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Oildale, CA....March 12......Having
returned to full time West Coast racing after two seasons with USAC in the
Midwest, Cory Kruseman drove the Glenn Crossno car from third starting to the
lead in 13 laps and won the 30 lap USAC/CRA unwinged 410 sprint car feature at
Bakersfield Speedway Park on Saturday night. It was the only 2005 visit to the
3/8 mile clay oval by the traveling club in 2005 and the busy Kruseman also
brought his driving school to the facility for the first time on the following
day. Kruseman had timed in 10th quick and ran fourth in his heat in a TRC
Chassis using a Downing engine. When several faster cars failed to transfer from
the intense heat action, an 8 car inversion placed Kruseman third. Pole starter
Jordan Hermansader led five laps before clipping a rut. Bakersfield's own Danny
Ebberts was out front for 7 rounds before Kruseman used a high line to grab the
lead on lap 13. The well run feature had a pair of cautions on laps 1 and 2,
then went 28 straight green flag laps at the end. Damion Gardner rebounded from
a flip in his heat to place second in the B Main and then battled from 9th
starting to claim second with his last lap pass of Ebberts. Gardner had opened
the night with quick time honors. Rip Williams started 8th and finished fourth
while young Bakersfield based Alan Ballard drove his family owned car to a
fifth. The USAC Ford Focus midgets opened their 2005 dirt season as a support
class and Chris Rahe continued his career long domination of the 3/8 mile clay
oval as he charged from 4th starting to the lead in just two laps and won the 20
lapper. Third starting Bobby Michnowicz made a lap 19 pass on rookie Todd
Carroll to run second. Fast timer Alex Harris hit the wall racing second on lap
14 and dropped out. Carroll was third and crowd favorite Audra Sasselli ran
fourth.
The
unwinged 410 sprint cars fielded a 32 car entry and Gardner paced time trials
with his quick 12.356 qualifying run. Bobby Cody ranked second at 12.360 ahead
of the Jory entry wheeled by Williams at 12.416. Arizona's Charles Davis Jr ran
a 12.670 and Ballard was fifth at 12.778. Davis' teammate Rickie Gaunt timed in
sixth and the 14 quickest cars were all in the 12 second bracket. The top
four finishers advanced to the 30 lap A Main from each of the four heat races.
Josh Ford beat 2004 VRA unwinged 360 champion Tom Stansberry in heat 1 as Danny
Sheridan wheeled the Kittle entry to third ahead of Ballard. Gardner flipped in
this heat race. With Sheridan in the Kittle car, Australia's Peter Murphy got a
shot at the Dorathy car but it was parked after timing in 24th quick. Seth
Wilson beat Josh Wise and Indiana's Dave Darland in heat 2 as Kruseman claimed
the final transfer slot ahead of Cody and Gaunt. Incoming point leader Mike
Kirby put the Alexander car in 7th in this heat. Another Indiana racer who is
starting his American race season on the west coast, Bill Rose won heat 3 ahead
of Ebberts and Williams. New Mexico's Rick Ziehl ran fourth in the Lancaster
car. Hermansader raced to the win in heat 4 as former California Lightning
Sprint dominator David Cardey ran second ahead of Davis and Troy Rutherford. The
12 lap B Main was full of stars and held only four transfers into the A Main.
Gaunt posted that win in front of Gardner and Jimmy Crawford. J Hicks
transferred with a fourth. Kirby missed in fifth, but was allowed to use a
provisional to start 21st in the feature. Tony Jones ran sixth in the B Main
ahead of Dan Hilberg, Rodney Argo and rookies Terry Foster and Matt Stewart.
Greg Bragg and Nadine Keller also had problems along with Cody in the B Main.
The 8 car inversion at
the front of the 21 car A Main put Hermansader and Ebberts in the front row
ahead of Kruseman and Sheridan with Rutherford and Ballard in row 3. Davis and
Williams made up row 4 while B Main transfers Gardner and Gaunt shared row 5.
Sheridan was the first car to drop out and Ziehl stalled for the lap 2 caution.
Hermansader paced the first 5 laps with Ebberts second. Ballard took third
from Kruseman on lap 3 and leader Hermansader bounced through the air after
hooking a rut on lap 6. He recovered in third with Ebberts the new leader ahead
of Ballard. Kruseman had settled into fourth ahead of Rutherford. Kruseman then
went high to take third from Hermansader on lap 10 and second from Ballard on
lap 12. Kruseman completed his drive to the front by grabbing the lead from
Ebberts on lap 13. Ziehl dropped out after being lapped at midway and Kirby also
parked with engine woes. Williams passed Hermansader for fourth on lap 16 and
Gardner cracked the top five on lap 18. Cardey was out on lap 19. Gardner traded
fourth with Williams as Kruseman was cruising up front. Stansberry limped to the
checkered flag in the Ron Bach entry and Kruseman posted the win. A late charge
by Gardner as he passed Ballard for third on lap 29 and grabbed second from
Ebberts on the final round. Ebberts settled for third ahead of Williams,
Ballard, Gaunt, Davis, Hermansader, Rutherford and Wise. Next action for the
USAC/CRA teams is the two-day, $5000 to win Sokola Classic at Manzanita Speedway
in Phoenix on March 18-19.
There
were 17 Ford Focus midgets and Harris paced time trials with his 14.407 lap.
Veteran Jet Davison ran a 14.602 and Rahe ranked third at 14.613. Michnowicz was
fourth at 14.754 and newcomer Cameron Veach ranked fifth at 15.018. Bobby Owens
was sixth and outlaw kart star Robbie Whitchurch from Chico timed in 7th ahead
of fellow rookie Carroll. Harris impressed with his drive through the pack in
heat 1 to win ahead of Bret Engstrom and Chris Veach. Rahe ran fourth in this
heat. Female star Sasselli, a former top runner in the mini sprints at Plaza
Park Raceway, captured heat 2 ahead of Michnowicz, Davison and Carroll. Their
main event had a six car inversion that placed Carroll and Owens in the front
row ahead of Michnowicz, Rahe, Davison and Harris. The 20 lap feature ran
without a caution. Carroll led the opening lap, but was passed by both Rahe and
Harris on lap 2. Owens settled into fourth ahead of Michnowicz. Jake Vail was a
feature scratch and Chase Barber flipped in the heat action. Barber and J R
Trimino were both sidelined early in the 20 lapper and Michnowicz gained fourth
ahead of Sasselli on lap 7. Cameron Veach was out on lap 8. Second place Harris
clipped the wall with a right front flat tire on lap 14 and his race was over as
Carroll regained second ahead of Michnowicz and Sasselli. As Rahe ran
unchallenged up front, Michnowicz was able to pass Carroll on lap 19 to claim
second. Carroll did run third ahead of Sasselli, Chris Veach, Davison, Owens,
Engstrom and Whitchurch. Michael Collins drove a Kruseman owned car to 10th.
This year, the Ford Focus midgets will have separate point standings for the
dirt and pavement events. Second dirt event will be March 19th at Ventura.
Summary
Ford Focus Midgets
Fast Time-Alex Harris 14.407
Heat 1-Harris, Bret Engstrom, Chris Veach, Chris Rahe, Robbie Hawks.
Heat 2-Audra Sasselli, Bobby Michnowicz, Jet Davison, Todd Carroll, Bobby Owens.
Main-Rahe, Michnowicz, Carroll, Sasselli, Chris Veach, Davison, Owens, Engstrom,
Robbie Whitchurch, Michael Collins, Cal Smith, Hawks, Harris, Cameron Veach, J R
Trimino, Chase Barber.
Unwinged 410 Sprint Cars
Fast Time-Damion Gardner 12.356
Heat 1-Josh Ford, Tom Stansberry, Danny Sheridan, Alan Ballard, J Hicks.
Heat 2-Seth Wilson, Josh Wise, Dave Darland, Cory Kruseman, Bobby Cody.
Heat 3-Bill Rose, Danny Ebberts, Rip Williams, Rick Ziehl, Dwayne Marcum.
Heat 4-Jordan Hermansader, David Cardey, Charles Davis Jr, Troy Rutherford, Greg
Bragg.
B Main-Rickie Gaunt, Gardner, Jimmy Crawford, Hicks, Mike Kirby, Tony Jones, Dan
Hilberg, Rodney Argo, Terry Foster, Matt Stewart.
A Main-Kruseman, Gardner, Ebberts, Williams, Ballard, Gaunt, Davis, Hermansader,
Rutherford, Wise, Darland, Hicks, Ford, Rose, Crawford, Wilson, Stansberry,
Cardey, Ziehl, Kirby, Sheridan.
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