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See You At The Races!!! |
| RACING
SCENE by Tim Kennedy |
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SCRA At Perris - |
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Los Angeles, CA.- I attended the SCRA Sprint Car welcome back to The
PAS race in Perris Sunday, August 31 following the annual
Midwest racing tour by the West Coast sprint car organization.
Biggest surprise of the two-week tour was the $10,000 victory check
to local 19-year old local driver Jesse Hockett, after the final
main event at Lakeside Speedway, in Kansas City, KS. That upset
victory has to rank in SCRA annals with the $30,000 victory by
Travis Rilat at Oskaloosa, IA to open the 2002 SCRA Midwest Tour.
Young Boston Reid took that king-size $30,000 payoff at Oskaloosa on
the 2003 SCRA tour. It seems SCRA drivers are being shut out of the
biggest paydays on their Midwest swings lately even though they win
some of the mains. Meanwhile, back at The PAS a solid field of 35 sprinters appeared for the standard show, topped by a 50-lap main instead of the usual 30 laps. Tony Jones and Brian Venard had new cars. Charles Davis, Jr hauled his own No. 94 across the desert from Arizona after placing second in an Arizona 360 sprint race Friday in Fred Bryan's No. 77. He took third in the PAS 50 (his best finishes in SCRA are second and thirds.) Arizonan Jeremy Sherman raced the No. 4 Alexander Chevy after Cory Kruseman won the 40-lap main in it Friday night in Ventura. Cory flew back to the Midwest about 4:30 a.m Saturday to chase USAC points for car owner Tony Stewart. Nine car heats were entertaining. H-1 - Mike Spencer started third and led the first seven laps before seventh starter Troy Rutherford led the last three laps. H-2 - Rookie Seth Wilson led the first three and last five laps to beat five veterans in a tight six-car battle to the end. H-3 - Danny Sheridan led all ten laps from the pole. H-4 - Rookie Josh Ford led the first seven laps and then ex-USAC Midget star Jordan Hermansader came from sixth grid position to lead the final three laps. I was impressed with current USAC Midget driving star Alex Harris, a 25-year old driver from Simi Valley. Alex is the 1997 and l998 USAC TQ Midget driving champion, driving his dad Orville's No. 54. Alex only raced in eight of the 20 USAC Western States races last year, because of financial reasons in racing a family-funded racing team. Yet he had one win, one second, one third and two P4-10 to finish 11th in final points. He had one fast qualifying time as well. Clearly, Alex is a personable and talented driver and he needs more racing action than his family can afford. Alex has raced in 63 USAC W/S Midget races from 1999-2002 and has three feature victories, 22 top fives and 39 top tens in the 63 features. He also had a strong fourth place in the August, 2003 Belleville (KS) Midget National Saturday night feature in his dad's No. 54. TQ veteran Walt Johnson, Jr has been helping a friend on the SCRA No. 31 John Burton Chevy out of San Diego. When John replaced his driver A. J. Reyer recently, Johnson suggested Alex as his replacement. Burton gave Alex a shot in the No. 31 SCRA sprinter at The PAS August 31. Alex had never sat in a sprint car before and had no practice in one until he climbed into Burton's No. 31 for hot-laps August 31. Alex qualified at 18.392, 31st fastest in the 35-car field. Flying a yellow rookie flag from his roll cage, Alex started eighth (last) in the third heat and passed Alan Ballard on lap one. Alex was seventh still on lap nine when he did a 360 loop low in turn two and continued to the checker seventh of seven cars running at the finish. Alex started 13th of 16 cars in the 12-lap B Main that advanced the first six finishers to the 50-lap A. Alex was tenth on lap two, ninth at lap five, eighth on lap six and then the all-important sixth on lap seven. After a two-car tangle in front of him, Alex was fourth and he retained fourth during the final four laps. Seven drivers were still racing outside the top six positions. Alex started 22nd (last) in the 50-lap A, and I watched his progress. Running the outside groove, Alex passed four cars driven by four veterans in two laps. He picked off rookie Wilson after four laps. Alex was 16th of 21 cars on lap nine when his left rear shock broke and had no retainer. The car became a real handful and Alex dropped out after fading to 20th. He finished 19th. Clearly, Alex and car owner Burton were pleased by his strong showing IN HIS FIRST EVER SPRINT CAR RIDE. In the pits Alex and John agreed to join forces for the next SCRA race in Perris on September 6. Burton's No. 31 Drake chassis is the ex-No. 82 car and is an ex-No. 19 Rodney Argo chassis. Burton's No. 31 Drake chassis that was an ex-No. 45 Harlan Willis (Cory Kruseman) chassis was destroyed in a crash by Reyer. This new Harris & Burton team bears watching in the future. The SCRA August 31 main event was an outstanding example of what sprint car racing should be for fans. It had four race leaders-Richard Griffin (L 1-11) a strong-running Jordan Hermansader (L 12-23 & 28-29), Troy Rutherford (L 24-27 & 28-37) and 47-year old, 26-year sprint car veteran Rip Williams (L 38-50). Hermansader's Bob Ferro owned ride is an ex-No. 39 Jeff Walker Stealth chassis raced by Tony Elliott in USAC. Rip won by 40 yards over Jones, with Davis 50 yards behind Jones. The feature concluded at 9:57, allowing plenty of time for post-race conversations in the pits. Winner Williams told the crowd, "This win is for everyone 40 and over." Runner-up Jones said, "I used two inches of stagger and three inches would've been better." Williams won his 61st SCRA feature to move one victory ahead of Friday winner Kruseman. Rip and Cory are trading the "winningest SCRA driver" honorary title as Rip Michels (36 wins) and Todd Burns (35 wins) are doing currently at Irwindale Speedway in stock cars. |
