David Cardey of Riverside, Calif. worked his own special brand of
Halloween magic to dust off the rest of the field Friday night in the 25-lap prelim
feature for the "Budweiser Oval Nationals" at Perris Auto Speedway. Cardey
celebrated his 33rd birthday in style, outlasting Damion Gardner, Jerry Coons Jr.
and Jesse Hockett in a furious finish to put his ITI Performance/Empire Plumbing
Viper/Downing Chevy in victory lane. Levi Jones finished fifth and trails Coons by
45 in the new National standings, while Blake Miller moved to within just 27 points
of USAC/CRA Sprint point leader Mike Spencer. Five lead changes between three
drivers spiced the 25-lap race, with Cardey grabbing the lead for the final time
from Gardner on lap 23. Robert Ballou escaped serious injury in a spectacular flip
on the backstretch on lap 20 of the feature. Thursday night's winner Tony Jones
finished fifth in the semi and elected not to use a provisional, thereby missing
Friday's feature. The "Budweiser Oval Nationals" concludes Saturday night at the
PAS.