THE KRUSER COMES TO TOWN WITH GUNS BLAZING AND JUST MISSES ANOTHER WIN.

On a clear day, with light breezes cooling the large crowd at Perris Auto Speedway, Adam Mitchell finally got over the hump and won his first ever sprint car race! With 29 cars qualifying, the track produced some excellent times and later some outstanding racing. Cory Kruseman dropped in from his Midwest USAC schedule to get second, and the “old man” of the club, Rip “the Ripper” Williams, overcame a flip in his heat to make the podium in the stellar 30-lap USAC/CRA main event.

Mrs Wags pics are here. Wags pitwalk is here.

Adam destroyed the family owned sprinter in a wild flip at Perris in April. The team took the time to build this brand new car just right, and checked it out two weeks ago at Perris, where he ran 16th in the feature. Adam said after the big win he knew he was going to win this race. With that mind, he put the white Electro Tech Powder Coating, Temecula Valley Pipe & Supply, Barnes Oil Systems, # 99 through its paces, as if he were certain of the outcome. He was 12th quick in qualifying and won his heat, putting him on the pole in the main event next to “The Cowboy” Tony Jones.

Tony and Adam had a spirited side-by-side battle for the first third of the race, before Adam pulled away. He only had to endure a lap 28 yellow flag before closing the door on the field. Adam proved to his fans and family, white lightning doesn’t just come in a bottle, because he struck hard and fast in winning for the first time. Everyone loves first time winners! They have that look on their face that you can’t knock off with a sledgehammer that says “I did it!” Congratulations to Adam and his crew, may more wins be coming. You know they say, once you win the first one, the rest are easy.

When Cory Kruseman comes to town on a break from his Tony Stewart owned USAC sprint car team, everyone takes notice. The busy former local sprint car champion now chases the USAC national points and is doing very well in his 2nd year away from the west coast race scene. But, when he gets a break, he loves to cherry pick in California! The Alexander Trucking Race Team has two cars, one driven by young Jordan Hermansader, and the “Cory” car that just waits in the race shop for him to ride into town. This trip didn’t start well for the “Kruser” in the La Villa Restaurant, Agromin, Stinger. He was the 2nd car out in qualifying and the track wasn’t dialed in quite yet, so his best lap was only 15th quick. He easily won his heat and started 15th in the main event and put on a show going forward for his big fan base in the house. He was running 4th on the last yellow flag pause, but moved to 2nd quickly on the restart, and still came up just a little short in his bid to catch the winner. It was a memorable drive by the likable Californian.

When you have driven a sprint car as long as the Ripper has, you can overcome anything. This week was a test in the point leaders’ championship quest, as he found himself upside down in his heat race before it really got started. Rip didn’t budge in the car, so after the track crew flipped him over, and they made a few adjustments in the work area, he was back racing. He just missed a transfer, and then ran 2nd in the Semi to start 9th in the main. In one of the most action packed fights for 2nd place we’ve seen in a long time, Rip was one of 8 cars going for the podium behind Adam, throughout the entire race. Rip has a great car owner for the black # 3, John Jory Corporation, Weld Wheels, Stinger, and Jack Jory gives him what he needs to win. On this night they needed only a few bolt-on parts to get back in the battle, and then Ripper put on a show! As the yellow flew, Rip grabbed third at the very end, manhandling his mount to the roar of the crowd, while the rest shuffled behind him. He has a 51 point lead for the series championship over Damion, the “Demon”, Gardner.

The “Cowboy” Tony Jones has not had a great year. It’s been said before, but it looks like things are changing for the good. The worst of the bad luck seemed to have been a broken axle in Phoenix on May 8th with a jolting crash that destroyed the car and hurt the driver a bit. And yet the crew has fought through it. After rearranging the resulting “Frankenstein” car, one put together from two already tweaked cars, thank goodness a new one materialized. With a tight budget, the new car has had a couple of outings, but this one was the best. Tony ran a strong second until the very end and will take the hard earned fourth, as he had his elbows up and charging all night! Over the last two weeks they looked the new car over, made some major adjustments on it, as well as the crew, and have returned with a vengeance. Tony and his new bride, Tammy, are expecting their first child and a new position on the track in the future, up front.

That last yellow flag shuffle at the end of the Main hurt several, and yet helped a few out, as well. Mike Spencer had a great ride for 28 laps in third, but as the white flag flew, he got in the wrong groove as the train down low pulled a couple of spots away from him. He continues to improve and will be running some USAC races back East through the summer. This youngster is coming fast.

The next five positions literally changed several times throughout the race, until it was all done. Damion Gardner started 13th on the grid after running 2nd in his heat, and put the “little red sucker” on the fast line up top. He mixed it up very well as he launched forward, and was 5th at the end. He continues to live up to his “Demon” nickname as he gives the rest fits with his high flying act that entertains the crowd.

The “Extreme twins”, Super Rickie Gaunt and “Chargin” Charles Davis Jr., made their first appearance at Perris this year a good one. The bright blue cars were hard at it finishing 7th (Rickie), and 8th (Charles). Super Rickie couldn’t wait to get around the pits and instigate the “fun and games” he is known for, as he really likes to mess with the other drivers. Rickie was 2nd quick and Charles 5th, so the Extreme Chassis cars of Tony Smiley are definitely fast and they will be back next week to challenge again.

Steve Ostling had the quickest lap of the evening with a 16.895, midway through qualifying. He was third in his heat, started 7th in the main and finished 9th after all was said and done. Brian Venard had a great heat run, battling back from a stifling slide job that sent him sideways to grab the last transfer on a last corner pass that moved him into the main event. He finished 10th and is consistently finishing in the top ten every week now, as the Venard Family sprinter is fast and he is driving harder than ever.

Not everyone had a good night, beginning with a wild flip by Greg Bragg. An axle broke during the semi, sending him into a high flying flip that injured only the car, but was spectacular to watch. The car is fixable and car owner, Bill Pratt, received $ 200 of Wagsbucks money collected from the fans, for the hard luck driver of the week. It was the best collective week of the year for Wagsbucks. This makes three drivers qualified for the Wagsdash. Jimmy Crawford, Adam Mitchell and Greg Bragg. Mike Kirby had a tough night, this week, even though the car ran great all night. He missed a transfer to the main when he was bumped out of the way and couldn’t recover to get a transfer. Then he won the Semi and battled from his 10th starting spot in the main to get to get up to about sixth. Then a last lap shunt sent him into the wall. No harm no foul? That put him back to 15th with various broken parts and an undriveable car. Mike will drop to 3rd in points behind the Demon and leader Rip Williams. The car received the Wagtimes shiny tire award for the week as the black tires were blazing.

Rick Zeihl also had his problems. When the hauler arrived to sign in, one of the trailer wheels was coming off. Related parts were strewn on the road leading into the track, but were used up and trash can fodder. Car owner, Ben Lancaster, wasn’t fazed. He explained that is why he has three axles, so it won’t be a problem when a bearing breaks, or whatever. His driver made the main and was coming along fine until something hit the oil filter, causing oil to seep, and that was it for the team for the night. Gary W Howard had the makings of a great night, when his fast Jack Keene owned # 84 was clicking along great. Something in the steering kept locking up in the main and he had to retire because he couldn’t turn the car.

Seth Wilson made his first CRA race of the year and finished his car number, seventeen. The “Warbird” is painted army green, reminiscent of an old WWII bomber, with a blond bombshell pin-up girl on the sides and a gun sight built into the rock screen. Menacing teeth graphics that run along the sides and lower front are also pretty wild. Great look, and the young driver won his heat by a large margin and held his own all night. Another young gun, Allan Ballard, came down from Bakersfield to take on the “big boys”, again. This 17 year old youngster continues to improve, and he transferred from his heat to the big show and ran 19th. He has plans to go back east and run some in Indiana this summer, now that high school is out, but this low buck team could use some help like many others.

In addition to the Kruser, the “Sherminator” Jeremy Sherman and Bud Kaeding dropped in to race this week. Jeremy was in Buzz Shoemaker’s # 0 car and Bud in Harlan Willis’ # 45. Jeremy ran 2nd in his heat and finished 14th, while Bud had an unscheduled stop to unload a hot piece of metal that landed in his lap that had flown off another car. He then quietly came back to get 16th for the night. Both are outstanding drivers and welcome to come challenge CRA’s finest anytime!

The 14th annual Wagsdash will be run October 23rd at Ventura Raceway. The race itself is getting a new look for 2004, and will be bigger than ever this year. The Wagsdash, sponsored by fans and racing friends in business, will be overhauled to make it even more exciting than ever and pay more money. Look for the new format to be announced soon as the final organizational plans are in the works. Trust me, it will be hot and this weeks’ clue: everyone can look forward to being involved, as the CRA Wagsdash event steps into the 21st century with exciting new format! Brad Noffsinger has agreed to be the Grand Marshall for the event. He was one of the Ascot legends, won a championship and went off to the NASCAR world. He will return and there is no truth to the rumor he will be racing that night. Perhaps the Gardner’s can find one of his old sprinters to pace the race?

The USAC Ford Focus series has a new winner this week after former sprint car driver, Bobby Michnowicz, beat the little hot dogs at Perris. Bobby retired several years ago to devote more time to his wife and two boys, and his Timeless T’s business. Recently he decided he still wanted to race, but without the pressure, and put on a good show in his red # 21 little Focus car to win the 20 lapper.

Don Weaver and Belita Michnowicz are working on the 2nd annual Legends of Ascot event coming to Perris on August 28, 2004. The first edition was so successful, there will not be room for all this time around, so get your order in for your tickets now and go to www.legendsofascot.com for all the info.

The next CRA race is next Saturday, June 19, at the PAS, as the club will return for another chapter in the exciting 2004 season. Cory and Bud will be running the USAC Ohio Sprint week, and I will stay home for this race, then gear up for the 50 lapper on the 4th of July at the PAS.

Fast time: Steve Ostling @ 16.895. Heat winners: Charles Davis Jr, Seth Wilson, Cory Kruseman and Adam Mitchell.

CRA Main event winner: Adam Mitchell, 2) Kruseman, 3) Williams, 4) Jones, 5) Gardner 6) Spencer, 7) Gaunt, 8) Davis, 9) Ostling, 10) Venard, 11) Rutherford, 12) Cody, 13) Case, 14) Sherman, 15) Kirby, 16) Kaeding, 17) Wilson, 18) Cardey, 19) Ballard, 20) Hillberg, 21) Howard, 22) Zeihl.

Current CRA point standings: 1) Rip Williams 652, 2) Damion Gardner 601, 3) Mike Kirby 578, 4) Troy Rutherford 557, 5) Tony Jones 398, 6) Cory Kruseman 378, 7) Steve Ostling 376, 8) Brian Venard 370, 9) Jeremy Sherman 342, 10) Greg Bragg 334.