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KRUSEMAN WINS OVAL NATIONALS |
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PERRIS, CA, NOVEMBER 16, 2003 - Cory Kruseman started on the pole and led all but nine laps of Sunday's Budweiser Oval Nationals at the Perris Auto Speedway. Kruseman's victory was worth $30,000 for his 50-laps of work. "This is definitely one of the biggest wins of my career. The Oval Nationals is a pretty nice deal, and it's definitely the most money that I have ever won. Anytime there's big money up for grabs it seems like I have great luck up until the final five laps, and then something happens. Tonight, nothing happened," Kruseman smiled. Two time and defending Oval Nationals Champion Bud Kaeding finished third, which was a high enough finish for him to win his first Non-Wing World Championship title. Kruseman, who won the inaugural NWWC crown in 1999, finished second in this year's 14-race series, one position ahead of his Tony Stewart Motorsports teammate J.J. Yeley. Kruseman's Mopar #21X Kunz started on the pole for the championship race, but it was Brent Kaeding that would lead Yeley, Kruseman, Bud Kaeding and Mike Spencer at the end of the first lap. Not overly concerned by his poor start, Kruseman passed Yeley for second place on the fifth circuit. "I started down there in the mud where it was real easy to wheelie, and I hate leading at the start anyway. I want to follow for a while and let someone else set the pace. I didn't mean to do it the way I did, but it worked out pretty damn good," Kruseman later said. Kruseman let Brent Kaeding "set the pace" until he slid past him exiting turn four coming down to complete the tenth lap. As Kruseman began to build his lead, Damion Gardner was on the move from the 12th starting spot and had the Harlan Willis / TCR Performance #45 up to sixth by the end of the 12th circuit. Jon Stanbrough brought out the caution flag moment later after he hit the inside retaining wall on the front chute. Yeley jumped the turn one cushion on the restart, and lost three positions, as Gardner moved ahead of Bud Kaeding. Five laps later, Gardner muscled his way ahead of the elder Kaeding for second. While Gardner was busy trying to eat away at Kruseman's straightaway lead, Jeremy Sherman had the Ellis Race Cars #21 up to fifth after starting 21st in the 25-car field. One of the wildest moments of the race occurred on lap 30 when Gardner bicycled along the turn one cushion just as Bud Kaeding was giving him a slide job. Miraculously, Gardner brought the car down on all four wheels, then, darted to the bottom of turn two where he proceeded to take back the second position. Like the leader, Sherman worked the bottom groove to perfection and was able to move into the third spot on the 36th lap. Two laps later, Sherman passed Gardner exiting turn four. Even though Sherman and Gardner were busy battling for the running-up spot, they still managed to close in on Kruseman even before he reached lapped traffic ten laps from the finish. Kruseman's closest call of the race came on lap 44 when he nearly spun after trying to split two lapped cars in turn one. Kruseman quickly recovered and maintained the lead. Lapped traffic no longer became an issue after Tracy Hines stopped in turn one and brought out the yellow flag one lap later. Kruseman had the luxury of two lapped cars between himself and Sherman on the restart. Sherman quickly dispensed of the two slower cars and was within striking distance with three laps to go. As if he had a rear view mirror, Kruseman wisely stayed on the bottom where he was able to extend his lead and eventually win the race. Bud Kaeding's podium finish gave him more than enough points to take home the $16,000 bonus for winning the NWWC title. Gardner finished fourth ahead of Richard Griffin and 1999 Oval Nationals Champion Rickie Gaunt. Even though he failed to make the A-Main event, Josh Ford accumulated enough points to win the NWWC Rookie of the Year Award. ### OVAL NATIONALS - PERRIS AUTO SPEEDWAY, PERRIS, CA Date of Race: 11/16/03 C-Main (20 Laps): 1. Ron DiDonato, 2. Lance Gremett, 3. Richard Harvey, Jr., 4. Verne Sweeney, 5. Levi Jones, 6. Alan Ballard, 7. Greg Bragg, 8. Jason Yount, 9. Dan Hillberg, 10. Destiney Hays, 11. Rip Williams, 12. Seth Wilson, 13. Charles Davis, Jr., 14. Danny Sheridan, 15. Darren Hagen, 16. Cory Witherill, 17. Josh Ford, 18. Steve Venard, 19. Mel Murphy, 20. Ron Case, 21. Gary W. Howard. B FEATURE (20 Laps) 1. Troy Rutherford, 2. Bill Rose, 3. Tony Elliott, 4. John Scott, 5. Brian Venard, 6. Rickie Gaunt, 7. Troy Cline, 8. Jon Stanbrough, 9. Jeremy Sherman, 10. Rip Williams, 11. Adam Mitchell, 12. Levi Jones, 13. Andy Forsberg, 14. Lance Gremett, 15. Ron DiDonato, 16. Casey Shuman, 17. Alan Ballard, 18. Verne Sweeney, 19. Jason Yount, 20. Dan Hillberg, 21. Richard Harvey, Jr., 22. Greg Bragg, 23. Tony Jones, 24. Destiney Hays, 25. Mat Neely, 26. Dwayne Marcum, 27. Mike Kirby. - No Time. A FEATURE (50 Lap) 1. Cory Kruseman, 2. Jeremy Sherman, 3. Bud Kaeding, 4. Damion Gardner, 5. Richard Griffin, 6. Rickie Gaunt, 7. Mike Spencer, 8. J.J. Yeley, 9. Brent Kaeding, 10. Bill Rose, 11. Josh Wise, 12. John Scott, 13. Steve Ostling, 14. Andy Forsberg, 15. Brian Venard, 16. Jac Haudenschild, 17. Troy Rutherford, 18. Levi Jones, 19. Tracy Hines, 20. Cary Faas, 21. Tony Elliott, 22. Jon Stanbrough, 23. Adam Mitchell, 24. Rip Williams, 25. Troy Cline. Laps Led: Brent Kaeding 1-9, Kruseman 10-50 FINAL NWWC Points 1 Bud Kaeding 728 2 Cory Kruseman 694 3 J.J. Yeley 658 4 Damion Gardner 586 5 Richard Griffin 534 Troy Rutherford 534 7 Levi Jones 498 8 Mike Spencer 443 9 Rip Williams 305 10 Josh Ford 249 11 Mike English 230 12 Boston Reid 219 13 Rickie Gaunt 185 14 Alan Ballard 173 15 Jac Haudenschild 169 16 Jimmy Crawford 150 17 Adam Mitchell 134 18 Charles Davis, Jr. 126 19 Tony Jones 111 20 Bob Ream, Jr. 69 21 Seth Wilson 52 22 Mel Murphy 35 23 Ronnie Clark 29 |
