WEIR 1ST TO REPEAT IN CRA SPRINTS; TAKES PERRIS 30-LAPPER
By Robert Mayson
Perris, Calif.– April 28, 2007 – Marion, Indiana’s Scotty Weir withstood a number of fierce challenges from Mike Spencer of Temecula, Calif. to win Saturday’s 30-lap Lucas Oil USAC/CRA sprint car race at the Perris Auto Speedway.
Twelve races into the season, Weir becomes the first repeat winner of the year. Taking over the reins of Glen Crossno’s ITI Performance No. 38 Bullet that won the title with Cory Kruseman on board last season, Weir admits that he feels that the team’s success rides on his shoulders.
“I knew when I got out here that nothing had changed. It was still the same championship car, with the championship owner and the same motor builder with the same crew. So, I was kind of the only thing that could fail. And, it was up to me to do what I know how to do to keep the car where it was before. It means a lot to me being the one that snapped the streak because eleven guys have won, and there’s three or four more that should have a win by now. I’m just happy to be the first with two.”
Weir started on the pole for the feature race with R.J. Johnson to his outside. Weir won the race to the first turn cushion and led Johnson, Danny Sheridan, Allan Ballard and Kruseman along the back-straight.
Starting from the seventh position, Spencer was the man on the move early driving the Ron Chaffin / Temecula Valley Pipe & Supply No. 50 Maxim to third in just two laps. By the end of the sixth-lap, Spencer had relieved Sheridan of the second-position.
The red flag flew on lap ten after Robert Ellis flipped in turn-three. Ellis was not hurt. Spencer had been applying heavy pressure to the leader when the red flag waved again a few circuits later after fourth-place Johnson and Gaunt tangled in turn-two sending Johnson into a nasty series of flips. Fortunately, Johnson was not injured. The incident also sidelined Ballard and Kruseman for the evening. Gaunt, however, did return and eventually finish tenth.
Spencer continued to take runs at the cushion-riding Weir once racing resumed. In fact, Spencer briefly held the lead on lap-23 before Weir beat him back to the line. Spencer took the lead again on the following lap with a turn-three slide-job. Weir timed the crossover perfectly and took the lead back exiting turn-four.
Meanwhile, Blake Miller, Yorba Linda, Calif., had moved his Jeff Gardner / Simpson Race Products No. 93 Sled into third after starting eleventh. Sheridan tried to pass Miller on lap-25 using a turn-one slide-job, but skated over the cushion and into the wall bringing out the caution flag.
Weir took control of the race after the restart until a lap-28 miscue in turn-three gave the lead to Spencer. Weir quickly recovered and regained the lead exiting turn-four while Spencer searched for traction.
“He must have led me five times, but I wasn’t going to let him beat me back to the flag-stand. It got close a couple of times, but I knew it was Mike Spencer and that we weren’t going to wreak each other,” Weir recalled. “I moved down about eight or nine feet with about five laps to go because I got tired of bicycling going into turn-three. I could tell going in (to the corners) if he was going to have enough to get by me or not, so I just had to time it right to shoot back by him on the bottom.”
Coming down for the white flag with Spencer on his tail tank, Weir appeared to bobble getting into turn-one, forcing Spencer to check-up. By the time Spencer exited turn-two he was in no position to try a last-lap slide-job in turn-three. Still, Spencer pulled to within a car-length of Weir at the checkered flag and finished only .103 seconds behind. Still the question remained, was Weir’s turn-one bobble really a mistake?
“I kind of stopped on purpose because if I stopped there, I knew he couldn’t beat me off turn-two, and I knew I could beat him to the bottom of (turn) three coming down for the checkered,” Weir smiled.” I wasn’t going to do anything stupid, but I knew if I could whoa him down getting into turn-one, that I could beat him to the other end.”
Moments after Rip Williams drove his Sharon Jory / AMA Plastics No. 3 Stinger across the finish line in fourth behind Miller, Weir’s teammate David Cardey was involved in an incident that saw Greg Taylor flip along the back-straight. Taylor was not hurt. Johnny Rodriguez, who was making his first start of the season in Mark Preistley’s / Roy Miller Freightlines No. 7 Bullet, was running fifth at the time of Taylor’s flip.
Unfortunately, back-straight flips were far too common on this night. Brian Camarillo rode out a wild back-straight flip during the first heat race. Fast-time qualifier and current USAC/CRA point leader Tony Jones clipped Jason York on the subsequent restart and flipped in nearly the same spot. Neither driver hurt too badly. In fact, Jones’ team, led by crew chief Steve Alexander, welded some pieces from the wreckage with some extra tubing and created a primitive front end that somehow held the axel in place.
Despite having a very sore back, Jones manhandled what was left of his mangled La Villa Restaurant No.4 DRC to a seventh-place finish behind Rodney Argo. Josh Ford used one of his provisional starts to win the Hard Charger Award with his 23rd to ninth-place run.
