As the green flag waves for the 99th running of the Indianapolis 500, last nght 24 of the best non wing sprint car drivers on the west coast were ready to pay tribute to open wheel racing.
Anticipation for Team Moose was high - as a new Victory chassis and a reworked "Thumper" was gonna make it's debut. It had been non stop thrashing in the Moose Garage for weeks and the 92 Moosemobile was beautiful, and even looked fast just sitting in the garage.
But here comes the new member of the Moose Crew - and by the way, not a welcome addition!! Mr. Gremlin was back and he seems to be very comfortable here at Team Moose!! Not really knowing what was wrong Tom made the fast decision to unload the back-up car. In just minutes qualifying would begin and shocks, tires, & making quick adjustments had to be made when swapping from one car to the other. Slated to go out 9th there was no dilly dallying - and somehow in 10 minutes the car was being pushed to staging. As many sat and on looked the amazing work of the team, most just shook their heads in disbelief - how'd they do that?
With no heat in engine, and no laps on the track Jake fired off. Cough cough - sputter.. oh come on .. fire.... being so cold it took longer for the Kistler engine to come to life. But when it did - boy did it!!! The fastest lap at Perris this year -- 16.354!!! And Jake's 3rd quick time in a row at Perris.
Heat race competition was gonna be tough - but letting no grass grow under his feet, Jake powered into 3rd during the first lap. The battle between Cody Williams and Jake was tight - with Chad Boesppfiug taking the win, Cody 2nd, Jake 3rd and AJ Bender 4th. Perfect... direct transfer. Line up for the Main Event would have Jake starting 3rd row outside.
Heat 2 was won by Mike Spencer. Heat 3 Austin Williams claimed the win.
Main Event -- who would drink the milk in Victory Circle? Wow - talk about side by side battles all over the track... the top 6 checked out, but having to contend with lapped traffic proved to be a key factor in the final outcome. Running consistently in 6th Jake settled into his rhythm. A late opportunity in the final laps saw the Moosemobile make a pass on Mike Spencer for 5th. ( anytime another driver can pass multi champion Spencer , that's something to write about! )
Standing on the podium adorned with the red, white and blue Indy wreath of flowers and drinking the coveted bottle of milk was once again Richard Vander Weerd. Amazing run for Richard as he claimed yet another win at Perris Auto Speedway !!!
Finishing order of the 40 lap event:
FEATURE: (40 laps) 1. Richard Vander Weerd, 2. Matt Mitchell, 3. Austin Williams, 4. Cody Williams, 5. Jake Swanson, 6. Brody Roa, 7. Mike Spencer, 8. Chad Boespflug, 9. A.J. Bender, 10. Jace Vander Weerd, 11. Cody Swanson, 12. Logan Williams, 13. Austin Smith, 14. Tommy Malcolm, 15. Chris Gansen, 16. Anthony Lopiccolo, 17. Tobey Sampson, 18. Rickie Gaunt, 19. Damion Gardner, 20. Jeremy Ellertson, 21. Trent Williams, 22. Parker Colston, 23. Verne Sweeney, 24. Jesse Denome. NT
Next race at Perris Auto Speedway: June 13th -- and it's Moose Night ...
for more information about Moose Night - call Laurie @ 714-842-4998 ... or email her at Laurie@sprintcars.com......
- administrator on May 24, 2015
- Article Date: 5/24/2015 by Photos Courtesy Of Marv Keller, Picture This