A plethora of stars are among the latest entries for the November 3rd, 4th and 5th 10th Annual Budweiser Oval Nationals at Perris Auto Speedway. Temecula Valley Pipe & Supply will present the three-day event, which features all of the drivers competing every night.
Among the latest group of entries is a pair of former Oval Nationals Champions. Ventura, California’s Cory Kruseman, the two-time defending Oval Nationals champ, and 1999 winner Rickie Gaunt of Torrance, California. Kruseman is currently ranked third in Valvoline USAC/CRA points and has eight wins on the circuit in 2005. The former SCRA champion won the 2005 Indiana Sprint Week title and is a two-time champion in the prestigious Chili Bowl Midget race. Gaunt, who turned 37 last Thursday, is ranked sixth in Valvoline USAC/CRA points and has three wins this year. Gaunt won the 2004 SCRA and Non Wing World Championships.
The driver many are tabbing to win the Oval Nationals this year entered last week as well. Damion Gardner, of Concord, California, leads the 2005 Valvoline USAC/CRA Series in main event wins (13), fast times (19) and most importantly, points. Gardner has a total of 21 wins in the two years of the USAC/CRA Series. That is eight more victories than Kruseman who is second on the list.
PAS favorite Mike Kirby is also one of the latest entries. The 41-year old from Torrance, California debuted a brand new team at The PAS on October 1st. He dazzled the crowd by going from 22nd to 5th in the 30 lap main event. Last Saturday at Tucson, Arizona, Kirby ran with the new team for the second time and finished fourth after starting 12th. The 1993 CRA Champion has 10 total USAC/CRA wins and 60 lifetime victories.
Recent Midwest entries include Daron Clayton of Sikester, Missouri, John Scott of Pittsboro, Indiana and Love Park, Illinois star Davey Ray. Scott is a former main event winner at The PAS, while Clayton, an exciting 21-year old driver, will be making his first ever appearance at the Riverside County clay oval. Calling the shots on the Clayton car is crew chief and National Sprint Car Hall of Famer Bubby Jones. Ray, 27, will also be making his first appearance at The PAS. In 2004 he was named Most Improved Driver in the USAC National Midget Series. The previous year he won the Badger Midget Racing Association Championship.
The longest tow entered thus far is Cherry Hill, New Jersey’s Tom Hessert. Hessert, who made his PAS debut at last year’s Oval Nationals, is currently ranked 7th in the USAC National Midget standings and 13th in the USAC National Sprint Car Series. A 19-year old who attends Indiana-Purdue University in Indianapolis, Hessert ended up third in the 2004 USAC National Midget point standings.
Two of the hottest drivers on the West Coast, Santa Maria, California’s “Showtime” Danny Sheridan and Josh Ford of Camarillo, California, recently submitted their entries as well. Sheridan, who turned 30 a couple of months ago, has been pounding on the door looking for his first ever USAC/CRA win and has several podium finishes to show for it. “Showtime” won the 1997 IMCA West Coast Sprint Car Championship and the Bandit crown in 1998. In addition, he won the 2002 Wagsdash. Ford, who was second to Kruseman in a photo finish at the thrilling 2004 Oval Nationals, amazingly won sprint car Rookie of the Year awards three years in a row! The first came in 2002 with VRA. He won the same award with SCRA in 2003 and the USAC National Series in 2004. Like Sheridan, he has been kicking at the door trying to bag his first USAC/CRA main event win.
Buckeye, Arizona’s Charles Davis Jr., Gaunt’s teammate on the Smiley Crane Service/David Zoriki Motorsports squad, is another of the early entries. Davis is a two-time (1998-99) Arizona Sprint Car Association champion and currently occupies fifth in USAC/CRA points. Corona, California’s Steve Ostling, will be a big contender in the Oval Nationals driving for 2001 SCRA Car Owner Champion Harlan Willis.
San Clemente, California’s Seth Wilson entered the popular Racing Optics “Warbird” car last week as well. Wilson has been in the top ten in USAC/CRA points all season long. Arizona teenager R.J. Johnson, who scored a second at The PAS earlier this season, former Turkey Night Grand Prix winner Jordan Hermansador, Azusa, California police officer Nadine Keller, SCRA regulars Evan Suggs of Scott’s Valley, California & Richard Harvey Jr. of Hanford, California have also submitted entries. The same can be said for Highland, California veteran Rick Becker, first year driver Nate Ziegler of El Cajon and Tyler Spath of Chico (Spath’s Grandfather, Ned Spath, won 20 main events in the original CRA and finished second in points to champion Billy Wilkerson in 1967).
In addition to the recent entries, Arizona superstar Jeremy Sherman was named as the driver for the previously entered Mark Priestley #7 car. Sherman, who is close to wrapping up the 2005 Arizona Sprint Car Association Championship, turned in one of the most memorable moments in Oval Nationals history when he started 21st in the 2003 race and finished second to Kruseman.
Advance tickets for the west coast’s premiere sprint car race are on sale now by calling: (951) 940-0134 or 1-800-595-4849. You can also order advance tickets on the Internet at www.tix.com or www.perrisautospeedway.com.
Perris Auto Speedway is conveniently located on the freeway close Lake Perris Fairgrounds, home of the Southern California Fair, approximately one hour east of Los Angeles. Take the 215 Freeway, exit at the Ramona Expressway and go east two and a half miles to the fairgrounds.
For more information on any event at Perris Auto Speedway, please call (951) 940-0134.
racesatthepas@aol.com is the only authorized Internet address to issue official media news released from The Perris Auto Speedway or Oval Entertainment
OVAL NATIONALS CHAMPIONS
1996 – Jimmy Sills
1997 – Rip Williams
1998 – Rodney Argo
1999 – Rickie Gaunt
2000 – Tony Jones
2001 – Bud Kaeding
2002 – Bud Kaeding
2003 – Cory Kruseman
2004 – Cory Kruseman
