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NOVEMBER
18, 2007 --- Perris, CA....Defending series champion Cory Kruseman, Ventura, Calif., ended the Lucas Oil USAC/CRA Sprint Car season in dramatic fashion Saturday night at the Perris Auto Speedway nipping Mike Spencer, Temecula, Calif., at the finish-line by just .005 seconds to win the 12th Annual Jack Kindoll Classic. Kruseman was not the only one celebrating after the 40-lap race. Tony Jones and his car owner Mark Alexander were all smiles after claiming their first USAC/CRA Championships.
Despite not running the entire USAC/CRA schedule, Kruseman ended the season with five feature wins, tying him with Jones and Spencer for the most wins on the year. Kruseman started on the pole in his Sander Engineering No. 21k Bullet next to Levi Jones. Even though the newly crowned USAC National Sprint Car Champion beat him into the first turn, Kruseman was able to emerge from the fourth corner with the lead.
Spencer showed his strength early and moved Ron Chaffin's Temecula Valley Pipe & Supply No. 50 Maxim from eighth starting spot to second in just 17 laps. On the 18th lap, Spencer took the lead from Kruseman in turn-four. While Kruseman comfortably held his position, the same could not be said for his two teammates. First, fast qualifier Michael Trimble lost a motor on lap-21. Then, Alex Schutte was involved in a two-car flip with Alan Ballard two circuits later. Fortunately, neither driver was injured.
Spencer set the pace using the bottom line once racing resumed and appeared to be on his way to a comfortable win until Kruseman closed-in with three laps to go using the cushion. Spencer accepted the final white flag of the season with Kruseman only a few feet behind him.
Spencer skated ever so slightly off the bottom of turn-three giving the "rim-riding" Kruseman a chance to make a run exiting turn-four. Carrying more momentum, Kruseman somehow squeezed his car between Spencer and the front-straight wall and was able to win the race to the checkered flag by the narrowest of margins. "We were too tight at the beginning of the race and it was one of those deals where our car kept getting better as the race went on. I was able to start rolling the cushion and I think he missed it a little in (turns) three and four, and I just went where he wasn't to give us a shot at the win," Kruseman later explained.
Damion Gardner, Concord, Calif., drove his Jason Leffler / Pace Electronics No. 71 DRC to a solid third-place finish. One spot behind "The Demon" was the Bobby Martin / Arizona Race Mart No. 15 Maxim driven by Phoenix Arizona's R.J. Johnson. Chris Windom, Canton, Ill., ran near the front for most of the race before placing fifth in the Windom Motorsports / Central Abrasives No. 17x DRC. Cole Whitt won the "Hard-Charger" Award with his 21st to 13th-place drive.
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