PERRIS, CA, APRIL 27, 2002 - For anyone who has ever felt the need to debate a friend whom believes that there is a more exciting form of racing than non-winged sprint cars on a dirt track, there may be an easier solution. Simply, hand your friend a videotape of Saturday's 30 lap Sprint Car Racing Association (SCRA) main event at the Perris Auto Speedway and let the racing speak for itself.

Followers of NAPA Auto Parts / Auto Trader Magazines SCRA series are accustomed to seeing such racing on a given night.  What they may not be used to seeing is Rickie Gaunt standing on top of the podium after such a dramatic race. 

At age 33, Gaunt's boyish enthusiasm to compete and win is still evident.  A quality that has been his biggest asset and, at times, his biggest downfall. In the past, his overwhelming desire to win, combined with a few late race cautions while leading, was a formula for heartbreak and disappointment.  As evident from his ability to stay focused despite numerous yellow flags during the closing laps on this night, those days are long gone. What's not gone is Gaunt's underdog mentality.  In fact it's somewhat of a theme for the entire Mark Alexander / Alexander Trucking Team.

"I call this team the Island of Misfit Toys because we're kind of like that Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer TV show they play at Christmas.  We're all a bunch of guys that nobody wanted too much and put us all together and we make a little rag-tag fleet that was able to put it all together tonight," Gaunt said with such conviction that one could almost hear Burl Ives in the background.  "I'm just so proud of all the guys on this team.  Steve
Alexander, who used to drive sprint cars, is my crew chief and I've gotten to the point with him that I don't even tell him what to do to the car anymore. Which is good, because I get nervous before a race and don't like to make anydrastic changes."

JE Pistons Dash winner Richard Griffin started on the pole with Charles Davis, Jr. to his outside.  Davis got the jump at the start and led the field into the first turn.  Griffin worked hard on the bottom to lead the opening lap and ran wheel-to-wheel with Davis along the backstretch before being nipped for the lead at the start/finish line. 

Davis' lead would, however, be short-lived after Griffin pulled ahead of him after a three-wide exchange exiting turn two that also included the Fischer Motorsports / Watt Enterprises No. 29 Okie driven by Steve Ostling.  Before the end of the lap, Ostling was able to follow Griffin through the fourth turn and move into the second spot.  Also on that lap, Gaunt, who started fifth, muscled his way into fourth. 

Heading into the main event, every qualifying race had gone green flag to checkered flag without any cautions.  The same could not be said for the main event, which was plagued by yellow and red flags.  The first of which occurred on lap three.  Gaunt was one of the few drivers that elected to use the cushion for that particular restart.  It proved to be a wise decision after Davis (who restarted directly in front of him) tapped Ostling and spun. Fifth place Tony Jones did a nice job avoiding Davis, but Gary W. Howard was not as fortunate and made heavy contact with the former Arizona champion.

Gaunt rode the cushion on the subsequent restart, as well, and used his superior momentum to pass Ostling for second on the back straight.  Jones' night would end one lap later after he clipped the left rear tire of Ostling in turn one and spun to a stop.  Cory Kruseman and Bobby Graham each hit Jones' parked car.  Kruseman was able to drive away unscathed.  Graham was not so lucky and saw his debut in the Carol Crossno sprinter end with a flip.
 
Griffin led Gaunt when green flag racing resumed.  Gaunt found the middle of turn four to his liking and was able to pressure Griffin while Ostling stayed within striking distance of both men.  Trying to be patient, Gaunt waited until the tenth lap to overtake Griffin in turn four.  Gaunt withstood a three-abreast challenge from Griffin and Ostling exiting turn two and was able to maintain the lead.     

The laps that followed provided one of the best three-car battles for the lead that Perris fans have ever seen.  Moving back to the cushion, Griffin briefly grabbed the lead on lap 22, only to give it right back to Gaunt after nearly spinning in turn four.  Now back in third, Griffin's hopes for victory would end on a lap 24 restart after he spun in turn one.

Out of nowhere, or so it seemed, Cory Kruseman now found himself in third place.  Up to this point, it had been a difficult night for the Harlan Willis / WorldGate Networks No. 1 TCR.  Sidelined in his heat race after sustaining damage during a false start, Kruseman struggled with an ill-handling car in the B-main and was fortunate just to transfer to the A-main.  In addition to bouncing off Jones on the fourth lap, Kruseman had to survive a wild bicycle on lap eight.  Even though Kruseman never really had an opportunity to pass
for the lead, he filled-in nicely as the third car in yet another three-car tussle for the lead. 

Coming down to accept the white flag, Ostling stuck a wheel under Gaunt as Kruseman looked to put a wheel to the outside of Ostling.  Running a perfect final lap, Gaunt went on to score his eighth career SCRA win.  Not far behind the trio at the checkered were top-five finishers Troy Rutherford and John Scott.  Rip Williams started 22nd and finished sixth despite a flip on the third lap.  In time trials, Damion Gardner won his first Sander Engineering Fast Time Award.    
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SCRA RACE #8 - PERRIS AUTO SPEEDWAY, PERRIS, CA
Date of Race: 04/27/02

SANDER ENGINEERING TIME TRIALS
1. Damion Gardner, Concord CA, Gardner 20X, 16.598 
2. Cory Kruseman, Ventura CA.,Willis 1 , 16.600
3. Steve Ostling, Corona CA, Fischer Mtrspts 29, 16.707
4. Gary W. Howard, Fontana CA, Ruth 25, 16.723
5. Richard Griffin, Silver City NM, Chaffin 50, 16.795
6. Tony Jones, Garden Grove CA.,Vermeer/Jones 87, 16.808 
7. Troy Rutherford, Ojai CA, Gardner Jr 96, 16.888 
8. Charles Davis, Jr., Buckeye AZ, Davis 94, 16.918 
9. Troy Cline, Santa Clarita, CA, Cheney 21J, 17.037 
10. Michael Hinrichsen, Lakeside CA, Lake Mtrsprts. 16, 17.057
11. Mike English, Norwalk CA, Jory, 6, 17.058     
12. Rickie Gaunt, Torrance CA, Alexander 4, 17.060
13. Bobby Graham, Riverside CA, Crossno 38, 17.062 
14. Adam Mitchell, Escondido CA, Mitchell 99, 17.064
15. John Scott, Hesperia CA, Scott Mtrsprts 83, 17.097
16. Jeremy Sherman, Phoenix AZ, Priestley 7, 17.104
17. Keith Williamson, Pomona CA, Williamson 95, 17.119
18. Rodney Argo, Gardena CA, Argo 19, 17.122  
19. Jack DeArmond, Jr., Corona CA, DeArmond, Jr. 24, 17.132 
20. Mike Kirby,Torrance CA, Geurin 5 , 17.167 
21. Verne Sweeney, Lomita CA., Sweeney 98, 17.210
22. Bobby Cody, (R) Costa Mesa CA, Cody 41, 17.273 
23. Danny Sheridan, Santa Maria CA, DiDonato 57, 17.353
24. Rick Hinrichsen, Lakeside CA, Lake Mtrsprts. 9, 17.420
25. Rip Williams, Yorba Linda CA, Jory 3, 17.468
26. Robbie Flock, Murrieta CA, Pratt 12, 17.477
27. Mark Nation, Los Olivos CA, Nation 3N, 17.598
28. Mike Spencer, Temecula CA, Engstrom 44, 17.648 
29. Dan Hillberg, Whittier CA, Hillberg 82, 17.700 
30. Tom Downing, Lakewood CA, Downing 90, 17.802
31. Mel Murphy, Woodcrest CA, Murphy 62, 17.805
32. Denise Cline, Santa Clarita CA, Cline 11, 18.159
33. Bob Ferro, Sherman Oaks CA, Ferro 91X, 18.351
34. Bob Johnson, (R) Perris CA, Johnson 81, No Time
35. Lance Gremett, San Marcos CA., Gremett 85, No Time
36. Dan Tedrick, Hesperia CA, Tedrick 88, No Time

HEDMAN HEDDERS HEAT 1
1. Griffin, 2. Williams, 3. Graham, 4. Gardner, 5. T. Cline, 6. Sweeney, 7. Williamson, 8. Hillberg, 9. Ferro,

SHAVER ENGINES HEAT 2
1 Jones, 2. Argo, 3. Mitchell, 4. Cody, 5. Downing, 6. Flock, 7. M. Hinrichsen, 8. Kruseman,

SPIN TECH MUFFLERS HEAT 3
1. Scott, 2. Ostling, 3. Rutherford, 4. Sheridan, 5. English, 6. DeArmond, 7. Nation, 8. Murphy,

STINGER CHASSIS HEAT 4
1. Sherman, 2. Gaunt,  3. Kirby, 4. Davis, 5. Howard, 6. Spencer, 7. R. Hinrichsen, 8. D. Cline,

JE PISTONS DASH
1. Griffin. 2. Davis. 3. Jones. 4. Ostling. 5. Gaunt. 6. Rutherford, 7. Graham. 8. Gardner.

B FEATURE
1. Howard. 2. English. 3. M. Hinrichsen, 4. T. Cline. 5. Kruseman. 6. Williamson, 7. Flock. 8. DeArmond, 9. Spencer, 10. R. Hinrichsen, 11. Downing, 12. D. Cline, 13. Hillberg. 14. Murphy. 15. Nation, 16. Ferro. 17. Sweeney.

A FEATURE (30 Laps) 
1. Gaunt. 2. Ostling. 3. Kruseman. 4. Rutherford. 5. Scott. 6. Williams. 7. English. 8. Kirby. 9. Sheridan. 10. Hinrichsen. 11. Mitchell. 12. Sherman. 13. Cody. 14. Griffin. 15. Williamson. 16. Gardner. 17. T. Cline. 18. Argo, 19. Jones. 20. Graham, 21. Howard. 22. Davis,
Laps Led: Davis 1, Griffin 2-9, Gaunt 10-21, Griffin 22, Gaunt 23-30

SCRA DRIVER POINTS as of 4/27/02
    1.  1   Cory Kruseman           Ventura CA          8   476
    2.  87  Tony Jones              Garden Grove CA 8   430
    3.  50  Richard Griffin         Silver City NM      8   424
    4.  29  Steve Ostling           Corona CA           8   407
    5.  96  Troy Rutherford         Ojai CA             8   405
    6.  7   Jeremy Sherman      Phoenix AZ          8   374
    7.  3   Rip Williams            Yorba Linda CA      8   373
    8.  83  John Scott              Hesperia CA     8   353
    9.  5   Mike Kirby              Torrance CA     7   324
    10. 4   Rickie Gaunt            Torrance CA     8   276
    11. 6   Mike English            Norwalk CA          8   276
    12. 94  Charles Davis, Jr       Buckeye AZ      8   238
    13. 20  Damion Gardner          Concord CA          8   228
    14. 38  Levi Jones              Olney IL            6   213
    15. 96X Tony Elliott                Kokomo IN           6   198
    16. 38  Bobby Graham            Riverside CA        8   182
    17. 25  Gary W. Howard      Fontana CA          6   169
    18. 19  Rodney Argo         Gardena CA      8   152
    19. 16  Michael Hinrichsen      Lakeside CA     8   145
    20. 2   J.J. Yeley              Phoenix AZ          3   143