PERRIS, CA, October 5 --
Troy Rutherford started on the pole and went on to win Friday night's Sprint Car
Racing Association (SCRA) main event at the Perris Auto Speedway in wire-to-wire
fashion. Adding his name to the PAS record books, Rutherford's nonstop
victory also earned him and Jack Gardner, Jr. / Shaver Engines No. 4 Sled an
automatic 20 lap track record (5:49.68).
Looking at the win column, Rutherford now has two victories on the season and
has quietly had his best SCRA season ever. With 16 top-five finishes to
his credit, Rutherford sits third in series points and has pulled to within 27
points of defending champion Richard Griffin for the second spot. Rutherford's
victory shouldn't come as much of a surprise since he has been the runner-up
finisher in four of the last eight races, including last weekend at Santa Maria
where he led all but the final three laps of the race.
"We had a bit of misfortune last week and we came here tonight just trying
to finish in the top-four so we could get locked in for tomorrow. We were
just fortunate enough to be able to come away with the victory," Rutherford
said. "It's just a reassuring feeling to know that you're locked into
tomorrow's main event and don't have to worry about tearing a car up in a heat
race."
Rodney Argo beat Rutherford into turn one to put the Don Argo / Venolia Forged
Pistons No. 19 into the lead on the initial start. Rutherford caught the
only break he needed when second row starters Rickie Gaunt and Charles
Davis, Jr. touched tires behind him. Davis flipped in the incident and was
clipped by Griffin, who also came to a stop in turn two, as the red flag waved.
"It takes a little bit for our Shaver motor to get warmed up, but once it
gets over a 180 degrees it runs like a son-of-a-gun," Rutherford admitted. "I
was happy to see the red flag come out so the guys could make a few minor
adjustments to the car. From that point, the car was just perfect."
The second start was more to Rutherford's liking and he led Argo, Gaunt, Rip
Williams and Danny Sheridan at the end of the opening lap. Argo slipped
wide exiting turn four on the following lap and dropped to fourth. As
Williams, in the Sharon Jory / Vista Paint No. 3 Gambler, battled intensely with
Gaunt for second, Rutherford extended his lead.
While Rutherford continued to pull away en route to his fourth career SCRA win,
the fight for the final direct transfer heated up on lap 17 when Cory Kruseman
passed Sheridan for fifth and nearly drove around Argo for fourth. One lap
later, Kruseman moved ahead of Argo for the transfer spot as Rutherford reached
lapped traffic for the first time.
Williams eventually passed the Alexander-Geurin / Statewide Towing No. 5x
Stinger driven by Gaunt for second. Kruseman's 13th to fourth place run
not only secured his a spot in Saturday's A-Main, but also gave the Harlan
Willis / WorldGate Networks No. 45 TCR the TW Metals Hard Charger Award.
"It was a real fast race track. It felt like we were qualifying the
whole time, just lap after lap of going as fast as you could go,"
Rutherford said, before joking that his series high eight Sander Engineering
Fast Times may not be the best formula for getting main event wins.
"I think the guys have slowed the car down in qualifying because they don't
like qualifying first because it puts us to far back in the JE Pistons Passing
Masters Dash. We
had some brake problems in qualifying tonight which worked out in our
favor."
###
SCRA RACE #34 - PERRIS AUTO SPEEDWAY, PERRIS, CA
Date of Race: 10/05/01
SANDER ENGINEERING TIME TRIALS
1. Richard Griffin, Silver City NM, Chaffin 50 , 16.640 2. Rip Williams,
Yorba Linda CA, Jory 3 , 16.757 3. John Scott, Hesperia CA, Scott Mtrsprts
83, 16.853 4. Charles Davis, Jr, Chandler AZ, Morales 94, 16.889 5.
Danny Sheridan, Santa Maria CA, Sertich 92, 16.900 6. Rickie Gaunt,
Torrance CA, M&B Racing 5X, 16.912 7. Rodney Argo, Gardena CA, Argo 19
, 16.914 8. Verne Sweeney, Lomita CA, Sweeney 98 , 16.972 9. Troy
Rutherford, Ojai CA, Gardner, Jr. 4, 16.988 10. Bobby Graham, Riverside
CA, Lancaster 14, 17.001
11. Adam Mitchell, Escondido CA, Mitchell 99, 17.012 12. Gary W.
Howard, Fontana CA, Ruth 25 , 17.030 13. Steve Ostling, Corona CA, Fischer
Mtrspts 29, 17.033 14. Cory Kruseman, Ventura CA, Willis 45 , 17.035
15. Tony Jones, Corona CA, Cheney 21J, 17.072 16. Greg DeCaires, Elk Grove
CA, Hasebe
17 , 17.123 17. Mike Kirby, Lomita CA., M&B Racing 5, 17.142 18.
Mike Spencer, (R) Temecula CA, Engstrom 44 , 17.171 19. Jordan
Hermansader, Long Beach CA., Pratt 12, 17.217 20. Brian Venard, Tustin CA,
Venard. 47, 17.230 21. Lance Gremett, San Marcos CA, Gremett 85 , 17.326
22. Charlie Ekiss, La
Mesa CA, Ball 78 , 17.335 23. Jarrett Chaney, Clovis CA, Chaney 69,
17.355 24. Peter Murphy, Sidney AU, Williams 0 , 17.393 25. Rick
Becker, (R) Highland CA, Becker 67 , 17.412 26. Mike English, Norwalk CA,
Priestley 7, 17.415 27. Jeremy Sherman, Phoenix AZ, Ellis 21 , 17.420
28. Jack DeArmond, Jr., Corona CA, DeArmond, Sr. 24 , 17.503 29. Keith
Williamson, Pomona CA, Williamson 95 , 17.505 30. Eric Rossi, Gilroy CA,
Family Auto 98F , 17.525 31. Ronnie Clark, (R) Tucson AZ, Winter 33
, 17.565 32. Dan Hillberg,
Whittier CA, Hillberg 82, 17.565 33. Cal Smith, Montclair CA, Pratt, 39 ,
17.657 34. Glenn Crossno, (R) Alta Loma CA, Crossno 38 , 17.685 35.
Mel Murphy, Riverside CA, Murphy 62 , 17.708 36. Jeff Schildmeyer,
(R) Alpine CA, Ball 87 , 18.165 37. Steve Koster, (R) El Cajon CA, Koster
42 , 18.190 38. Dan Tedrick, Hesperia CA, Tedrick 88 , 18.657 39.
Jimmy Gardner, (R) Garden Grove CA, Gardner Jr 96 , 19.020 40. Michael
Hinrichsen, (R) Lakeside CA, Lake Mtrsprts. 16, No Time
C FEATURE
1. Eric Rossi. 2.Dan Hillberg. 3. Keith Williamson. 4. Ronnie Clark. 5. Jeff
Schildmeyer. 6. Cal Smith. 7. Mel Murphy. 8. Dan Tedrick. 9.
Steve Koster. 10. Jimmy Gardner, 11. Glenn Crossno.
HEDMAN HEDDERS HEAT 1
1. Lance Gremett, 2. Steve Ostling, 3. Mike Kirby, 4. Troy Rutherford, 5.
Richard Griffin, 6. Danny Sheridan, 7. Rick Becker, 8. Eric Rossi,
SHAVER ENGINES HEAT 2
1. Mike English, 2. Cory Kruseman, 3. Rickie Gaunt, 4. Rip Williams, 5. Mike
Spencer, 6. Bobby Graham, 7. Dan Hillberg, 8. Charlie Ekiss,
KSE PRODUCTS HEAT 3
1. Jarrett Chaney, 2. Tony Jones, 3. Rodney Argo, 4. John Scott, 5. Jordan
Hermansader, 6. Adam Mitchell, 7. Jeremy Sherman, 8. Keith Williamson,
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS HEAT 4
1. Jack DeArmond, Jr, 2. Peter Murphy, 3. Charles Davis, Jr, 4. Greg DeCaires,
5. Verne Sweeney, 6. Gary W. Howard, 7. Brian Venard, 8. Ronnie Clark,
JB ENTERPRISE B FEATURE
1. Richard Griffin. 2. Danny Sheridan. 3. Verne Sweeney, 4. Gary W. Howard. 5.
Adam Mitchell. 6. Mike Spencer. 7. Jeremy Sherman. 8. Jordan Hermansader. 9.
Brian Venard. 10. Dan Hillberg. 11, Ronnie Clark. 12. Eric Rossi.
13. Rick Becker. 14. Charlie Ekiss.
A FEATURE (20 laps) Time: 5:49.68 *Track Record
1. Troy Rutherford. 2. Rip Williams. 3. Rickie Gaunt. 4. Cory Kruseman, 5.
Rodney Argo. 6. Danny Sheridan. 7. John Scott. 8. Adam Mitchell. 9. Steve
Ostling. 10. Tony Jones. 11, Gary W. Howard. 12. Verne Sweeney. 13.
Mike Kirby. 14. Richard Griffin. 15. Lance Gremett. 16. Mike
Spencer. 17. Jarrett Chaney. 18. Mike English. 19. Peter Murphy. 20.
Jack DeArmond, Jr. 21. Greg DeCaires. 22. Charles Davis, Jr.
Laps Led: Rutherford 1-20 *Top-four transfer directly to Saturday's A-Main
