Santa Maria, CA - June 15, 2002... Sprint Car Racing Association (SCRA) Non-Winged 410 Sprint Cars were on their way to a new 30-lap Santa Maria Speedway track record Saturday night before disaster struck. Rip Williams, of Yorba Linda, took the lead from the outside of the front row, and Silver City, New Mexico driver Richard Griffin slipped into second place. The two SCRA veterans battled nose-to-tail, in and out of traffic, for the next twenty-six laps before turn four became calamity corner. That's when Gary W. Howard, of Fontana, and Bobby Cody, of Costa Mesa, came together to bring
out the only yellow flag of the event. But, that wasn't the end of it.

Williams, trying to put a lap on Charles Davis, Jr., of Buckeye, AZ, made contact, flipping into the turn three wall. Williams was okay but his car was done for the night. Griffin inherited the lead on the restart and led the final four circuits. Second place went to Tony Jones, of Garden Grove, and third to Mike Kirby of Torrance. Bobby Graham, of Riverside, and Rickie Gaunt, of Torrance, completed the top-five. 

Santa Maria drivers Danny Sheridan and Steve DeMott placed seventh and eighteenth respectively. DeMott, in his first season of sprint car driving, was making his first start with SCRA, driving a 360 sprint.

    Ten-lap heat race victories went to Steve Ostling, Corona; Casey Shuman; Tempe, AZ, and Howard. Graham won the 6-lap "Passing Masters" dash, and Griffin set fast time of 14.053 seconds.

    J.J. Ercse, of Lakewood, started fifth in the 18-car NMRA TQ Midget field to win the feature event. Ercse passed Sunland's Jim Styer at the mid-point of the 25-lap run and held the lead for the duration. Styer faded to fourteenth by race end. Second place went to Todd Hunsaker, of Chino Hills, and third to Jimmy May of Ventura. West Evans, of Moorpark, picked up fourth place and Greg Edenholm, of Agoura, scored a fifth. Ercse and Hunsaker won the 8-lap heat races and fast time for the night, 15.992 seconds, was recorded by Evans.

    Next Saturday night will be the 17th Annual Bud Stanfield Memorial featuring Late Model Stocks, Street Stocks, Factory Stocks, and Mini Stocks. Spectator gates will open at four, qualifying will begin at six, and racing starts at seven. Admission prices are $11.00 for adults, $8.00 for seniors (65+), and $3.00 for children 6 to 12. Santa Maria Speedway is located 1/4-mile north of the 101/166 interchange on Hutton Road. Their internet home is SantaMariaSpeedway.com.

Race Summaries

SCRA Non-Winged 410 Sprint Cars: 

Heat 1 - Steve Ostling, Mike Spencer, Tony Jones, Richard Griffin, Bobby Graham, Rodney Argo, David Sprigg. 
Heat 2 - Casey Shuman, Rip Williams, Jordan Hermansader, Cory Kruseman, Danny
Sheridan, Mike Kirby, Steve DeMott. 
Heat 3 - Gary W. Howard, Rickie Gaunt, John Scott, Mike English, Bobbyt Cody, Charles Davis, jr. 
Dash - Graham, Williams, Griffin, Gaunt, Sheridan, Howard, English, Jones. 
Main Event - Griffin, Jones, Kirby, Graham, Gaunt, English, Sheridan, Argo, Scott,
Howard, Davis, Ostling, Kruseman, Spencer, Cody, Shuman, Sprigg, DeMott,
Williams, Denise Cline, Hermansader.

NMRA TQ Midgets: 

Heat 1 - Todd Hunsaker, West Evans, Steve Lambert, Jimmy May, Jim Styer, Chris Hedge, Michael Bliffen, Steve Northrop, Steve Parke.
Heat 2 - J.J. Ercse, Chuck West, Kenny Wiley, Greg Edenholm, Randi Pankratz,
Linda Taylor, John Gardner, Ron Ahrendt, Ron Wade. 
Main Event - Ercse, Hunsaker, May, Evans, Edenholm, West, Lambert, Wiley, Hedge, Bliffen, Northrop, Styer, Taylor, Gardner, Wade, Ahrendt, Pankratz (DNS), Parke
(DNS).