In the old days, the mean and nasty cowboy gunslingers met in the middle of the narrow dirt streets of many frontier towns and settled their differences with speed and reflexes. The times have changed, but really nothing has changed. It will be a shootout on the NWWC Tour when Richard Griffin and Damion Gardner square off at Hollywood Hills Speedway in Albuquerque, and continue on thru a nine race series of traditional sprint car racing in August. The only difference will be instead of six shooters, the Demon and the Gasman will use 410 bullets and rely on lightning quick reflexes to prove who is the baddest of the cowboys in SCRA.

My pics, limited as they are, of this weeks action in absence of Mrs wags, are right here.

Before the mighty SCRA goes on the road, there was a little matter of one/two more races before the haulers headed out of town. With the postponed feature from the 4/26 race ready to kick the night off, the double header would bring out a good crowd and the two 30 lappers were like night and day, so different. In the first one, it didn’t take the Demon long to pass Rip Williams and scoot on to his 7th win of the year, and now 11 lifetime wins with SCRA. It was a pretty spirited race with Gardner clearly the man to beat once he took the lead, yet the Gasman was up to the challenge until a late race yellow for another car happened. Richard pulled into the work area with a flat tire after the line-up was looking ready to go. They went ahead and restarted without him! I won’t relay the comments I heard after the race from many, but as Bubby Jones told me many times, you don’t leave your heroes in the pits when they can go! Richard’s crew had him ready quickly and they didn’t wait for him, so his fans were unhappy, and so was he!!! Damion went on to win in the Willis Machine, TCR, Gaerte # 45 with little difficulty and looked fast in doing it.

Rip Williams driving the AMA Plastics, Tomarco Fasteners Systems, Weld Wheels, # 3, chased him to the end, well almost as he suddenly ran out of fuel before the finish line and dropped to third at the checkered flag. Rip was fast until the very end. The forever bridesmaid, Steve Ostling had his 5th runner-up finish this season in the Stress Relief Eng. Feese Solid Surface Spec., Angell & Giroux, # 29, as he continues to run up front with this unexpected position move up. Steve’s attitude is cool as he continues to make the blue and white car a constant threat and one wonders when he is going to get the win this year.

While the Gasman stewed over his missed opportunity, the regular portion of the night began with qualifying and the regular show. The Gasman was already mad over the last race ending and his attitude on the track showed it! He was 2nd quick behind the Rip Williams and finished 2nd in the JE Pistons Passing Masters Dash behind the Demon to start on the front row of the 30 lap main. Whoa baby! The first start showcased Gardner to the front, then Griffin putting his slider on him in turn three and Damion crossing over to get back the lead as ………. a yellow flag flew. Whew! Richard took charge on the next start and began moving the Temecula Valley Pipe and Supply, Arizona Race Mart, Circle C Marketing, # 50 away from his nemesis. Within two laps, Gardner came around with his right rear wheel without the cover and packed with mud. With a bouncing right rear tire, he looked resigned to the pits as he slowed when a yellow came out from an incident in turn 4. He was still moving slowly down the backstretch when Tony Jones wheel came off causing him to flip, and quickly changing the flag to red. The Cowboy was fine and running in 2nd at the time, so we don’t know if he had enough to catch the Gasman, but he was on the move. The woe is me syndrome visits many in the pits and Tony just can’t seem to exorcise the gremlins, but he will because he had his spurs on this week and was going forward.

This changed things because now the Demon would have time to change the tire and resume in 3rd, instead of being parked in the pit. It didn’t get much better for him really, but first he took 2nd from Rip and began chasing down the determined Gasman. With a few laps to go Damion made his move. He had been moving a little closer each lap until he cut low into turn one and came up in front of Richard coming out of two. Then the key point of the race happened when he moved over in front of Richard. There looked like plenty of room, but the Gasman was hard on the gas and quickly closed the distance between them and ran into the black car sending him up on the two left wheels, with the other two up on the wall. When Damion came down on all four wheels, he slowed with a flat right rear tire and went to the work area. He got back in to finish 13th, but any chance of a sweep was gone. Richard ran pretty much uncontested to the checkered from here, winning his 47th SCRA race and 61st CRA/SCRA total.

In victory circle an animated Gasman went off for three reasons! (1) He was mad about last weeks slide job by Damion that pushed him to third, (2) he was mad about not being allowed back in the first feature, and (3) he was mad about drivers who continue to go by him and slide up in his groove. Of course that is racing as we all know it for eons, and Richard has been on both ends of the slide jobs, so one would thing his frustration on dealing with the Demon is probably the crux of the whole deal. Richard was the most animated I have ever seen him after a race. Usually, he calmly has a drink and gives me that sneaky smile and says we’ll get em’ next time. NO, not this week, as he was the aggressive Gasman of old, showing some fire. Damion accepted this with his usual attitude and confidence that he will win out the next time. The war is on and we get to watch. The next race will be what it will be as he hasn’t backed down yet, and relishes the competition. In fact, there is no backing down in this 2nd year driver, as he has proved time and time again. It will make the tour a great battlefield as these two have much respect for each others driving ability and just want to win! Makes you want to go on the tour, ehhh?

Troy Rutherford took a run on the Gasman late, but fell short in the Roy Miller Freight Lines, Sander, Vital Express, # 7 and got his 16th top five finish of the 19 races run so far. He said the yellow flags hurt him as his tire was perfect, then cooled off during the lull and it took too long to get going again. Troy continues to run consistent and now is only 41 points behind the Gasman’s total for the championship. Steve Ostling got third and the overall mythical “champion” of the night. He said the car just didn’t seem to respond like normal, but his wheel sawing routine worked very well as he climbed the podium twice in one night. Too bad he will be staying home for the tour as the Fischer Motorsports team will save the money and invest in their car for the rest of the season. Actually, they are out of spares as the last month has been particularly tweaky with their spares. Just another great driver who can do it in the dirt so well.

Adam Mitchell had a good pair of fives for his night as he continues to open some eyes with his impressive driving. Both features had him on the move as he worked the field and showed off more of what he has been doing in this, his best season so far in his career. Two finishes in the top five show his improvement continues as the white charger seems to be working perfectly for him. Like many teams, more sponsorship can only make it better. Until recently he wasn’t going on tour. Now, he will drive Ben Lancaster’s # 14 and that should be fun.

The SCRA general membership meeting went off at 3 PM in the pits. President Ron Shuman discussed some items about the tour and warned the travelers to buy tires to cover at least the first race. He also noted the USAC races will have a 1200 pound minimum weight rule, with the rest the normal 1250. The Oskaloosa race will pay $ 500 to start, an increase over last year at the $30,000 to win event in Iowa.

I had no help, with Mrs Wags desertion, so didn’t get a chance to pass out the weekly Wagtimes Shiny tire awards. So sometime as soon as we get home from the long trip, the following will get their bottle: Jimmy Crawford and Rip Williams for the first feature, then Dan Hillberg and Rickie Gaunt the 2nd one. All my girls were busy or gone and the tires stood out. In light of the fewer Wagsbucks presentations this season with out minimum $200 payout, , I have added two more to the Wagsdash list due to their on track troubles the last two races. Steve Venard and Dan Hillberg will be invited to the 13th annual race at Ventura on October 18th. With only 10 pencilled in, we will continue to add to the field when appropriate.

The annual Ellen Ellis calendar is taking shape as we added sponsorship on each monthly page. Anyone wanting to sponsor their favorite car in the top 12, let us know, it’s only $100 and we have a few spots left. This year Mrs Wags is creating the best one yet with her new found talents, and it will be available the holiday weekend double header at the end of August. It goes to press while we are on tour, so don’t hiccup, she will finalize it within two weeks. Like always, ALL the money goes into the Wagsdash race.

As of today, I have quietly collected over $2300 for the NWWC Tour. Thank you to all have contributed, the racers will thank you. I will collect throughout the tour as we go along, so look for me, remember it is not a cheap trip. And to whoever keeps telling people I am not going, that has never been a question, only transportation was an issue. I’ll try to publish the list of who is going, but so far the top ten, minus Ostling, are probably going to be there with many more. Mel Murphy, Alan Ballard, Jimmy Crawford, Mike Spencer are some I think are going. Mike Kirby is going only to the first race in Buzz Shoemaker’s # 0, but they will come back home after that one. Others are doing part of the two week long series to keep the costs down. Levi Jones will be driving Glenn Crossno’s # 38. If haven’t decided to help yet, think about this. Haulers gettiing 5 to 7 miles per gallon, going at least 6,000 miles times $1.50 average equals $1500 minimum. Then add motels, food, phone calls, well you get the picture. Get involved.

Indiana Sprint week finished with the West Coast boys doing quite well and J J Yeley really cutting a wide swath through the field back there. He won 4 races, tying the all time USAC win total of 19, and continues to make the rest chase him. Jay Drake was 2nd in points as he had a good series. The half I saw was highly entertaining and it makes me think the tour would be more interesting if the dates were covering this week. For the “west coast” driver results click here.

A Lealand McSpadden story, about his latest condition, was in an Arizona paper this week. The story pretty well explains the strength and courage the Tempe Tornado is showing under this bad situation. Check here to read about the Hall of Famer we all are praying for: http://www.azcentral.com/sports/speed/0725mcspadden0725.html.

See you at the PAS watching the VRA this week and packing for the lonely tour as Mrs Wags used up all her vacation time, so has to stay home.

A FEATURE (30 laps - from 4/26 event)
1. Damion Gardner. 2. Steve Ostling. 3. Rip Williams, 4. Tony Jones. 5. Adam Mitchell. 6. Rickie Gaunt. 7. Troy Rutherford. 8. Josh Ford. 9, Seth Wilson, 10. Bobby Graham, 11. Brian Venard. 12. Lance Gremett. 13. Greg Bragg. 14. Jimmy Crawford. 15. Alan Ballard. 16. Mike English. 17. Bobby Cody. 18, Verne Sweeney. 19. Rodney Argo. 20. Steve Venard. 21. Richard Griffin. 22. Dan Hillberg. Laps Led: Williams 1-3, Gardner 4-30

A FEATURE (30 Laps)
1. Richard Griffin. 2. Troy Rutherford. 3. Steve Ostling. 4. Rickie Gaunt. 5. Adam Mitchell. 6. Alan Ballard. 7. Jordan Hermansader. 8. Gary W. Howard. 9. Bobby Graham. 10. Cary Faas. 11. Danny Sheridan. 12. Josh Ford. 13. Damion Gardner. 14. Lance Gremett. 15. Seth Wilson. 16. Mark Nation. 17. Mark Heidenreich. 18. Bobby Cody. 19. Rip Williams. 20, Tony Jones. 21. Dan Hillberg. 22, Greg Bragg. Laps Led: Griffin 1-30

As always, look for my correction/additions on Monday night, as I never get it right the first time!

SCRA Points

1. Richard Griffin Silver City NM 17 1155, 2. T'roy Rutherford Ojai CA 17 1114, 3. Damion Gardner Concord CA 17 1059, 4. Rip Williams Yorba Linda CA 17 958, 5. Steve Ostling Corona CA 17 859, 6. Rickie Gaunt Torrance CA 16 803, 7. Mike Spencer Temecula CA 16 749, 8. Adam Mitchell Escondido CA 16 601 9. Tony Jones Garden Grove CA 16 594, 10. Mike English Norwalk CA 15 578, 11. Josh Ford (R) Camarillo CA 17 513, 12. Alan Ballard (R) Bakersfield CA 17 432, 13. Verne Sweeney Lomita CA 16 431, 14. Lance Gremett San Marcos CA 15 385, 15. Levi Jones Olney IL 9 374, 16. Bobby Cody Costa Mesa CA 16 342, 17. Brian Venard Irvine CA 12 335, 18. Bryan Stanfill (R) Bakersfield CA 16 330, 19. Seth Wilson (R)San Clemente CA 17 329, 20. Jimmy Crawford (R) Ventura CA 17 306.