By Ken Wagner
February10, 2008

On a scale of one to ten, the weekend USAC/CRA opener at Perris Auto Speedway was off the charts! Excellent racing, surprisingly mild weather and plenty of racing to write about kicked off our 2008 racing year. Cory Kruseman and Danny Sheridan showed everybody their rear ends as they swept the 410 and 360 shows respectively. Cory’s starting spots were 8th and 12th as he methodically slipped into a challenging spot late in both races, and in both races utilized a restart to make his move that powered him into the lead and garnered two wins to start the year off in his fast new ITI Performance Viper chassis racer.

Mrs Wags pics are ready Click here. and a few I took Click here. Doug Allen's stuff Click here.

Danny started 5th and 6th in the two 360 man events and battled with RJ Johnson and many, many, many yellow and red flags the first night before prevailing. He then grabbed the finali with Josh Ford surging after him time and again, plus many restarts making it tough on Showtime Sheridan. He also added a 4th in the 410’s on Friday before an errant bounce against the cushion, and then getting nailed by Josh Ford who couldn’t avoid him, putting them both in the work area trying to replace front ends unsuccessfully on Saturday night.

What transpired over the two days was four racy features on two nights in mild weather, but was played out in front of very small crowds, so where were you!!! My soapbox is getting nervous, and more from that later when I calm down. There was so much good stuff, it’s hard to remember it all. There was one bad thing that happened when Rip Williams who was very, very fast the first night, got hammered in a front stretch crash that broke his left ankle, according to reports, the preliminary word is he could be out 4 to 8 weeks, but Rip is a tough one and expect him back sooner. His car got up in the air and came down on Sheridan’s # 18, taking off the undercarriage (?) thus exposing Rip’s feet. Danny restarted with a bent down tube and a realigned race car that led until a late race yellow left him like a sittin’ duck on the restart, where he was shuffled back to 4th.

With forty 410 sprinters and twenty four 360’s, the pits were crowded with little room to move around, but that’s the way I like it! The unbelievable weather was a little warm during the day and it got cool at night, but never uncomfortable as the weekend unfolded. With all the new cars, wild colors and familiar and unfamiliar faces, it was a virtual rainbow review that we flowed thru both days. Unfortunately for me, my brand new super camera had a problem, so my shooting was very limited and Mrs Wags was your saving grace because a lot of what I shot was bad.

The Kruser’s driving looked more like his championship days as he was quick timer on Friday and took all the marbles both nights with some very “Corylike” moves. He takes the point lead obviously, but with his varied schedule, probably won’t be running for the championship again this season. He is utilizing the new Viper Chassis and no longer driving a Bullet like recent years. The school cars that roll out at $1000 a race for happy students will also be Vipers. What a business, but how does he keep it all straight?

Mike Spencer showed why he is the favorite to win the championship this year as he ran second to Cory both nights, but could have done better with some luck. Mike and Bruce Bromme Jr and his crack crew are great together and Mike’s style, even though totally different than the last two champions who drove the little red sucker, is ready to be the winner, so watch him this season as he goes down the path that Bruce has been many times before.

The demand for these new Glenn Crossno created Viper cars is so great that none of his own team cars have a new one yet? You know the story about the cobblers kids, right? Glenn has David Cardey returning in his # 83, plus Davey Pombo in the seat of the #38 house car. This week he also had Cole Whitt in another red bomb. Cardey did the best of the three with a third on Saturday as he drove the wheels off his hot rod. Cole’s best was 7th and Pombo’s 9th as the season starts with these red cars looking to be in the thick of things all year.

Danny "Showtime" Sheridan had a long weekend running hard and winning two 360 races, but not with ease as his worst problem was restarts with spin after spin after spin after …. well you know the drill. He hung on in the 360, but was overcome in his 410 late on Friday trying to make an injured car stand up for the win. Great job by him and the crew who were a bit busy for the two days and didn’t have time for my usual nonsense.

The Black Widow Racing team, AKA Gardner Motorsports, featured three cars this week with red, blue and black the different colors of the three beautiful entries driven by Tyler Brown in the red # 96, Blake Miller in the blue # 93 and Nadine Gardner in her black # 16. There is another car to come out with #25, in honor of Jack Sr’s car in his driving days. Blake was awesome on Friday narrowly missing a win when he got 3rd and Saturday’s 8th a great start for this brand new Sled Chassis just completed. They liked it so much, they are rushing to build a duplicate right away. The beauty of the red and blue cars were only marred by what are actually really nice numbers on the fuel cells, but they are almost impossible to read on the track. They will be fixed quickly, but like I say, in the sunlight the cars are stunning.Rickie Gaunt will not run the full schedule this year, and will also be helping his son’s Focus experience this year. He is scheduled to drive for Tony Smiley at Manzy this week.

Luis Espinoza did great in the Moosemobile this weekend making the main both nights and getting his 410 wings on, er maybe I mean he’s enjoying the extra power of the 410. Garrett Hansen drives my favorite car ( yellow!) and did especially well with 5th and 6th this weekend in Mark Priestley’s beauty.

The 2007 champion, Tony Jones had a tough weekend when he dropped out early on Friday when the car just didn’t perform in the main. Then he had his tire punched flat on Saturday by a charging Mike Spencer, who was trying to pass him at the time, and had to change the tire and restart at the back of the 26 car field. He made a great run and finished fourth, almost getting on the podium, so the Cowboy was on the move.

Chad Boat took a 410 ride for his first PAS effort and did pretty good job as the 16 year old son of Billy Boat. He had a problem on Friday, but came in a respectable 11th on Saturday. He is headed back to Indiana for the experience as his career starts off. Watch for his name because he looks like he might be a chip off the old block, as they say, and his dad surely passed on the good genes.

Peter Murphy went home ill after Friday night and Alan Ballard stepped in the Dorathy # 21 car for Saturday. He made a monster slide job in his heat race, passing two cars at once, to get in to the Saturday main, but was out when he couldn’t avoid a crashing car early in that 30 lap race.

Last year Mark Heidenreich sold his sprinter and retired. He loved racing, but realized the escalating costs were going to be his undoing. This season he showed up with his lady Michelle and a new Dakota pick up truck and now will be pushing cars instead of being pushed. He says he wants to remain involved, so this is a good thing. His former car is now owned and being driven by “Big” John Butler who had to modify the car so his head didn’t stick out the top before he was allowed to race it.

New rookie Nic Faas was 2nd quick time on Saturday to announce his arrival with a flair. Coming from the familiar well known Faas family, young Nic missed the main both nights running 8th in each semi, but looked strong and racy. Uncle Cary still straps in a sprinter occasionally, but his business and family keep most of his attention these days. Who knows when he will appear again, but it will happen, you can take it to the bank.

Visitors always get the blood boiling and some did pretty good. Jessie the Sprockett Hocket (9th & 21st), Levi Jones (14th and 6th), Brady Bacon missed the main both nights in a local car, Shane Golobic from Nor Cal ran strong (12th and 15th).

Soapbox time! I have a lot of “ideas” and thoughts on problems, but no solutions! Sometimes the obvious escapes me, as in political BS, yet I still can’t understand why the best damn dirt track racing is ignored so much. Picture this: you have 64 sprint cars at one of America’s best dirt tracks in the country, in an area where the population is in the zillions, it’s opening weekend of the next great season, the weather is daytime t-shirt perfect, the track is ready and ………… nobody shows up? How can that happen, or more succinctly, can you $#*@#*$$*@ believe it? Well I guess no one has the interest in the best racing for the money you can find. You fans need to find a life and understand how to search out the schedule, make plans and get out to the track. They need your support and don’t tell me that something more important came up. Done!

The next two weekends are also two day shows with the Copper on Dirt at Manzy a very special deal for all. With all the thousands of dollars the new ownership has put into the place, including some new grandstands, new hand rails for the steep main grandstand for us older folks, parking lot paving, a new catch fence that replaced the street race model, new bathrooms (is that for real) and much more as the Martin Family try to make it better for the fans and the racers. Manzy is always worth the trip as even though Mrs Wags and I will be on some type of a 33rd anniversary experience on Valentines day, we wish we were going.

If you can’t find a way to go there, then the following Thursday and Friday you can come to my new home town of Las Vegas to see the CRA put on their best tires to give you the best show they can at one of the best facilities around. The weather should be nice and if you can get your spouses out of the casino’s to the races, it will be special. Remember to book a room now, because it is a NASCAR weekend and your Thursday / Friday rates will be cheaper than Saturday. The following three weeks continue with single shows at Perris, Manzy and back at Perris. That’s just the start. For the road warriors, Tulare, Santa Maria and Calistoga are on the schedule this year in addition to Manzy, so now is the time to check you budgets, your schedules and join me and the Mrs for some great racing.

Consider this: Tony Jones is not running the full schedule this year due to the lack of $$$$, and with Cory out on his tour path, Mike Spencer, Danny Sheridan and Rip Williams (if he gets back from his injury quick), are my odds on favorites for the championship with an emphasis on Spencer because he and Bruce Bromme Jr are going to be hard to beat! The challengers to those three as I see em’ are Garrett Hansen, Josh Ford, David Cardey, RJ Johnson, Blake Miller and a few more that will make some moves towards the front. It’ll be a great year.

Some interesting things we saw this weekend started with Nellie Stansberry’s new pit buggy with the loud airhorn that hubby Ray got Mrs Wags to unsuspectingly pull the chain that lit it up and it scared her and everyone else nearby, The Army insignia’s on Kenny Perkins # 34, some one stole “our” seats that we have never failed to sit in for the past 12 years, and number of competitive 360’s that came to race. I am surprised to say it, but the Friday night 360 might be the best of the four. It’s all a matter of perspective and If you didn’t know they were 360’s, you would have been fooled into thinking they were the 410’s.

Remember the Wagsdash has been scheduled early this year, now landing on September 6th at Ventura Raceway, so at least, put that on your schedule and be there. Also the collections have started and Roy Kishell and Jack Kraemer are the first two to be on the Wagsdash honor roll as people who donate $100 or more. Add your name to that list and help the low buck racers event be that much better. Also I am looking for something special for the auction this year. Last year the highlight was the Demon’s battered helmet, but we haven’t had any “incidents” out of anyone else, so we need something good for this season. Also now there are only two CRA events at Ventura this year because the fairgrounds took the date of third one and so it will be our first race there. Being the racy place it is, we hope to get a big crowd to come and support the little guys on their day.

Sorry for the lack of writing on my part for a while, but since I am not really affiliated to anyone except the racers, I had a nice winter off and am raring to go. Mrs Wags will come as often as she can, but her working full time will curtail some of the quick trips. I am up to nearly 90 B-ball games with a few left to see, so will wrap that up soon.

I received a lot of very nice words from a few fans this weekend who enjoy my musings on Wagsweb, so I hope I can regenerate the excitement of what I see and hear as the weeks move thru the year. I can tell you that my love for this sport has not wavered, and I am anxious to experience what comes to pass on the dirt! See you at the track guys, and don't forget to say hi!

USAC/CRA 2/8 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Cory Kruseman, 2. Mike Spencer, 3. Blake Miller, 4. Danny Sheridan, 5. R.J. Johnson, 6. Garrett Hansen, 7. Jimmy Crawford, 8. Josh Ford, 9. Jesse Hockett, 10. Cole Whitt, 11. Chad Boat, 12. Shane Golobic, 13. David Cardey, 14. Levi Jones, 15. Tyler Brown, 16. Davey Pombo, 17. Seth Wilson, 18. Alex Schutte, 19. Luis Espinoza, 20. Peter Murphy, 21. Tony Jones, 22. Rip Williams. NT

360 FEATURE: (20 laps - With Starting Positions) 1. Danny Sheridan (5th), 2. R.J. Johnson (3rd), 3. Josh Ford (6th), 4. Rusty Carilie (1st), 5. Eric Severson (4th), 6. John Aden (14th), 7. Mike Martin (9th), 8. Steve Conrad (13th), 9. Ludwig Solberg IV (15th), 10. Bruce Douglass (17th), 11. Dwayne Marcum (7th), 12. Dave Bezio (20th), 13. Jesse Mack (11th), 14. Shon Deskins (8th), 15. Mathew Shedarowich (18th), 16. Newt Price (16th), 17. Brian Williams (12th), 18. Don Gansen (10th), 19. Jesse Hockett (2nd), 20. Brian Schuler (19th).

USAC/CRA 2/9 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Cory Kruseman, 2. Mike Spencer, 3. David Cardey, 4. Tony Jones, 5. Garrett Hansen, 6. Levi Jones, 7. Cole Whitt, 8. Blake Miller, 9. Davey Pombo, 10. R.J. Johnson, 11. Luis Espinoza, 12. Tyler Brown, 13. Seth Wilson, 14. Alex Schutte, 15. Shane Golobic, 16. Brett Mellenberndt, 17. Jimmy Crawford, 18. Danny Sheridan, 19. Josh Ford, 20. Chad Boat, 21. Jesse Hockett, 22. Alan Ballard. NT

360 FEATURE: (30 laps - With Starting Positions) 1. Danny Sheridan (6th), 2. Josh Ford (5th), 3. R.J. Johnson (4th), 4. Jesse Hockett (11th), 5. Rusty Carlile (2nd), 6. Steve Conrad (8th), 7. Don Gansen (16th), 8. Shon Deskins (12th), 9. Ludwig Solberg IV (10th), 10. Mike Martin (7th), 11. Bruce Douglass (17th), 12. Dave Bezio (18th), 13. Mathew Shedarowich (19th), 14. Jesse Mack (13th), 15. Dwayne Marcum (9th), 16. Jimmy Crawford (14th), 17. Brandon Thomson (15th), 18. Eric Severson (3rd), 19. Tony Everhart (20th), 20. John Aden (1st). NT.

NEW USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Kruseman-139; 2-Spencer-138; 3-Miller-106; 4-Hansen-105; 5-Johnson-95; 6-Cardey-93; 7-Whitt-89; 8-Sheridan-88; 9-T.Jones-81; 10-L.Jones-79.