PHOENIX, AZ, MAY 11, 2002 - Cory Kruseman equaled Rip Williams' all-time mark
for main event wins Saturday at Manzanita Speedway with his 55th career victory in NAPA Auto Parts / Auto Trader Magazines SCRA sprint car competition.

Kruseman started on the outside of the front row and led all 30 laps, which on paper might look like a relatively easy win for the defending series champion.  In reality, Kruseman had to withstand numerous challenges from Tony Jones and a late race push from Jeremy Sherman before he was able to lay claim to a share of the all-time win record.

"It's pretty nice to be able to do this here at Manzanita because we've struggled here lately," Kruseman said after his record tying run.  "We've especially struggled here in qualifying, but tonight my guys gave me a great car and we qualified third which helps because you (usually) get to start the main event in the first couple of rows."

Kruseman shared the front row with JE Pistons Dash winner Jones.  Entering the race, each man had driven to victory twice this season.  Hoping to take a bite out of Kruseman's narrow lead in series points, Jones aggressively took the lead coming down to accept the green flag.  After a couple of anxious moments on the front chute, Kruseman put the Harlan Willis / WorldGate Networks No. 1 TCR ahead of Jones on the back straight as Charles Davis, Jr., Richard Griffin and Sander Engineering Fast Time Award winner Bob Ream, Jr. gave chase.

"The first half lap was pretty exciting," Kruseman recalled.  "Tony got sideways coming off (turn) four on the start and kind of came up (the race track).  I knew we weren't going to win the race in the first corner, so I just let him go.  Richard obviously couldn't tell what I was doing and ran into the back of me.   Then, Tony got over the cushion coming off turn two and got to doing some tank slappers down the back straight.  I just held my breath and went down to the bottom and it worked out pretty good for us."

Setting a blistering pace early, Kruseman reached the last place car in just 11 circuits.  As time would later prove, catching slower cars was one thing, but overtaking them would be a different story.  Reminiscent of the race at Ventura one week ago, Jones quickly erased Kruseman's advantage in lapped traffic and had the Johnny Vermeer-Bubby Jones /Ferreira Dairy No.87 Avenger firmly within striking distance. 

With the memory of Jones' Ventura victory still fresh in his mind, Kruseman adamantly confessed after the race that he wasn't going to lose the lead for a second straight week by moving off the cushion in lapped traffic. 

Hoping to lure Kruseman to the bottom, Jones showed him a wheel on a couple of occasions.  To Kruseman's credit, he stayed with his game plan and briefly extended the gap between himself and Jones with some daring moves in lapped traffic. 

Jones slowly ate away at Kruseman's lead until attempting a daring move of his own in turn one on the 24th lap.  Momentarily in the lead, Jones made contact with a slower car which allowed Kruseman to reclaim the top spot in turn two.  The first caution flag of the race flew one lap later after Arizona champion Eric Wilkins spun in turn three.  This proved to be a huge break for Sherman who was running third, but was some distance behind Jones, after passing Davis and Griffin in turn four on lap 20.  Four laps after the restart, Troy Rutherford slid over the turn one cushion and flipped after slapping the wall.  Rutherford was not hurt.

Vying for a fifth consecutive Manzy win the Mark Priestly / Roy Miller Freightliners No. 7 Stealth, Sherman muscled his way ahead of Jones coming down for the green flag on the restart.  Sherman worked hard in the closing laps, but would never have an opportunity to prevent Kruseman from gathering his eighth lifetime win at Manzanita Speedway.

Griffin finished fourth with Williams claiming his third KSE Products Hard Charger Award of the young season with a 14th to fifth place run.          
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SCRA RACE #10 - MANZANITA SPEEDWAY, PHOENIX, AZ
Date of Race: 05/11/02

SANDER ENGINEERING TIME TRIALS                         
1. Bob Ream, Jr., BRAT Racing 8, 19.183 , 2. Richard Griffin, Chaffin 50, 19.204, 3. Cory Kruseman, Willis 1, 19.382, 4. Charles Davis, Jr., Davis 94, 19.446, 5. Tony Jones, Vermeer/Jones 87, 19.520, 6. Eric Wilkins, Meixsell 2A, 19.523, 7. Mike Spencer, Engstrom 44 , 19.583, 8. Rickie Gaunt, Alexander 4, 19.611, 9. Bobby Graham, Crossno 38, 19.616, 10. Damion Gardner, Gardner 20X , 19.621, 11. Jeremy Sherman, Priestley 7, 19.658, 12. Mike Kirby, Geurin 5, 19.709, 13. Jordan Hermansader, Ruth 25, 19.719 14. Rip Williams, Jory 3, 19.723 , 15. Rick Ziehl, R&R Racing 35, 19.776 , 16. Steve Ostling, Fischer Mtrspts 29, 19.810 , 17. John Scott, Scott Mtrsprts 83, 19.828  18. Mike English, Jory 6, 19.840, 19. Mike Boat, Minks X, 19.853 , 20. Troy Rutherford, Gardner Jr 96, 19.976, 21. Bobby Cody (R), Cody 41, 20.224, 22. Brian Venard, Venard 47, 20.314, 23. Cal Smith, Francis 65, 20.456 , 24. Danny Sheridan, DiDonato 57, 20.475, 25. Paul Norbury, Carsten 91, 20.494 , 26. Jack DeArmond, Jr., DeArmond, Jr. 24, 20.522 , 27. Casey Shuman, Pratt 12, 20.554, 28. Tony Smiley, Smiley 2, 20.557, 29. Charlie Ekiss, Ekiss 78, 20.629, 30. Keith Williamson, Williamson 95, 20.759, 31. Ronnie Clark, Clark 33, 20.838, 32. Steve Stone, Stone 57X, 21.718

HEDMAN HEDDERS HEAT 1
1. Hermansader, 2. Jones, 3. Ream, 4. Graham, 5. Scott, 6. Cody, 7. Norbury, 8. Ekiss,

SHAVER ENGINES HEAT 2
1.Williams, 2.Griffin, 3. Venard, 4. Gardner, 5. English, 6. Williamson, 7. DeArmond, 8. Wilkins,

SPIN TECH MUFFLERS HEAT 3
1. Ziehl, 2. Sherman, 3. Smith, 4. Kruseman, 5. Boat, 6. Spencer, 7. Clark, 8. Shuman,

STINGER CHASSIS HEAT 4
1. Ostling, 2. Rutherford, 3. Sheridan, 4. Davis, 5. Smiley, 6. Kirby, 7. Gaunt, 8. Stone,

JE PISTONS DASH
1. Jones. 2. Kruseman. 3. Davis. 4. Griffin. 5. Graham. 6. Ream. 7. Gardner. 8. Sherman.

B FEATURE
1. Wilkins. 2. Kirby. 3. Gaunt. 4. Scott. 5. Spencer. 6. English. 7. Cody. 8. Norbury. 9. Clark. 10. DeArmond. 11. Ekiss. 12. Williamson. 13. Stone. 14. Smiley.

A FEATURE (30 Laps)
1. Kruseman. 2. Sherman.. 3. Jones.  4. Griffin.  5. Williams.  6. Davis. 7. Ostling. 8. Gardner.  9. Graham. 10. Wilkins. 11. Gaunt. 12. Scott. 13. English. 14. Ziehl. 15. Smith. 16. Sheridan. 17. Venard. 18. Ream. 19. Rutherford. 20. Kirby, 21. Hermansader. 22. Spencer.
Laps Led: Kruseman 1-30


SCRA DRIVERS POINTS as of 5/11/02
    1.  1   Cory Kruseman       Ventura CA  10  606
    2.  87  Tony Jones      Garden Grove CA 10  582
    3.  50  Richard Griffin     Silver City NM  10  562
    4.  29  Steve Ostling       Corona CA   10  533
    5.  7   Jeremy Sherman      Phoenix AZ  10  502
    6.  96  Troy Rutherford     Ojai CA 10  495
    7.  3   Rip Williams        Yorba Linda CA  10  466
    8.  83  John Scott      Hesperia CA 10  464
    9.  5   Mike Kirby      Torrance CA 9   432
    10. 4   Rickie Gaunt        Torrance CA 10  357
    11. 94  Charles Davis, Jr       Buckeye AZ  10  346
    12. 6   Mike English        Norwalk CA  10  337
    13. 20  Damion Gardner      Concord CA  10  326
    14. 25  Gary W. Howard      Fontana CA  7   244
    15. 38  Bobby Graham        Riverside CA    10  233
    16. 38  Levi Jones      Olney IL    6   213
    17. 57  Danny Sheridan      Santa Maria CA  8   209
    18. 96X Tony Elliott        Kokomo IN   6   198
    19. 19  Rodney Argo     Gardena CA  9   155
    20. 16  Michael Hinrichsen  Lakeside CA 9   146