KNOXVILLE, IOWA (MAY 11, 2002) - Cory Kruseman of
Ventura, Calif., last year's "Driver of the Year", has retained
his number one ranking in the country in the National Non-Winged Sprint Car
Poll, as determined by the voting panel of manufacturers, media members,
promoters and sanctioning officials. Kruseman, pilot of Harlan Willis'
sprinter in Sprint Car Racing Association (SCRA) competition, earned nine of
the fifteen first-place ballots cast in the "Robbie Stanley
Memorial" spring edition of the poll.
Kruseman continues to lead the SCRA point standings in the
WorldGate-sponsored sprinter, although he continues to compete in
non-sanctioned open-wheel events on 'off' weekends.
Ranked second in the non-winged poll is the United
States Auto Club (USAC) point leader Tracy Hines of Indianapolis, Indiana.
Hines, driver of the Hoffman family's Dynamics sprinter, garnered four first
place votes. Rounding out the top five non-
winged sprint car drivers in the country are Tony Jones of Corona, Calif.,
J.J. Yeley of Phoenix, Ariz., and Richard Griffin of Silver City,
N.M., respectively. Jones, who has moved up from his tenth place
ranking last season, collected the final two first place votes cast by the
industry panel. Year 2000 "Driver of the Year" in the
National Non-Winged Sprint Car Poll, Jay Drake of Val Verde, Calif., is
currently ranked tenth in the nation.
Other movers-and-shakers in the 'top 25' are
previously unranked David Steele in sixth, Derek Davidson in seventh place
from eighteenth, and Jeremy Sherman in eighth from nineteenth place,
respectively. The National Non-Winged Sprint Car Poll is an official
awards program of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum
Foundation, Inc., as are the National 360 Sprint Car Poll, National 410
Sprint Car Poll, and Australian National Sprintcar Poll.
Spring 2002 National
Non-Winged Sprint Car Poll:
"Robbie Stanley Memorial"
Rank 2001-Rank Driver (First Place Votes) Hometown/State
Points
1. 1. Cory Kruseman
( 9) Ventura, CA
1,100
2. 6. Tracy Hines
( 4) Indianapolis, IN 705
3. 10. Tony Jones
( 2) Corona, CA
566
4. 3. J.J. Yeley
Phoenix, AZ 453
5. 2. Richard Griffin
Silver City, NM 331
6. - David Steele
Tampa, FL
204
7. 18. Derek Davidson
Indianapolis, IN 139
8. 19. Jeremy Sherman
Phoenix, AZ 136
9. 8. Tony Elliott
Kokomo, IN 112
10. 4. Jay Drake
Val Verde, CA 89
11. 9. Troy Rutherford
Ojai, CA
79
12. 7. Dave Darland
Walton, IN
70
13. 5. Brandon "Bud" Kaeding
Campbell, CA 58
14. - A.J. Fike
Galesburg, IL 57
15. 12. Mike Kirby
Lomita, CA 54
16. - Kevin Briscoe
Mitchell, IN 52
tie 24. Steve Ostling
Corona, CA
52
18. 17. Rickie Gaunt
Torrance, CA 43
19. 11. Tony Hunt
Rancho Cordova, CA 33
20. 13. Rip Williams
Yorba Linda, CA 24
21. 16. Jeff Gardner
Hanford, CA 16
22. - Rick Hendrix
Canoga Park, CA 15
tie 15. John Scott
Hesperia, CA 15
24. - Greg Taylor
Ojai, CA
14
25. - Jason McCord
Anderson, IN 10
Also receiving multiple votes: Michael Burthay, Troy Cline, Kent
Christian, Aaron Fike, Damion Gardner, Eric Gordon, Jack Hewitt, Levi Jones,
Wil Newlin, Eric Shively, Kevin Thomas.