By Ken Wagner
June 15, 2009

Santa Maria always brings a smile to my face every time I make the trip over there, as opposed to up there like it was before when I lived in California. The small oval has provided some of the most thrilling moments over the 30 years I have been attending races there. From my initial visits as a fan sitting way up on the dirt hill that provided a marvelous view of a busy scene that included watching the fans stream in and around below, watching the highway as haulers rolled in and the wild racing on the little bull ring, to today’s long ride from my Las Vegas retreat, where I report from today. No matter what, it is always good at Santa Maria Speedway. This week saw another packed house arrive for the drama provided by the USAC/CRA and they were not disappointed, and yet some were disappointed, depending on your perspective. If you were in Garrett Hansen’s camp, it was all good! If you were a hometown Danny Sheridan fan, it was all bad.

For my pics Click here. For the Doug Allen pics Click here for them.

The bump and run technique was never so evident as it was at Santa Maria this week after feature winner Garrett Hansen used this maneuver to spring board his # 7 Mark Priestley owned car to his first win of the season. Starting on the pole in the 30 lap main, he had his friend Danny Sheridan outside him as they began the race. Danny had won the previous week at Santa Maria from the same spot, so there was anticipation by the Kittle Blue Krew they might make it two in a row at Danny’s home track. Unfortunately, on the second start of the main event after a red flag stop, Danny took the lead under the green and they headed down the backstretch with Garrett right alongside him. Going into turn three, Garrett slid under Showtime and it quickly went downhill from there. The savvy veteran Sheridan backed off after the move and let him have the low line and the lead, then gassed it hard on the top groove where he was running. Danny intended to race by Garrett moving down the front stretch and retake the lead. Unfortunately Danny didn’t have that chance as Garrett wheeled it wide into four, drifted up and banged Danny into the wall, hard! A bad tumble by the little blue bugger ripped off the fuel cell and battered the fast # 18, but Danny was out of the car and immediately looking for his friend on the front stretch. After a lot of frustrated anger, and while officials tried to restrain Danny, Showtime still got himself positioned directly in front of the offender ‘s car where he vehemently pointed his finger and chastised Garrett with some already bottled up rage from times before. Then with class not normally associated with an unhappy driver, he headed to the pits, his night done as the wrecker took the pieces back to his pit for his crew to inspect and load up. This hard luck team could use some luck and some new sponsors as the cash drawer and budget line are not enough in this economic low tide times. Actually, they are not the only big team who could use the help. Remember, it might seem like much, but if you have it to give no matter how much, they can use it!

On the next restart Rip Williams took the lead this time and stretched it out for 5 laps before Garrett surged by. What a fitting tribute it would have been for Rip to have won this one as he was just back from his induction into the Knoxville Hall of Fame last week, but alas, it was not to be. Garrett took the lead and then the action shifted behind him. Back there the point leaderBlake Miller looked to be the fastest driver on the track and my expectations were he was going to win the way he was coming forward. But, as he was charging hard, a bad decision by a car in front of him on where the passing lane was around a lap car, did him in when he couldn’t avoid the decision maker, and slammed him , then ended up against the K-Rail. Mike Spencer was fast all night, especially when he would diamond off the top of turn two cushion and rocket forward passing cars as he went. He never got close enough to Garret to make a charge, but finished a strong 2nd.It sure looks like the new car is coming in fast for Bruce Bromme Jr and his crew. By the way Bruce has recovered nicely formt he major surgery to repair his shoulder last year. He still has another shoulder problem, but says until the insurance deal is done, he can wait t fix it.

Nobody had anything left for the plain jane # 7 car and Garrett continued on to the checkers for his first win of the year, and 4th of his career. He had commented to me earlier in the day on how much more fun racing a midget was, in the smaller less horsepower version of the open wheelers. He leads the USAC midget points and now has made another mark in the sprinters. In the winner’s circle Garrett apologized for the shunt and said he felt bad for what happened.

DynOmite David Cardey made his fifth straight appearance in the top five as he ran hard from his 11th starting spot to get on the podium in third place. Since returning to the Glenn Crossno red # 38, he has been on the gas and running up front every time out. He made some dramatic moves to get thru the traffic and was fun to watch. He jumped into a 22 point lead over Mike Spencer this week in the CRA points lead for the championship. David has a very determined look in his eye as he belts in the red car each week.

Richard VanderWeerd is one of the twins who ran their 360’s at Perris a few weeks back and impressed many. He had fast time tonight at 14.440 and he was quick all night and finished 9th. His brother Jace was 22nd after a spin. John Adenthe talented chassis builder, driver and small track Victorville proprietor had some bad luck tonight as he started off the main with a barrel roll into the turn one fence to end his night.Rodney Argo got tangled up in the Hansen/Sheridan shunt and was also done for the night. Dan “Hollywood” Faria was fun to watch as he took his twitchy sprinter to a 4th place finish on a great drive. Matt Mitchell came from 21st starting spot all the way up to 8th for the hard charger award this week.

This week’s heat race winners were Cody Williams, John Aden and Greg Bragg. Cody went on to run 11th and gets bragging rights for the week with brother Austin who was 18th after some problems. John was unlucky in the main, as he was the first car out. Greg started 18th and came forward to 7th, even though he and Ripper got together under the checkered flag as the race ended.

The Gardner’s have made a cutback this week as they brought only two cars out to race. For now Tyler Brown and Rickie Gaunt’s rides are parked. Ronnie Gardner and Blake Miller drove the # 96 and # 93 cars this week. Ronnie was 17th and Blake 16th as both experienced problems and dropped out. With the family Gardner Mechanical business showing the economically rough times in their shop these days, it is not know nwhen the other two cars will be back out as business is getting more attention than racing at this point.

With 24 cars in the house, it was three heats and a 30 lap main, but some stout racing was worth the drive from sin city. The low car count was augmented by a dozen stock cars, and about the same Lightning non wing sprints and some TQ’s. It gave me time to visit with a lot of old friends that I don’t see away from Santa Maria. Thanks to all who saw the hat and came by to say hi. Pat & LeeAnn Normoyle came to see the action. It’s always fun to be around these two!

One such person is the long lost Lynn “Hot Rod” Anderson who was last seen at Perris years ago driving in that ill fated 7 lap Wagsdash we all remember from 1997 in a car highlighted by polka dots. He crashed and sprint cars were history for a while for him. He resurfaced with a new girl friend named Angelica whose bright eyed attitude has obviously been good for him. He painted that famous polka dot helmet we auctioned off years ago that I wanted. You know the one my friend Randy Shiosaki stole from me, but have tried to talk him out of it for years. Lynn has offered to duplicate it, so as soon as I find a white racing helmet, he says it’s a done deal. Anyway, Lynn has been riding motocross, the veteran’s class, while his 14 year old son is pushing his envelope on a bike of his own. Angelica also rides, but wouldn’t admit to being better than Hot Rod and his son. Also as his car owner, Angelica has a 360 sprinter she lets him drive at Santa Maria, when the cash is right. Looking for a sponsor, Angelica? He has always been a low buck racer and received Wagsbucks in the past. He actually brought me a few bucks with the comment he was “giving back”. Awesome!

My traveling friend D J Everett made the trip with me from Vegas on the 12 hour turnaround this week. I think I wore him out. D J recently moved from North Carolina to Las Vegas and is starting to work this week. His fortunes have turned a bit as he won the 50/50 drawing at SM for a tune of $445!!! That should help his budget a bit.

A huge get well message goes out to Big Steve Kimmel, my longtime truck driver friend who just underwent a double bypass surgery last week. He is home, sore, and sounding great. He hopes to get back to racing soon. Big Steve has been calling me for, and to give, racing updates for a long time. He said maybe the 4th of July race will be his coming out party.

6/13/09 FEATURE: (30 laps - With Starting Positions)

1. Garrett Hansen (1st), 2. Mike Spencer (3rd), 3. David Cardey (11th), 4. Danny Faria Jr. (6th), 5. Cory Kruseman (5th), 6. Rip Williams (4th), 7. Greg Bragg (18th), 8. Matt Mitchell (21st), 9. Richard VanderWeerd (8th), 10. Josh Ford (10th), 11. Cody Williams (22nd), 12. Jonathan Logan (15th), 13. Mathew Shedarowich (19th), 14. Hobie Conway (24th), 15. Alan Ballard (9th), 16. Blake Miller (7th), 17. Ronnie Gardner (14th), 18. Austin Williams (13th), 19. Ludvig Solberg IV (17th), 20. John Butler (23rd), 21. Danny Sheridan (2nd), 22. Jace VanderWeerd (12th), 23. Rodney Argo (16th), 24. John Aden (20th). NT.

USAC/CRA Points as of 6/15/09 1 David Cardey 360, 2 Mike Spencer 338, 3 Blake Miller 338, 4 Garrett Hansen 334, 5 Greg Bragg 288, 6 Danny Sheridan 279, 7 Cory Kruseman 231, 8 Rip Williams 228, 9 Matt Mitchell 221, 10 Tyler Brown 191

NEXT LUCAS OIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: June 20, 2009 – Petaluma Speedway, Petaluma, CA