By Lance Jennings
PEORIA, AZ – OCTOBER 28, 2012… Yuma, Arizona’s Mike Martin made USAC history last Saturday night by winning the “ParkerStore Hall of Fame Classic” with a 360-cubic inch powered machine. Leading all 30-laps, the “Magic Man” claimed the $5,000 victory at Canyon Speedway Park in front of a large crowd. “The Madman” Robert Ballou, “The Demon” Damion Gardner, Hunter Schuerenberg, and Jon Stanbrough rounded out the top five drivers.
Starting on the outside of the front row, Martin got the jump on fellow Copper State driver R.J. Johnson to grab the lead. While Johnson had to contend with Ballou and Gardner, Martin began to extend his advantage over the competition. Two red flags would halt the action, first for Dave Darland on lap seven and later for Charles Davis Jr. on lap twenty-five. Darland would restart and score seventeenth, while Davis walked away uninjured, placing twenty-second. Martin executed great restarts and slipped away from the field each time.
Ballou and Gardner managed to pass Johnson and set their sights on Martin. It was not to be for the hard charging drivers, as the leader continued to hit his marks and took the checkered flags. The “Magic Man” had upset the field and claimed his first USAC National and USAC/CRA feature victory.
Driving his #16 Ultimate Offroad / Advanced Racing Suspension Maxim, Mike Martin qualified twelfth out of the thirty cars in attendance and ran fourth in his heat race. Driving the race of his life, Martin not only scored the victory, but earned the $500 CSP track bonus for the highest finishing 360.
“The Madman” Robert Ballou of Rocklin, California ran second in the “Hall of Fame Classic” after starting third. Piloting the MPHG Promotions #81 Rossie Feed & Grain / Maxim Chassis entry, Ballou was eleventh quick and scored third in his heat race. The former Sprint Bandits TnT Champion climbed to sixth in USAC National points heading to the Budweiser Oval Nationals at Perris.
Concord, California’s “The Demon” Damion Gardner earned the night’s LRB Inc. Race Products Award with a third place finish. Driving his #71 Pace Lighting / Honoring Pat Kehoe Eagle, Gardner was third fast in time trials and claimed fourth in his heat race. Currently fifth in USAC National standings, Damion will look to win his third Oval Nationals at Perris Auto Speedway.
Hunter Schuerenberg of Sikeston, Missouri came home fourth in the 30-lap main event. Driving Hank Byram’s #35 Fatheadz Eyewear / R&B Trucker’s Mach 1, Schuerenberg qualified fourth, ran fifth in his heat race, and won the Competition Suspension Inc. / Diversified Machine Inc. Semi-Main. Heading to Perris, Hunter is ninth in the USAC National chase.
Avon, Indiana’s Jon Stanbrough earned the night’s Ringers Gloves / Keizer Wheels “Hard Charger / Best Passing Job” honors with a fifth place run after starting twenty-third. Piloting the Leer Racing #21 DRC, Stanbrough was twenty-seventh fast, sixth in his heat race, and seventh in the semi-main. Using a provisional, Jon had a great run and is third in the USAC National points.
Noblesville, Indiana’s Bryan Clauson broke Mike Spencer’s track record and earned his first Sander Engineering / Rod End Supply Fast Time Award. Driving the #7 CTR/BCI/Curb/Agajanian Maxim, the Indy 500 driver was third in his heat race and claimed seventh in the “Hall of Fame Classic.” Clauson overtook Dave Darland in the USAC National point chase heading to Oval Nationals.
Austin Williams of Yorba Linda, California won the Extreme Mufflers Heat Race #1. Piloting Jack Jory’s #2 John Jory Corporation / AMA Plastics Spike, Williams qualified seventeenth and scored eighteenth in the main event. Currently sixth in the USAC/CRA standings, the 2009 Rookie of the Year will be looking to have a strong run at Perris.
McCordsville, Indiana’s Wes McIntyre won the Saldana Racing Products / Circle Track Performance Heat Race #2. Driving the Baldwin Brothers Racing #5 Fox Paving / Claxton Racing Engines Maxim, “Wes Mac” was eighteenth fast in time trials and claimed fourteenth at CSP. Wes will be making his first Perris Oval Nationals start on November 2nd.
Josh Hodges of Tijeras, New Mexico made his first USAC start and claimed victory in the DJ Safety Heat Race #3. Piloting the family owned #74X Napa Auto Parts / Mesilla Valley Transportation Maxim, Hodges was twenty-third fast in time trials and scored fifteenth after starting twenty-first in the feature.
Glendale, Arizona’s Dalten Gabbard raced to the SBI Fuel Systems / Integra Racing Shocks Heat Race #4 win. Driving the family owned #77 BG Chemicals / AZ Heat Trucking Maxim, Gabbard was twentieth fast on the night and scored nineteenth in the “Hall of Fame Classic.”
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 NATIONAL & USAC/CRA SPRINT RACE RESULTS:
October 27, 2012 – Peoria, Arizona – Canyon Speedway Park – Parker Stores “Hall of Fame Classic”
SANDER ENGINEERING / ROD END SUPPLY TIME TRIALS:
1. Bryan Clauson, 7, Tucker/BCI/Curb-Agajanian-13.418; 2. Dave Darland, 11, Walker-13.535; 3. Damion Gardner, 71, DG-13.542; 4. Hunter Schuerenberg, 35, Byrum-13.595; 5. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-13.686; 6. Chase Stockon, 32, Stockon-13.736; 7. Charles Davis Jr., 4G, Cook-13.778; 8. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-13.808; 9. Kevin Thomas Jr., 9k, Black Jack-13.811; 10. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-13.861; 11. Robert Ballou, 81, MPHG-13.896; 12. Mike Martin, 16, Martin-13.914; 13. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-13.960; 14. Chris Windom, 20, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-13.976; 15. Tracy Hines, 4, Hines-13.978; 16. Thomas Meseraull, 5x, Baldwin-13.995; 17. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-14.029; 18. Wes McIntyre, 5, Baldwin-14.085; 19. Cory Kruseman, 7x, Priestley-14.085; 20. Dalten Gabbard, 77, Gabbard-14.093; 21. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-14.127; 22. Nic Faas, 4x, Alexander-14.208; 23. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-14.223; 24. Jeremy Sherman, 18, Kittle-14.424; 25. Tom Ogle, 48, Ogle-14.442; 26. Ronnie Clark, 6, Clark-14.464; 27. Jon Stanbrough, 21x, Leer-14.503; 28. Bruce St. James, 7k, St. James-14.614; 29. Stevie Sussex, 1, Sussex-14.712; 30. Josh Pelkey, 4jr, Regals-14.896.
EXTREME MUFFLERS HEAT RACE 1: (8 laps)
1. Austin Williams, 2. Cody Williams, 3. Bryan Clauson, 4. R.J. Johnson, 5. Brody Roa, 6. Kevin Thomas Jr., 7. Stevie Sussex, 8. Tom Ogle. 1:51.72
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS / CIRCLE TRACK PERFORMANCE HEAT RACE 2: (8 laps)
1. Wes McIntyre, 2. Nic Faas, 3. Rip Williams, 4. Chris Windom, 5. Dave Darland, 6. Ronnie Clark, 7. Chase Stockon, 8. Josh Pelkey. 1:51.65
DJ SAFETY HEAT RACE 3: (8 laps)
1. Josh Hodges, 2. Tracy Hines, 3. Robert Ballou, 4. Damion Gardner, 5. Charles Davis Jr., 6. Jon Stanbrough, 7. Cory Kruseman. 1:51.97
SBI FUEL SYSTEMS / INTEGRA RACING SHOCKS HEAT RACE 4: (8 laps)
1. Dalten Gabbard, 2. Jeremy Sherman, 3. Thomas Meseraull, 4. Mike Martin, 5. Hunter Schuerenberg, 6. Mike Spencer, 7. Bruce St. James. 1:52.97
COMPETITION SUSPENSION INC. / DIVERSIFIED MACHINE INC. SEMI-MAIN: (12 laps)
1. Hunter Schuerenberg, 2. Chase Stockon, 3. Kevin Thomas Jr., 4. Dave Darland, 5. Charles Davis Jr., 6. Brody Roa, 7. Jon Stanbrough, 8. Ronnie Clark, 9. Tom Ogle, 10. Bruce St. James, 11. Stevie Sussex, 12. Mike Spencer, 13. Cory Kruseman, 14. Josh Pelkey. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps – With Starting Positions)
1. Mike Martin (2nd), 2. Robert Ballou (3rd), 3. Damion Gardner (5th), 4. Hunter Schuerenberg (8th), 5. Jon Stanbrough (23rd), 6. Rip Williams (4th), 7. Bryan Clauson (6th), 8. Thomas Meseraull (15th), 9. Tracy Hines (14th), 10. R.J. Johnson (1st), 11. Nic Faas (20th), 12. Brody Roa (9th), 13. Jeremy Sherman (22nd), 14. Wes McIntyre (17th), 15. Josh Hodges (21st), 16. Chris Windom (13th), 17. Dave Darland (7th), 18. Austin Williams (16th), 19. Dalten Gabbard (18th), 20. Cody Williams (19th), 21. Chase Stockon (12th), 22. Charles Davis Jr. (10th), 23. Kevin Thomas Jr. (11th). NT
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**Cory Kruseman & Josh Pelkey flipped during the semi.
**Dave Darland & Charles Davis Jr. flipped during the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Mike Martin.
RINGERS GLOVES / KEIZER WHEELS HARD CHARGER: Jon Stanbrough (23rd to 5th)
LRB INC. RACE PRODUCTS AWARD: Damion Gardner
NEW AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT POINTS:
1-Mike Spencer-1,293, 2-Nic Faas-959, 3-Brody Roa-932, 4-Rip Williams-865, 5-Ryan Bernal-816, 6-Austin Williams-800, 7-Cory Kruseman-725, 8-Cody Williams-639, 9-David Cardey-465, 10-Matt Mitchell-461.
NEW AMSOIL USAC NATIONAL SPRINT POINTS:
1-Bryan Clauson-1.974, 2-Dave Darland-1,967, 3-Jon Stanbrough-1,901, 4-Tracy Hines-1,778, 5-Damion Gardner-1,732, 6-Robert Ballou-1,663, 7-Chase Stockon-1,646, 8-Levi Jones-1,615, 9-Hunter Schuerenberg-1,612, 10-Kevin Thomas Jr.-1,528.
2012 AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES SCHEDULE
DATE – TRACK – LOCATION
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.