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GRIFFIN TAKES LAKESIDE OPENER |
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KANSAS CITY, KS, AUGUST 22, 2003 - It hasn't been the best Non-Wing World Championship tours for the three-time and defending NWWC Champ. Just in case you thought he was out of contention to defend his crown, Richard Griffin made a statement during Friday's 20-lap preliminary main event at Kansas' Lakeside Speedway that he's not out of the title race yet. Griffin started the eastern swing with the NAPA Auto Parts / Auto Trader Magazines SCRA sprint cars 14 days ago by winning the JE Pistons Dash and leading every lap of the main event at Hollywood Speedway in his home state of New Mexico. With track conditions still lightening-fast, Griffin again won the JE Pistons Dash and started his Ron Chaffin / Arizona Race Mart #50 Jon Boy on the pole for the Lakeside feature race. To Griffin's outside was Bud Kaeding, who won both NWWC/SCRA races at Lakeside last year and was the Jerry Weld Invitational Classic winner here the night before. Griffin finished second to Kaeding in both events last year and seemed determined at the start not to let history repeat itself. As Griffin easily led the field into the first turn, Kaeding's car lost traction and drifted wide at the start dropping him behind Levi Jones, Jesse Hockett and the Mark Priestley / Roy Miller Freightliners #7 Kunz driven by Troy Rutherford. Showing the strength that won him the Sander Engineering Fast Time Award, Kaeding moved into third on the following lap, passed Hockett on the third lap and darted past Jones for the runner-up position on lap seven. Catching "The Gasman" was a different story. With Griffin working the low groove, and Kaeding buzzing around near the fence, Kaeding eventually reeled in Griifin and passed him exiting turn four and was credited with leading the 18th circuit. Kaeding's stint as race leader would only last for three more turns after he hit the turn three wall trying to avoid Mike Boyer, who flipped directly in front of him. Boyer was not hurt, but his SCRA debut was spoiled. Kaeding would return after a tire change to earn a 12th place finish. Griffin restarted the race in the lead and went on to gather his fifth SCRA win of the season and his seventh career NWWC win, tying him with Kaeding for the most all-time NWWC victories. Griffin's win also marked the 15th different track where he has registered an SCRA main event win, and leaves him only one win shy of his 50th career SCRA triumph. Like Kaeding, Damion Gardner fell back at the start, but quickly recovered to give the Harlan Willis / TCR Performance #45 a second-place finish over Rutherford. Oklahoma ace Wayne Johnson drove the Bob Vielhauer / Beaver Drill & Tool Company #12X Maxim to a fourth place finish. Johnson started ninth and was named the KSE Hard Charger in the same ride Blake Feese drove to a fifth place finish one year ago. Hockett finished fifth in the Tom Van Keirsblick / TSV Contracting #75X Maxim and was the first car not to receive a direct transfer to Saturday night's 40-lap finale. Heading into the evening, Mat Neely had put together three consecutive top ten finishes during the NWWC / SCRA tour. Unfortunately, Neely's streak would come to an end after a flip in the Dash sidelined him for the rest of the night. Even though neither driver was on hand Friday, teammates J.J. Yeley and Cory Kruseman remain first and second respectively in the NWWC point standings. After competing in a race Saturday in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, both men plan to be present for the Lakeside Speedway finale. ### SCRA SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: August 22, 2003 - Kansas City, Kansas - Lakeside Speedway SANDER ENGINEERING QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Bud Kaeding, 29k, BK Racing-16.987, 2. Boston Reid, 2B, Benic/Davis-17.002, 3. Mat Neely, 17N, Reinoehl-17.006; 4. Levi Jones, 38, Crossno-17.051, 5. Richard Griffin, 50, Chaffin-17.055, 6. Troy Rutherford, 7. Priestley-17.237; Jesse Hockett, 75X, Van Keirsblick-17.332, 8. Damion Gardner, 45, Willis-17.421, 9. Mike Spencer, 44, Engstrom-17.440, 10. Wayne Johnson, 12X, Viehauer-17.441, 11. Alan Ballard, 97, Ballard-17.536, 12. Kevin Briscoe, 21R, Roberts-17.591, 13. Mike English, 6, Jory-17.760, 14. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-17.733, 15. Bryan Stanfill, 21X, Roberts-18.001, 16. Jimmy Crawford, 18X, Crawford-18.059, 17. Josh Ford, 54, Willis/Ford-18.109, 18. Seth Wilson, 17, Racing Optics-18.206; 19. Chris Morgan, 7C, Morgan, 18.367, 20. Ryan Anderson, 71X, Anderson-18.498, 21. Mike Boyer, 12, Boyer-19.481, 22. Tony Everhart, 55, Everhart-19.630, 23. Tim Newman, 18V, Newman-19.909, 24. Mel Murphy, 62, Murphy-No Time. SO-CAL PERFORMANCE FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Johnson, 2. Kaeding, 3. Jones, 4. Crawford, 5. Hockett, 6. English, 7. Morgan, 8. Everhart, 2:57.94. SHAVER ENGINES SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Gardner, 2. Griffin, 3. Ford, 4. Reid, 5. Williams, 6. Ballard, 7. Anderson, 8. Newman. 2:56.86. SPIN TECH MUFFLERS / STINGER CHASSIS THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Rutherford, 2. Stanfill, 3. Spencer, 4. Neely, 5. Wilson, 6. Briscoe, 7. Boyer. 2:59.18. JE PISTONS DASH: (6 laps) - 1. Griffin, 2. Kaeding, 3. Rutherford, 4. Gardner, 5. Jones, 6. Reid, 7. Hockett, 8. Neely. 1:43.09 - New Track Record SIMPSON B-FEATURE: (6 laps) 1. Ballard, 2. Briscoe, 3. English, 4. Anderson, 5. Morgan, 6. Boyer, 7. Newman, 8. Murphy. 1:48.25. FEATURE: (20 laps) 1. Griffin, 2. Gardner, 3. Rutherford, 4. Johnson, 5. Hockett, 6. Reid, 7. Jones, 8. Briscoe, 9. Williams, 10. Ballard, 11. English, 12. Kaeding, 13. Crawford, 14. Ford, 15. Spencer, 16. Wilson, 17. Stanfill, 18. Anderson, 19. Morgan, 20. Newman, 21. Boyer, 22. Murphy. NT ------------------ LAPS LED: Griffin 1-17, Kaeding 18, Griffin 19-20 First four cars in Feature transfer directly to Saturday's 40-lap finale NEXT SCRA SPRINT CAR EVENT: August 23 - Kansas City, KS - Lakeside Speedway NWWC points: Yeley-418, Kruseman-384, Kaeding-316, L. Jones-312, Rutherford-297, Griffin-292, Gardner-285, Williams-190, Reid-185, Spencer-180. |
