By Lance Jennings
SANTA MARIA, CA – JULY 9, 2012… Last Saturday night, “The Kruser” Cory Kruseman of Ventura took the lead on the second lap and led the rest of the way to claim the “4th Annual Doug Fort Memorial” at Chris Kearns’ Santa Maria Speedway. The second round “War at the Shore” victory of the USAC vs. ASCS “Grudge Series” earned Kruseman $2,500 for his efforts as he was followed by “Showtime” Danny Sheridan, Ryan Bernal, “Hollywood” Danny Faria Jr., and fast time qualifier Brody Roa.
With an eight pill drawn for the main event inversion, Kruseman shared the front row with former West Coast Champion Justyne Hamblin. Piloting Keith Ford’s #73X King Racing Products / A&A Precision Machine Ellis, Kruseman used a strong outside power move to take command. As last year’s USAC Western Midget Series Champion inched away from Hamblin, seventh starting Danny Sheridan charged into second. The former track champion was able to chase down Kruseman and looked for an opportunity to make his move.
Several yellow flags halted the action, but Cory had excellent restarts that kept the field at bay. As the laps counted down, Kruseman stretched his advantage, but had a tense moment after contact with a slower car. Unfazed, the leader gathered up his machine and continued his drive. A yellow flag on lap twenty-six and the ensuing restart gave Sheridan two more shots at Kruseman. However, the brakes in the Kittle Motorsports’ #18 Pace Lighting / PJ1 Lubricants Sherman were lost and “Showtime” was in a furious battle with Faria, Bernal, and Roa. Kruseman proved too strong on this night and streaked to the checkered flags as Sheridan held on for second. Bernal earned the night’s Ringer’s Gloves / Kaeding Performance “Hard Charger / Best Passing Job” honors with an eighteenth to third place run.
Driving Keith Ford’s #73 King Racing Products / A&A Precision Machine Spike, Hollister’s Ryan Bernal earned the night’s LRB Inc. Race Products Award by finishing third in the “War at The Shore.” The performance also earned Bernal his second track championship as the young driver now sits atop the “Grudge Series” point chase. Ryan also climbed to second in the USAC West Coast standings as the series will be idle until August 4th at Hanford.
Danny Faria Jr. of Tipton claimed fourth in the “Doug Fort Memorial” after starting fifteenth. Piloting his #17V Johnston Calf Pens / Buster & Ziggy Enterprises Bullet, “Hollywood” won the 10-lap Saldana Racing Products / Keizer Wheels Heat Race #2. The hard charging driver has moved to third in the USAC West Coast standings and eighth in the “Grudge Series,” which resumes September 22nd at Canyon Speedway Park.
Buena Park’s Brody Roa started eighth in the “War at the Shore” and raced to third by the sixth lap. Driving the BR Performance #91R HD Industries / Burris Racing Spike, the Sander Engineering / Rod End Supply Fast Time Award winner raced hard with Hamblin, Faria, Bernal, and R.J. Johnson. Finishing second in his heat race, the recent USAC/CRA winner at Yuma is currently tenth in the “Grudge Series” and twenty-fifth in USAC West Coast points.
“The Rickster” Ricky Kirkbride of Bakersfield earned the program’s Weld Racing Award with a tenth place run in the “Doug Fort Memorial.” Piloting Bob and Toni Van Meter’s #87 Fred Cummings Motorsports Maxim, Kirkbride qualified fifteenth and placed third in his heat race. As this writing goes to press, “The Rickster” is eighth in the USAC West Coast points and thirteenth in the “Grudge Series” standings.
Campbell’s Bud Kaeding won the 10-lap Extreme Mufflers Heat Race #1. Driving Junior Bowman’s #29 Buster & Ziggy Enterprises / Kaeding Performance Bullet, the 3-time USAC Silver Crown Champion was fifth quick in time trials and scored twelfth in the “War at the Shore.” The USAC West Coast point leader had a tough night, but holds a sixty-six point advantage and sits fourth in the “Grudge Series.”
Jared Little of Hanford raced to victory in the night’s DJ Safety Heat Race #3. Driving Craig Little’s #25 Little Chiropractic / Brad’s Smog & Tune Maxim, Jared was nineteenth quick and scored twenty-first in the “Fort Memorial” after an early exit. Despite missing some races, the young driver is twenty-second in USAC West Coast points and thirty-second in the “Grudge Series.”
Huntington Beach’s Nic Faas made his first start of the campaign and won the SBI Fuel Systems / Integra Racing Shocks Heat Race #4. Subbing for Matt Mitchell in Steve Watt’s #18 Christian Stover Foundation / SWE Maxim, the former USAC Western Midget Series Champion qualified eighth and ran ninth in the “War at The Shore.” With that performance, Faas sits eighteenth in the “Grudge Series” and thirty-sixth in USAC West Coast standings.
R.J. Johnson made the long tow from Phoenix, Arizona and won the 12-lap Competition Suspension Inc. / Diversified Machine Inc. Semi-Main. Piloting Bobby Martin’s #51 Weiler Farms / Pecon Builders Maxim, the ASCS Canyon point leader was sixth quick in time trials, sixth in his heat race, and sixth in the “Fort Memorial.” The former Arizona Midget Champion is fifth in the “Grudge Series” and thirty-fifth in the USAC West Coast points.
The USAC West Coast Sprint Car Series will return to action on Saturday, August 4th, at Scott Woodhouse’s Kings Speedway in Hanford. The “3rd Annual Jim Evett Memorial” will also feature the IMCA Sport Mods, IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stocks, and Mini Stocks. Located on the Kings County Fairgrounds at 801 South 10th Avenue, more event information can be found at www.kingsspeedway.net or calling (559) 584-RACE (7223).
The USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Car Series would like to thank Southwest Contractors, Hoosier Tire, Amsoil, ButlerBuilt, Competition Suspension Inc., Cory Kruseman’s Sprint Car & Midget Driving School, Crow Enterprizes, DJ Safety, Diversified Machine Inc., Extreme Mufflers, Hilborn Fuel Injection, Hinchman-Indy Racing Uniforms, Integra Shocks, Kaeding Performance, Keizer Wheels, LRB Inc. Race Products, ParkerStore of Phoenix, Ringers Gloves, Rod End Supply, SBI Fuel Systems, Saferacer.com, Saldana Racing Products, Sander Engineering, and Weld Racing for their support.
For more information on the USAC West Coast Sprint Car Series, visit www.westcoastsprintcars.com, www.usacracing.com, www.racesantamariaspeedway.com, or follow the series on Facebook (www.facebook.com/#!/pages/USAC-West-Coast-Sprint-Car-Series/369549755817)
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USAC WEST COAST SPRINT RACE RESULTS:
July 7, 2012 – Santa Maria, California – Santa Maria Speedway – “Doug Fort Memorial” – “War at the Shore” (Co-sanctioned by ASCS Canyon Region)
SANDER ENGINEERING / ROD END SUPPLY TIME TRIALS:
1. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-15.678; 2. Danny Sheridan, 18K, Kittle-15.774; 3. Kevin Barnes, 36B, Barnes-15.840; 4. Eric Rossi, 99, Katen-15.900; 5. Bud Kaeding, 29, Bowman-15.918; 6. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-16.032; 7. Rusty Carlile, 51X, Carlile-16.055; 8. Nic Faas, 18, Watt-16.070; 9. Rick Ziehl, 41W, Williams-16.083; 10. Cory Kruseman, 73X, Ford-16.090; 11. Justyne Hamblin, 8, JH-16.091; 12. Don Gansen, 7G, Gansen-16.126; 13. Markus Niemela, 81, Watt-16.132; 14. Mike Spencer, 7, Priestley-16.167; 15. Ricky Kirkbride, 87, Van Meter-16.225; 16. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-16.254; 17. D.J. Netto, 7N, Netto-16.273; 18. Danny Faria Jr., 17V, Faria-16.298; 19. Jared Little, 23, Little-16.362; 20. Tom Hendricks, 14K, Kruseman-16.415; 21. Mike Martin, 16, Martin-16.455; 22. Troy Rutherford, 11, Rutherford-16.765; 23. Hobie Conway, 21K, Kruseman-16.798; 24. J.J. Ercse, 36, Springstead-18.861; 25. Austin Liggett, 83, Liggett-16.910; 26. Ray Knight, 6K, Knight-18.328; 27. Tyler Dolacki, 18X, Dolacki-NT; 28. Ryan Bernal, 73, Ford-NT.
EXTREME MUFFLERS HEAT RACE 1: (10 laps)
1. Bud Kaeding, 2. Brody Roa, 3. Markus Niemela, 4. D.J. Netto, 5. Austin Liggett, 6. Mike Martin, 7. Rick Ziehl. NT
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS / KEIZER WHEELS HEAT RACE 2: (10 laps)
1. Danny Faria Jr., 2. Cory Kruseman, 3. Danny Sheridan, 4. Troy Rutherford, 5. Mike Spencer, 6. R.J. Johnson, 7. Ray Knight. NT
DJ SAFETY HEAT RACE 3: (10 laps)
1. Jared Little, 2. Justyne Hamblin, 3. Ricky Kirkbride, 4. Rusty Carlile, 5. Kevin Barnes, 6. Tyler Dolacki, 7. Hobie Conway. NT
SBI FUEL SYSTEMS / INTEGRA RACING SHOCKS HEAT RACE 4: (10 laps)
1. Nic Faas, 2. Ryan Bernal, 3. Eric Rossi, 4. Don Gansen, 5. Chris Gansen, 6. Tom Hendricks. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION INC. / DIVERSIFIED MACHINE INC. SEMI-MAIN: (12 laps)
1. R.J. Johnson, 2. Rick Ziehl, 3. Kevin Barnes, 4. Mike Spencer, 5. Tom Hendricks, 6. Mike Martin, 7. Austin Liggett, 8. Chris Gansen, 9. Tyler Dolacki, 10. J.J. Ercse, 11. Hobie Conway, 12. Ray Knight. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps – With Starting Positions)
1. Cory Kruseman (2nd), 2. Danny Sheridan (7th), 3. Ryan Bernal (18th), 4. Danny Faria Jr. (15th), 5. Brody Roa (8th), 6. R.J. Johnson (9th), 7. Troy Rutherford (17th), 8. Markus Niemela (12th), 9. Nic Faas (3rd), 10. Ricky Kirkbride (13th), 11. Rick Ziehl (10th), 12. Bud Kaeding (5th), 13. Mike Spencer (20th), 14. D.J. Netto (14th), 15. Don Gansen (11th), 16. Justyne Hamblin (1st), 17. Tom Hendricks (21st), 18. Rusty Carlile (4th), 19. Kevin Barnes (19th), 20. Eric Rossi (6th), 21. Jared Little (16th), 22. Mike Martin (22nd). NT
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**Rick Ziehl flipped during the first heat.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Justyne Hamblin, Laps 2-30 Cory Kruseman.
KAEDING PERFORMANCE / RINGERS GLOVES HARD CHARGER: Ryan Bernal (18th to 3rd)
LRB INC. RACE PRODUCTS AWARD: Ryan Bernal
WELD RACING AWARD: Ricky Kirkbride
NEW USAC WEST COAST SPRINT STANDINGS:
1. Bud Kaeding 486; 2. Ryan Bernal 420; 3. Danny Faria Jr. 405; 4. Matt Mitchell 391; 5. Markus Niemela 389; 6. Danny Sheridan 342; 7. Richard Vander Weerd 294; 8. Ricky Kirkbride 293; 9. Rusty Carlile 249; 10. Kevin Barnes 232; 11. Justyne Hamblin 227; 12. Chris Gansen 199; 13. Austin Liggett 183; 14. Steve Conrad 181; 15. Chris Ennis 150; 16. Kyle Larson 135; 17. Jace Vander Weerd 130; 18. Marty Hawkins 130; 19. Don Gansen 129; 20. Cory Kruseman 125.
USAC vs. ASCS GRUDGE SERIES POINT STANDINGS:
1. Ryan Bernal 311; 2. Danny Sheridan 305; 3. Troy Rutherford 293; 4. Bud Kaeding 290; 5. R.J. Johnson 287; 6. Cory Kruseman 286; 7. Mike Spencer 271; 8. Danny Faria Jr. 271; 9. Rick Ziehl 260; 10. Brody Roa 256; 11. Mike Martin 244; 12. Tom Hendricks 236; 13. Ricky Kirkbride 189; 14. Rusty Carlile 172; 15. Casey Shuman 154; 16. Josh Ford 139; 17. Markus Niemela 139; 18. Nic Faas 136; 19. Charles Davis Jr. 133; 20. Brian Hosford 128.
2012 USAC WEST COAST SPRINT CAR SERIES SCHEDULE
DATE – TRACK – LOCATION
August 4: Kings Speedway – Hanford, CA (Jim Evett Memorial)
September 8: Kings Speedway – Hanford, CA (Jim Turner Memorial)
September 22: *Canyon Speedway Park – Peoria, AZ (Brawl For It All / Non-Points)
September 29: Santa Maria Speedway – Santa Maria, CA (Billet Cup / John Jewett Memorial / Non-Points)
October 13: Kings Speedway – Hanford, CA (Cotton Classic)
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* = Co-Sanctioned Event With ASCS Canyon Region Sprints.
This schedule is subject to change.
ATTACHED PHOTOS/IMAGES: