By Lance Jennings
SANTA MARIA, CA – NOVEMBER 1, 2011… Starting this Thursday night, the Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series will return to Don Kazarian’s Perris Auto Speedway for the “16th Annual Budweiser Oval Nationals.” The co-sanctioned events with the USAC National Sprint Car Series is one of the “must see events” of the year and as this writing goes to press, there are over fifty cars entered in the prestigious $12,500-to-win event. The popular winged California Lightning Sprints will join the Friday and Saturday card with the spectator gates opening at 4:00pm on Thursday and Friday. The front gates will open at 3:00pm on Saturday with racing set to begin at 6:30pm all three nights.
In addition to the regular program, the staff at Perris Auto Speedway have added special events for the Oval Nationals. On Wednesday night, a special practice session will be held at 6:00pm and is FREE for fans to attend in the grandstands. The snack bar will be open with $2 beer, soft drinks, and pizza.
On Friday, the “2nd Annual Legends of Ascot Match Race” will be held featuring Levi Jones, Mike Spencer, Nic Faas, Chris Windom, and Kyle Larson. The four 4-lap point races will award $10,000 to the winning driver. After the show, the Oil Twins will host the “Amsoil After The Race Party” in the PAS Sports Bar with $2 beer, $1 tacos and karaoke.
On Sunday, the Sprint Car Driving Experience will have their cars available for rent for $10 a lap. Fans can take to the Perris 1/2-mile clay oval and enjoy the thrill of driving a traditional Sprint Car.
After scoring a fifth and ninth place at Canyon Speedway Park, Temecula’s Mike Spencer holds a thirty-four point advantage over the competition. Piloting Ron Chaffin’s famed #50 Madera Produce / Grubstake Mini Storage Maxim, Spencer has his sights on a fourth straight series title. To date, the defending champion leads the series with six feature wins, two Competition Suspension Inc. Semi-Main wins (tied), and 146 feature laps led. In addition, he has four Sander Engineering Fast Time Awards, six heat race victories, and fifteen top-10 finishes. Chaffin and Spencer have not won the Oval Nationals and will be looking to add the event to their resumes.
Yorba Linda’s Matt Mitchell has retaken second in the point chase with a pair of sixth place finishes at Canyon’s “Hall of Fame Classic.” Driving the J.W. Mitchell Motorsports’ #37 Mancha Realtors / Sierra Springs Maxim, the former USAC Western Midget Series Rookie of the Year will be looking to make up some valuable points on Spencer at the Oval Nationals. In 2011, Mitchell leads USAC/CRA with eight heat race victories, three Keizer Wheels Hard Charger Awards (tied), and sixteen top-10 finishes. Matt also has two feature wins and forty-nine feature laps led on the season.
Nic Faas of Huntington Beach sits third in the standings, thirty-five points behind Mike Spencer. Piloting Mark Alexander’s #4 Scott Sales Company / VP Racing Fuels Spike, the 2008 Rookie of the Year scored twelfth and fifth at Canyon Speedway Park. Faas leads the series with five Sander Engineering Fast Time Awards and three Keizer Wheels Hard Charger Awards (tied) on the year. In addition, he has two feature wins, six heat race victories, and thirty-nine feature laps led in 2011. Nic is in the thick of a title chase and will be looking for the Oval Nationals victory.
Austin Williams of Yorba Linda is fourth in the championship hunt. Driving Jack Jory’s #2 John Jory Corporation / AMA Plastics Viper, the 2009 Rookie of the Year scored nineteenth and seventeenth in the “Hall of Fame Classic.” To date, Williams has one feature win, three heat race victories, one Competition Suspension Inc. Semi-Main win, one Keizer Wheels Hard Charger Award, ten top-10 finishes, and thirty feature laps led on the season. The son of Hall of Fame driver “The Ripper” Rip Williams will be looking to add the Oval Nationals Championship to his resume.
Visalia’s Greg Bragg is fifth in the championship points. Piloting Tom and Laurie Sertich’s #92 Huntington Beach Glass & Mirror / Pacific Business Machine Buckley, Bragg did not compete at Canyon Speedway Park. The 3-Time California Lightning Sprint Champion has three heat race victories, two Keizer Wheels Hard Charger Awards, eleven top-10 finishes, and fourteen main event laps led to his credit. The Moose Racing Team will have their eyes set on the Oval Nationals title.
Campbell’s Bud Kaeding, Ventura’s Cory Kruseman, Robert Ballou of Rocklin, Elk Grove’s Kyle Larson, and Noblesville, Indiana’s Bryan Clauson have also scored feature wins in 2011. Kaeding won the Hanford shootout on May 7th, while Kruseman won the Watsonville show on June 16th and the following night at Santa Maria. Ballou won the first night of the “Louie Vermeil Classic” at Calistoga and Larson won the “Tiner Family Classic” at Chico. Clauson swept last weekend’s “Hall of Fame Classic” at Canyon Speedway Park.
Among the other top USAC/CRA contenders expected to be in action are Yorba Linda’s Cody and “The Ripper” Rip Williams, “Showtime” Danny Sheridan of Santa Maria, “Super” Rickie Gaunt of Torrance, Riverside’s “Dynamite” David Cardey, Norco’s Ronnie Gardner, and more.
The USAC National Series is led by Levi Jones of Olney, Illinois. Jones is looking for his fifth career series championship as he battles with Chris Windom, (Canton, IL), Jon Stanbrough (Avon, IN), Hunter Schuerenberg (Sikeston, MO), and Robert Ballou (Rocklin, CA). Other series drivers expected to compete are Tracy Hines (Wilkinson, IN), Dave Darland (Lincoln, IN), “The Demon” Damion Gardner (Concord, CA), Bryan Clauson (Noblesville, IN), Bobby East (Brownsburg, IN), Keith Bloom Jr. (Anderson, CA), and more.
Local 360 iron-block powered Sprint Cars are welcome to race, but must run the USAC National & USAC/CRA approved series tires (not local approved Hoosiers). Cars must also meet series tech standards and race track muffler rules. There is an entry fee for all three nights of the Oval Nationals and entry forms can be found at http://www.perrisautospeedway.com/forms/oval11form.html. The Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series does not charge for transponders, but drivers must have one-way radios. In addition, the series is offering a bonus to the highest finishing 360 team- a $200 cash award from the United States Auto Club and 20 gallons of methanol from So-Cal Performance. The owner or driver must have a current USAC membership.
Perris Auto Speedway is located on the Lake Perris Fairgrounds at 18700 Lake Perris Drive in Perris, California. Advance tickets are on sale and can be purchased online at www.perrisautospeedway.com. For more event information, please visit the track’s website or call (951) 940-0134.
To catch all of the action of the Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series at Perris Auto Speedway, Jeff Kristensen’s Raceway Video has DVD videos available for purchase. For more information, call (818) 618-9764 or visit www.racewayvideo.com. In addition, Perris Auto Speedway offers a live pay per view feed of every event at www.pasvideo.com. The Thursday and Friday night shows are $9.99 each, with Saturday night’s event available for $14.99. The feed is blacked out within a 100-mile radius of the track.
The Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series would like to thank Hoosier Tire, Circle Track Performance, Competition Suspension Inc., DJ Safety, Donovan Engineering, Electro Tech Powder Coating, Extreme Mufflers, Hilborn Fuel Injection, Huntington Beach Glass & Mirror, Keizer Wheels, Rod End Supply, Saldana Racing Products, Sander Engineering, and So-Cal Performance for their support. For more information, visit usacracing.com/cra or follow the series on facebook.
OVAL NATIONALS CHAMPIONS
1996 – Jimmy Sills
1997 – Rip Williams
1998 – Rodney Argo
1999 – Rickie Gaunt
2000 – Tony Jones
2001 – Bud Kaeding
2002 – Bud Kaeding
2003 – Cory Kruseman
2004 – Cory Kruseman
2005 – Dave Darland
2006 – Dave Darland
2007 – Bud Kaeding
2008 – Jesse Hockett
2009 – Damion Gardner
2010 – Chris Windom
AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT POINTS:
1-Mike Spencer-1,028; 2-Matt Mitchell-994; 3-Nic Faas-993; 4-Austin Willams-720; 5-Greg Bragg-615; 6-Cody Williams-590; 7-Rip Williams-514; 8-Danny Sheridan-512; 9-Rickie Gaunt-499; 10-David Cardey-443.
AMSOIL USAC NATIONAL SPRINT POINTS:
1-Levi Jones-1,449; 2-Chris Windom-1,406; 3-Jon Stanbrough-1,319; 4-Hunter Schuerenberg-1,260; 5-Robert Ballou-1,158; 6-Tracy Hines-1,127; 7-Damion Gardner-1,089; 8-Bryan Clauson-1,085; 9-Dave Darland-1,054; 10-Bobby East-889.
AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT SCHEDULE:
November 3: *Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, CA
November 4: *Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, CA
November 5: *Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, CA
November 12: *Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway – Hanford, CA
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* = Co-Sanctioned Event With USAC National Sprints.
This schedule is subject to change.