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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| HOT LAPS WITH NORM
BOGAN #13 (7/13/03) by Norm Bogan |
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Temperatures were predicted to be above the century mark at home, so as I motored out the driveway, there was a twinge in my brain. Shall I head for my originally planned destination of Perris Auto Speedway, ninety miles to the southeast and predicted to also exceed 100 degrees or head fifty-five miles northwest to Ventura Raceway where balmy temperatures would hover around the seventy degree mark. Since I opted for the SCRA over the VRA, it was obvious that the heat had already compromised the ability of my brain to make rational decisions. Heading east on I-210, with Gordon Lightfoot inserted in the CD player, there was this reverie about previous years, when I was preparing to go on the tour, but this year would be different. Viewing this year’s tour from afar and staying close to home, I will genuinely miss the camaraderie of traveling with the teams and the opportunity of visiting new venues and meeting race fans from other areas. After negotiating through the freeway maze I arrived at Perris about one p.m. and a check of the thermometer indicated it was 102 degrees. The track preparation crew was hard at work to create a prime-racing surface for this evening’s program. While the afternoon was toasty, a mild breeze came up in the evening and the conditions were quite comfortable. Rip Williams, while usually in the mix, seldom sets fast time, but he was the quick guy this evening. Kevin Urton was the first car to qualify and ran a sixteen followed by about a dozen cars until another broke through the seventeen-second barrier. Urton ended up sixth fastest for the evening and scored a seventh place feature finish. It was an impressive outing for the northern California veteran who is running the car that Damion Gardner was so strong with last year. Another new car in the pits was that of Bobby Ferro, a stunt performer and winner of many of the prestigious off road buggy races during the seventies. Recently, Bobby purchased a car from USAC owner Jeff Walker that had been campaigned by Tony Elliott and decided to put one of the young guns in the car, selecting former SCRA Rookie, Jordan Hermansader, who hasn’t driven in eight months. Hermansader made the transfer from heat to an eleventh starting position in the feature and came home with an eighth place finish. Ferro was thrilled with the performance of his new acquisition. Perennial front-runner, Steve Ostling scratched from the feature after discovering a cracked engine head in the Passing Masters Dash. This added another transfer from the Semi, which happened to be another front-runner, Mike Spencer, who had suffered some maladies this evening. Damion Gardner jumped into the lead in his heat race and going into turn one, when the right rear blew pitching him into the wall, damaging the front end. The crew made the necessary repairs and the Demon came back dominant in the Semi. With feature lined up, the front row consisted of Mike Kirby on the pole with fast timer Rip Williams along side. Kirby was aboard the #4 Alexander car normally driven by Rickie Gaunt. Super Rickie had to attend a wedding back east, so his buddy Kirby, stepped up to keep the car in owner points. Rip Williams got the jump at the green flag and ran strong into turn one, but soon pulled to the inside and coasted into the work area. It was later reported that something happened to the engine. Since Kirby had started up front, he decided it was a good place to run, so he stayed in front. Soon, the usual cast of “Gasman”, “Demon”, Rutherford and Spencer pursued him. Spencer had moved from his tenth starting position up to fourth and was challenging for more, when he cut down his right rear and went to the work area. A quick tire change got him back out at the rear of the lead pack where he finished eleventh tonight after a lot of struggle throughout the evening. Mike Kirby captured the victory with Damion putting a last turn slide job on Griffin to claim second, Troy Rutherford’s fourth continued his string of finishes in the top five and impressive rookie, Josh Ford capped off a big night with a fifth place finish. In the Winner’s interview, Kirby announced that he was vacationing at the Colorado River over the next week with Rickie Gaunt and would make it a miserable week for Gaunt, gloating over his victory. Checking the out the car thermometer at 11:30 p.m., it was 75 degrees and now it was the return journey, stopping for a cup of coffee and arriving home about 1:30 a.m. Just another Saturday night and with SCRA dark next week, I can opt for the cool ocean breezes at Ventura. |
