Jake Swanson Rebouds to Win Vermeil Classic Finale

Jake Swanson. (Lance Jennings photo)

From Lance Jennings

CALISTOGA, Ca. (September 1, 2019) — After crashing the previous night, Jake Swanson (Anaheim, CA) reclaimed the lead from Ryan Bernal on lap 23 and won the Sunday “California Sprint Week” feature at Calistoga Speedway. Racing the John Grau and Mike Burkhart owned #34AZ Stratis Construction / Team AZ Racing DRC, Swanson’s “Louie Vermeil Classic” triumph was his second AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car win of the season. Bernal, Jason McDougal, “Hollywood” Danny Faria Jr., and fast qualifier Austin Liggett rounded out the top-five drivers.

“The Human Highlight Reel” Geoff Ensign. earned the Specialty Fasteners / Saldana Racing Products Hard Charger Award with a seventeenth to seventh place run. Mike Martin claimed the Wilwood Disc Brakes “Lucky 13 Award” with a thirteenth place finish in the main event.

Austin Liggett scored his first career USAC/CRA Woodland Auto Display Fast Time Award by posting a time of 19.666 over the 24-car roster.

The night’s 8-lap heat race victories went to “The Demon” Damion Gardner (Extreme Mufflers / Brown & Miller Racing Solutions First Heat), Austin Williams (Circle Track Performance / Ultra Shield Race Products / Competition Suspension Inc. Second Heat), and Jace Vander Weerd (Saldana Racing Products / ButlerBuilt Seats Third Heat).

The AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Cars will head to the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds as Petaluma Speedway will host the third round of California Sprint Week for a rare Monday event on September 2nd.

The AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series thanks All Coast Construction, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Butlerbuilt Professional Seat Systems, Circle Track Performance, Competition Suspension Incorporated, Extreme Mufflers, Five Star Grafix, Flowdynamics, Hoosier Racing Tire, Loudpedal Productions, Pyrotect Racing Cells, Saldana Racing Products, Specialty Fasteners, surfnsprint.com, Sway-A-Way Racing Technology, Ultra Shield Race Products, Wilwood Disc Brakes, and Woodland Auto Display for their support.

For more information on the AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series, visit usacracing.com and the social media for USAC Racing. You can also find exclusive content on the USAC/CRA Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.

AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: September 11, 2019 – Calistoga Speedway – Calistoga, California – “12th Annual Louie Vermeil Classic / California Sprint Week”

WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Austin Liggett, 83, Liggett-19.666; 2. Chase Johnson, 68, Thomas-19.739; 3. Ryan Bernal, 24, Copeland-19.974; 4. Damion Gardner, 4, Alexander-19.981; 5. Jake Swanson, 34AZ, Grau/Burkhart-19.986; 6. Danny Faria Jr., 42, Cheney-19.991; 7. Bud Kaeding, 69, BK-20.093; 8. Austin Williams, 92, Sertich-20.120; 9. Richard Vander Weerd, 10, Vander Weerd-20.327; 10. Jason McDougal, 56, Phulps-20.360; 11. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-20.479; 12. Charles Davis Jr., 50, Davis-20.489; 13. Matt McCarthy, 28M, McCarthy-20.524; 14. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-20.544; 15. Jace Vander Weerd, 88, Vander Weerd-20.554; 16. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 51T, Tafoya-20.621; 17. Geoff Ensign, 3F, Finkenbinder-20.625; 18. Billy Aton, 26, Aton-20.743; 19. Tommy Malcolm, 5X, Napier-20.755; 20. Terry Schank Jr., 51, Sperry-20.764; 21. Jake Morgan, 45, Morgan-20.852; 22. Steve Hix, 57, Hix-20.966; 23. Mike Martin, 16, Martin-21.088; 24. Michael Faccinto, 8, Richardson-23.350.

EXTREME MUFFLERS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Gardner, 2. McCarthy, 3. Kaeding, 4. Liggett, 5. McDougal, 6. Malcolm, 7. Tafoya, 8. Hix. NT

CIRCLE TRACK PERFORMANCE / ULTRA SHIELD RACE PRODUCTS SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Williams, 2. Ensign, 3. Swanson, 4. Johnson, 5. Gansen, 6. Schank, 7. Martin, 8. Roa. NT

SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS / BUTLERBUILT SEATS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. J.Vander Weerd, 2. Faria, 3. Davis, 4. Bernal, 5. Aton, 6. R.Vander Weerd, 7. Faccinto, 8. Morgan. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps, with starting positions) 1. Jake Swanson (2), 2. Ryan Bernal (4), 3. Jason McDougal (10), 4. Danny Faria Jr. (1), 5. Austin Liggett (6), 6. Charles Davis Jr. (12), 7. Geoff Ensign (17), 8. Damion Gardner (3), 9. Chase Johnson (5), 10. Richard Vander Weerd (9), 11. Jace Vander Weerd (15), 12. Brody Roa (11), 13. Mike Martin (23), 14. Matt McCarthy (13) (13), 15. Eddie Tafoya Jr. (16), 16. Chris Gansen (14), 17. Billy Aton (18), 18. Austin Williams (8), 19. Steve Hix (22), 20. Terry Schank Jr. (20), 21. Tommy Malcolm (19), 22. Jake Morgan (21), 23. Bud Kaeding (7), 24. Michael Faccinto (24). NT

**Malcolm and Schank flipped on lap 9 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-10 Swanson, Laps 11-22 Bernal, Laps 23-30 Swanson.
SPECIALTY FASTENERS HARD CHARGER: Geoff Ensign (17th to 7th)
WILWOOD DISC BRAKES LUCKY 13 AWARD: Mike Martin
USAC 360 BONUS: Billy Aton

NEW AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Gardner-872, 2-Roa-824, 3-A.Williams-791, 4-Swanson-708, 5-Malcolm-578, 6-Gansen-559, 7-R.Vander Weerd-508, 8-McCarthy-500, 9-R.J. Johnson-458, 10-Davis-415.

NEW CALIFORNIA SPRINT WEEK POINTS: 1-Liggett-141, 2-Gardner-136, 3-Faria-132, 4-Bernal-129, 5-McDougal-121, 6-Swanson-14, 7-Williams-112, 8-R.Vander Weerd-111, 9-Roa-108, 10-Johnson-99.

NEXT AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: September 2 – Petaluma Speedway – Petaluma, California – “California Sprint Week”