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WILLIAMS SHOWS WHAT HE CAN DO IN PAS PRELIM |
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PERRIS, CA, NOVEMBER 1, 2002 - Rebounding from a disappointing opening night of the 7th Annual Budweiser Oval Nationals, Rip Williams returned to the Perris Auto Speedway Friday with a vengeance, and left with an impressive 20 lap preliminary main event win. "We usually don't miss a main event, but we had a magneto problem that kept us out of the show last night," Williams said after scoring his third career Non-Winged World Championship (NWWC) victory. "My brakes weren't working very good either (last night), so we took her home, and worked her over really good, and then came back tonight and showed'em what we can do. We start on the second row of the B-Main tomorrow, and we'll just see where we go from there." Williams started on the second row for this race, as well, behind Cory Kruseman and last night's winner Steve Ostling. Driving the Sharon Jory / Tomarco Fastners No. 3 Gambler, Williams darted past Kruseman entering turn one at the start, and then, proceeded to pass the Fischer Motorsports / Stress Relief Engineering No. 29 Okie piloted by Ostling on the backstraight. Williams' great start would, however; be negated by Steve Venard, who spun to a stop entering turn two. "They dropped the green and I just kind of wove my way through them and took the lead. Unfortunately the yellow (flag) came out, but that just meant we had to work a lot harder for the win," Williams later said. Williams didn't fare quite as well on the following start, but did have a great view of the three-wide battle for the lead exiting turn four as the first lap came to an end. When it all sorted out, Kruseman edged Ostling, Rickie Gaunt, Williams and fast qualifier J.J. Yeley. Rodney Argo brought out the red flag one lap later after he flipped hard entering turn two. Despite having been recently sidelined with a back problem, the 1998 Oval Nationals Champ walked away from the incident. With only one lap officially in the record books, Kruseman brought the field down for the restart. Using the high groove, Gaunt put the Alexander Trucking No. 4 Stinger ahead of Ostling, before passing Kruseman for the lead on lap three. Ostling used Gaunt's line on the fifth circuit to put himself into the runner-up spot. Williams moved into the third position on lap eight, then, five laps later, was able to take away second place. Gaunt reached lap traffic for the first time on lap 13, and held a comfortable lead over Williams. Gaunt's comfortable lead came to an end on lap 15, after Dave Darland spun to a stop in turn one. Prior to the caution period, Williams had been trying a variety of different racing lines. Wasting little time once the track lights went green, Williams launched off of turn two on lap 16 and took the lead. "I was trying to move around on the track a little bit, and see what I can do, and how I can do it better. I found a nice little sweet spot in (turns) one and two, which I started to use, and it worked really well. Rickie was doing a heck of a job. He was really consistent on the top, we just had some good bits down on the bottom and away we went." Gaunt chased Williams in the closing laps, but had to settle for beating Ostling, Kruseman, Yeley and Damion Gardner to the checkered flag. Defending Oval Nationals Champ, Bud Keading won the Hard Charger Award for the second night in a row with a thrilling 19th to seventh place run. ### RACE #38 - OVAL NATIONALS / PERRIS AUTO SPEEDWAY, PERRIS, CA Date of Race: 11/01/02 NON WINGED WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TOUR (NWWC) TIME TRIALS 1. J.J. Yeley, Phoenix AZ, G.T. Racing 76 , 16.353 2. Damion Gardner, Concord CA, Gardner 20, 16.363 3. Rip Williams, Yorba Linda CA, Jory 3, 16.435 4. Rickie Gaunt, Torrance CA, Alexander 4, 16.523 5. Steve Ostling, Corona CA, Fischer Mtrspts 29 , 16.533 6. Richard Griffin, Silver City NM, Chaffin 50 , 16.570 7. Charles Davis, Jr, Buckeye AZ, Davis 94 , 16.638 8. Troy Rutherford, Ojai CA, Priestley 7 , 16.653 9. Jeremy Sherman, Phoenix AZ, Ellis 21X , 16.655 10. Jay Drake, Val Verde CA, BWB Racing 62 , 16.665 11. Levi Jones, Olney IL, Crossno 38 , 16.673 12. Cory Kruseman, Ventura CA, Willis 1, 16.683 13. Tony Elliott, Kokomo IN., BWB Racing 26, 16.717 14. Josh Wise, Riverside CA, Argo. 19A, 16.728 15. Mike English, Norwalk CA, Jory 6, 16.753 16. Tracy Hines, Greenfield IN, Morales 27, 16.796 17. Rodney Argo, Gardena CA, Argo 19, 16.807 18. Cary Faas, Yorba Linda CA, Faas 37, 16.823 19. Danny Faria, Jr., Tulare CA, Hasebe Mtrsprts 2H, 16.830 20. Jerry Coons, Jr, Tucson AZ, Smiley 2, 16.850 21. Tony Jones, Garden Grove CA, Vermeer/Jones 87 , 16.862 22. Travis Rilat, Texas City TX, Minks X, 16.865 23. John Scott, Hesperia CA, Scott Mtrsprts 83 , 16.877 24. Dave Darland, Kokomo IN, Witherill 61, 16.905 25. Mike Faria, Tipton CA, Faria 4F, 16.908 26. Peter Murphy, Sacramento CA.,McMillian 10, 16.932 27. Bobby Cody, (R) Costa Mesa CA, Cody 41, 16.953 28. Verne Sweeney, Lomita CA.,DiDonato 57, 16.967 29. Mike Spencer, Temecula CA, Engstrom 44, 17.000 30. Jason York, Chico CA, York 25N, 17.006 31. Bud Kaeding, Campbell CA, BK Motorsports 29K, 17.030 32. Brent Kaeding, Campbell CA, BK Racing 69, 17.059 33. Mike Kirby, Torrance CA, Geurin 5, 17.064 34. Josh Ford, Camarillo CA, Ford 73, 17.073 35. Steve Venard, Silverado CA, Glover 49, 17.110 36. Jack DeArmond, Jr., Corona CA, DeArmond, Jr. 24 , 17.136 37. Casey Shuman, Tempe AZ, Pratt 12, 17.142 38. Andy Forsberg, Auburn CA, Forsberg 92, 17.152 39. Seth Wilson, San Clemente CA, Racing Optics 17, 17.152 40. Adam Mitchell, Escondido CA, Mitchell 99, 17.165 41. Alan Ballard, Bakersfield CA., Ballard 94X, 17.177 42. Ed Carpenter, Jr., Indianapolis IN, Sala 19S, 17.188 43. Ronnie Clark, Tucson AZ.,Clark 33, 17.195 44. Richard Harvey, Jr, Hanford CA, Kettle 6K, 17.205 45. Billy Pauch, Frenchtown NJ, Deskovich 7K, 17.206 46. Danny Sheridan, Santa Maria CA, Dorathy 21, 17.240 47. Cory Witherill, Santa Monica CA, Witherill 61X, 17.257 48. Mike Boat, Glendale AZ, Minks XX, 17.327 49. Jarrett Chaney, Clovis CA, Robison Mtrspts 42, 17.363 50. Tom Downing, Lakewood CA, Downing 90 , 17.470 51. Mel Murphy, Wooderest CA, Murphy 62X , 17.508 52. Mark Heidenreich, (R) Upland CA, Heidenreich 22 , 17.528 53. Dennis Rodriguez, Camarillo CA, Downing. 90X , 17.590 54. Jonathan Vennard, Vincennes IN, Chaney 21J , 17.656 55. Nicholas Lima, Industry CA, Lima 30 , 17.730 56. Brian Venard, Tustin CA, Venard. 47 , 25.910 57. Keith Williamson, Pomona CA, Williamson 95, No Time HEAT 1 1. Bud Kaeding, 2. Tony Jones, 3. J.J. Yeley, 4. Tracy Hines, 5. Richard Griffin, 6. Peter Murphy, 7. Jack DeArmond, Jr., 8. Levi Jones, HEAT 2 1. Damion Gardner, 2. Travis Rilat 3. Brent Kaeding, 4. Cory Kruseman, 5. Charles Davis, Jr, 6. Rodney Argo, 7. Bobby Cody, 8. Casey Shuman, HEAT 3 1. Mike Kirby, 2. John Scott, 3. Tony Elliott, 4. Rip Williams, 5. Troy Rutherford, 6. Cary Faas, 7. Verne Sweeney, 8. Andy Forsberg, HEAT 4 1. Seth Wilson, 2. Josh Wise, 3. Dave Darland, 4. Rickie Gaunt, 5. Jeremy Sherman, 6. Mike Spencer, 7. Josh Ford, 8. Danny Faria, Jr., HEAT 5 1. Steve Ostling, 2. Mike English, 3. Steve Venard, 4. Adam Mitchell, 5. Mike Faria, 6. Jerry Coons, Jr, 7, Jason York, 8. Jay Drake, C FEATURE 1. Ed Carpenter, Jr.. 2. Alan Ballard. 3. Danny Sheridan. 4. Billy Pauch, 5. Jarrett Chaney. 6. Jonathan Vennard. 7. Mel Murphy. 8. Dennis Rodriguez. 9. Ronnie Clark. 10. Tom Downing. 11. Nicholas Lima, 12. Richard Harvey, Jr. 13. Mark Heidenreich, 14. Cory Witherill, 15. Mike Boat. B FEATURE 1. Levi Jones, 2. Richard Griffin. 3. Troy Rutherford, 4. Rodney Argo, 5. Charles Davis, Jr. 6. Jerry Coons, Jr. 7. Mike Faria, 8. Mike Spencer. 9. Peter Murphy. 10, Danny Faria, Jr., 11. Jack DeArmond, Jr., 12. Verne Sweeney. 13. Billy Pauch, 14. Andy Forsberg. 15. Cary Faas, 16. Josh Ford, 17. Ed Carpenter, Jr,. 18. Alan Ballard, 19. Jason York. 20. Danny Sheridan. 21. Jeremy Sherman. 22. Jay Drake. 23. Bobby Cody, 24. Casey Shuman. A FEATURE (20 Laps) 1. Rip Williams, 2. Rickie Gaunt. 3. Steve Ostling. 4. Cory Kruseman. 5. J.J. Yeley. 6. Damion Gardner. 7. Bud Kaeding. 8. Richard Griffin. 9. Tony Elliott. 10. Tony Jones. 11. Troy Rutherford. 12. John Scott. 13. Mike English. 14. Levi Jones. 15. Brent Kaeding. 16. Josh Wise. 17. Mike Kirby. 18. Tracy Hines. 19. Charles Davis, Jr. 20. Travis Rilat, 21. Dave Darland. 22. Adam Mitchell. 23. Steve Venard. 24. Seth Wilson. 25. Rodney Argo. Laps Led: 1-2, Gaunt 3-15, Williams 16-20 |
