July 2, 2006....The Cowboy, Tony
Jones, rode roughshod over the field this week in the 40 lap
Firecracker 40 at the PAS in the Alexander Trucking, La Villa
Restaurant, RC, # 4. It was his second win this season and it added
another “Major” to his list of 17 all time wins with CRA. They
include the Sokola classic and the Oval Nationals. Tony was 9th
quick in qualifying, ran third in his heat and led from green to
checkered in the main event. He did what he knows how to do, when he
ogt the opportunity, win baby win!
My pics are here
Click here.. Mrs Wags Click
here.
When Tony hooked up with the Alexander’s this year, he had been
on a long dry spell and could hear the chatter about maybe he was
over the hill. Hardly the case as he has been competitive in every
race this year and now is one of three multiple winners with the
CRA, and has plans to continue to run for the podium even more. He
had his spurs on at each restart and pulled away, and he was never
threatened the entire race.
Mike Spencer continued his podium walk this week, for the
fifth time in six races, in the Murrieta Development, Spenco
Machine, yellow # 44. He was 8th quick and won his heat before
starting 3rd in the main event. He made the moves to try and wrestle
the lead from the Cowboy, but Jones was too strong on the top groove
and kept pulling away. Mighty Mike kept him in sight, but never got
a lreal ook at his second win.
Damion Gardner had a less than satisfactory night after
being 5th quick in qualifying. He had to hustle to get the last
transfer in his heat and appeared to be locked in when the main
started after passing several to get 2nd before the yellow flew. On
the restart, his car didn’t pick up and he was quickly headed for
the work area. They were unable to fix the throttle problem and he
sat there as they blasted off without him. With Cory Kruseman
finishing 4th, they swapped positions where now Damion is 17 points
behind Cory after being ahead by 17 going into the night.
The day started off with a warm sunny look and the gates opened
early for the hearty that came at 3 pm to see the cars and drivers
out front for them. It was a gala affair with autographs and fun as
the drivers paired up with the kids to compete in three legged races
and more. The only snag to the days events were for the racers who
didn't ride into the pits in a hauler, they had to pay $5 to park a
long way from their job. What's up with that?
When it cooled down the racing began and Charles Davis Jr was
the surprise fast timer. Not that I mean he isn’t always fast, but
that Damion has dominated that stat this year. The afternoon wind
and the added heat made the track a little slower than usual, and
forced the action to the top for the most part. The heats were
interesting with Rip’s run from the back after he was involved in
a crash the best one.
Richard Brace Jr lives in Auburn, CA and drives a wing car
normally. Ray and Nellie Stansberry have had their son driving their
car for a long time. Tom has now quit driving and they called
Richard in for a look see. They didn’t make the main, but will be
back.
RJ Johnson hasn’t had a great year with CRA, but this
week he overcame some problems and did his best so far. In his heat
he had a little encounter that required some welding before the
semi. He was 3rd in that 12 lap race and started 13th in the main.
He rolled it up to 5th at the end for a good job.
Bobby Cody started 15th and finished 6th for a good ride
in the Moosemobile this week. Seth Wilson had his best finish
in a while with 7th in his Warbird. Matt Mitchell was the
hard charger of the night coming from 19th to 8th in the Ripper’s
back up car.
Charles Davis Jr Was flying in third when he began to slow
seriously near the end and dropped back to 10th. Teammate Rickie
Gaunt also had a malady and was 17th. Others with their problems
included Chad Boespflug (motor quit) Danny Sheridan
(encountered the wall and had to make a second stop to fix), Evan
Suggs, Mike Kirby, Josh Ford, Jordan Hermansader, Rick Becker and
Johnny Rodriguez. All were running strong when they pulled off.
Another fireworks display and we were outa there and home by 2
am. No CRA races for two weeks and I will be in Indiana for Sprint
week next week. Look for me and add to the Wagsdash.
FEATURE: (40 laps - With Starting Positions) 1. Tony Jones (2nd),
2. Mike Spencer (3rd), 3. Rip Williams (7th), 4. Cory Kruseman
(12th), 5. R.J. Johnson (13th), 6. Bobby Cody (15th), 7. Seth Wilson
(11th), 8. Matt Mitchell (19th), 9. Blake Miller (14th), 10. Charles
Davis Jr. (8th), 11. J Hicks (21st), 12. Davey Pombo (10th), 13.
Johnny Rodriguez (6th), 14. Rick Becker (22nd), 15. Mike Kirby
(1st), 16. Evan Suggs (5th), 17. Rickie Gaunt (9th), 18. Jordan
Hermansader (17th), 19. Josh Ford (20th), 20. Damion Gardner (4th),
21. Danny Sheridan (16th), 22. Chad Boespflug (18th- DNS). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-40 Jones.
NEW USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR POINT STANDINGS: 1-Kruseman-968;
2-Gardner-951; 3-Spencer-807; 4-Jones-776; 5-Sheridan-727;
6-Williams-644; 7-Gaunt-628; 8-Davis-582; 9-Kirby-569;
10-Cardey-529.
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