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JONES TAKES THRILLER AT THE PAS
by Robert Mayson
Perris, Calif…(September 13, 2008) Tony Jones of Norco, Calif. scored a thrilling last-lap victory in Saturday night’s 30-lap Lucas Oil USAC/CRA Sprint feature at Perris Auto Speedway. Jones caught Rip Williams, Yorba Linda, Calif. exiting turn-four and beat him to the checkered flag in his Alexander Trucking / La Villa Restaurant No. 4 DRC.
“I took a shot at it and it stuck,” Jones said after collecting his second straight Perris Auto Speedway win. “The harder I drover the car, the better it felt and I was so frustrated with myself knowing what I did wrong that let Rip get by me that I was going to give him everything I had. I knew I was either going to hang it off the fence or get one heck of a drive.”
USAC/CRA Rookie of the Year contender Nic Faas shared the front row with Greg Bragg for the start of the race. Using the turn-one cushion, Bragg led Faas, Danny Sheridan, Williams, Alan Ballard and Jones at the end of the first lap. Faas took the lead from Bragg during the fourth lap with a veteran-like turn-one slide-job.
Faas reached lapped traffic just prior to the midway mark of the race while enjoying nearly a full straightaway advantage over Bragg. One lap after Williams had moved his John Jory Corporation / AMA Plastics No. 3 Stinger ahead of Sheridan and into third, Ballard made contact with Sheridan in turn-two. The contact resulted in the first caution period of the event when “Showtime” Sheridan slowly limped to the work area with a flat left rear tire. Sheridan returned to action with a new tire and went on to finish eighth.
Faas once again built a comfortable lead after the restart until it was erase by another yellow flag. This time it was Bragg that brought out the caution after debris on the racing surface left him with a flat left front tire on lap-27. Moments before the caution flag, Jones had passed both Williams and Bragg after they made contact exiting turn-four. It was the second close call for Jones, who was directly behind Ballard when he and Sheridan touched wheels earlier in the race.
“I was able to take advantage of both incidents,” Jones later said. “The one in turn-four with Rip and Greg hitting each other I think I went from fourth to second. I actually thought Greg was leading because Faas was so far out in front that I couldn’t see him.”
Lined-up in second for the restart, Jones had a perfect view of Faas suddenly slowing with a throttle problem after taking the green flag. Faas’ heartbreak resulted in the final yellow flag of the race. Williams took advantage of the subsequent restart and slid ahead of Jones entering turn-three.
Two laps from the finish, Jones took a peek to the inside of Wiilliams, who was running a middle line exiting turn-four. Moving back to his familiar cushion for the final lap, Jones found himself three-car lengths behind “The Ripper” halfway along the back-straight.
Throwing caution to the wind, Jones blasted his way through the final set of turns before slipping around the outside of Williams and into the lead just prior to reaching the checkered flag.
“I went through turns-one and two on the last lap trying to run a perfect line,” recalled the defending series champion after posting his 15th career USAC/CRA win. “When I went into turn-three I was right on his bumper and was actually over the cushion in turns three and four when I saw I was going to have an opening.”
After starting seventh, current USAC/CRA point leader Mike Spencer, Temecula, Calif., finished third in the Ron Chaffin / Temecula Valley Pipe & Supply No. 50 Maxim. Josh Ford, Camarillo, Calif. started next to Spencer before driving his Keith Ford / V-Mac No. 73 Ellis to a fourth-place finish. Riverside California’s David Cardey rounded-out the top-five in the Glenn Crossno / ITI Performance No. 38 Viper.
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