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MAY 1,
2005...Damion Gardner, from Concord, CA, started 23rd
in this weeks Valvoline USAC/CRA 30 lap feature race at
Perris Auto Speedway on Saturday night, and still won his
third feature of the season in the Temecula Valley Pipe
& Supply, Arizona Race Mart, Eagle, Shaver number 50
sprinter. After setting his seventh fast time out of eight
events this season, he encountered trouble in his heat and
the 12 lap semi when he did not finish either race. Taking
a provisional starting spot at the back of the line-up,
the ”Demon” decimated the field as he passed 22 cars
and took the lead
on lap 28 for an almost impossible feat that left the
crowd stunned and amazed, it was awesome!
In
victory circle Damion said ”things fell apart there
early, but in the main, we were on a mission as I was
trying to be real clean coming thru
the pack. I knew I could do it, but when I got to
third, I really knew it then!” Damion let it all hang
out as he darted around the dirt oval pulling the wheels
up coming out of nearly every corner and giving the sprint
car world something to talk about. This is one for the
ages and will be referred to often in the future as a
milestone.
Mike
Kirby took over the lead on lap six after early leader,
Rodney Argo, had his power steering lock up forcing him
out of action. Mike then led until Cory Kruseman
took over on lap 21. Then the suspense was all about
Damion and could he do it? The ending saw Damion, Cory and
Tony Jones standing on the podium in that order with Kirby
and Charles Davis Jr following.
Johnny
Rodriguez made his first non-wing sprint car start this
week in Mark Priestley’s
# 7 car a good one
as the Midget
star ran a strong 12th. His only sprint car
experience up until now has been with a wing, and he said
early in the afternoon he was really exited to get this
chance that he had been waiting for.
Next race
will be at Ventura Raceway on May 7th.
VALVOLINE
USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS:
April 30, 2005 – Perris, California – Perris Auto
Speedway
34
CARS
QUALIFICATIONS:
1. Damion Gardner, 50, Chaffin-16.010; 2. Seth Wilson, 17,
Racing Optics-16.206; 3. Charles Davis, Jr, 8A,
Smiley-16.313; 4. Bobby Cody, 41, Cody-16.390; 5. Rickie
Gaunt, 2A, Smiley-16.425; 6. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-16.433;
7. Cory Kruseman, 38, Crossno-16.560; 8. Rick Becker, 67,
Becker-16.573; 9. Danny Ebberts, 77, Acosta-16.575; 10.
Tony Jones, 87, Vermeer/Ferreira-16.650; 11. Rodney Argo,
19, Argo-16.710; 12. Mike Kirby, 4, Alexander-16.725; 13.
Mike Spencer, 44, Engstrom-16.753; 14. Alan Ballard, 97,
Ballard-16.766; 15. J.Hicks, 66, Miller-16.801; 16. David
Cardey, 59, Giardina-16.856; 17. Jordan Hermansader, 92,
Sertich-16.866; 18. Jason York, 25N, York-16.889; 19. R.J.
Johnson, 15AZ, Martin-16.899; 20. Steve Ostling, 5,
Keller-16.918; 21. Dan Hillberg, 82, Hillberg-16.925;
22. Bobby Graham, 14, Lancaster-16.930; 23. Steve Paden,
1, Farrier-17.110; 24. Johnny Rodriguez, 7,
Priestley-17.124; 25. Jimmy Crawford, 17C,
Crawford-17.170; 26. Ronnie Case, 0, Shoemaker-17.268; 27.
Jimmy Thornell, 25, Ruth-17.391; 28. J.J. Ercse, 33,
Blair-17.560; 29. Todd Hunsaker, 75, Hunsaker-17.672; 30.
Joshua Williams, 34, Williams-17.720; 31. Brandon
Springstead, 36, Springstead-17.799; 32. Nadine Keller,
16, Keller-18.325; 33. Jack Hawley, 1J, Hawley-18.332; 34.
Richard Rose, N8, Ziegler-NT.
TROPHY
DASH: (3 laps)
1. Charles Davis Jr., 2. Damion Gardner, 3. Bobby Cody, 4.
Seth Wilson. 50:16.
FIRST
HEAT: (10 laps)
1. Dan Hillberg, 2. Jimmy Crawford, 3. Mike
Spencer, 4. Danny Ebberts, 5. Todd Hunsaker, 6. Rickie
Gaunt, 7. Jack Hawley, 8. Jordan Hermansader, 9. Damion
Gardner. NT.
SECOND
HEAT: (10 laps)
1. Rip Williams, 2. Tony Jones, 3. Alan Ballard, 4. Ronnie
Case, 5. Jason York, 6. Bobby Graham, 7. Seth Wilson, 8.
Josh Williams. 2:59:40
THIRD
HEAT: (10 laps)
1. J Hicks, 2. Charles Davis Jr., 3. Cory Kruseman, 4.
Rodney Argo, 5. R.J. Johnson, 6. Brandon Springstead, 7.
Jimmy Thornell, 8. Steve Paden. NT.
FOURTH
HEAT: (10 laps)
1. Mike Kirby, 2. Steve Ostling, 3. J.J. Ercse, 4. Rick
Becker, 5. David Cardey, 6. Bobby Cody, 7. Nadine Keller,
8. Johnny Rodriguez. 2:56:80.
SEMI:
(12 laps)
1. Seth Wilson, 2. Jordan Hermansader, 3. R.J. Johnson, 4.
Bobby Cody, 5. David Cardey, 6. Johnny Rodriguez, 7. Jason
York, 8. Bobby Graham, 9. Jimmy Thornell, 10. Josh
Williams, 11. Brandon Springstead, 12. Rickie Gaunt, 13.
Jack Hawley, 14. Nadine Keller, 15. Todd Hunsaker, 16.
Damion Gardner. NT.
FEATURE:
(30 laps - With Starting Positions)
1. Damion Gardner (23rd), 2. Cory Kruseman (6th), 3. Tony
Jones (3rd), 4. Mike Kirby (1st), 5. Charles Davis Jr.
(8th), 6. Rip Williams (7th), 7. Danny Ebberts (4th), 8.
Jordan Hermansader (15th), 9. Alan Ballard (12th), 10.
Mike Spencer (11th), 11. Rick Becker (5th), 12. Johnny
Rodriguez (19th), 13. R.J. Johnson (16th), 14. Seth Wilson
(9th), 15. David Cardey (14th), 16. J Hicks (13th), 17.
Ronnie Case (21st), 18. J.J. Ercse (22nd), 19. Jimmy
Crawford (20th), 20. Steve Ostling (17th), 21. Bobby Cody
(10th), 22. Dan Hillberg (18th), 23. Rodney Argo
(2nd) NT.
-------------------------------------
FEATURE LAP LEADERS:
Laps 1-5 Argo, 6-20 Kirby, 21-27 Kruseman, 28-30
Gardner.
NEW
USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS:
1-Rip Williams-517; 2-Davis-492;
3-Kirby-476; 4-Gardner-451; 5-Kruseman-441; 6-Gaunt-354;
7-Josh Ford-310; 8-Jones-268; 9-Wilson-267;
10-Ballard-246.
NEXT
USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE:
May 7 - Ventura (CA) Raceway |
