By Ken Wagner
March 29, 2009

The number 100 symbolizes many things in this life. It can be the hot temps in Perris in the summertime, the MPH speed of a fast lap on a cruise around the Perris clay, the cost in pennies of a fast food special somewhere else, or the number of wins the Ron Chaffin/Bruce Bromme Jr duo has together since that first one by Lealand McSpadden back in 1995. Mike Spencer went wire to wire at the PAS for his 10th victory all time in 410 sprints and the first win in a long 12 month drought for him in the little red sucker, and all was well in their camp. That win was one year, almost to the date, since the last one, and now that Bruce Bromme Jr has his arm back and is ready for the full season, things will be different for the team this year.

The pics are here! Click her for Mrs Wags. Click here for Wags. Click here for DOug Allen.

Starting on the pole, young Spencer went forward and held off charges by first Danny Sheridan and then David Cardey as the 30 lapper wound down. After running 9th quick in qualifying, he went on to finish second in his heat to Jordan Hermansader and then Lined up in the second row of the main event. Mighty Mike snuck under the pole sitter R J Johnson going down the back stretch, took the lead he wouldn’t surrender, and began his search for the checkered flag. He was smooth hot footing it around the oval and wasn’t really threatened until the very end. As he said, he did a little defensive driving at the end to get the win when Cardey appeared next to him with two laps to go

DynOmite David Cardey didn’t start the year out the way he wanted after replacing Tony Jones in the silver bullet of Mark Alexander. He only had two 16th place finishes and a DNS to remember from the first three races, so things could have been better, and then……….. Suddenly switching back to the familiar Viper Chassis, the Glenn Crossno # 38 that he ran last season, he came out firing. With a 5th quick qualifying time and a third in his heat, he was ready to use his 6th starting spot in the main as a launching pad. He jumped to third and waged a serious battle with Danny Sheridan before passing him late and headed for the leader. Driving the red Viper all out, David was all over the back of the little red sucker. With the white flag flying, he looked as if he was coming on to head by Spencer, but a yellow flag flew and quashed that move. On the restart Mighty Mike blocked David’s forward progress enough that at the line they were but a car length apart. It was an awesome finish to a great chase for Cardey, even though he came up a bit short. Look for him to be a big challenger this year as things heat up.

When I saw Tony Jones get out of a pickup in the pits and drag his helmet and driving suit bag into the Alexander trailer, I figured we were in for a treat. Tony returned to drive the silver bullet this week, but if you were new to the races, the name Dusty Rhoades on the side of the # 4 silver car might have confused you. He was welcomed back in the seat and promptly ran 2nd in his heat to start 11th in the main event. You could tell in his heat, when he and Showtime Sheridan put on a great battle for the lead, that his elbows were up! In the main he charged from the 6th row into 4th place before death smoke appeared out of his motor and he was sadly pulling over to end his night. Everyone knows he is back, and are on notice that this Cowboy has his spurs on! With the short schedule this year he will be able to race and still spend a lot of time with his family, which he said was sure fun when the CRA was off in Phoenix and Las Vegas. The serious look in his eyes was to behold as this man still has some legend work to get in the record books.

My spies tell me John Aden is a special guy and builds his own race cars, including the chassis in his sprint car. I didn’t get a chance to verify that from him but look at his results on the night to see how well he did. After qualifying 26th in his # 7A sprinter, he worked hard to run 5th in his heat and just missed a transfer. He then took the last qualifying spot in the Semi to start 20th in the main event. How’d he do? He was the hard charger coming up to 8th at the end for a great night.

As usual the aw shucks crowd was in the house with a number of cars getting hit with maladies, or just getting hit. Rodney Argo was the first car out of the main, but don’t know why. Henry Clarke managed to mangle his front end in the main and was done early. Darren Hagen used a second Josh Ford car, after the motor in Josh’s mount gave up on him, to take a big lead in the semi on the way to the main. But “oh no you don’t” sez the devil that jumped up, as he caught a rut and dumped his mount into the wall knocking out a chunk of the wood barrier before he came to a stop. He was done for the night. There were several other early dropouts in the main as nearly half the field was gone at the end. Jimmy Crawford didn’t have great luck this week as he was on the receiving end of the battle between Showtime and the Cowboy in his heat and ended up on his head when three cars tried to get into a spot where there was only room for two. He came back out for the Semi, but didn’t transfer. Blake Miller was running to the front when he broke a camshaft. Teammate Rickie Gaunt had his problems too, with a flat tire being one and he ended up 12th.

The attaboy crowd was also strong this week as several fit in that category besides the top finishers. Greg Bragg tied his best finish ever in the Moosemobile with a strong 5th on a good ride this week. Rookie Austin Williams showcased his quick learning self as he beat both his brother Cody and his dad Ripper by running a best ever 7th in this one. He is just getting started! Ludvig Solberg IV came from 19th to 10th as he continues to break in his brand new Viper Sprinter. He looked pretty good doing it and had the shiniest tires in the main! Smooth Tyler Brown quietly came from 14th to 6th this week as he was a Gardner bright spot.

Jeremy Sherman came to town with 99 Manzanita wins in his bag of history behind him with the hopes he and car owner Dwight Cheney could continue that winning pattern. Getting a car to the drivers liking is always tough as they get started together, and this was no exception. Early results looked promising, yet he pulled off early in the main. It is great to see him come over the desert trail to run with the CRA and you can bet when they get it going, he will be another force to reckon with.

Wagsbucks went to Royal Adderson this week as the $225 collected was appreciated by him and his team. My thanks to all that have supported the return of the Wagsbucks and you should know the car owners who get the money are very appreciative and can certainly use the money in these down times. Thanks to all of you and check this listing under Wagsbucks on the Wagsweb website Click here to see the Wags helpers so far.

When is the Wagsdash (?) was the first question out of the mouths of many this week, with everyone hoping that a date will soon be found. It looks like Ventura’s Jim Naylor is making good on his NO CRA dates mandate this year and it is looking more like I will have to make other plans or give it up for this year. I have said all along I was holding out for my friend to change his mind, but he means it and it looks like I am in trouble with this one. Ventura has been perfect for our annual fun day, and it would be a shame not to get to go there for the 19th annual edition. I know there is another track that has offered to talk about having it there, but I just don’t know if moving it will work. I say that after moving it six times before we found a permanent home at the greatest little track by the sea. Hopefully, there will be a 19th annual Wagsdash, one way or the other, but I still don’t have a plan yet. There is still plenty of time and I am mulling over what is best for the little guys race. I know that there are some little guys who hope I can pull it off for their sake, so we will see. Stay tuned as the smoke you see above my red and white polka dot hat is just my demented view of the future coming out. The sad part about the racing scene is with less cars racing now, there are less low buck racers getting their cars out of the garage as well. Never worry, I always make things work out.

Mr Goodbucks flew in again this race with $80 cash each for five Semi runners who missed the Main event. They are Tony Everhart, Johnny Bates, Mathew Shedarowich, Robert Ellis and Jimmy Crawford Mr Goodbucks hopes that these recipients will keep coming back and the money will help make that happen. Mr Goodbucks genuinely wants to help our racing succeed and I think that is great.

We have another month off until the next CRA race so I will probably take in the NHRA drags in Vegas this week, because it is so close to Wagsland. Mrs Wags and I will be heading to Phoenix for the last Manzy race the weekend after that with the “boys” getting a road trip. The last time the dogs got to go was too long to remember, but they will get to go to the Ellis Hacienda for a play day with their dogs.

I almost forgot. I have, with the help of a one time CRA official, been updating the all time win list. I have added when and where the last race was and also noted who is in the hall of fame. Click here to check it out. You can let me know if you have the last date win and location info I am missing.

With 34 cars in the house, that certainly surprised some who felt 25 was pushing the limit this race. I figured 30 tops, but it is good to see enough cars to put on a show. Anything over 32 is just gravy with four 8 car heats making it the best world, but sometimes we can’t reach that. I think we should be more positive and be thankful for how many cars do come to race and support them in any way we can. Find a favorite and offer to help them, if you can afford it, but most of all come to the races with your cars full of friends and family and we’ll all feel better. Bring the kids as the crowds are aging and we need replacements for the old codgers like myself it seems, how did I get that old? Whatever, racing is a passion for some of us, while others it is just one bullet in a full magazine of their daily weapon. Think about it, if you don’t support racing, it won’t be there for you when you get around to it! See you in April at the PAS for the next race.

3/28/09 Perris FEATURE: (30 laps - With Starting Positions) 1. Mike Spencer (3rd), 2. David Cardey (6th), 3. Danny Sheridan (5th), 4. Garrett Hansen (2nd), 5. Greg Bragg (4th), 6. Tyler Brown (14th), 7. Austin Williams (12th), 8. John Aden (20th), 9. Jordan Hermansader (13th), 10. Ludvig Solberg IV (19th), 11. Cody Williams (18th), 12. Rickie Gaunt (9th), 13. Rip Williams (10th), 14. Matt Mitchell (16th), 15. Ronnie Case (22nd), 16. Blake Miller (7th), 17. Cory Kruseman (8th), 18. R.J. Johnson (1st), 19. Jeremy Sherman (15th), 20. Tony Jones (11th), 21. Henry Clarke (17th), 22. Rodney Argo (21st). NT.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Mike Spencer.

NEW LUCAS OIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Cole Whitt-175; 2-Dave Darland-174; 3-Jesse Hockett-169; 4-Spencer-155; 5-Jon Stanbrough-147; 6-Damion Gardner-144; 7-Brad Sweet-136; 8-Hagen-134; 9-Tracy Hines-129; 10-Jerry Coons Jr.-128.

NEXT LUCAS OIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: April 25 - Perris (CA) Auto Speedway