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(SEPTEMBER 7, 2004, PERRIS, CA) When
baseball Hall of Famer Satchel Paige uttered the famous words, “Don’t look
back. Something may be gaining on you,” he was not talking about the 2004
points race in the Valvoline USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series, but he sure could have
been. When Temecula Valley Pipe & Supply and Vista Paint present the
Southwest’s top sprint car series at Perris Auto Speedway in the Vista Paint
Race to Remember this Saturday night, fans can catch a glimpse of the hottest
points races in several years of sprint car racing in Southern California.
We are not just talking the wild battle for the championship, as there are
several great fights raging in the top ten. However, we will start with the
battle for the inaugural series crown, which has been tight all season long.
Yorba Linda’s Rip Williams continues to lead the way. Seeking his first ever
championship in a sprint car career that began when he was named CO-Rookie of
the Year in with the original CRA 26-years ago, Williams has rebuilt his
advantage in the standings to 55 points over Concord’s Damion Gardner. Just
four races ago Gardner, who is known to fans as “The Demon,” had closed to
within 11 points of Williams.
The chase for the championship is not down to just Williams and Gardner. Hardly!
Mike Kirby, who won the last every full season championship with the original
CRA in 1993, is only 38 points behind Gardner and 93 behind Williams. Kirby, who
calls Torrance home, took his fourth win of the campaign last Saturday at the
Ventura Raceway. The versatile 40 year old has three wins at The PAS this year
and with the next two races at the Riverside County clay oval this week and
next, he hopes to close the gap even more on the top two.
Ojai’s Troy Rutherford is fourth in the points. The 31 year-old has been in
the spot for most of the season and he holds a 116-point advantage over fifth
place Tony Jones.
Jones, the son of 1983 and 1984 CRA Champion Bubby Jones, is involved in the
next big battle in the standings. Surprise of the year, Greg Bragg of Visalia,
is waging war with Jones for fifth overall. Actually, those who watched Bragg
race Lighting Sprint Cars at The PAS call him anything but a surprise. A former
Lightning champion, Bragg is second all-time in Lightning Sprint wins at The
PAS. Contesting his first full season in 410 competition, Bragg, who wheels the
red #12 of longtime car owners Bill and Evelyn Pratt, is a mere 6 points behind
Jones. After Steve Ostling vacated the Pratt ride two years ago, the team went
through a series of drivers before finding Bragg, who has returned them to the
upper echelon of west coast sprint car racing.
Speaking of Ostling, the personable 41-year old is sixth in the standings just
one spot behind Bragg and his former ride. The Corona resident is 52 points
behind Bragg and 58 behind Jones.
Ostling wishes he had that much space between himself and the next four drivers
in the standings. Amazingly there is only 35-points separating sixth place
Ostling and tenth place Brian Venard. Long Beach’s Jordan Hermansador,
enjoying his best ever season in sprint cars, is seventh overall, 12 points
behind Ostling. Next in line is third year sprint car chauffeur Bobby Cody of
Costa Mesa. The son of legendary speedway motorcycle racer “Wild Bill” Cody,
the father of two has come on strong the second half of the season and has
climbed to ninth in points just 13 digits in back of Hermansador. Venard, a
second-generation driver from Irvine, rounds out the top ten. The son of 1976
CRA CO-Rookie of the Year and Ascot Park pedal masher Buster Venard, “Flyin’
Brian” has ranked in the top ten in points all season long and is just 10
markers behind Cody.
This Saturday the action will be fierce as drivers battle for positions, year
end awards and money in the first ever season of the Valvoline USAC/CRA Sprint
Car Series. Make your plans to be on hand when the green flag drops on another
GREAT night of Major League Sprint Car Racing at The PAS.
Spectator gates will open at 5:00 PM Saturday and the first race will begin at
7:00. The PAS is saluting firefighters this Saturday and any firefighter
attending the race can show their id at the ticket booth and receive free
admission to the night of open wheel action.
Perris Auto Speedway is conveniently located on the Lake Perris Fairgrounds,
home of the Southern California Fair, approximately one hour east of Los
Angeles. Take the 215 Freeway, exit at the Ramona Expressway and go east two and
a half miles to the fairgrounds.
For more information on this or any other event at Perris Auto Speedway events,
please call (909) 940-0134.
VALVOLINE USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR POINT STANDINGS
1. Rip Williams – Yorba Linda, CA – 1,131
2. Damion Gardner – Concord, CA – 1,076
3. Mike Kirby – Torrance, CA – 1,038
4. Troy Rutherford – Ojai, CA – 772
5. Tony Jones – Corona, CA – 656
6. Greg Bragg – Visalia, CA - 650
7. Steve Ostling – Corona, CA – 598
8. Jordan Hermansador – Long Beach, CA - 586
9. Bobby Cody – Costa Mesa, CA – 573
10. Brian Venard – Irvine, CA - 563
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