|
Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| 2003
SCRA OPENER AT THE PAS by Norm Bogan |
|
|
|
It was a little different for the SCRA opener.
After torrential rains earlier in the week, the track was ready, but
there was still a lake in the infield pits.
The pit area was shifted to the pit parking area, where overload fields
pitted during programs with multiple classes of cars.
While this was somewhat of an inconvenience for the teams, all worked out
okay and the program went off without any major problems.
Forty cars signed in for this initial race of 2003. Most were regulars from the last few years, but there were a number of visitors, such as Andy Forsberg and Mike Faria from the winged genre in the north part of the state. Jerry Coons Jr. came over from Arizona to race and then there were some of the candidates for Rookie of the Year. Josh Ford came over from the VRA program, Allan Ballard also came from the VRA and Bandits and Seth Wilson, former National Dwarf Car champ was ready to make his bid for the freshman title, as was Nick Lima, who swapped places with Dad, now known as Crew Chief. VRA Champion, Jimmy Crawford entered his 360 against the 410 SCRA cars for the night. Another VRA regular, Steve Gresham also gave the SCRA show a try. SCRA had a different look this year. There was no Mike Kirby at the wheel. Cory Kruseman was in a different car after nine years in the Willis Sprinter. There was no #20 Silver and Green bullet with Damion Gardner aboard, however the Demon had settled into the Willis #45 vacated by Kruseman. Damion and Harlan had merged their teams over the off-season and Willis had added a second car, #54 for Josh Ford. Both Willis cars sport the familiar black, white and red color scheme. Richard Griffin returned in the same red #50 Chaffin car for his eighth season. Troy Rutherford remains in the #7 yellow and red Priestley car. Jack and Sharon Jory brought out two new Stingers with beautiful black paint jobs on the #3 for Rip Williams and #6 for Mike English. Rickie Gaunt was in the silver Alexander #4, while Mike Spencer campaigns the yellow #44 Engstrom sprinter. Rodney Argo wheeled the red and white #19 Decore Plating Special and Lance Gremett was back in an all red #85. Bobby Cody gridded another silver, blue and pink #41 and Charles Davis returned with his red and yellow #94. While there were many more cars and color schemes, most driven by familiar faces, nearly all had new paint jobs, freshened engines and upgraded bolt-on parts. Damion set fast time on the initial run in the new car, but it was short lived as “Gasman” came out a couple of cars later and turned the only sixteen second lap of the night. Transfers from the consi were Seth Wilson, Mark Heidenreich, Trevor Brilman and Bob Ferro. Richard Griffin, Rickie Gaunt, Levi Jones and Mike Spencer won the heats. Rip Williams bested Griffin in the Passing Masters Dash and the transfers from the “B” feature were Kruseman, Gremett, Cody, Forsberg, Faria and Sweeney. Now the opening night feature was set, led by Williams and Griffin. Early on Danny Sheridan appeared to lose steering and hit the turn one wall and flipping. He was shaken and was later spotted in the pits with an icepack on his neck. During the red, Damion Gardner’s crew was able to replace a faulty ignition box, which had caused the car to fall back. Charlie Davis continues to suffer hard luck, as he climbed over Gardner’s rear tire and flipped, damaging his frame. Griffin, the early race leader pulled down low and guided his mount to the infield as his engine expired. It was then Bobby Cody’s turn to flip in turn one, which only brought out a yellow, instead of a red, where the teams could have refueled. Soon after the restart with Williams now the leader, smoke started to come from his car and he joined Griffin on the sidelines with another blown engine. Then the out of gas cycle started with first Ostling, then Kruseman and finally Spencer pulling in from top five spots for a refill. During this time, Gardner’s problems also became terminal and he parked his new ride. With all this shuffling, Rutherford had taken the point closely pursued by Tony Jones, who got out front for a lap. At the finish, it was Rutherford, Jones, English, Gaunt and Sweeney in the front five positions. The weather was much more cooperative than last year’s cold wind and dust. Track conditions were ideal throughout the night and the racing was outstanding. Hopefully, the teams that suffered problems tonight will be back at the next race and ready to strut their stuff. Possibly contributing to this evening’s rash of out of fuel conditions was the fact that the teams were pitting in unfamiliar territory and may have overlooked carrying enough fuel to the work area. |
