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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