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Hot Kirby has something to say about USAC/CRA title chase - By Ken Wagner - 09/25/04 - Phoenix, AZ. …For the third time on four weeks, Mike Kirby won a Valvoline USAC/CRA Sprint Car race. Kirby said on Friday before the trip, "I am going to win Saturday night, guaranteed!" After the win, he said "watch out for us at Perris in two weeks, I'll do it again!" It was Kirby's sixth win this season with the club and 9th overall in the Glenn and Carol Crossno TCR running with two other associations. With 34 cars signed in, it was a fast paced night on a racy track.
Mike was extremely focused this week and won his heat from the back row before chasing down early leader, Charles Davis Jr, in the 30 lap feature. He didn't give anyone a chance to catch him as he flew thru traffic until the checkered flag fell with a straightaway lead at the end. Driving the Snap on Tools, Sander, ITI Performance, # 38 car like it was on a slot track, Kirby never let up until he crossed the finish line.
Jeremy Sherman drove the wheels off Fred Brian's # 77 this week. Of course he always does and you have to go thru him to win at Manzy. Jeremy had fast time and ran hard in his heat to transfer to the main where he jumped from eighth to second, but couldn't catch "King Kong Kirby" this night.
Damion Gardner brought his new Eagle chassis to Manzy for the first time and got faster as the night went on. He was third quick in qualifying, ran fourth in his heat to transfer to the Main event and started seventh on the grid. "The Demon" was relentless as he chased the fast Sherman and Kirby and put the Temecula Valley Pipe & Supply, Arizona Race Mart, Shaver, Ron-Ber, Inc, # 50 on the podium for the tenth time this season.
PHOENIX, Ariz. (September 25, 2004) VALVOLINE USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: September 25, 2004 - Phoenix, Arizona - Manzanita Speedway
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Jeremy Sherman, 77, Bryan-18.944; 2. Steve Ostling, 5, Keller-18.971; 3. Damion Gardner, 50, Chaffin-19.015; 4. Rickie Gaunt, 2A, Smiley-19.086; 5. Troy Rutherford, 7, Priestley-19.162; 6. Mike Spencer, 44, Engstrom-19.173; 7. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-19.178; 8. Mike Kirby, 38, Crossno-19.238; 9. Bob Ream, Jr., 8, BRAT-19.314; 10. Bobby Cody, 41, Cody-19.377; 11. Brian Venard, 37, Venard-19.532; 12. Matthew Rossi, 16, Rossi-19.549; 13. Charles Davis, Jr., 8A, Smiley-19.555; 14. Greg Bragg, 12, Pratt-19.613; 15. Nathan High, 6A, Pritchett-19.618; 16. David Cardey, 59, Giardina-19.657; 17. Alex Pruett, 56az, Pruett/May-19.669; 18. Jeff Henry, 12A, Allen-19.843; 19. Jeff Slinkard, 61, Ratz-19.853; 20. Brandon Lane, 97H, Lane-19.855; 21. Justin Fisher, 95J, Fisher-19.880; 22. Darren Hagen, 11x, McMinn-19.906; 23. Rick Ziehl, 14, Lancaster-19.912; 24. Ronnie Clark, 33x, Clark-19.952; 25. Bugs Norbury, 61az, Carsten-19.986; 26. Kevin Urton, 51, Urton-20.119; 27. R.J. Johnson, 15, Johnson-20.283; 28. Keith Williamson, 95, Williamson-20.342; 29. Mike Leslie, 76, Montgomery-20.480; 30. Seth Wilson, 17, Wilson-20.807; 31. Bruce St. James, 7k, St. James-20.972; 32. Mike Rux, Jr., 22, Rux-21.128; 33. Paul Norbury, 91az, Carsten-21.522; 34. Nadine Keller, 6, Keller-22.294.
FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Davis, 2. Ream, 3. Sherman, 4. Leslie, 5. Rutherford, 6. Fisher, 7. Pruett, 8. B.Norbury, 9. Keller. 3:19.42
SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Urton, 2. Hagen, 3. Cody, 4. Bragg, 5. Spencer, 6. Wilson, 7. Henry, 8. Ostling. 3:24.00
THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Ziehl, 2. High, 3. Williams, 4. Gardner, 5. Venard, 6. Johnson, 7. St. James, 8. Slinkard. 3:21.52
FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Kirby, 2. Williamson, 3. Gaunt, 4. Lane, 5. Cardey, 6. Clark, 7. P.Norbury, 8. Rossi. 3:23.51
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Ostling, 2. Rutherford, 3. Venard, 4. English, 5. Clark, 6. Cardey, 7. Johnson, 8. Slinkard, 9. Fisher, 10. Wilson, 11. Henry, 12. P.Norbury, 13. St. James, 14. Keller, 15. B.Norbury. 4:13.61
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Mike Kirby (+3), 2. Jeremy Sherman (+6), 3. Damion Gardner (+4), 4. Rickie Gaunt (+2), 5. Troy Rutherford (+5), 6. Mike Spencer (+5), 7. Rip Williams (-2), 8. Bob Ream, Jr. (-5), 9. Charles Davis, Jr. (-8), 10. Nathan High (+4), 11. Brian Venard (+1), 12. Rick Ziehl (+5), 13. Greg Bragg (-), 14. Kevin Urton (+4), 15. Bobby Cody (-13), 16. Keith Williamson (+3), 17. Steve Ostling (-8), 18. Brandon Lane (-3), 19. Darren Hagen (-3), 20. Mike Leslie ( - ). NT ---------------------------------------
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Davis 1-10, Kirby 11, Davis 12-13, Kirby 14-30.
NEW VALVOLINE USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Williams-1,306; 2-Kirby-1,235; 3-Gardner-1,227; 4-Rutherford-933; 5-Bragg-744; 6-Tony Jones-726; 7-Ostling-706; 8-Cody-692; 9-Spencer-664; 10-Venard-633.
NEXT VALVOLINE USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: October 9 - Perris (CA) Auto Speedway
NOTES: Mike McCreary passed away this past week of pancreatic cancer. The well known racer/innovator that made Oval Chassis Research a popular place will be missed by all of the racing community. Rest in peace Mike.
From a happier note comes word of the latest sprint car driver born. Grady Neal Jones was born on Friday and weighed 7 lbs and 12 oz and was 20 inches long. Tammy and Tony are doing fine and Tony will be back on the track at Ventura.