PERRIS, CA, August 25 --    Cory Kruseman's summer of love with the Perris Auto Speedway continued Saturday night after the current Sprint Car Racing Association (SCRA) point leader drove to his sixth consecutive victory. 

Unlike his previous five PAS victories, Kruseman's chances of extending his streak seemed bleak prior to the start of the race thanks to his eighth starting spot.  Normally, winning from the eighth position at Perris wouldn't be thought of as a monumental task, but, track conditions on this night were very different.  Despite the hot weather conditions, the track remained extremely tacky long after Kruseman had received the checkered flag for the 12th time this season. 

"Starting eighth, I really didn't think we had a chance, but something happened on the start and they were going every which way in front of me. Things just laid out nice and it allowed us to get a good start which was the
key tonight," Kruseman said after learning that his drive to the front also won him the TW Metals Hard Charger Award.

Last year's SCRA Rookie of the Year, Jarrett Chaney, won his first career JE Pistons Dash.  While Chaney was in the process of earning the pole for the 30 lap main event, Kruseman could only watch the Dash from the work area as his crew searched to find what was causing motor problems for the Harlan Willis / WorldGate Networks No. 45 TCR.

"We had an ignition box go bad," Kruseman explained.  "Luckily, our motor builder Richard Catton (RC Performance) was with us and he hopped right on it and figured out what the problem was and the car never missed a beat."

After finishing fifth in the last Perris event, Rodney Argo edged Chaney into turn one to put the Don Argo / Decore Plating No. 19 TCR into the lead on the opening lap.  With the Joe Morales / O'Reilly Chevrolet No. 94 Buckley driven by Charles Davis, Jr. occupying the third spot, Kruseman passed Richard Griffin for fifth before the end of the first lap.  Sweeping into turn one on lap two, Kruseman moved into fourth after contact with John Scott.

Continuing his quick charge to the front, Kruseman passed Davis one lap later in turn two and relieved Chaney of the second position on lap six.  Argo had enjoyed a comfortable lead, until a lap seven miscue in turn one allowed
Kruseman to make up considerable ground.  Playing the waiting game, Kruseman was content to follow Argo until they reached lapped traffic on the 16th circuit.

Looking for his first win since the 1998 Oval Nationals at Perris, Argo withstood Kruseman's relentless challenges.  Continuing to stay aggressive while working lapped traffic, Argo bravely took any opening he could find to keep Kruseman behind him. 

"Once we got into second I figured I'd just run with (Argo) until we got into lapped traffic and that's where we'd be able to do something," said Kruseman.  "Rodney did a heck of a job tonight, we got underneath him a couple of
times, but he's a smart race car driver and he knew where the race track was.  I knew he wasn't going to just give it to me, but with the track being so heavy and everyone starting to get tired, there were plenty of opportunities
for him to make an error and he never did."

The only yellow flag of the race flew for Chaney, who came to a stop exiting turn four five laps from the finish.  At first, this looked like a huge break for Argo since Kruseman hadn't shown any indication that he could pass the
leader without the aid of lapped traffic.  Unfortunately for Argo, someone forgot to remind Kruseman of that. 

Exiting turn four to accept the green flag on the restart, Kruseman darted around the outside of Argo's Ford powered sprinter and grabbed the lead.  Argo stayed close during the final laps of the race, but could do nothing to
prevent Kruseman from gathering his 49th career SCRA main event win.   

"Our car owner Harlan Willis is on vacation, so he turned the car over to the crew, and it just goes to show how strong our team is," Kruseman proudly smiled.  "My crew chief Mike Nigh called all the shots tonight and when he
gave me the thumbs-up during the caution with five to go, I knew we were in pretty good shape.  We just put our head down, held our breath, and were lucky enough to get by Rodney."

Griffin finished third in the Ron Chaffin / Arizona Race Mart No. 50 Jon Boy ahead of Davis.  Rickie Gaunt started tenth and drove the Alexander-Geurin / Statewide Towing No. 5x Stinger to a fifth place finish.  Tony Jones made his debut in the Mike Wall entry and finished sixth, ahead of Sander Engineering Fast Time Award winner Troy Rutherford.                                        
   
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SCRA RACE #28 - PERRIS AUTO SPEEDWAY, PERRIS, CA
Date of Race: 08/25/01

SANDER ENGINEERING TIME TRIALS
1. Troy Rutherford, Ojai CA, Gardner, Jr  4 , 16.776  2. Rickie Gaunt, Torrance CA, M&B Racing 5X , 16.815  3. Cory Kruseman, Ventura CA, Willis 45 , 16.848  4. Richard Griffin, Silver City NM, Chaffin 50 , 16.877  5. Rodney Argo, Gardena CA, Argo 19 , 16.894  6. Tony Jones, Corona CA, Wall 37, 16.901  7. Jarrett Chaney, Clovis CA.,Chaney 69 , 16.952  8. Rip Williams, Yorba Linda CA, Jory 3 , 16.980  9. Charles Davis, Jr, Chandler AZ., Morales 94, 17.000  10. John Scott, Hesperia CA, Scott Mtrsprts 83, 17.024  11. Mike English, Norwalk CA., Priestley 7, 17.053  12. Danny Sheridan, Santa Maria CA, Sertich 92, 17.118  13. Lance Gremett, San Marcos CA., Gremett 85, 17.133 14. Gary W. Howard, Fontana CA, Ruth 25 , 17.145  15. Brian Venard, Tustin CA, Venard. 47 , 17.262  16. Mike Kirby, Lomita CA, M&B Racing 5, 17.335  17.  Mike Spencer, (R) Temecula CA, Engstrom 44, 17.376  18. Steve Ostling, Corona CA, Fischer Mtrspts 29, 17.404  19. Mark Nation, Los Olivos CA, Nation 3N, 17.420  20. Michael Hinrichsen, (R) Lakeside CA, Lake Mtrsprts. 16,
17.458  21. Jack DeArmond, Jr., Corona CA, DeArmond, Sr. 24 , 17.463  22. Charlie Ekiss, La Mesa CA, Ball 78, 17.464  23. Troy Cline, Santa Clarita CA, Cheney. 21J, 17.470  24. Marc Hart, Ventura CA, Hart 15 , 17.507  25. Adam Mitchell, Escondido CA, Mitchell 99, 17.530  26. Steve Venard, Silverado CA, Glover 49, 17.544  27. Jordan Hermansader, Long Beach CA, Pratt 12 , 17.598 28. Bobby Graham, Riverside CA, Silver State 14, 17.625  29. Ronnie Clark, (R) Tucson AZ, Winter 33 , 17.671 30. Cal Smith, Montclair CA, Pratt. 39 ,
17.788  31. Mel Murphy, Riverside CA, Murphy 62, 17.848  32. Jimmy Gardner, (R) Garden Grove CA, Gardner Jr 96 , 17.912  33. Tony Everhart, El Cajon CA, Everhart 55, 17.998  34. Tony Lima, Industry CA, Lima 30, 18.071  35. Glenn Crossno, (R) Alta Loma CA, Crossno 38 , 18.467  36. Dan Hillberg, Whittier CA, Hillberg 82 , 18.783  37. Dan Tedrick, Hesperia CA, Tedrick 88, 18.951 38. Steve Koster, (R) El Cajon CA, Koster 42 , 19.202  39. Duane Marcum, Fresno CA, Jones 38J, 19.640  40. Jeremy Ellerson, Hermosa Beach CA.,Ellerson
98X, No Time

C FEATURE
1. Ronnie Clark.    2. Cal Smith. 3. Mel Murphy, 4. Tony Everhart. 5. Jimmy Gardner, 6. Dan Hillberg, 7. Tony Lima. 8. Steve Koster,  9. Dan Tedrick. 10. Duane Marcum, 11. Glenn Crossno.

HEDMAN HEDDERS HEAT 1
1. Jack DeArmond, Jr., 2. Lance Gremett, 3. Rodney Argo, 4. Charles Davis, Jr, 5. Adam Mitchell, 6. Mike Spencer, 7. Troy Rutherford, 8. Ronnie Clark,

SHAVER ENGINES HEAT 2
1. Gary W. Howard, 2. Steve Ostling, 3. John Scott, 4. Tony Jones, 5. Charlie Ekiss, 6. Steve Venard, 7. Cal Smith, 8. Rickie Gaunt,

KSE PRODUCTS HEAT 3
1. Troy Cline, 2. Jordan Hermansader, 3. Jarrett Chaney, 4. Cory Kruseman, 5. Mike English, 6. Brian Venard, 7. Mark Nation, 8. Mel Murphy,

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS HEAT 4
1. Marc Hart, 2. Bobby Graham, 3. Richard Griffin, 4. Mike Kirby, 5. Rip Williams, 6. Michael Hinrichsen, 7. Danny Sheridan, 8. Tony Everhart,

JE PISTONS DASH
1. Jarrett Chaney. 2. Rodney Argo. 3. Richard Griffin. 4. Charles Davis, Jr. 5. Tony Jones. 6. John Scott. 7. Lance Gremett. 8. Cory Kruseman.

JB ENTERPRISE B FEATURE
1. Rickie Gaunt.    2. Troy Rutherford. 3. Rip Williams. 4. Mike English. 5. Danny Sheridan. 6. Brian Venard. 7. Michael Hinrichsen. 8. Mike Spencer. 9. Charlie Ekiss. 10.  Adam Mitchell. 11, Ronnie Clark. 12.  Mark Nation. 13. Tony Everhart. 14.  Mel Murphy. 15.  Steve Venard. 16.  Cal Smith.

A FEATURE (30 LAPS)
1. Cory Kruseman. 2. Rodney Argo. 3. Richard Griffin. 4. Charles Davis, Jr.  5. Rickie Gaunt. 6. Tony Jones. 7. Troy Rutherford. 8. John Scott. 9. Mike English. 10.  Rip Williams. 11.  Danny Sheridan, 12. Mike Kirby. 13. Lance Gremett. 14.  Steve Ostling. 15. Troy Cline. 16. Gary W. Howard. 17.  Marc Hart. 18.  Bobby Graham. 19. Jack DeArmond, Jr.  20.  Brian Venard. 21, Jordan Hermansader. 22.  Jarrett Chaney.
Laps Led: Argo 1-25, Kruseman 26-30

SCRA DRIVER Point Standings as of: 08/25/01

CAR            NAME                  HOMETOWN             STARTS POINTS
1.  45  Cory Kruseman                  Ventura CA         28  1937   
2.  50  Richard Griffin                    Silver City NM    26  1621
3.  4   Troy Rutherford                  Ojai CA               28  1590
4.  5   Mike Kirby                          Lomita CA          28  1547
5.  83  John Scott                          Hesperia CA        28  1394
6.  3   Rip Williams                        Yorba Linda CA  28  1263
7.  5X  Rickie Gaunt                      Torrance CA       28  1231
8.  29  Steve Ostling                      Corona CA          27  1180
9.  7   Mike English                        Norwalk CA        27  1168
10. 94  Charles Davis, Jr               Chandler AZ         27  1050
11. 92  Danny Sheridan                 Santa Maria CA    28  936
12. 37  Tony Jones                        Corona CA          18  926
13. 21J Troy Cline                         Santa Clarita CA  18  782
14. 19  Rodney Argo                     Gardena CA         21  726
15. 99  Adam Mitchell                   Escondido CA      26  562
16. 85  Lance Gremett                  San Marcos CA    28  511
17. 16  Michael Hinrichsen  (R)     Lakeside CA         28  466
18. 17  Greg DeCaires                  Elk Grove CA       16  447
19. 9   George Gervais                  Mira Loma CA      23  426
20. 12X Casey Shuman                Tempe AZ             19  419