PHOENIX, AZ, October 27 -- Bud Kaeding
dominated all but the final lap of the 34th running of the NAPA Auto Parts /
Budweiser Western World Championships at Keith Hall's Manzanita Speedway.
Kaeding's last lap
misfortune gave hometown favorite Jeremy Sherman the only break he needed to
drive the Mark Priestley / Roy Miller Freightliners No. 7 Stealth to a $12,500
victory.
Sherman becomes the fifth driver from the state of Arizona to win the Western
World. Led by now Sprint Car Racing Association (SCRA) President Ron
Shuman (with five victories), Arizona drivers have now managed to keep the bulk
of Hall's purse within their state 12 times.
Once considered the second jewel on sprint car racing's "Triple
Crown," this year's Western World Championships again showed the resurgence
of non-winged sprint car racing. Reminiscent of "The Western's"
glory days during the 70's, drivers from seven different states and Australia
were represented for this year's edition. Since the first Western World in
1969, members of Sherman's family have competed in the majority of these events.
Until today, none has tasted victory in the state's biggest sprint car race.
"This is just awesome. To have your name listed with the guys that have won
this race is just phenomenal," Sherman said. "My uncle (Larry
Clark) and my stepfather (Dave Ellis) have tried to win this race, and to be the
first one to win it out of my family is pretty special...it's the highlight of
my career."
By virtue of their preliminary night wins, Sherman and Bud Kaeding shared the
front row for the 40 lap finale. Kaeding won a ceremonial coin toss last
night and chose the inside row. Despite some second-guessing from some
Manzy veterans, Kaeding's decision proved to be the right one and he took the
lead on the opening lap as Sherman, Rip Williams, Jerry Coons, Jr. and Cory
Kruseman followed.
As Kaeding pulled away from the field, Kruseman was on the move early trying to
nail down the SCRA owners title for Harlan Willis. By the end of the ninth
circuit, Kruseman was up to third and was within striking distance of
Sherman after a pair of caution flags. Williams began fade to about this
time after a rock wedged under his throttle. Williams' problems continued
on lap 18 after he tangled with Charles Davis, Jr. and Rickie Gaunt on the
back-straight and they all came to a stop. Of the cars involved, only
Gaunt was able to restart.
Kaeding again sped away on the restart as Kruseman passed Sherman for second in
turn two. Working the bottom groove, Kruseman caught Kaeding on lap 22.
Kaeding withstood the challenge and temporarily assumed Kruseman's line in turns
three and four. Riding the turn two cushion two laps later, Kruseman
slipped wide exiting the corner and smacked the wall. For the moment, it
looked like luck was on Kruseman's side after the yellow simultaneously waved
for Mike Spencer, who stopped on the racing surface with a flat right rear tire.
"He was just pushing it to the limit," Sherman said of Kruseman's
encounter with the wall. "He runs hard and he got up above the
cushion and hit the wall pretty good. He came down across the track after
he hit the wall and I
did everything I could to keep from hitting him."
Kruseman's second chance was, however, short-lived after his right rear tire
gave way two laps from the finish sending him into the wall exiting turn four.
Mike Kirby, who was running fifth at the time, also lost a tire and
joined Kruseman in the work area. Even with some visible damage, Kruseman
returned and earned enough points to give Willis his first SCRA title.
With his once insurmountable lead erased, Kaeding held back Sherman's run on the
restart. Having already accepted the white flag, Kaeding drove smoothly
into turn one only to have his car veer suddenly into the fence causing him to
flip. Kaeding climbed from his mount and collapsed on the race track, not
from injury, but from the utter disbelief that a front end failure had cost him
a certain victory.
By SCRA rule, the restart reverted back to lap 38. With the Mike Wall /
Temecula Valley Pipe & Supply No. 37 Avenger driven by Tony Jones now behind
him, Sherman knew he still had his work cut out for him.
"I was just hoping they'd throw the checkered because I didn't want to run
those last two laps," Sherman smiled. "My guys came over to me
on the red (flag for Kaeding) and said if you just run two consistent laps and
hold the
car on the bottom of the track for the restart, we'll be fine."
Hoping to duplicate his father's (Bubby Jones) 1976 Western World victory, Jones
tried to build momentum on the restart to set up for some last lap heroics.
Regrettably, Jones would lose any chance of keeping Sherman from
winning his second Non-Winged World Championship (NWWC) race in as many nights
after he pushed in turn two. Jones did manage to keep the NAPA Auto Parts
No. 12 Stealth, driven by Coons, back in the third spot. J.J. Yeley
started his night by piloting the GT Racing / ABC Sand & Rock No. 76 Twister
to a C-Main victory. Transferring from the B-Main, Yeley eventually
finished fourth in the A-Main. John Scott was forced to take the same path
as Yeley to get to the finale. Scott went on to win the TW Metals Hard
Charger Award
with his 23rd to 7th place run.
###
34th RUNNING OF THE NAPA AUTO PARTS / BUDWEISER
WESTERN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
SCRA RACE #39 / NWWC #9 - MANZANITA SPEEDWAY, PHOENIX, AZ
10/27/01
C-MAIN (15 Laps)
1. J.J. Yeley, 2. Tom Downing, 3. Bobby Graham, 4. John Scott, 5. Steve Cushman,
6. Brad Noffsinger, 7. Mike Hinrichsen, 8. Jon Stanbrough, 9. Bill Rose, 10.
Paul Beregszaszy, 11. Jordan Hermansader, 12. Lance Gremett, 13. Eric Rossi
JB ENTERPRISE B-MAIN (20 Laps *New Track Record: 7:05.33)
1. Bob Ream, Jr., 2. Tony Elliott, 3. J.J. Yeley, 4. Tyler Walker, 5. Rickie
Gaunt, 6. Brian Venard, 7. John Scott, 8. Mike Spencer, 9. Brad Noffsinger, 10.
Jack DeArmond, Jr., 11. Bobby Graham, 12. Ricky Johnson, 13. Andy Forsberg, 14.
Steve Venard, 15. Mark Nation, 16. Ronnie Clark, 17. Tom Downing, 18. Keith
Williamson, 19. Steve Cushman, 20. Peter Murphy, 21. Derek Davidson, 22. Randi
Miller
WESTERN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (40 Laps)
1. Jeremy Sherman, 2. Tony Jones, 3. Jerry Coons, Jr., 4. J.J. Yeley, 5. Steve
Ostling, 6. Tyler Walker, 7. John Scott, 8. Danny Sheridan, 9. Rickie Gaunt, 10.
Mike Kirby, 11. Troy Rutherford, 12. Cory Kruseman, 13. Richard Griffin, 14.
Rodney Argo, 15. Brian Venard, 16. Marty Wilcox, 17. Bud Kaeding, 18. Tony
Elliott, 19. Bob Ream Jr., 20. Mike Spencer, 21. Charles Davis Jr., 22. Rip
Williams, 23. Adam Mitchell, 24. Levi Jones
LAPS LED: Bud Kaeding 1-38, Jeremy Sherman 39-40
NON-WINGED WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (NWWC) Points standings
Richard Griffin 488
Cory Kruseman 465
Mike Kirby 436
Troy Rutherford 416
Steve Ostling 381
Rickie Gaunt 353
Rip Williams 331
Charles Davis, Jr. 314
John Scott 311
Danny Sheridan 301
Bob Ream, Jr. 290
Mike English 248
Troy Cline 227
Adam Mitchell 202
Lance Gremett 173
Brian Venard 158
Ronnie Clark 147
Mike Spencer 144
George Gervais 142
Casey Shuman 131
Tony Jones 127
Tony Elliott
123
Kevin Doty 121
Glenn Crossno 92
Hank Winter 89
Mike Hinrichsen 88
Tony Everhart 39
Kevin Frisbie 20
Josh Davis 11
SCRA POINT STANDINGS
1. 45 Cory Kruseman
Ventura CA 38 2512
2. 50 Richard Griffin
Silver City NM 36 2196
3. 4 Troy Rutherford
Ojai CA 38 2139
4. 5 Mike Kirby
Lomita CA 37 1963
5. 83 John Scott
Hesperia CA 38 1880
6. 5X Rickie Gaunt
Torrance CA 38 1723
7. 3 Rip Williams
Yorba Linda CA 38 1718
8. 29 Steve Ostling
Corona CA 37 1630
9. 91A Mike English
Norwalk CA 36 1461
10. 94 Charles Davis, Jr Chandler AZ 37
1373
11. 92 Danny Sheridan
Santa Maria CA 37 1327
12. 37 Tony Jones
Corona CA 26 1275
13. 19 Rodney Argo Gardena CA
30 1019
14. 2IJ Troy Cline
Santa Clarita CA 19 870
15. 99 Adam Mitchell
Escondido CA 33 755
16. 85 Lance Gremett
San Marcos CA 38 751
17. 16 Michael Hinrichsen (R) Lakeside CA 38
648
18. 7 Jeremy Sherman Phoenix AZ
15 645
19. 69 Jarrett Chaney
Clovis CA 21 616
20. 44 Mike Spencer
(R) Temecula CA 36 594
21. 14 Bobby Graham
Riverside CA 29 583
22. 17 Greg DeCaires
Elk Grove CA 20 577
23. 33 Ronnie Clark
(R) Tucson AZ 37 524
24. 47 Brian Venard
Tustin CA 29 507
25. 8 Bob Ream Jr
Glendale AZ 13 478
26. 9 George Gervais
Mira Loma CA 23 426
27. 12X Casey Shuman
Tempe AZ 19 419
28. 12 Jordan Hermansader Long Beach CA
23 374
29. 57 Hank Winter Tucson AZ
24 360
30. 98 Verne Sweeney
Lomita CA 19 359
31. 25 Gary W. Howard Fontana CA
19 357
32. 15 Marc Hart
Ventura CA 16 271
33. 24 Jack DeArmond, Jr. Corona CA
28 265
34. 12A Jerry Coons, Jr Tucson AZ
5 238
35. 84 Alex Grigoreas
Chino CA 13 234
36. 2 Tony Elliott
Kokomo IN 5 192
37. 76 J.J. Yeley
Phoenix AZ 5 187
38. 16X Jimmy May
Ventura CA 11 170
39. 3N Mark Nation
Los Olivos CA 15 165
40. 7T Greg Taylor
(R) Ojai CA 8 150
41. 95 Keith Williamson Pomona CA
18 141
42. 38 Glenn Crossno (R) Alta Loma CA
32 136
43. 6X Kevin Doty
Milan IL 5
121
44. 0 Peter Murphy
Sidney AU 6 121
45. 43 Kevin White
Anaheim CA 9 108
Point Standings as of: 10/27/01
2001 SCRA OWNERS POINTS
1. 45 Harlan Willis
Ojai CA
2451
2. 50 Ron Chaffin
Madera CA 2304
3. 4 Jack Gardner, Jr
Orange CA 2093
4. 5 M&B Racing
Lomita CA 2028
5. 83 John Scott Mtrsprts Hesperia CA
1880
6. 3 Sharon Jory
Villa Park CA 1718
7. 7 Mark Priestley
Yorba Linda CA 1603
8. 94 Joe Morales
Tucson AZ 1373
9. 29 Fischer Mtrspts
Irvine CA 1328
10. 92 Tom/Lauri Sertich Huntington Bch CA
1327
11. 19 Don Argo
El Segundo CA 1019
12. 12 Bill Pratt
El Monte CA 927
13. 99 Adam Mitchell
Escondido CA 755
14. 85 Bob Gremett San Marcos
CA 751
15. 48 Gene Cowherd
Torrance CA 680
16. 16 Lake Mtrsprts.. Lakeside
CA 634
17. 69 Martin Chaney
Clovis CA 616
18. 44 Hal Engstrom
Valley Center CA 594
19. 14 Linda Lancaster Las
Vegas NV 583
20. 17 Mike Hasebe Hanford CA
577
21. 33 Hank Winter Tucson AZ
574
22. 11 Troy Cline
Santa Clarita CA 568
23. 8 Brat Racing
Glendale AZ 478
24. 21 Dave Ellis
Phoenix AZ 460
25. 47 Buster Venard.
Tustin CA 457
26. 9 George Gervais
Mira Loma CA 426
27. 6 Lake Mtrsprts
Lakeside CA 413
28. 2 Jack Gardner Jr. Orange
CA 390
29. 98 Verne Sweeney
Lomita CA 359
30. 25 Jim Ruth
Riverside CA 357
31. 37 Mike Wall
Glen Avon CA 308
32. 138 Tanya Winter
Tucson AZ 296
33. 15 Marc Hart
Ventura CA 271
34. 24 Jack DeArmond, Sr. Corona CA
265
35. 84 Jack Keene
Corona CA 255
36. 38 Carol Crossno
Alta Loma CA 187
37. 95 Keith Williamson Pomona CA
141
38. 87 John Ball
San Diego CA 124
39. 82 Rhonda Hillberg Whittier
CA 116
40. 76 G.T. Racing
Phoenix AZ 111
41. 43 Kevin White
Anaheim CA 108
42. 34 Bill/Lida Lloyd Orange
CA 98
43. 49 George Glover
Thousand Palms CA 97
44. 90 Tom Downing Huntington
Bch CA 80
45. 36 Larry Brown
Bakersfield CA 71
