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KRUSEMAN TWO FOR TWO IN #4 |
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PERRIS, CA, SEPTEMBER 6, 2003 - Cory Kruseman and the Mark Alexander / Alexander Trucking #4 Stinger: it's a powerful combination that no one had envisioned prior to last week. Starting sixth Saturday at the Perris Auto Speedway, Kruseman took the lead with a little more than a lap to go and went on to claim his second NAPA Auto Parts / Auto Trader Magazines SCRA sprint car win in as many starts driving for the Alexander Team. One week ago in the Alexander ride, Kruseman made history at Ventura Raceway becoming the first SCRA driver to win main events for three different car owners (Tony Stewart and Cory Witherill) in a single season. Kruseman returned to the West Coast determined to back-up his Ventura performance with a good run at Perris. "Son-of-a-gun, the Alexander's had this car going," Kruseman said after posting his fifth SCRA win in 17 starts this season. "Working with these guys is great because we come up with some ideas we have (from back east) and some ideas they have out here. This is a pretty low-dollar deal and these guys have a nice race car. It was really comfortable when I first got in it, and we've started going better and better. To come out last week and win the Bagley Classic was fantastic, but a lot of people said well that's Ventura and Cory can win at Ventura. So, it was great to come to Perris and do it like we did tonight." Damion Gardner drove the Harlan Willis / TCR Performance #45 to it's fourth JE Pistons Dash win of the season and started on the pole for the 30-lap feature race. Gardner didn't get the best of starts and watched outside front row starter Rip Williams and second row starter Charles Davis, Jr. lead the field into turn one. Gardner passed the Arizona Racemart #94 driven by Davis on the third lap. Three laps later, Kruseman pulled ahead of Davis for third. Looking for his eighth SCRA win of the year, Gardner executed a picture-perfect crossover on Williams exiting turn four on the eighth lap to take the lead. Williams and Kruseman were able to keep pace with Gardner as they experimented with different racing lines. As Gardner continued to ride the cushion all the way around, Williams' found the middle groove in turns three and four to his liking. Taking a slightly lower run into those corners, Williams was able to put the Sharon Jory / Tomarco Fasteners #3 Stinger into the lead coming down to complete the 22nd lap. Kruseman, who teaches a sprint car driving school at Ventura Raceway, learned by watching Williams and was able to take advantage of a Gardner bobble exiting turn two on lap 26. Using the speed he had from a good run down the back straight, Kruseman took over the second spot in turn four. Six days ago, Williams won his 61st SCRA main event breaking a tie with Kruseman for bragging rights as the all-time leader in SCRA main event wins. Just when it looked like Williams was going to put another victory between himself and Kruseman, he nearly spun entering turn four. Out of nowhere, Kruseman pounced and forced his way ahead of Williams exiting turn four coming down for the white flag. Moving back down to the bottom, Williams took the lead entering turn one with a big slide job. Kruseman was ready for the slider and was able to set his car up for a drive off the bottom of turn two. Hitting his mark perfectly, Kruseman launched off the second corner and passed Williams for the lead, and the eventual win. "Rip kind of got sideways down there between turns three and four, and I was below him and he started coming back down across the race track. I thought I better not hit him or it'll be a big deal, so I got a horrible run down the front straight and he did a Hail-Mary (into turn one), and I thought if it works it'll be good for him, if it doesn't it'll be good for me." And it ended up good for us," Kruseman said in victory lane. "I really don't know how it all happened, but I think Ripper got into that little bit of grease that was down there getting into (turn) three. Unfortunately, I found that spot several times early in the race and I got to where I wasn't any good and, at about lap 20, I was just kind of hanging on. Gardner had a good view of the last lap tussle, and was credited with a third place finish ahead of Davis. Rickie Gaunt, who occupied the Alexander car for the first half of the season, finished fifth in the Tony Smiley / Smiley's Crane Service #2A Extreme. Mike Spencer started 12th, and was as high as fourth in the running order until a miscue on a lap 24 restart resulted in a sixth place finish. Richard Griffin started the night by winning the Sander Engineering Fast Time Award and would finish the night eighth in the main event behind Josh Wise. Rookie Seth Wilson started last in the 22-car field and finished eleventh earning the KSE Products Hard Charger Award. Duane Marcum was scheduled to start ninth in the main event, but was forced to pull off the track during the four-wide parade lap, complaining that his throttle was sticking. Marcum was later named the recipient of the Hedman Hedders Hard Luck Award. ### SCRA RACE #29 - PERRIS AUTO SPEEDWAY, PERRIS, CA Date of Race: 09/06/03 SANDER ENGINEERING TIME TRIALS 1. Richard Griffin, Silver City NM, Chaffin 50, 16.858 2. Charles Davis, Jr, Buckeye AZ, Davis 94, 17.116 3. Troy Rutherford, Ojai CA, Priestley 7, 17.133 4. Rip Williams, Yorba Linda CA, Jory 3, 17.155 5. Damion Gardner, Concord CA, Willis 45, 17.164 6. Adam Mitchell, Escondido CA, Mitchell 99, 17.183 7. Rickie Gaunt, Torrance CA, Smiley 2A, 17.227 8. Duane Marcum, Fresno CA, Ruth 25, 17.245 9. Cory Kruseman, Ventura CA., Alexander 4, 17.275 10. Josh Wise, Riverside CA, Sala 19S, 17.300 11. Tony Jones, Garden Grove CA, Vermeer 2, 17.338 12. Mike Spencer, Temecula CA, Engstrom 44, 17.440 13. Jordan Hermansader, Long Beach CA, Ferro 91, 17.445 14. Mathew Rossi, Glendale AZ, Victory Lane 14AZ, 17.450 15. Bobby Graham, Riverside CA, Lancaster 14, 17.475 16. Alan Ballard, (R) Bakersfield CA, Ballard 97, 17.493 17. Ron DiDonato, Riverside CA, DiDonato 57, 17.558 18. Josh Ford, (R) Camarillo CA, Willis/Ford 54, 17.568 19. Trevor Brilman, (R) Las Vegas NV, Element Mtrspts 10, 17.658 20. Bobby Cody, Costa Mesa CA, Cody Racing 41, 17.665 21. Mel Murphy, Riverside CA, Murphy 62, 17.707 22. Greg Bragg, (R) Visalia CA, Pratt 12, 17.757 23. Verne Sweeney, Lomita CA, Sweeney 98, 17.795 24. Dan Hillberg, Whittier CA, Hillberg 82, 17.827 25. Steve Venard, Silverado CA, Glover 49, 17.945 26. Alex Pruett, (R) Carefree AZ, Pruett 56AZ, 17.963 27. Brian Venard, Irvine CA, Venard, 47, 17.978 28. Seth Wilson, (R)San Clemente CA, Racing Optics 17, 18.047 29. Mark Nation, Los Olivos CA, Nation 3N, 18.115 30. Cal Smith, Montclair CA, Pratt. 39 , 18.213 SO-CAL PERFORMANCE HEAT 1 1. Cory Kruseman, 2. Richard Griffin, 3. Damion Gardner, 4. Ron DiDonato, 5. Jordan Hermansader, 6. Steve Venard, 7. Mel Murphy, 8. Mark Nation. SHAVER ENGINES HEAT 2 1. Josh Ford, 2. Josh Wise, 3. Charles Davis, Jr, 4. Adam Mitchell, 5. Mathew Rossi, 6. Greg Bragg, 7. Alex Pruett, 8. Cal Smith, SPIN-TECH MUFFLERS HEAT 3 1. Rickie Gaunt, 2. Brian Venard, 3. Tony Jones, 4. Troy Rutherford, 5. Verne Sweeney, 6. Bobby Graham, 7. Trevor Brilman, STINGER CHASSIS HEAT 4 1. Rip Williams, 2. Dan Hillberg, 3. Mike Spencer, 4. Seth Wilson, 5. Alan Ballard, 6. Bobby Cody, 7. Duane Marcum, JE PISTONS DASH 1. Damion Gardner. 2. Rip Williams. 3. Adam Mitchell. 4. Charles Davis, Jr, 5. Richard Griffin, 6. Cory Kruseman. 7. Rickie Gaunt. 8. Troy Rutherford. SIMPSON PRODUCTS B FEATURE 1. Jordan Hermansader. 2. Duane Marcum. 3. Mathew Rossi. 4. Alan Ballard. S. Bobby Graham. 6. Verne Sweeney. 7. Greg Bragg. 8. Bobby Cody. 9. Steve Venard. 10. Mark Nation. 11. Trevor Brilman. 12. Mel Murphy. 13. Alex Pruett. 14. Cal Smith. A FEATURE (30 Laps) 1. Cory Kruseman. 2. Rip Williams. 3. Damion Gardner. 4. Charles Davis, Jr. 5. Rickie Gaunt. 6. Mike Spencer. 7. Josh Wise. 8. Richard Griffin, 9. Troy Rutherford. 10. Josh Ford. 11. Seth Wilson, 12. Mathew Rossi. 13. Jordan Hermansader, 14. Tony Jones. 15. Verne Sweeney. 16. Dan Hillberg. 17. Bobby Graham. 18. Ron DiDonato, 19. Alan Ballard, 20. Brian Venard. 21. Adam Mitchell. 22. Duane Marcum. Laps Led: Williams 1-7, Gardner 8-21, Williams 22-28, Kruseman 29-30 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2003 SCRA points ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CAR NAME HOMETOWN STARTS POINTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. 50 Richard Griffin Silver City NM 29 1806 2. 7 Troy Rutherford Ojai CA 29 1704 3. 45 Damion Gardner Concord CA 29 1676 4. 3 Rip Williams Yorba Linda CA 29 1539 5. 44 Mike Spencer Temecula CA 28 1143 6. 29 Steve Ostling Corona CA 19 966 7. 2A Rickie Gaunt Torrance CA 19 944 8. 4 Cory Kruseman Ventura CA 17 868 9. 6 Mike English Norwalk CA 24 838 10. 2 Tony Jones Garden Grove CA 21 832 11. 54 Josh Ford (R) Camarillo CA 29 832 12. 38 Levi Jones Olney IL 17 750 13. 99 Adam Mitchell Escondido CA 23 717 14. 97 Alan Ballard (R) Bakersfield CA 29 669 15. 75 J.J. Yeley Phoenix AZ 9 552 16. 98 Verne Sweeney Lomita CA 19 527 17. 17 Seth Wilson (R) San Clemente CA 29 520 18. 18 Jimmy Crawford (R) Ventura CA 27 503 19. 94 Charles Davis, Jr Buckeye AZ 13 487 20. 21X Bryan Stanfill (R) Bakersfield CA 23 462 |
