Sprint
scra: PAS II: Event to run under the lights
SCRA Under The Lights At The PAS This Saturday! (LAKE PERRIS, CA - FEBRUARY 24, 2002) After opening the 2002 season with the first daytime race in their history, the SCRA Sprint Cars, presented by Vista Paint, return to action under the bright ...
Edited: Apr 24, 2005, 3:03 AM
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SCRA Under The Lights At The PAS This Saturday!
(LAKE PERRIS, CA - FEBRUARY 24, 2002) After opening the 2002 season with the first daytime race in their history, the SCRA Sprint Cars, presented by Vista Paint, return to action under the bright lights of Perris Auto Speedway this Saturday night.
Included on the entry list for Saturday night are two SCRA regulars in unfamiliar rides. Mike English and Danny "Showtime" Sheridan are not in the same rides they campaigned in 2001.
English, a 38-year old father of two daughters, will once again be a teammate to veteran Rip Williams in one of the John & Sharon Jory owned, Vista Paint sponsored sprinters. On opening afternoon at The PAS three weeks ago, English, of Norwalk, started fourth in the 25 lap main and ran in the top three until a flat tire sent him into the wall and out of the race on lap 16.
Driving for car owner Mark Priestly, English finished ninth in points in 2001 and 2002. The English/Priestly combo captured one SCRA main event at The PAS. That came on March 11, 2000. In 1999, English nearly won the National Non Wing Open at Terre Haute, Indiana before settling for third behind Frankie Kerr and World of Outlaws star Jac Haudenschild.
While English is driving for Jory this week, he is still trying to put a deal together for the remainder of the 2002 season.
Sheridan sparkled with SCRA in 2001. Driving the popular Moose Racing #92 owned by Tom & Lauri Sertich of Huntington Beach, Sheridan fought his way to a tenth place finish in the point standings in his first full season with SCRA. A former Santa Maria Track Champion and the 1998 Bandit Series Champion, Sheridan and the Moose team collected a trio of second place finishes in 2001. However, due to the current economy, Moose Racing lost a couple of sponsors and they were forced to park the racecar. That left Sheridan without a fulltime ride.
Sheridan did pick up a ride with former CRA/SCRA driver Ron DiDonato for The PAS season opener. He qualified 15th out of 45 cars and made the 25-lap "A" main after finishing third in the "B" main.
Disaster struck on lap three of the "A" main when Sheridan got upside down and flipped violently on the back straightaway. Things looked bleak, but in a press release dated February 18th, DiDonato and Sheridan announced that they would be back as a team for the 2002 SCRA season beginning with this Saturday night at The PAS.
Out of town invaders for Saturday's race include 2001 USAC Stoops Freightliner Series National Champion J.J. Yeley, 25, of Phoenix, Arizona and 42-year old Tony Elliott of Kokomo, Indiana. Elliott, a two-time USAC Sprint Car National Champion, led much of the season opener driving for Gardner Motorsports of Huntington Beach, but he cooked his tires and ended up 10th. Yeley, who started third, won the race in a car owned by Dwight Chaney. It was Yeley's first win at the Riverside County clay oval since May of 1996. It was the first ever-main event win for Chaney as a driver or car owner.
Other favorites entered for Saturday include Ojai's Troy Rutherford, Tony Jones of Garden Grove, defending SCRA Champion Cory Kruseman of Ventura, three time SCRA Champion Richard "The Gassman" Griffin of Silver City, New Mexico, Rip Williams of Yorba Linda and Mike Kirby of Lomita.
Rutherford, 28, who also drives for Gardner Motorsports, finished second at the season opener. Griffin, 38, finished third while Jones, 32 and the son of Hall of Famer Bubby Jones, ended up fourth. Kirby, 37, a former Ascot Figure 8 Champion, started last (22nd) and ended up ninth. Finishing two spots behind him was Williams, 45, who is contesting his 25th year of Sprint Car racing. Kruseman, 31, who came all the way from the "C" main to the "A" main, spun late in the race and finished 15th.
TOP 10 SCRA POINTS
1. J.J. Yeley - Phoenix, AZ 78
2. Troy Rutherford - Ojai, CA 76
3. Tony Jones - Garden Grove, CA 70
4. Richard Griffin - Silver City, NM 64
5. Levi Jones - Olney, IL 57
6. John Scott - Hesperia, CA 55
7. Bobby Graham - Riverside, CA 43
8. Tony Elliott - Kokomo, IN 41
9. Rip Williams - Yorba Linda, CA 40
10. Mike Kirby - Lomita, CA 38
10. Bobby Cody - Costa Mesa, CA 38
Spectator gates will open at 4:00 PM and the first race will be at 6:30. Fans will be treated to 4 heat races, the JE Pistons Passing Masters Dash, "C" & "B" mains and a 30 lap "A' Main event.
Advance tickets are on sale now by calling (909) 940-0134 or by going to www.perrisautospeedway.com and clicking on the online tickets icon.
Perris Auto Speedway is located on the Lake Perris Fairgrounds approximately one hour East of Los Angeles. Take the 215 Freeway, exit at the Ramona Expressway and go east two and a half miles to the fairgrounds.
-scra-
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