Lakewood, CA., February 25 -- Round two of the NAPA
/ Auto Trader SCRA sprint car series will be held this Saturday night, March 2nd
at the Perris Auto Speedway (Perris, CA).
For the third time in his career, J.J. Yeley (Phoenix, AZ) won the SCRA season
opener (held on February 9th at Perris). Yeley's victory gave former SCRA
driver Dwight Cheney (Arcadia) his first main event win as a car owner. Yeley
currently leads the SCRA points standings, but will not content for the
championship since he plans to again return to the Midwest once the racing
season begins there. Yeley will, however, team up with Cheney for the next
three races.
Yeley's brief return rekindles a rivalry with Ventura's Cory Kruseman that dates
back to 1994 when both drivers were rookies on the SCRA tour. Kruseman won
two main events that year, but was edged by Yeley for Rookie of the Year honors.
Today, both men reign as Champions of their respective clubs. Yeley with
USAC, and Kruseman as the SCRA Champ.
Despite winning a record 12 main events at Perris last season, Kruseman didn't
enjoy the luck on opening day that he was accustom to having at Perris.
Relegated to a 15th place finish, Kruseman ended the day 54 points
behind out of the point lead in 17th place.
Ojai's Troy Rutherford finished second to Yeley and sits only two points behind
him in the point standings (78 to 76). In addition to Rutherford, some of
the other pre-season favorites to challenge Kruseman also enjoyed
more success than the defending champ. Three-time SCRA Champion (1998-00)
Richard Griffin (Silver City, NM) finished third with Tony Jones (Garden Grove)
and John Scott (Hesperia) rounding out the top-five.
Other drivers expected to challenge the aforementioned men this weekend will be
Kokomo, Indiana's Tony Elliott, Rip Williams (Yorba Linda), Mike Kirby (Lomita)
and Western World Champion Jeremy Sherman (Phoenix, AZ). Spectator gates
open at 4:00 pm on Saturday, with the first race scheduled for 6:30 pm.
