PERRIS, CA, April 28 --   Three-time defending Sprint Car Racing Association (SCRA) Champion Richard Griffin was the first to find the cushion Saturday night at the Perris Auto Speedway.  The end result was Griffin's 31st career SCRA main event win and his seventh lifetime win at Perris.

"We finished second last time we ran here and we had a good car all night," Griffin said of the Ron Chaffin owned, Arizona Race Mart No. 50 Jon Boy.  "We moved up a little bit in the dash and really didn't know what to expect in the feature with the track being drier than the last few races we've been here.  The cushion was really near the wall in (turns) three and four, but if there's a cushion next to the fence that's usually where I like to be."  

Griffin didn't start the 30 lap race next to the fence.  Instead, he started on the inside of row two directly behind current SCRA point leader and JE Piston Dash winner Cory Kruseman.  Griffin's grid placement, however; proved beneficial on the opening lap.  While Kruseman darted away from the Haas CNC Machine Tools No. 11 TCR driven by fellow front row starter Troy Cline, Griffin stayed low and completed lap one in second place ahead of Cline, Steve Ostling and Sander Engineering Fast Time Award winner Troy Rutherford.

For the fifth time in eight races, Kruseman and Griffin occupied the first two positions during main event competition.  Kruseman controlled the first three laps of the race until the yellow flag waved for Jarrett Chaney  who, along with Rip Williams, slid to a stop in turn one.

Griffin moved to the top for the first time on the restart.  Although Griffin wasn't close enough to make a pass, the attempt served as an indication that track conditions had already begun to change from the majority occupied low
line.  The red flag appeared three laps later after George Gervais took a nasty-looking tumble in turn four.  Gervais was not hurt.

It took two tries to get a lap six restart into the record books.  Each time Griffin restarted on the cushion.  And each time Griffin came as close to taking the lead as he did to losing second place to Cline.         

"I could see Troy sticking his nose in there, but I was pretty confident that I would be able to stay up front using the cushion if I was able to hit a decent lap.  You hate to let anyone get even with you coming off of turn four
because you can get pinched into to the fence," Griffin said.

Griffin not only "hit a decent lap" on the restart, but did so on the next couple laps as well.  Racing back to the line to complete lap eight, Griffin squeezed his way around Kruseman to take the lead.  

"Cory and I were about the same speed, and he might have been a little better than us on the bottom, so once everyone strung-out I figured that I better do something if we wanted to win.  Once I moved up to the cushion, I could tell I was going to be faster than Cory and I knew it was just going to be a waiting game for the bottom to wear out."

It took Griffin a couple of circuits to comfortably secure the lead, but once he did he was never seriously contested for his second win of the season. Kruseman did battle hard throughout the race and even moved the Harlan Willis / Omni Turn No. 45 TCR up to the cushion realizing the low line was no longer the fastest way around.  With eight laps to go, Kruseman might have been hoping for Griffin to make a mistake in lapped traffic.  Unfortunately for Kruseman, he would be the one to relinquish a position after contact with a slower car on lap 27 gave the runner-up spot to Cline.  

Griffin went on to win by nearly a full straightaway over Cline and later joked at the fact that he still trailed Kruseman by 174 championship points.  "We moved up to fourth in the point standings tonight, and I'm not sure how many races are left, but we're going to have to pickup more than eight points a night on Cory if we're going to catch him."

Although Kruseman may have been somewhat disappointed with his third place finish, he did leave with his seventh finish of fourth or better this season.  Rodney Argo finished fourth giving the Don Argo / Venolia Forged Pistons No. 19 Jon Boy it's best finish of the year.  Rutherford came home fifth earning his fourth top-five finish in the Jack Gardner Jr. / Sled Chassis.  Mike English went from 18th to fourth in 20 laps, but had to settle for a sixth
place finish which earned him the TW Metals Hard Charger Award.
   
SCRA RACE #8 - PERRIS AUTO SPEEDWAY
PERRIS, CA
Date of Race: 04/28/01

TIME TRIALS
1. Troy Rutherford, Ojai CA, Gardner, Jr  4 , 16.765 2. Richard Griffin, Silver City NM, Chaffin 50 , 16.794  3. Troy Cline, Santa Clarita CA, Cline 11 , 16.938  4. Cory Kruseman, Ventura CA, Willis 45 , 16.965  5. Charles
Davis, Jr, Chandler AZ, Morales 94 , 17.015 6. George Gervais, Mira Loma CA, Gervais 9 , 17.094  7. Steve Ostling, Corona CA, Fischer Mtrspts 29 , 17.235 8. Lance Gremett, San Marcos CA, Gremett 85 , 17.267  9. Jarrett Chaney, Clovis CA, Chaney 69 , 17.278  10. Verne Sweeney, Lomita CA, Sweeney 98, 17.297  11. Rodney Argo, Hawthorne CA, Argo 19 , 17.392  12. Greg DeCaires, Elk Grove CA, Hasebe 17, 17.407  13. Mike Kirby, Lomita CA., M&B Racing 5 , 17.424  14. Danny Sheridan, Santa Maria CA, Sertich 92 , 17.475  15. Danny Ent, Redlands CA., Pratt 12 , 17.490  16. Hank Winter, Tucson AZ, Winter 33 , 17.537 17. John Franklin, Huntington Bch. CA., Franklin 20 , 17.546  18. John Sarale, Stockton CA, DiDonato 57 , 17.587  19.  Casey Shuman, Tempe AZ., Lake Mtrsprts 6 , 17.604  20. Alex Grigoreas, Chino CA, Keene 84 , 17.615  21.
John Scott,  Hesperia CA, Scott Mtrsprts 83 , 17.622  22. Rickie Gaunt, Torrance CA, Gardner Jr. 2 , 17.635  23. Ronnie Clark, (R) Tucson AZ, Winter 138 , 17.648  24. Mike English, Norwalk CA, Priestley 7 , 17.693  25. Kevin White, Anaheim CA, White 43X, 17.697  26. Wiley Miller, (R) Yorba Linda CA, Miller 75X , 17.700  27. Jack DeArmond, Jr., Corona CA, DeArmond, Sr. 24, 17.746  28. Bobby Graham, Riverside CA, Silver State 14 , 17.808  29. Adam Mitchell, Escondido CA, Mitchell 99., 17.843   30. Gary W. Howard, Fontana CA, Ruth 25 , 17.879  31. Rick Becker, (R) Highland CA, Becker 67, 18.000 32. Rip Williams, Yorba Linda CA, Jory 3 , 18.000  33. Chris Rahe, Corona CA, Rahe 51 , 18.029 34. Michael Hinrichsen, (R) Lakeside CA, Lake Mtrsprts, 16 , 18.045  35. Rick Ziehl, Las Cruces NM, G&N Motorsports 35, 18.252  36. Matt Felio, Alpine CA, Felio 26 , 18.271  37. Tony Jones, Corona CA, Cowherd 48 , 18.295  38. Jimmy Gardner, (R) Garden Grove CA, Gardner Jr 96 , 18.308  39. Jeff Schildmeyer, (R) Alpine CA, Ball 87 , 18.390  40. Mike Spencer, (R) Temecula CA, Engstrom 44 , 18.442  41. Marc Hart, Ventura CA, Hart 15 , 18.444   42. Steve Koster,  (R) El Cajon CA, Koster 42 , 18.458 43. J.J. Ercse, (R) Lakewood CA, Peck 81, 18.463  44. Dan Tedrick, Hesperia CA, Tedrick 88X , 18.542  45. Keith Williamson, Pomona CA, Williamson 95, 18.576 46. Glenn Crossno, (R) Alta Loma CA, Crossno 38 , 18.603  47. Charlie Ekiss, La Mesa CA, Ball 78, 18.640  48. Mel Murphy, Riverside CA, Murphy 62 , 18.659  49. Mark Nation, Los Olivos CA, Nation 3N , 19.045  50. Bob Ferro, (R) Sherman Oaks CA,, Ferro 91X, 19.055  51. Dan Hillberg, Whittier CA, Hillberg
82, 19.284  52. Jim McCullough, (R) Garden Grove CA., Kepler 31, 21.567  53. Brian Venard, Tustin CA, Venard, 47, No Time    54. Steve Venard, Silverado CA., Glover 49, No Time

D FEATURE
1. Keith Williamson. 2. Charlie Ekiss. 3. Mel Murphy. 4. Mark Nation. 5. Dan Tedrick. 6. J.J. Ercse. 7. Bob Ferro.  8. Glenn Crossno. 9. Dan Hillberg. 10.  Jim McCullough.

C FEATURE
1. Michael Hinrichsen. 2. Tony Jones. 3. Marc Hart, 4. Matt Felio, 5. Charlie Ekiss. 6. Chris Rahe. 7. Rick Ziehl. 8. Mike Spencer. 9. Jeff Schildmeyer. 10.  Keith Williamson. 11.  Jimmy Gardner.

HEAT 1
1. Mike Kirby, 2. John Scott, 3. Troy Rutherford, 4. Adam Mitchell, 5. Charles Davis, Jr, 6. John Franklin, 7. Jarrett Chaney, 8. Kevin White, 9. Michael Hinrichsen,

HEAT 2
1. Richard Griffin, 2. Rickie Gaunt, 3. Gary W. Howard, 4. George Gervais, 5. Danny Sheridan, 6. Verne Sweeney, 7. Wiley Miller, 8. Tony Jones, 9. John Sarale,

HEAT 3
1. Troy Cline, 2. Steve Ostling, 3. Casey Shuman, 4. Rodney Argo, 5. Danny Ent, 6. Rick Becker, 7. Marc Hart, 8. Jack DeArmond, Jr., 9. Ronnie Clark,

HEAT 4
1. Cory Kruseman, 2. Rip Williams, 3. Greg DeCaires, 4. Bobby Graham, 5. Alex Grigoreas, 6. Hank Winter, 7. Matt Felio, 8. Lance Gremett, 9. Mike English,

DASH
1. Cory Kruseman. 2. Troy Cline. 3. Richard Griffin. 4. Troy Rutherford. 5. Steve Ostling. 6. Rodney Argo. 7. George Gervais. 8. Greg DeCaires.

B FEATURE
1. Mike English, 2. Jarrett Chaney. 3. Danny Sheridan, 4. Hank Winter. 5. Verne Sweeney. 6. Alex Grigoreas. 7. Matt Felio.  8. Kevin White. 9. Jack DeArmond, Jr. 10.  Rick Becker. 11.  John Sarale. 12.  Marc Hart, 13. Wiley Miller. 14.  Danny Ent. 15.  Lance Gremett. 16.  Ronnie Clark. 17.  Charles Davis, Jr. 18.  Tony Jones. 19. John Franklin. 20.  Michael Hinrichsen.

A FEATURE  (30 Laps)
1. Richard Griffin, 2. Troy Cline, 3. Cory Kruseman. 4. Rodney Argo. 5. Troy Rutherford. 6. Mike English. 7. Steve Ostling, 8. Mike Kirby, 9. John Scott. 10.  Rickie Gaunt. 11.  Jarrett Chaney. 12.  Greg DeCaires. 13. Danny Sheridan. 14.  Bobby Graham. 15.  Casey Shuman. 16. Hank Winter. 17.  Verne Sweeney. 18.  Gary W. Howard. 19. Adam Mitchell. 20.  George Gervais. 21. Alex Grigoreas. 22.  Rip Williams.
Laps Led: Kruseman 1-7, Griffin 8-30


SCRA Point Standings as of: 04/28/01

    CAR           NAME            HOMETOWN / STARTS / POINTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.  45        Cory Kruseman       Ventura CA        8   560
2.  83         John Scott               Hesperia CA      8   446
3.  4           Troy Rutherford     Ojai CA               8   424
4.  50         Richard Griffin        Silver City NM    8   386
5.  48         Tony Jones            Corona CA          8   378
6.  29         Steve Ostling         Corona CA          8   371
7.  3          Rip Williams          Yorba Linda CA   8   355
8.  5          Mike Kirby            Lomita CA           8   343
9.  11         Troy Cline             Santa Clarita CA  6   341
10. 7         Mike English          Norwalk CA        8   316
11. 21        Jeremy Sherman    Phoenix AZ         5   269
12. 94        Charles Davis, Jr    Chandler AZ       8   252
13. 92        Danny Sheridan      Santa Maria CA  8   223
14. 2          Rickie Gaunt          Torrance CA       8   222
15. 17       Greg DeCaires        Elk Grove CA     8   158
16. 19       Rodney Argo          Hawthorne CA    8   154
17. 33       Hank Winter          Tucson AZ           8   154
18. 84       Alex Grigoreas       Chino CA            5   125
19. 61X     Jimmy May            Ventura CA        7   123
20. 14      Bobby Graham        Riverside CA      7   122