August 13, 2011
Last weekend, the Kittle team visited Santa Maria Speedway, Danny’s home track, where the results were very good but still a little disappointing. The 18 team was working without crew chief Randy Shiosaki, who was attending his brother’s wedding in Boston. The guys were a little too conservative on chassis setup for qualifying, and Danny could manage only a 9th quick at 14.812.
Two of the top 8 qualifiers failed to transfer from their heats, however, so after finishing second to Cory Kruseman in his heat, Danny started the main on the outside of the front row next to Austin Williams. The track had been rather slick during the heat races but got quite tacky for the main; the result was very little passing. Danny’s car was stagger-tight throughout the 30-lapper, allowing Williams to get the jump on him at the start, and the young son of veteran Rip Williams held the lead all the way to earn his first-ever USAC/CRA main event win. Danny crept up behind him a few times, hoping to pass, but the tight chassis kept him from making the necessary moves.
Second place ain’t bad, but for hometown hero Sheridan, it was a letdown, knowing that only one more measly inch of stagger could have put him atop the podium instead of on the second step.
AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT RACE RESULTS: August 13, 2011 – Santa Maria, California – Santa Maria Speedway
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-14.227; 2. Nic Faas, 4, Alexander-14.612; 3. Rip Williams, 3, Williams-14.655; 4. Jace VanderWeerd, 88, VanderWeerd-14.733; 5. Ronnie Gardner, 93, Gardner-14.782; 6. Richard VanderWeerd, 10, VanderWeerd-14.794; 7. Wes Gutierrez, 07, Gutierrez-14.801; 8. Danny Faria, 2x, Bowman-14.803; 9. Danny Sheridan, 18, Kittle-14.812; 10. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-14.838; 11. Rickie Gaunt, 66, Miller-14.885; 12. Rusty Carlile, 51, Carlile-14.886; 13. Rodney Argo, 19, Argo-14.887; 14. Johnathon Henry, 16, Jones-14.914; 15. Cory Kruseman, 21k, Kruseman-14.995; 16. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-15.055; 17. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-15.262; 18. Bill Jones, 16J, Jones-15.556.
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Spencer, 2. C.Williams, 3. A.Williams, 4. J.VanderWeerd, 5. Gutierrez, 6. Argo. NT
SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Faria, 2. Gaunt, 3. Gardner, 4. Faas, 5. Henry, 6. Mitchell. NT
THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Kruseman, 2. Sheridan, 3. Carlile, 4. R.VanderWeerd, 5. R.Williams, 6. Jones. NT
LAST MAN STANDING DASH: Winner: Mike Spencer.
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Austin Williams, 2. Danny Sheridan, 3. Ronnie Gardner, 4. Danny Faria, Jr., 5. Richard VanderWeerd, 6. Mike Spencer, 7. Jace VanderWeerd, 8. Rip Williams, 9. Matt Mitchell, 10. Rusty Carlile, 11. Cory Kruseman, 12. Nic Faas, 13. Rickie Gaunt, 14. Johnathon Henry, 15. Cody Williams, 16. Rodney Argo, 17. Bill Jones, 18. Wes Gutierrez. NT
**Mitchell flipped during the second heat.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 A.Williams.
NEW AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT POINTS: 1-Spencer-561; 2-Faas-518; 3-Mitchell-505; 4-A.Williams-457; 5-Greg Bragg-385; 6-Williams-362; 7-Gardner-343; 8-Gaunt-338; 9-Sheridan-333; 10-R.Williams-319.
NEXT AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT RACE: August 20 – Perris (CA) Auto Speedway
The day starts with the crew, sans Randy, preparing to get the car ready.
The car is unloaded.
Paul and Jimbo get started with first time pit helper Terry looking on.
Getting close to ready.
A little track packing.
Back off the car for qualifying.
Qualifying put Danny in the middle of the pack.
Paul heading to the infield for the heat, just in case.
And there off in the third heat.
Danny churning up top.
The main starts with Danny hard on the gas in this fuzzy shot. He stayed that way finishing 2nd, but looking for more.
Showtime Racing Back Issues:
All photos © 2011 Mr. Wags Photos
