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MILLER FINALLY SEES CRA CHECKERED FLAG 1ST; WINS AT THE PAS!
By Robert Mayson
Perris, CA.......Twenty year-old Blake Miller, Yorba Linda, Calif., won Saturday’s 40-lap “Salute to Indy” at the Perris Auto Speedway marking the first Lucas Oil USAC/CRA main event win of his young career.
Two weeks ago at the PAS, Miller was engaged in fierce battle for the lead late in the race with series point leader Tony Jones of Norco, Calif. when his hopes for his first victory ended after hitting the turn-one concrete. Making just his third start in Jeff Gardner’s Roy Miller Freightlines No. 93 Sled, Miller became the 12th different winner in 14 races this season.
“Tony’s been the guy to beat here at Perris, so to be able to race with him like we did two weeks ago was an honor,” Miller said. “I really believe we might have won our first race then and our second one tonight had a bolt that holds the tie rod in place not broken. But to get my first win in one of the most prestigious races we run right before the Indy 500 is unbelievable. I got to drink the milk and wear the wreath with all the flowers, and I just couldn’t ask for anything better.”
Troy Rutherford and Josh Ford shared the front row for the start of the feature race, with Ford pulling ahead of the field exiting turn-two on the opening lap. Danny Sheridan of Santa Maria, Calif., started fourth and was able to put his Kittle Plumbing / PJ1 #18 Stinger into the lead after giving Ford a turn-three slide-job on the fourth lap.
Mike Spencer’s championship hopes suffered a setback on lap six after his car jumped the turn-one cushion and hit the wall. Spencer was unable to return to action after bring out the first caution period of the race.
After starting the event in the fifth position, Miller lined-up third for the restart thanks to a terrific second lap that saw the 2006 USAC/CRA Rookie-of the Year pass four cars. Miller moved into the second spot on the restart using the bottom and set sail after the cushion riding Sheridan.
The first red-flag of the race flew when rookie Billy Blinn flipped on a lap-15 restart. Blinn was not hurt and even returned to post a 15th place finish. Miller took advantage of the subsequent restart and passed Sheridan exiting turn-four. Sheridan responded immediately and took the lead back three circuits later.
Sheridan reached lapped traffic on the 22nd lap, which proved to be beneficial to him since most of the slower cars observed the move-over flag and headed down to the bottom where Miller’s car was working best.
“The first ten laps of the race we were pretty good and were able to move up from the third row,” Miller recalled. “Right before the first red (flag) I felt the right rear tire going down, and when we stopped, we only had four pounds of tire pressure. I knew my car was fast, but because of the tire, we weren’t very good on the cushion and I really had to pick and choose my lines.”
Miller may have chosen his lines wisely, but ultimately it was a miscue on the cushion by Sheridan eleven laps from the finish that allowed Miller and the Nadine Gardner owned David Zoriki sponsored No. 94 Chalk driven by Rickie Gaunt, Torrance, Calif., to follow into second-place.
It had been since the 2001 season since the Gardner Family had taken a car to victory lane at Perris. Running first and second in Gardner cars on the white flag lap, Miller and Gaunt were comfortably in their positions when David Cardey, Riverside, Calif., settled a feud with Rip Williams that had been building during the course of the race. Much to the dismay of Miller, the yellow light appeared for Williams, who spun to a stop in turn-two.
Despite a having a right rear tire that was loosing air, Miller calmly restarted the race and went on to score a popular win. Gaunt was not as fortunate on the final two laps and found himself in the middle of a wild four-car battle. When the dust finally settled, Cardey had moved his Glenn Crossno / ITI Performance No. 83 Bullet up three spots during the final lap to grab the runner-up spot. Cardey’s spectacular drive from the 12th starting position earned him Hard-Charger honors. Gaunt finished third ahead of Sheridan, who turned the fastest lap during the race.
Even though his Alexander Trucking / La Villa Restaurant #4 DRC smoked throughout the night, Jones stayed in contention for the win and eventually finished fifth. Cory Kruseman was running seventh when he spun on the sixth lap after contact with another car. Showing the determination of a defending series champion, Kruseman worked his way back to earn a sixth-place finish.
Garrett Hansen turned the fastest lap in time trials, but would spend the bulk of the evening at a local hospital getting his ankle examined after hard tumble in his heat race. Hansen was later released.
After qualifying was complete, Glenn Howard was presented an award recognizing his many contributions to “traditional” sprint car racing.
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