JANUARY 30, 2005...Dave
Darland of Lincoln, Ind. captured Saturday night's opening
round of the 2005 Valvoline USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series at
Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix, Ariz. Dave also won last
year's USAC/CRA Manzanita debut and led the final nine
laps of Saturday night's race in Dwight Cheney's RC
Performance/Eric's Industries TCR/Donovan.
Darland was third behind race leader Darren Hagen and
Rickie Gaunt when they were involved in a tangle on the
backstretch on lap 22. Hagen flipped after leading the
first 21 laps but escaped injury.
Darland was trailed at the checkered flag by Charles
Davis, Jr., Mike Spencer, Rick Williams and Tracy Hines.
Qualifications were abandoned due to afternoon rains and
heat race wins went to Spencer, Cary Faas, Darland and
Jesse Hockett. Tracy Hines won the semi.
Peter Murphy, Hockett and Faas also escaped injury in
separate flips during Saturday night's program at the ½-mile
dirt oval.
The Valvoline USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series continues this
Saturday afternoon (Feb. 5) with a 30-lap feature at the
Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway.
USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS
- MANZANITA SPEEDWAY - PHOENIX, AZ
JANUARY 29, 2005 - 2005 SEASON OPENER
38 CARS
QUALIFICATIONS:
No Time Trials
FIRST HEAT: (10 laps)
1. Mike Spencer (#44 Engstrom), 2. Rickie Gaunt (#2A
Smiley), 3. Seth Wilson (#17 Racing Optics), 4. Rick
Williams (#6x Williams), 5. R.J. Johnson (#15 Martin), 6.
Dan Hillberg (#82 Hillberg), 7. Danny Sheridan (#4K
Kettle), 8. Matt Rossi (#02 Rossi), 9. Cory Kruseman (#38
Crossno), 10. Levi Jones (#62A Bishop). NT
SECOND
HEAT: (10 laps)
1. 1. Cary Faas (#2V Woodward), 2. Mike Leslie (#76
Montgomery), 3. Rick Ziehl (#14 Lancaster), 4. Justin
Marvel (#14L Lancaster), 5. Mike Kirby (#4 Alexander), 6.
Rip Williams (#3 Jory), 7. Peter Murphy (#21 Tarlton), 8.
Jeff Slinkard (#61 Ratz), 9. Ronnie Case (#33 Blair), 10.
Buddy Earle (#95 Earle). NT
THIRD HEAT:
(10 laps)
1. Dave Darland (#42 Cheney), 2. Jimmy Crawford (#17C
Crawford), 3. Bill Rose (#6 Rose), 4. Tracy Hines (#7
Priestley), 5. Jeremy Sherman (#77b Bryan), 6. Troy
Rutherford (#5 Keller), 7. Chuck Buckman Jr. (#4m Miller),
8. Damion Gardner (# 50 Chaffin), 9. Shon Deskins (#23
Fleming). NT
FOURTH
HEAT: (10 laps)
1. Jesse Hockett (#2J Massey), 2. Josh Ford (#73 Ford), 3.
Darren Hagen (#71 Kunz), 4. Charles Davis, Jr. (#8A
Smiley), 5. Tony Jones (#87 Vermeer-Ferreira), 6. Nathan
High (#6A Pritchett), 7. Nadine Keller (#16 Keller), 8.
David Cardey (#59 Giardina), 9. Jerry Coons Jr. (#3w WWS).
NT
SEMI: (12
laps)
1. Tracy Hines, 2. R.J. Johnson, 3. Chuck Buckman Jr., 4.
Cory Kruseman, 5. Nathan High, 6. Rip Williams, 7. Jeff
Slinkard, 8. Jeremy Sherman, 9. David Cardey, 10. Nadine
Keller, 11. Matthew Rossi, 12. Troy Rutherford, 13. Tony
Jones, 14. Dan Hillberg, 15. Peter Murphy, 16.
Damion Gardner, 17. Ronnie Case, 18. Shon Deskins, 19.
Buddy Earle. NT
ALSO AT THE
TRACK: Ben Astenius practiced in No. 23.
FEATURE:
(30 laps - With Actual Starting Positions)
1. Dave Darland (6th), 2. Charles Davis Jr. (12th), 3.
Mike Spencer (5th), 4. Rick Williams (7th), 5. Tracy Hines
(17th), 6. Mike Kirby (16th), 7. Bill Rose (14th), 8. Cory
Kruseman (20th), 9. R.J. Johnson (18th), 10. Chuck Buckman
Jr. (19th), 11. Rip Williams (21st), 12. Jimmy Crawford
(9th), 13. Rick Ziehl (11th), 14. Darren Hagen (1st), 15.
Rickie Gaunt (2nd), 16. Seth Wilson (13th), 17. Josh Ford
(10th), 18. Mike Leslie (8th), 19. Cary Faas (4th), 20.
Jesse Hockett (3rd), 21. Justin Marvel (15th). NT
--------------------------
** Peter Murphy flipped in Turn 1 on the first lap of the
semi feature. Jesse Hockett flipped in Turn 2 in the
feature. Faas flipped in Turn 2 in the feature. Hagen
flipped on the backstretch on lap 22 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-21 Hagen, Laps 22-30
Darland.
NEW USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS:
1-Darland-68; 2-Davis-62; 3-Spencer-62; 4-Rick
Williams-56; 5-Hines-53; 6-Rose-68; 7-Kirby-45;
8-Kruseman-40; 9-Johnson-39; 10-Crawford-36.
NEXT USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE:
February 5 - Perris, CA - Perris Auto Speedway |
