CRA 1 AM RACE RESULTS

It was a very nice day with 36 cars timing in and a lot of hopes for a win for everyone. When the full moon came out early in the race, it didn't stop the action. Cory Kruseman had a nightmare night when he was a victim twice, first in his heat and then in the main. The first time the crew had to swap motors because of damage to the oil pan and also do repair work on the car. The second time the car was too thrashed to get back in action and he gave up his point lead. At the same time, Damion Gardner set fast time once again and had his front end smacked on that lap 2 crash that eliminated Cory, Rip Williams, Chad Boespflug and Mike Spencer right away. Damion's car had a cracked front tube on the chassis, the left side was bent back and the shocks were changed to coil overs just to get the car back on the track. He was the last car to restart and started last to remarkably finish 6th.

This was one of the best races of the year, like I would know only seeing my third race, as both grooves were there, the racing was exciting and the winner Mike Kirby started 16th on the grid. By lap 10 he was in 5th and on lap 21 he swept by Danny Sheridan for the lead. Kirby hadn't seen this far North in a feature this year, but looked at home and like he was going to keep on going out front. Behind him, Danny and Rickie Gaunt really put on a show with Tony Jones also getting into the act. Kirby ran his line and the three others fought for the opportunity to unseat him. Mike was awesome as Super Rickie got under him several times and passed him in turn two, but Mike came back under him each time and continued on. Late in the race on lap 34, Young Blake Miller caught the turn three wall and a red flag stopped the action. It was obvious Rickie was fast as he was all over Kirby for more than the last 10 laps, and the restart had Kirby, Rickie, Danny and The Cowboy all in the mix. Jones actually got by all three on one charge down the back stretch, but couldn't pull off the pass as Kirby maintained and won his first race of the season in the LA PREP # 96 car. Boy was he thrilled and so was the crew. Rickie made a strong charge at the end only to fall a few wheels short and Jones got third as a few spots shuffled at the very end behind them. Great race and we have a new point leader in the Demon. I didn't get to stay long, visiting with very few before I got on the road, and I was home by 1:30 AM pooped. Terry stayed home with her Mother's day stuff and covered my grandson Chris's 19-4 pounding of their rival for a trip to the state baseball playoffs this coming week. Her pics will be up under the Silverado page.

USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: May 13, 2006 – Perris, California - Perris Auto Speedway – “Sokola Classic”

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Damion Gardner, 50, Chaffin-16.750, 2. Evan Suggs, 33E, Suggs-16.972, 3. Cory Kruseman, 38, Crossno-17.035, 4. Charles Davis Jr., 8A, Smiley-17.055, 5. Rickie Gaunt, 2a, Smiley-17.127, 6. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-17.141, 7. Tony Jones, 4, Alexander-17.225, 8. Alan Ballard, 0, Shoemaker-17.260, 9. R.J. Johnson, 15AZ, Martin-17.262, 10. Mike Spencer, 44, Engstrom-17.283, 11. Tom Ogle, 5az, Turner-17.358, 12. David Cardey, 59, Giardina-17.360, 13. Blake Miller, 5, Keller-17.378, 14. Danny Sheridan, 18, Kittle-17.414, 15. Seth Wilson, 17, Wilson-17.456, 16. Tom Stansberry, 75, Stansberry-17.457, 17. Davey Pombo, 14, Lancaster-17.544, 18. Johnny Rodriguez, 7, Preistley-17.605, 19. J.J. Ercse, 84, Keene-17.652, 20. Josh Ford, 73, Ford-17.667, 21. Mike Kirby, 96, Kirby-17.720, 22. Dwayne Marcum, 12, Pratt-17.760, 23. Chad Boespflug, 90, Gatten-17.804, 24. Mark Heidenreich, 22, Heidenreich-17.875, 25. Bobby Cody, 92, Sertich-17.927, 26. Josh Williams, 34, Williams-17.958, 27. Jonny Bates, 29, Bates-18.063, 28. Steve Paden, 56, Farrier-18.310, 29. Brandon Springstead, 36, Springstead-18.446, 30. Nadine Keller, 16, Keller-18.467, 31. Matt Stewart, 85, Stewart-18.489, 32. Jim Giardina, 58, Giardina-18.575, 33. Dan Tedrick, 88, Tedrick-19.380, 34. Eric Severson, 36x, Severson-20.287, 35. J Hicks, 66, Miller-NT, 36. Greg Bragg, 33, Blair-NT.

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Cody, 2. Kirby, 3. Gardner, 4. Miller, 5. Gaunt, 6. Johnson, 7. Pombo, 8. Springstead, 9. Tedrick. 2:56.87

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Rodriguez, 2. R.Williams, 3. Sheridan, 4. Spencer, 5. J.Williams, 6. Suggs, 7. Keller, 8. Severson, 9. Marcum. 2:57.40

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Jones, 2. Boespflug, 3. Bates, 4. Stewart, 5. Ogle, 6. Wilson, 7. Kruseman, 8. Ercse. NT

FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Davis, 2. Cardey, 3. Ford, 4. Stansberry, 5. Paden, 6. Ballard, 7. Heidenreich, 8. Hicks, 9. Giardina. 2:59.31

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Gaunt, 2. Ballard, 3. Wilson, 4. Suggs, 5. Marcum, 6. Heidenreich, 7. Pombo, 8. Hicks, 9. Paden, 10. Johnson, 11. Giardina, 12. Keller, 13. Severson, 14. Springstead, 15. J.Williams, 16. Tedrick, 17. Kruseman, 18. Ercse. NT

FEATURE: (40 laps) 1. Mike Kirby, 2. Rickie Gaunt, 3. Tony Jones, 4. Danny Sheridan, 5. David Cardey, 6. Damion Gardner, 7. Johnny Rodriguez, 8. Alan Ballard, 9. Evan Suggs, 10. Seth Wilson, 11. Mark Heidenreich, 12. Josh Ford, 13. Tom Stansberry, 14. Matt Stewart, 15. Charles Davis Jr., 16. Blake Miller, 17. Jonny Bates, 18. Dwayne Marcum, 19. Bobby Cody, 20. Mike Spencer, 21. Rip Williams, 22. Chad Boespflug, 23. Cory Kruseman. NT

**Kruseman flipped on lap 2 of the feature. Miller flipped on lap 35 of the feature,

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Miller, Laps 2-20 Sheridan, Laps 21-40 Kirby.

NEW USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR POINT STANDINGS: 1-Gardner-561; 2-Kruseman-530; 3-Sheridan-433; 4-Gaunt-412; 5-Jones-403; 6-Spencer-387; 7-Davis-372; 8-Cardey-340; 9-Kirby-332; 10-Ford-331.

NEXT USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: May 20 – Phoenix, AZ – Manzanita Speedway