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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
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BULLET BLAKE MILLER WINS $5000 AT HISTORICAL GARDNER/FAAS
OPEN SHOW # 1 RACE!! by Ken Wagner |
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VICTORVILLE TRACK PROVIDES GOOD VENUE FOR HOT SPRINTERS |
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April 19, 2008 --- They say history is always in the making and
dreams are what drives most significant changes. Perhaps another
milestone in our So Cal sprint car racing happened this weekend as
Cary Faas and Jack Gardner Jr, along with a lot of helpers, put on a
great show at Victorville Raceway giving racers a shot at more money
than usual and fans an opportunity to see a new venue at the high
desert facility. The $18,000 purse started with $5000 to win and
$400 to start as the night unfolded with the only drama on the
racetrack to see who would stand tallest when it was all over. Bullet
Blake Miller charged into the lead and held off many challengers
in the 40 lap main event and was a popular winner by the 10 PM
curfew.
Mrs Wags pics click here, Wags pics Click here to see. Doug Allen's great stuff is here to see. Driving the Jeff Gardner owned Sled, Blake used his blue # 93 like it was a bullet, shooting thru the pack to overtake the early leader Seth Wilson and then out run everybody as he sliced thru traffic to the end. The smooth banked oval had nearly 3 equal grooves and required some thinking to out fox drivers running in the middle groove that appeared a touch quicker. Blake had a tussle with a very quick Mike Spencer before the little red sucker broke a camshaft, but was certainly up to the task this night. Tony Jones looked like he wanted this one to be his own “Open Show Cowboy” experience, but the Silver Bullet Alexander car lost a cylinder halfway thru and he was hard pressed to hold on to second place in the end. He was second quick to Spencer and third in his heat as the Jones Nation fans went nuts every time he hit the track. Davey Pombo started 4th on the main event grid and dropped back a little before rallying back up to finish third in the Glenn Crossno # 38. He ran second in his heat and stayed out of trouble reaching for the front. Josh Ford started 15th and had a little spinout to delay his run this week. He came back in the black # 73 to get 4th and the hard charger money of $400 put up by photographers Steve Lafond and Jim Fargo. Mike Spencer set quick time that was worth at least $200 extra, also put up by the two photogs, and it was a new track record of 13.379. Mike was looking like a winner as he sliced thru traffic toward the front and only a broken camshaft put a stop to his night. Seth Wilson. surprised this wag with a newly painted car in black this week. It must have been tonic for the young driver who has had a real roller coaster ride the last year and a half. After qualifying 7th quick, he passed Blake Miller for his first heat race win in a while and started on the outside of the front row in the main event. From there he burst into the lead that he held for the first third of the race. Miller tracked him down and used lap traffic to get by him, but he hung in there until he stopped on the track and restarted for a 13th place finish. It was his best performance this year. Shon Duskins passed on a 360 race in Tuscon, AZ this week to make this race. It was a good one for him as he finished 6th making him the highest finishing 360 motored car and earned him about $600 of bonus money, some from another photographer from Hosehead West, Mike Siffert. That Cagey Cody Williams shook off last weeks little tumble and came out firing this week at a track where he ran four times last season. Cody had a great run getting a fifth, his best in the 410 wars, and was looking good all night. Hmmm, is dad sweating getting his foot mended and back in HIS ride? Naw, but what will we do with the Cagey one? And how about Austin, rumor has it he is very aggressive and looking for his chance, too? What a good problem to have for Becky and the Ripper. Aaron Altaffer showed up in the Warren Dorathy # 21 car that Danny Sheridan has often driven and was doing very well until he got caught up in a mess not of his own doing and was done in 18th. Danny by the way missed the event because of a planned trip to East coast Myrtil beach where he and some buds were playing golf (?) this weekend. Eric Severson had an outstanding night in Jim Cherry’s Carpet coop car as he was running third until the last yellow flag stop where he ran out of gas on the restart and finished 7th. JJ Ercse was running strong until he slammed the front stretch wall on the white flag lap and was credited with 12th. Heidi Tresler is a local and attractive young lady who races sprint cars, works full time and goes to college while dad makes the car ready each week. Running locally in the 360, she does just fine and her 11th place finish had to please her fans. My impressions of the track are very good, and that after hearing over the last few years the reports of where it was then and how it is now. I can now speak for myself and I was impressed. The 3/8 config is very wide and racey. The track supported some great action that pleased the crowd and the covered grandstand helped to keep the breezy wind off the fans. If they can draw a crowd, the cars will come, and it looks like it will work here. Some notes: Starter Lee Jaskowiak had a broken finger when a rock hit him. He couldn’t flag the main. Chris Tramel had a fire in hot laps and was done for the night until he went to collect the $200 hard luck award sponsored by the Wagtimes. Anyone wanting to add to that fund the for the next open show come see me, because I know they will do it again. The only problem with the night was the racers themselves in the 40 lap main. Too many yellow flags and delays, but the officials did a great job keeping things moving. They did have a fuel stop because of all the yellow flag laps, but it didn’t figure in the finish. The Barbeque sandwich really was one and I liked it. The food prices were pretty reasonable with what we ate tasty. The wind was really not an issue as the fairground track seems to be somehow protected somewhat. I can tell you that after the races and we stopped for gas not far away, the wind about blew me into the weeds, and the ride home was a very buffeted adventure with the Honda wanting to take off in the gusty crosswinds, repeatedly. The initial Gardner/Faas drivers meeting was not a USAC bashing event, nor was it a venting opportunity, merely a promise to try and run more of these events during the USAC/CRA schedule breaks and put some extra money in the racers pockets. There wasn’t any talk about taking over sprint car racing or forcing any track or organization to do anything. More to the point, and because purses are much like the 80’s and 90’s, and thus behind the times, this promotion is designed to bring in more spectators and grow our racing. There are no points or championships, just racing and payoffs the night everytime it happens. The lofty goal set is to continue these Open shows on a frequent basis with a goal of paying $10,000 to win and $1000 to start eventually. They think they can do it, so let’s get started. The fallout should do nothing but help at CRA’s home track of Perris and other venues we now race at, as well as help the racers in their budgeting. It can’t hurt as they aren’t running against anything but their own hopes of improving our racing. The question I hear most often: will they take over racing and force USAC out? I suppose that is what pops in most peoples mind, but that’s not what this is about. Yes, racers are flaky and always looking for that better deal, but they are doing this only to grow sprint car racing and make it better for the racers, why not. If Perris benefits from it, all the better, as they have a huge investment in sprint cars and could use bigger crowds and better car counts like every track. Think about what happened this weekend. It’s back to the PAS this weekend, so we’ll see you all. Calistoga is not done yet, so wait for it. FEATURE: (40 laps - With Starting Positions) 1. Blake Miller (3rd), 2. Tony Jones (8th), 3. Davey Pombo (4th), 4. Josh Ford (15th), 5. Cody Williams (16th), 6. Shon Deskins (13th), 7. Alan Ballard (5th), 8. Eric Severson (1st), 9. Don Gansen (19th), 10. Robert Ellis (9th), 11. Heidi Tresler (18th), 12. J.J. Ercse (22nd), 13. Seth Wilson (2nd), 14. John Aden (10th), 15. Tyler Brown (6th), 16. Mike Spencer (7th), 17. Jimmy Crawford (12th), 18. Aaron Altaffer (14th), 19. Josh Williams (21st), 20. Billy Blinn (20th), 21. Rodney Argo (11th), 22. Jordan Hermansader (17th). |
