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RUTHERFORD SURVIVES SCRA OPENER |
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PERRIS, CA, FEBRUARY 15, 2003 - If Saturday's season-opening NAPA / Auto Trader Magazines Sprint Car Racing Association (SCRA) race were a reality-based television show, then Troy Rutherford would most certainly have earned the title of "Ultimate Survivor." In the process of gathering his sixth career SCRA win, Rutherford endured his own mechanical problems and watched as seemingly every car running ahead of his Mark Priestley / Roy Miller Freightliners No. 7 Kunz was eliminated from contention during the course of the 30-lap race. "We ran a lot of laps under yellow tonight, and we were having some problems with fuel pick up, so I was leaning it down on the yellows," said Rutherford, who later confirmed that he still had eleven gallons of fuel in his tank at the end of the race. "Some of the guys in front of us had some unfortunate luck. It was kind of handed to us tonight, but then again it wasn't." Many observers made defending SCRA Champion Richard Griffin their pre-race favorite after he set the Sander Engineering Fast-Time and assembled spectacular drives in his heat race and the JE Pistons Dash. Rip Williams won the dash and shared the front row with Griffin. Griffin led easily at the drop of the green flag and was followed by Williams, Rodney Argo, Tony Jones and Steve Ostling. Lap eight provided everyone with a preview of things to come when sixth place Damion Gardner suddenly slowed with what was believed to be an ignition problem. Moments later, Danny Sheridan flipped in turn one. Sheridan was noticeably shaken, but otherwise uninjured. Gardner's crew changed the ignition box during the stoppage, allowing him to rejoin the race. Charles Davis, Jr. probably wished Gardner would have stayed in the pits after he rode over his left rear tire on the restart and flipped through the second turn. Davis, who recently received SCRA's "Hard-Luck Award" for the 2002 season, was not hurt. Slowing to a stop under the red flag, Griffin's car left a stream of oil on the racetrack. Creating a buzz among the crowd, Griffin did in fact lose a motor and was done for the night. This gave the lead to Williams for the restart. The action was halted two laps after the restart when last season's Rookie of the Year, Bobby Cody, flipped in turn one. Cody walked away from the accident without injury. Ostling moved from fourth to second on the restart after Argo pushed up the racetrack in turn one taking the Johnny Vermeer / Ferreira Dairy No. 2 Avenger driven by Jones with him. After starting sixth, Rutherford showed his strength on the 14th lap when he passed Jones along the backstraight for third. The yellow flag flew again ten laps from the finish after Lance Gremett bicycled entering one and hit the wall. The restart provided more excitement after fourth place Argo and Cory Kruseman banged wheels as they passed beneath the green flag. Argo got the worst of the exchange and stopped on the racing surface with damage before the end of the lap. Now in his 26th season of sprint car racing, Williams saw his bid for victory end shortly after the restart when he lost an engine in turn three. Ostling inherited the lead for the lap 22 restart, but his lead would be short-lived. In fact, Ostling would stop for fuel during a lap-23 caution period for Verne Sweeney, who left nerf bar debris on the track after a big bicycle in turn three. This gave Rutherford the lead and Kruseman, who started ninth, moved into second place. Like Ostling, Kruseman reluctantly traded his position on the racetrack for fuel in his tank. Kruseman's pit stop came on lap 26 during a caution period for Andy Forsberg and Brian Venard. Racing resumed with everyone wondering what might happen next. Mike Spencer lined-up in third for the restart, but would run short on fuel on lap 28. As Spencer headed into the pits, Rutherford's appeared to run out of fuel entering turn four. In reality, Rutherford hadn't run out fuel, instead it was just another occurrence of the fuel pick up problem that plagued him throughout the night. As Rutherford waited for his car to come back up to speed again, Jones pulled underneath him to hold a narrow lead at the end of the lap. With only eight other cars still running, Rutherford somehow withstood Jones' challenges and went on to lead the final two laps. Interestingly, Rutherford's victory would give him the lead in series points for the second year in a row after the season opener. Mike English kept his Sharon Jory / Tomarco Fasteners No. 6 Stinger in the thick of the action throughout the race and was rewarded with a third place finish. Rickie Gaunt won the KSE Hard-Charger Award with a spectacular 22nd to fourth place drive. Surviving his big bicycle seven laps from the finish, Sweeney went on to finish fifth in his Wesco Tubing No. 98 Sled. It was the 14th top-five finish of Sweeney's SCRA career, but his first since the 1999 season. SCRA RACE #1 - PERRIS AUTO SPEEDWAY, PERRIS, CA Date of Race: 02/15/03 SANDER ENGINEERING TIME TRIALS 1. Richard Griffin, Silver City NM, Chaffin 50 , 16.848 2. Damion Gardner, Concord CA, Willis 45 , 17.024 3. Cory Kruseman, Ventura CA, Witherill 61 , 17.106 4. Rodney Argo, El Segundo CA, Argo 19 , 17.269 5. Mike English, Norwalk CA, Jory. 6 , 17.277 6. Jack DeArmond, Jr., Corona CA, DeArmond, Jr. 24 , 17.317 7. Rip Williams, Yorba Linda CA, Jory 3 , 17.327 8. Casey Shuman, Tempe AZ, Pratt 12 , 17.388 9. Bobby Cody, Costa Mesa CA.,Cody Racing 41, 17.393 10. Tony Jones, Garden Grove CA, Vermeer 2 , 17.410 11. Troy Rutherford, Ojai CA., Priestley 7 , 17.448 12. Bryan Stanfill, Bakersfield CA, Lancaster 14 , 17.458 13. Steve Ostling, Corona CA.,Fischer Mtrspts 29, 17.625 14. Lance Gremett, San Marcos CA, Gremett 85, 17.648 15. Charles Davis, Jr, Buckeye AZ.,Davis 94 , 17.658 16. Jerry Coons, Jr, Tucson AZ, Rossi 14AZ, 17.752 17. Josh Ford, (R) Camarillo CA, Willis/Ford 54 , 17.810 18. Verne Sweeney, Lomita CA, Sweeney 98 , 17.829 19. Levi Jones, Olney IL, Crossno 38, 17.842 20. Mike Spencer, Temecula CA, Engstrom 44, 17.892 21. Mike Faria, Tipton CA, Faria 4F , 17.902 22. Brian Venard, Irvine CA, Venard. 47, 17.912 23. Andy Forsberg, Auburn CA, Forsberg 92 , 17.982 24. Danny Sheridan, Santa Maria CA, DiDonato 57 , 18.001 25. Adam Mitchell, Escondido CA, Mitchell 99 , 18.006 26. Rickie Gaunt, Torrance CA, Alexander 4 , 18.165 27. Marc Hart, Ventura CA, Hart 15, 18.207 28. Dan Hillberg, Whittier CA.,Hillberg 82 , 18.217 29. Jimmy Crawford, Ventura CA, Crawford 1Z , 18.262 30. Tony Smiley, Buckeye AZ, Smiley 2A , 18.345 31. Mel Murphy, Riverside CA, Murphy 62 , 18.380 32. Alan Ballard, (R) Bakersfield CA, Ballard 97, 18.512 33. Seth Wilson, (R) San Clemente CA, Racing Optics 17, 18.575 34. Steve Gresham, Thousand Oaks CA, Gresham 07 , 18.625 35. Bob Ferro, Sherman Oaks CA, Ferro 91, 18.640 36. Mark Heidenreich, Upland CA, Heidenreich 22, 18.729 37. Trevor Brilman, (R) Las Vegas NV, Element Mtrspts 10 , 18.758 38. Bill Goforth, Apple Valley CA, Goforth 56 , 19.141 39. Nicholas Lima, (R) Industry CA, Lima 30, 19.142 40. David Sinsley, Torrance CA, Sinsley 69X, 19.407 41. Tom Wilhelm, (R) Temecula CA, Grgich 64, No Time C FEATURE 1. Seth Wilson. 2. Mark Heidenreich, 3. Trevor Brilman. 4. Bob Ferro. 5. David Sinsley, 6. Nicholas Lima. 7. Bill Goforth. SO. CAL PERFORMANCE HEAT 1 1. Richard Griffin, 2. Adam Mitchell, 3. Steve Ostling, 4. Mike English, 5. Josh Ford, 6. Bobby Cody, 7. Seth Wilson, 8. Jimmy Crawford, 9. Mike Faria, SHAVER ENGINES HEAT 2 1. Rickie Gaunt, 2. Damion Gardner, 3. Tony Jones, 4. Brian Venard, 5. Verne Sweeney, 6. Lance Gremett, 7. Jack DeArmond, Jr., 8. Tony Smiley, 9. Mark Heidenreich, SPIN TECH MUFFLERS HEAT 3 1. Levi Jones, 2. Troy Rutherford, 3. Rip Williams, 4. Charles Davis, Jr, 5. Mel Murphy, 6. Trevor Brilman, 7. Andy Forsberg, 8. Cory Kruseman, 9. Marc Hart, STINGER CHASSIS HEAT 4 1. Mike Spencer, 2. Rodney Argo, 3. Danny Sheridan, 4. Jerry Coons, Jr, 5. Bryan Stanfill, 6. Dan Hillberg, 7. Alan Ballard, 8. Casey Shuman, 9. Bob Ferro, JE PISTONS DASH 1. Rip Williams. 2. Richard Griffin. 3. Rodney Argo. 4. Tony Jones. 5. Mike English. 6. Troy Rutherford. 7. Damion Gardner. 8. Steve Ostling. SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS B FEATURE 1. Cory Kruseman. 2. Lance Gremett. 3. Bobby Cody. 4. Andy Forsberg. 5. Mike Faria. 6. Verne Sweeney. 7. Alan Ballard. 8. Jack DeArmond, Jr,, 9. Josh Ford. 10. Seth Wilson. 11. Trevor Brilman. 12. Casey Shuman, 13. Mel Murphy. 14. Bob Ferro. 15. Dan Hillberg. 16. Bryan Stanfill. 17. Jimmy Crawford. 18. Mark Heidenreich, 19. Tony Smiley. A FEATURE (30 Laps) 1. Troy Rutherford. 2. Tony Jones. 3. Mike English. 4. Rickie Gaunt, 5. Verne Sweeney, 6. Adam Mitchell. 7. Levi Jones. 8. Cory Kruseman. 9. Jerry Coons, Jr. 10. Steve Ostling. 11. Mike Spencer, 12. Andy Forsberg. 13. Brian Venard. 14. Rodney Argo, 15. Rip Williams, 16. Lance Gremett. 17, Bobby Cody. 18. Mike Faria. 19. Richard Griffin. 20. Damion Gardner. 21. Charles Davis, Jr. 22. Danny Sheridan. Laps Led: Griffin 1-8, Williams 9-22, Ostling 23, Rutherford 24-27 29-30, Jones 28 SCRA Driver Point Standings as of: 02/15/03 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CAR NAME HOMETOWN STARTS POINTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. 7 Troy Rutherford Ojai CA 1 69 2. 2 Tony Jones Garden Grove CA 1 65 3. 4 Rickie Gaunt Torrance CA 1 61 4. 6 Mike English Norwalk CA 1 61 5. 99 Adam Mitchell Escondido CA 1 54 6. 61 Cory Kruseman Ventura CA 1 52 7. 38 Levi Jones Olney IL 1 52 8. 98 Verne Sweeney Lomita CA 1 49 9. 14AZ Jerry Coons, Jr Tucson AZ 1 43 10. 29 Steve Ostling Corona CA 1 41 11. 19 Rodney Argo El Segundo CA 1 41 12. 44 Mike Spencer Temecula CA 1 41 13. 50 Richard Griffin Silver City NM 1 35 14. 47 Brian Venard Irvine CA 1 34 15. 3 Rip Williams Yorba Linda CA 1 31 16. 92 Andy Forsberg Auburn CA 1 31 17. 45 Damion Gardner Concord CA 1 31 18. 85 Lance Gremett San Marcos CA 1 25 19. 41 Bobby Cody Costa Mesa CA 1 22 20. 94 Charles Davis, Jr Buckeye AZ 1 18 4F Mike Faria Tipton CA 1 18 |
