Rip Williams finishes second for the third race in a row..

Mike Kirby beat point leader, Rip Williams, for the second week in a row and won his fifth Valvoline USAC/CRA race in the 18th event of the season. Kirby led all 30 laps at Perris Auto Speedway and in the winners circle said about Rip “he raced me clean all night and if I don’t win the championship, I hope he does.” Kirby now is in second place in the championship race, less than 100 points behind Ripper. The top three in points all won their heats this week and set the stage for another shootout night of racing, but one of them didn’t finish the main.

Mrs Wags pics are ready. Click here.

Kapt Kirby drove the red # 38 Snap on Tools, Sander, ITI Performance car to the lead from his second row outside starting position before the first lap was complete. From there he had a shadow, the Ripper, following him to the very end. Mike stayed on the bottom except for a few lap cars that forced him up to get by them, and looked comfortable in front for the second week in a row.

Rip Williams drove the wheels off his John Jory Corp, AMA Plastics, Ricks Truck Works # 3 Stinger, and took a commanding points lead with the last third of the season yet to come. Rip closed on Kirby hard at the end, but couldn’t make the pass for the win as he finished second for the third straight race. He continues to drive towards what would be his first ever championship with heady track action.

Young Mike Spencer made a run at the two leaders and settled for third with some smooth moves in the Spenco Machine, TCR Performance, Del Mar Wire # 44. Mike’s busy schedule this season has included running back East in Indiana USAC events. It has kept him lower on the points list than he normally is, but when he is in town, he is a factor in each race.

Damion Gardner’s championship trail got derailed a bit this week when he biked it in the main event and then rode up on the wall for 50 feet or so. When he came down off it, the front end was mangled and he was done for the night.Tony Jones was another hard luck racer this week after setting fast time in qualifying at 17.337. He said the car was running great with new sponsors coming on to support the team, but a small fire caused by a malfunctioning fuel nozzle, ended his night, especially after he tagged the backstretch wall. Jordan Hermansader had his hands full in the Alexander Trucking car when something broke in his heat and he ran straight into the wall. There was too much damage to repair, so they had to load up and wait for next week when sometimes teammate, Cory Kruseman, returns to run the other team car. Cory won at Joliet, Illinois on Friday night.

Bobby Cody gets a big hoorah this week as he was second quick in qualifying, ran second in his heat and then a strong sixth in the main. You could hear the rev limiter, that squabbles weird when he hits the track hard, all night as he was on the gas. He stayed out of trouble this week and the results were very satisfying. David Cardey won his heat this week as he continues to improve in his rookie year. He went on to finish 15th in the main event. Troy Rutherford jumped in the Black Widow Racing back-up car this week and finished fifth in the main. Troy’s regular ride, Mark Priestly’s # 7 is in need of repair after a tumble last week at Ventura. The Sled Chassis was familiar to “Rambo” because he drove one for the Gardner’s a few years ago, then bought the car and later sold it to Nadine Keller, who drives it now!

It appears two Rick’s tied for the hard charger this week as both Rick Ziehl and visiting Rick Williams passed nine cars. Williams was eighth so he probably gets the nod, but the official word hasn’t trickled down to me yet.

Wagsdash plans are still moving forward for the October 16th date at Ventura Raceway. I am still looking for sponsors for the annual Wagsdash T-shirt that goes to press next week. There are a few $500 spots open and some $300 and $200 with all the money going to the racers on race day. Get involved and help out. I can also use a few more pics for the auction.

FYI - Rumors of my retirement were overstated, and upon further review, I will be staying in my present job at Kawasaki. That makes me happy as it has been a great place to work all these years and I wouldn't want to leave before it's time!

Perris Auto Speedway Sept 11, 2004

Qualifying:
1. Tony Jones, 2, Vermeer/Ferreira-17.337; 2. Bobby Cody, 41, Cody-17.362; 3. Mike Spencer, 44, Engstrom-17.363; 4. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-17.365; 5. Mike Kirby, 38, Crossno-17.388; 6. Damion Gardner, 50, Chaffin-17.435; 7. Gary W. Howard, 84, Keene-17.435; 8. Brian Venard, 47, Venard-17.446; 9. Steve Ostling, 29, Fischer-17.537; 10. Troy Rutherford, 5, Keller-17.628; 11. Peter Murphy, 45, Willis-17.637; 12. Greg Bragg, 12, Pratt-17.660; 13. Kevin Urton, 51, Urton-17.664; 14. Mike English, 0, Shoemaker-17.718; 15. Adam Mitchell, 99, Mitchell-17.798; 16. Ronnie Case, 33, Blair-17.865; 17. Jordan Hermansader, 4, Alexander-17.886; 18. Rick Williams, 6x, Williams-17.940; 19. David Cardey, 59, Giardina-17.987; 20. Rick Ziehl, 14, Lancaster-18.012; 21. Mike Martin, 57, Martin-18.090; 22. Mike Leslie, 76, Leslie-18.105; 23. Mark Heidenreich, 22, Heidenreich-18.125; 24. Jack DeArmond, 24, DeArmond-18.132; 25. Dwayne Marcum, 25, Ruth-18.202; 26. Bruce St. James, 7k, St. James-18.350; 27. Nadine Keller, 6, Keller-18.402; 28. Duane Feduska, 23, Bellegante-18.580.

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps)
1. Mike Kirby, 2. Steve Ostling, 3. Kevin Urton, 4. Tony Jones, 5. Dwayne Marcum, 6. Mike Martin, 7. Jordan Hermansader

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps)
1. Damion Gardner, 2. Bobby Cody, 3. Rick Williams, 4. Mike English, 5. Mike Leslie, 6. Troy Rutherford, 7. Bruce St. James

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps)
1. David Cardey, 2. Adam Mitchell, 3. Mike Spencer, 4. Gary W. Howard, 5. Peter Murphy, 6. Nadine Keller, 7. Mark Heidenreich

FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps)
1. Rip Williams, 2. Ronnie Case, 3. Rick Ziehl, 4. Greg Bragg, 5. Jack DeArmond Jr., 6. Brian Venard, 7. Duane Feduska

SEMI: (12 laps)
1. Troy Rutherford, 2. Brian Venard, 3. Mike Leslie, 4. Peter Murphy, 5. Jack DeArmond Jr., 6. Dwayne Marcum, 7. Duane Feduska, 8. Nadine Keller, 9. Bruce St. James

FEATURE: (30 laps - With Starting Positions)
1. Mike Kirby (4th), 2. Rip Williams (5th), 3. Mike Spencer (6th), 4. Steve Ostling (1st), 5. Troy Rutherford (10th), 6. Bobby Cody (7th), 7. Peter Murphy (11th), 8. Rick Williams (17th), 9. Adam Mitchell (15th), 10. Rick Ziehl (19th), 11. Brian Venard (9th), 12. Ronnie Case (16th), 13. Jack DeArmond Jr. (21st), 14. Mike English (14th), 15. David Cardey (18th), 16. Greg Bragg (12th), 17. Dwayne Marcum (22nd), 18. Gary W. Howard (2nd), 19. Kevin Urton (13th), 20. Damion Gardner (3rd), 21. Tony Jones (8th), 22. Mike Leslie (20th)

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Kirby.

NEW VALVOLINE USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Rip Williams-1,199; 2-Kirby-1,108; 3-Gardner-1,098; 4-Rutherford-824; 5-Jones-680; 6-Bragg-679; 7-Ostling-659; 8-Cody-633; 9-Venard-599; 10-Hermansader-590.

NEXT VALVOLINE USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: September 18 - Perris (CA) Auto Speedway