PERRIS, CA, May 26 --   Cory Kruseman's dream season continued Saturday at the Perris Auto Speedway with a 50 lap "Salute to Indy" victory.  Amazingly, Kruseman has now won half of the 12 Sprint Car Racing Association (SCRA) races this season. 

The main event began with Rip Williams beating JE Pistons Dash winner John Scott into the first turn.  Scott stayed low and pulled even with the Sharon Jory / Vista Paint No. 3 Gambler driven by Williams.  Scott maintained his line exiting turn four and took the lead as Williams, Charles Davis, Jr., Steve Ostling and Kruseman, who started fourth, followed closely behind.

Beginning his charge to the front, Kruseman darted to the inside of Ostling on lap five to put the Harlan Willis / Omni Turn No. 45 TCR into the fourth position.  One lap later, Kruseman passed Davis for third.  The yellow flag appeared on lap seven for Greg Taylor who spun in turn one. 

One of the few drivers riding the cushion, Griffin used the restart to move into the fifth spot.  Ostling was one of the other drivers making the cushion work.  Utilizing the banking, Ostling slipped around Kruseman on lap ten in turn two.  On the eve of his Indy 500 debut, Cory Witherill also served as an SCRA car owner.  Unfortunately, his driver Shane Alach slipped over the turn one cushion and flipped on lap 14 after contact with the wall.  Alach was not hurt.  During the red flag stoppage, Kruseman's crew changed a shock and a radius rod. 

"I don't know exactly what they changed.  I actually just wanted some weight changed around and once they did that it helped the car stick a little better," said Kruseman.  "I didn't have a bad car, fifty laps is a long time and the race track changed.  The track changed quite a bit after the dash and I thought we might be in trouble after we pushed off.  We were just patient and when we got a red flag and that allowed the guys to make some changes."

Three laps after the restart, Ostling was locked in a three-way fight with Kruseman and Griffin when, like Alach, he slid over the turn one cushion and slapped the wall.  Narrowly missed by Griffin, Ostling continued on, but would have to nurse an ill-handling car home to a ninth place finish.

Mike Kirby started 20th and used a lap 19 restart to move the Mark Alexander / Brad Geurin / Statewide Towing No. 5 Stinger into the fifth position.  Two laps later, Kruseman squeezed under Williams for the second position in turn two.  As the race reached it's midway mark, Kruseman was able to stick a wheel under Scott for the first time. 

The yellow flag waved for debris on lap 28.  Kruseman took an aggressive run at Scott through the first turn on the restart and the two leaders touched tires exiting turn two.  For an instant, Williams was close enough to almost pass both of them for the lead, but nearly collected Griffin instead.  As it turned out, everyone maintained their positions until Sander Fast Qualifier Troy Rutherford removed Griffin from the fourth spot on lap 30.  Scott was doing a good job protecting the bottom from Kruseman until he slipped off the pole slightly on lap 36 giving "The Kruser" just enough of an opening to take the lead in turn two. 

Thanks to the abundance of caution flags, it wasn't until lap 40 that Kruseman reached his first cars to lap.  Looking like it might be a break for Scott, Kruseman was faced with a couple of side-by-side battles through lapped traffic.  Kruseman responded by assertively breaking up those side-by-side encounters so he could pick them off one at a time. 

Kruseman nearly lost the race with four laps to go after a car he was attempting to lap suddenly slowed in front of him.  Forced to get hard on the binders, Kruseman pitched his mount sideways to avoid the slower car.  Scott made contact with the rear of Kruseman's car.  For a moment it looked like Kruseman would get the worse of this altercation, but as luck would have it, Scott would be the one to see his night come to an end after the contact knocked out his front end. 

"The lapped cars weren't being courteous and moving over for me, so I figured if I showed them the side of my race car they might give me a little courtesy.  It's very understandable because I know they're racing for position too, you just don't like to see it when you're leading a race," Kruseman said.  "We came around turn four and he checked-up and so did I.  It was about that time that John was on it and I think he just turned to miss me and got the wheels on the berm and when it did it bounced the front end right on top of me.  I felt bad for John, but everyone's out here going for the win." 

With two lapped cars between himself and Kruseman on the restart, Williams never had enough time to challenge for the win and had for a runner-up finish.  Rutherford gave the Jack Gardner, Jr. Motorsports / Sled Chassis No. 4 a podium finish while Kirby's fourth place finished earned him the TW Metals Hard Charger Award.  Kirby's teammate, Rickie Gaunt, finished fifth after starting 15th.                                   

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SCRA RACE #12 - "SALUTE TO INDY" PERRIS AUTO SPEEDWAY, PERRIS, CA
Date of Race: 05/26/01

TIME TRIALS
1. Troy Rutherford, Ojai CA, Gardner, Jr   4 , 16.655 2. Tony Jones, Corona CA, Cowherd 48 , 17.066  3. Alex Grigoreas, Chino CA, Keene 84 , 17.123 4. Cory Kruseman, Ventura CA, Willis 45 , 17.146  5. Steve Ostling, Corona CA, Fischer Ntrspts 29 , 17.188 6. Brian Venard, Tustin CA, Venard. 47, 17.194 7. Charles Davis, Jr, Chandler AZ, Morales 94 , 17.226  8. Verne Sweeney, Lomita CA, Sweeney 98,  17.245  9.  Greg DeCaires, Elk Grove CA, Hasebe 17 , 17.245 10. Rip Williams, Yorba Linda CA, Jory 3 ,  17.303  11. Michael Hinrichsen, (R) Lakeside CA, Lake Mtrsprts. 16 , 17.397  12.  Kevin White, Anaheim CA, White 43, 17.400  13. John Scott, Hesperia CA, Scott Mtrsprts 83 , 17.406  14. Keith Williamson, Pomona CA, Williamson 95 , 17.565  15. Marc Hart, Ventura CA, Hart 15 , 17.582  16. Ronnie Clark, (R) Tucson AZ, Winter 138 , 17.597  17. Charlie Ekiss, La Mesa CA., Ball 78 , 17.598  18.  Greg Taylor, (R) Ojai CA, Taylor 7T, 17.600  19.  Mike Spencer, (R) Temecula CA, Engstrom 44 , 17.601  20. Richard Griffin, Silver City NM, Chaffin 50, 17.648  21. Jordan Hermansader, Long Beach CA, Pratt 12 , 17.713  22. Rickie Gaunt, Torrance CA, M&B Racing. 5X , 17.772  23. Shane Alach, New Zealand .,Witherill 16X , 17.788  24. Bobby Graham, Riverside CA, Silver State 14 , 17.799  25. Rodney Argo, Hawthorne CA.,Argo 19 , 17.830  26. Adam Mitchell, Escondido CA, Mitchell 99 , 17.860  27. Bob Ferro, (R) Sherman Oaks CA.,Ferro 91X , 17.958  28. Dan Hillberg, Whittier CA, Hillberg 82 , 18.052  29. Jimmy Gardner, (R) Garden Grove CA.,Gardner Jr 96 , 18.058  30. Jeremy Ellerson, Hermosa Beach CA, Ellerson 98X , 18.062 31. Danny Sheridan, Santa Maria CA, Sertich 92 , 18.068  32. Casey Shuman, Tempe AZ, Lake Mtrsprts 6 , 18.068  33. Mike Kirby, Lomita CA, M&B Racing 5 18.088  34. Glenn Crossno, (R) Alta Loma CA, Crossno 38 , 18.115  35. Gary W. Howard, Fontana CA, Ruth 25, 18.186 36, Mike English, Norwalk CA, Priestley 7 , 18.191  37. Lance Gremett, San Marcos CA, Gremett 85, 18.212  38. Rick Becker, (R) Highland CA, Becker 67 , 18.245  39. George Gervais, Mira Loma CA, Gervais 9, 18.252 40. Jack DeArmond, Jr., Corona CA, DeArmond, Sr. 24 , 18.263  41. Hank Winter, Tucson AZ, Winter 33 , 18.354  42. Dan Tedrick, Hesperia CA, Tedrick 88X , 18.375  43. Jeff Schildmeyer, (R) Alpine CA, Ball 87 , 18.442  44. Steve Venard, Silverado CA, Glover 49 , 18.470  45. John Sarale, Stockton CA, DiDonato 57, 18.530  46. Cal Smith, Montclair CA, Francis 65 , 18.570  47. Jeff Heaton, Ventura CA, Camarillo 52, 18.651  48. Ken Coulston, Jr, Laquienta CA, Coulston, Jr. 32 , 18.675  49. Mel Murphy, Riverside CA, Murphy 62, 18.825  50. Jim Thomson, Norwalk CA, Thomson. 91T , 19.200  51. Tony Everhart, El Cajon CA, Everhart 55 , 19.213  52.  Jarrett Chaney, Clovis CA, Chaney 69 , 19.295  53. Chris Rahe, Corona CA, Rahe 51 , 20.505  54. Billy Brazelton, Fallbrook CA, Franklin 20, No Time

D FEATURE
1. Steve Venard. 2. John Sarale. 3. Cal Smith. 4. Ken Coulston, Jr. 5. Jeff Schildmeyer. 6. Jeff Heaton. 7. Jarrett Chaney. 8. Mel Murphy. 9. Jim Thomson. 10.  Tony Everhart. 11.  Chris Rahe.

C FEATURE
1. Gary W. Howard. 2. Mike Kirby. 3. Mike English. 4. Lance Gremett, 5. Hank Winter. 6. Dan Tedrick. 7. Glenn Crossno.   8. John Sarale. 9. Jack DeArmond, Jr.. 10.  George Gervais, 11.  Rick Becker. 12.  Steve Venard.

HEAT 1
1. John Scott, 2. Rodney Argo, 3. Troy Rutherford, 4. Steve Ostling, 5. Charlie Ekiss, 6. Jordan Hermansader, 7. Greg DeCaires, 8. Jimmy Gardner, 9. Gary W. Howard,

HEAT 2
1. Rickie Gaunt, 2. Rip Williams, 3. Mike Kirby, 4. Greg Taylor, 5. Adam Mitchell, 6. Tony Jones, 7. Brian Venard, 8. Keith Williamson, 9. Jeremy Ellertson,

HEAT 3
1. Shane Alach, 2. Danny Sheridan, 3. Mike English, 4. Charles Davis, Jr, 5. Michael Hinrichsen, 6. Mike Spencer, 7. Alex Grigoreas, 8. Marc Hart, 9. Bob Ferro,

HEAT 4
1. Richard Griffin, 2. Cory Kruseman, 3. Lance Gremett, 4. Dan Hillberg, 5. Casey Shuman, 6. Verne Sweeney, 7. Kevin White, 8. Bobby Graham, 9. Ronnie Clark,

DASH 
1. John Scott. 2. Rip Williams. 3, Charles Davis, Jr, 4. Cory Kruseman. 5. Steve Ostling. 6. Greg Taylor. 7. Richard Griffin. 8. Troy Rutherford.

B FEATURE
1. Tony Jones. 2. Brian Venard. 3. Verne Sweeney, 4. Michael Hinrichsen, 5. Greg DeCalres, 6. Kevin White, 7. Keith Williamson. 8. Adam Mitchell. 9. Jordan Hermansader. 10.  Ronnie Clark. 11.  Mike Spencer. 12. Jeremy Ellerton. 13.  Jimmy Gardner. 14.  Bobby Graham. 15.  Casey Shuman. 16. Charlie Ekiss. 17.  Marc Hart. 18. Alex Grigoreas.

A FEATURE (50 laps)
1. Cory Kruseman. 2. Rip Williams. 3. Troy Rutherford. 4. Mike Kirby. 5. Rickie Gaunt. 6. Mike English. 7. Rodney Argo. 8. Richard Griffin. 9. Steve Ostling, 10.  Michael Hinrichsen. 11. Greg DeCaires. 12.  Brian Venard. 13. Lance Gremett. 14.  Charles Davis, Jr. 15.  Greg Taylor, 16.  Kevin White, 17.  Tony Jones, 18.  Dan Hillberg. 19. John Scott. 20.  Verne Sweeney. 21. Danny Sheridan. 22.  Shane Alach.
Laps Led: Scott 1-35, Kruseman 36-50