By Lance Jennings
PEORIA, AZ – OCTOBER 31, 2011… After a red flag on lap twenty-five, Bryan Clauson of Noblesville, Indiana surged from third past Damion Gardner and Mike Spencer to claim victory at Canyon Speedway Park’s “Hall of Fame Classic” opener. Chris Windom raced to second from thirteenth, followed by Gardner, Levi Jones, and Spencer. Clauson’s Amsoil USAC National and USAC/CRA co-sanctioned victory marked the return of traditional 410 sprints to the Peoria, Arizona facility since April 9, 1994 with the original California Racing Association.
Driving the #7 Curb Records /R & B Truckers Spike, Bryan Clauson scored his second Amsoil USAC National Sprint Car feature of the year. The USAC National Driver Championship point leader qualified fourth out of thirty-five cars in attendance, finished sixth in his heat, and scored fourth in the 12-lap semi-main. Racing from the ninth starting spot in the feature, Clauson earned the $2500 victory in front of a large enthusiastic crowd.
Like Clauson, Canton, Illinois’ Chris Windom enjoyed a late race charge after the red flag on lap twenty-five. The pilot of the Baldwin Brothers Racing #5 Fox Paving / Claxton Engines Maxim sat fifth on the restart and drove to second at the checkered flags. The Indiana Sprint Week Champion was fourteenth in time trials and won the Saldana Racing Products / Circle Track Performance Heat Race #2.
“The Demon” Damion Gardner of Concord, California pressured early race leader Mike Spencer as the pair raced through heavy traffic. Running second at the late race restart, the driver of the DG Racing #71 Pace Lighting Eagle battled with Spencer, Clauson, and Windom for the final five laps to take third at the finish line. The 2010 Oval Nationals Champion was seventh quick on the night and finished second in his heat race.
Olney, Illinois’ Levi Jones scored fourth in the Parker Store “Hall of Fame Classic” opener. Piloting the Tony Stewart Racing #20 GM Performance Parts Eagle, the Amsoil USAC National Sprint car point leader was seventh during the late race restart and charged forward. Jones was fourth quick in time trials and scored third in his heat race.
Keith Bloom Jr. of Anderson, California earned his first Sander Engineering Fast Time Award of the year and set a new track record in the process. Piloting the Abreu Racing #27 Abreu Vineyards Spike, Bloom was second in his heat race and scored tenth in the 30-lap feature.
“The Ripper” Rip Williams of Yorba Linda, California won the night’s Extreme Mufflers / Huntington Beach Glass & Mirror Heat Race #1. Driving Jack Jory’s #3 John Jory Corporation / AMA Plastics Viper, Williams was seventeenth fast in time trials and claimed fourteenth in the main event.
Peoria, Arizona’s Josh Pelkey claimed victory in the DJ Safety Heat Race #3. Piloting Robbie & Gaye Allen’s #12A ABC Body Shop / NAPA DRC, the 1997 ASCA Sprint Car Champion was nineteenth fast in time trials and scored twenty-third in the main event.
“Super” Rickie Gaunt of Torrance, California won the program’s Electro Tech Powder Coating / Rod End Supply Heat Race #4. Driving David Miller’s #66 Tom Roberts Design / Barnes Systems Inc. Eagle, the 2004 SCRA Sprint Car Champion qualified twentieth and finished twenty-second in the main event.
Avon, Indiana’s Jon Stanbrough took the night’s 12-lap Competition Suspension Inc. Semi-Main event. Piloting the Dynamics Inc. #69 Mean Green / Mopar Chalk, Stanbrough was ninth fast in time trials, fifth in his heat race, and eighth in the 30-lap feature. Also earning transfer spots to the feature were Robert Ballou, Nic Faas, Bryan Clauson, R.J. Johnson, and Bobby East. David Bezio and Casey Shuman used provisionals to race in the main event.
Matt Mitchell of Yorba Linda earned the program’s Keizer Wheels Hard Charger Award with a sixth place run after starting twenty-second. Earlier in the night, the pilot of the J.W. Mitchell Motorsports’ #37 Mancha Realtors / Sierra Springs Maxim scored thirty-fifth in time trials and claimed fourth in his heat race.
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 www.usacracing.com/cra or follow the series on facebook.
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AMSOIL USAC NATIONAL & USAC/CRA SPRINT RACE RESULTS:
October 28, 2011 – Peoria, Arizona – Canyon Raceway Park – Parker Store “Hall of Fame Classic”
SANDER ENGINEERING TIME TRIALS:
1. Keith Bloom Jr., 27, Abreu-13.840 (New Track Record); 2. Robert Ballou, 72, Ford-13.937; 3. Nic Faas, 4x, Alexander-13.983; 4. Levi Jones, 20, Stewart-13.990; 4. Bryan Clauson, 7, Tucker/BCI/Curb-Agajanian-14.025; 6. Hunter Schuerenberg, 35, Byram-14.040; 7. Damion Gardner, 71, DG-14.056; 8. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-14.064; 9. Jon Stanbrough, 69, Dynamics-14.202; 10. Bobby East,, 5x, Klatt-14.317; 11. Stevie Sussex, 1a, Dewall-14.327; 12. Bruce St. James, 7k, St. James-14.332; 13. Danny Sheridan, 18, Kittle-14.395; 14. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-14.414; 15. David Bezio, 37x, Bezio-14.480; 16. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-14.491; 17. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-14.525; 18. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-14.546; 19. Josh Pelkey, 12a, Allen-14.566; 20. Rickie Gaunt, 66, Miller-14.589; 21. Tracy Hines, 4, Hines-14.665; 22. Mike Martin, 16, Martin-14.732; 23. Andrew Reinbold, 19a, Reinbold-14.749; 24. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-14.779; 25. Brian Hosford, 32B, Weber-14.807; 26. Dalton Gabbard, 77, Gabbard-14.816; 27. Justin Quinn, 93, Quinn-14.884; 28. Nick Aiuto, 27N, Aiuto/Allen-14.935; 29. Ronnie Clark, 6, Clark-14.996; 30. Tony Everhart, 55, Everhart-15.217; 31. Ryan Linder, 9, Linder-15.276; 32. Tom Ogle, 48, Ogle-15.328; 33. Bob Ream Jr., 8, BRAT-15.671; 34. Casey Shuman, 21x, Roberts/Tate-NT; 35. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-NT.
EXTREME MUFFLERS / HUNTINGTON BEACH GLASS & MIRROR HEAT RACE 1: (8 laps)
1. Rip Williams, 2. Keith Bloom Jr., 3. Danny Sheridan, 4. Tracy Hines, 5. Jon Stanbrough, 6. Bryan Clauson, 7. Ronnie Clark, 8. Brian Hosford, 9. Bob Ream Jr. NT.
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS / CIRCLE TRACK PERFORMANCE HEAT RACE 2: (8 laps)
1. Chris Windom, 2. Austin Williams, 3. Mike Martin, 4. Hunter Schuerenberg, 5. Bobby East, 6. Robert Ballou, 7. Dalton Gabbard, 8. Tony Everhart. NT.
DJ SAFETY HEAT RACE 3: (8 laps)
1. Josh Pelkey, 2. Damion Gardner, 3. Stevie Sussex, 4. Matt Mitchell, 5. Nic Faas, 6. Andrew Reinbold, 7. David Bezio, 8. Justin Quinn. NT.
ELECTRO TECH POWDER COATING / ROD END SUPPLY HEAT RACE 4: (8 laps)
1. Rickie Gaunt, 2. Mike Spencer, 3. Levi Jones, 4. Cody Williams, 5. Bruce St. James, 6. R.J. Johnson, 7. Tom Ogle, 8. Nick Aiuto. NT.
COMPETITION SUSPENSION INC. SEMI-MAIN: (12 laps)
1. Jon Stanbrough, 2. Robert Ballou, 3. Nic Faas, 4. Bryan Clauson, 5. R.J. Johnson, 6. Bobby East, 7. Bruce St. James, 8. David Bezio, 9. Nick Aiuto, 10. Brian Hosford, 11. Dalton Gabbard, 12. Bob Ream Jr., 13. Andrew Reinbold, 14. Tom Ogle, 15. Ronnie Clark, 16. Justin Quinn, 17. Ryan Linder, 18. Tony Everhart. NT.
FEATURE: (30 laps – With Starting Positions)
1. Bryan Clauson (9th), 2. Chris Windom (13th), 3. Damion Gardner (3rd), 4. Levi Jones (5th), 5. Mike Spencer (2nd), 6. Matt Mitchell (22nd), 7. Hunter Schuerenberg (4th), 8. Jon Stanbrough (10th), 9. Robert Ballou (7th), 10. Keith Bloom Jr. (6th), 11. Bobby East (11th), 12. Nic Faas (8th), 13. Tracy Hines (19th), 14. Rip Williams (15th), 15. R.J. Johnson (14th), 16. Mike Martin (20th), 17. David Bezio (23rd), 18. Cody Williams (21st), 19. Austin Williams (16th), 20. Stevie Sussex (1st), 21. Casey Shuman (24th), 22. Rickie Gaunt (18th), 23. Josh Pelkey (17th), 24. Danny Sheridan (12th). NT
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**Danny Sheridan flipped on lap 2 of the feature.
**Stevie Sussex flipped on lap 25 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-24 Mike Spencer, Laps 25-30 Bryan Clauson.
KEIZER WHEELS HARD CHARGER: Matt Mitchell (22nd to 6th)
NEW AMSOIL USAC NATIONAL SPRINT POINTS:
1-Jones-1,384; 2-Windom-1,345; 3-Stanbrough-1,285; 4-Schuerenberg-1,221; 5-Ballou-1,121; 6-Hines-1,094; 7-Dave Darland-1,054; 8-D.Gardner-1,039; 9-Clauson-1,022; 10-East-855.
NEW AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT POINTS:
1-Spencer-985; 2-Mitchell-941; 3-Faas-934; 4-A.Williams-700; 5-Greg Bragg-615; 6-C.Williams-567; 7-R.Williams-500; 8-Sheridan-490; 9-Gaunt-472; 10-David Cardey-443.
NEW USAC NATIONAL DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS:
1-Clauson-1,041; 2-Kyle Larson-1,016; 3-Hines-989; 4-Jones-981; 5-Windom-967; 6-East-942; 7-Jerry Coons Jr.-921; 8-Darren Hagen-824; 9-Stanbrough-820; 10-Schuerenberg-816.
AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT SCHEDULE:
October 29: *Canyon Speedway Park – Peoria, AZ
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