August 22, 2005...Saturday's Valvoline USAC/CRA
Sprint car race at Santa Maria
(Calif.) Speedway features a battle for the series point lead between defending
champion Rip Williams of Yorba Linda, Calif. and 2004 runner-up Damion Gardner
of Concord, Calif. Only 15 points separate them with 74 available at the
1/3-mile Santa Maria oval.
Cory Kruseman of Ventura, Calif., solidified his fourth-place ranking in the
standings with his victory in last Saturday night's "Jeff Bagley
Classic" at Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway. He led all but the first four
laps in his Glenn Crossno/ITI Performance/Sander Engineering Bullet/Downing.
Danny Sheridan, Gardner, Mike Spencer and Mike Kirby trailed at the checkered
flag.
Danny Ebberts led the first four laps before yielding to Kruseman at Perris.
Ricky Gaunt won the Santa Maria race in July, but Williams and Gardner finished
second and third. The race was one of very few this season where Gardner did not
post the fastest qualifying time. That honor went to Williams. Gardner has 16
FQs so far this season to accompany his 10 CRA feature wins.
VALVOLINE USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES STANDINGS
1.-Rip Williams-1,274
2.-Damion Gardner-1,259
3.-Mike Kirby-1,170
4.-Cory Kruseman-1,168
5.-Charles Davis, Jr.-954
6.-Rickie Gaunt-851
7.-Mike Spencer-818
8.-Josh Ford-704
9.-Tony Jones-673
10.-Seth Wilson-631
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