By Lance Jennings, sufnsprint.com photo
VICTORVILLE, CA – AUGUST 20, 2012… Taking the lead from Brody Roa on lap fifteen, Hollister’s Ryan Bernal led the rest of the way to score his first career Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series victory. Last Sunday’s $2,500 triumph at Route 66 Motorplex in Victorville marked the opening night for the Scott Burns’ promoted facility as “The Kruser” Cory Kruseman, Roa, point leader Mike Spencer, and Shane Golobic rounded out the top five drivers.
In a drive similar to his victory at Yuma’s Cocopah Speedway, Brody Roa patiently hit his marks on the Victorville oval. The former Wagsdash Champion managed to hold off the Josh Ford Motorsports teammates of Shane Golobic and Bernal for many laps, but could not maintain the lead. Using a strong power move, Ryan sliced his way to the front and Kruseman, who won the previous night at Perris, slipped into second. From there, the young driver took the checkered flags in front of a large Sunday night crowd in Southern California.
Competing in his first full season with USAC/CRA, Ryan Bernal claimed the third series main event win for car owner Keith Ford. Piloting the #73 King Racing Products / A&A Precision Machine Spike, Bernal qualified eighth fast on the night and ran fourth in his heat race. As this writing goes to press, the Santa Maria track champion has climbed to fourth in the standings with two heat race victories, one Keizer Wheels / Ringers Gloves Hard Charger Award, 76 feature laps led, and seven top-5 finishes on the season.
Driving Mark Priestley’s #7 Roy Miller Freightlines / Sander Engineering Bullet, Ventura’s Cory Kruseman had an excellent weekend with a first and second place performance. The 2006 Champion was fifth quick in time trials and claimed second in his heat race at Victorville. Cory is seventh in points heading to Calistoga on Labor Day Weekend and has five heat race victories (series leader), five top-5 finishes, and 40 feature laps led in 2012.
Brody Roa of Buena Park scored third at Victorville and earned the night’s LRB Inc. Race Products Award. Piloting the BR Performance #91R HD Industries / Burris Racing Spike with a borrowed engine, Roa timed in tenth fast and ran second in his heat race. The former Wagsdash Champion leaves the “Freeway Series” third in the point chase with one feature win, two heat race victories, one Competition Suspension Inc. / Diversified Machine Inc. Semi-Main win, 47 feature laps led, and four top-five finishes on the year.
Temecula’s Mike Spencer ran fourth in the Route 66 Motorplex debut and holds a commanding lead in the standings. Driving Ron Chaffin’s famed #50 Madera Produce / Grubstake Mini Storage Maxim, the 4-time defending champion scored his ninth Sander Engineering / Rod End Supply Fast Time Award of the Year and won the Extreme Mufflers Heat Race #1. Last year’s Vermeil Classic winner has four heat race victories, one Keizer Wheels / Ringers Gloves Hard Charger Award, fourteen top-5 finishes, and 139 feature laps led to his credit.
Scoring fifth in the Victorville 30-lap feature was Shane Golobic of Fremont. Piloting Keith Ford’s #73X King Racing Products / A&A Precision Machine Spike, the versatile driver qualified eleventh and won the DJ Safety Heat Race #3. In limited appearances with USAC/CRA, Golobic has two heat race victories and two top-five finishes on the season.
Norco’s Ronnie Gardner earned the night’s Keizer Wheels / Ringers Gloves “Hard Charger / Best Passing Job” honors with a sixth place run after starting seventeenth. Driving the Kittle Motorsports’ #18 Pace Lighting / PJ1 Products Sherman, Gardner qualified twenty-third and won the Saldana Racing Products / Circle Track Performance Heat Race #2. It was the first 10-lap victory of 2012 for the young driver who also has four top-ten finishes on the year.
“Super” Rickie Gaunt of Torrance won the night’s SBI Fuel Systems / Integra Racing Shocks Heat Race #4. Piloting David Miller’s #66 Tom Roberts Designs / Barnes Systems Inc. Eagle, the 2004 SCRA Champion qualified twenty-first and claimed twelfth in the feature after starting sixteenth. In limited appearances, the popular driver has one top-5 finish in 2012.
Anaheim’s Jake Swanson won the 12-lap Competition Suspension Inc. / Diversified Machine Inc. Semi-Main Event. Driving the Larry Henry / Tony Jones owned #41 VGI Graphics / Berg-Nelson Company DRC, the USAC Midget standout claimed his best finish of the year with a ninth place run after starting fourteenth. Earlier in the program, Swanson was seventeenth quick on the night and placed seventh in his heat race.
The Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series will travel to the famed Calistoga Speedway on September 1st & 2nd for the 5th Annual Louie Vermeil Classic. Located at the Napa County Fairgrounds, more event information can be found at www.louievermeilclassic.net or calling (916) 773-7223.
To catch the action of the Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series, Mike Truex’s Loudpedal Productions has DVD videos available for purchase. For more information, call (805) 407-7229 or visit www.loudpedalvideo.com.
The Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series would like to thank Hoosier Tire, Circle Track Performance, Competition Suspension Inc., DJ Safety, Diversified Machine Inc., Extreme Mufflers, Hilborn Fuel Injection, Integra Racing Shocks, Keizer Wheels, LRB Inc. Race Products, Ringers Gloves, Rod End Supply, SBI Fuel Systems, Saldana Racing Products, and Sander Engineering for their support.
For more information on the Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series, visit www.usacracing.com/cra or follow the series on Facebook (www.facebook.com/pages/USAC-CRA-Sprint-Car-Series/167535183297971) or Twitter (www.twitter.com/#!/USAC_CRA).
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AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT RACE RESULTS:
August 19, 2012 – Victorville, California – Route 66 Motorplex
SANDER ENGINEERING / ROD END SUPPLY TIME TRIALS:
1. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-14.710; 2. Nic Faas, 4, Alexander-15.025; 3. David Cardey, 92, Sertich-15.196; 4. David Bezio, 37X, Bezio-15.245; 5. Cory Kruseman, 7, Priestley-15.253; 6. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-15.256; 7. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-15.257; 8. Ryan Bernal, 73, Ford-15.317; 9. Seth Wilson, 1X, Wilson-15.348; 10. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-15.389; 11. Shane Golobic, 73X, Ford-15.416; 12. Josh Pelkey, 12, Allen-15.428; 13. R.J. Johnson, 51A, Martin-15.445; 14. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-15.481; 15. John Aden, 7A, Aden-15.485; 16. Brandon Thomson, 16, Jones-15.529; 17. Jake Swanson, 41, Henry/Jones-15.746; 18. Johnny McCall, 44J, Morbitzer-15.755; 19. J.J. Ercse, 36, Springstead-15.810; 20. Adam Frith-Smith, 62A, Frith-Smith-15.890; 21. Rickie Gaunt, 66, Miller-15.970; 22. Trevor Cooper, 21K, Kruseman-15.976; 23. Ronnie Gardner, 18, Kittle-15.996; 24. Patrick Clark, 71K, Kruseman-16.107; 25. Kenny Perkins, 0K, Perkins-16.135; 26. A.J. Bender, 12B, Bender-16.292; 27. Tom Hendricks, 14K, Kruseman-16.365; 28. Cal Smith, 39, Cal Sun-16.371; 29. Jeremy Ellertson, 23, Ellertson-16.585; 30. Mike Collins, 04, Perkins-16.739; 31. Corey Ballard, 20, Ballard-16.771; 32. Ed Schwarz, 47, Perkins-17.074; 33. Jon Kairot, 35, Perkins-17.498.
EXTREME MUFFLERS HEAT RACE 1: (10 laps)
1. Mike Spencer, 2. Cory Kruseman, 3. Seth Wilson, 4. Trevor Cooper, 5. A.J. Bender, 6. Johnny McCall. NT
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS / CIRCLE TRACK PERFORMANCE HEAT RACE 2: (10 laps)
1. Ronnie Gardner, 2. Brody Roa, 3. Rip Williams, 4. Corey Ballard, 5. J.J. Ercse, 6. Nic Faas, 7. John Aden, 8. Tom Hendricks. NT
DJ SAFETY HEAT RACE 3: (10 laps)
1. Shane Golobic, 2. David Cardey, 3. Brandon Thomson, 4. Patrick Clark, 5. Ed Schwarz, 6. Cal Smith, 7. Adam Frith-Smith, 8. Austin Williams. NT
SBI FUEL SYSTEMS / INTEGRA RACING SHOCKS HEAT RACE 4: (10 laps)
1. Rickie Gaunt, 2. R.J. Johnson, 3. Kenny Perkins, 4. Ryan Bernal, 5. David Bezio, 6. Mike Collins, 7. Jake Swanson, 8. Jeremy Ellertson. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION INC. / DIVERSIFIED MACHINE INC. SEMI-MAIN: (12 laps)
1. Jake Swanson, 2. Nic Faas, 3. Austin Williams, 4. David Bezio, 5. Adam Frith-Smith, 6. Tom Hendricks, 7. Jeremy Ellertson, 8. Mike Collins, 9. A.J. Bender, 10. Cal Smith, 11. J.J. Ercse, 12. Ed Schwarz, 13. John Aden, 14. Jon Kairot. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps – With Starting Positions)
1. Ryan Bernal (4th), 2. Cory Kruseman (6th), 3. Brody Roa (2nd), 4. Mike Spencer (8th), 5. Shane Golobic (1st), 6. Ronnie Gardner (17th), 7. Austin Williams (11th), 8. Brandon Thomson (13th), 9. Jake Swanson (14th), 10. Seth Wilson (3rd), 11. Corey Ballard (21st), 12. Rickie Gaunt (16th), 13. Tom Hendricks (20th), 14. Rip Williams (5th), 15. R.J. Johnson (12th), 16. Patrick Clark (18th), 17. David Bezio (10th), 18. Adam Frith-Smith (15th), 19. David Cardey (7th), 20. Kenny Perkins (19th), 21. Cody Williams (23rd), 22. Trevor Cooper (22nd). NT
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**David Cardey flipped during the feature.
**Cody Williams used a provisional. Nic Faas did not start.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-14 Brody Roa, Laps 15-30 Ryan Bernal.
RINGERS GLOVES / KEIZER WHEELS HARD CHARGER: Ronnie Gardner (17th to 6th)
LRB INC. RACE PRODUCTS AWARD: Brody Roa
NEW AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT POINTS:
1-Spencer-955, 2-Faas-769, 3-Roa-674, 4-Bernal-667, 5-A.Williams-664, 6-R.Williams-625, 7-Kruseman-613, 8-Matt Mitchell-461, 9-C.Williams-450, 10-Wilson-431.
2012 AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES SCHEDULE
DATE – TRACK – LOCATION
September 1: **Calistoga Speedway – Calistoga, CA (Louie Vermeil Classic)
September 2: **Calistoga Speedway – Calistoga, CA (Louie Vermeil Classic)
September 5: **Silver Dollar Speedway – Chico, CA (Non-Points)
September 15: Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, CA (Glenn Howard Memorial)
October 6: Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, CA (Southern California Fair)
October 26: *Canyon Speedway Park – Peoria, AZ (Hall of Fame Classic)
October 27: *Canyon Speedway Park – Peoria, AZ (Hall of Fame Classic)
November 2: *Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, CA (Budweiser Oval Nationals)
November 3: *Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, CA (Budweiser Oval Nationals)
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* = Co-Sanctioned Event With USAC National Sprints.
** = Co-Sanctioned Event With USAC Western Classic Racing Series.
This schedule is subject to change.
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