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GRIFFIN CONVINCING IN MANZY RUN |
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PHOENIX, AZ, MARCH 21, 2003 - Thought of by many as the current "Master of Manzy", Richard Griffin showed Friday night why he still deserves that title. Held without a Manzanita Speedway win last season for the first time in his NAPA / Auto Trader Magazines Sprint Car Racing Association (SCRA) career, Griffin thoroughly dominated the preliminary main event for the 3rd Annual Gary Sokola Classic. "We kind of struggled here a little bit last year, but it's a new year and things are a little different now," Griffin said after collecting his 16th SCRA win at Manzy. "Even at Perris, I've felt more comfortable in this car than I've ever felt before. I'm thrilled just to be in a car that feels this comfortable and to be able to do it here at Manzanita Speedway." Making his 45th career SCRA win look easy, Griffin's real work came in the six-lap JE Pistons Dash. Charging his way through the field from the sixth starting spot, Griffin capped his run in the Dash with a thrilling last corner pass on Charles Davis, Jr., giving his Ron Chaffin / Arizona Race Mart No. 50 Jon Boy the pole position for the main event. "It was just one of those deals where you start in the back and you really don't have much to lose," Griffin said with a confident grin. "We had some luck in the Dash with a red flag coming in the middle of the race. It was just one of those deals where we were able to move up." The red flag Griffin mentioned came at the expense of Steve Ostling, who flipped hard off the turn one wall. Ostling was not hurt, but his car was unable to be repaired in time for him to see Griffin and Davis pace the field for the start of the 20-lap race. "I knew the bottom was good coming off of (turn) four because a made a pass on Levi Jones there during the Dash and there was a lot of moisture there," Griffin recalled. "When I lined up for the main event I could tell that the bottom in turn four was still good and thought I could beat Charlie into turn one. I'm not sure what I would have what I would have done had he been even with me going into turn one, because I knew I didn't want to be on the bottom down there." Fortunately for Griffin, he didn't have to worry about running the bottom of turn one. Handily beating Davis to the green flag, Griffin led Davis, Levi Jones, Troy Rutherford and J.J. Yeley onto the first turn cushion and, as he later said, "pretty much sailed on" to victory from there. Enjoying a full straightaway lead, Griffin reached lapped traffic in just eight circuits, but would have the wind briefly taken from his sails two laps later, after Yeley slowed to a stop to bring out the first caution flag of the race. The yellow flag erased Griffin's five second advantage over the Ron Fuel Injection No. 94 Buckley driven by Davis. Griffin sped away after the restart and wasn't slowed until Rickie Gaunt stopped on the racing surface on the white flag lap. With two lapped cars between himself and Davis, Griffin later completed the final lap without challenge. Griffin also earned his 180th top-five finish on this night making, him the sole leader in that category with the SCRA. Davis, who had flipped in his prior two outings this season, was all smiles after his second place finish. Rutherford drove the Mark Priestley / Roy Miller Freightliners No. 7 Kunz to a third place finish and earned his 50th career top-five finish in the process. Sander Engineering Fast Qualifier Bob Ream, Jr. nailed down the last direct transfer to Saturday's finale with a last lap pass for fourth. 2001 Sokola Classic winner Tony Jones was the victim of Ream's last lap pass, which did not overshadow his drive from the 14th starting position. Jeremy Sherman, who swept both nights of the Sokola Classic last year, won the KSE Products Hard Charger Award with his 20th to seventh place drive. SCRA RACE #3 - MANZANITA SPEEDWAY, PHOENIX, AZ Date of Race: 3/21/03 SANDER ENGINEERING TIME TRIALS 1. Bob Ream, Jr., BRAT Racing 8, 18.626, 2. Richard Griffin, Chaffin 50, 18.702, 3. J.J. Yeley, Smiley 2A, 18.724, 4. Troy Rutherford, Priestley 7, 18.855, 5. Steve Ostling, Fischer Motorsports 29, 18.894, 6. Marty Wilcox, Wilcox 3A, 18.934, 7. Cory Kruseman, Witherill 61, 18.944, 8. Levi Jones, Crossno 38, 18.999, 9. Charles Davis Jr., Davis 94, 19.008, 10. Mike English, Jory 6, 19.129, 11. Adam Mitchell, Mitchell 99, 19.162, 12. Bobby Cody, Cody Racing 41, 19.196, 13. Lance Gremett, Gremett 85, 19.209, 14. Tracy Hines, Priestley 7H, 19.213, 15. Verne Sweeney, Sweeney 98, 19.228 16. Tony Jones, Vermeer 2, 19.230, 17. Rip Williams, Jory 3, 19.244, 18. Jerry Coons, Jr., Rossi 14A, 19.252, 19. Mike Spencer, Engstrom 44 , 19.284, 20. Damion Gardner, Willis 45, 19.302, 21. Rickie Gaunt, Alexander 4, 19.312,m 22. Jeremy Sherman, Ellis 21, 19.405, 23. J.D. Vance, Wadsworth 45AZ, 19.423, 24. Derek Davidson, Price 0, 19.580, 25. Dan Hillberg, Hillberg 82, 19.699, 26. Cal Smith, Pratt 39, 19.705, 27. Jeff Henry, Allen 12AZ, 19.883, 28. Paul Norbury, Carsten 91AZ, 19.933 , 29. Brian Stanfill, Lancaster 14, 20.080, 30. Nicholas Lima, Lima 30, 20.137, 31. Jimmy Crawford, Ruth 25, 20.241, 32. Joe Larkin, Jr., Larkin 36L, 20.248, 33. Alan Ballard, Ballard 97, 20.256 34. Ronnie Clark, Clark 33, 20.325, 35. Bugs Norbury, Carsten 91AZ, 20.357, 36. Trevor Brilman, Element Motorsports 10, 20.376, 37. Josh Ford, Willis/Ford 54, 20.474 38. Rick Vaughn, Grayson 22X, 21.012, 39. Mike Rux, Jr., Martin 18A, 21,110, 40. Alex Pruett, Pruett 56AZ, 21.118, 41. Seth Wilson, Racing Optics 17, 21.118, 42. Rodney Stone, Stone 16X, 21.245, 43. Mel Murphy, Murphy 62, 21.428, 44. Keith Williamson, Williamson 95, No Time, 45. Robert Hall, Hall 16AZ, No Time C-MAIN 1. Clark, 2. Brilman, 3. Ballard, 4. Vaughn, 5. Wilson, 6. Ford, 7. Murphy, 8. Rux, 9. B. Norbury, 10. Stone, SO-CAL PERFORMANCE HEAT 1 1. Williams, 2. Davis, 3.Hillberg, 4. Ostling, 5. Gaunt, 6. Gremett, 7.Clark, 8. Ream. SHAVER ENGINES HEAT 2 1. Coons, 2. Sherman, 3. Griffin, 4. English, 5. Hines, 6. Smith, 7. Wilcox, 8. Lima, 9. Brilman. SPIN TECH MUFFLERS HEAT 3 1. Spencer, 2. Mitchell, 3. Yeley, 4. Crawford, 5. Kruseman, 6. Vance, 7. Henry, 8. Sweeney, 9. Ballard. STINGER CHASSIS HEAT 4 1. T. Jones, 2. Rutherford, 3. Gardner, 4. L. Jones, 5. Larkin, 6. Cody, 7. Vaughn, 8. P. Norbury, 9. Davidson. JE PISTONS DASH 1. Griffin, 2. Davis, 3. L. Jones, 4. Rutherford, 5. Yeley, 6. English, 7. Mitchell, 8. Ostling. SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS B FEATURE 1. Ream, 2. Kruseman, 3. Wilcox, 4. Hines, 5. Gremett, 6. Gaunt, 7. Larkin, 8. Stanfill, 9. Smith, 10. Norbury, 11. Vaughn, 12. Ballard, 13. Lima, 14. Brilman, 15. Sweeney, 16. Henry, 17. Clark, 18. Cody, 19. Vance. A FEATURE (20 Laps) 1. Griffin, 2. Davis, 3. Rutherford, 4. Ream, 5. T. Jones, 6. L. Jones, 7. Sherman, 8. Coons, 9. Spencer, 10. Mitchell, 11. Williams, 12. Yeley, 13. Hines, 14. Wilcox, 15. Gremett, 16. Gardner, 17. Kruseman, 18. Gaunt, 19. English, 20. Crawford, 21. Hillberg. Laps Led: Griffin 1-20 |
