scra: PAS II: Round two event preview

Lakewood, CA., February 25 -- Round two of the NAPA / Auto Trader SCRA sprint car series will be held this Saturday night, March 2nd at the Perris Auto Speedway (Perris, CA).

For the third time in his career, J.J. Yeley (Phoenix, AZ) won the SCRA season opener (held on February 9th at Perris). Yeley's victory gave former SCRA driver Dwight Cheney (Arcadia) his first main event win as a car owner. Yeley currently leads the SCRA points standings, but will not content for the championship since he plans to again return to the Midwest once the racing season begins there. Yeley will, however, team up with Cheney for the next three races.

Yeley's brief return rekindles a rivalry with Ventura's Cory Kruseman that dates back to 1994 when both drivers were rookies on the SCRA tour. Kruseman won two main events that year, but was edged by Yeley for Rookie of the Year honors. Today, both men reign as Champions of their respective clubs. Yeley with USAC, and Kruseman as the SCRA Champ.

Despite winning a record 12 main events at Perris last season, Kruseman didn't enjoy the luck on opening day that he was accustom to having at Perris. Relegated to a 15th place finish, Kruseman ended the day 54 points behind out of the point lead in 17th place.

Ojai's Troy Rutherford finished second to Yeley and sits only two points behind him in the point standings (78 to 76). In addition to Rutherford, some of the other pre-season favorites to challenge Kruseman also enjoyed more success than the defending champ. Three-time SCRA Champion (1998-00) Richard Griffin (Silver City, NM) finished third with Tony Jones (Garden Grove) and John Scott (Hesperia) rounding out the top-five.

Other drivers expected to challenge the aforementioned men this weekend will be Kokomo, Indiana's Tony Elliott, Rip Williams (Yorba Linda), Mike Kirby (Lomita) and Western World Champion Jeremy Sherman (Phoenix, AZ). Spectator gates open at 4:00 pm on Saturday, with the first race scheduled for 6:30 pm.

-scra-