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AMBITIOUS
DAVID CARDEY SETS HIS SIGHTS ON VALVOLINE USAC/CRA ROOKIE OF THE
YEAR AWARD! |
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(APRIL 4, 2004, PERRIS, CA)
This Saturday night, when Temecula Valley Pipe & Supply and Vista Paint
present the Budweiser Bash at Perris Auto Speedway for the Valvoline USAC/CRA
Sprint Cars and the Executive Plumbing California Lightning Sprint Cars,
Riverside’s David Cardey will be a very busy driver as he will be running both
classes. The fact of the matter is
Cardey, who is also known as “Dynamite,” is busy even when he is not running
the powerful 410 cubic inch sprint cars or the lightning sprints.
On March 27th, his Perris Auto Speedway lightning sprint car
undefeated string, which stretched back to late in the 2002 season, was broken.
The string did not end because someone beat him to the checkered flag.
It ended because Cardey was making his debut with the NASCAR Grand
National West Series on the half-mile high banks at Bakersfield’s Mesa Marin
Raceway. Driving a Pontiac for car
owners John Krebs and Jack Sellers, Cardey qualified 18th and
finished 11th in the Lucas Oil 150.
Another multi-time PAS main event winner, David Gilliland, won the race.
Cardey will only run five races in that series this year, as he wants to
run for Rookie of the Year in 2005. Cardey
will also run a pair of races in the Jim Russell Series in 2004 to keep his
license current. Driving for car owner and
retired dentist Jim Giardina, also of Riverside, Cardey launched into the world
of 410 sprint car racing when the Valvoline USAC/CRA series staged its first
ever race on March 6th at The PAS.
After a mishap while leading his heat race, he transferred from the B
main to a 15th place finish in the 30-lap feature.
After missing the mains at the Gary Sokola Classic at Manzanita in
Phoenix, Cardey took twelfth in the feature last Saturday at King’s Speedway
in Hanford. “The 410 sprint car is
completely different than anything I have ever been in.
It has a lot more power and is the most awesome thing I have ever been
in. The Lightning and the NASCAR
Grand National cars are actually quite a bit the same because you drive them in
head first,” stated the friendly 28-year old. The Valvoline USAC/CRA car will
take precedence over the other two cars in 2004 for the popular Cardey.
“We are running the whole series (USAC/CRA) and we are going for Rookie
of the Year. By the end of the
season I would like to be consistently making mains and winning heat races.
I don’t think I will win a main event, but it would be nice to win some
heat races.” Car owner Giardina has
affectionately been known as the “The Tooth Doc” for over two decades in
Southern California racing circles. A
native of Illinois who cut his early racing teeth in drag racing, Giardina began
his open wheel-racing career with the USRC Midgets at San Bernardino’s Orange
Show Speedway in 1979. He raced
midgets around the country before moving into traditional (non wing) and winged
sprint cars in the 1980s. Giardina’s
driving career came to an abrupt end due to a non-racing injury suffered in
2001. His wealth of knowledge will
be a welcome tool for Cardey as he seeks the prestigious Valvoline USAC/CRA
Rookie of the Year Award. In racing with the Valvoline
USAC/CRA Sprint Cars, Cardey is competing against some of the best drivers in
the world and this Saturday he will tangle with Concord’s Damion Gardner, Troy
Rutherford of Ojai, Rip Williams of Yorba Linda, Corona’s Steve Ostling, Mike
Kirby of Torrance and Tony Jones of Orange. Spectator gates will open at
5:00 PM on Saturday. Advance tickets are on sale now by calling 1-800-595-4849, (909) 940-0134 or
on the Internet at www.tix.com or
www.perrisautospeedway.com. Perris Auto Speedway is conveniently located on the Lake Perris Fairgrounds, home of the Southern California Fair, approximately one hour east of Los Angeles. Take the 215 Freeway, exit at the Ramona Expressway and go east two and a half miles to the fairgrounds. For more information on any Perris Auto Speedway events, please call (909) 940-0134.
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