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JONES GETS CLOSER TO TITLE WITH CRA WIN |
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August 19, 2007 - Perris, Calif.....Tony Jones of Norco, Calif., continues to close-in on his first Lucas Oil USAC/CRA Championship. Starting sixth in the 30-lap feature race, Jones went on to win his fifth feature race of the season Saturday at the Perris Auto Speedway after putting his Alexander Trucking / La Villa Restaurant No. 4 DRC into the lead on the ninth lap. Rip Williams started on the front row next to the Kittle Plumbing / PJ1 No. 18 Stinger driven by Santa Maria, California's Danny Sheridan. Williams won the race to the green flag and led Jimmy Crawford, Mike Spencer, Sheridan and fast qualifier Rickie Gaunt. The second lap saw Spencer put his Ron Chaffin's Temecula Valley Pipe & Supply No. 50 Maxim into the second spot. While Spencer looked poised to win his third straight main event, Jones struggled during the early stages of the race and actually found himself further from the front than when he lined-up for the main event. "In the beginning it seemed like we'd get behind someone, they'd make a mistake and I would lose a bunch of positions because I had to get out of the throttle," Jones later said. "We were kind of behind the eight ball, but I knew we had a good car and that we'd be alright." A terrific side-by-side dual for the lead between Williams and Spencer quickly came to an end after Crawford flipped wildly entering the third turn on the fourth lap. Crawford was not hurt. The same could not be said for Williams' chances to earn his first victory of the season. Unbelievably, Williams couldn't get the steering wheel to lock properly and was forced to retire prior the restart. Spencer assumed the lead for the restart, but the Temecula, California driver would not officially lead a lap on this night thanks to a great run off the turn-two cushion by Sheridan. A scary moment halted the action on lap nine after Jeremy Sherman's car went up in smoke and sprayed hot oil into the cockpit. Sherman was later released from the infield care unit after suffering a blister on his foot. Jones moved into the third spot moments before the yellow flag for Sherman and made the most of the subsequent restart. Using the bottom of turns one and two, Jones pulled ahead of Spencer. Staying on the bottom, Jones passed Sheridan exiting turn-four before the end of the lap. Once in the lead, the current USAC/CRA point leader was able to masterfully work his way through lapped traffic, preventing eventual runner-up finisher Sheridan from ever mounting a serious challenge. The win ended a long week for Jones who spent the majority of the week in Indianapolis with his son Kyle, who underwent spinal fusion surgery on Monday. After the race, Jones dedicated the win to his son. Scotty Weir, Marion, Ind., made a late-race charge and was able to drive his Glenn Crossno / ITI Performance No. 38 Bullet to a third-place finish. Weir's teammate, David Cardey of Riverside, Calif., started in the sixth row before finishing one spot behind Spencer in fifth. Garrett Hansen's debut driving for Mark Preistley resulted in him earning Hard-Charger honors with his 16th to seventh-place drive. |
