When the finals of the “Perris Auto Speedway Fan’s Best Sprint Car Driver Challenge Poll” opens on Wednesday, May 27, it will be just like old times as “The Gasman” Richard Griffin and Rip Williams will vie for the title. In the first seven years of the track’s history, Williams, and Griffin, who are now both members of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, were the two biggest heroes at the Riverside County half-mile clay oval.
The poll, which has proven to be popular with fans during the Covid19 crisis, matched the eight winningest sprint car drivers in the tracks first 24 seasons. To get to the final, both Williams and Griffin had to win two preliminary rounds. Griffin narrowly beat Damion Gardner in a round one matchup by taking 53% of the votes to Gardner’s 47%. Williams’s preliminary round one win saw him capture 73% of the votes to Mike Kirby’s 27%.
In the semifinals, Griffin was matched up against Cory Kruseman and he again narrowly prevailed with a 52% count from the voters to Kruseman’s 48%. The closest race of the entire contest so far came the semifinal that matched Williams against Mike Spencer. 931 ballots were cast, and the lead seesawed back in forth before Williams edged Spencer 51% to 49%! That worked out to only 13 more votes (472 for Williams to Spencer’s 459).
Voting for the final will begin at 4:00 P.M. Pacific on Wednesday, May 27th and will conclude at 4:00 P.M. on Saturday, May 30th. Interested fans can vote by going to the poll on the Perris Auto Speedway Facebook page and scrolling down to the poll which will be near the top.
Round #1
Cory Kruseman 62% (139) over Rickie Gaunt 38% (87)
Richard Griffin 53% (134) over Damion Gardner 47% (118)
Rip Williams 74% (171) over Mike Kirby 27% (73)
Mike Spencer 60% (146) over Tony Jones 40% (98)
Semifinal #1
Richard Griffin 52% (63) over Cory Kruseman 48% (58)
Semifinal #2
Rip Williams 51% (472) over Mike Spencer 49% (459)
Final
Rip Williams vs Richard Griffin
PAS PR
