By Ken Wagner
June 7, 2008

On a night set up to recognize our veterans at the PAS, the racing turned out to be the fiercest battle in recent times as if they were fighting a war on the dirt like our troops are fighting abroad to protect us here in America. It was so fierce that all the sage sergeants on the track had one more punch left after they took one on the chin. In the end Super Rickie Gaunt was all alone on the top of the victory stand celebrating with his kids. Thirty laps of incredible "TAKE THIS", NO, YOU TAKE THIS", and it was a WAR!

The pics are here Click here. Doug Allen's Pics Click here.

It all started out in the Main Event with Super Rickie on the front row with David Cardey as they rolled out of the fourth turn green flag start. Dyn-O-mite David jumped to a quick lead in his "NEW" # 38 Glenn Crossno owned red car heading to turn one and then "it" started. Super Rickie went low down the front stretch and laid a huge slider up in front of "DD" Cardey and took the lead. Cardey wasn't done, not by any stretch of the imagination, as he quickly returned the favor with a wicked version of his own, and the battle was on!

Super Rickie only led 5 of the 30 laps, lap 4 and the last 4, but what he started with his bold early shot, was copied by not less than the top five many times over during the rest of the race. Rickie hadn’t had much love from this new Gardner "Chalk chassied" car created in honor of the Senior Jack Gardner, until now! When he was pushed back to third, he had the best view of the battles until he took over in the end and won his first race of the year. It tied him with Billy Wilkerson's total of 21 wins and is 18th on the all time So Cal list of winner's behind leader Rip Williams at 104. Rickie showed em' how it was done early, settled back and watched them replicate his successful shots, until he took his final shot, another monster slider on the last leader Danny Sheridan and continued that low monster the last few laps to protect himself for his big win.

Danny Sheridan probably drove his best race of his life without winning, but came oh so close. He started 6th on the main event grid and moved quickly into second place by dodging and sliding his way thru the early challengers with many giving and taking monster shots. On one of those thrusts he had an aggressive car behind him almost drove him sideways out of turn two to the point of no return, but he manned up and continued on. He then took the hard nosed Cardey on a slider at lap 21, but Cardey came right back two laps later to again regain the lead he was determined to keep. The two battled for a few laps before Danny made another move on David. Up to this point, everyone had done the right thing in either backing off or barely clearing the offending sliders. Not this time as both drivers were thinking "it's mine", but Danny was in the lead coming around turn two just ahead of David and David didn't let off. What have we learned from the book of sprint car racing? The famous crossover and come under him is some times the best move. The end result was Cardey and Danny came together and Cardey took a ride. It was over quickly as the red # 38 came to a stop and David climbed out unhurt. Danny slowed knowing what happened and the red came out. The restart happened and the last Super Rickie Slider put Danny in exactly the same spot he just put David in, but he backed off and lost two spots, but recovered to take second on a last second blast to the finish line. Great job by the man in the blue Kittle Kar and his apology after the race over the PA was heartfelt, but remember Gladiators never apologized in there racing days.

Garrett Hansen was a close third after a very aggressive 30 laps in his own # 7 car this week. Garrett's skills continue to be showcased and his youth makes him look even more aggressive, but he still puts his nose in every skirmish and tonight was no exception. He never gave an inch and used "Rickie's slider" on several occasions and fought hard for the podium in the Hansen sponsored car. Obviously the night’s racing action had many heroes, of which he was one, if nothing else for being able to survive in the best battle at Perris this year in my mind. An amazing job by the young lion, but he needs to calm down a little because he is trying to put his hat in the ring for most improved and/or one of the new pain's in the butt's of our racing. It's a good thing as we need all the heroes we can get with the low car counts making a buzz in our fun and he can be very good when he's cool.

David Cardey was the man tonight as he took over the driving of Glenn Crossno's billboard # 38 racecar. A lot more pressure than his former # 83, but he was very impressive until he took the flyer two thirds of the way in the race. Before that he was fighting for every inch and doing it well. This should not be a mark against him as he was trying to win and this time he didn't, but Dirty Danita's favorite driver will be winning soon in this car.

It was a night that wasn't without spectacular crashes, including Cardey's wild ride. The first crash happened in the line-up for the first heat when Joe Gunderson got into the wall hard and put a serious hurt on the # 23 car so he was done. When the main started it didn't take long before the big Ford in Rodney Argo's car gave up going down the back stretch and as he slowed he pulled over to the wall in turn three. One car just missed him perched there and then Tyler Brown came on toward the stalled car and clipped it sending himself into a quick side ways roll that went on too long before he stopped and crawled out. He was fine, the car a little battered. Later young Cody Williams got his dad's ride into a snap roll that he climbed right out of. Don’t know if he had help, but it was too bad as his high school friends were in the stands with the family to watch before they graduate together on Tuesday of this week. He continues to impress as he started in the 2nd row this week a result of his strong improvement since he jumped in the Jory car this season replacing his famous father.

Mike Spencer seems to be wearing a hard luck banner as once again the gremlins got him starting with a flat tire on the first incident that sent him to the back. It became twice when he went back again later after the team was still working on the car after the horn on another red flag stop. He came back to finish 6th on a great drive. They just can't keep getting these maladies can they? Don't worry the little red sucker is still coming!

It has recently dawned on me that I wonder what everyone is thinking about when they come to the track and there is such a demand for their extra money? Perris has supported the drivers in the grandstands with their helmets for cancer, the motorcycle drawing, this weeks Veteran's celebration and fund raiser of over $5000, the new driver point fund donation collections, the Tony Jones push truck drivers gas money efforts, the new Ralphie hard luck collections, and even a little Wagsbucks on occasion when it's appropriate. It's hard to relate to the demand that I add to the picture as I continue to support the racers as I have for the last 20 years, but it is different now. Since the horrendous 911 disaster, the donation world really has changed as there isn't the money available that there was and there are many more requests for it to go to. This year the 18th annual Wagsdash will happen again, but it's not the same as I am not the only one out there trying to help our low buck drivers. Good luck to all the racer efforts going on, they certainly can use it. I will continue to do my thing and those who wish to help will, so lets get on with the good stuff.

Over the years, there are many who support the Wagsbucks and Wagsdash on a regular basis. This includes the Wagtimer’s who work hard and support the annual event all year in financial means plus toiling to make it happen on race day. Even though I don't stand around with my clipboard to collect at each race like the old days, there are still fans that see me and put some green in my palm often and are special to me and the Wagtimes for the help. I am very thankful for them all and also to the many racing businesses that support the Wagsdash every year with their much needed funds like the Jory Corp, ITI Performance, Timeless Ent, Trophy City of San Jose, Don Flanders, JAF photos, Tear off Heaven Fotos, Ondo Financial, Thunderhead, Gardner Motorsports, Kittle Motorsports, Spintech Mufflers, Carpet Coop, Hoseheads, Bach Racing, Agromin, Ventura Raceway, and yes many many more that include other racing photographers, I couldn't do it without you. Anyway, Wagtimes is still here and only the travel distance to the races for me is different, but my heart is still with the racers and our helping them.

There is one name that I didn't mention who committed to me that he would give me $20 at every race and I can't miss any races because of him. Roy Kischell is a special fan who went to Ascot and tracks all over the country with his dad for years and years. He still runs K & K Company, and supports racing that he too loves. I wish I had 100 like him, the Wagsdash would be even better. He is always telling me things from the past that I had no idea about.

This race was good for everybody, hands down!!! Given that car counts are down in the USAC/CRA world and we need a shot in the arm for our beloved sport. I saw that Danny's incident with David brought out a lot of venom that has been missing in recent times and let me tell you why. When you don't have a dominant driver for everyone to vent on, like one of our past champions I miss one Damion Gardner who had vociferous fans on both love him and hate him sides. Without that, the fans are stuck cheering for their one favorite and his good or bad luck that night. They only are infused when he does extra good or someone gets into his action, even if it is their favorite drivers fault. So case in point, Danny slid David and there was a bad crash, but if you were watching this race, you knew someone was going to get hurt and it was David. But replaying the 30 laps it could have been any one of five other drivers who were playing the man game tonight. David drove a great race and made that one instant decision that bit him, but the bottom line is we haven't had any reason for the crowd to go nuts in a while and they have been setting on their hands. So there were the mean spirited ones in the stands and later in the pits doing that shame on you stuff, but it’s a reaction and we need that!

Think about this!!! One of the main reasons we are struggling is the perception of what one of my friends in the stands explained last night by saying "we have the original Extreme Sports right here on the dirt track in front of us, and we have for decades, why can't people see that?" And that in a nutshell is what is hurting our racing. Well, it doesn’t help when potential grandstand fans stay home to watch NASCAR or INDY car on the boob tube when they could be LIVE with us. They don’t get worked up enough with what they hear, what they see, what they read or what advertising that spreads sprint car racing to the masses. We, and I include racers, promoters, sponsors, fans and the press types i.e me, don't bring new people, or even many of the old people, to the grandstands like we should. I've said it before, I don't have a clue on how to make it better, but it ain't broke what we have, it's just not growing like it should. Perris is one of the finest facilities in the land and is ready for overflow crowds for the best racing there is, and we can't make it happen on a regular basis. That goes for some of our other tracks we go to. Santa Maria is one of the neatest tracks in California. The little bowl provides action and excitement as it has for years and years, yet we don’t take many fans and certainly not enough cars there, so what do we do. Will you go up there this week? I will so come join me and see some great racing! The question everyone is struggling with is why aren't they flocking in to see “our” greatest show on dirt and what's it going to take to make it happen?

I have to admit I enjoyed the race this week a ton and hope there are more like it in the future. You know racing with men trying to win and fans getting involved to support them. You know the fans who were there had to go and tell someone the excitement they saw this week, won’t they! OK, OK I’m done, but I got a little amped up after realizing everything I saw this week and it was the best of racing, even with only 23 cars. Let’s get moving, we got a lot of racing to go and we need more cars, more fans and some enthusiasm out of everyone! Support your racers as best you can and we can be friends still.

Thanks to all who asked about my back which was unbelievably bad for 10 days. Today was my best day since I picked up one small TV for just a few seconds and was down for the count too long. No more crutches for me thanks.

FEATURE: (30 laps - With Starting Positions) 1. Rickie Gaunt (1st), 2. Danny Sheridan (6th), 3. Garrett Hansen (5th), 4. Tony Jones (8th), 5. Josh Ford (9th), 6. Mike Spencer (7th), 7. Cory Kruseman (22nd), 8. Blake Miller (11th), 9. Alan Ballard (12th), 10. Nic Faas (18th), 11. Alex Schutte (19th), 12. Eric Severson (13th), 13. Henry Clarke (16th), 14. Luis Espinoza (20th), 15. Austin Mero (17th), 16. Jordan Hermansader (14th), 17. J.J. Ercse (15th), 18. Brein Kinney (21st), 19. David Cardey (2nd), 20. Cody Williams (3rd), 21. Rodney Argo (4th), 22. Tyler Brown (10th). NT.

*Joe Gunderson Flipped During Heat Race 1. **Tyler Brown, Cody Williams, and David Cardey Flipped During The Feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-3 Cardey, Lap 4 Gaunt, Laps 5-20 Cardey, Laps 21-22 Sheridan, Laps 23-25 Cardey, Laps 26-30 Gaunt.

NEW USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Kruseman-639; 2-Spencer-624; 3-Miller-567; 4-Sheridan-558; 5-Hansen-556; 6-Brown-414; 7-T.Jones-411; 8-Ford-366; 9-Levi Jones-350; 10-Cardey-339.

NEXT USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: June 14 – Santa Maria (CA) Speedway