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United States Auto Club USAC

USAC-CRA SPRINT CARS

In it's first year of existence during the 2004 season it became one of the premier regional non-wing divisions in America.  Primarily racing at Perris Auto Speedway in CA and Manzanita Speedway in AZ but made stops at other facilities such as Bakersfield Speedway, Kings Speedway, Ventura Raceway in CA and Skagit Speedway in WA.

2004 Champion

Rip Wiliams of Yorba Linda, CA

If you don't find what your looking for here try the other USAC sections on USA Dirt Racing.com

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Gardner Wins at Manzanita

 

VALVOLINE USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: September 24, 2005 - Phoenix, Arizona - Manzanita Speedway

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Damion Gardner, 50, Chaffin-19.103; 2. Seth Wilson, 17, Racing Optics-19.166; 3. Nathan High, 6A, Pritchett-19.246; 4. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-19.284; 5. Cory Kruseman, 38, Crossno-19.320; 6. Jordan Hermansader, 5, Keller-19.348; 7. Mike Spencer, 44, Engstrom-19.362; 8. Josh Ford, 73, Ford-19.374; 9. J. Hicks, 66, Miller-19.385; 10. Mike Leslie, 76AZ, Montgomery-19.485; 11. Danny Sheridan, 18, Kittle-19.497; 12. Rickie Gaunt, 2A, Smiley-19.519; 13. Troy Rutherford, 7, Priestley-19.611; 14. Charles Davis Jr, 8A, Smiley-19.660; 15. Danny Ebberts, 77, Acosta-19.698; 16. Jeremy Sherman, 4, Alexander-19.756; 17. J.T. Imperial, 4J, Tuttle-19.834; 18. Tom Ogle, 5AZ, Turner-19.925; 19. Marty Miller 3W, WWs Racing-19.944; 20. R.J. Johnson, 15AZ, Martin-20.060; 21. Mike Martin, 57, Martin-20.089; 22. Bob Ream Jr, 8, B.R.A.T-20.164; 23. Brandon Lane, 97H, Lane-20.393; 24. Shon Deskins, 5X, Deskins-20.489; 25. Ricky Hood, 33, Cushman-20.536; 26. Nadine Keller, 16, Keller-21.567; 27. Keith Williamson,
95, Williamson-NT.

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Miller, 2. Ream, 3. Rutherford, 4. R.Williams, 5. Gardner, 6, Sherman, 7. Spencer, 8. Leslie, 9. Hood. 3:16.86

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Davis, 2. Johnson, 3. Sheridan, 4. Ford, 5. Kruseman, 6. Lane, 7. Wilson, 8. Imperial, 9. Keller. 3:18:44

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Ebberts, 2. Gaunt, 3. High, 4. Hicks, 5. Hermansader, 6. Deskins, 7. Ogle, 8. Martin. NT

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Wilson, 2. Spencer, 3. Leslie, 4. Sherman, 5. Imperial, 6, Hood, 7. Keller, 8. Deskins, 9. Lane, 10. Ogle, 11. Williamson. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Damion Gardner, 2. Josh Ford, 3. Danny Sheridan, 4. Troy Rutherford, 5. Jeremy Sherman, 6. Cory Kruseman, 7. J. Hicks, 8. Seth Wilson, 9. Nathan High, 10. Mike Spencer, 11. Bob Ream Jr, 12. Ricky Hood, 13. Rip Williams, 14. R.J. Johnson, 15. Jordan Hermansader, 16. Rickie Gaunt, 17. Mike Leslie, 18. Danny Ebberts, 19. J.T. Imperial, 20. Charles Davis Jr, 21. Nadine Keller, 22. Shon Deskins. NT
----------------------
**Charles Davis Jr., Shon Deskins & Nadine Keller all flipped during the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-5 Hicks, Laps 6-22 Sheridan, Laps 23-27 Ford, Laps 28-30 Gardner.

NEW USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-R.Williams-1,550; 2-Gardner-1,530; 3-Kruseman-1,441; 4-Mike Kirby-1,329; 5-Davis-1,185; 6-Gaunt-1,086; 7-Spencer-1,011; 8-Ford-949; 9-Sheridan-818; 10-Wilson-808.

NEXT USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: October 1 - Perris (CA) Auto Speedway

 


 

Williams Gets Number 101 with Perris Win

By Ken Wagner

 

Rip Williams, of nearby Yorba Linda, won the Valvoline USAC/CRA 30 lapper at Perris Auto Speedway this week to move with-in two of tying all time leader Dean Thompson for most victories on the west coast. Rip drove the John Jory Corporation – Weld Wheels, Stinger, Shaver # 3, to overcome early leader, Cory Kruseman, on lap 21 and pulled away for his second win of the season. It was his 8th USAC/CRA win along with 61 SCRA wins and 32 CRA wins from the Ascot days for his 101 total.

 

In perhaps one of the most exciting races of the year, any one of the top five could have won this race as they mixed it up lap after lap. Cory got sideways on one lap and with Rip so close they banged together, thus straightening the leader out and they continued on. The Ripper took charge midway in the race and left them to fight for second. In the process he increased his point lead over Damion Gardner to 55 after Gardner had two flat tires in separate incidents and was out early in the race.

 

Charles Davis Jr was the runner-up for the second race in a row after battling with teammate Rickie Gaunt like the week before. Super Rickie was in the thick of it until he dropped to 12th the last few laps with an injured motor. After leading 20 laps, Kruseman settled for third with Danny “Showtime” Sheridan lighting up the track for fourth followed by Mike Spencer. With a few laps to go Sheridan’s motor became a light show as it was losing cylinders, but it held on to the checkered flag.

 

Rookie Ryan Devitt had his best outing so far this season. He made his first main event starting last on the grid and finishing tenth for the hard charger award of the week. Jerry Coons Jr came in from his National USAC schedule to drive the Alexander Trucking # 4 car after Mike Kirby left the team last week, and was seventh coming from his 16th starting spot. Kirby will have a new car coming out in two weeks. Bill Rose, also a National USAC runner, drove his own car to 13th as he dropped in for the week also.

 

Wally Pankratz continued his “fairwell tour” in racing by jumping in the Ripper’s back-up car this week. He put on a good show until he pulled in early in the Semi and was done for the night. He plans on returning to run at least one more race as he celebrates his recent 60th birthday. There were 39 cars in the pits this week as many prepare for the upcoming Oval Nationals at the PAS.

 

 

VALVOLINE USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: September 17, 2005 ­ Perris, California ­ Perris Auto Speedway
 

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Rickie Gaunt, 2A, Smiley-16.512; 2. Damion Gardner, 50, Chaffin-16.638; 3. Seth Wilson, 17, Racing Optics-16.702; 4. Mike Spencer, 44, Engstrom-16.705; 5. Danny Sheridan, 18, Kittle-16.731; 6. Josh Ford, 73, Ford-16.742; 7. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-16.803; 8. Cory Kruseman, 38, Crossno-16.832; 9. Charles Davis Jr., 8A, Smiley-16.837; 10. Bill Rose, 6R, Rose-16.839; 11. Wally Pankratz, 3X, Jory-16.842; 12. Rodney Argo, 19, Argo-16.844; 13. Tony Jones, 87, Vermeer/Ferreira-16.850; 14. Davey Pombo, 3P, Pombo-16.883; 15. Bobby Cody, 92, Sertich-16.957; 16. Steve Ostling, 0, Shoemaker-17.003; 17. Danny Ebberts, 77, Acosta-17.071; 18. Jordan Hermansader, 5, Keller-17.140; 19. David Cardey, 59, Giardina-17.140; 20. Jerry Coons Jr., 4, Alexander-17.168; 21. Alan Ballard, 97, Ballard-17.221; 22. Danny Faria, 17V, Faria-17.228; 23. R. J. Johnson, 15AZ, Martin-17.232; 24. J.Hicks, 66, Miller-17.240; 25. Greg Bragg, 33, Blair-17.275; 26. Adam Mitchell, 14, Lancaster-17.323; 27. Tom Stansberry, 48, Bach-17.578; 28. Ryan Devitt, 35R, Blenkarn-17.592; 29. Joshua Williams, 34, Williams-17.597; 30. Jack Hawley, 1J, Hawley-17.625; 31. Jack DeArmond Jr., 9, DeArmond-17.672; 32. Mark Heidenreich, 22, Heidenreich-17.682; 33. Randy Waitman, Y69, Waitman-17.788; 34. Nadine Keller, 16, Keller-17.955; 35. Matt Stewart, 85, Stewart-18.048; 36. Todd Hunsaker, 75, Hunsaker-18.061; 37. Nate Ziegler, N8, Ziegler-18.325; 38. Dan Tedrick, 88, Tedrick-19.137; 39. Mel Murphy, 57, Gunderson NT.

TROPHY DASH: (3 laps) 1. Wilson, 2. Spencer, 3. Gaunt, 4. Gardner. :51.26

CONSI: (8 laps) 1. Waitman, 2. Keller, 3. Hunsaker, 4. Stewart. 2:24.66

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Bragg, 2. Ebberts, 3. Davis, 4. Gaunt, 5. J.Williams, 6. Sheridan, 7. Jones. 8. Ballard, 9. Waitman. NT

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Mitchell, 2. Hermansader, 3. Faria, 4. Gardner, 5. Pombo, 6. Ford, 7. Rose, 8. Hawley, 9. Keller. 2:55:14
 

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Johnson, 2. R.Williams, 3. Wilson, 4. Stansberry, 5. Pankratz, 6. Cody, 7. DeArmond, 8. Hunsaker, 9. Cardey. NT

FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Kruseman, 2. Devitt, 3. Argo, 4. Coons, 5. Spencer, 6. Hicks, 7. Ostling, 8, Heidenreich, 9. Stewart. NT

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Sheridan, 2. Spencer, 3. Jones, 4. Ford, 5. Rose, 6. Cody, 7. Pombo, 8. Ostling, 9. Ballard, 10. Hicks, 11. J.Williams, 12. Waitman, 13. Keller, 14. Heidenreich, 15. Stewart, 16. Hunsaker, 17. Pankratz, 18. Hawley. 3:29:05

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Rip Williams, 2. Charles Davis Jr., 3. Cory Kruseman, 4. Danny Sheridan, 5. Mike Spencer, 6. Josh Ford, 7. Jerry Coons Jr., 8. Bobby Cody, 9. Tony Jones, 10. Ryan Devitt, 11. R.J. Johnson, 12. Rickie Gaunt, 13. Bill Rose, 14. Danny Ebberts, 15, Seth Wilson, 16. Tom Stansberry, 17. Danny Faria, 18. Adam Mitchell, 19. Greg Bragg, 20. Damion Gardner, 21. Jordan Hermansader, 22. Rodney Argo. NT
-----------------------------------------
**DeArmond flipped during the third heat. Hermansader flipped during the feature,

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-20 Kruseman, Laps 21-30 R.Williams.

NEW USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-R.Williams-1,515; 2-Gardner-1,460; 3-Kruseman-1,390; 4-Kirby-1,329; 5-Davis-1,166; 6-Gaunt-1,058; 7-Spencer-975; 8-Ford-887; 9-Jones-781; 10-Wilson-760.

NEXT USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: September 24 ­ Phoenix, AZ ­ Manzanita Speedway
 


 

Kruseman Wins at Ventura

By Ken Wagner

 

Local favorite, Cory Kruseman, started seventh in the Valvoline USAC/CRA 30 lap feature at Ventura Raceway this week and took the lead from Rodney Argo on lap four to run away with his seventh win of the season in the ITI Performance, Sander Engineering, Bullet, Downing # 38. It was his 75th lifetime west coast win, putting him 25 behind active driver leading Rip Williams 100 total.

 

On a perfect night, teammates Charles Davis Jr and Rickie Gaunt fought for a shot at the winner with Charles getting second by a wheel over Super Rickie. They were followed by Williams and Steve Ostling.

 

The Ripper took back the USAC/CRA championship points lead, now holding an eleven point lead over Damion Gardner as Mike Kirby in third place holds an eleven point lead over Cory Kruseman as the battle heats up!

 

Jordan Hermansader had to take a provisional for the main event and came from 21st starting spot up to 13th for the hard charger award of the night and an extra $100 in his pocket. With thirty five cars gracing the small oval, it was a fast paced night with the feature over by 9:15 PM to make the usual 10 PM complaint calls humorous.

 

The heats were won by Greg Bragg, Rodney Argo, Kruseman and Tony Jones. Steve Ostling won the Semi after encountering problems in his heat. He was driving former Car Owner Champion, Harlan Willis, black # 45 sprinter once driven by Kruseman.

 

VALVOLINE USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: September 10, 2005 ­ Ventura, California ­ Ventura Raceway
 

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Mike Kirby, 4, Alexander-12.076; 2. Charles Davis Jr., 8A, Smiley-12.174; 3. Cory Kruseman, 38, Crossno-12.182; 4. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-12.186; 5. Rickie Gaunt, 2A, Smiley-12.271; 6. Kevin Kierce, 2K, Kierce-12.303; 7. Mike Spencer, 44, Engstrom-12.361; 8. Tony Jones, 87, Vermeer/Ferreira-12.370; 9. Jordan Hermansader, 5, Keller-12.376; 10. Steve Ostling, 45, Willis-12.432; 11. Damion Gardner, 50, Chaffin-12.508; 12. Adam Mitchell, 14, Lancaster-12.522; 13. Josh Ford, 73, Ford-12.572; 14. Rodney Argo, 19, Argo-12.614; 15. Seth Wilson, 17, Racing Optics-12.622; 16. Alan Ballard, 97, Ballard-12.673; 17. Steve Conrad, 91X, Conrad-12.674; 18. Danny Sheridan, 18, Kittle-12.701; 19. Shawn Kautz, 29, Kautz-12.722; 20. J. Hicks, 66, Miller-12.744; 21. R.J. Johnson, 15AZ, Martin-12.756; 22. Ronnie Case, 8, Case-12.794; 23. Jimmy Crawford, 17C, Crawford-12.880; 24. Tom Stansberry, 48, Bach-12.922; 25. Greg Bragg, 33, Blair-12.969; 26. Ryan Devitt, 35R, Blenkarn-13.060; 27. Dan Tedrick, 88, Tedrick-13.089; 28. Joshua Williams, 34, Williams-13.173; 29. Kevin Mahoney, 5S, Kruseman-13.177; 30. Wes Richardson, 47, Bach-13.869; 31. Jeremy Ellerston, 98, Ellerston-13.910; 32. Ron Tjaarda, 4X, Kruseman-13.942; 33. Bobby Ferro, 91, Ferro-13.965; 34. Matt Stewart, 85, Stewart-14.106; 35. Nadine Keller, 16, Keller NT.

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Bragg, 2. Johnson, 3. Ford, 4. Gaunt, 5. Kirby, 6. Conrad, 7. Hermansader, 8. Ferro, 9. Mahoney. NT

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Argo, 2. Davis , 3. Case, 4. Sheridan, 5. Richardson, 6. Devitt, 7. Stewart, 8. Ostling, 9. Kierce. NT

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Kruseman, 2. Wilson, 3. Spencer, 4. Crawford, 5. Gardner, 6. Tedrick, 7. Ellerston, 8. Kautz. 2:20:56

FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Jones, 2. Stansberry, 3. Hicks, 4. R.Williams, 5. Ballard, 6. J.Williams, 7. Mitchell. NT

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Ostling, 2. Kirby, 3. Ballard, 4. Gardner, 5. Kierce, 6. Conrad, 7. Kautz, 8. J.Williams, 9. Mitchell, 10. Hermansader,
11. Richardson, 12. Tedrick, 13. Ferro, 14. Stewart, 15. Devitt, 16. Mahoney, 17. Ellerston. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Cory Kruseman, 2. Charles Davis Jr., 3. Rickie Gaunt, 4. Rip Williams, 5. Steve Ostling, 6. Mike Spencer, 7. Tony Jones, 8. Damion Gardner, 9. Danny  Sheridan, 10, Alan Ballard, 11. Seth Wilson, 12. Jimmy Crawford, 13. Jordan Hermansader, 14. Mike Kirby, 15. J. Hicks, 16. Ronnie Case, 17. Rodney Argo, 18. Greg Bragg, 19. Josh Ford, 20 Tom Stansberry, 21. R.J. Johnson. NT
------------------------------
**Tjaarda flipped during qualifying.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-3 Argo, Laps 4-30 Kruseman.

NEW USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-R.Williams-1,448; 2-Gardner-1,437; 3-Kirby-1,329; 4-Kruseman-1,328; 5-Davis-1,103; 6-Gaunt-1,018; 7-Spencer-921; 8-Ford-840; 9-Jones-743; 10-Wilson-727.

NEXT USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: September 24 ­ Phoenix, AZ ­ Manzanita Speedway
 


 

Gardner Wins at Perris

 

By Ken Wagner

 

On a night that the tires became a major issue, Damion Gardner of Concord, California took the lead from Cory Kruseman on lap 17 and ran away with his eleventh Valvoline USAC/CRA victory of the year and took over the points lead from Rip Williams in the process. Damion said in the winners circle“ It was tough in the beginning and we took  some chances going to the front. As soon as it laid rubber down, it was beautiful!”

 

Josh Ford led the first seven laps until Kruseman went by him and took a big lead until Damion quickly reeled him in. The lead pack was running the high groove exclusively, but the Demon found a sweet spot just barely below that where no one else could run and wheeled by with ease.

 

Driving the Temecula Valley Pipe & Supply, Arizona Race Mart, Eagle, Shaver # 50, Damion had plenty of rubber left at the end, unlike many of his pursuers. Most notably Rip Williams tires were “showing their underwear” as he said later looking at two bald tires on his car, and was lucky to even finish as he dropped back to seventh and slipped into second in points only eight behind the new leader.

 

Josh Ford held on for third followed by Mike Kirby, Danny Sheridan, who came from 20th starting spot, and Steve Oslting who crashed on lap 33 and came back up to get sixth. The race pushed the curfew just a tad, but it finished with a flourish and will send them to Ventura Raceway for the 26th race in the series.

 

Perris Auto Speedway (September 3, 2005) QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Charles Davis Jr, 8A, Smiley - 17.334; 2. Rickie Gaunt, 2A, Smiley - 17.460; 3. Cory Kruseman, 38, Crossno - 17.580; 4. Mike Spencer, 44, Engstrom - 17.639; 5. Ronnie Clark, 33X, Clark - 17.662; 6. Tony Jones, 87, Vermeer/Ferreira - 17.675; 7. Alan Ballard, 97, Ballard - 17.710; 8. Damion Gardner, 50, Chaffin - 17.755; 9. Seth Wilson, 17, Racing Optics - 17.770; 10. Dan Hillberg, 82, Hillberg - 17.833; 11. Mike Kirby, 4, Alexander -17.852; 12. Josh Ford, 73, Ford - 17.865; 13. Bill Rose, 11, Wilkerson - 17.867; 14. Danny Ebberts, 77, Acosta - 17.873; 15. Bobby Cody, 92, Sertich - 17.895; 16. Jason York, 25N, York - 17.916; 17. Rip Williams, 3, Jory - 17.947; 18. Davey Pombo, 3P, Pombo - 17.960; 19. Keith Williamson, 95, Williamson - 17.977; 20. Tom Stansberry, 48, Bach - 18.011; 21. R. J. Johnson, 15AZ, Martin - 18.097; 22. Johnny Rodreguez, 7, Priestley - 18.120; 23. Greg Bragg, 33, Blair - 18.203; 24. Adam Mitchell, 14, Lancaster - 18.357; 25. David Cardey, 59, Giardina - 18.360; 26. Steve Ostling, 0, Shoemaker - 18.399; 27. Jack DeArmond Jr, 24, DeArmond - 18.420; 28. Danny Sheridan, 18, Kittle - 18.540; 29. Jordan Hermansader, 5, Keller - 18.550; 30. Chris D'Arcy, 77C, D'Arcy - 18.600; 31. Rick Becker, 67, Becker - 18.779; 32. Ryan Devitt, 35R, Blenkarn - 18.956; 33. Robert Ellis, 43, Ellis - 19.046; 34. Nadine Keller, 16, Keller - 19.062; 35. Mark Heidenreich, 22, Heidenreich - 19.128; 36. ® Joshua Williams, 34, Williams - 19.177; 37. ® Matt Stewart, 85, Stewart - 19.380; 38. Jim Giardina, 58, Giardina - 19.420; 39. Eric Severson, 36, Severson - 19.495; 40. Dan Tedrick, 88, Tedrick - 20.026; 41. Jeremy Ellerston, 98. Ellerston - 25.070; 42. Jimmy Evans.

TROPHY DASH: (3 laps) 1. Kruseman, 2. Spencer, 3. Davis, 4. Gaunt. Time 53.95

CONSI: (8 laps) 1. Keller, 2. J Williams, 3. Heidenreich, 4. Stewart, 5. Severson, 6, Tedrick, 7. Ellis, 8 Giardina, Ellerston DNS. No Time Seversom crashed hard to end the race early.

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. R Williams, 2. Cardey, 3. Hermansader, 4. Davis, 5. Rose, 6. Johnson, 7. Clark, 8. Keller, 9. Wilson. Time 3:05:09

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1.Pombo, 2. Ostling, 3. Jones, 4. Rodreguez, 5. Ebberts, 6. Hillberg, 7. J Williams, 8. D'Arcy, 9. Gaunt. No Time

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Kruseman, 2. Kirby, 3. Becker, 4. Bragg, 5. Williamson, 6. Heidenreich, 7. Cody, 8, Ballard, 9. Dearmond. No Time

FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Gardner, 2. Sheridan, 3. Spencer, 4. Ford, 5. York, 6. Mitchell, 7. Stansberry, 8. Devitt, 9. Stewart. Time 3:16:77

SEMI: (12 laps) 1.Gaunt, 2. Rose, 3.Cody, 4. Ballard, 5. Stansberry, 6. Mitchell, 7. Williamson, 8. D'Arcy, 9. Johnson, 10. Dearmond, 11. Keller, 12. York, 13. Hillberg, 14. Wilson, 15. Devitt, 16. Ebberts, 17. J Williams, 18. Stewart, 19. Clark, 20. Heidenreich. No Time

FEATURE: (50 laps) 1. Damion Gardner, 2. Cory Kruseman, 3. Josh Ford, 4. Mike Kirby, 5. Danny Sheridan, 6. Steve Ostling, 7. Rip Williams, 8. Rickie Gaunt, 9. Bill Rose, 10. Johnny Rodreguez, 11. Seth Wilson, 12. Charles Davis Jr, 13. Alan Ballard, 14. Davey Pombo, 15. Bobby Cody, 16. Greg Bragg, 17. Jordan Hermansader, 18. Tom Stansberry, 19. Mike Spencer, 20. Tony Jones, 21. Rick Becker, 22 Adam Mitchell, 23. Keith Williamson. No Time
 


 

MIKE KIRBY TAMES SANTA MARIA OVAL FOR WIN NUMBER TWO OF YEAR

 

By Ken Wagner

 

Mike Kirby used something he rarely has at Santa Maria Speedway, a little luck, and won his second Valvoline USAC/CRA event of the year. After a spinning car took out leaders, Mike Spencer and local favorite Danny Sheridan, Kirby took over and led the final 11 laps of the 30 lap Main Event, with Damion Gardner as his shadow, for his second win of the year and 10th lifetime with the club.

 

Gardner set his 17th fast time of the season as he claimed second followed by Rip Williams, Rickie Gaunt and Rodney Argo. Gardner now trails the point leader Williams by only 10 points with 10 weekends of racing left in the season.  Hard Charger was Charles Davis Jr who came from 18th to 9th.

 

 

VALVOLINE USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: August 27, 2005 – Santa Maria, California – Santa Maria Speedway 

 

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Damion Gardner, 50, Chaffin-13.992; 2. Josh Ford, 73, Ford-14.143; 3. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-14.150; 4. Rodney Argo, 19, Argo-14.207; 5. Mike Kirby, 4, Alexander-14.238; 6. Davey Pombo, 3P, Pombo-14.277; 7. Danny Sheridan, 18, Kittle-14.410; 8. Rickie Gaunt, 2A, Smiley-14.463; 9. Mike Spencer, 44, Engstrom-14.484; 10. Cory Kruseman, 38, Crossno-14.580; 11. Evan Suggs, 33e, Suggs-14.582; 12. Jordan Hermansader, 5, Keller-14.765; 13. Danny Ebberts, 77, Acosta-14.777; 14. Darren Simas, 12, Simas-14.786; 15. Alan Ballard, 97, Ballard-14.790; 16. Seth Wilson, 17, Racing Optics-14.841; 17. Rusty Carlile, 36X, Carlisle-14.881; 18. Charles Davis Jr, 8A, Smiley-15.143; 19. Nadine Keller, 16, Keller-15.280; 20. Ryan Devitt, 35R, Blenkarn-15.317; 21. Peter Murphy, 21, Tarlton-15.462; 22. R.J. Johnson, 15AZ, Martin-15.462; 23. Matt Stewart, 85, Stewart-15.700; 24. Jeff Fiscus, 90, Dean-15.748. 
 
  FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Wilson, 2. Gardner, 3. Kruseman, 4. Johnson, 5. Sheridan, 6. Keller, 7. Argo, 8. Ebberts. 2:35:75 
 
  SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Suggs, 2. Gaunt, 3. Ford, 4. Kirby, 5. Carlile, 6. Simas, 7. Devitt, 8. Stewart. 2:33:00 
 
  THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Murphy, 2. Williams, 3. Hermansader, 4. Spencer, 5. Davis, 6. Pombo, 7. Ballard, 8. Fiscus. 2:28;97 
 
  SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Argo, 2. Pombo, 3. Ebberts, 4. Simas, 5. Ballard, 6. Keller, 7. Stewart, 8. Devitt. 
 
  FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Mike Kirby, 2. Damion Gardner, 3. Rip Williams, 4. Rickie Gaunt, 5. Rodney Argo, 6. Josh Ford, 7. Davey Pombo, 8. Jordan Hermansader. 9. Charles Davis Jr. 10. Peter Murphy, 11. Danny Sheridan 12. Evan Suggs, 13. Randy Carlile, 14. R.J. Johnson, 15. Mike Spencer, 16. Alan Ballard, 17. Seth Wilson, 18. Danny Ebberts, 19. Darren Simas, 20. Cory Kruseman. NT 
-------------------------- 
**Ballard flipped during the feature. 
 
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-19 Spencer, Laps 20-30 Kirby. 
 
NEW USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Williams-1,339; 2-Gardner-1,329; 3-Kirby-1,237; 4-Kruseman-1,187; 5-Davis-994; 6-Gaunt-909; 7-Spencer-846; 8-Ford-760; 9-Tony Jones-673; 10-Wilson-658. 
 
NEXT USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: September 3 – Perris (CA) Auto Speedway

 


 

Kruseman Cruises to Perris Win; Wins Bagley Classic For The Third Time!

 

By Ken Wagner

 

Cory Kruseman of Ventura, California won the 5th Annual Jeff Bagley Classic at Perris Auto Speedway this week. Driving the ITI Performance – Sander Engineering, Bullet, Downing Engines # 38, Cory took the lead of the Valvoline USAC/CRA 30 lapper on lap five and led Danny Sheridan to the checkered flag. It was Cory’s second win in a row and sixth on the season. In the winner’s circle Cory said “I was just hanging on in the race car and I had three guardians that were up there with me the whole race” referring to Jeff, Paul and Helen Bagley family that he had been very close to in his career.

 

Damion Gardner finished third and pulled to within 15 points of USAC/CRA point leader Rip Williams who finished ninth. Damion was followed by Mike Spencer and Mike Kirby to round out the top five. On the full moon night, there were six yellow flag stops for various incidents.

 

Josh Ford won the Snap-on Tools trophy dash plus his heat. The other heat winners were Jason York, Greg Bragg and Tony Jones. The Semi was won by Mike Spencer. The hard charger of the night was Danny Faria.

 

VALVOLINE USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: August 20, 2005 ­ Perris, California ­ Perris Auto Speedway

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Mike Spencer, 44, Engstrom-16.971; 2. Cory Kruseman, 38, Crossno-16.985; 3. Troy Cline, 0, Shoemaker-17.006; 4. Josh Ford, 3, Ford-17.066; 5. Troy Rutherford, 7, Priestley-17.066; 6. Damion Gardner, 50, Chaffin-17.113; 7. Tony Jones, 87, Vermeer/Ferreira-17.142; 8. Mike Kirby, 4, Alexander-17.235; 9. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-17.349; 10. David Cardey, 59, Giardina-17.378; 11. Danny Sheridan, 18, Kittle-17.425; 12. Adam Mitchell, 14, Lancaster - 17.451; 13. Danny Ebberts, 77, Acosta-17.473; 14. Jason York, 25N, York-17.494; 15. Rodney Argo, 19, Argo-17.534; 16.  Danny Faria, 17V, Faria-17.575; 17. Jordan Hermansader, 5, Keller-17.642; 18. J.Hicks, 66, Miller-17.645; 19. R.J. Johnson, 15AZ, Martin-17.660; 20. Seth Wilson, 17, Racing Optics-17.670; 21. Greg Bragg, 33, Blair-17.730; 22. Joshua Williams, 34, Williams-18.006; 23. Nadine Keller, 16, Keller-18.067; 24. Dan Hillberg, 82, Hillberg-18.067; 25. Randy Waitman, Y69, Waitman-18.085; 26. Jim Giardina, 58. Giardina-18.125; 27. Mark Heidenreich, 22, Heidenreich-18.142; 28. Davey Pombo, 11, Wilkerson-18.267; 29. Larry Lloyd, 87L, Lloyd-18.555; 30. Jack DeArmond Jr, 24, DeArmond-18.660; 31. Dan Tedrick, 88, Tedrick-18.845; 32. Matt Stewart, 85, Stewart-19.033; 33. Terry Foster, 19X, Foster - 19.067; 34. Nate Ziegler, N8, Ziegler-19.073.
 

TROPHY DASH: (3 laps) 1. Ford, 2. Kruseman, 3. Cline, 4. Spencer. 54:15

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Bragg, 2. R.Williams, 3. Ebberts, 4. Hermansader, 5. Rutherford, 6. Spencer, 7. Waitman, 8. Lloyd, 9. Foster. 2:58:04

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. York, 2. Gardner, 3. Kruseman, 4. J Williams, 5. Dearmond, 6. Hicks, 7. Giardina, 8. Ziegler. NT

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Jones, 2. Heidenreich, 3. Argo, 4. Sheridan, 5. Johnson, 6. Cline, 7. Keller, 8. Tedrick. 3:00:54

FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Ford, 2. Pombo, 3. Wilson, 4. Hillberg, 5. Kirby, 6. Mitchell, 7. Faria, 8. Stewart. 2:58:76

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Spencer, 2. Cline, 3. Kirby, 4. Rutherford, 5. Mitchell, 6. Faria, 7. Waitman, 8. Dearmond, 9. Lloyd, 10. Ziegler, 11. Giardina, 12. Tedrick, 13. Stewart, 14. Hicks, 15. Foster. 3:33:30

 

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Cory Kruseman, 2. Danny Sheridan, 3. Damion Gardner, 4, Mike Spencer, 5. Mike Kirby, 6. Troy Cline, 7.Danny Faria, 8. Rodney Argo, 9. Rip Williams, 10. Greg Bragg, 11. Troy Rutherford, 12. Jason York, 13. Josh Williams, 14. Dan Hillberg, 15. Mark Heidenreich, 16. Seth Wilson, 17. R.J. Johnson, 18. Josh Ford, 19. Jordan Hermansader, 20. Adam Mitchell, 21. Tony Jones, 22. Danny Ebberts, 23. Davey Pombo. NT
----------------------------------------------
Cardey flipped during heat 2. Danny Faria flipped during heat 4. Josh Ford and R.J. Johnson flipped during the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-4 Ebberts, Laps 5-30 Kruseman.

NEW USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-R.Williams-1,274; 2-Gardner-1,259; 3-Kirby-1170; 4-Kruseman-1,168; 5-Charles Davis

Jr.-954; 6-Rickie Gaunt-851; 7-Spencer-818; 8-Josh Ford-704; 9-Jones-673; 10-Wilson-631.

NEXT USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: August 27 ­ Santa Maria (CA) Speedway
 


 

Kruseman Wins at the PAS

 

VALVOLINE USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: August 6, 2005 – Perris, California – Perris Auto Speedway
 

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Damion Gardner, 50, Chaffin-16.918; 2. Charles Davis, Jr., 8A, Smiley-17.122; 3. Seth Wilson, 17, Racing Optics-17.265; 4. Mike Spencer, 44, Engstrom-17.281; 5. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-17.307; 6. Rickie Gaunt, 2A, Smiley 17.358; 7. Cory Kruseman, 38, Crossno-17.415; 8. Troy Rutherford, 7, Priestley-17.442; 9. Rodney Argo, 19, Argo-17.452; 10. Mike Kirby, 4, Alexander-17.526; 11. Bobby Graham, 14, Lancaster-17.598; 12. David Cardey, 59, Giardina-17.602; 13. J Hicks, 66, Miller-17.695; 14. Jordan Hermansader, 5, Keller-17.705; 15. Steve Ostling, 45, Willis 17.839; 16. R.J. Johnson, 15AZ, Martin-17.879; 17. Alan Ballard, 97, Ballard-17.892; 18. Josh Ford, 73, Ford-17.977; 19. Jason York, 25N, York-18.001; 20. Bobby Cody, 41, Cody-18.013; 21. Dan Hillberg, 82, Hillberg-18.209; 22. Joshua Williams, 34, Williams-18.213; 23. Greg Bragg, 33, Blair-18.296; 24. Mark Heidenreich, 22, Heidenreich-18.305; 25. Nadine Keller, 16, Keller-18.324; 26. Brandon Springstead, 36, Springstead-18.452; 27. Nate Ziegler, N8, Ziegler-18.854; 28. Jim Thomson, 91, Thomson-18.938; 29. Robert Ellis, 43, Ellis-19.028; 30. Matt Stewart, 85, Stewart-19.177; 31. Brandon Thomson, 24, Thomson-19.548; 32. Tony Everhart, 55, Everhart-19.998; 33. Jimmy Evans, 76, Evans NT.
 

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Gardner, 2. Keller, 3. R.Williams, 4. Ballard, 5. Argo, 6. Hicks, 7. Ellis, 8. Hillberg. NT
 

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Gaunt, 2. J.Williams, 3. Kirby, 4. Ford, 5. Davis, 6. Hermansader, 7. Stewart, 8. Springstead. NT
 

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Kruseman, 2. York, 3. Bragg, 4. Graham, 5. Wilson, 6. Ostling, 7. B.Thomson, 8. Ziegler. 3:01:55
 

FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Cardey, 2. Spencer, 3. Rutherford, 4. Heidenreich, 5. Cody, 6. Johnson, 7. J.Thomson, 8. Everhart. NT
 

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Hermansader, 2. Davis, 3. Wilson, 4. Argo, 5. Hicks, 6. Ostling, 7. Hillberg, 8. Johnson, 9. Stewart, 10. Ziegler, 11. B.Thomson. 3:37:64
 

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Cory Kruseman, 2. Mike Spencer, 3. Mike Kirby, 4. David Cardey, 5. Troy Rutherford, 6. Charles Davis, Jr., 7. Jordan Hermansader, 8. Steve Ostling, 9. Bobby Graham, 10. Damion Gardner, 11. Rickie Gaunt, 12. Joshua Williams, 13. J.Hicks, 14. Nadine Keller, 15. Rip Williams, 16. Seth Wilson, 17. Josh Ford, 18. Jason York, 19. Mark Heidenreich, 20. Alan Ballard, 21. Rodney Argo, 22. Greg Bragg. NT
----------------------------------
**Springstead flipped during the second heat. R.J. Johnson and Cody flipped during the fourth heat.
 

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-12 Kirby, Laps 13-26 R.Williams, Laps 27-30 Kruseman.
 

NEW USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-R.Williams-1,231; 2-Gardner-1,197; 3-Kirby-1,120; 4-Kruseman-1,097; 5-Davis-954; 6-Gaunt-851; 7-Spencer-757; 8-Ford-676; 9-Tony Jones-652; 10-Ostling-619.
 

NEXT USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: August 20 – Perris (CA) Auto Speedway

 


Gardner Completes Skagit Sweep

7-30-05 Andrew Kunas: It’s safe to say that Damion Gardner knows his way around Skagit Speedway. The Concord, California won Saturday’s USAC/CRA wingless sprint car event at the Washington clay oval to complete a weekend sweep, having also won Friday’s event. He has now won three straight USAC/CRA races at Skagit Speedway.

Starting fourth, Gardner quickly moved to second on the first lap of a 40-lap feature race. A caution on lap two gave him a chance to pass initial leader Cory Kruseman of Ventura, Calif. Gardner delivered, getting around Kruseman, the winner of the inaugural USAC/CRA event at Skagit last year, in turn two on the restart.

Gardner quickly pulled away, while Kruseman, Mike Kirby and Bud Kaeding gave chase. Kruseman, who recently won the Indiana Sprint Week title on the USAC National Sprint Car circuit, kept pace with Gardner as they worked through traffic. Kruseman’s shot at victory disappeared on lap 20. After 18 straight laps of green flag racing, Kruseman tangled with the badly struggling series champion Rip Williams in turn one. Unable to evade, local racer Roy Blumenhagen tagged Kruseman and flipped his machine to bring out the red flag.

Lap 23 saw the scariest moment of the evening when Tony Jones flipped violently down the front stretch. After being tended to by medical personnel, Jones was able to climb out of the car under his own power. Complaining of pain, Jones was still taken away in an ambulance as a precaution.

Inheriting the second position after Kruseman’s mishap, Kirby had four lapped cars between himself and Gardner. Kirby got around two of them, but still had to contend with the car of Dave Pombo, who later surprised everyone by passing Gardner and getting back on the lead lap. Another caution came on lap 28 when local star Brock Lemley, who had earlier won the 1200cc mini-sprint feature, came to a stop in turn four. With Pombo out of the way, Kirby was on Gardner’s rear end on the restart and others that followed, but Gardner never made a mistake and pulled away for the win.

Eighth-starting Kaeding wound up third after holding off both Mike Spencer and Danny Sheridan for the position. Jordan Hermansader, Josh Ford, J Hicks, Steve Ostling and Pombo rounded out the top ten. The highest finishing local driver was Robby Vaughn of Everett, Washington.

Williams, the USAC/CRA points leader entering the event, finished 18th after a variety of problems during the feature race. Kruseman was 19th.

Finishing behind Lemley in the 15-lap mini-sprint feature was Evan Funk. Ironically, each driver won his heat race also. Jason Bloodgood, the other driver pulling double-duty Saturday night, finished fourth in the mini-sprint feature and 13th in the USAC/CRA B-Main.

Bud Kaeding set fast time in USAC/CRA qualifying with a time of 13.673 seconds around the 3/10-mile clay oval. Funk was fastest in the mini-sprints, taking just 14.381 seconds to drive around the track, which is large and very fast for a mini-sprint of any size. Winning the USAC/CRA heat races were Hicks, Alan Ballard, Lemley, and Alan Munn.

USAC/CRA wingless sprint cars
Skagit Speedway – Alger, WA
July 30, 2005

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

35 cars

Fast qualifier: 26 Bud Kaeding, 13.673 seconds.

Heat 1 (10 laps): 1. 66 J Hicks, 2. 38 Cory Kruseman, 3. 26 Bud Kaeding, 4. 3 Rip Williams, 5. 9 Jeff Bell, 6. 21 Robby Vaughn, 7. 47 Jason Bloodgood, 8. 5 Steve Ostling, 9. 75x Kevin Smith.

Heat 2 (10 laps): 1. 40 Brock Lemley, 2. 17 Seth Wilson, 3. 16 Jordan Hermansader, 4. 23 Seth Bergman, 5. 8 Ronnie Case, 6. 7 Tony Jones, 7. 57 Bud Ashe, 8. 99e Alex Hantell, 9. 14r R.J. Johnson.

Heat 3 (10 laps): 1. 97 Alan Ballard, 2. 50 Damion Gardner, 3. 3p Dave Pombo, 4. 73 Josh Ford, 5. 14 Danny Sheridan, 6. 1 Jimmy Dietz, 7. 63 Axel Walker, 8. 67 Rick Becker.

Heat 4 (10 laps): 1. 42 Alan Munn, 2. 75 Roy Blumenhagen, 3. 4 Mike Kirby, 4. 78t Kelsey Carpenter, 5. 8r Jim Richardson, 6. 44 Mike Spencer, 7. 76e Josh Edson, 8. 13r Glenn Reinstra.

B-Main (12 laps): 1. 7 Tony Jones, 2. 44 Mike Spencer, 3. 8r Jim Richardson, 4. 5 Steve Ostling, 5. 14 Danny Sheridan, 6. 67 Rick Becker, 7. 99e Alex Hantell, 8. 21 Robby Vaughn, 9. 9 Jeff Bell, 10. 14r R.J. Johnson, 11. 57 Bud Ashe, 12. 1 Jimmy Dietz, 13. 47 Jason Bloodgood, 14. 75x Kevin Smith, 15. 8 Ronnie Case, 16. 76e Josh Edson, 17. 13r Glenn Reinstra, 18. 63 Axel Walker.

A-Main (40 laps): 1. 50 Damion Gardner, 2. 4 Mike Kirby, 3. 26 Bud Kaeding, 4. 44 Mike Spencer, 5. 14 Danny Sheridan, 6. 16 Jordan Hermansader, 7. 73 Josh Ford, 8. 66 J Hicks, 9. 5 Steve Ostling, 10. 3p Dave Pombo, 11. 17 Seth Wilson, 12. 67 Rick Becker, 13. 21 Robby Vaughn, 14. 40 Brock Lemley, 15. 97 Alan Ballard, 16. 78t Kelsey Carpenter, 17. 23 Seth Bergman, 18. 3 Rip Williams, 19. 38 Cory Kruseman, 20. 8r Jim Richardson, 21. 7 Tony Jones, 22. 75 Roy Blumenhagen, 23. 99e Alex Hantell, 24. 42 Alan Munn.


Gardner Tops Skagit Opener

by Andrew Kunas

Picking up where he left off last year, Damion Gardner drove the wheels off his wingless sprint car and won Friday’s USAC/CRA wingless sprint car event at Skagit Speedway.

The Concord, California driver, who won last year’s USAC/CRA event at the Washington clay oval, took the lead from defending series champion Rip Williams on a lap 13 restart after starting the 30-lap race on the outside of the fourth row. Five laps earlier, Gardner made a spectacular move, passing both Rick Becker and Steve Ostling in turns one and two to move from fourth to second.

Williams, out of Yorba Linda, Calif., fought back after Gardner took the lead, but Gardner dropped from the high groove to the low groove in turns three and four to keep Williams behind him. Cory Kruseman of Ventura, Calif. moved from his seventh starting position to finish second, after jumping from fourth to second around both Norco, Calif. driver Tony Jones and Williams on lap 28.

Jones, who started sixth, settled for third with Williams behind him in fourth. Bud Kaeding of Campbell, Calif. finished fifth aboard the Kevin Rudeen owned sprinter. Mike Kirby, Josh Ford, Davey Pombo, Mike Spencer and Rick Becker rounded out the top ten.

Before being passed by Gardner, Williams had led since lap three when he passed Becker, the initial leader.

Everett, Washington’s Alex Hantell was the highest finishing local racer, taking 11th place. Canadian transplant Roy Blumenhagen was 12th.

The race was slowed five times, including two times for red flags. Langley, British Columbia’s Travis Rutz and Mount Vernon, Wash.’s Kelly Barnett both rolled their machines in separate incidents.

Winning the 12-lap B-Main race was Mike Spencer, who made a last lap pass around race long leader Davey Pombo in traffic. Transferring to the A-Main with Spencer and Pombo were Josh Ford, Alan Ballard, J. Hicks, and Alex Hantell. Hicks, however, could not start, allowing seventh place finisher Bud Ashe to start in the A-Main.

Gardner started the evening by setting a new track record for wingless sprint cars in qualifying when he navigated the 3/10-mile, high-banked, clay oval in 13.387 seconds. Picking up ten-lap heat race victories were Blumenhagen, Seth Wilson, Jones, and Ronnie Case.

Thirty-eight sprint cars were on hand for the tour’s second annual visit to Skagit. The USAC/CRA sprint cars return to action Saturday night at Skagit Speedway, joined by the 1200cc mini-sprints, who regularly compete on Friday nights at Deming Speedway near Bellingham.

United States Auto Club / California Racing Association wingless sprint cars, Skagit Speedway – Alger, WA, July 29, 2005

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

38 cars

Fast qualifier: 50 Damion Gardner, 13.387 seconds (New track record for wingless sprint cars).

Heat 1 (10 laps): 1. 75 Roy Blumenhagen, 2. 50 Damion Gardner, 3. 4 Mike Kirby, 4. 17b Kelly Barnett, 5. 44 Mike Spencer, 6. 8r Jim Richardson, 7. 75x Kevin Smith, 8. 99e Alex Hantell, 9. 21 Robby Vaughn, 10. 63 Axel Walker.

Heat 2 (10 laps): 1. 17 Seth Wilson, 2. 67 Rick Becker, 3. 38 Cory Kruseman, 4. 14 Danny Sheridan, 5. 78t Kelsey Carpenter, 6. 3P Davey Pombo, 7. 5D Josh Dewitt, 8. 14r Robert McNulty, 9. 9x Jeff Bell. DNS – 44h Michael Harris.

Heat 3 (10 laps): 1. 7 Tony Jones, 2. 42 Alan Munn, 3. 3 Rip Williams, 4. 8x Travis Rutz, 5. 57 Bud Ashe, 6. 66 J Hicks, 7. 97 Alan Ballard, 8. 9 Mark Hinkle, 9. 76e Josh Edson.

Heat 4 (10 laps): 1. 8 Ronnie Case, 2. 5 Steve Ostling, 3. 26 Bud Kaeding, 4. 16 Jordan Hermansader, 5. 14j R.J. Johnson, 6. 1 Jimmy Deitz, 7. 73 Josh Ford, 8. 23b Kelly Barnett, 9. 01 Bert Johnson.

B-Main (12 laps): 1. 44 Mike Spencer, 2. 3P Davey Pombo, 3. 73 Josh Ford, 4. 97 Alan Ballard, 5. 66 J Hicks, 6. 99e Alex Hantell, 7. 57 Bud Ashe, 8. 14j R.J. Johnson, 9. 1 Jimmy Deitz, 10. 21 Robby Vaughn, 11. 8r Jim Richardson, 12. 14r Robert McNulty, 13. 23 Seth Bergman, 14. 5D Josh Dewitt, 15. 75x Kevin Smith, 16. 63 Axel Walker, 17. 78t Kelsey Carpenter, 18. 9 Mark Hinkle.

A-Main (30 laps): 1. 50 Damion Gardner, 2. 38 Cory Kruseman, 3. 7 Tony Jones, 4. 3 Rip Williams, 5. 26 Bud Kaeding, 6. 4 Mike Kirby, 7. 73 Josh Ford, 8. 3P Davey Pombo, 9. 44 Mike Spencer, 10. 67 Rick Becker, 11. 99e Alex Hantell, 12. 75 Roy Blumenhagen, 13. 17 Seth Wilson, 14. 16 Jordan Hermansader, 15. 42 Alan Munn, 16. 8 Ronnie Case, 17. 57 Bud Ashe, 18. 14 Danny Sheridan, 19. 17b Kelly Barnett, 20. 5 Steve Ostling, 21. 97 Alan Ballard, 22. 8x Travis Rutz, DNS – 66 J Hicks.


 

Gardner Wins at Perris

By Ken Wagner

Damion Gardner returned from Indiana Speedweek to capture his 8th Valvoline USAC/CRA event of the year in a car he once drove, and sold to Kevin Urton several years ago. The Demon, driving the Temecula Valley Pipe & Supply, Arizona Race Mart, Eagle, Shaver # 50, set fast time for the 14th time this season and started eighth in the 30 lap feature. He took the lead from Rip Williams on lap 27 and won going away. The team’s familiar red car was still in Indiana for more racing, so they acquired the old silver and green version Damion had driven to numerous wins, and he didn’t skip a beat. In the winner’s circle he said “Kevin had all my old green stuff and I knew if I was patient, I could win as they were all over the track.”

 

Rip Williams finished second and still maintains over a 100 point leader over Gardner as the club hits the half way point in the season the next race at Skagit. Rip won his third Snap-on Tools Trophy Dash of the year as he leads that category. He was followed in the A Main by Danny “Showtime” Sheridan, Mike Kirby and Mike Spencer to round out the top five.

 

Early leader, Cory Kruseman, and new 2005 Indiana Sprint Week Champion, was pulling away when his car quit running on lap 16. It was a reported electrical problem. He finished 18th. Mike Kirby was the hard charger of the night coming form 13th to get 4th officially, but had to restart at the back after an opening lap shunt.

 

The heats were won by Cory Kruseman, Charles Davis Jr, Jordan Hermansader and Tony Jones. The Semi was taken by Rickie Gaunt. The full moon racing only had two flips on the night as the large crowd enjoyed the great racing.

 

PERRIS AUTO SPEEDWAY - PERRIS, CA
JULY 23, 2005

25 CARS

QUALIFICATIONS:
1. Damion Gardner, 50, Chaffin - 16.637, 2. Rickie Gaunt, 2A, ,Smiley - 16.747, 3. Rip Williams, 3, Jory - 16.768, 4. Mike Spencer, 44, Engstrom - 16.830, 5. Steve Ostling, 5, Keller - 16.961 6. Josh Ford, 73, Ford - 17.000, 7. Bobby Graham, 14, Lancaster - 17.070, 8. Danny Sheridan, 18, Kittle - 17.135, 9. Cory Kruseman, 38, Crossno - 17.167, 10. Troy Rutherford, 11, Wilkerson - 17.169, 11. Bobby Cody, 41, Cody - 17.198, 12. R. J. Johnson, 15AZ, Martin - 17.238, 13. Mike Kirby, 4, Alexander - 17.316, 14. Charles Davis Jr., 8A, Smiley - 17.332, 15. Jordan Hermansader, 92, Sertich - 17.424, 16. Tony Jones, 87, Vermeer/Ferreira - 17.433, 17. J Hicks, 66, Miller - 17.490, 18. David Cardey, 59, Giardina - 17.506, 19. Greg Bragg, 33, Blair - 17.654, 20. Tom Stansberry, 48, Bach - 17.978, 21. Josh Williams, 34, Williams - 18.070, 22. Brandon Springstead, 36, Springstead - 18.493, 23. Robert Ellis, 43, Ellis - 18.703, 24. Matt Stewart, 85, Stewart - 18.883, 25. Seth Wilson, 17, Racing Optics - 20.544.

TROPHY DASH: (3 laps)
1. Rip Williams, 2. Damion Gardner, 3. Mike Spencer, 4. Rickie Gaunt. 51:30.

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps)
1. Cory Kruseman, 2. Mike Kirby, 3. Damion Gardner, 4. Steve Ostling, 5. Josh Williams, 6. J Hicks, 7. Seth Wilson (DNS). 2:57:28.

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps)
1. Charles Davis Jr., 2. Josh Ford, 3. David Cardey, 4. Troy Rutherford, 5. Brandon Springstead, 6. Rickie Gaunt. 2:56:50.

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps)
1. Jordan Hermansader, 2. Rip Williams, 3. Bobby Cody, 4. Greg Bragg, 5. Bobby Graham, 6. Robert Ellis. 2:56:46.

FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps)
1. Tony Jones, 2. Danny Sheridan, 3. R.J. Johnson, 4. Mike Spencer, 5. Tom Stansberry, 6. Matt Stewart (DNF). 2:56:73.

SEMI: (12 laps)
1. Rickie Gaunt, 2. Bobby Graham, 3. Seth Wilson, 4. Josh Williams, 5. Tom Stansberry, 6. J Hicks, 7. Brandon Springstead, 8. Robert Ellis, 9. Matt Stewart. NT.

FEATURE: (30 laps - With Starting Positions)
1. Damion Gardner (8th), 2. Rip Williams (7th), 3. Danny Sheridan (3rd), 4. Mike Kirby (13th), 5. Mike Spencer (6th), 6. Josh Ford (4th), 7. Rickie Gaunt (9th), 8. Bobby Graham (10th), 9. David Cardey (18th), 10. R.J. Johnson (12th), 11. Greg Bragg (19th), 12. Troy Rutherford (1st), 13. Josh Williams (21st), 14. Seth Wilson (22nd), 15. Jordan Hermansader (15th), 16. Bobby Cody (11th), 17. Tony Jones (16th), 18. Cory Kruseman (2nd), 19. J Hicks (17th), 20. Steve Ostling (5th), 21. Tom Stansberry (20th), 22. Charles Davis Jr. (14th). NT.
--------------------------
NEXT USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: July 29-30 ­ Skagit (WA) Speedway

 


 

Kruseman Wins "Firecracker 50"

 

Cory Kruseman, from Ventura, California, took the lead on lap 19 and “kruised” to a 50 lap victory in front of a packed house at Perris Auto Speedway this week. The eighteenth Valvoline USAC/CRA series race of the season was racy from the start as Danny Sheridan took the lead and drove a hard line maintaining it until Cory caught up. The battle between them wasn’t settled for several laps as they swapped the lead until Kruseman surged ahead for good. Cory drove the ITI Performance, Sander Engineering, Bullitt, Downing # 38 to a heat race win before starting sixth in the main event. He quickly moved in to second and worked hard to take the lead.

 

Danny Sheridan hasn’t had a lot of luck lately, but almost pulled a win out this week when he finished second in the El Camino Pipe & Supply, Red Line Oil, Stinger, Pick # 18. Danny tied his best ever 410 finish as he was on his game to give Cory a tough road for his win. Danny was followed by Steve Ostling, Rip Williams, who came from 18th to 4th for hard charger kudos, and Mike Spencer.

 

Damion Gardner had rear end problems early in the race and couldn’t get new gears installed before the next restart and finished last. Tony Jones won his second trophy dash in a row, started seventh and cruised up to third before a muffler fell off and he had a flat tire. He too couldn’t make it back on the next restart to be the second car out. Mike Kirby started 18th, had a flat tire and came from the back to get eighth.

 

VALVOLINE USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: July 2, 2005 ­ Perris, California ­ Perris Auto Speedway ­ "Firecracker 50"

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Johnny Rodriguez, 7R, Priestley-16.980; 2. Damion Gardner, 50, Chaffin-16.992; 3. Tony Jones, 87, Vermeer/Ferreira-17.024; 4. Davey Pombo, 3p, Pombo-17.120; 5. Cory Kruseman, 38, Crossno-17.144; 6. Charles Davis, Jr., 8A, Smiley-17.202; 7. Bobby Cody, 41, Cody-17.227; 8. Steve Ostling, 5, Keller-17.260; 9. Rickie Gaunt, 2A, Smiley-17.318; 10. Danny Sheridan, 18, Kittle-17.345; 11. Josh Ford, 73, Ford-17.345; 12. Mike Spencer, 44, Engstrom-17.349; 13. R.J. Johnson, 15az, Martin-17.426; 14. J. Hicks, 66, Miller-17.437; 15. Greg Bragg, 33, Blair-17.476; 16. Bobby Graham, 14, Lancaster-17.550; 17. Mike Kirby, 4, Alexander-17.580; 18. Jordan Hermansader, 92, Sertich-17.600; 19. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-17.635; 20. Tom Stansberry, 48, Bach-17.670; 21. Troy Rutherford, 11, Wilkerson-17.690; 22. Jimmy Crawford, 17c, Crawford-17.733; 23. Alan Ballard, 97, Ballard-17.957; 24. Rick Becker, 67, Becker-17.977; 25. Jimmy Thornell, 25, Ruth-18.005; 26. Verne Sweeney, 98, Zoriki-18.133; 27. David Cardey, 59, Giardina-18.170; 28. Joshua Williams, 34, Williams-18.207; 29. Richard Rose, 8N, Ziegler-18.209; 30. Seth Wilson, 17, Racing Optics-18.232; 31. Ronnie Case, 8, Case-18.253; 32. Shawn Kautz, 29, Kautz-18.283; 33. Brandon Springstead, 36, Springstead-18.423; 34. Dan Hillberg, 82, Hillberg-18.487; 35.  Nadine Keller, 16, Keller-18.548; 36.  Jim Giardina, 58, Giardina-18.657; 37. Ryan Devitt, 35R, Blenkarn-18.663; 38. Eric Severson, 36x, Severson-18.915; 39.  David Sinsley, 69, Sinsley-19.179; 40.  Matt Stewart, 85, Stewart-19.393.
 

DASH: (3 laps) 1. Jones, 2. Pombo, 3. Gardner, 4. Rodriguez. :55:10

CONSOLATION RACE: (8 laps) 1. Springstead, 2. Keller, 3. Devitt, 4. Hillberg, 5. Sinsley, 6. Giardina, 7. Severson, 8. Stewart. 2:32:30

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Kruseman, 2. Kirby, 3. Gaunt, 4. Rutherford, 5. Johnson, 6. Thornell, 7. Rose, 8, Springstead, 9. Rodriguez. NT
 

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Sheridan, 2. Gardner, 3. Davis, 4. Hermansader, 5. Crawford, 6. Hicks, 7. Keller, 8. Wilson, 9. Sweeney. NT

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. R.Williams, 2. Jones, 3. Ford, 4. Cardey, 5. Cody, 6. Devitt, 7, Ballard, 8.Case, 9. Bragg. NT

FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Spencer, 2. Ostling, 3. Becker, 4. Graham, 5. J.Williams, 6. Pombo, 7. Stansberry, 8. Hillberg, 9. Kautz. 3:07:41
 

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Pombo, 2. Rodriguez, 3. Johnson, 4. Cody, 5. Crawford, 6. Bragg, 7. Thornell, 8. Hicks, 9. Ballard, 10. J.Williams, 11. Kautz, 12. Case, 13. Springstead, 14. Sweeney, 15. Rose, 16. Devitt, 17. Keller, 18. Hillberg, 19. Stansberry, 20. Wilson. NT

FEATURE: (50 laps) 1. Cory Kruseman, 2. Danny Sheridan, 3. Steve Ostling, 4. Rip Williams, 5. Mike Spencer, 6. Charles Davis, Jr., 7. Rickie Gaunt, 8. Mike Kirby, 9. Josh Ford, 10. Johnny Rodriguez, 11. Jordan Hermansader, 12. Troy Rutherford, 13. David Cardey, 14. Greg Bragg, 15. Rick Becker, 16. Bobby Cody, 17. Davey Pombo, 18. Alan Ballard, 19. R.J. Johnson, 20. Bobby Graham, 21. Jimmy Crawford, 22. Tony Jones, 23. Damion Gardner. NT
--------------------------
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-16 Sheridan, Lap 17 Kruseman, Lap 18 Sheridan, Laps 19-50 Kruseman.

NEW USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-R.Williams-1,051; 2-Gardner-938; 3-Kruseman-914; 4-Kirby-888; 5-Davis-880; 6-Gaunt-760; 7-Jones-537; 8-Spencer-535; 9-Ballard-519; 10-Ford-504.

NEXT USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: July 23 ­ Perris (CA) Auto Speedway
 


 

Gardner Wins at Perris

 

VALVOLINE USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: June 25, 2005 ­ Perris, California ­ Perris Auto Speedway

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Damion Gardner, 50, Chaffin-17.276; 2. Charles Davis, Jr., 8A, Smiley-17.473; 3. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-17.495; 4. Tony Jones, 87, Vermeer/Ferreria-17.507; 5. Mike Spencer, 44, Engstrom-17.564; 6. Rickie Gaunt, 2A, Smiley-17.593; 7. Steve Ostling, 5, Keller-17.670; 8. Cory Kruseman, 38, Crossno-17.672; 9. Alan Ballard, 97, Ballard-17.679; 10. Bobby Cody, 41 Cody-17.800; 11. Danny Ebberts, 77, Acosta-17.806; 12. Mike Kirby, 4, Alexander-17.808; 13. David Cardey, 59, Giardina-17.969; 14. Seth Wilson, 17, Racing Optics-18.065; 15. Jordan Hermansader, 92, Sertich-18.067; 16. R.J. Johnson, 15AZ, Martin-18.128; 17. Jason York, 25N, York-18.131; 18. Jimmy Crawford, 17C, Crawford-18.154; 19. Bobby Graham, 14, Lancaster-18.198; 20. Jimmy Thornell, 25, Thornell-18.232; 21. Tom Stansberry, 48, Bach-18.245; 22. Ryan Devitt, 35, Blenkarn-18.270; 23. Nadine Keller, 16, Keller-18.440; 24. Ronnie Case, 8, Case-18.686; 25. Randy Waitman, 64, Waitman-18.783; 26. Joshua Williams, 34, Williams-18.822; 27. Shawn Kautz, 29, Kautz-19.002; 28. Richard Rose, 8N, Ziegler-19.174; 29. Brandon Thomson, 24, Thomson-19.192; 30. Jim Giardina, 58, Giardina-19.454; 31. Matt Stewart, 85, Stewart-20.110; 32. Jim Thomson, 91, Thomson-20.305; 33. Josh Ford, 73, Ford-NT.

DASH: (3 laps) 1. Jones, 2. R.Williams, 3. Davis, 4. Gardner. :54.24

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Cardey, 2. Gardner, 3. Stansberry, 4. York, 5. Spencer, 6. Ballard, 7. Waitman, 8. B.Thomson. NT
 

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Cody, 2. Crawford, 3. Gaunt, 4. Davis, 5. Wilson, 6. J.Williams, 7. Devitt, 8. Giardina. 3:06.11

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Ebberts, 2. Ostling, 3. Graham, 4. Kautz, 5. Keller, 6. Hermansader, 7. R.Williams, 8. Stewart. NT

FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Kruseman, 2. Kirby, 3. Jones, 4. Johnson, 5. Case, 6. Thornell, 7. Rose. 3:06.35

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. R.Williams, 2. Balalrd, 3. Spencer, 4. Wilson, 5. Hermansader, 6. Thornell, 7. Case, 8. J.Williams, 9. Keller, 10. Giardina, 11. Waitman, 12. Stewart, 13. Devitt, 14. Rose, 15. Ford, 16. B.Thomson, 17. J.Thomson.

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Damion Gardner, 2. Tony Jones, 3. Mike Kirby, 4. Tom Stansberry, 5. Danny Ebberts, 6. Mike Spencer, 7. Jason York, 8. Rip Williams, 9. Alan Ballard, 10. Bobby Graham, 11. Charles Davis, Jr., 12. Shawn Kautz, 13. Jimmy Thornell, 14. David Cardey, 15. Cory Kruseman, 16. Rickie Gaunt, 17. Jimmy Crawford, 18. Bobby Cody, 19. Steve Ostling, 20. Seth Wilson, 21. Jordan Hermansader, 22. R.J. Johnson. NT
----------------------------
**R.Williams flipped during the third heat. Waitman flipped during the semi.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-5 Cody, Laps 6-18 Kruseman, Laps 19-30 Gardner.

NEW USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-R.Williams-992; 2-Gardner-913; 3-Kruseman-844; 4-Kirby-842; 5-Davis-828; 6-Gaunt-662; 7-Jones-513; 8-Ballard-502; 9-Spencer-479; 10-Wilson-476.

NEXT USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: July 2 ­ Perris (CA) Auto Speedway
 


 

Gaunt Sails at Santa Maria

 

VALVOLINE USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: June 18, 2005 ­ Santa Maria, California ­ Santa Maria Speedway

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-13.697; 2. Cory Kruseman, 38, Crossno-13.790; 3. Charles Davis, Jr, 8A, Smiley-13.820; 4. Davey Pombo, 3P, Pombo-13.850; 5. Damion Gardner, 50, Chaffin-13.867; 6. Josh Ford, 73, Ford-13.884; 7. Rickie Gaunt, 2A, Smiley-13.887; 8. Rodney Argo, 19, Argo-13.895; 9. Danny Sheridan, 18, Kittle-13.939; 10. Jordan Hermansader, 21A, Dorathy-13.997; 11. Alan Ballard, 97, Ballard-14.102; 12. Mike Kirby, 4, Alexander-14.104; 13. Danny Ebberts, 77, Acosta-14.205; 14. Bobby Cody, 41, Cody-14.233; 15. Tom Stansberry, 48, Bach-14.342; 16. Jimmy Crawford, 17C, Crawford-14.408; 17. Mike Knopf, 5K, Knopf 14.420; 18. Seth Wilson, 17, Racing Optics-14.637; 19. Dennis Rodriguez, 20, Rowher-14.940; 20. Nadine Keller, 16, Keller-15.008; 21. Thad Bennett, 77x, Bennett-15.150.

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Crawford, 2. Ebberts. 3. Gaunt, 4. Williams, 5. Hermansader, 6. Pombo, 7. Rodriguez. NT

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Cody, 2. Gardner, 3. Knopf, 4. Ballard, 5. Kruseman, 6. Keller, 7. Argo. NT

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Wilson, 2. Sheridan, 3. Stansberry, 4. Davis, 5. Ford, 6. Kirby, 7. Bennett. NT

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Pombo. 2. Kirby, 3. Keller, 4. Rodriguez, 5. Bennett. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Rickie Gaunt, 2. Rip Williams, 3. Damion Gardner, 4. Danny Ebberts, 5. Davey Pombo, 6. Alan Ballard, 7. Bobby Cody, 8. Tom Stansberry, 9. Mike Kirby, 10. Jimmy Crawford, 11. Josh Ford, 12. Mike Knopf, 13. Seth Wilson, 14. Charles Davis, Jr., 15. Dennis Rodriguez, 16. Todd Bennett, 17. Nadine Keller, 18, Cory Kruseman, 19. Jordan Hermansader, 20. Danny Sheridan. NT

**Argo and Keller flipped during the second heat.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-8 Davis, Laps 9-30 Gaunt.

NEW USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Williams-945; 2-Gardner-840; 3-Kruseman-813; 4-Davis-787; 5-Kirby-781; 6-Gaunt-684; 7-Ballard-463; 8-Wilason-462; 9-Ford-461; 10-Tony Jones-447.

NEXT USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: June 25 ­ Perris (CA) Auto Speedway

 


 

Gaunt Wins at Perris

Story by Ken Wagner

In front of a packed house, Rickie Gaunt won the 30 lap Valvoline USAC/CRA feature this week at Perris Auto Speedway. It was his 2nd win of the season in the Smiley Crane Service, Extreme Chassis Co., Chargin, Extreme, # 2A sprinter. He passed Danny Sheridan for the lead on lap twelve and led to the finish. Rickie bobbled in front of the packed house with a lap to go and with Rip Williams right behind him, but recovered and came home the winner. He said in victory circle “I am such a jerk, I almost didn’t win this son of a gun!

 

Rip Williams overcame an overheating problem, with the help of a timely red flag stop when Sheridan flipped, and made a strong challenge for his 101st win, but came up a little short at the flag. Cory Kruseman dropped out of the last race with a broken titanium bolt  that also ended up sending him to the pits in his heat this week. He still ran third and climbed into 2nd in points behind the leader Williams. R.J. Johnson continues to impress as he ran fourth with Rickie’s teammate, Charles Davis Jr, grabbing fifth for the “Blues Brothers” team.

 

On a racy night with a lot of different car problems, Damion Gardner set fast time for the 12th time and was running a close second when his car veered into the wall sending him end over end hard, but he was fine. Danny Sheridan led the first eleven laps looking strong then caught a rut on lap 27 that sent him on his head. Of the two, Danny’s car was more repairable.

 

VALVOLINE USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: June 11, 2005 ­ Perris, California ­ Perris Auto Speedway

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Damion Gardner, 50, Chaffin-16.635; 2. Charles Davis, Jr., 8A, Smiley-16.853; 3. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-16.917; 4. Cory Kruseman, 38, Crossno-16.964; 5. R.J. Johnson, 15AZ, Martin-16.986; 6. Mike Kirby, 4, Alexander-17.007; 7. Alan Ballard, 97, Ballard-17.042; 8. Rodney Argo, 19, Argo-17.045; 9. Seth Wilson, 17, Racing Optics-17.074; 10. Mike Spencer, 44, Engstrom-17.115; 11. David Cardey, 59, Giardina-17.155; 12. Rickie Gaunt, 2A, Smiley-17.163; 13. Jason York, 25N, York-17.179; 14. Danny Sheridan, 18, Kittle-17.285; 15. Steve Ostling, 5, Keller-17.295; 16. Josh Ford. 73. Ford-17.359; 17. Jimmy Crawford, 17C, Crawford-17.407; 18. Danny Ebberts, 77, Acosta-17.447; 19. Ronnie Clark, 33x, Clark-17.472; 20. Jordan Hermansader, 92, Sertich-17.473; 21. Johnny Rodriguez, 7, Priestley-17.480; 22. Troy Cline, 11, Cline-17.481; 23. Tony Jones, 87, Vermeer/Ferreira-17.535; 24. Bobby Cody, 41 Cody-17.607; 25. Jimmy Thornell, 25x, Ruth-17.680; 26. Randy Waitman, 64, Waitman-17.838; 27. Bobby Graham, 14, Lancaster-17.875; 28. Joshua Williams, 34, Williams-17.928; 29. Nadine Keller, 16, Keller-18.078; 30. Brandon Springstead, 36, Springstead-18.103; 31. Richard Rose, 8N, Ziegler-18.411; 32. Robert Walters, 65, Walters-20.168.

DASH: (3 laps) 1. R.Williams, 2. Gardner, 3. Davis, 4. Kruseman. :51.98

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Gardner, 2. Crawford, 3. Rodriguez, 4. Johnson, 5. Thornell, 6. Wilson, 7. York, 8. Keller. NT

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Cline, 2. Sheridan, 3. Ebberts, 4. Kirby, 5. Davis, 6. Spencer, 7. Springstead, 8. Waitman. 2:56.64

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Ostling, 2. Jones, 3. R.Williams, 4. Cardey, 5. Clark, 6. Ballard, 7. Rose, 8. Graham. 2:55.90

FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Ford, 2. Hermansader, 3. Gaunt, 4. Cody, 5. Argo, 6. Kruseman, 7. Walters, 8. J.Williams. NT
 

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Kruseman, 2. Argo, 3. Davis, 4. Ballard, 5. Spencer, 6. York, 7. Wilson, 8. Waitman, 9. J.Williams, 10. Thornell, 11. Keller, 12. Springstead, 13. Rose, 14. Clark. 3:31.75. 3:31.75

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Rickie Gaunt, 2. Rip Williams, 3. Cory Kruseman, 4. R.J. Johnson, 5. Charles Davis, Jr., 6. David Cardey, 7. Steve Ostling, 8. Jason York, 9. Tony Jones, 10. Jordan Hermansader, 11. Mike Spencer, 12. Josh Ford, 13. Johnny Rodriguez, 14. Danny Sheridan, 15. Damion Gardner, 16. Rodney Argo, 17. Mike Kirby, 18. Danny Ebberts, 19. Jimmy Crawford, 20. Alan Ballard, 21. Seth Wilson, 22. Troy Cline, 23. Bobby Cody. NT
-----------------
**Walters flipped during the fourth heat. Gardner flipped during the feature. Sheridan flipped during the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-11 Sheridan, Laps 12-30 Gaunt.

NEW USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-R.Williams-877; 2-Kruseman-787; 3-Gardner-777; 4-Davis-753; 5-Kirby-742; 6-Gaunt-618; 7-Jones-447; 8-Johnson-443; 9-Spencer-430; 10-Wilson-427.
 


 

Faria Wins at Hanford

 

VALVOLINE USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: June 4, 2005 ­ Hanford, California ­ Kings Speedway

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Damion Gardner, 50, Chaffin-14.943; 2. Cory Kruseman, 38, Crossno-15.239; 3. Rodney Argo, 19, Argo-15.495; 4. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-15.514; 5. Davey Pombo, 3P, Pombo-15.531; 6. Rickie Gaunt, 2A, Smiley-15.538; 7. Danny Sheridan, 18, Kittle-15.596; 8. Jason
York, 25N, York-15.607; 9. Charles Davis, Jr., 8A, Smiley-15.668; 10. Josh Ford. 73. Ford-15.673; 11. Ricci Faria, 89, Faria-15.683; 12. Bobby Cody, 41 Cody-15.697; 13. Mike Spencer, 44, Engstrom-15.720; 14. Rob Kershaw, 26c, Camland-15.761; 15. Steve Ostling, 5, Keller-15.777; 16. R.J. Johnson, 15AZ, Martin-15.803; 17. Seth Wilson, 17, Racing Optics-15.805; 18. Bobby Graham, 14, Lancaster-15.858; 19. Evan Suggs, 33E, Suggs-15.873; 20. Tony Jones, 87, Vermeer/Ferreira-15.900; 21. Mike Kirby, 4, Alexander-15.910; 22. Joshua Williams, 34, Williams-15.928; 23. Jimmy Crawford, 17C, Crawford-15.935; 24. Greg Bragg, 33, Blair-16.018; 25. Peter Murphy, 21A, Dorathy-16.068; 26. Tom Stansberry, 48, Bach-16.115; 27. Nadine Keller, 16, Keller-16.126; 28. Alan Ballard, 97, Ballard-16.168; 29. Johnathan Logan, 32, Logan-16.224; 30. Jimmy Reeves, 0, Reeves-16.613.

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Gardner, 2. Kirby, 3. Wilson, 4. Davis, 5. Pombo, 6. Spencer, 7. Murphy, 8. Logan. NT
 

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Graham, 2. Kruseman, 3. Ford, 4. Gaunt, 5. Stansberry, 6. Reeves. 7. J.Williams, 8. Kershaw. NT

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Suggs, 2. Argo, 3. Faria, 4. Keller, 5. Ostling, 6. Crawford, 7. Sheridan. NT

FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Johnson, 2. Jones, 3. Ballard, 4. R.Williams, 5. York, 6. Bragg, 7. Cody. NT

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Pombo, 2. Spencer, 3. Cody, 4. York, 5. Ostling, 6. Crawford, 7. Stansberry, 8. Reeves, 9. J.Williams, 10. Logan, 11. Kershaw, 12. Murphy. 13. Sheridan, 14. Bragg. NT
 

 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Ricki Faria. 2. Rip Williams, 3. R.J. Johnson, 4. Jason York, 5. Mike Spencer, 6. Steve Ostling, 7. Evan Suggs, 8. Bobby Cody, 9. Davey Pombo  10. Mike Kirby, 11. Rodney Argo, 12. Bobb Graham, 13. Seth Wilson, 14. Nadine Keller, 15. Rickie Gaunt, 16. Charles Davis, Jr., 17. Cory Kruseman, 18. Josh Ford, 19. Damion Gardner, 20. Tony Jones, 21. Alan Ballard. NT
------------------------------------
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-2 Ford, Laps 3-9 Gaunt, Laps 10-30 Faria.

NEW USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Williams-810; 2-Gardner-740; 3-Kruseman-726; 4-Kirby-717; 5-Davis-698; 6-Gaunt-552; 7-Wilson-414; 8-Jones-404; 9-Ballard-399; 10-Spencer-398.

NEXT USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: June 11 ­ Perris (CA) Auto Speedway
 


 

Kruseman Stops Gardner's Streak at 4
 

VALVOLINE USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: May 28, 2005 – Perris, California – Perris Auto Speedway

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Damion Gardner, 50, Chaffin-16.502; 2. Charles Davis, Jr, 8A, Smiley-16.560; 3. Tony Jones, 87, Vermeer/Ferreira-16.650; 4. Steve Ostling, 5, Keller-16.675; 5. Mike Spencer, 44, Engstrom-16.685; 6. Rickie Gaunt, 2A, Smiley-16.733; 7. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-16.836; 8. R. J. Johnson, 15AZ, Martin-16.882; 9. Mike Kirby, 4, Alexander-16.979; 10. Bobby Graham, 14, Lancaster-17.006; 11. Bobby Cody, 41, Cody-17.017; 12. Seth Wilson, 17, Racing Optics-17.022; 13. Gary Howard, 25, Ruth-17.105; 14. Alan Ballard, 97, Ballard-17.115; 15. Dan Hillberg, 82, Hillberg-17.146; 16. Cory Kruseman, 38, Crossno-17.177; 17. Nadine Keller, 16, Keller-17.320; 18. Tom Stansberry, 48, Bach-17.346; 19. Jordan Hermansader, 92, Sertich-17.393; 20. Rick Becker, 67, Becker-17.420; 21. David Cardey, 59, Giardina-17.447; 22. Ronnie Case, 33, Blair-17.448; 23. Jimmy Crawford, 17C, Crawford-17.642; 24. Shawn Kautz, 29, Kautz-18.277; 25. Joshua Williams, 34, Williams-18.281; 26. Richard Rose, N8, Ziegler-19.158; 27. Danny Sheridan, 18, Kittle-NT.

DASH: (3 laps) 1. Ostling, 2. Jones, 3. Davis, 4. Gardner. :51:98

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Cardey, 2.Spencer, 3. Gardner, 4. J Williams, 5, Howard, 6. Kirby, 7. Keller. 2:56:41

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Graham, 2. Gaunt, 3. Davis, 4. Stansberry, 5. Rose, 6. Ballard, 7. Case. 2:56:64

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Cody, 2. Hermansader, 3. Jones, 4. R. illiams, 5. Crawford, 6. Hillberg. 2:53:82

FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Kruseman, 2. Johnson, 3. Wilson, 4. Ostling, 5. Becker, 6. Kautz. 3:53:61

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Kirby, 2. Becker, 3. Crawford, 4. Case, 5. Ballard, 6. Sheridan, 7. Kautz, 8. Howard, 9. Keller, 10. Rose, 11. Hillberg. 3:34:08

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Cory Kruseman, 2. R.J. Johnson, 3. Rip Williams, 4. Mike Kirby, 5. David Cardey, 6. Joshua Williams, 7. Ronnie Case, 8. Steve Ostling, 9. Bobby Graham, 10. Damion Gardner, 11. Rickie Gaunt, 12. Bobby Cody, 13. Rick Becker, 14. Alan Ballard, 15. Danny Sheridan, 16. Jordan Hermansader, 17. Seth Wilson, 18. Charles Davis, Jr., 19. Tom Stansberry, 20, Tony Jones, 21, Jimmy Crawford, 22. Mike Spencer. NT

---------------------
**Hillberg flipped during nthe semi. Crawford flipped on lap six of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-26 Rip Williams, Laps 27-50 Kruseman.

NEW USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Rip Williams-745; 2-Gardner-711; 3-Kruseman-695; 4-Kirby-677; 5-Davis-672; 6-Gaunt-523; 7-Jones-384; 8-Wilson-381; 9-Ballard-380; 10-Josh Ford-365.

NEXT USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: June 4 – Hanford, CA – Kings Speedway

 


 

Gardner sweeps at Manzanita

 

By Ken Wagner                                                5/22/05

 

Damion Gardner of Concord, California finally stepped to the top of the podium at Manzanita for his 4th Valvoline USAC/CRA main event win in a row in this series and first with this club at the big half mile oval dirt track. Driving the Temecula Valley Pipe & Supply, Arizona Race Mart, Eagle, Shaver # 50, Damion set fast time for the ninth time this year before coming from his inverted eighth starting spot to overcome Jeremy Sherman on the 24th lap restart to win the 30 lap event and pull within 20 points of leader Rip Willaims.

 

On a searing 110 degree plus hot day in the Arizona desert, Damion turned out to be even hotter as he put behind him his three earlier races here this season that included a best of an eighth place finish and one missed main event. In beating Sherman, who has 8 wins at Manzanita against the So Cal based drivers, he proved his prowess from the small bullrings like Ventura up to and including the monster tracks like Williams Grove in PA and now even Manzanita. His patience won out for him in this one as he stalked the leaders until he was in position to win. This growing legendary driver in the making is beating some of the best drivers in the country on a regular basis. Who is going to step up and stop him?

 

Jeremy Sherman had to contend with Cory Kruseman early in the race before he passed him and led until Josh Wise came up from his seventh starting spot to take over the lead for a few laps. When Jeremy retook the lead with nine to go, he was stretching it out and seemingly headed for his first CRA win.  When Mike Kirby crashed helicopter style, after getting sucked into the turn two wall, the red flag stop allowed the Demon the opportunity he needed. Jeremy couldn’t hold him off, but still drove an outstanding race to finish second

 

Cory Kruseman made his fourth straight podium with his third place finish this week as he continues to move up in the points chase. He led the first lap, then fell back to fourth and rallied to run faster at the end. Josh Wise followed him in fourth with Josh Ford grabbing fifth as those two drivers had a week off from the National USAC trail. Now the club returns to Perris Auto Speedway for a big 50 lapper on Memorial Day.

 

VALVOLINE USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: May 21, 2005 - Phoenix, Arizona - Manzanita Speedway

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Damion Gardner, 50, Chaffin-18.883; 2. Josh Wise, 7, Priestley-18.982; 3. Steve Ostling, 5, Keller-19.177; 4. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-19.236; 5. Charles Davis, Jr., 8A, Smiley-19.290; 6. Seth Wilson, 17, Racing Optics-19.359; 7. Cory Kruseman, 38, Crossno-19.391; 8. Jeremy Sherman, 77B, Bryan-19.403; 9. Troy Rutherford, 2J, Massey-19.412; 10. Josh Ford, 73, Ford-19.507; 11. Nathan High, 6A, Pritchett-19.531; 12. Mike Kirby, 4, Alexander-19.556; 13. Bobby Graham, 14, Lancaster-19.558; 14. Alan Ballard, 97, Ballard-19.616; 15. Rickie Gaunt, 2A, Smiley-19.621; 16. Bob Ream, Jr., 8, BRAT-19.647; 17. Brandon Lane, 97H, Lane-19.649; 18. Chuck Buckman, 61AZ, Carsten-19.699; 19. Bobby Boone, 61, Ratz-19.716; 20. R.J. Johnson, 15AZ, Martin-19.821; 21. Marty Miller 3W, WWS Racing-19.909; 22. Tom Ogle, 5x, Ogle-20.109; 23. Jason Tanner, 56, Tanner-20.133; 24. Keith Williamson, 95, Williamson-20.136; 5. Matt Rossi, 02, Rossi-20.137; 26. Bruce St. James, 7K, St James-20.185; 27. Jimmy Drinan, 91az, Carsten-20.428; 28. Robert Hall, 16AZ, Hall-20.655; 29. Nadine Keller, 16, Keller-21.264; 30. Mike Leslie, 76AZ, Montgomery-NT.

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Miller, 2. Gardner, 3. Lane, 4. Davis, 5. Graham, 6. Rossi, 7. Keller, 8. Rutherford. 3:20:70
 

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1.Wise, 2. Ford, 3. Ballard, 4. Wilson, 5. Buckman, 6. St James, 7. Ogle. 3:21.43.

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Gaunt, 2. High, 3. Kruseman, 4. Ostling, 5. Boone, 6. Tanner, 7. Drinan. 3:25.11

FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Kirby, 2. Williams, 3. Sherman, 4. Ream, 5. Williamson, 6. Johnson, 7. Hall. NT

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Rutherford, 2. Graham, 3. Johnson, 4. Tanner, 5. Buckman, 6. Hall, 7. Ogle, 8. Williamson, 9. Rossi, 10. St James, 11. Boone, 12. Keller. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Damion Gardner, 2. Jeremy Sherman, 3. Cory Kruseman, 4. Josh Wise, 5. Josh Ford, 6. Steve Ostling, 7. Rip Williams, 8.
Charles Davis, Jr., 9. R.J. Johnson, 10. Bobby Graham, 11. Rickie Gaunt, 12. Nathan High, 13. Marty Miller, 14. Alan Ballard, 15. Jason Tanner, 16. Bob Ream, Jr., 17. Mike Kirby, 18. Brandon Lane, 19. Troy Rutherford, 20. Seth Wilson. NT
-------------------------------
**Kirby flipped on the 21st lap of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Kruseman, Laps 2-16 Sherman, Laps 17-20 Wise, Laps 21-24 Sherman, Laps 25-30 Gardner.

NEW USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Williams-686; 2-Gardner-666; 3-Davis-644; 4-Kruseman-627; 5-Kirby-622; 6-Gaunt-484; 7-Ford-365; 8-Tony Jones-361; 9-Wilson-356; 10-Ballard-354.

NEXT USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: May 28 - Perris (CA) Auto Speedway
 


 

Gardner Wins Again at Perris

Damion Gardner, of Concord, California, won his third consecutive Valvoline USAC/CRA victory in a row this week, this one at Perrris Auto Speedway. The Demon came from the eight starting spot after setting his eighth fast time of the season out of ten. It was his fifth overall win of the year in the Temecula Valley Pipe & Supply, Arizona Race Mart, Eagle, Shaver # 50 as he said “things are going real well for us now as my team is putting a fast car on the track for me”.

Damion is now 4th in championship points with only 35 points between him and point leader Rip Williams, with Charles Davis Jr and Mike Kirby between them. Once again the Demon methodically worked his way to the front, passing Davis, who led from the start, on lap 22. He is making winning a habit and making it look easy, especially since he came from 23rd starting spot to win recently at the PAS.

Cory Kruseman used his veteran skills to capture second with Davis, Kirby and Danny Sheridan following in that order. Seth Wilson put on a charge from his 18th starting spot up to 9th for the best passing job of the night.

Danny Ebberts has announced he is running for rookie of the year in both the USAC/CRA series and the USAC Silver Crown series this season. Look for the battle to stop the Demon to continue at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix, Arizona on May 21st.

VALVOLINE USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: May 14, 2005 – Perris, California – Perris Auto Speedway 
 
  QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Damion Gardner, 50, Chaffin-16.210; 2. Rickie Gaunt, 2A, Smiley-16.511; 3. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-16.563; 4. Tony Jones, 87, Vermeer/Ferreira-16.677; 5. Mike Kirby, 4, Alexander-16.683; 6. Cory Kruseman, 38, Crossno-16.705; 7. Dan Hillberg, 82, Hillberg-16.753; 8. Alan Ballard, 97, Ballard-16.847; 9. Charles Davis, Jr., 8A, Smiley-16.934; 10. Jordan Hermansader, 92, Sertich-16.935; 11. Danny Sheridan, 18, Kittle-16.987; 12. Steve Ostling, 5, Keller-16.993; 13. Mike Spencer, 44, Engstrom-17.070; 14. Bobby Graham, 14, Lancaster-17.105; 15. R.J. Johnson, 15AZ, Martin-17.133; 16. Bobby Cody, 41, Cody-17.169; 17. Ronnie Clark, 33x, Clark-17.258; 18. Seth Wilson, 17, Racing Optics-17.275; 19. Jimmy Crawford, 17c, Crawford-17.295; 20. Randy Waitman, 64, Waitman-17.305; 21. Danny Ebberts, 77, Acosta-17.312; 22. David Cardey, 59, Giardina-17.495; 23. J.J. Ecse, 33, Blair-17.671; 24. Joshua Williams, 34, Williams-17.685; 25. Brandon Springstead, 36, Springstead-17.838; 26. Nadine Keller, 16, Keller-17.905; 27. Jack Hawley, 10, Hawley-18.436; 28. Tom Stansberry, 48, Bach-NT. 
 
  DASH: (3 laps) 1. R.Williams, 2. Gardner, 3. Jones, 4. Gaunt. :51.50 
 
  FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Clark, 2. Davis, 3. Gardner, 4. Ebberts, 5. Spencer, 6. Springstead, 7. Kirby. 2:56.50 
 
  SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Cardey, 2. Graham, 3. Kruseman, 4. Hermansader, 5. Gaunt, 6. Wilson, 7. Keller. NT 
 
  THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. R.Williams, 2. Johnson, 3. Hillberg, 4. Sheridan, 5. Crawford, 6. Ercse, 7. Hawley. NT 
 
  FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Cody, 2. Ostling, 3. Jones, 4. Ballard, 5. J.Williams, 6. Waitman. 2:57.64 
 
  SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Kirby, 2. Gaunt, 3. Wilson, 4. Waitman, 5. Spencer, 6. Crawford, 7. J.Williams, 8. Springstead, 9. Keller, 10. Ercse, 11. Hawley. 3:31.13 
 
  FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Damion Gardner, 2. Cory Kruseman, 3. Charles Davis, Jr., 4. Mike Kirby, 5. Danny Sheridan, 6. Rip Williams, 7. Rickie Gaunt, 8. Alan Ballard, 9. Seth Wilson, 10. Dan Hillberg, 11. Tony Jones, 12. Ronnie Clark, 13. Mike Spencer, 14. Bobby Graham, 15. Jimmy Crawford, 16. Danny Ebberts, 17. David Cardey, 18. R.J. Johnson, 19. Steve Ostling, 20. Jordan Hermansader, 21. Bobby Cody, 22. Randy Waitman. NT 

Hard charger Seth Wilson from 18th to 9th.

**David Cardey flipped during the feature. 
 
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-21 Davis, Laps 22-30 Gardner. 
 
NEW USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Rip Williams-628; 2-Davis-598; 3-Kirby-598; 4-Gardner-593; 5-Kruseman-567; 6-Gaunt-445; 7-Jones-361; 8-Wilson-337; 9-Spencer-325; 10-Ballard-323. 
 
NEXT USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: May 21 – Phoenix, AZ – Manzanita Speedway 


 

GARDNER TAKES THE HIGH ROAD TO EXCITING VENTURA WIN

 

By Ken Wagner – 5/8/05

 

Damion Gardner, from Concord, California won his fourth Valvoline USAC/CRA main event win of the season in his Temecula Valley Pipe & Supply, Arizona Race Mart, Eagle, Shaver powered # 50 sprinter. He came from the sixth starting spot riding the high groove and taking the lead with two laps to go from Mike Kirby who had led from the start in the 30 lap feature at Ventura Raceway.

 

Kirby had been enjoying a nice lead when a yellow flag flew with five laps to go and Damion in a close second place. The last restart quickly became a titanic battle for the lead. Damion passed Kirby twice before it stuck with two laps to go. The Demon was very patient and said in the winners circle “I was so high up on the cushion, it didn’t look like I was gaining on them at first, but then I started reeling them in and we won this one in the end”. He was followed by Kirby, Cory Kruseman, Blake Miller (the local 360 VRA point leader) and Mike Spencer, with his best finish of the year so far, across the stripe.

 

Point leader, Rip Williams, suffered a flat tire early in the feature and came all the way back to seventh for a great drive. Young Alan Ballard missed a transfer to the main when he was fifth in the Semi, but took a provisional to start 21st in the main. He immediately got on his head on the opening lap, but restarted and got the hard charger award coming back to 10th.

 

On a perfect night by the ocean, while other tracks around the state suffered rainouts, the big crowd enjoyed great racing and an early drive home. The 10 o’clock curfew gets everyone in and out early and you just can’t beat the racing on the small quarter mile bullring known as “the best little dirt track by the sea”.

 

Earlier in the night Damion took two hot laps to honor Marge Bromme, the mother of his crew chief Bruce Bromme Jr, who passed away last Tuesday. Marge, often called “Mom” by all those who loved her, was the heart of the Bromme Racing team from the beginning. She collected and organized albums of racing items like decals, programs, business cards, hat pins and more to document her love for the sport. She  leaves behind her son Bruce, his wife Pam and her pooch Misty. Any donations can be made to: Hospice Partners of Central Coast, 277 South Street, San Luis Obispo, CA 92401.

 

VALVOLINE USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: May 7, 2005 – Ventura, California – Ventura Raceway

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-11.999; 2. J.Hicks, 66, Miller-11.999; 3. Tony Jones, 87, Vermeer/Ferreira-12.018; 4. Charles Davis, Jr., 8A, Smiley-12.054; 5. Damion Gardner, 50, Chaffin-12.065; 6. Danny Sheridan, 18, Kittle-12.132; 7. Mike Spencer, 44, Engstrom-12.137; 8. Rodney Argo, 19, Argo-12.203; 9. Alan Ballard, 97, Ballard-12.226; 10. Mike Kirby, 4, Alexander-12.244; 11. Blake Miller, 5x, Keller-12.250; 12. Cory Kruseman, 38, Crossno-12.250; 13. Rickie Gaunt, 2A, Smiley-12.280; 14. R.J. Johnson, 15AZ, Martin-12.326; 15. Seth Wilson, 17, Racing Optics-12.369; 16. Dan Hillberg, 82, Hillberg-12.391; 17. Steve Ostling, 5, Keller-12.399; 18. Jimmy Crawford, 17C, Crawford-12.412; 19. Ronnie Case, 0, Shoemaker-12.431; 20. Clark Templeman III, 18T, Luport-12.457; 21. Bobby Graham, 14, Lancaster-12.489; 22. Nadine Keller, 16, Keller-12.709; 23. Steve Conrad, 91, Ferro-12.795; 24. Ron Bach, 48, Bach-12.916; 25. Joshua Williams, 34, Williams-13.249; 26. Hobie Conway, 29x, Conway-13.273; 27. Dennis Rodriguez, 20, Rowher-13.402; 28. Shawn Kautz, 29, Kautz-13.431; 29. Ron Tjaarda, 0X, Kruseman-14.341.

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Gardner, 2. Ostling, 3. R.Williams, 4. Gaunt, 5. J.Williams, 6. Tjaarda, 7. Ballard, 8. Graham. NT

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Kirby, 2. Hicks, 3. Sheridan, 4. Johnson, 5. Conway, 6. Keller, 7. Crawford. NT

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Conrad, 2. Case, 3. Miller, 4. Spencer, 5. Rodriguez, 6. Wilson, 7. Jones. NT

FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Kruseman, 2. Argo, 3. Bach, 4. Templeman, 5. Kautz, 6. Davis, 7. Hillberg. NT

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Jones, 2. Davis, 3. Crawford, 4. Wilson, 5. Ballard, 6. J.Williams, 7. Kautz, 8. Keller, 9. Rodriguez, 10.Hillberg, 11. Conway, 12, Tjaarda. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Damion Gardner, 2. Mike Kirby, 3. Cory Kruseman, 4. Blake Miller, 5. Mike Spencer, 6. Tony Jones, 7. Rip Williams, 8. Charles Davis, Jr., 9. Rickie Gaunt, 10. Alan Ballard, 11. Seth Wilson, 12. Steve Conrad, 13. Danny Sheridan, 14. R.J. Johnson, 15. Steve Ostling, 16. Ron Bach, 17. Ronnie Case, 18. J.Hicks, 19. Rodney Argo, 20. Jimmy Crawford, 21. Clark Templeman III. NT

-----------------------------------
**Ballard flipped at the start of the feature. Rodney Argo flipped on the second lap of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-28 Kirby, Laps 29-30 Gardner.

NEW USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-R.Williams-571; 2-Kirby-541; 3-Davis-537; 4-Gardner-521; 5-Kruseman-503; 6-Gaunt-395; 7-Jones-321; 8-Josh Ford-310; 9-Wilson-299; 10-Spencer-297.

NEXT USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: May 14 – Perris (CA) Auto Speedway


 

Gardner Takes the PAS

 

VALVOLINE USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: April 30, 2005 - Perris, California - Perris Auto Speedway

 

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Damion Gardner, 50, Chaffin-16.010; 2. Seth Wilson, 17, Racing Optics-16.206; 3. Charles Davis, Jr, 8A, Smiley-16.313; 4. Bobby Cody, 41, Cody-16.390; 5. Rickie Gaunt, 2A, Smiley-16.425; 6. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-16.433; 7. Cory Kruseman, 38, Crossno-16.560; 8. Rick Becker, 67, Becker-16.573; 9. Danny Ebberts, 77, Acosta-16.575; 10. Tony Jones, 87, Vermeer/Ferreira-16.650; 11. Rodney Argo, 19, Argo-16.710; 12. Mike Kirby, 4, Alexander-16.725; 13. Mike Spencer, 44, Engstrom-16.753; 14. Alan Ballard, 97, Ballard-16.766; 15. J.Hicks, 66, Miller-16.801; 16. David Cardey, 59, Giardina-16.856; 17. Jordan Hermansader, 92, Sertich-16.866; 18. Jason York, 25N, York-16.889; 19. R.J. Johnson, 15AZ, Martin-16.899; 20. Steve Ostling, 5, Keller-16.918; 21. Dan Hillberg, 82, Hillberg-16.925; 22. Bobby Graham, 14, Lancaster-16.930; 23. Steve Paden, 1, Farrier-17.110; 24. Johnny Rodriguez, 7, Priestley-17.124; 25. Jimmy Crawford, 17C, Crawford-17.170; 26. Ronnie Case, 0, Shoemaker-17.268; 27. Jimmy Thornell, 25, Ruth-17.391; 28. J.J. Ercse, 33, Blair-17.560; 29. Todd Hunsaker, 75, Hunsaker-17.672; 30. Joshua Williams, 34, Williams-17.720; 31. Brandon Springstead, 36, Springstead-17.799; 32. Nadine Keller, 16, Keller-18.325; 33. Jack Hawley, 1J, Hawley-18.332; 34. Richard Rose, N8, Ziegler-NT.

TROPHY DASH: (3 laps) 1. Davis, 2. Gardner, 3. Cody, 4. Wilson. :50.16

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Hillberg, 2. Crawford, 3. Spencer, 4. Ebberts, 5. Hunsaker, 6. Gaunt, 7. Hawley, 8. Hermansader, 9. Gardner. NT

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. R.Williams, 2. Jones, 3. Ballard, 4. Case, 5. York, 6. Graham, 7. Wilson, 8. J.Williams. 2:59:40
 

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Hicks, 2. Davis, 3, Kruseman, 4. Argo, 5. Johnson, 6. Springstead, 7. Thornell, 8. Paden. NT

FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Kirby, 2. Ostling, 3. Ercse, 4. Becker, 5. Cardey, 6. Cody, 7. Keller,  8. Rodriguez. 2:56:80

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Wilson, 2. Hermansader, 3. Johnson, 4. Cody, 5. Cardey, 6. Rodriguez, 7. York, 8. Graham, 9. Thornell, 10. J.Williams, 11. Springstead, 12. Gaunt, 13. Hawley, 14. Keller, 15. Hunsaker, 16. Gardner. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Damion Gardner, 2. Cory Kruseman, 3. Tony Jones, 4. Mike Kirby, 5. Charles Davis, Jr., 6. Rip Williams, 7. Danny Ebberts, 8. Jordan Hermansader, 9. Alan Ballard, 10. Mike Spencer, 11. Rick Becker, 12. Johnny Rodriguez, 13. R.J. Johnson, 14. Seth Wilson, 15. David Cardey, 16. J.Hicks, 17. Ronnie Case, 18. J.J. Ercse, 19. Jimmy Crawford, 20. Steve Ostling, 21. Bobby Cody, 22. Dan Hillberg, 23. Rodney Argo. NT
-------------------------------------

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-5 Argo, Laps 6-20 Kirby, Laps 21-27 Kruseman, Laps 28-30 Gardner.

NEW USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Rip Williams-517; 2-Davis-492; 3-Kirby-476; 4-Gardner-451; 5-Kruseman-441; 6-Gaunt-354; 7-Josh Ford-310; 8-Jones-268; 9-Wilson-267; 10-Ballard-246.

NEXT USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: May 7 - Ventura (CA) Raceway
 


 

Rip Williams Notches 100th Career USAC/CRA Win

 

VALVOLINE USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: April 16, 2005 – Perris, California – Perris Auto Speedway

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Damion Gardner, 50, Chaffin-16.140; 2. Tracy Hines, 7, Priestley-16.439; 3. Alan Ballard, 97, Ballard-16.474; 4. Mike Kirby, 4, Alexander-16.539; 5. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-16.673; 6. Mike Spencer, 44, Engstrom- 16.683; 7. Bobby Graham, 14, Lancaster-16.758; 8. Rickie Gaunt, 2A, Smiley-16.759; 9. Charles Davis, Jr, 8A, Smiley-16.769; 10. Rodney Argo, 19, Argo-16.815; 11. Josh Ford, 73, Ford-16.830; 12. R. J. Johnson, 51AZ, Martin-16.865; 13. Steve Ostling, 5, Keller-16.900; 14. Tony Jones, 87, Vermeer/Ferreira-16.900; 15. Dwayne Marcum, 12, Pratt-16.912; 16. Dan Hillberg, 82, Hillberg-16.959; 17. Bobby Cody, 41, Cody-16.970; 18. David Cardey, 59, Giardina-16.989; 19. Cory Kruseman, 38, Crossno-17.047; 20. Rick Becker, 67, Becker-17.092; 21. Jordan Hermansader, 92, Sertich-17.174; 22. Kevin Urton, 51, Urton-17.215; 23. Greg Bragg, 11, Wilkerson-17.235; 24. Danny Sheridan, 18, Kittle-17.271; 25. Randy Waitman, 64, Waitman-17.321; 26. Mark Heidenreich, 22, Heidenreich-17.350; 27. Jimmy Crawford, 17C, Crawford-17.367; 28. Joshua Williams, 34, Williams-17.374; 29. J J Ercse, 33, Blair-17.525; 30. Seth Wilson, 17, Racing Optics-17.554; 31. Nadine Keller, 16, Keller-17.595; 32. Tom Stansberry, 48, Bach-17.610; 33. Danny Ebberts, 77, Acosta-17.612; 34. Jimmy Thornell, 25, Ruth-17.747; 35. Ronnie Case, 07, Gresham-18.015; 36. Brandon Springstead, 36, Springstead-19.282.

TROPHY DASH: (3 laps) 1. Ballard, 2. Kirby, 3. Gardner, 4. Hines. :53.24

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Hermansader, 2. Gardner, 3. R.Williams, 4. Waitman, 5. Ebberts, 6. Ostling, 7. Ercse, 8. Davis, 9. Cody. NT

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Cardey, 2. Wilson, 3. Argo, 4. Hines, 5. Jones, 6. Urton, 7. Spencer, 8. Heidenreich, 9. Thornell. 2:55:09

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Crawford, 2. Kruseman, 3. Ford, 4. Marcum, 5. Ballard, 6. Case, 7. Keller, 8. Bragg, 9. Graham. NT

FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Becker, 2. Gaunt, 3. Kirby, 4. Johnson, 5. Stansberry, 6. Hillberg, 7. Springstead, 8. Sheridan, 9. J.Williams. NT

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Spencer, 2. Davis, 3. Jones, 4., Graham, 5. Ballard, 6. Hillberg, 7. Urton, 8. Cody, 9. Ercse, 10. Stansberry, 11. Case, 12. Thornell, 13. Ebberts, 14. Sheridan, 15. Keller, 16. Springstead, 17. Ostling, 18. Bragg, 19. Heidenreich. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Rip Williams, 2. Damion Gardner, 3. Mike Kirby, 4. Rickie Gaunt, 5. Josh Ford, 6. Tracy Hines, 7. Rodney Argo, 8. Charles Davis, Jr, 9. Tony Jones, 10.