Saturday April 17, 2010 Ventura Raceway – Ventura, CA.

Saturday night saw racing at one of Christians favorite tracks, Ventura Raceway, which sits in Ventura, CA about 100 yards from the ocean. If you have never seen this track it is worth checking out. The view is spectacular with the ocean on one side of you and some of the country’s best 360 sprint car racing on the other side. The night of racing included two different racing organizations that Christian was so proud to be a part of, the California Lightning Sprint and the VRA 360 Sprints. Steve “Biggie” Watt has built a car honoring the Christian Stover Foundation and races it only at select events. This car was one that Christian actually drove for Steve at the beginning of the 2009 season (Steve has entered this car in 9 events since last April and has won 5 times and finished no less than 3rd the other 4 times with 3 different drivers piloting the car). Saturday night was another one of the selected races in which “Biggie” entered the number 81 Christian Stover Foundation, Maxwell industries car. Third generation sprint car driver Matt Mitchell would be the driver of choice for this race and like so many of “Biggies” decisions it would be the right choice for this night. Matt began the night by winning his heat race from his starting position of 4th . His win earned him the honor of starting in the 8th spot for the nights main event. 30 cars started the 30 lap main event which saw some of the best racing I have seen in the few years I have been following the sport. Matt would start 8th and on lap 27 running right up next to the wall would make the pass on the second place car and ultimately take the win.
This was my first time meeting Matt and his dad, Nick,  and I must say I was very impressed by the two of them and could tell that they are genuinely good people and great representatives for the Christian Stover Foundation. Matt reminded me of Christian with the grin on his face and desire to win, you could see he is doing what he loves to do. Matt Mitchell of Yorba Linda, CA races for JW Mitchell Motorsports in honor of his late uncle who passed away while competing in a midget at the famed Hanford Speedway.
As Christians dad it is still unbelievably difficult for me to go to these races without Christian, however I have to say that “Biggie” and Karen Watt made me feel very comfortable as did Jim Naylor and the rest of the crew and competitors at Ventura speedway. It is easy to see why Christian enjoyed racing there like he did.
For more information and video, checkout the links below:



http://surfnsprint.com
http://www.venturaraceway.com/