By Ken Wagner
October 1, 2006

Even though I have missed a lot of racing recently, I can still read about it, and I miss it. Tony Jones won his 5th of the season and 21st lifetime race, putting him in a tie with Billy Wilkerson’s great exploits as a top driver in his racing days. Tony and the Alexander’s are having a good year and they have earned it. He is third in points behind the two red cars and continues to impress.

Damion Gardner and Cory Kruseman are waging a fierce battle for the championship this season. With only two points separating the two, it is a weekly battle between these two. Who’s going to win? The answer comes in a few weeks you have to be there to see it.

Blake Miller continues to impress as he has been in the top 5 on five of the last six weeks in the Black Widow Special. There are so many doing good, it bodes well for our racing.

Forgive me for not being there for my beloved racing, because I was here where I was needed, but the long journey is not over. I have missed 8 of the last 9 races, something that hasn’t happened to me in over 20 years. Instead I have been in the hospital watching over my mother-in law for the last 8 weeks, every day, all day, and it is very important to me. There is nothing more important to me than my wife Terry and thus her mom Maxine has my attention.

It all started 8 weeks ago when Max went to the ER at St Rose Hospital here in Las Vegas with high blood pressure. It turned out to be two 90% blockages in her heart. A stint was put in, but the angioplasty trip caused her to flat line a few days later and the long six week journey up to today began with a no hope Monday morning wakeup for us. And she survived! With that incident, she lost the use of her kidney and liver and then fought off infections, dialysis related problems, bleeding ulcers thru the next four weeks of good and bad days. Then last Sunday, she had emergency surgery to repair a hole in her Colon. She beat a 10% possibility of survival from the surgery and made another tough grind against all odds, all this at 80 years old. On Friday, she began suffering from a bacterial infection that caused the doctors to put us on notice that it might be the one. Saturday was touch and go as hour by hour she rallied. Today she smiled and was much improved, but she is still not out of the woods. She has beat every weekly possible life taking problem and who knows when she will get off the critical list or be taken away from us. Until then, I am here where I must be to support her, my wife and the family that wants their Granny to come home. My thanks to all who have sent words of encouragement to us in this our family crisis.

With all that in mind, the Wagsdash will be a little bit less this year due to my time availability as Maxine’s journey takes precedence. There will be no Mrs Wags Chili feed and the other activities will depend on my “helpers” as to how much we can accomplish in the short month left. The key is how much money I will collect in those four weeks to make it worth running for the low buck guys. The 2007 calendar still has some spots left, the $1000 challenge is still in effect and hopefully I will make it all happen like usual with your help. If you have been involved in years past, please get involved again. I am hoping to make the next race at Perris, so cross your fingers. I need to be there to make my race happen.

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Tony Jones, 2. Danny Faria Jr., 3. Blake Miller, 4. Rip Williams, 5. Cory Kruseman, 6. Damion Gardner, 7. Alan Ballard, 8. David Cardey, 9. Jason York, 10. Rick Becker, 11. Bobby Cody, 12. R.J. Johnson, 13. Danny Sheridan, 14. Chad Boespflug, 15. Mike Spencer, 16. Matt Mitchell, 17. Rickie Gaunt, 18. Seth Wilson, 19. Johnny Rodriguez, 20. Davey Pombo, 21. Tyler Brown, 22. Ryan Devitt, 23. Brian Venard. NT

NEW USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR POINT STANDINGS: 1-Kruseman-1,587; 2-Gardner-1,585; 3-Jones-1,426; 4-Spencer-1,391; 5-Sheridan-1,283; 6-R.Williams-1,071; 7-Miller-1,023; 8-Cardey-936; 9-Ford-883; 10-Gaunt-803.