By Ken Wagner
April 27, 2008

Perris Auto Speedway always has something for you in the one of a kind facility that brings some of the best racing to us every week. From the opening night some dozen years ago very few nights, if any, have been forgettable, and most of those suspect nights were due to cold biting winds. This week wasn’t forgettable at all, but the very dusty track sometimes made more suspense out of finding the leaders on the track than the race itself. Cory Kruseman made the pass of leader Tony Jones on lap 4 and left the pack in the dust behind him. For Cory it was his third win of the year and only a brief flurry at the end by the Cowboy made it look like he was vulnerable at all. Cory started 7th and followed an early moving Jones to the front quickly as the roostertails made the oval a little spooky when the brown cloud began to cover the track. Cory just methodically spun thru traffic as Jones tried to reel him in, and used lap traffic to get lost in the maze. He was the hard charger coming from 7th starting spot.

Wags pics Click here. Doug Allen's good stuff click here.

The Cowboy Tony Jones looked like he had more left at the end, after repairing a busted motor from last week, but the traffic and the fact he apparently only had one groove to work with up high, probably made it difficult for him to find his prey in the clouded oval. It reminded me of a PA race years ago at Lincoln Speedway where Lealand McSpadden started last and came to second in quick fashion, but the dust was so bad, he had no idea where the leader was or even himsel for that matter. It was pretty thrilling, but that was then. Tony was 7th in qualifying, won his heat and started 3rd on the main event grid. It was like shooting pool for him as the track was littered with cars all over the place and he quickly chose his next moves to continue on plodding to a runner-up position on the podium again.

Showtime Danny Sheridan returned from his golfing outing on the east coast to run a strong third, but the degree of difficulty in passing this week forced him to play follow the leader with Jones until the end. The Kittle Kar was easier to see on the track than most in it’s brilliant blue color. There was no groove under the top one that worked in a forward direction.

That Cagey Cody Williams continues to improve and impress. He was 10th quick in time trials, but didn’t transfer from his heat because of a flat tire. Then in the semi, he was doing very well when he had another flat tire with two laps to go! On the restart he had to pass 2 cars in order to make the main. He got by one right away and took aim at young Kenny Perkins for the last transfer. Coming around the last turn, the black # 3 cut hard left and shot down under Kenny by a frog hair at the flag to make it in. Kenny also got in after Keith Williamson, who was leading at the time, slowed drastically and finished fifth, but couldn’t make the starting bell for the main event. It was the raciest I have seen Keith in his Ford powered racer since he moved to Arizona. This is another low buck racer that could use some help.

Perhaps some of the blame for the dusty feature was a 20 lap modified feature run prior to the CRA finali. After that elongated event, one of their drivers mentioned he didn’t like the track he just raced on and hoped it would be better the next time here? Maybe the answer would be for them to run their feature last? Anyway, the unexpected heat and the afternoon breeze probably gets the blame here as the track looked pretty wet on arrival and didn’t go bad until after the modified’s ran, and in fact gave no hint to what was to come in the feature ahead.

The modified race featured Toby “Okie” Sampson best remembered as the Drake race car repair expert and chassis builder, as well as crewing for the retired Dan Hillberg. Toby was leading the race when a yellow happened and they restarted with him in second, (?) and he couldn’t get back by for the win. He and the winner had a rousing battle passing each other several times before that last yellow.

Mike Spencer was quick timer again, but looked like he was held back on a string or something as he finished fifth on the night and never managed a serious charge in the brown haze all around him. His qualifying time was more than a second off the track record, so the night didn’t showcase a fast track like normal.

Perris painted their race track K-rails purple and white to honor the Cancer find drive they do each year. With a goal of $10,000, the track wall was a statement to their dedication. The drivers went up in the stands with their helmets to gather cash in support of the cause. They are also collecting money for the new track point fund, so all those who like to donate to help the racers can get involved.

With the apparent success of the Open Show last week at Victorville, the next edition of the Gardner/Faas experience is scheduled for Victorville on May 31st. Wildcat II will be announced soon with details on the purse and other related news.

Along those lines, we put in $200 for the hard luck racer in Wildcat I and it gives me an opportunity to get the Wagsbucks in motion again. I will collect said Wagsbucks from all fans who want to get involved in these open shows as they happen, and see how much we can collect for the racers cause. If we collect more than say $500 each time it can be split between two cars just like I did the Wagsbucks all those years. See me whenever, or on that night at Victorville and let’s just see what we can do with this Wagsbucks stuff.

I don’t know long term how the Gardner/Faas experience will effect our local sprint car racing, but something has to happen to unite our racers and the tracks to get more fans, and especially new and young ones for us to survive what is a current down swing in our racing. One thing for sure, if everyone works together, we can hope things will improve. I don’t think USAC or the USAC/CRA tracks are enamored with the wildcat venture, but then I don’t know what I am talking about with their business. If I did, I would have stepped up long ago to help our racers grow their first love better. Those entities are not likely to join in on the wildcat racing, but then is it time for pow wow among all parties? Does that ever happen?

I know that Jack Gardner Jr and Cary Faas are committed to their goal of paying $10,000 to win in the future, and having some fun along the way, and are working diligently to make it happen. The question is, with only 5 or 6 open dates the rest of the CRA schedule, how it will turn out. Will racers miss some CRA dates to go to the open shows? Probably not, if points are important to their sponsor’s, and besides many others don’t go every weekend anyway. The escalating cost of sprint car racing is driving a negative stake in our sport's heart! DUH! Add rising and totally greedy gas costs and you can go nuts thinking about it! The tough times are obvious with the falling car counts and less travelers, both racer and fan alike, creating a serious problem with the highly exciting and entertaining sprint car racing we love. Something good has to happen and now is the time. We just need a crystal ball and Merlin to interpret so we can go forward in the right direction for everyone. OK, I’m ready, who's with me! Where is Jim Belushi when you need him?

The Gardner/Faas rules have been published and look very well conceived except for one obviously shaky rule. Victorville is a state fairground facility that has a 95 DBA noise mandate and the no muffler rule might cause some local police action in the future. Hopefully not, but that place is in town up there. I know we all love that special uncorked sound, but our beloved noise is one of the main reason’s tracks get such bad press and phone calls from cranky neighbors. All the local racers now have very quiet mufflers that don’t offend, so I guess I wonder on this one. I also wonder how this open show scheme will be perceived in the future looking back?

I will support anything that helps the racers, but I’m not a car owner and can’t possibly see from here how the future will be rated as time goes by. Changes have been so prominent in the last 15 years, it is like our national political scene, what do we do? We in So Cal have suffered thru the loss of the original CRA, the birth and death of the SCRA and the alignment with big time USAC, all with some pain associated with each. Can we find a Czar that will take care of everything like the Sokola days, or will we continue to float along until someone stumbles on the answer? Hardly! I am here to help where I can, but we have got to go one direction together. Remember that old motto united we stand, divided we fall! In the immortal words of my hero Mickey Mouse “OK Pluto, now what?”

I was happy to see Bill Woodside, now of Sprint Car and Midget magazine in the pits. He gave away the latest issue to the first 250 in the spectator gates this week and it was his first trip here. Bill and I met way back in the early 90’s at the Knoxville Nationals when he wrote for Sprint Car, a weekly paper no longer published. Over the years our paths have crossed and he was usually closer to the wing world than mine, but he has fun in racing, and not many people can say that!

The Wagsdash plans continue on as the new poster honoring Bruce Bromme Sr and Dean Thompson is in the works by Jim Naylor who says some of the pictures he is choosing from the Bruce Sr/Deano era is like the Holy Grail of racing. We will honor them at the 18th annual Wagsdash on September 6th at Ventura Raceway with Bruce Bromme Jr and Barbara Thompson, Dean’s sister, representing them that night. It will be the first of only two races by CRA at Ventura this season and I will be announcing some driver names to be invited to run the event beginning in May. That day will be highlighted by another chili feed, an auction of race related items donated by the racing community, a pit stop contest and the annual Sexy Driver contest. All day the events will add to the purse that will include many of the low buck racers from CRA and a few from the local VRA. It will be a fun day beginning at noon for fans to come early and meet, greet and eat with their favorite drivers and other race fans. There is nothing like it in racing, and you can be involved. Begin to think about getting involved and join the hard working Wagtimer’s who put this all on for the good of our racing.

In addition to the annual sprint car calendar Mrs Wags and Ellen Ellis put together to raise money for the purse each year, a special calendar just for the girls is in the works. The new Sexy Driver calendar will be a hot item for the ladies, as those cute drivers will be baring their more masculine side for your pleasure. Tune in, it’s going to be HOT!

See ya at Ventura this week as I need to be at the “best little track by the sea” right now! Talk to me!

FEATURE: (30 laps - With Starting Positions)
1. Cory Kruseman (7th), 2. Tony Jones (3rd), 3. Danny Sheridan (4th), 4. Blake Miller (2nd), 5. Mike Spencer (8th), 6. Garrett Hansen (10th), 7. Josh Ford (11th), 8. Rickie Gaunt (6th), 9. Davey Pombo (1st), 10. Cody Williams (9th), 11. Alex Schutte (16th), 12. Austin Mero (14th), 13. Alan Ballard (5th), 14. J Hicks (12th), 15. Eric Severson (18th), 16. Jordan Hermansader (15th), 17. Luis Espinoza (20th), 18. Henry Clarke (17th), 19. Royal Adderson (22nd), 20. Kenny Perkins (21st), 21. Ross Millar (19th), 22. Todd Hunsaker (13th). NT.

NEW USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Kruseman-565; 2-Spencer-511; 3-Miller-468; 4-Hansen-434; 5-Sheridan-429; 6-Brown-355; 7-Levi Jones-350; 8-Ford-307; 9-Jesse Hockett-292; 10-T.Jones-289.

NEXT USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: May 10 – Perris (CA) Auto Speedway