By Ken Wagner
October 22, 2006

With it somehow the last week before the Wagsdash, and after our recent family sadness, I can finally concentrate on the 16th annual Wagsdash event. I am so far behind, it is not funny, but thanks to John Gardner of the La Villa Restaurant in Gardena, California on Crenshaw Blvd, we will have chili on Wagsdash day after all. Mrs Wags and I put my Mother-in-Law Max to rest with her husband Paul in the Ft Gibson National Cemetery in Oklahoma on Friday, and I was able to make it back to Perris for the Legends of Ascot event and, heaven forbid, my first race in a long spell.

For the pics from the PAS Click here.

I was greeted with so much concern and warm wishes about Mrs Wags and I overf her mother’s passing, it was overwhelming, and it gave me a real uplifting to help me get on with our Wagsdash. My sincere thanks to all, so now I have that warm fuzzy feeling and now let’s get the show on the road.

First let me tell you about the racing, which is always number one with me. The 48 cars in the pits, plus a ton of beautiful antiques on the track, and don’t forget some famous legends, it had the makings for a great race night. There were some great battles in the heats, but the semi dusted the crowd well as the competitors tried to get the last 6 spots to the main event. The track had dried out considerably and the main event looked more like a Terre Haute night in the midwest. Levi Jones almost loved it as he pressed Tony Jones an the early 25 lap ending, brought on by fuel concerns and curfew that has changed to 10:30 now.

I missed the last two Cowboy wins, but Tony told me in the early afternoon he would make it up to me, as if I bought that. Tony rode the Alexander, L.A. Prep, La Villa Restaurant, Ferreira Dairy, Stinger # 4 car hard in the high groove as dust and traction were two things shaking up the troops. Tony just went to the top and blasted to the front halfway thru the race and never looked back. It was his 6th win of the year in USAC/CRA competition.

Levi Jones came west early with several National USAC drivers to get ready for the Oval Nationals coming up in two weeks. Levi was in one of Jeff Walker’s cars, bit will switch to his normal Tony Stewart ride for the Ovals. Levi made a great run on a track he is more use to than the locals, but couldn’t quite close the gap to take the win.

Danny “Showtime Sheridan was looking for his third straight win in three weeks, but settled for a strong third on the podium. Danny held the lead early and was in the hunt until the very end. He won the 360 race at Santa Maria last week after getting his first career 410 win the week before at Perris.

The track was so Midwest like in a slick and dusty fashion that one prominent driver asked where was the water truck and what happened to the home field heavy track advantage we normally have when visitors come calling? The unusually dusty surface allowed only one under 18 second pass in qualifying, making it a very slow track to begin with as windy conditions didn’t help things at all.

As for the point leaders in front of Jones in the standings, neither had a great night. Cory Kruseman started his night off in his heat with a tangle that sent him to the pits. He came out for the semi and had to work on the car during a stop and restarted in the back of the Semi with 3 laps to go. He missed the main, but took a provisional and started 23rd in the main and climbed back to fourth to get within one of the points leader.

Damion Gardner wasn’t a happy camper with track conditions or his brake problems in the brand new little red sucker this week. In his heat the brakes kept locking up and he went from back to front, then back again. The last restart, with only five cars left, allowed him to limp into third and a direct transfer to the main. He started 8th in the main, but had more serious brake problems that required some adjustments. Restarting in the back, he rolled up to 10th in the end, and was very ticked off after this one.

Mike Kirby’s sprint car career looks like it is on hold after car owner Jim Kirby sold all his equipment recently. He was a little burned out earlier in the year and decided to take some time off, but jumped in the Wilkerson car for the Bagley race and now it looks like we lost a not only one of the all time greats in our racing, but a new car owner who stepped up and bought everything his driver needed to make it on the track. Although t he short lived team won only one race, the potential for more was always there. We will remember the yellow LA Prep car with remorse, but life moves on. Mike has been off driving late models some, and will be missed if he doesn’t return.

USAC has made a move that puts Steve Ostling on a learning curve to be the next race director ( or whatever that title is) for next year. He will be observing and learning to take that spot in 2007 and if he works like he races, it could be a good change for the racers.

Jimmy Oskie and Parnelli Jones paced the main event in two of the most memorable cars in sprint car racing this week. The familiar red # 1 Bromme “little red sucker” and the black # 27 King O Lawn car restored by Buzz Shoemaker. What a sight as the two jousted a little for several laps before today’s heroes fired up.

Brian Venard is back racing after a long layoff and has landed in the # 12 car now owned by Don Blair. The former Bill Pratt owned car was driven by Brian once before. He says he likes the car and it brought his family led by Grandma Rosie, with Buster and Linda Venard, south from Garnerville to see him race. The family loves living up north and now hate the drives down to So Cal, but want to see Brian race.

Rip Williams was the early leader until taken out by an ill-advised slide job. He later retired when his banged up car couldn’t continue. There was a trophy dash sponsored by Agromin Soil who put up the extra cash. Danny Sheridan won the 4 lap event. Evan Suggs is out until his eyes return to normal after a hard crash recently. He has less than adequate vision, but has high hopes to get back to normal very soon and return to race.

The 4th Annual Legends of Ascot event put on by Don Weaver and his hard working confidant, Beleta Michnowicz, was a resounding success. The old timers and their cars turned out to induct some of the Ascot and CRA legends of years gone by. Lealand McSpadden, Jimmy Oskie, Jack Brunner, Ed Donovan, Jack Kindoll, Walt James and Wally Pankratz were added to this list of all time greats in history. Glen Howard was awarded the lifetime achievement award as the day showcased them and many more heroes that came to party. Of course for me, seeing Lealand back on the “podium” in front of his adoring crowd was special as he continues to be cancer free and enjoying his life with wife Janet and his family. She always was the center of his universe. Food and drink and conversations highlighted the day as the successful event closed, sending the crowd to watch today’s heroes having fun in the dirt.

Now for the Wagsdash news. This is the week, and things have really changed since last I wrote, so here’s the plan. You might remember because of my missing so much racing recently, I had decided I couldn’t commit to the chili feed, so we cancelled it. Not so fast, to the rescue comes La Villa Restaurant and John Gardner’s amazing offer to provide our chili this year. I am once again flabbergasted and accepted the generous offer. Now, the day will start off at 12 noon on Saturday at Ventura Raceway with the 1st annual LaVilla Chili Feed complete with hot dogs like normal. During the day the Wagtimes Auction will feature some nice fan items like Dale Frye’s latest sprinter creation of Tony Jones Alexander Silver Bullet. Julie is making a collage of this year’s actions going up for bid. I already have a few pics from photographers and will have more by race day. Any other items will be added on Auction day as you bring them. I need at least one helmet for autographs to auction off, and I forgot who promised me one last year? Also I need to borrow several EZ-UPS to cover the auction items. Call me on 949-981-5497, or e-mail me at winglesswarriors@aol.com if you can help on any items.

During the Chili Feed and auction beginnings, there will be the Sexy driver contest and the Pit Stop contest. Both are fun and require some help from the racers. Please join in and help raise money for the little guys. Julie Shiosaki’s annual bake sale will happen, so you who can bake, please do!

It looks like the 16th could turn out to be what it has always been, a fun day for fans and racers to get together, break bread, entertain each other and just have a good time before the serious racing begins. As always the Wagsdash starts after the nights regular program completes, so come on out early and stay late so you won’t miss anything! Thanks in advance to all those who step up to help in any way, I am thankful for all your help.

Drivers already in the Wagsdash are Kevin Kierce and Steve Conrad from the VRA, plus defending champ Blake Miller. The following drivers were drawn from Wags hat to be added. Let me know if you can make it. Matt Stewart, Ludwig Solberg IV, Josh Williams, J.J. Ercse, R. J. Johnson, David Cardey and Jonny Bates are in. That makes 10 in with more to be added if the purse looks like it will go above $10,000. I apologize for doing a poor job in my collections this year, but I think we can catch up, with your help. Right now I only have about $4000, so this week and the fund raisers on Saturday will tell the tale of how many cars will run the race for how much. If I collect more than the payout for a 16 car field, I will pay the overage to the drivers who didn’t get in, in the order they are on the list below. It will be what it will be. Those that would be added are the following, in this order and already drawn: Brandon Thomson, Eric Severson, Joe Gunderson, Chad Boespflug, Todd Hunsaker and Robert Ellis for a maximum field of 16. If we need more due to no shows, here in order are more possibles: Seth Wilson, Mark Heidenreich, Bobby Cody, Danny Sheridan, Ryan Devitt, Davey Pombo, Nate Ziegler, Rick Becker, Bruce St. James, Brian Venard, Evan Suggs, Ronnie Case, Matt Mitchell, Nadine Keller, and Dan Tedric. If I forgot someone who should be on this list, e-mail me. I will add drivers to the list of race day if needed from who is there. It will be a 15 lap race like last year.

Come early and enjoy the day and plan to add to the purse for the low buck racers of CRA. It is a tradition!

FEATURE: (25 laps) 1. Tony Jones, 2. Levi Jones, 3. Danny Sheridan, 4. Cory Kruseman, 5. Mike Spencer, 6. Blake Miller, 7. Charles Davis Jr., 8. Darren Hagen, 9. Johnny Rodriguez, 10. Damion Gardner, 11. Mat Neely, 12. Rodney Argo, 13. Danny Ebberts, 14. Jason York, 15. Eric Severson, 16. Michael Trimble, 17. Chad Boespflug, 18. R.J. Johnson, 19. Dustin Morgan, 20. Jimmy Crawford, 21. Brian Venard, 22. Rickie Gaunt, 23. Rip Williams. NT

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-4 Williams, Laps 5-18 Sheridan, Laps 19-25 T.Jones.

NEW USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR POINT STANDINGS: 1-Gardner-1,690; 2-Kruseman-1,689; 3-T.Jones-1,558; 4-Spencer-1,496; 5-Sheridan-1,415; 6-Miller-1,122; 7-Williams-1,114; 8-David Cardey-986; 9-Ford-919; 10-Gaunt-825.

NEXT USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: October 28 – Ventura (CA) Raceway Wagsdash XVI