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KNOCKDOWN
DRAG OUT FIGHT FOR USAC/CRA CHAMPIONSHIP CONTINUES AT PERRIS THIS
SATURDAY! |
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(SEPTEMBER
13, 2005, PERRIS, CA)
The best west coast championship battle in years will return to
Perris Auto Speedway this Saturday when the Valvoline USAC/CRA Sprint Cars
return to their home track. Saturday’s
program will be presented by legendary sprint car racing supporters Temecula
Valley Pipe & Supply. When
the popular series arrived at The PAS two weeks ago, longtime Yorba Linda,
California sprint car superstar Rip Williams held a slim 10 point lead over
Concord, California’s Damion Gardner in the championship standings.
By the time they left the track, Gardner, who won the 50-lap main event
that evening on a tricky track that was slickened by a non-stop breeze, had
taken over the point lead and had an 11-point advantage. Gardner
took his lead to Jim Naylor’s Ventura Raceway last Saturday, but by the time
the races were over, Williams had reclaimed the top spot.
The defending USAC/CRA champion parlayed a fourth place finish at Ventura
into a lead of 11 points as the series returns to The PAS this Saturday night.
Gardner
had an uncharacteristic night at Ventura when he qualified 11th.
He then finished fifth in his heat and had to race in the B main where he
took the fourth and final transfer spot before ending up eighth in the A main
event. Ventura’s
Cory Kruseman won his seventh USAC/CRA main of the season last Saturday and may
well be the driver to beat at The PAS this week.
He has won three out of the last five main events in the series.
In his last three outings on the brightly lit Riverside County clay oval,
Kruseman, who will turn 35 years old next Tuesday, has won two main events and
finished second in the other. Kruseman’s
win at Ventura last Saturday was the 75th of his career in combined
CRA/SCRA action. That ranks him
sixth overall and only five behind National Sprint Car Hall of Famer Bubby
Jones. The only active driver with
more wins than Kruseman is Williams who has an even 100.
The late Dean Thompson is the overall leader with 103 victories. While
Williams and Gardner are at the top slugging it out for the title much like
Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier 34-years ago, Kruseman and Torrance, California’s
Mike Kirby are locked into a dogfight for third place in the standings.
Heading into Saturday’s race at The PAS, Kirby, who was fast qualifier
at Ventura last week, is one point ahead of Kruseman.
Counting them totally out of the championship hunt would be foolish.
They are 119 and 120 points behind Williams respectively.
A month and a half ago Williams had a 109-point lead over Gardner and
many wrongly thought the championship had already been decided.
The 2005 season Valvoline USAC/CRA Series still has two months remaining. Saturday
dual in the dirt will consist of qualifying, the 3-lap Snap-on Tools Trophy
Dash, four heats races, a 12 lap B main and a 30 lap A main.
Spectator gates will open at 5:00 PM. Don’t
forget, on Friday night, The Diamond Valley Automotive Group Honda – Mazda –
Volkswagen Strip at The PAS street legal drag strip will be in action as well.
The cost to race on the drag strip is only $20.00 per competitor.
Gates open at 5:00 PM. Perris
Auto Speedway is conveniently located on the freeway close 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. racesatthepas@aol.com
is the only authorized Internet address to issue official media news released
from The Perris Auto Speedway or Oval Entertainment VALVOLINE
USAC/CRA POINT STANDINGS
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