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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
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HOT LAPS WITH NORM BOGAN (10/28/02) |
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Session 1:
Last week was an adventure on pavement with USAC Western States
Midgets and Sprints, plus Focus Midgets, all attacking the ovals at Irwindale.
Several drivers had made the journey from their Midwest bases to tune up
for the upcoming “Turkey Night” show. Eric
Butze came in from Memphis and Kasey Kahne arrived from North Carolina.
Local drivers, Steve Paden and Danny Ebberts returned from the battles on
the national midget circuit. When
all was said and done, impressive young drivers, Josh Wise in the midgets and
Kasey Kahne in the sprints had claimed victories. Session 2:
Ventura Raceway closed out their season with a final SCRA race, which
saw fifty cars in the pits. This
was also the venue for the 12th Annual WAGSDASH, which is much more
than a race. Starting at noon with
a Chili Feed for all the crews and fans (two hundred quarts to be exact),
followed by about 600 hot dogs, chips and drinks. During this time, fans could bid on photos and
memorabilia for a silent auction. There
was also a raffle for a Snap-On toolbox and a complete hand-built radio
controlled sprint car. While fans
surveyed the auction items and submitted their bids, the entertainment got
underway with over twenty entries for the 2002 “Sexy Driver” contest.
Once the field was narrowed to five, the drivers passed through the
crowd, strutting their stuff, while fans tucked in a bill or two here and there.
The final test was to give a “lap-dance” to 83 year-old Wilda
Kindoll. She paid $100 to the one
judged the best, with the title going to the driver accumulating the most money
during the contest. All funds
collected went into the Wagsdash purse. Former
VRA champ, Kevin Kierce captured the title followed by Damion Gardner.
Newly crowned VRA champ, Jimmy “Neutron” Crawford, was a hit with his
polka dot boxers. With the sexy driver determined, it was time for
the “Pit Stop” competition. Three
teams vied for the spoils, #20-Damion Gardner, #62-Mel Murphy and #41-Bobby
Cody. The teams had to roll a few
yards, stop and jack up the car, remove the right rear tire, rotate it 360
degrees, then remount it, while others were removing the right front shock,
flipping it upside down and reinstalling it.
Then the jack dropped and the car was rolled forward across the finish
line. Penalties were assessed for
nuts not properly tightened. The
team with the lowest elapsed time was Damion Gardner’s crew with a time of 49
seconds. Bobby Cody had hired Steve Ostling to drive, so Bobby could
change the shock. Cody said Ostling
was talking on his cell phone during the competition. After all the fun and games, a full night of
racing was on tap. It has been a
long time since we have seen a “D” Main for a regular show.
There was a lot of contact on the tight little bullring.
Rip Williams captured his second feature of the season, followed by his
teammate, Mike English. The Argo team put their Fords up front in
qualifying, with Josh Wise grabbing his second quick time in four outings.
His teammate, Rodney Argo, returning from an injury, reeled in the second
quick time. Filling in during downtime was three match races
between the two-seated sprinters of Cory Kruseman and Tony Jones.
Jones was 2 for 3, but how about those who paid to ride in back?
Not only did they get a close look at the wall, but the other guys big
rear tire. Now it was WAGSDASH time with twenty-one cars of
the season’s less fortunate low-buck drivers competing against each other,
without the “Gasman”, “Ripper”, “Kruser”, “Super-Rickie” or
Kirby. Danny Sheridan came from mid
pack to claim the win. Gary W.
Howard scored his fourth runner-up finish in this event and Casey Shuman moved
up from nineteenth to finish third. All
the drivers will share in the fan-donated purse of over $15,000. Session 3:
The next two weeks will encompass two 3-day events with big purses
and entries from throughout the country. This
Thursday, Friday and Saturday finds the congregation meeting at Perris Auto
Speedway for the $30,000 to win Oval Nationals.
Once completed this cast of characters will relocate to Arizona’s
Manzanita Speedway for the “Western World” event.
Most of the SCRA regulars are entered for these shows and will be joined
by USAC drivers from the Midwest, namely, Bud Kaeding, J.J. Yeley, Tracy Hines,
Jay Drake, Tony Elliott, Levi Jones and Dave Darland.
Billy Pauch is coming in from New Jersey and Jason Sowold from
Washington, along with a number of regular northern California winged
contingent, led by many times champ, Brent Kaeding. Session 4: The SCRA season finale will be
the Jack Kindoll Classic at Perris on November 16th.
After that will be “Turkey Night” at Irwindale, followed the next
night with a Golden State wing show at Tulare, moving on to Bakersfield for
Saturday night. There will be a
short time-out for Santa and “Chili Bowl” is January 8-11. |
