Spring Non-Winged Sprint Car poll update 2002-05-13

Kruseman retains #1 ranking in Spring Non-Winged Sprint Car poll.

KNOXVILLE, IOWA (MAY 11, 2002) - Cory Kruseman of Ventura, Calif., last year's "Driver of the Year", has retained his number one ranking in the country in the National Non-Winged Sprint Car Poll, as determined by the voting panel of manufacturers, media members, promoters and sanctioning officials. Kruseman, pilot of Harlan Willis' sprinter in Sprint Car Racing Association (SCRA) competition, earned nine of the fifteen first-place ballots cast in the "Robbie Stanley Memorial" spring edition of the poll. Kruseman continues to lead the SCRA point standings in the WorldGate-sponsored sprinter, although he continues to compete in non-sanctioned open-wheel events on 'off' weekends.

Ranked second in the non-winged poll is the United States Auto Club (USAC) point leader Tracy Hines of Indianapolis, Indiana. Hines, driver of the Hoffman family's Dynamics sprinter, garnered four first place votes. Rounding out the top five non- winged sprint car drivers in the country are Tony Jones of Corona, Calif., J.J. Yeley of Phoenix, Ariz., and Richard Griffin of Silver City, N.M., respectively. Jones, who has moved up from his tenth place ranking last season, collected the final two first place votes cast by the industry panel. Year 2000 "Driver of the Year" in the National Non-Winged Sprint Car Poll, Jay Drake of Val Verde, Calif., is currently ranked tenth in the nation.

Other movers-and-shakers in the 'top 25' are previously unranked David Steele in sixth, Derek Davidson in seventh place from eighteenth, and Jeremy Sherman in eighth from nineteenth place, respectively. The National Non-Winged Sprint Car Poll is an official awards program of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum Foundation, Inc., as are the National 360 Sprint Car Poll, National 410 Sprint Car Poll, and Australian National Sprintcar Poll. <pre> Spring 2002 National Non-Winged Sprint Car Poll: "Robbie Stanley Memorial"

Rank 2001-Rank Driver (First Place Votes) Hometown/State Points

  1.   1.  Cory Kruseman       ( 9)        Ventura, CA        1,100
  2.   6.  Tracy Hines         ( 4)        Indianapolis, IN     705
  3.  10.  Tony Jones          ( 2)        Corona, CA           566
  4.   3.  J.J. Yeley                      Phoenix, AZ          453
  5.   2.  Richard Griffin                 Silver City, NM      331
  6.   -   David Steele                    Tampa, FL            204
  7.  18.  Derek Davidson                  Indianapolis, IN     139
  8.  19.  Jeremy Sherman                  Phoenix, AZ          136
  9.   8.  Tony Elliott                    Kokomo, IN           112
 10.   4.  Jay Drake                       Val Verde, CA         89
 11.   9.  Troy Rutherford                 Ojai, CA              79
 12.   7.  Dave Darland                    Walton, IN            70
 13.   5.  Brandon "Bud" Kaeding           Campbell, CA          58
 14.   -   A.J. Fike                       Galesburg, IL         57
 15.  12.  Mike Kirby                      Lomita, CA            54
 16.   -   Kevin Briscoe                   Mitchell, IN          52
 tie  24.  Steve Ostling                   Corona, CA            52
 18.  17.  Rickie Gaunt                    Torrance, CA          43
 19.  11.  Tony Hunt                       Rancho Cordova, CA    33
 20.  13.  Rip Williams                    Yorba Linda, CA       24
 21.  16.  Jeff Gardner                    Hanford, CA           16
 22.   -   Rick Hendrix                    Canoga Park, CA       15
 tie  15.  John Scott                      Hesperia, CA          15
 24.   -   Greg Taylor                     Ojai, CA              14
 25.   -   Jason McCord                    Anderson, IN          10

Also receiving multiple votes: Michael Burthay, Troy Cline, Kent Christian, Aaron Fike, Damion Gardner, Eric Gordon, Jack Hewitt, Levi Jones, Wil Newlin, Eric Shively, Kevin Thomas.

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