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(LOS ANGELES CA., MARCH 4) - The second
season of 410 cu. in. non-wing sprint car racing opened at Manzanita
Speedway in Phoenix during the Copper World Classic weekend at PIR.
The Saturday, January 29 Manzy race took place on a chilly evening
that was 53 degrees at dusk and in the 40s with the wind/chill
factor. Following a brief rainstorm during the afternoon, track
workers did a good job to get the half-mile clay track ready for
racing. USAC officials wisely canceled time trials for the 38 cars
present (up from 32 cars at this race last year during March).
USAC opted to have drivers draw a pill to
determine their starting positions in one of four ten lap heat
races. Points for position (57, 54, 49 etc) and passing points (one
point per car passed according to USAC's Chris Morgan) sent the top
16 drivers in heat race points to the 30-lap feature. The top four
finishers in the 12-lap B Main joined the 16 transferees from the
heat races. Drivers Tracy Hines, Rip Williams, Jeremy Sherman, Troy
Rutherford, Tony Jones, Peter Murphy, Damion Gardner, Cory Kruseman,
Jerry Coons, Jr and Levi Jones found themselves in the B Main.
Series 2004 champion Williams had to use one of his annual
provisional feature berths to start at the back of the feature.
Windy McDonald did his usual sterling job as
track announcer. Former sprint car driver Patrick Nalon, son of the
late Indy 500 driver Duke Nalon, did driver interviews from the
pits. Drivers who raced at both the PIR-CWC on the mile paved track
and at Manzanita were Dave Darland (Silver Crown), Coons (S/C),
Hines (S/C and Midgets) and David Cardey (Grand National West).
Darland won his second consecutive USAC/CRA feature at Manzanita
during the CWC weekend. Last year he drove the No. 14 Ben Lancaster
Chevy and this year he wheeled the No. 42 Dwight Cheney car. J. J.
Yeley gave Cheney his first victory at Perris years ago.
With Manzy's grandstands about 60% full of hearty
racing fans and a crowded pit, one had to hope for an expeditious
night of racing. Instead, we got a night of seven yellows and four
red flags for flips by Gardner, Murphy, Jesse Hockett, Cary Faas and
Darren Hagen. Heat one started at 8:36. The B Main started at
9:54 and ended at 10:29. The feature began at 10:59 and following
three red flags concluded at 11:54 p.m.
Former Midget racer Darren Hagen, starting just
his second year in sprint cars after racing his orange No. 11,
deserves special mention. Teamed with Keith Kunz for 2005, the
Riverside driver came from seventh to third in heat four to earn the
sixth best point total in the heat races. That earned him the pole
position for the feature. Hagen and outside front row starter Rickie
Gaunt dueled for the lead. Hagen led the first 21 laps with Gaunt
30-yards back. It seemed Hagen would win his first sprint car main
event when he tangled in turn two with a slower car of Jimmy
Crawford and flipped with Gaunt also involved and stopped at the
scene. Third place Darland inherited the lead and held off Charles
Davis, Jr during the final nine laps. He pulled away to a 15-yard
victory margin. Joining forces with Kunz and his No. 71
sprinter may be the best move of the year by ambitious driver Hagen.
Josh Ford finished fifth in 2004 USAC National Sprint Car point
standings in the Kunz No. 73 and he developed quickly under Keith's
tutelage. Josh Wise, Jay Drake and Jason Leffler also progressed
quickly as drivers racing for Kunz. Hagen's progress will bear
watching this year. Manzanita will host the fifth Sokola Classic
March 18-19 while the IRL Indy Cars are racing at nearby PIR.
USAC/CRA at Perris (Feb. 5): The first USAC/CRA
race of 2005 at Perris kicked off the tenth racing season at the
racy Riverside County clay track. Grandstands appeared more than 50%
full. The track will charge only $5.00 admission for the USAC/CRA
sprint race on March 26 in a fan appreciation move. The February 5
day race turned out to be surprisingly competitive thanks to an
overcast sky and lack of wind. The track was still tacky when the
feature concluded at 5:28 p.m. Then a good five-piece band,
Euphoria, played music atop the infield concession stand to
entertain fans and competitors. The solid 47-car field qualified
from 1:32 to 2:14. Visiting drivers came from NorCal, Arizona and
five drivers-Darland, Hines, Hockett, Jon Stanbrough and Bill
Rose-came from the Midwest.
Among the newcomers at Perris were Lightning
Sprint vet Josh Williams, cousin of 2004 USAC/CRA champion Rip
Williams, Nate Ziegler, Eric Severson and Randy Carlisle. I was
impressed with the ten lap heat race triumphs by versatile David
Cardey, who is now a NASCAR Grand National West veteran, and by Seth
Wilson, grandson of the late Indy 500 driver Dempsey Wilson. Seth
also raced his Army colored "war wagon" from 22nd starting
spot to finish a career-best fifth in the 30-lap feature.
The first Snap-on Tools three-lap trophy dash for
the four fastest qualifiers had a $500 payoff ($200, 150, 100 and
50). Drivers really wanted to win it. Hines got the jump from second
starting slot, but at the first turn his RR tire hit the wall,
tilting the car, which rolled one and a half times at the wall.
Hines came back in the third heat and raced from eighth to second.
Dash pole starter Danny Sheridan led the first two laps and at the
third turn on the final lap Damion Gardner's slide job gave him the
lead. Sheridan charged back on the inside in the fourth turn. Then
Gardner's car got a bite and lifted the front end. Sheridan almost
drove under Gardner's car literally, before he backed off and
settled for second. Gardner stopped his No. 50 sprinter at the
finish line for the usual winners' interview. Sheridan took a
cool-off lap, drove by slowly, extending his left hand and gave
Gardner half a victory sign salute. Later, pit announcer Chris Holt
interviewed Sheridan, who was still steamed at Gardner and let fans
know about it. Apparently, this feud is a carryover from 2004 and it
will bear watching this season.
The 12-lap B Main started 20 and included usual
feature drivers Gaunt, Davis, Spencer, Rutherford, Ford, Darland,
Stanbrough, Ziehl, Hockett, Ebberts, Hermansader, Ballard, York,
17-year old Arizonan R. J. Johnson and others in the field. With
only the first six finishers advancing to the 30-lap feature, 12th
finisher Ziehl used one of his two provisionals for 2005. He raced
from 23rd to finish 11th,m last driver on the lead lap. Darland,
winner at Manzanita a week earlier, again raced Cheney's No. 42. He
had 15th fastest qualifying time, was sixth in the B Main and was
the first retiree from the feature when his car got involved in a
skirmish with several cars in the second turn on the first lap. His
car rose a few feet in the air and broke rear end gears upon landing
hard. He dropped out on lap two.
The personal battle of 2005 for supremacy between
Mike Kirby and Cory Kruseman is now two races old. In effect, they
"traded" 2004 rides with Cory now in the Crossno 38 and
Kirby in the Alexander 4. They won multiple USAC/CRA features last
year in the two cars--Kirby scored six in No. 38 and Kruseman bagged
four in No. 4. Scorecard for 2005: Manzy (1/29) Kirby got fifth in
his heat and came from 16th to sixth in the feature. Kruseman got
ninth in his heat, fourth in the B Main and came from 20th to eighth
in the feature. Both started eighth in their heat races. Perris
(2/5): Kirby was eighth fastest qualifier, third in his heat and
came from fourth to third in the feature. Kruseman was 19th quickest
qualifier, first in his heat and came from 16th to sixth in the
feature. As of March 4 Kirby is tied for first with 109 points and
Kruseman is fourth with 93 points. Early edge goes to Kirby.
Pole starter Bill Rose led the first ten laps
before eighth starter Gardner shot past him on the front straight.
Gardner won by about 60-yards over Rip Williams, who charged from
15th starting to second place by lap nine in pursuit of his 100th
career sprint car victory. Wild flips by Spencer and Gaunt in
multi-car crashes during the feature got their attention. Spencer's
car owner, Hal Engstrom, said the flip tweaked the frame. Tony Jones
was running fifth as the checkers flew for Gardner when Jones' No.87
tumbled in the third turn and landed with the tail end perched on
the crash-wall and the nose resting on the track. With action like
that seen February 5 in a day race, the remaining night races at The
PAS will surely thrill spectators.
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