback Gun Center, Freeway Auto Body, Lucas Oil, Precise Racing Products, ARS Shocks, and Rod End Supply.
    Another special thank you goes to George Blacker and Ram-Bull Racing. George came out to Canyon and Madera to support us in person as well as making it financially possible for us to go to these midget races. I cannot thank him enough for the support he brings to my programs.
    The Van Dynes gave me an excellent pavement ride last weekend at Madera. I have to thank Tres and Stew for making it possible for us to race with their engine package and partnership. Finally, thanks goes to Alex Frazin. Alex has been a big help in our midget program along with letting me jump in his Ignite Midget from time to time.

The next race is April 12th at Perris Auto Speedway. USAC/CRA 410 sprint cars and the World of Outlaws are in town. We have #92 T-shirts and sweatshirts for sale down at the trailer after the races so be sure to come by and get one. Hope to see you there!