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Perris, Calif.– May 12, 2007 – Rodeo cowboys have a reputation for
being tough and riding with pain. Tony Jones, Norco, Calif., lived up to his
“Cowboy” nickname Saturday when he drove his brand new Alexander Trucking /
La Villa Restaurant No.4 DRC to a 30-lap Lucas Oil USAC/CRA sprint car victory
at the Perris Auto Speedway, overcoming a recent back injury.
“I’ve had a back problem for over three weeks now, and I’ve been in
agony to the point where my legs have even gone numb,” Jones admitted after
his second Lucas Oil USAC/CRA win of the year. “I originally hurt my back at
work, then, two weeks ago we took a tumble in our heat race and that just
destroyed my back. Thank God we had a weekend off last week. Then Thursday
morning, I was involved in the first (street) accident of my life when some cars
piled-up in front of me on the freeway and I hit them in my work van.”
Adding a pair of sore arms from the air bags discharging in his work van to
the equation, Jones started on the outside of the front row for the feature
race, with Garrett Hansen to his inside. Hansen led the 22-car field into
turn-one, with Jones momentarily on two wheels behind him.
Seemingly unconcerned about bicycling in turn-one, Jones passed Hansen coming
down to complete the opening lap with Mike Spencer (Temecula, Calif.), Blake
Miller and the Kittle Plumbing / PJ1 No. 18 Stinger driven by Santa Maria,
California’s Danny Sheridan closely behind.
Hansen briefly took the lead on the third lap only to have Jones quickly take it
back. Hansen bobbled out of contention exiting turn-two on the following circuit
and fell all the way to the 12th position. Miller, who was fresh off a podium
finish during the last PAS event, was actually in the process of passing Jones
for the lead when the yellow flag waved for debris from Hansen’s car on the
fourth lap.
Miller continued to take some good runs at Jones after the restart until the
yellow flag waved again on lap-12 for Seth Wilson, who lost power directly in
front of the leaders. The restart resulted in one of the most devastating flips
of the year after Tyler Brown climbed Hansen’s rear wheel and flipped high
into the turn-one catch-fence, before crashing hard to the racing surface.
Brown, who was reported to be in some discomfort after the accident, was
transported to a local hospital for observation.
Jones led Miller to the green flag only to have the 2006 USAC/CRA rookie of the
year slide under him in turn-three. Darting down to the bottom of the race
track, Jones took the lead back exiting turn-four. Miller continued to pressure
the current series point leader until he was finally able to pull ahead on
lap–26 after Jones had a miscue along the turn-one cushion.
Coming down the front-straight, Jones pushed Miller in the tail-tank for a split
second as they passed beneath the flag-stand. To the degree this influenced
Miller’s entry into turn-one likely depends on which driver you ask.
Regardless of the cause, the end result was that Miller’s car pushed straight
into the turn-wall wall before flipping. Miller was not hurt.
The restart provided more action for the Versus Channel’s cameras when Nadine
Gardner flipped violently along the front straight-away catch-fence after
tangling with another car exiting turn-four. While Gardner’s car continued to
bounce towards the flag-stand, Hansen flipped after contact with Troy
Rutherford. Despite getting hit by another car moments after her car stopped
flipping, Gardner, like Hansen was able to walk away from the accident.
After starting 14th, Rip Williams moved his Sharon Jory / AMA Plastics No. 3
Stinger into the fourth position on the restart. Williams would maintain this
spot to the finish and earn Hard-Charger honors for the race.
Back up front, Spencer picked-up where Miller left-off. Driving the Ron Chaffin
/ Temecula Valley Pipe & Supply No. 50 Maxim, Spencer took the lead after
giving Jones a turn-three slide-job less than three laps from the finish.
Spencer’s momentum carried him wide exiting turn-four allowing Jones to dart
back into the lead for good. Even though it was physically demanding race on him
considering his state, Jones still remembered to dedicate his Mother’s Day
weekend victory to Joni Jones (mother), Patty Jones (step-mother) and Tammy
Jones (wife).
“It was a tough race,” Jones said after gathering the tenth USAC/CRA win of
his career. “We had Blake Miller on our tail early and Mike Spencer on our
tail late, and I thought I was driving my butt off, until they came underneath
me. They both made me step it up tonight. I don’t really know what happened to
Blake. Hopefully he and the car are both okay.”
Sheridan finished third, with defending series champion Cory Kruseman driving
his Agromin Soil No. 21k Bullet to a fifth-place finish. Rickie Gaunt drove
Nadine Gardner ‘s No. 94 Chalk to the fastest lap in time trials, and went on
to finish sixth in the main event.
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