Phoenix, Arizona…(March 19, 2005)
Mike Kirby, of Torrance, Ca, made the trip to Manzanita Speedway for the 5th annual Temecula Valley Pipe & Supply Sokola Classic a good one.
Driving the Alexander Trucking, La Villa Restaurant, Stinger, RC Performance # 4, Mike took the lead on lap 33 after chasing down the leader, Rickie Gaunt who had won the 20 lap opener on Friday, and blew by him on the top groove to go on to win the $5000 prize.
It was Kirby’s 9th CRA win with the club as he overcame a large lead by the early leader and in the winner’s circle said “ It began working great on the top for me and I got by Jeremy and then Gaunt for the lead. Sometimes traffic works for you and sometimes it doesn’t.”
The victory boosted him to third in the new series standings going into this Saturday night's race at Perris Auto Speedway.
Rickie Gaunt was a runaway winner in Friday night’s 20 lap prelim race and looked to double up on Saturday. He was consistently pulling away from the pack on the bottom of the track until Kirby found the top to his liking. It was Gaunt’s first win at the track.
Teammate and Point leader, Charles Davis Jr kept his lead with fifth and third place finishes on a good weekend for team Smiley as Rickie went first and second on the two nights. Davis led the first seven laps of the 40-lap race before teammate Gaunt took over.
Defending champ, Rip Williams, came close to winning his 100th race when he ran second and third over the weekend.
Damion Gardner had his fourth fast time in a row on Friday, but dropped out when he hit the wall on a yellow flag in the main and couldn’t return. Saturday he was second quick and, after replacing a shock on lap 17, came from the back to get eighth.
Seth Wilson surprised Saturday's field with the night's fastest qualifying time.
The Valvoline USAC/CRA series was not affected by the rain showers that were in the area for the weekend as the raceway dodged the rain and completed the two day event without interruption.
FEATURE: (40 laps - With Starting Positions)
1. Mike Kirby (4th), 2. Rickie Gaunt (6th), 3. Rip Williams (5th), 4. Jeremy Sherman (12th), 5. Charles Davis Jr. (2nd), 6. Josh Ford (3rd), 7. Cory Kruseman (17th), 8. Damion Gardner (7th), 9. Rick Ziehl (1st), 10. Jesse Hockett (16th), 11. R.J. Johnson (19th), 12. Bill Rose (13th), 13. Seth Wilson (8th), 14. Josh Wise (9th), 15. Brandon Lane (14th), 16. Jimmy Crawford (15th), 17. Alan Ballard (21st), 18. Mike Leslie (20th), 19. Ronnie Clark (22nd), 20. Chuck Buckman (11th), 21. Bobby Cody (10th), 22. Dwayne Marcum (18th). NT.
-----------------------
**Chuck Buckman and Bobby Cody flipped during the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS:
Laps 1-7 Davis, Laps 8-32 Gaunt, Laps 33-40 Kirby.
NEW USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS:
1-Charles Davis Jr.-335; 2-Rip Williams-333; 3-Mike Kirby-289;
4-Damion Gardner-288; 5-Cory Kruseman-277; 6-Rickie Gaunt-235; 7-Josh Ford-208; 8-Seth Wilson-179; 9-Alan Ballard-173; 10-Josh Wise-169.
|
