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See You At The Races!!! |
| 2003 Oval Nationals by Norm Bogan |
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Racing in nine events at different venues, that included several
preliminary nights of activity, can wear on a team.
In addition to a full SCRA or USAC schedule, many teams pursued the brass
ring for the elevated purses during the NWWC Tour, plus the season ending point
fund. Starting at Oskaloosa, Iowa
in August with its $30,000 to win carrot, sixty-four cars staged to lay claim to
the prize. After all the hoopla, young Hoosier, Boston Reid crossed the
line first winning his biggest paycheck.
Moving the show to Terre Haute, Indiana, J.J. Yeley exhibited
the same skills that made him the biggest winner in USAC history.
At Farmer City, Illinois, a new stop on the NWWC Tour, 2002 USAC Sprint
Champ Tracy Hines stood atop the podium. With
the next stop on the big half-mile at Granite City, Illinois, Troy Rutherford
finally laid claim for the West Coasters. Moving
on to another new venue, Highland, Illinois found former SCRA Champ Cory
Kruseman taking home the spoils and then followed it up at Godfrey, Illinois
making it back to back wins. Completing
the Mid West portion of the tour were two nights at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas
City, Kansas. On Friday, Richard
Griffin, the soon to be five time SCRA driving Champ, collected a win in the
prelim. The Saturday finale
exhibited some outstanding racing with a long dicing run by Cory Kruseman and
Richard Griffin, before they collided with an infield tire, letting local winged
driver, Jesse Hockett grab the $10,000 first place money. The racers then returned to their respective series and
competed for bragging rights among their peers.
As each series wound down, the NWWC Tour resumed in the Southwest.
When Halloween arrived, so did racers from around the country at the
mighty Manzy half-mile. Three
nights of racing would unfold to delight fans.
On opening night, Bud Kaeding demonstrated that his previous success at
Manzy was no fluke, taking the Thursday feature.
On Friday, Mike Kirby prevailed, leading wire to wire.
For the Saturday finale, Tony Elliott made one of his strongest runs in
several years, leading all forty laps to claim the $12,500 top prize. Now, after a week off, the Tour landed at its final
destination, Perris Auto Speedway for the Oval Nationals.
Three days of intense drama would conclude with one of these racers
taking home the $30,000 winner’s share. Sixty-four
cars were in the pits for the opening night.
Unlike previous years when many of the Midwest racers secured rides in
local cars, a number brought their regular ride out for battle.
The USAC band has exhibited a decided advantage over the SCRA cars this
year, so many chose to enter their usual cars, rather than shop for a West Coast
ride. The Thursday night show found Jac Haudenschild starting on the
front row and leading the distance on a narrow track.
Bud Kaeding and Mike Spencer completed the podium photo.
On Friday, the track was much racier with cars running both high and low.
It was a night of fantastic slide jobs and many dices throughout the
field. Bud Kaeding came home in
front followed by J.J. Yeley and the “Old Man”, Brent Kaeding.
Levi Jones had a spectacular triple endo on the front straight, which
demolished his car. Bobby Graham
took a nasty spill and was transported to the hospital.
He was soon released with no broken bones, but a lot of soreness and
swelling around the face after striking his helmet on the steering wheel. As the final night dawned, Bud Kaeding was the point leader
with Josh Wise in second. A dice
roll set the invert at six, putting these two on the third row of the “A”
Main. The Saturday night program
was postponed by rain after the “C” Main and rescheduled for Sunday evening.
Rip Williams, winningest driver at Perris was added by
promoter’s option to the “B” Main along with Destiny Hays, who finished
just ahead of Rip. Neither had made
the transfer from the “C” Main. Williams
was able to make the top twelve in the “B”, allowing him to move into the
big show. The promoter also added Andy Forsberg, who was bumped from
the top twelve by the added Williams, setting the “A” Main field at
twenty-five. The “A” Main was an outstanding show with excellent track
conditions. Brent Kaeding and Cory Kruseman started on the front
row. Brent grabbed the early lead
and held it for nine laps, before Kruseman took over for the rest of the race.
As Cory was “krusing” along, Jeremy Sherman made a valiant effort,
advancing from his 21st starting position to second.
Possibly with a few more laps the strong running Sherman may have
overtaken Kruseman. Others with
great performances were Damion Gardner coming from 12th to fourth and
Rickie Gaunt moving from 18th to sixth. Kruseman mentioned in Victory Circle that he has often ran
well in the big money races only to have something happen with five laps to go.
Tonight, nothing happened! This
was Kruseman’s biggest single payday in sprint cars. The final NWWC standings found Bud Kaeding claiming the
championship, trailed by Cory Kruseman, J.J. Yeley, Damion Gardner, a fifth
place tie between Richard Griffin and Troy Rutherford, followed by Levi Jones,
Rip Williams and rookie Josh Ford. While
Kruseman, Yeley and Jones now run with USAC, the SCRA claims all three as
members of their alumni association. It will be interesting to preview possible rule changes and
altered car construction for the SCRA teams in the off season as they prepare
for the 2004 assault on the USAC contingent, which made their strongest attack
in the history of the NWWC Tour.
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