“Rickie’s been real tough all year, and I think I’ve run second to him four times this season and when we finish one-two the team wins and that’s all that really matters,” said Davis, who is guaranteed to finish second in SCRA points.  “Finishing one-two in points is just great.  We’ve got a little bit of work to do still in the Non-Wing World Championship points, and if we can give Tony a one-two finish in that series it would be perfect…I can’t wait for tomorrow night.”  

While Davis was already looking forward to tomorrow’s 40-lap ($10,000 to win) season finale, Gaunt was savoring the moment and reflecting on a season that yielded him a series-high six NAPA Auto Parts / Auto Trader Magazines SCRA main event wins.

“It’s amazing.  I’ve had a great time racing my entire career and I take this very seriously.  It’s a huge honor for me to be able to call myself an SCRA Champion.  This championship is a reflection of so many people who have supported me from day one, and of all the owners and sponsors that I have I’ve had.  The way I look at it, this is a championship for everyone that has stood behind me,” Gaunt humbly stated before congratulating his teammate on his first SCRA win of the season.   “I’m so proud of Charlie.  Tonight, he beat all challengers and he’s one of the best individuals I’ve ever been around.”     

Allan Ballard won a wild six-lap JE Pistons Dash to start on the pole for the main event.  Davis started on the outside of the front row and beat the field into the first turn.  Tim West and Oklahoma driver Larry Neighbors each flipped in separate incidents on the opening lap.   West was noticeably shaken, but neither driver was hurt.

The red flag turned out to be a huge break for Davis since his car took the green flag while missing the cap for the fuel tank.  With the tank now capped, Davis again took the lead on the restart, while Ballard fell to fourth behind Damion Gardner and Johnny Herrera.   

Driving the Ron Chaffin / Temecula Valley Pipe & Supply #50 Eagle, Gardner pressured Davis throughout the race and was finally able to grab the top spot on the tenth lap after Davis’ car pushed up the banking exiting turn four.   

Davis nearly put his Extreme chassis back in the lead on lap 12, after a lapped car caused Gardner some problems.  As it turned out, Davis would have difficulties with the same car, causing him to lose considerable ground to Gardner.

Just when it looked like “The Demon” was going to cruise to his second SCRA win of the season, another lapped car forced Gardner to abruptly lift off the throttle on lap 18.  Unfortunately for Gardner , this exposed a motor problem that developed during the course of the race.  Fighting to regain speed with a motor that bogged down exiting turn four, Gardner could only watch as Davis blasted by him for the eventual win.                    

“Someone told me that Damion was having some motor problems,” Davis later said.  “He got stopped there coming off of turn four and I had to drive through the slime on the bottom just to get around him.  Then his car came on and it was a drag race down the front straightaway.  I knew once I got around him that it was going to be pretty tough for him to get back by me again.”

Once again proving that he is more than capable of piloting a wingless sprint car, Herrera drove his Avenger Chassis #45X to a third-place finish. Ballard finished fourth, giving his Ernie Ballard / Dick’s Automotive #97 TCR the last direct transfer to Saturday’s finale.

Indiana driver Tony Elliott won the KSE Products Hard Charger Award with his 20^th to tenth place run.  During Arizona Race Mart Time Trials, Gaunt was the fastest of the 34 cars entered.   

SCRA RACE #15 – HOLLYWOOD HILLS SPEEDWAY, SAN FELIPE, NM
10/1/04  

Arizona Race Mart Time Trials
1. Rickie Gaunt, Smiley 2A, 15.718,  2. Ronnie Clark, Clark 33, 15.889 ,  3. Damion Gardner, Chaffin 50, 16.016 ,  4. Mike Spencer, Engstrom 44, 16.103 ,  5. Steve Ostling, Willis 45, 16.119 ,  6. Alan Ballard, Ballard 97, 16.199 ,  7. Gary Taylor, Coaklin 5D, 16.301 ,  8. Mike Campbell, Campbell 57X, 16.350 ,  9. Shon Deskins, Deskins 5, 16.371 , 10. Johnny Herrera, Herrera 45X, 16.386 , 11. Charles Davis, Jr., Smiley 8A, 16.505 , 12. Bo Baker, Baker 22, 16.611 , 13. Tim West, West 77D, 16.788 , 14. Seth Wilson, Wilson 17, 16.870 , 15. Tom Ball, Mach-2 Racing 16, 16.871 , 16. Kelly Denison, Denison 9X, 16.926 , 17. Nick Rael, Newlin 73, 16.927 , 18. Dave Burns, Burns 52NM, 16.975 , 19. Jeff Brumfield, Jr., Brumfield 5J, 17.328 , 20. Rick Ziehl, Ziehl 20, 17.330 , 21. Robert Janson, Smith 10AJ, 17.721 , 22. Mike Martin, Martin 57M, 17.889 , 23. Larry Neighbors, Neighbors 29N, 17.968, 24. Jody Williams, Anderson 78, 17.991 , 25. Tony Elliott, Ellis 21, 18.015 , 26. Jeremy Sherman, Bryan 77, 18.098 , 27. Jerry Johnston, Johnston 5D, 18.297 , 28. Leighton Crouch, Crouch 0C, 18.419 , 29. Jimmy Scott, Scott UFO, 18.457 , 30. Paul Whitehead, Whitehead 21W, 18.589 , 31. Rick Bubak, Mile High Racing 9, 18.637 , 32. Ted McAdams, McAdams 19, 18.867, 33. J.C. Powell, Jr., Powell 8, 19.787 , 34. Jon Taylor, Taylor 93, 20.255  

SHAVER ENGINES HEAT 1 (10 Laps) 

1. Elliott, 2. West, 3. Ostling, 4. Deskins, 5. Powell, 6. Scott, 7. Rael, 8. Janson, 9. Gaunt – No Time

STINGER CHASSIS HEAT 2 (10 Laps)

1. Sherman , 2. Ballard, 3. Herrera, 4. Clark , 5.Wilson , 6. Martin, 7. J. Taylor, 8. Whitehead, 9. Burns – No Time

SPIN TECH MUFFLERS HEAT 3 (10 Laps)

1. Neighbors, 2. Ball, 3. Davis , 4. Gardner , 5. G. Taylor, 6. Johnston , 7. Bubak, 8. Brumfield – 2:41.25

OVAL TRACK RACING HEAT 4 (10 Laps)

1. Ziehl, 2. Williams, 3. Crouch, 4. Denison , 5. Campbell , 6. Spencer, 7. McAdams, 8. Baker – No Time

JE PISTONS DASH (6 Laps)

1.Ballard, 2. Davis , 3. Deskins, 4.Gardner , 5. Clark , 6. Herrera, 7. Ostling, 8. West – No Time

B-MAIN EVENT (10 Laps)

1. Wilson , 2. G. Taylor, 3. Gaunt, 4. Spencer, 5. Burns, 6. Baker, 7. Martin, 8. Brumfield, 9. Bubak, 10. Johnston, 11. Scott, 12. Powell, 13. McAdams, 14. J. Taylor, 15. Rael. – No Time

A-MAIN EVENT (20 Laps)

1.Davis, 2.Gardner , 3. Herrera, 4. Ballard, 5. Ostling, 6. Gaunt, 7. G. Taylor, 8. Clark , 9.Wilson, 10. Elliott, 11. Baker, 12. Deskins, 13. Ball, 14.Sherman, 15. Spencer, 16. Denison , 17. Crouch, 18. Williams, 19. Burns, 20. Ziehl, 21. West, 22. Neighbors – No Time.

Laps Led: Davis 1-9, Gardner , 10-17, Davis 18-20