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CRA
SPRINTERS VISIT THE CENTRAL COAST by Norm Bogan |
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June 17, 2006 was the year’s first visit of the USAC/CRA Sprint Cars to the scenic Santa Maria oval. The tradition continues at this speedway with the CRA Sprint Cars filling the bill on opening night over four decades ago. For years, the late Doug Fort prepared the track for weekly races and established a reputation for always having a tacky surface, providing great action among all classes of cars. Many CRA drivers scored their first wins at Santa Maria, as it was not as necessary to have the high-powered engines that dominated at Ascot. Many of the mid-pack racers were able to excel on this smaller racing surface. A couple of subtle changes were noticed by the early arrivals. First, the trademark “Checkerboard” grandstand was now a patriotic red, white and blue. Second, there was water standing in both the north and south turns in the infield. Due the torrential rains in the early months of the year, the water table has risen to near the surface, delaying the track opening for about six weeks. Many hours of pumping have brought enough dryness to prepare the track’s racing surface and prevent the spectator parking from being a mud bog. Joining the sprinters were NMRA TQ Midgets and
Santa Maria Factory Stocks. The
Factory Stocks ran two heat races and then Michael Frazier claimed
the feature victory. The
TQ’s also ran two heats followed by a main event.
Early in the feature, Bruce Hiroshima took a jolting ride
into turn three with several endos.
It rung his bell some, but he was able to walk to the pits on
his own power. Chuck
West captured his first feature of the year, followed by Michael
Bliffen and point leader, Chris Hedge. The track appeared to get dry slick during the
heat races, but the Factory Stocks proved beneficial in the past, as
their narrow tires tend to cut the glaze caused by the wide sprint
tires and actually revive the surface. With twenty-two sprinters on hand, the field was divided into three heats with Damion Gardner, Cory Kruseman and Josh Ford claiming the preliminary races. The complete field qualified for the feature, so the Semi was scuttled. Four of the starters were regular 360 cars gathering experience running with their 410 big brothers. On hand were Dennis Rodriguez, a VRA regular and three local Santa Maria racers, Steve Demott, Thad Bennett and Mike Larson. In qualifying, David Cardey scored his first fast time Damion Gardner jumped into the lead for the first nine laps, until a tangle with a lapped car created a problem. He went to the work area and didn’t appear to be ready to return in time to join the field. Another quick yellow as Nadine Keller stalled on the front straightaway, allowing the Little Red Sucker to tack on at the rear of the race. Cory Kruseman then assumed the lead and held it to the checkers. Following Cory were Mike Spencer, Danny Sheridan, Rip Williams and J. Hicks. The Demon returned to finish twelfth and maintain a narrow point lead. For those of us that have made the trek to Santa Maria for the past thirty years or so, we were treated to the type of racing that we have become accustomed to at this racy little track. The stands were filled and many of the spectators stayed until the last checkered flag of the night. The warm afternoon and pleasant evening brought out a good crowd for a great night of racing. |
