Non-winged sprint car poll Spring report

Damion Gardner earns #1 ranking in Non-Winged Sprint Poll, Spring 2003.

KNOXVILLE, IOWA (May 1, 2003) - Just five months ago, Damion Gardner of Concord, Calif., was receiving his 2002 "Wild Card Award" from the National Non-Winged Sprint Car Poll voting panel for his exciting driving performances last season. Today he has been named the number one non-winged sprint car driver in the nation by that same select panel of manufacturers, media members, sanctioning officials and promoters. He received 10 of 15 first-place ballots cast. Gardner wheels the Willis Machine-sponsored TCR/Gaerte sprint car of owner Harlan Willis in Sprint Car Racing Association (SCRA) competition and has three wins to his credit already in the 2003 racing season.

Ranked second in the poll is veteran Richard Griffin of Silver City, New Mexico, having collected one first-place ballot. Griffin, the current SCRA point leader, pilots Ron Chaffin's Bruce Bromme-wrenched Madera Produce sprinter.

Those drivers ranked third through fifth, respectively, are J.J. Yeley of Arizona, and California friends Cory Kruseman and Troy Rutherford. Yeley leads the current United States Auto Club (USAC) point standings, along with thirteenth-ranked Aaron Pierce. Yeley and Kruseman, the 2002 and 2001 "Drivers of the Year", each earned two first-place votes. Rounding out the 'top ten' non-winged sprint car drivers in the nation are Tracy Hines, Rip Williams, Steve Ostling, Levi Jones, and Brandon "Bud" Kaeding, respectively.

The National Non-Winged Sprint Car Poll is an annual awards program of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum Foundation, Inc., of Knoxville, Iowa.

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