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GARDNER 50% AFTER SCRA / PERRIS RUN |
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PERRIS, CA, MAY 24, 2003 - Damion Gardner survived a dogfight with four-time
NAPA Auto Parts / Auto Trader Magazines SCRA Champion Richard Griffin to win Saturday's 50-lap "Salute to Indy" at the Perris Auto Speedway. Even though Gardner sits third in series points, he has won exactly half of the ten main events run this season. A feat that equals Cory Kruseman's record setting pace in 2001, when Kruseman, who was driving the Harlan Willis / TCR Performance #45 currently occupied by Gardner, went on to claim 15 wins and the SCRA Championship. "We try to win every race, and as good as some of these guys are running, we almost need to win every race. They out-qualified us tonight, so we had to beat 'em in the race," Gardner said with a confident grin. "We knew we needed to be patient starting back there in ninth, but we knew we couldn't wait too long, either, and I had to run my car hard, at times, to get a good feel for any changes we might have to make during the red flags. My guys gave me a great car, and I'm not sure we made one adjustment during the race." Adam Mitchell won his first career JE Pistons Dash to start on the pole for the main event. Starting next to Mitchell was Josh Wise, who had a career milestone of his own. Jumping ahead of Mitchell on the start, Wise went on to lead his first career SCRA main event lap. Troy Rutherford ran second at the end of the opening lap beating Griffin, Mitchell and Rip Williams back to the line. Williams' teammate, Mike English, received the Hedman Hedders Hard-luck Award after his night in the Sharon Jory / Tomarco Fasteners Stinger ended when he tangled with rookie Alan Ballard and Brian Venard on lap four. The incident proved beneficial for Gardner, since all three of the cars involved were running directly in front of him. Lined-up in sixth for the restart, Gardner quickly moved into fifth, as Griffin relieved Rutherford of the second position. With Gardner now in fourth, Griffin moved his Ron Chaffin / Arizona Race Mart #50 Jon Boy ahead of Wise on the seventh circuit. Much to the surprise of everyone, Wise battled back and actually nipped Griffin for the lead coming down to complete lap 14. Griffin would, however, regain control of the top spot before the end of the next lap. Gardner moved into third on lap 18, only to watch the caution flag fly one lap later, after his teammate, Josh Wise, made contact with Jimmy Crawford, leaving Crawford stopped in turn four. Gardner immediately passed Wise on the subsequent restart. Wise tried to reply in turn three, but slipped over the cushion and flipped after slapping the wall. Wise was not hurt. Proving to be "Mr. Restart" on this night, Gardner took the lead for the first time after he beat Griffin into turn one on the restart. With Gardner running the bottom line, Griffin stalked the leader for several laps without attempting a pass for the lead. Finally, Griffin stuck a wheel under Gardner exiting turn two on lap 34. With both men hard on the gas pedal, Gardner and Griffin raced nearly side-by-side as they both did wheelies along the back straight. "It was pretty exciting, Gardner later said. "I thought I felt him on my left side and we both wanted to get to the throttle as quick as we could. I knew he was right there and I tried to squeeze the throttle, but I think I got a hold of it just a little too much. She came down on the tail tank, but we set her down nice and I was able to hang-on to the lead." Gardner did hang-on to the lead, but only for seven more laps. That's when Gardner slipped off the bottom of turn two, allowing Griffin an opportunity to power his way back into the lead. Griffin enjoyed a comfortable lead for a couple of laps, that is, before he reached lapped traffic five laps from the finish. Gardner closed in, and just when it looked like he was in a position to challenge Griffin, the yellow flag flew on lap 47 after seventh place Tony Jones slowed with a flat right rear tire. Taking advantage of yet another restart, Gardner seemed to time the restart at the back straightaway cone better than Griffin and took the lead entering turn three. Visibly frustrated with losing the lead like he did, Griffin tried to muscle his way under Gardner as they approached turn one. Separated by only a few inches, Gardner bravely held his line and maintained the lead exiting turn two. Griffin, who earlier in the evening won the Sander Engineering Fast Time Award, managed to stick a wheel under Gardner on the next to last lap, but ultimately, was unable to prevent Gardner from posting his third straight Perris win. "It's tough being in the lead in those situations because you don't know what's coming behind you," Gardner said of the final restart. "We got a real good bite on the restart and I was able to go to the bottom and put the slide on him. He drag raced me pretty hard down the front straight and I think we hit turn two at about the same time. I just think my car got a hold of some dirt before his did and it was able to push me ahead of him." Rutherford finished third, collecting the ninth top-five finish of the season for the Mark Priestley / Roy Miller Freightliners #7 Kunz. Williams was fourth ahead of the Fischer Motorsports / Feese Solid Surface #29 Okie driven by Steve Ostling. Mike Spencer started 22nd and won the KSE Hard Charger Award with his drive to the sixth position. Rookie Seth Wilson, who is the grandson of former Indy 500 driver Dempsey Wilson, finished tenth in just his 15th SCRA start. ### SCRA RACE #11 - PERRIS AUTO SPEEDWAY "SALUTE TO INDY", PERRIS, CA Date of Race: 05/24/03 SANDER ENGINEERING TIME TRIALS 1. Richard Griffin, Silver City NM, Chaffin 50 , 16.490 2. Troy Rutherford, Ojai CA, Priestley 7 , 16.630 3. Damion Gardner, Concord CA, Willis 45 , 16.782 4. Josh Wise, Riverside CA, Sala 19S , 16.801 5. Mike English, Norwalk CA, Jory 6 , 16.903 6. Rip Williams, Yorba Linda CA, Jory 3 , 16.910 7. Rodney Argo, El Segundo CA, Argo 19 , 16.989 8. Verne Sweeney, Lomita CA, Sweeney 98, 17.031 9. Lance Gremett, San Marcos CA, Gremett 85, 17.070 10. Adam Mitchell, Escondido CA, Mitchell 99 , 17.075 11. Marc Hart, Ventura CA, Hart 15 , 17.082 12. Brian Venard, Irvine CA, Venard. 47 , 17.085 13. Alan Ballard, (R) Bakersfield CA, Ballard 97 , 17.130 14. Levi Jones, Olney IL, Crossno 38, 17.133 15. Rickie Gaunt, Torrance CA, Alexander 4 , 17.135 16. Steve Ostling, Corona CA, Fischer Mtrspts 29 , 17.178 17. Tony Jones, Garden Grove CA, Vermeer 2 , 17.208 18. Jimmy Crawford, (R) Ventura CA, Ruth 25 , 17.247 19. Mike Kirby, Torrance CA, Shoemaker 0 , 17.263 20. Seth Wilson, (R) San Clemente CA, Racing Optics 17 , 17.282 21. Rick Becker, Highland CA, Becker 67, 17.318 22. Kevin Urton, Elk Grove CA, Urton 51 , 17.337 23. Bobby Cody, Costa Mesa CA, Cody Racing 41 , 17.378 24. Mark Heidenreich, Upland CA, Heidenreich 22 , 17.390 25. Dan Hillberg, Whittier CA, Hillberg 82 , 17.412 26. Trevor Brilman, (R) Las Vegas NV, Element Mtrspts 10 , 17.530 27. Josh Ford, (R) Camarillo CA, Willis/Ford 54, 17.536 28. Bryan Stanfill, (R) Bakersfield CA, Lancaster 14, 17.562 29. Ron DiDonato, Riverside CA, DiDonato 57, 17.568 30. Bob Ferro, Sherman Oaks CA, Ferro 91 , 17.618 31. Tom Downing, Lakewood CA, Downing 90 , 17.627 32. Mel Murphy, Riverside CA, Murphy 62, 17.650 33. Mike Spencer, Temecula CA, Engstrom 44 , 17.876 34. Greg Bragg, (R) Visalia CA, Pratt 12, 17.920 35. Alex Pruett, (R) Carefree AZ, Pruett 56AZ, 17.983 SO-CAL PERFORMANCE HEAT 1 1. Mike English, 2. Richard Griffin, 3. Tony Jones, 4. Alan Ballard, 5. Lance Gremett, 6. Ron DiDonato, 7. Dan Hillberg, 8. Mike Spencer, 9. Rick Becker, SHAVER ENGINES HEAT 2 1. Levi Jones, 2. Adam Mitchell, 3. Rip Williams, 4. Troy Rutherford, 5. Kevin Urton, 6. Jimmy Crawford, 7. Greg Bragg, 8. Bob Ferro, 9. Trevor Brilman, SPIN TECH MUFFLERS HEAT 3 1. Josh Ford, 2. Bobby Cody, 3. Rickie Gaunt, 4. Mike Kirby, 5. Damion Gardner, 6. Rodney Argo, 7. Marc Hart, 8. Tom Downing, 9. Alex Pruett, STINGER CHASSIS HEAT 4 1. Steve Ostling, 2. Brian Venard, 3. Bryan Stanfill, 4. Josh Wise, 5. Seth Wilson, 6. Mark Heidenreich, 7. Verne Sweeney, 8. Mel Murphy, JE PISTONS DASH 1. Adam Mitchell. 2. Josh Wise. 3. Mike English, 4. Troy Rutherford. 5. Rip Williams. 6. Richard Griffin. 7. Brian Venard. 8. Alan Ballard. SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS B FEATURE 1. Damion Gardner. 2. Lance Gremett. 3. Seth Wilson. 4. Verne Sweeney. 5. Jimmy Crawford. 6. Mike Spencer. 7, Greg Bragg. 8. Bob Ferro. 9. Mel Murphy, 10. Alex Pruett. 11. Mark Heidenreich. 12. Ron DiDonato. 13. Dan Hillberg. 14. Kevin Urton, 15. Tom Downing. 16. Marc Hart. 17. Rodney Argo, A FEATURE (50 Laps) 1. Damion Gardner. 2. Richard Griffin. 3. Troy Rutherford. 4. Rip Williams. 5. Steve Ostling. 6. Mike Spencer. 7. Levi Jones. 8. Verne Sweeney, 9. Brian Venard. 10. Seth Wilson. 11. Josh Ford. 12. Bobby Cody. 13. Bryan Stanfill. 14. Tony Jones, 15. Alan Ballard. 16. Adam Mitchell. 17. Josh Wise. 18. Lance Gremett. 19. Jimmy Crawford. 20. Mike Kirby. 21, Rickie Gaunt. 22. Mike English., Laps Led: Wise 1-6, Griffin 7-13, Wise 14, Griffin 15-18, Gardner 19-41, Griffin 42-46, Gardner 47-50 SCRA DRIVER POINTS CAR NAME HOMETOWN STARTS POINTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. 50 Richard Griffin Silver City NM 10 692 2. 7 Troy Rutherford Ojai CA 10 665 3. 45 Damion Gardner Concord CA 10 617 4. 3 Rip Williams Yorba Linda CA 10 554 5. 29 Steve Ostling Corona CA 10 539 6. 44 Mike Spencer Temecula CA 10 444 7. 4 Rickie Gaunt Torrance CA 10 442 8. 6 Mike English Norwalk CA 10 431 9. 38 Levi Jones Olney IL 7 329 10. 2 Tony Jones Garden Grove CA 9 328 11. 99 Adam Mitchell Escondido CA 9 290 12. 47 Brian Venard Irvine CA 6 256 13. 98 Verne Sweeney Lomita CA 9 241 14. 85 Lance Gremett San Marcos CA 9 239 15. 54 Josh Ford (R) Camarillo CA 10 235 16. 61 Cory Kruseman Ventura CA 6 211 17. 19 Rodney Argo El Segundo CA 7 195 18. 97 Alan Ballard (R) Bakersfield CA 10 192 19. 14 Bryan Stanfill (R) Bakersfield CA 10 191 20. 41 Bobby Cody Costa Mesa CA 9 183 |
