Holidays bring many "hot" things and this Labor Day weekend provided the hot stuff race fans crave! Picture the Twilight Zone theme song playing in the background, (de de de do, de de de do, de de de do) then Jim Naylor screaming "welcome to the "KRUSERZONE"! It was Saturday night at Ventura where the Kruser dominated the field at his home track this week. Then, for the closer a day later, try imagining 50 laps with monster slide jobs on display in the desert, and the last one falling like a mighty sword chopping off an unsightly head, to produce a rousing Richard, the Lionhearted type victory at the turn of the last lap! Go Gasman! Can you feel it yet? The only way it could have been better, would be if all my friends from Calistoga could have been here, it was that good!

Mrs Wags has Saturday at Ventura here!

Mrs Wags has Sunday at The PAS right here!

Ventura Raceway produced so much excitement this week, it's hard to put it all down on paper. Cory Kruseman battled the Gasman, along with several others, while Mike Kirby zoomed up from the back in his own style, on the action packed small oval for 40 laps. Cory, driving the WorldGate Networks, TCR, Del Mar Wire, chased early leader Griffin using his preferred low line on the track until he made the pass for the lead, and then darted off thru lap traffic like a butterfly. Later, when Griffin resurged to put the pressure on Cory from his typical high groove line, it looked like the Gasman would reclaim the lead in the now faster upper line. When Cory saw a flash of red gaining on him, he immediately moved up on the track to block, and pulled away to claim his 50th SCRA win in his short career. His car owner, Harlan Willis, is still one ahead of him with 51 car owner victories, because J J Yeley won in the black # 45 on a weekend when Cory was off running a Silver Crown car a few years ago. The victory was also his 13th of the season, tying him with Rip Williams for the most wins in one year.

The battle for second was a three-way war that had Griffin, Troy Rutherford and John Scott all in the 2nd spot at one time or other. The outcome wasn't settled until they came under the checkered flag, where you could have thrown a wet blanket on the trio as they crossed the finish line, with several lap cars escorting them like marbles rolling on the floor together! Rutherford, driving the Sander Engineering, Barnes Oil Systems, Tucson Tool, # 4 Sled, was pretty crafty on his home track winning the runner-up check with some smooth and darting moves of his own. Great job by the young man third in SCRA points for the year.

Richard, driving the Arizona Race Mart, Circle C Marketing, Madera Produce # 50, was in the hunt for the win the entire night as he won his heat and the dash before narrowly finishing in third. John Scott was also a close and competitive 4th as he was aggressive thru traffic maybe as good as we have seen him run here. Only some spirited action by two other heroes kept him from a better finish.

Mike Kirby started 17th and rushed up to 5th by about midway in the race. When the car began smoking, he didn't know it was him at first, but when he caught on, it was the conservative Mike who took over and cruised to his 5th finishing spot without driving his motor too hard. I can only tell you, if that bad boy hadn't began smoking, he would have been all over the Kruser before the end. The team had already feared the motor was hurting earlier, until they discovered the temp gauge was faulty, so Super K was prepared to take it easy if anything happened. He was the hard charger of the night, no doubt!

The change from the cool pleasant temps of "the raciest little dirt track by the sea" to the desert heat of Perris was as usual very startling, but it was well worth it after the smoke, not dust, cleared this week. Richard Griffin hadn't won since July 7th at Santa Maria, and he was loaded for bear! After doing everything but the dishes the night before, Richard came to the PAS with a motive to win and beat the Kruser. He surged all over the track trying to get to the early leader, Rip Williams, but had to wait for several surprising things to happen before he struck like a Cobra at the end.

Rip has been struggling this season, looking for the right combo for his new Gambler chassis, and had reached a low the night before when he missed the main. This was after being nailed by a push truck that was going the wrong way on the exit he was trying to use early in the evening. He should have known it was not going to be his night. Rip was determined to do well after that night to forget, and started out winning his heat and running second in the JE Pistons Passing Masters Dash to start on the front row of the Main Event. Driving the Vista paint, John Jory Corp, AMA Plastics, black # 3, Rip was very focused when he took the lead away from Rickie Gaunt and led the first 39 laps.

What occurred next was almost a "family" thing as Tony "Cowboy" Jones showed why he is a serious threat in SCRA. He surprised everybody with two laps of monster slide jobs that took first three cars at one sweep, then on the same corner of the next lap, the leader was left behind on Tony's best and last blast. It was as if they all were peddling a bicycle when he roared by into the lead. He then began pulling away in his Mike Wall # 37 Avenger chassis sprinter. Unfortunately for the Cowboy, his motor quit a few laps later, a fuel pump failure I heard, and he pulled over, done for the night, giving "uncle" Rip (his dad Bubby and Rip are brother-in-laws), back the lead.

The next surprise was Jarrett Chaney. The 2000 Rookie of the year hasn't had many things to really smile about on the track in his sophomore year. Every time he seems to go forward, he gets slapped back a step or two. The night before he didn't make the main, but had his head up this race driving his dad's Stinger Chassis, Brad Downing Performance, Jim & Anita Scharton, blue # 69. He made the dash and started in the third row of the feature. He decided to run the low groove while the leader and most chasing him, except Kruseman, ran the high groove. Jarrett was now on a roll down there and had reeled in the leader going down the backstretch, with about 4 laps to go. He was faster around one and two, than the other end, so he just needed to get ahead of Rip to get to the high groove around three to win this thing. He had momentum and was doing great, when……the next surprise happened.

Cory Kruseman crashed and I missed it watching Jarrett's progress. I later pieced it together that they were going three wide down the front chute with Troy Cline as the meat of a Showtime Sheridan/Kruseman sandwich. Somehow Cline and Cory met with the Kruser going upside down. He climbed out with a 13th place finish, only 12 of the 22 finished running, looking fine after the crash. Rutherford crashed trying to avoid Cory, but was able to restart. Cline went on to finish 5th.

Ok, now for the last surprise, and yet it really wasn't when you think about it. Rip again had the lead with Jarrett 2nd and Scott and Griffin battling for third. Rip again rushed out in the lead at the backstretch cone with 3 laps to go, with Jarrett back on the bottom where he did all his damage to the heroes. Griffin then made a darting move to get right up behind Rip, and under "Cat" Jaskowiak's white flag one lap to go signal, it was Rip, Richard and Scott in tandem on the top groove, with Jarrett on the bottom, all with a chance to win. Then, catch your breath, the Gasman pulled off the last and definitely most surgeon like slide job of all, squeezing under the Ripper coming around turn three/four. Jarrett was still a player as Griffin led them to the flag, but fell short a few feet, getting third behind Rip and his first podium visit with SCRA. John Scott was fourth, and oh so close for the second night in a row. He drove better than the results both nights, can you believe it! Danny Sheridan was the hard charger of the night coming from 20th, and even after one spin, made it up to 6th for a strong ride in the Moose entry.

We saw 90 feature laps in two nights with great racing, and when the smoke cleared, guess what the all time CRA/SCRA winners grid looks like? Dean Thompson still leads with 103, with Ron Shuman next at 95, and Lealand McSpadden at 84. Rip Williams leads all active drivers with 83 (53 SCRA and 30 CRA), Bubby Jones at 80, Bob Hogle at 63, Jimmy Oskie at 58, then a three-way tie at 50 between Brad Noffsinger, Richard Griffin (36 SCRA and 14 CRA) and Cory Kruseman. Mike Kirby has 39 (3 CRA and 36 SCRA) to show the top 11 in my combined CRA/SCRA total win figures. Rip will tie Lealand with his next win.

Hank Winter "test" drove Ron Didonato's # 57 this weekend and Ron is trying to decide what to do. He hasn't got by the "I still want to drive" syndrome, but his Spin Tech Muffler business is keeping him too busy to even think about racing, or doing it regularly. He is considering putting somebody in the car and being a car owner, but hasn't retired as yet. Hank is rejoicing about his son Dustin's start of his racing career. Last week he stayed home to watch the youngster race a Quarter Midget and he won! The smile on Hank's face seems to explain why he is planning on a career change next season just to be close to his family. I still haven't got it in my head that he already has taken delivery of his ride for next year, and it has doors! Ronnie Clark and his dad plan to go it alone next season, so are looking for sponsorship to further their efforts. Right now they are concentrating on beating out Michael Hinrichsen and Mike Spencer for the 2001 rookie honor.

Although the results don't particularly show it, several of the 2001 rookies had some great action over the weekend. Mike Spencer looked great at Ventura, but got caught up in an incident that spoiled his chances in the main where he finished 15th. Michael Hinrichsen still leads the rookie points and finished 20th on Saturday and 9th on Sunday. Ronnie Clark was 12th on Saturday and missed the show by one spot Sunday. Jimmy Gardner Jr continues his rookie seat time instructions form the family, but is having a ball.

Chris Tramel, Cory's cousin, debuted in a sprint car with the SCRA this week at Ventura. He was driving one of the Kruseman school cars and did himself proud. He looked fast and in control every time he hit the track, but was unlucky in traffic, so missed the main event. Good job, but his mom, Debbie, looked like she preferred the Pony Stock for him. Uncle Danny and Aunt Debbie are racing parents who support their son very well.

Fast times for the weekend were set by John Scott and Charles Davis Jr as both tracks had some quick action. Wagsbucks were split at Ventura with Tony Lima and Dan Tedrick getting $100 each after crashing hard together. Then at the PAS, $160 went to Jim Ruth when his driver suffered a major bottom end motor explosion while leading his heat. All three drivers will be in the Wagsdash.

The Wagtimes shiny tire awards went to Rodney Argo (mini), and Greg Taylor (big) at Ventura and Rickie Gaunt (big) and (Charles Davis jr (mini). The additional work is always appreciated by the fans as the tires blaze on the starting grid. An award for the best appearing car results from these awards along with the voting of the fans. Up coming big events for SCRA begin with the 11th annual Wagsdash on October 20th. Chili at noon, WRA old timer race cars, legendary Ascot drivers signing autographs, a special VRA dash to put two local drivers in the dash, Sexiest driver contest and the pit stop contest, and two 30 lap features on a track that has been described as the raciest little bowl going! Remember the date and you better get there early to get Mrs Wags free chili and a seat in the packed grandstands. Get you name or business on the event T-shirt, call Wags for details at 949-472-9247!

Dave Keller put together a terrific RC car to raffle off for the Big George recovery fund. Dave sold raffle tickets at Ventura and Perris before the drawing on Saturday. The winner was not an adult, but two kids who pooled their $5 for one ticket to win it. They were last seen in the pits after the race "checking" it out! Didn't get their names, but the raffle raised almost $4000 for Big George. Good job Dave! George continues to improve, but is still in the hospital "sleeping" but looking normal. Tim Huver, Big George's crew chief, and his wife Linda continue their efforts to support the fund raising as they hosted a booth giving details on his condition and accepting donations both nights.

Ellen Ellis has created her annual non-wing calendar. She enlisted the photographic talents of Steve Lafond of Tear Off Heaven Fotos to make this years calendar the best one yet. New for the 2002 edition is the driver headshot added to a great car shot. The calendar features the top 12 in the SCRA championship point's race. For a collage of the 12 months of speed and beauty, and how to get yours click here! All proceeds from the sale of the calendar will go into this years Wagsdash XI race.

September 8th is an off week for the SCRA before they venture across the desert to Manzanita Speedway, a track that celebrated its 50th anniversary in August, to race on September 15th. My string of races seen there is in trouble. Unless I can grab a ride home from the track that night, I will be missing this one. I have to be in Anaheim at 9 am on Sunday, so no plane connections worked for me, and Mrs Wags has already informed me she has a ride home at a decent time of day on Sunday. Get ready for more great racing as the big ones start lining up. Back to Perris on September 22nd, then a trip to Santa Maria on the 29th, then Perris has a two-day midget/sprint deal that is worth checking out the first weekend in October.