| Roger Kato and Val Torres Jr. each took home over $2,000.00 for their victories in the K & N Filters and Perma-Coil Inserts Pro Gas National doubleheader at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during Easter weekend spring break. Greg Martin and 2004 series champion Mike Blodgett Sr. were the weekend’s top qualifiers.
North Las Vegas racer Kato took home the big prize money in the K & N Filters-sponsored fourth event of the season by defeating Randy Balough’s Corvette, he got a competition single in the second round as Anthony Galati couldn’t make the call, and he got a bye in round three. In the quarterfinals he defeated Super Gas standout Rick Beckstrom’s ’03 Grand Am, and in the semifinal he beat Rick Gunther 9.904 (.027 reaction time) to a losing 9.881 (.029 r.t.).
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| On the other side of the ladder, Greg Ventura went to his second Pro Gas final of the season—and the series points lead—as he drove his ’66 Nova to the final by beating Johnny Matassa, Max Tafoya, Don Kruse, and Jim Gallatin before running a 9.919 (.022 r.t.) to deny Wes Anderson the opportunity to go to his second final of the season, as he lost with a too quick 8.894 (.026 r.t.).
In the final round Kato’s ’04 Cavalier got a .015 to .034 advantage off the starting line, and held on to win the K & N Filters event title with a 9.927, 160.50 to Ventura’s runner-up effort of 9.933, 150.38.
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The Perma-Coil Inserts Nationals third round opened with Brad Pierce defeating Doug Sedmak, Torres Jr. beat Danny Petrillo, Mike Blodgett Sr. used a .008 reaction time and 9.908 to stop Mike Boner, Kato continued his winning with a 9.913 win over Gary Cooke, losing with a 9.913 and .003 red light, and in a battle of early model Corvette’s, Las Vegas racer John Phlegar defeated Ernie McCallister.
Pierce and Kato had a tough race to open the quarterfinals, as Pierce got the win with his Corvette at 9.881, with a .007 reaction time as Kato’s winning weekend came to an end with a too quick 9.875 after clicking a perfect reaction time. Torres Jr. defeated Blodgett Sr. 9.923 to a 9.872, and Phlegar got a bye. Phlegar ran a 9.900 with a .025 reaction time to go to the finals as Pierce lost with a 9.890 (.015 r.t.) and Torres Jr. got a bye into the money round.
The Torres Construction Pontiac Firebird of ’06 Winternationals Super Gas champion Torres Jr. picked up his first series win since last summer as he ran a final round winning 9.928, 154.55 (.014 r.t.) as Phlegar lost with a 9.892, 141.88 (.080 r.t.). Phlegar had his plate full on Easter Sunday, as he also finished runner-up in the ‘Strips Electronic Bracket.
With four of the ten Pro Gas races in the books, Ventura has the points lead with 2516 points, Wes Anderson is second with 2243, and Rick Gunther is third with 2148. The remaining top ten include: Val Torres Jr. (1932); Pete Bothe, (1925); Roger Kato, (1921); Tony Fuller, (1913); Gary Cooke, (1903); Mike Boner, (1821); and Brad Pierce, (1716).
The fifth and sixth events on the SoCal Pro Gas Assoc., schedule will be at Auto Club Raceway at Bakersfield on June 9 & 10.
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