PERRIS, CA, Sept. 30 - With Richard Griffin on the
pole and RipWilliams to his outside, the stage was set Saturday night at the
Perris Auto Speedway for a 30 lap western-style showdown between the two highest
ranked Sprint Car Racing Association (SCRA) drivers.
When the smoke finally cleared, Williams rode out of town with his 30th career
SCRA win at Perris. Although Williams' second victory of the year did
little to narrow the point gap between himself and Griffin, it did serve notice
that "The Ripper" may be peaking at the perfect time with some big
point and dollar races only a few weeks away.
"Anything can happen, especially if Richard has some of the luck like we
had at the beginning of the year. It's still anybody's championship, I'm
just trying to win as many races as I can, " said Williams. "We
were pretty good tonight, but so was some of those other guys. It was a
dogfight and we came out on top."
Williams took the lead at the drop of the green flag beating Griffin, who
earlier won the his eighth JE Pistons Dash of the season, to the turn one
cushion. At the end of lap one, Williams brought the Sharon Jory / Vista
Paint No. 3 Stinger across the line ahead of Griffin, Rickie Gaunt, John Scott
and Mike English. Williams pulled away from the field in the early stages of the race until the yellow flag flew on lap
seven for Danny Sheridan who tangled with rookie point leader Jarrett Chaney and
spun along the backstraight.
Williams restarted the race on the turn three cushion. Griffin tried the
bottom and raced Williams even for most of the lap. Riding the momentum of
the cushion, Williams managed to maintain the lead for the moment.
Still pressuring Williams, Griffin took the lead nine laps into the race thanks
to a nice run off the bottom of turn two. Williams immediately responded
and took the lead back one lap later. "If someone is going pass you
right away, then you better do something real quick. It's sort of like a boxing
match when you get hit a couple of times you
better hit 'em back.," Williams later said.
The red flag was out just before the midway mark of the race when Troy
Rutherford clipped Marc Hart's right rear tire and flipped after contact with
the turn one wall. Fortunately, Rutherford was able to emerge from the
Jack Gardner, Jr. / Beach Manufacturing No. 6 Sled without injury after riding
out his second nasty flip in as many weeks.
Catching a break isn't something that Williams has been able to do most of this
season. But the red flag proved to be timely for Williams who was passed
by Griffin just moments before Rutherford hit the wall. Arguably, no one pays
more attention to a changing race track than Williams. The red flag not
only gave Williams the lead back, but
allowed him to settle down and implement what he learned during his normal
pre-race ritual.
"I rode around on the quad just before the main event just checking out the
track. Even then, I was wondering if I'd know when to switch to the bottom
if I had the lead. Griffin showed me a wheel a couple of times and I
thought the top was still fast enough, but after a while I just started doing
what I needed to do," Williams said. "I started diamonding-off
the track in turns one and two and I made sure to get in real hard on the top to
take away any slid jobs. Once we'd get on the backstraight I knew we were
okay."
Williams led after racing resuming until the caution flag flew on lap 17 for
Cory Kruseman who spun in turn one after contact with fourth place Scott.
Kruseman's night officially ended seconds later after he was hit hard by Steve
Ostling. Neither driver was injured, in fact Ostling returned to finish
11th. Scott sustained a flat left rear tire in the incident.
Griffin used the bottom of turns three and four once more on the restart, but
the bottom appeared to be going away somewhat at that end of the track.
Looking to be the showdown spoiler, Gaunt, who ranks third in series points,
swooped around Griffin to take the runner-up spot on the restart.
Seven laps from the finish, Gaunt stuck a wheel under Williams exiting turn two.
Saved by his new middle line in turn two, Williams was able to preserve his
lead. Successfully withstanding the pressure from Gaunt and Griffin over
the course of the next few laps, Williams was one set of corners away from
seeing the white flag. Instead, Williams was greeted with a close-up look at
Michael Smith's spun car. The subsequent restart proved to be no problem
for Williams as he confidently sped to victory.
"We've led a lot of races this year and it always seems like there's a
yellow flag with a couple of laps to go so we're kind of getting used to
it," Williams laughed. "I just concentrated on what I needed to do and
the car was starting to come around. I was a little too tight at first,
but towards the end of the race we were rolling the corners pretty
nice."
Gaunt finished second beating the Ron Chaffin / Arizona Race Mart No. 50 Jon Boy
driven by Griffin to the checkered flag. A winner at Perris just one week
ago, Tony Jones had another sensational drive moving the
Gene Cowherd / GC Aero No. 48 from the 18th starting spot to earn a fourth place
finish. Mike English finished fifth in the Mark Priestley / Roy Miller
Freightliners No. 10 Stinger. In time trials, English out-qualified the 54
car field to win his fourth Sander Engineering Fast
Time Award.
###
RACE #34 - PERRIS AUTO SPEEDWAY
PERRIS, CA
Date of Race: 09/30/00
SCRA TIME TRIALS
1. Mike English, Norwalk CA, Priestley 10 , 16.682 2. John Scott, Hesperia CA,
Scott Mtrsprts 83 , 16.732 3. Michael Smith, Trona CA, Fischer Mtrspts 29
, 16.804 4. Troy Rutherford, Ojai CA, Gardner, Jr,
6, 16.812 5. Brian Venard, Tustin CA, Venard. 47 , 16.856 6.
Rip Williams, Yorba Linda CA, Jory 3, 16.860 7. Rickie Gaunt, Torrance CA,
Gardner Jr. 96 , 16.898 8. Richard Griffin, Silver City NM, Chaffin 50,
16.915 9. Marc Hart, Ventura CA, Hart 15 , 16.933 10. Cory Kruseman,
Ventura CA, Willis 45 , 16.953 11. Steve Ostling, Corona CA, Pratt 12 , 16.963
12. Lance Gremett, San Marcos CA, Gretett 85 , 17.031 13.
Rodney Argo, Hawthorne CA, Argo 19 , 17.065 14. Jordan Hermansader, Long Beach
CA, Acosta 77 , 17.083 15. Rick Hinrichsen, Lakeside CA, Lake Mtrsprts 22
, 17.095 16. Bobby Graham, Riverside CA, Silver State
14 , 17.098 17. Jarrett Chaney, Clovis CA, Chaney 69 , 17.102 18. Hank
Winter, Tucson AZ, Winter 33 , 17.135 19. Keith Williamson, Pomona CA,
Williamson 95, 17.145 20. Mike Kirby, Lomita CA, Geurin 5, 17.167 21. Troy
Cline, Santa Clarita CA, Morales 27 , 17.201 22. Adam Mitchell, Escondido
CA, Mitchell 99, 17.212 23. Tony Jones, Corona CA, Cowherd 48, 17.218 24.
Bobby Michnowicz, Harbor City CA, Michnowicz 21 , 17.230 25. Alex Grigoreas,
Chino CA, Keene 84 , 17.230 26. Jeremy Sherman, Phoenix AZ, Lloyd. 41,
17.234 27. George Gervais, Mira Loma CA, Gervais 9 , 17.275 28. Bob
Ellis, Riverside CA, Giardina 59, 17.295 29. Larry Brown, Bakersfield CA,
Brown 36 , 17.328 30. Danny Sheridan, Santa
Maria CA, Sheridan 18 , 17.342 31. Cal Smith, Montclair CA, Pratt. 39 ,
17.379 32. Charlie Ekiss, La Mesa CA, Ball 78 , 17.455 33. Michael Hinrichsen,
Lakeside CA, Lake Mtrsprts 2, 17.516 34. Tom Downing,
Lakewood CA, Downing 90 , 17.520 35. Dan Hillberg, Whittier CA, Hillberg 82 ,
17.575 36. Ron DiDonato, Mission Viejo CA, DiDonato 57 , 17.578 37. Will
Perkins, Victorville CA, Perkins 70, 17.640 38. J Hicks,
Torrance CA, Alexander 89, 17.658 39. Matt Felio, Alpine CA, Felio 26 ,
17.711 40. Jack DeArmond, Jr., Corona CA, DeArmond, Sr. 24 , 17.730 41.
Sid Carlson, San Diego CA, Carlson 73, 17.742 42. Mel Murphy, Riverside
CA, Murphy 62 , 17.748 43. John Franklin, Huntington Bch. CA,
Franklin 20, 17.751 44. Austin Kreider, Arcadia CA, Kreider 8, 17.760 45.
Tom Stansberry, Bakersfield CA, Stansberry 75T, 17.823 46. Steve Venard,
Silverado CA, Glover 86, 17.965 47. Glenn Crossno, Alta Loma CA, Crossno 38 ,
18.007 48. Dean Crabb, Morco CA, Crabb 88 , 18.130 49. Jimmy Thornell,
Riverside CA, Thornell 52 , 18.184 50. Tony Everhart, El Cajon CA,
Everhart 55 , 18.206 51. Kirk Alexander, Lake Elsinore CA, Heath 0 , 18.281
52. Bob Ferro, Sherman Oaks CA, Ferro 91X , 18.315 53. Rick Farron, Van Nuys CA,
Farron 23, 18.402 54. Dan Tedrick, Hesperia CA, Tedrick 88X , 18.722
C FEATURE #1
1. Michael Hinrichsen, 2. Matt Felio, 3. Wil Perkins, 4. John Franklin,
5. Sid Carlson, 6. Glenn Crossno, 7. Kirk Alexander, 8. Rick Farron, 9.
Jimmy Thornell, 10. Dan Hillberg
C FEATURE #2
1. J Hicks, 2. Tom Downing, 3. Ron DiDonato, 4. Jack DeArmond, Jr., 5.
Dan Tedrick, 6. Bob Ferro, 7. Dean Crabb, 8. Mel Murphy, 9. Austin
Kreider, 10. Steve Venard, 11. Tony Everhart
SUPERTRAPP MUFFLERS HEAT 1
1. Alex Grigoreas, 2. Marc Hart, 3. Troy Cline, 4. Mike English, 5.Larry Brown,
6. Rodney Argo, 7. Brian Venard, 8. Jarrett Chaney,
SHAVER ENGINES HEAT 2
1. Cory Kruseman, 2. John Scott, 3. Rip Williams, 4. Jeremy Sherman, 5. Jordan
Hermansader, 6. Danny Sheridan, 7. Hank Winter, 8. Matt Fello, 9.
Adam Mitchell,
KSE RACING PRODUCTS HEAT 3
1. Tony Jones, 2. Steve Ostling, 3. George Gervais, 4. Rickie Gaunt, 5. Cal
Smith, 6. J Hicks, 7. Michael Smith, 8. Keith Williamson, 9. Rick Hinrichsen,
DESIGN 500 HEAT 4
1. Richard Griffin, 2. Mike Kirby, 3. Troy Rutherford, 4. Lance Gremett, 5.
Bobby Michnowicz, 6. Tom Downing, 7. Bob Ellis, 8. Bobby Graham, 9. Charlie
Ekiss,
JE PISTONS DASH
1. Richard Griffin. 2. Rip Williams. 3. Rickie Gaunt. 4. John Scott. 5. Cory
Kruseman. 6. Mike English. 7. Marc Hart. 8. Troy Rutherford.
B FEATURE
1. Brian Venard. 2. Michael Smith. 3. Jarrett Chaney. 4. Danny Sheridan. 5.
Rodney Argo. 6. Bobby Graham. 7. Jordan Hermansader. 8. Adam Mitchell. 9. J
Hicks. 10. Larry Brown. 11. Matt Felio. 12. Rick Hinrichsen.
13. Bob Ellis. 14. Keith Williamson. 15. Michael Hinrichsen. 16.
Cal Smith. 17. Tom Downing. 18. Hank Winter.
A FEATURE (30 Laps)
1. Rip Williams. 2. Rickle Gaunt. 3. Richard Griffin. 4. Tony Jones. 5.
Mike English. 6. Troy Cline. 7. Bobby Graham. 8. Brian Venard. 9. John Scott.
10. Lance Gremett. 11. Steve Ostling. 12. Alex Grigoreas. 13.
Michael Smith. 14. George Gervais. 15. Rodney Argo. 16. Jeremy
Sherman. 17. Marc Hart. 18. Mike Kirby. 19. Cory Kruseman. 20.
Troy Rutherford. 21. Jarrett Chaney, 22. Danny Sheridan.
Laps Led: Williams 1-8, Griffin 9, Williams 10-30
