KIRBY “BORROWS” SNAP-ON TOOL CONTEST CAR TO FINISH 7TH IN MAIN EVENT.

Rip Williams put another notch in his belt on the eve of Father’s Day as he beat “The Demon”, Damion Gardner, to victory circle for another big CRA win. Perris Auto Speedway experienced another pleasant day for the appreciative crowd to view excellent racing under the bright lights. It was the 11th CRA race of the year as The Ripper marches closer to his 100th sprint car win.

Mrs Wags pics are here, and my pit walk is here.

The “Ripper” continues to lead the points and run up front as the first CRA season unfolds. For the man who drives the symbolic black # 3, and gets in the heads of all the younger drivers chasing him, no one seems to have a handle on beating him. Rip qualified third, ran second in his heat and started seventh in the 30 lap main event. Driving the John Jory Corp. / AMA Plastics / Ricks Truck Works sprinter, he methodically worked his way into the lead on lap 22 and pulled away with a flourish. He now has 30 CRA and 61 SCRA victories to go with 3 CRA this season. Can anyone stop his quest for his first championship or 100 wins? When asked if 100 would make him retire, the answer was “no”, with a big smile! He’s not done folks, so hang on.

The Demon took advantage of a late race yellow flag to overtake young Jordan Hermansader on the last lap to finish second. He made the high groove his passing lane and showcased several dramatic passes before the end. He gave the Temecula Valley Pipe & Supply / Arizona Race Mart # 50 a wild ride as he tried to catch the leader in traffic to no avail. He now is 56 points behind Ripper in the CRA points battle. Hermansader took the lead from front row starter Bobby Cody on lap four and made a charge of his own. He led until Rip caught up and passed him, but he was fast. Driving the Alexander Trucking / La Villa Restaurant # 4 to a third place finish, it was Jordan’s best finish of the year and first podium as he drives for a nice bunch of guys who work hard on the car every week.

Mike Kirby is third in points, but had some bad luck last week finishing 15th due to a wall banging incident on the last lap. His sponsor, Snap-on Tool, had their own big tool show out front for the spectators all day. During the afternoon they used his “show” car for a wheel changing contest. When Mike broke the torque tube in his # 38 coil over car during his heat, they quickly “borrowed” the pretty 4 bar styled car from the display, and put him in it at the back of the Semi. He transferred from there and started 22nd in the main event. Then he set sail for the front and worked his way up to 7th earning the “Weld Hard Charger” award for the night. Great job in the pristine new car that was only run once before and that at Ventura. It’s a little different than the coil voer he has been driving mostly.

Brian Venard put on another great show this week as he ran third up until the last yellow flag flew with three laps to go. About that time he lost a torsion bar and he held on to the evil handling car for fifth place. They found the missing piece against the track wall after the race ended. Gary W Howard set fast time at 16.788 on the night and finished 13th as the track went away from his set-up. Last weeks winner, Adam Mitchell, came thru the Semi to finish 9th this week as the glow of winning was still fueling him. Steve Venard brought out a brand new TCR to run as he has changed teams now. The car worked just fine as he led his heat until the very end when it appeared to smoke on a restart and he fell back to 4th at the end. There was some concern about the motor, so he dropped out for the evening, vowing to come back next time. No word on Super Rickie Gaunt and Charles Davis Jr not showing after vowing to come back and challenge the CRA again this week. Rumor was they were refreshing the cars for the SCRA Barona race this coming week.

The CRA will have a week off to get ready for the 50 lapper at Perris on July 3rd. This race features one of the best fireworks displays on the west coast and the crowds pack the stands to see great racing and the bonus fireworks display. In the meantime, Perris will feature Midgets and rumor has it Cory Kruseman will be there driving Andy Bondio’s car. Troy Rutherford and a few other hot shoe’s should make for a great night of racing.

Danny Sheridan continues to beat up on the Bandit boys, winning again this week in his 360 car at Hanford. Jay Drake won the Ohio Speedweek finale at Eldora in the Tony Stewart sponsored car. Bud Kaeding and Josh Wise won the other two races, a 4th at Fremont was rained out, as the West Coast stars swept the victories.

On the home front, no news on my pending retirement, or offers on the house, so status quo there. As for the Wagsdash, it is getting nearer to announcement time on the new Wagsdash format. I have talked the idea around and am waiting for feedback. I expect to make an announcement next week. This weeks clue? My goal is for the race to pay $5000 to win so you can tell it will be a big challenge to raise the money needed for this new deal! It will probably be called Wags “Big Dawg” Dash to fit the new format. Are you a Big Dawg?

CRA heat winners were: Ballard, Ostling and Sherman and Rutherford won the Semi.

CRA A FEATURE: (30 laps) Starting spots in ( )
1. (7th) Rip Williams, 2. (6th) Damion Gardner, 3. (3rd) Jordan Hermansader, 4. (10th) Troy Rutherford, 5. (4th) Brian Venard, 6. (1st) Tony Jones, 7. (22nd) Mike Kirby (#38J), 8. (8th) Steve Ostling, 9. (11th)Adam Mitchell, 10. (2nd) Bobby Cody, 11. (19th) Ronnie Case, 12. (12th) Greg Bragg, 13. (9th) Gary W. Howard, 14. (13th) Seth Wilson, 15. (5th) Jeremy Sherman, 16. (18th) Alan Ballard, 17. (17th) Rodney Argo, 18. (15th) Rick Ziehl, 19. (21st) Jack DeArmond, 20. (20th) Dan Hillberg, 21. (14th) David Cardey, 22. (16th) J. Hicks. FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-3 Cody, Laps 4-21 Hermansader, Laps 22-30 Williams.
NEW VALVOLINE USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Williams-723; 2-Gardner-667; 3-Kirby-621; 4-Rutherford-615; 5-Jones-448; 6-Ostling-428; 7-B.Venard-422; 8-Cory Kruseman-378; 9-Sherman-374; 10-Bragg-364.

NEXT VALVOLINE USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: July 3- - Perris (CA) Auto Speedway