|
GRIFFIN GETS 40TH SCRA WIN IN VEGAS
By: Robert Mayson
LAS VEGAS, NV, JUNE 29, 2002 - Two weeks ago at Santa Maria Speedway, Richard Griffin won the Sander Engineering Fast Time Award before driving to victory in the 30-lap NAPA Auto Parts / Auto Trader Magazines SCRA main event. Griffin repeated that feat Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It was the 40th career SCRA win for the three-time series champion and current point leader.
"I told someone earlier in the day that I would sure like to win one here since we hadn't won before in Vegas. In fact, I don't think our finishes had been all that great here. We came here tonight and set a new track record and followed that up by winning the main event," said Griffin, who posted eighth and sixth place finishes during the other two SCRA visits to LVMS back in 1997.
Danny Sheridan earned the pole for the feature race after winning his first JE Pistons Dash of the year. Outside front row starter Damion Gardner won the drag race to the green flag and proceeded to lead Sheridan, Rodney Argo, Jeremy Sherman and Mike Kirby at the end of lap one. Last week's winner, Cory Kruseman, moved his WorldGate Networks No.1 TCR from eighth to sixth on the opening lap while Griffin saw his Ron Chaffin owned Arizona Race Mart No. 50 Jon Boy lose ground early in the race.
"When the race started I thought we were terrible and that we were going to end up in real bad shape because we were so loose," said Griffin. "We went with the hardest tire because my crew chief (Bruce Bromme, Jr.) thought the track was going to start laying down rubber. Five to ten laps into the race it started laying down rubber like he thought, and the car tacked-up, and we started going forward."
With Argo now in second place and Kirby in third, Gardner enjoyed a full straight away lead when he reached the last place car on lap seven. Jordan Hermansader negated Gardner's huge lead on lap ten when he stopped in turn one and brought out the second yellow flag of the race. As the race progressed, tire wear was becoming more of a concern. Dan Hillberg's contact with the turn one wall on lap 12 gave everyone the first hint that the race may also be plagued by caution periods.
Justin Marvel lined-up for the restart between the first and second place cars. Third place Kirby tried to split the lapped car and Argo entering turn three moments after the track went green. Normally calculating and precise, Kirby rode over Marvel's right rear tire and suffered the hardest flip of his SCRA career. Rickie Gaunt tangled with Sheridan trying to avoid Kirby and flipped as well. Gaunt returned to finish 14th. Kirby was not as lucky and sat in his car for several minutes following his high end over end ride. Despite being in obvious discomfort, Kirby walked away from the accident scene.
During the stoppage, Gardner was one of four drivers who watched their crews make tire changes. By SCRA rule, each of those cars was sent to the rear of the field for the restart. Argo assumed the lead of the restart and was immediately overtaken by the Mark Priestley / Roy Miller Freightliners No. 7 Stealth driven by Sherman coming down to accept the green flag. Compounding his problems, Argo skated wide in turn four and fell to the sixth position. Lap 17 saw the red flag wave again after Mike Spencer's car tipped on its side from contact with the turn one wall.
"Bruce told me during the red flags that I had to be as easy as I could on the tires if we were going to make it to the end of the race," Griffin said. "Sure enough, we had plenty of tire and by slowing down I actually think we went a little faster."
Still pacing himself, Griffin smoothly ran in second place once racing resumed. In contrast, Gardner was giving the Anne Wilkerson No. 11A an extremely aggressive ride. One lap after the restart, Gardner had worked his way from the back of the pack to run fifth. Two laps after that, he passed Bobby Graham along the back straight for fourth.
Back up front, Griffin knew that he had conserved his tires long enough and drove around the outside of Sherman on lap 21 to take the lead entering turn three. While Sherman, Kruseman and Gardner battled over the runner-up spot without change, Griffin sped away to his second victory of the season.
Graham came across the line in fifth to give car owner Carol Crossno her second top-five finish in three weeks. Marvel not only found his way back onto the lead lap, but also won the KSE Hard Charger Award after driving the Las Vegas based Linda Lancaster No. 14T from the 17th starting position to finish ninth.
SCRA RACE #16 - LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY, LAS VEGAS, NV
Date of Race: 06/29/02
SANDER ENGINEERING TIME TRIALS
1. Richard Griffin, Chaffin 50, 18.585 (NTR), 2. Steve Ostling, Fischer Mtrspts 29, 18.647, 3. Tony Jones, Vermeer/Jones 87, 18.721, 4. Bobby Graham, Crossno 38, 18.785, 5. Cory Kruseman, Willis 1, 18.911, 6. Mike Kirby, Geurin 5, 18.945, 7. Damion Gardner, Wilkerson 11A, 18.960, 8. Danny Sheridan, DiDonato 57, 19.002, 9. John Scott, Scott Mtrsprts 83, 19.065, 10. Jeremy Sherman, Preistley 7, 19.087, 11. Rodney Argo, Argo 19, 19.168, 12. Jordan Hermansader, Lancaster 14, 19.253, 13. Gary W. Howard, Ruth 25, 19.303, 14. Mike Hinrichsen, Hinrichsen 16, 19.345, 15. Charles Davis, Jr., Davis 94, 19.403, 16. Rip Williams, Jory 3, 19.403, 17. Mark Nation, Nation #N, 19.413, 18. Rickie Gaunt, Alexander 4, 19.434, 19. Adam Mitchell, Mitchell 99, 19.580, 20. Justin Marvel, Lancaster 14T, 19.613, 21. Mike Spencer, Engstrom 44 , 19.650, 22. Rick Ziehl, R&R Racing 35, 19.672, 23. Troy Rutherford, Cheney 21J, 19.673, 24. Bobby Cody (R), Cody 41, 19.825, 25. Mark Heidenreich, Heidenreich 22, 19.830, 26. Brain Venard, Venard 47, 19.871, 27. Jay Ervine, RJ Motorsports 21N, 19.921, 28. Dan Hillberg, Hillberg 82, 19.990, 29. Mel Murphy, Murphy 62, 19.994, 30. Tony Everhart, Everhart 55, 20.270, 31. Jack DeArmond, Jr., DeArmond, Jr. 24, 20.464, 32. Tony Smiley, Smiley 2, 20.752, 33. Tom Wilhelm, Wilhelm 64, 21.652, 34. Mike English, Jory 6, No Time
HEDMAN HEDDERS HEAT 1
1. Howard, 2. Griffin, 3. Kruseman, 4. Nation, 5. Spencer, 6. Heidenreich, 7. Wilhelm, 8. Scott, 9. Murphy,
SHAVER ENGINES HEAT 2
1. Gaunt, 2. Kirby, 3. Ziehl, 4. Sherman, 5. Ostling, 6. Venard, 7. Henrichsen, 8. Everhart,
SPIN TECH MUFFLERS / STINGER CHASSIS HEAT 3
1. Rutherford, 2. Davis, 3. Argo, 4. Gardner, 5. Jones, 6. Mitchell, 7. Ervine, 8. DeArmond,
STINGER CHASSIS HEAT 4
1. Cody, 2. Williams, 3. Marvel, 4. Sheridan, 5. Graham, 6. Hermansader, 7. Hillberg, 8. Smiley,
JE PISTONS DASH
1. Sheridan. 2. Gardner. 3. Kirby. 4. Argo. 5. Sherman. 6. Griffin. 7. Howard. 8. Kruseman.
B FEATURE
1. Jones. 2. Graham. 3. Scott. 4. Hermansader. 5. Spencer. 6. Hillberg. 7. DeArmond. 8. Ervine. 9. Venard. 10. Smiley. 11. Murphy. 12. Ostling. 13. Heidenreich. 14. Mitchell. 15. Hinrichsen. 16. Wilhelm
A FEATURE (30 Laps)
1. Griffin. 2. Sherman. 3. Kruseman. 4. Gardner. 5. Graham. 6. Scott. 7. Howard. 8. Williams. 9. Marvel. 10. Rutherford. 11. Sheridan. 12. Jones. 13. Ziehl. 14. Gaunt. 15. Argo. 16. Cody. 17. Nation. 18. Spencer. 19. Kirby. 20. Hillberg. 21. Hermansader, 22. Davis.
Laps Led: Gardner 1-11, Sherman 12-20, Griffin 21-30
SCRA DRIVER POINTS as of 6/30/02
CAR NAME HOMETOWN STARTS POINTS
1. 50 Richard Griffin Silver City NM 16 940
2. 1 Cory Kruseman Ventura CA 16 911
3. 29 Steve Ostling Corona CA 16 869
4. 87 Tony Jones Garden Grove CA 16 859
5. 3 Rip Williams Yorba Linda CA 16 819
6. 83 John Scott Hesperia CA 16 795
7. 5 Mike Kirby Torrance CA 15 778
8. 7 Jeremy Sherman Phoenix AZ 15 768
9. 11A Damion Gardner Concord CA 15 709
10. 4 Rickie Gaunt Torrance CA 16 618
11. 94 Charles Davis, Jr Buckeye AZ 16 612
12. 21J Troy Rutherford Ojai CA 12 566
13. 6 Mike English Norwalk CA 16 538
14. 25 Gary W. Howard Fontana CA 13 510
15. 38 Bobby Graham Riverside CA 16 504
16. 19 Rodney Argo Gardena CA 14 346
17. 57 Danny Sheridan Santa Maria CA 13 331
18. 41 Bobby Cody (R) Costa Mesa CA 16 279
19. 99 Adam Mitchell Escondido CA 13 255
20. 44 Mike Spencer Temecula CA 15 23
|
|
Here is the "Live Updates" Log that we posted for the event. With luck, we will once again have live updates from Las Vegas when USAC/CRA visits on March 8th and 9th.
SCRA SPRINT CARS - LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY - LAS VEGAS, NV
SUMMER DIRT CUP - JUNE 29, 2002
FAST QUALIFIERS (TOP 10)
1. #50 Richard Griffin- 18.585 *New Track Record
2. #29 Steve Ostling- 18.647
3. #87 Tony Jones- 18.721
4. #38 Bobby Graham- 18.785
5. #1 Cory Kruseman- 18.911
6. #5 Mike Kirby- 18.945
7. #11A Damion Gardner- 18.960
8. #57 Danny Sheridan- 19.002
9. #83 John Scott- 19.065
10. #7 Jeremy Sherman- 19.087
Heat 1 Line-Up
Row 1: #44 Spencer & #3N Nation
Row 2: #25 Howard & #83 Scott
Row 3: #1 Kruseman & #50 Griffin
Row 4: #22 Heidenreich & #62 Murphy
Row 5: #64 Wilhelm
Heat 1 Results
1. #25 Gary W. Howard, 2. #50 Richard Griffin, 3. #1 Cory Kruseman, 4. #3N Mark Nation, 5. #44 Mike Spencer, 6. #22 Mark Heidenreich, 7. #64 Tom Wilhelm, 8. #83 John Scott (DNF), 9. #62 Mel Murphy (DNF)
Race Time: 3:22.60 (11 sec. off track record)
Heat 2 Line-Up
Row 1: #47 Venard & #35 Ziehl
Row 2: #4 Gaunt & #16 Hinrichsen
Row 3: #7 Sherman & #5 Kirby
Row 4: #29 Ostling & #55 Everhart
Heat 2 Results
1. #4 Rickie Gaunt, 2. #5 Mike Kirby, 3. #35 Rick Ziehl, 4. #7 Jeremy Sherman, 5. #29 Steve Ostling, 6. #47 Brian Venard, 7. #16 Michael Hinrichsen, 8. #55 Tony Everhart (DNF)
Heat 3 Line-Up
Row 1: #21N Ervine & #21J Rutherford
Row 2: #99 Mitchell & #94 Davis
Row 3: #19 Argo & #11A Gardner
Row 4: #87 Jones & #24 DeArmond
Heat 3 Results
1. #21J Troy Rutherford, 2. #94 Charles Davis Jr., 3. #19 Rodney Argo, 4. #11A Damion Gardner, 5. #87 Tony Jones, 6. #99 Adam Mitchell, 7. #21N Jay Ervine, 8. #24 Jack DeArmond Jr.
Race Time: 3:22.68
Heat 4 Line-Up
Row 1: #82 Hillberg & #41 Cody
Row 2: #14T Marvel & #3 Williams
Row 3: #14 Hermansader & #57 Sheridan
Row 4: #38 Graham & #2 Smiley
Heat 4 Results
1. #41 Bobby Cody, 2. #3 Rip Williams, 3. #14T Justin Marvel, 4. #57 Danny Sheridan, 5. #38 Bobby Graham, 6. #14 Jordan Hermansader, 7. #82 Dan Hillberg, 8. #2 Tony Smiley
Passing Masters Dash Line-Up
Row 1: #7 Sherman & #57 Sheridan
Row 2: #11A Gardner & #5 Kirby
Row 3: #1 Kruseman & #50 Griffin
Row 4: #19 Argo & #25 Howard
PMD Results
1. #57 Danny Sheridan, 2. #11A Damion Gardner, 3. #5 Mike Kirby, 4. #19 Rodney Argo, 5. #7 Jeremy Sherman, 6. #50 Richard Griffin, 7. #25 Gary W. Howard, 8. #1 Cory Kruseman
Race Time: 2:06.62
B-Main Line-Up
Row 1: #29 Ostling & #87 Jones
Row 2: #38 Graham & # 83 Scott
Row 3: #14 Hermansader & #16 Hinrichsen
Row 4: #99 Mitchell & #44 Spencer
Row 5: #22 Heidenreich & #47 Venard
Row 6: #21N Ervine & #82 Hillberg
Row 7: #62 Murphy & #55 Everhart
Row 8: #24 DeArmond & #2 Smiley
Row 9: #64 Wilhelm
B-Main Results (top 6 transfer to feature)
1. #87 Tony Jones, 2. #38 Bobby Graham, 3. #83 John Scott, 4. #14 Jordan Hermansader, 5. #44 Mike Spencer, 6. #82 Dan Hillberg, 7. #24 Jack DeArmond Jr., 8. #21N Jay Ervine, 9. #47 Brian Venard, 10. #2 Tony Smiley, 11. #62 Mel Murphy, 12. #29 Steve Ostling, 13. #22 Mark Heidenreich, 14. #99 Adam Mitchell, 15. #16 Michael Hinrichsen, 16. #64 Tom Wilhelm, 17. #55 Tony Everhart (DNS)
A-Main Line-Up
Row 1: #57 Sheridan & #11A Gardner
Row 2: #5 Kirby & #19 Argo
Row 3: #7 Sherman & #50 Griffin
Row 4: #25 Howard & #1 Kruseman
Row 5: #87 Jones & #38 Graham
Row 6: #83 Scott & #14 Hermansader
Row 7: #94 Davis & #3 Williams
Row 8: #3N Nation & #4 Gaunt
Row 9: #14T Marvel & #44 Spencer
Row 10: #35 Ziehl & #21J Rutherford
Row 11: #41 Cody & #82 Hillberg
A-Main Results (with starting positions)
1. #50 Richard Griffin (6th), 2. #7 Jeremy Sherman (5th), 3. #1 Cory Kruseman (8th), 4. #11A Damion Gardner (2nd), 5. #38 Bobby Graham (10th), 6. #83 John Scott (11th), 7. #25 Gary W. Howard (7th), 8. #3 Rip Williams (14th), 9. #14T Justin Marvel (17th), 10. #21J Troy Rutherford (20th), 11. #57 Danny Sheridan (1st), 12. #87 Tony Jones (9th), 13. #35 Rick Ziehl (19th), 14. #4 Rickie Gaunt (16th), 15. #19 Rodney Argo (4th), 16. #41 Bobby Cody (21st), 17. #3N Mark Nation (15th), 18. #44 Mike Spencer (18th), 19. #5 Mike Kirby (3rd), 20. #82 Dan Hillberg (22nd), 21. #14 Jordan Hermansader (12th), 22. #94 Charles Davis Jr (13th)
Laps Led: Gardner 1-11, Sherman 12-20, Griffin 21-30
|
