|
Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
|
RIPPER GRABS ANOTHER BIG WIN LEADING ALL 30 LAPS AT THE PAS!! by Ken Wagner |
|
|
|
17TH ANNUAL WAGSDASH AT VENTURA RACEWAY UP NEXT!! |
|
September 29, 2007...On a surprisingly pleasant and mild day in Perris, Rip Williams was a big winner again as he led from the start to grab, by my count, his 104th win in his historical driving career to overtake Dean Thompson on the all time winners list.. Rip drove the John Jory Corp, AMA Plastics, Ricks Truck, black # 3 thru traffic with abandon and held off a fast closing youngster, RJ Johnson at the end. He has 32 CRA wins, 61 SCRA and now 11 USAC/CRA. That is a lot of wins for the 51 year old driver, and if you look deep in his eyes, he is not done. Mrs Wags pics Click here. and Wags Click here. Ripper was ninth quick, third in his heat and started on the outside of the front row and quickly went to the lead he would not relinquish. It was also a busy day for his family as his three sons were off having their own fun. Cody was running a sprint car at Victorville, Austin a focus at Ventura and Logan merely playing football. Don’t know their results but the boys are very active. Rip is gearing up to win the Oval Nationals next month at the PAS. Years ago he won twin 20’s on a preliminary night and the second win from the back cost me a dinner because I didn’t think he could make it all the way to the front. Imagine the excitement he created with that night of racing. RJ Johnson is not running every race with CRA this season due to some of the long travel required, but when he does come to race with the big 410’s of CRA, he gets with it. This week he started 4th in the main event and methodically moved into 2nd to chase the leader in his Arizona Race Mart, Weiler Farms, Fel Pro, # 15. He had solved the traffic and made a close race out of it in the end. RJ is very focused at such a young age, but if he continues to drive like this, his second win with these guys will come soon! Josh Ford has had his rough times recently, but tonight was not one of them. The Temecula Valley Pipe and Supply, Keizer Wheels, BerryXpress, # 73 stayed in the hunt until the very end and Josh had his best finish of the year. Josh was 2nd in his heat after qualifying 10th and started on the pole. He fought off a pack of five behind him for the last 20 plus laps. A great run for the driver who often brings the strawberry’s to the track for friends. The track was racy, but a little narrow, creating a lot of action in the preferred lane. Some did not fare well including Damion Gardner who was a victim of another wide car when he was slammed up on the wall, destroying his car. He later brought out a back-up car that was set-up for Eldora and they didn’t have much time getting it ready. When he started at the back of the semi, it came to a stop with something unplugged and his day was done. Look for him to light up the track like the old days in the last part of the racing season here. He is 9th in USAC national points in his first full year back there, and I am sure next year will be much better. Don’t count him out for a nig win at the Oval Nationals. In one of the most bizarre incidents I’ve seen in a while, it was lucky no one crashed hard when Rickie Gaunt and Mike Spencer got locked up on the back stretch causing others to make quick adjustments to miss them. One miraculous adjustment was amazing as Danny Sheridan got his car totally sideways and somehow recovered to miss the stopped pair, and so didn’t lose his position, but probably needed some clean-up later. He would hang in there for a 6th place finish. Spencer returned to start at the rear and come back to 10th at the end. Super Rickie went to the pits to stay. Jordan Hermansader has returned in the Springstead # 36 car. The low buck operation made the main under Jordan’s handling, but he dropped out with an apparent problem early in the event. Hard charger of the night was Alex Schutte, coming from 16th to 11th in the end. Point leader Tony Jones fought the one groove fast track to an 8th place finish and continues to lead the championship points as his healing collarbone doesn’t seem to bother him when he puts his helmet on. You can tell the track was too fast when the likes of Tony Jones and Cory Kruseman were unable to pass slower (?) cars, and then got the pleasure of the extra 12 laps of the semi. They finished one-two ahead of the pack that transferred. The 17th annual Wagsdash is on us now and so much to do. The day starts at noon with the chili provided by La Villa Restaurant’s John and Maria Gardner. During the afternoon, many auction items will be available to bid on during the silent auction that runs from noon till 5 minutes after the semi checkered flag. The sexy driver contest is always exciting and earns more money for the Wagsdash purse. A pit stop contest this year will feature last years returning champion Kevin Kierce’s group against the former champions Ronnie and Chet Gardner. We’ll see if the youngsters can reclaim their crown or if someone else can slip in there to beat the record time. The high bid for the Damion Gardner flyin’ helmet is up to $500 so far. There are other great items going up for bid including some serious stitching work from Jim Naylor’s JN Designs world. There are some great racing photographs from some of the best photographers in the land. Jim Fargo is bringing another neat rear-end clock that you’ll want. You can bid that one thru e-mail until 5 pm Thursday. The following drivers have accepted the Wagsdash challenge and are scheduled to run the event: David Cardey, Tyler Brown, Jonny Bates, Kevin Kierce, Luis Espinoza, Jimmy Crawford, J Hicks, Blake Miller and Nadine Gardner. Eric Severson won the VRA main event this week and Dwayne Marcum was the hard charger, so both will be eligible to be in the Wagsdash. More will be added on race night. So remember, all racers and fans get on the road early to share a great day together before the racing starts. Come have some chili and hot dogs with your favorite driver or racing personality. It's all good, and get involved in the best fun day of racing of the year! Help support the little guy! When it's racetime, it's Wagtime. Thanks for all the well wishes and cards as I am feeling great and, most importantly, I have a clean bill of health and on we go. It was so good to be at the races with my bride and I should not miss any more races, although she might because she is not retired like me. I will be attending the Trophy Cup in Tulare the last race of the year to support my friend who just made another outstanding trophy for the Wagsdash for us. Trophy City in San Jose is the place and Trophy Dave has made every one of the Wagsdash trophies in history, and they all have been awesome and none made of plastic!!!!! Wait till you see it. FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Rip Williams, 2. R. J. Johnson, 3. Josh Ford, 4. Garrett Hansen, 5. Cory Kruseman, 6. Danny Sheridan, 7. Scotty Weir, 8. Tony Jones, 9. Brian Venard, 10. Mike Spencer, 11. Alex Schutte, 12. David Cardey, 13. Tyler Brown, 14. Blake Miller, 15. Jimmy Crawford, 16. Rodney Argo, 17. Chris Wakim, 18. Luis Espinosa, 19. Tom Stansberry, 20. Nadine Gardner, 21. Jordan Hermansader, 22. Rickie Gaunt-NT NEW LUCAS OIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Jones-1,677; 2-Spencer-1,548; 3-Sheridan-1,453; 4-Gaunt-1,413; 5-Weir-1,267; 6-Williams-1,191; 7-Cardey-1,094; 8-Kruseman-960; 9-Miller- 915; 10-Johnson-882. NEXT USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACES: Oct. 6th - Ventura Raceway, Ventura, Calif., & Oct. 7th - Perris Auto Speedway, Perris, Calif. |
