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GARDNER,
RAY, KRUSEMAN, CLAYTON, KIRBY, GAUNT, DAVIS, FORD, SHERIDAN, HESSERT
AND SCOTT AMONG LATEST OVAL NATIONALS ENTRIES!
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(OCTOBER
9, 2005, PERRIS, CA)
A plethora of stars are among the latest entries for the November 3rd,
4th and 5th 10th Annual Budweiser Oval
Nationals at Perris Auto Speedway. Temecula
Valley Pipe & Supply will present the three-day event, which features all of
the drivers competing every night. Among
the latest group of entries is a pair of former Oval Nationals Champions.
Ventura, California’s Cory Kruseman, the two-time defending Oval
Nationals champ, and 1999 winner Rickie Gaunt of Torrance, California.
Kruseman is currently ranked third in Valvoline USAC/CRA points and has
eight wins on the circuit in 2005. The
former SCRA champion won the 2005 Indiana Sprint Week title and is a two-time
champion in the prestigious Chili Bowl Midget race.
Gaunt, who turned 37 last Thursday, is ranked sixth in Valvoline USAC/CRA
points and has three wins this year. Gaunt
won the 2004 SCRA and Non Wing World Championships. The
driver many are tabbing to win the Oval Nationals this year entered last week as
well. Damion Gardner, of Concord,
California, leads the 2005 Valvoline USAC/CRA Series in main event wins (13),
fast times (19) and most importantly, points.
Gardner has a total of 21 wins in the two years of the USAC/CRA Series.
That is eight more victories than Kruseman who is second on the list. PAS
favorite Mike Kirby is also one of the latest entries.
The 41-year old from Torrance, California debuted a brand new team at The
PAS on October 1st. He
dazzled the crowd by going from 22nd to 5th in the 30 lap
main event. Last Saturday at
Tucson, Arizona, Kirby ran with the new team for the second time and finished
fourth after starting 12th. The
1993 CRA Champion has 10 total USAC/CRA wins and 60 lifetime victories. Recent
Midwest entries include Daron Clayton of Sikester, Missouri, John Scott of
Pittsboro, Indiana and Love Park, Illinois star Davey Ray.
Scott is a former main event winner at The PAS, while Clayton, an
exciting 21-year old driver, will be making his first ever appearance at the
Riverside County clay oval. Calling
the shots on the Clayton car is crew chief and National Sprint Car Hall of Famer
Bubby Jones. Ray, 27, will also be
making his first appearance at The PAS. In
2004 he was named Most Improved Driver in the USAC National Midget Series.
The previous year he won the Badger Midget Racing Association
Championship. The
longest tow entered thus far is Cherry Hill, New Jersey’s Tom Hessert.
Hessert, who made his PAS debut at last year’s Oval Nationals, is
currently ranked 7th in the USAC National Midget standings and 13th
in the USAC National Sprint Car Series. A
19-year old who attends Indiana-Purdue University in Indianapolis, Hessert ended
up third in the 2004 USAC National Midget point standings. Two
of the hottest drivers on the West Coast, Santa Maria, California’s
“Showtime” Danny Sheridan and Josh Ford of Camarillo, California, recently
submitted their entries as well. Sheridan,
who turned 30 a couple of months ago, has been pounding on the door looking for
his first ever USAC/CRA win and has several podium finishes to show for it.
“Showtime” won the 1997 IMCA West Coast Sprint Car Championship and
the Bandit crown in 1998. In
addition, he won the 2002 Wagsdash. Ford,
who was second to Kruseman in a photo finish at the thrilling 2004 Oval
Nationals, amazingly won sprint car Rookie of the Year awards three years in a
row! The first came in 2002 with
VRA. He won the same award with
SCRA in 2003 and the USAC National Series in 2004.
Like Sheridan, he has been kicking at the door trying to bag his first
USAC/CRA main event win. Buckeye,
Arizona’s Charles Davis Jr., Gaunt’s teammate on the Smiley Crane
Service/David Zoriki Motorsports squad, is another of the early entries.
Davis is a two-time (1998-99) Arizona Sprint Car Association champion and
currently occupies fifth in USAC/CRA points.
Corona, California’s Steve Ostling, will be a big contender in the Oval
Nationals driving for 2001 SCRA Car Owner Champion Harlan Willis.
San
Clemente, California’s Seth Wilson entered the popular Racing Optics
“Warbird” car last week as well. Wilson
has been in the top ten in USAC/CRA points all season long.
Arizona teenager R.J. Johnson, who scored a second at The PAS earlier
this season, former Turkey Night Grand Prix winner Jordan Hermansador, Azusa,
California police officer Nadine Keller, SCRA regulars Evan Suggs of Scott’s
Valley, California & Richard Harvey Jr. of Hanford, California have also
submitted entries. The same can be
said for Highland, California veteran Rick Becker, first year driver Nate
Ziegler of El Cajon and Tyler Spath of Chico (Spath’s Grandfather, Ned Spath,
won 20 main events in the original CRA and finished second in points to champion
Billy Wilkerson in 1967). In
addition to the recent entries, Arizona superstar Jeremy Sherman was named as
the driver for the previously entered Mark Priestley #7 car.
Sherman, who is close to wrapping up the 2005 Arizona Sprint Car
Association Championship, turned in one of the most memorable moments in Oval
Nationals history when he started 21st in the 2003 race and finished
second to Kruseman. Advance
tickets for the west coast’s premiere sprint car race are on sale now by
calling: (951) 940-0134 or 1-800-595-4849.
You can also order advance tickets on the Internet at www.tix.com
or www.perrisautospeedway.com.
Perris
Auto Speedway is conveniently located on the freeway close 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. racesatthepas@aol.com
is the only authorized Internet address to issue official media news released
from The Perris Auto Speedway or Oval Entertainment OVAL
NATIONALS CHAMPIONS 1996
– Jimmy Sills 1997
– Rip Williams 1998
– Rodney Argo 1999
– Rickie Gaunt 2000
– Tony Jones 2001
– Bud Kaeding 2002
– Bud Kaeding 2003
– Cory Kruseman 2004
– Cory Kruseman |
