From Dick Jordan
Indianapolis, IN — The battle for the 2010 USAC National Drivers Championship resumes this week with the three-night 15th Annual “Budweiser Oval Nationals” looming large at Perris (Calif. Auto Speedway). Three separate point-paying events are slated for both the AMSOIL National and USAC/CRA Sprint Car series participants on the half-mile dirt oval east of Los Angeles.
Jones leads Clauson in the National standings by 91 points, but a total of 208 available this week things could get interesting. Mike Spencer’s lead in the USAC/CRA standings is substantial with 286 points separating him from runner-up Danny Sheridan.
Damion Gardner won last year’s “Budweiser Oval Nationals” and is expected to again be among top candidates for victory again this year. Bud Kaeding of Campbell, Calif. is the only three-time champion of the Budwesier Oval Nationals, while previous winners also include two-time champs Dave Darland and Cory Kruseman plus Jimmy Sills, Rip Williams, Rodney Argo, Rickie Gaunt, Tony Jones and Jesse Hockett.
Saturday night’s format has been tweaked slightly to offer additional fan excitement with the traditional “B-Main” replaced by three 10-lap races, each of which will transfer four cars to the 40-lap finale. A 25-lap feature caps Thursday and Friday’s programs and the top 12 in points from the two preliminary nights will slot into the first six rows of Saturday’s 40-lap feature, with the first six inverted.
A total of 50 pre-entries have already been received for this event, including former winners, Gardner, Kaeding, Darland, Kruseman, Williams, Gaunt and Jones.
Five drivers have scored sprint car wins at The PAS this year. Spencer and David Cardey each have won four times, while Gardner, Greg Bragg and Mike Mitchell have also posted victories.
Advance tickets for the 15th Annual Budweiser Oval Nationals are on sale now. You can order by phone at: 1-800-595-4849 or online at perrisautospeedway.com or tix.com
AMSOIL USAC NATIONAL SPRINT SERIES POINT STANDINGS
1-Levi Jones-1,898, 2-Bryan Clauson-1,807, 3-Damion Gardner-1,769, 4-Jerry Coons Jr.-1,652, 5-Tracy Hines-1,564, 6-Chris Windom-1,508, 7-Henry Clarke-1,232, 8-Dave Darland-1,202, 9-Shane Hmiel-1,080, 10-Jon Stanbrough-909.
AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT SERIES POINT STANDINGS
1-Mike Spencer-1,202, 2-Danny Sheridan-916, 3-Cory Kruseman-845, 4-Matt Mitchell-807, 5-Blake Miller-770, 6-Greg Bragg-608, 7-Tony Jones-590, 8-Cody Williams-560, 9-David Cardey-555, 10-Austin Williams-552.