|
KIRBY READY
FOR SOKOLA CLASSIC AFTER PERRIS VICTORY
by Dick Jordan
Mike Kirby of Torrance, Calif. is the early leader in the
2004 Valvoline USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series standings after
winning Saturday night's "Temecula Valley Pipe &
Supply Showdown" 30-lapper at Perris (Calif.) Auto
Speedway.
Kirby, who won the last CRA Sprint car title in 1993,
earned his fourth CRA triumph and first in USAC
competition in the inaugural race of the new series,
passing early leader Jason York on the third lap and
leading the rest of the way. The victory was also the
first in Sprint competition for car owner Glen Crossno and
his ITI Performance/Sander Engineering/Snap-On TCR/Downing.
Kirby was trailed to the checkered flag at Perris by Cory
Kruseman of Ventura, Calif. and leads Kruseman by two
points going into the March 19-20 "Sokola
Classic" events at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix,
Ariz. A 20-lap feature is slated Friday at Manzanita,
followed by a 40-lapper on Saturday. In addition to the
posted purse awards, numerous added incentives have been
posted for participants, bringing the total posted prizes
for the two-night program to nearly $30,000.
Rip Williams of Yorba Linda, Calif. finished third at
Perris and was followed by Troy Rutherford of Ojai, Calif.
and Damion Gardner of Concord, Calif. Rutherford was
Saturday night's fastest qualifier at 17.115 seconds.
Heats went to Gardner, Greg Bragg and Josh Ford and
Rutherford won the semi.
Indianapolis 500 winner Parnelli Jones, five-time CRA
Sprint Car Champion Jimmy Oskie and two-time CRA titlist
Bubby Jones were part of a great crowd on hand for the
series debut at the 1/2-mile dirt oval.
USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS - PERRIS AUTO
SPEEDWAY - PERRIS, CA -
MARCH 6, 2004
QUALIFICATIONS:
1. Troy Rutherford, 7, Priestley-17.115; 2. Cory Kruseman,
4, Alexander-17.216; 3. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-17.283; 4.
Damion Gardner, 50, Chaffin-17.370; 5. Mike Kirby, 38,
Crossno-17.425; 6. Tony Jones, 2, Vermeer/Ferreria-17.454;
7. Dwayne Marcum, 25, Ruth-17.478; 8. Jordan Hermansader,
91, Ferro-17.495; 9. Jason York, 25N, York-17.495; 10.
Andy Forsberg, 92, Forsberg-17.497; 11. Greg Taylor, 19,
Sala-17.514; 12. Tony Elliott, 42, Cheney-17.625; 13.
Jimmy Crawford, 18, Crawford-17.657; 14. Levi Jones, 38J,
Crossno-17.673; 15. Josh Ford, 73, Ford-17.725; 16. Jon
Stanbrough, 0, Shoemaker-17.748; 17. Adam Mitchell, 14,
Lancaster-17.760; 18. David Cardey, 59, Giardina-17.785;
19. Brian Venard, 47, Venard-17.795; 20. Greg Bragg, 12,
Pratt-17.828; 21. Ron DiDonato, 77, Acosta-17.862;
22. Mark Heidenreich, 22, Heidenreich-18.193; 23. Alan
Ballard, 97, Ballard-18.382; 24. Ronnie Case, 33,
Blair-18.470; 25. Rick Ziehl, 7s, Scott-18.632; 26. Duane
Feduska, 23, Bellegante-18.847; 27. Matthew Rossi, 16,
Rossi-18.942.
FIRST HEAT: (10 laps)
1. Gardner, 2. Ziehl, 3. Stanbrough, 4. Forsberg, 5.
Crawford, 6. Heidenreich, 7. Marcum, 8. Venard, 9.
Rutherford. NT
SECOND HEAT: (10 laps)
1. Bragg, 2. Mitchell, 3. Kirby, 4. L. Jones, 5. Kruseman,
6. Ballard, 7. Hermansader, 8. Feduska, 9. Taylor. NT
THIRD HEAT: (10 laps)
1. Ford, 2. T.Jones, 3. York, 4. Case, 5. Williams, 6.
DiDonato, 7. Rossi, 8. Cardey, 9. Elliott. NT
SEMI: (12 laps)
1. Rutherford, 2. Hermansader, 3. Marcum, 4. Cardey, 5.
Taylor, 6. Ballard, 7. Elliott, 8. DiDonato, 9.
Feduska. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps - With Actual
Starting Positions)
1. Mike Kirby (3rd), 2. Cory Kruseman (8th), 3. Rip
Williams (5th), 4. Troy Rutherford (7th), 5. Damion
Gardner (6th), 6. Jason York (1st), 7. Tony Jones (4th),
8. Rick Ziehl (19th), 9. Andy Forsberg (2nd), 10. Jordan
Hermansader (9th), 11. Greg Taylor (12th), 12. Jon
Stanbrough (13th), 13. Dwayne Marcum (10th), 14. Josh Ford
(14th), 15. David Cardey (15th), 16. Greg Bragg (18th),
17. Adam Mitchell (16th), 18. Ronnie Case (17th), 19. Levi
Jones (11th), 20. Jimmy Crawford (DNS). NT
----------------------
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-2 York, Laps 3-30
Kirby.
*Jimmy Crawford was slated to start on the
pole position, but pulled in before taking the green flag.
NEW USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS:
1-Kirby-68; 2-Kruseman-66; 3-Williams-62; 4-Rutherford-61;
5-Gardner-59; 6-York-51; 7-T.Jones-50; 8-Ziehl-46;
9-Forsberg-41; 10-Hermansader-36.
NEXT USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE:
March 19 Phoenix, AZ Manzanita Speedway "Sokola
Classic"
|
