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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| Wagsworld by Ken Wagner |
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TONY ELLIOTT LEADS FROM START TO FINISH |
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Griffin escapes injury in nasty "slide job that failed" crash!!! |
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The three-day Western World isn’t what it was years ago in
tradition and national prominence, but it is improving if you look
at the changes in recent years. The reverting back to outstanding
non-wing racing has helped. With nearly 100 sprinters in the packed
pits, there was plenty of racing for everyone on both the big ½
mile track and the small one inside it. Those old cowboy hat days of
pomp and ceremony got a little flashback with the hayride wagon
entrance by all the main event drivers before the 40 lap main event
at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix, Arizona. Tony Elliott won
his first title of the storied Western’s long history, even though
this wasn’t one of the best races for the fans, mostly due to the
narrower than usual track that stayed wet and smooth all three days.
Two days of preliminaries eliminated some and made favorites of others as Mike Kirby and Bud Kaeding showed the fastest way around the Manzy half mile and took the two 20 lap wins. Kaeding had a little help from a leaking tire of Jeremy Sherman, but was in 2nd place to capitalize on Jeremy’s bad luck. Not only did Jeremy have a flat right rear after leading the first 15 laps, but the left rear went down right after he returned to try and head back to the front on the next restart. Kirby passed the Gasman, Richard Griffin, early on to get his win. Several had awful luck in the prelims and thus had their work cut out for them on Saturday. Damion Gardner had to restart at the rear on Thursday and got back to 10th, but missed the top eight transfer spot. Sherman, J J Yeley and Rip Williams also were with him out of the preferred transfers. On Friday the favorites list that missed included Bill Rose, Troy Cline and Boston Reid. Tony Jones did another awesome run after his car quit on him and he restarted in the back of the main. He ran up to 7th on the best drive of the night, moving through traffic on the narrow grooved track. Brian Venard got his best SCRA finish ever in 4th as the family sprinter was fast and smooth under Brian’s direction. The two time USAC Champion, Tony Elliott, was at the right spot for the feature as the 6 invert was drawn by Bud Kaeding from a Bud can of beer. They numbered the cans with the different inversion possibilities, and his draw put him in the third row and Tony the front one. He took the opening lead and ran forty yellow plagued laps to the win. First Richard Griffin dogged him to the point that it was a good battle. Kaeding worked his way into the mix by passing Richard up high? Perhaps the most terrifying crash came next as Tyler Walker made a weak attempt at a slide job on Griffin and slammed his front end towards the wall with no chance of return. What followed was one of those stomach turning, wild spinning crashes as Richard helicoptered off the third turn wall and spun to the point where John Scott couldn’t avoid him as they banged together and came to a stop. Noooooooooooo! Richard was OK, but Ron Chaffin’s number 50 was trash can ready. Tyler, normally a wing driver, made a bad decision, and missed his back flip this time. The night started off with the duel in the desert promised between J J Yeley and local favorite Jeremy Sherman who won the 360 event handily ahead of Rickie Gaunt. History has proven to showcase Sherman’s domination at Manzy anytime the money is up or they are racing 360’s or 410’s. J J had to run the semi, which he won, and he and Jeremy started at the back of the Semi with Tracy Hines, Bill Rose and Troy Cline also anxious to get to the top 8 transfer spots. Jeremy. Cline and Yeley finished 6, 7 and 8th to move on and start at the back of the Main event. The horse and trailer routine was interesting watching the drivers climb off to be introduced to the crowd and throw a few footballs into the crowd. With 24 cars it would be a war, but the track that was not dry at all still wasn’t wide enough for the usual Manzy madness we often see here. J J Yeley was done very quickly with a balky motor and would relinquish his NWWC point lead when the night was done. As the pack chased the blue number 11 Twister under Elliott’s skillful hands, the show was all Jeremy as he put the Ellis # 21 anywhere he wanted and made dramatic passes going thru the pack. He had plenty of competition along the way, yet was in third with a few laps to go. I think even he was now having trouble finding a wide enough path around Kaeding to get to Tony late in the race. Although the race closed with some excitement because of numerous yellow flags and resulting restarts, neither Bud nor Jeremy could pull off the pass that would earn them the $12,500 first place money. Kaeding was 2nd and the hard charger Sherman got some extra cash for his hard work. Tough luck award went to Boston Reid who got help in a crash on Friday that battered his chassis, and then he stopped in the C main on Saturday and was done. Great drives by Gardner, (19th to 4th) Levi Jones, Troy Rutherford and Tony Jones as they all had to come from far back to get 4th thru 7th in that order. Grandma Rosie’s grandson Brian was really on a good run until late in the race when he got rammed from behind, tearing up his fuel cell and push bar. He was running 6th at the time and faded a little to about 8th when he pulled off with a lap to go as the motor was fuel starved. He didn’t run out, the crash just ruined the fuel pick-up. He was smooth and fast all night until his untimely stop ended in 16th. Cory Kruseman had a tough night as he never got the Tony Stewart Mopar going forward like he wanted, especially after avoiding a stalled car and nailing the wall, causing a flat, but he made the restart. He finished 9th and still took over the NWWC points lead by one point over Bud Kaeding. J J, the former leader, is now third. Richard Griffin’s early end to his night means he will have to wait two weeks to clinch his 5th driving title and the umpteenth car owner title for Ron Chaffin. Josh Ford has clinched the rookie of the year battle as he had a tough weekend. He crashed his dad’s 360 on Thursday in a reported high flying act that injured his back when he landed hard on the track. He was carted off to the hospital for the usual broken bone hunt that failed, and later related he kept telling them he couldn’t take any drugs as he had to race on Friday. They let him out and he did drive his 410 to a Semi win Saturday and a 14th in the big main. He will need to rest the back that was still hurting him on Saturday night. Adam Mitchell got the last transfer in Thursday night’s prelim and flew home to go trick or treating with his daughter Paige on Halloween night. It was partly a ruse because he had planned a surprise birthday party for his wife Denise also, and he was the man! He got 13th on Saturday for all his good work. Shiny tires are getting fewer and fewer as the local 360’s did a better job this weekend. Still, Tony Jones, Jimmy Crawford, John Scott and Charles Davis Jr had crewperson’s that did a great job for their bottle o’ baby oil. We didn’t get to do the quilt raffle so anyone wanting tickets, you have until the Oval Nationals final night to get in. Wagsdash Champion, Alan Ballard, had a problem on Friday night that put him in the C main on Saturday. He worked into the transfer spot and then ran strong in the Semi, but missed the transfer. A good job for the 16 year old rookie as he continues to improve running with the big boys. Ventura Raceway’s final VRA event was rained out leaving Chris Wakim on the outside looking in. He led the points for several months until the last race and had a bad night giving it up to Tom Stansberry, who now is the champion as the event will not be rescheduled. Congrats to the Stansberry team and 2003 is done at the ocean track. I had a chance to visit with Lealand McSpadden and his wife Janet this weekend. He looks great and says he is feeling good and working hard on staying well. He said it is a day by day exercise and is very focused on what is good for him. He gave me a lecture on what’s good for your body and told me to cut out aluminum (found in most deodorants) and try to find some B-17, a cancer fighting agent found in apricot pits. He also said thanks to all his fans for their cards and phone calls, he has been very thankful for all your interest and prayers. They were tucked back in that motorhome parking area near PIR that was described as the 6th largest city in Arizona this week and had to guide me in by cell phone. Great visit and he continues to work and is get stronger every week, don’t give up on him as he still needs your prayers and words of encouragement. Oval Nationals laps are still available, but you better hurry as they go to press on Tuesday! I’ll rest up for the next PAS adventure and see you there. A-MAIN EVENT (40 Laps) NWWC Points 1. Richard Griffin 2083, 2. Troy Rutherford 1985, 3. Damion Gardner 1946, 4. Rip Williams 1708, 5. Steve Ostling 1283, 6. Mike Spencer 1263, 7. Tony Jones 1156, B. Rickie Gaunt 1101, 9. Josh Ford 1069, 10. Mike English 1004, 11. Cory Kruseman 967, 12. Levi Jones 946, 13. Adam Mitchell 888, 14. Alan Ballard 805, 15. Charles Davis, Jr 714, 16. Seth Wilson 628, 17. Verne Sweeney 601, 18. J.J. Yeley 592, 19. Brian Venard 588, 20. Mike Kirby 558. |
