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Perris, CA.....August
16........Tuning up for next weekend's $30,000 VRA Unwinged 360 Sprint
Nationals, Mike Kirby from Torrance made it two straight Perris Auto Speedway
VRA Sprint Car wins by charging from 6th starting to win the 30 lapper ahead of
first lap flip victim Steve Ostling. Tom Stansberry from Bakersfield ran third
and closed to within 690 points of point leader Chris Wakim, who ran 4th. In the
California Lightning Sprint action, David Cardey remained undefeated at Perris
in 2003 as he won for the 8th straight time. The series point leader has now won
11 races in 2003. Jonny Bates and Donny Gansen chased Cardey to the checkered
flag.
With a few other
cars testing the waters for the two day special, 38 cars checked in with the VRA
unwinged 360 sprint cars. Tom Downing won the first heat race ahead of Wakim and
Arizona USAC racer Shon Deskins. Driving the Tony Smiley car from Phoenix AZ,
SCRA racer Rickie Gaunt won heat 2 with Clark Templeman III second ahead of
Ostling. Making a rare start, former stock car star Rick Becker won heat 3 with
Bill Camarillo second ahead of John Aden. Kirby gained the most heat race points
by driving through the field to win heat 4 ahead of Stansberry and Will Perkins.
The top 4 from each heat moved into the 30 lap feature and they were joined by 6
transfers from a 20 car B Main. Keith Williamson was a B Main scratch and Greg
Taylor posted that win in front of Mark Deskovick, Larry Lloyd, Ronnie Case,
Mike Knopf and J J Ercse. When Taylor was unable to make the call for the 30
lapper, 8th place B Main finisher Kevin Kierce was added as the 22nd starter.
The feature inversion came up a six, puttng Ostling and Templeman on the front
row ahead of Becker, Downing, Gaunt and Kirby. The race was marred by a huge 11
car tangle on the front stretch as they took the initial green flag. Dowing,
Gaunt, Perkins, John Aden, Ercse, Jayson May and Deskovick were all taken out in
this incident and Ostling restarted after flipping. Kirby drove to the win ahead
of Ostling, Stansberry, Wakim, Becker, Ron DiDonato, Deskins, Knopf, Lloyd and
Steve Chulahoff. Wakim ended the night 690 points ahead of Stansberry. The
absent Rob Kershaw fell 1855 points out of first and Knopf closed to within 455
points of him. Kierce moved around the absent Luis Espinoza into fifth in
points. The $30,000 Nationals will see full shows on both Friday and Saturday
night. The top six finishers on Friday will be seeded into the $5,000 to win
feature on Saturday night. With several Arizona teams making the trek across the
desert, over 50 cars are expected.
The California Lightning
Sprints fielded 28 cars including the division debut for stock car racer Chris
Laney. Cardey charged from 7th starting to win heat 1 over Bates and Steve
Barnette. Ernie Bartley beat Donny Hyde and Karl Von Yokes in heat 2 that
saw series title contender Keith Janca in a fierce flip. Seth Kramer got his
first heat win in heat 3 as Mark Morgan ran second ahead of Paul Townsend. With
several crews scrambling to help him repair his TCR Chassis, Janca borrowed a
wing and won the B Main from 7th starting. Karl Benefeil ran second ahead of
Brad Russell, Dale Gamer and Gary Dent. An 8 car inversion for the 20 lap
feature put Von Yokes and S Barnette on the front row. Cardey charged from 8th
to the lead on the first lap only to have the red flag fall as Von Yokes, Steve
Nelson, Hyde and Dent tangled. After the restart, Morgan led the first lap.
Bates took over on lap 2. Townsend settled into third ahead of Kramer and S
Barnette. Cardey took fourth from Kramer on lap 4. A tangle between Kramer and
Morgan forced a lap 6 red flag. On the restart, Bates led Cardey, Townsend,
Gansen and S Barnette. Bartley raced into fifth on lap 15. With only two laps to
go, Cardey took the lead from Bates as they worked their way through a three way
battle of lapped cars. Bates went low, but Cardey's high line proved quicker.
Cardey drove to his 11th win of the year with Bates second. Gansen ran third and
picked off the hard charger award by improving 12 spots on his 15th starting
position. Townsend was fourth ahead of Bartley, Janca, Jim Henderson, S Barnette
and Benefeil. Cardey improved his point lead to 62 points over Janca and 122
ahead of Bates. Next action for the California Lightning Sprints is August 23 in
Bakersfield.
Summary
Lightning Sprints
Heat 1-David Cardey, Jonny Bates, Steve Barnette, Pat Hickey, Steve
Nelson.
Heat 2-Ernie Bartley, Danny Hyde, Karl Von Yokes, Jim Henderson, Mike Barnette.
Heat 3-Seth Kramer, Mark Morgan, Paul Townsend, Robert Early, Donny Gansen.
B Main-Keith Janca, Karl Benefeil, Brad Russell, Dale Gamer, Gary Dent, Joel
Williams, Kirk Jackson, Chris Laney, Kip McCleary, Jesse Dean.
A Main-Cardey, Bates, Gansen, Townsend, Bartley, Janca, Henderson, S Barnette,
Benefeil, Early, M Barnette, Hickey, Russell, Gamer, Morgan, Kramer, Von Yokes,
Dent, Nelson, Hyde.
Unwinged 360 Sprint Cars
Heat 1-Tom Downing, Chris Wakim, Shon Deskins, Kyle Hancock, Mark Deskovick.
Heat 2-Rickie Gaunt, Clark Templeman III, Steve Ostling, Jayson May, Steve
Conrad. Heat 3-Rick Becker, Bill Camarillo, John Aden, Steve Chulahoff, Ryan
Devitt.
Heat 4-Mike Kirby, Tom Stansberry, Will Perkins, Ron DiDonato, Greg
Taylor.
B Main-Taylor, Deskovick, Larry Lloyd, Ronnie Case, Mike Knopf, J J Ercse, Mike
Whitcomb, Kevin Kierce, David Sinsley, Ron Butler.
A Main-Kirby, Ostling, Stansberry, Wakim, Becker, DiDonato, Deskins, Knopf,
Lloyd, Chulahoff, Case, Templeman, Camarillo, Hancock, Kierce, Downing, Gaunt,
Perkins, Aden, Ercse, May, Deskovick.
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