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GAUNT WINS THIRD IN A ROW |
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TULARE, CA, MAY 15, 2004 - For the first time in his career, Rickie Gaunt
has won three consecutive NAPA Auto Parts / Auto Trader Magazines SCRA sprint
car main events. Gaunt's milestone win came during a Saturday night
barn-burner at the Thunderbowl Raceway. "We're on a roll right now," Gaunt said after notching his 12th lifetime SCRA win. "We had some heavy-hitters show up tonight and we kept our Tony Smiley / Dave Zoriki Motorsports cars up front. Damion (Gardner) ran me so hard tonight. I think he's forgot that I'm a fat guy and he's a skinny little guy that's in good shape. But, Tony and the crew have this car really nice for me and I have a lot of confidence right now." JE Pistons Dash win Mike Spencer started on the pole for the 40-lap feature race with the Smiley Crane Service #2A Extreme driven by Gaunt to his outside. Spencer and Gaunt were even when they passed beneath starter Lee Jashowiak's green flag. Gaunt lead the 22-car field into turn one, but it would be Spencer that would lead Gaunt, Cory Kruseman, Charles Davis, Jr. and Gardner down the backstraight. Kruseman moved ahead of Gaunt on the second lap, while Gardner moved ahead of the other Smiley entry on the third lap. With Gaunt having already battled his way back into the second spot, Gardner moved his Ron Chaffin / Temecula Valley Pipe & Supply #50 Jon Boy ahead of "The Kruser" during the seventh circuit. The battle for second and third intensified during the next couple of laps, before a three-wide scramble into turn three momentarily gave Gardner the runner-up spot on lap nine. Continuing their charge forward, Gardner and Gaunt each passed Spencer on the 12th lap. Gardner reached lapped traffic for the first time one lap later with Gaunt nipping at his heels. Perhaps feeling the pressure from Gaunt, Gardner nearly clipped a slower car entering turn one on the 14th lap. Despite nearly spinning, Gardner was able to quickly regain control of his mount without losing the top spot. Later that same lap, Gaunt drifted off the bottom of turn three and slid wide exiting turn four. Even though it was an unorthodox dirt track maneuver, it worked well for Gaunt. In fact, Gaunt would have taken the lead along the front straight had he not been blocked by a slower car. "Sometimes running in second is better than leading because you can try different things that the leader may not be willing to do," Gaunt said, whose lower back is still stiff from a crash last week in Phoenix. "I got lucky, and I found the right groove and it was actually something I learned from Kruseman a few years ago. I kind of remembered what we did here then and tried it. Damion wasn't around then, so I guess I used some old knowledge to beat him." Running third behind Gaunt on a lap 18 restart, Kruseman was hoping to do a little more teaching. Unfortunately, the restart provided a costly chain of events for the former SCRA driving champion. First, Gaunt nearly spun in front of him coming down for the green flag. Then, Davis tapped him into the infield after he slowed to avoid Gaunt. Trying to out-drag Spencer into turn one for fourth place, Kruseman bicycled and nearly flipped. Even though he avoided the tip-over, Kruseman's Mark Alexander ride was too damaged to continue after slamming back down to the racing surface. "I felt bad for Cory, because I knew I messed him up on the restart. But I don't feel too bad for him because like I told him before the race, he's been using the West Coast like it was his own personal ATM machine. Anytime he needs a little extra money, he just buys a plane ticket from Indianapolis and comes out here and wins a race," Gaunt later said. Utilizing his newly rediscovered line, Gaunt was able to slip ahead of Gardner for the lead just before the yellow flag waved for seventh place Casey Shuman, who spun to a stop on lap 29. Even though he showed Gardner and Davis his turn-four line, Gaunt was never challenged for the lead after racing resumed. Never one to give up, Gardner was still searching for a special line of his own when he nearly spun in turn one eight laps from the finish. Davis somehow missed Gardner and was able to put his Ron's Fuel Injection #8A Extreme in the second spot, which ultimately gave Team Smiley their second straight one-two finish at Tulare. In addition to finishing third, Gardner had earlier claimed the Arizona Race Mart Fast Time Award in qualifying. Starting 17th in the Harlan Willis / TCR Performance #45, Bud Kaeding was named the KSE Products Hard Charger after edging Spencer at the checkered flag for fourth. Eighteen year-old Brad Sweet finished sixth making him the highest finishing 360 powered sprinter for the second straight race at Thunderbowl Raceway SCRA RACE #4 - THUNDERBOWL RACEWAY, TULARE, CA Date of Race: 5/14/04 ARIZONA RACE MART TIME TRIALS 1. Damion Gardner, Chaffin 50, 15.373, 2. Cory Kruseman, Alexander 4, 15.470, 3. Charles Davis, Jr., Smiley 8A, 15.566, 4. Rickie Gaunt, Smiley 2A, 15.652, 5. Mike Spencer, Enstrom 44, 15.930, 6. Casey Shuman, Sweeney/Zoriki 6, 16.092, 7. Alan Ballard, Ballard 97, 16.099, 8. Verne Sweeney, Sweeney/Zoriki, 16.148, 9. Brad Sweet, Sweet 1, 16.148, 10. Dwayne Marcum, Ruth 25, 16.169, 11. Aaron Altaffer, Altaffer 84, 16.170, 12. Danny Sheridan, Dorathy 21A, 16.237, 13. Rick Ziehl, Lancaster 14, 16.252, 14. Mark Nation, Nation 3N, 16.273, 15. Seth Wilson, Racing Optics 17, 16.293, 16. Arron Chaney, Chaney 69 21, 16.326, 17. Bud Kaeding, Willis 45, 16.331, 18. Jeremy Ellertson, Ellertson 98J, 16.599, 19. Ronnie Clark, Clark 33, 16.728, 20. Mike Martin, Martin 57, 16.804, 21. Jimmy Thompson, Isle 18J, 16.804, 22. Kaylene Verville, Verville 01, 17.054 SHAVER ENGINES HEAT 1 (10 laps) 1. Gardner, 2. Ziehl, 3. Gaunt, 4. Clark, 5. Marcum, 6. Ballard, 7. Chaney, 8. Verville - 2:50.90 STINGER CHASSIS HEAT 2 (10 laps) 1. Kruseman, 2. Kaeding, 3. Spencer, 4. Altaffer, 5. Sweeney, 6. Martin, 7. Nation - 2:45.40 SPIN TECH MUFFLERS / OVAL TRACK RACING HEAT 3 (10 laps) 1. Thompson, 2. Davis, 3. Sweet, 4. Sheridan, 5. Shuman, 6. Ellertson, 7. Wilson- 2:46.48 JE PISTONS DASH (6 laps) 1. Spencer, 2. Gaunt, 3. Kruseman, 4. Davis, 5. Gardner, 6. Sweeney, 7. Shuman, 8. Sweet - 1:39.53 A FEATURE (40 Laps) 1. Gaunt, 2. Davis, 3. Gardner, 4. Kaeding, 5. Spencer, 6. Sweet, 7. Ziehl, 8. Wilson, 9. Altaffer, 10. Sheridan, 11. Ballard, 12. Martin, 13. Shuman, 14. Nation, 15. Chaney, 16. Thompson, 17. Sweeney, 18. Clark, 19. Marcum, 20. Kruseman, 21. Verville 22. Ellertson - No Time. Laps Led: Spencer 1-10, Gardner 11-13, Gaunt 14, Gardner 15-28, Gaunt 29-40 SCRA DRIVER Point Standings - 05/15/04 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CAR NAME HOMETOWN STARTS POINTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. 2A Rickie Gaunt Torrance CA 4 351 2. 8A Charles Davis, Jr Buckeye AZ 4 327 3. 97 Alan Ballard Bakersfield CA 4 225 4. 44 Mike Spencer Temecula CA 3 214 5. 17 Seth Wilson San Clemente CA 4 209 6. 50 Damion Gardner Concord CA 2 187 7. 98 Verne Sweeney Lomita CA 4 180 8. 6 Casey Shuman Corona CA 4 173 9. 33 Ronnie Clark Tucson AZ 4 167 10. 3N Mark Nation Los Olivos CA 4 161 11. 57M Mike Martin (R) Yuma AZ 4 155 12. 84 Aaron Altaffer (R) Tulare CA 3 125 13. 51 Kevin Urton Elk Grove CA 2 96 14. 21A Danny Sheridan Santa Maria CA 3 92 15. 45 Bud Kaeding Campbell CA 1 87 16. 01 Kaylene Verville (R) Avondale AZ 4 81 17. 1 Brad Sweet Grass Valley CA 3 80 18. 69 Peter Murphy Sydney, Aus 2 78 19. 45 Steve Ostling Corona CA 1 75 20. 14 Rick Ziehl Las Cruces NM 1 75 21. 4F Mike Faria Tipton CA 2 66 22. 17X Josh Pelkey Peoria AZ 1 64 23. 56AZ Alex Pruett Carefree AZ 2 57 24. 95 Keith Williamson Pomona CA 1 53 25. 19 Troy Rutherford Ojai CA 1 50 26. 62 Mel Murphy Riverside CA 2 49 27. 98J Jeremy Ellertson Hermosa Beach CA 3 44 28. 4 Cory Kruseman Ventura CA 2 43 29. 57 Ron DiDonato Riverside CA 1 43 30. 55 Tony Everhart El Cajon CA 1 39 31. 69 Arron Chaney Clovis CA 1 39 32. 6X Brandon Springstead (R) Mission Viejo CA 1 37 33. 25 Dwayne Marcum Fresno CA 1 34 34. 44X Daivd Hair Indianaoplis IN 2 29 35. 20 Dennis Rodriguez Camarillo CA 2 26 36. 39 Cal Smith Montclair CA 1 22 37. 7K Bruce St. James Phoenix AZ 1 10 OWNERS 05/15/04 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CAR NAME HOMETOWN STARTS POINTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. 2A Tony Smiley Buckeye AZ 351 2. 8A Tony Smiley. Buckeye AZ 327 3. 97 Ernie Ballard Bakersfield CA 225 4. 44 Hal Engstrom Valley Center CA 214 5. 17 Seth Wilson San Clemente CA 209 6. 50 Ron Chaffin Madera CA 187 7. 98 Sweeney/Zoriki Lomita CA 180 8. 6 Zoriki / Sweeney Lomita CA 173 9. 33 Rick/Tanya Clark (R) Tucson AZ 167 10. 45 Harlan Willis Ojai CA 162 11. 3N Mark Nation Los Olivos CA 161 12. 57M Mike Martin (R) Yuma AZ 155 13. 4 Mark Alexander Torrance CA 131 14. 69 Martin Chaney Clovis CA 117 15. 62 Mel Murphy Woodcrest CA 116 16. 51 Kevin Urton Elk Grove CA 96 17. 21A Warren Dorathy Fresno CA 92 18. 01 Kaylene Verville (R) Avondale AZ 81 19. 1 Don Sweet Grass Valley AZ 80 20. 14 Linda Lancaster Las Vegas NV 75 21. 4X Mark Alexander. Torrance CA 70 22. 84 Sweed Altaffer Tulare CA 65 23. 17X Ed Masseth Litchfield Park AZ 64 24. 56AZ Alex Pruett Carefree AZ 57 25. 95 Keith Williamson Pomona CA 53 26. 57 Ron DiDonato Riverside CA 43 27. 55 Tony Everhart El Cajon CA 39 28. 6X Brandon Springstead R)Mission Viejo CA 37 29. 25 Jim Ruth Riverside CA 34 30. 44X David Hair Indianapolis IN 29 31. 39 Cal Smith Montclair CA 22 32. 66 David Miller Torrance CA 19 33. 7K Bruce St. James Phoenix AZ 10 JE Pistons Dash CAR NAME HOMETOWN POINTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. 2A Rickie Gaunt Torrance CA 14 2. 50 Damion Gardner Concord CA 12 3. 4 Cory Kruseman Ventura CA 8 4. 44 Mike Spencer Temecula CA 8 5. 4X Jordan Hermansader Long Beach CA 7 6. 8A Charles Davis, Jr Buckeye AZ 5 7. 69 Peter Murphy Sydney, Aus 5 8. 51 Kevin Urton Elk Grove CA 5 9. 98 Verne Sweeney Lomita CA 4 10. 6 Casey Shuman Corona CA 4 11. 17 Seth Wilson San Clemente CA 3 12. 1 Brad Sweet Grass Valley CA 2 13. 45 Steve Ostling Corona CA 1 14. 62 Mike English Norwalk CA 1 15. 21A Danny Sheridan Santa Maria CA 1 16. 3N Mark Nation Los Olivos CA 1 17. 33X Ronnie Case Camarillo CA 1 18. 33 Ronnie Clark Tucson AZ 1 19. 97 Alan Ballard Bakersfield CA 1 20. 84 Aaron Altaffer (R) Tulare CA 1 21. 83JR Tim Kaeding San Jose CA 1 |
