From Lance Jennings
Perris, CA — (July 4, 2013) — Grabbing the lead from “Dynamite” David Cardey on lap seventeen, Nic Faas of Huntington Beach led the rest of the way to claim the “Firecracker 30.” The Thursday night $2,500 win at Perris Auto Speedway was Faas’ second Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car victory of the season. Fast qualifier Mike Spencer, Cardey, “The Demon” Damion Gardner, and “The Kruser” Cory Kruseman rounded out the top five in the nonstop “Independence Day Classic.”
Driving Mark Alexander’s #4 Scott Sales Company / Competition Suspension Inc. Spike, Nic Faas scored his eighth career USAC/CRA feature win. Starting third in the main event, Faas raced hard to take second from Kruseman and then set his sights on Cardey. By the eleventh circuit, Nic pressured David for the top spot as the pair reached the back markers. Cardey fought off the challenge as Faas regrouped to make another bid for the lead. Faas chased down the leader and successfully took command on lap seventeen. Spencer was on the move from his sixth starting spot and soon took second from Cardey. Mike continued his forward march and closed to within striking distance of Nic’s “silver bullet.” Faas made some aggressive moves through the slower traffic that kept Spencer at bay. Undaunted, Mike kept working hard though the back markers to get another shot at Nic, but it was not to be on this night. Faas took the checkered flags in front of the large crowd in attendance.
Earlier in the program, Faas qualified fourth out of the twenty-eight cars in the pit area. The former USAC Western Midget Champion won the night’s 10-lap Weld Racing / SBI Fuel Systems Heat Race #4 and left Perris second in the points. To date, Nic also has three Woodland Auto Display Fast Time Awards, two heat race victories, twelve top-10 finishes, and 47 feature laps led to his credit.
Temecula’s Mike Spencer fell short of winning his third straight “Firecracker 30” at Perris. Piloting Ron Chaffin’s #50 Madera Produce / Grubstake Mini Storage Maxim, Spencer earned his third Woodland Auto Display Fast Time Award and was second in his heat race. The five-time champion has moved to third in the point chase with one feature win, four heat race victories, one Keizer Wheels / Racing Optics Hard Charger Award and nine top-10 finishes on the season.
After leading the first sixteen laps, “Dynamite” David Cardey of Riverside claimed third at Perris Auto Speedway. Driving Tom and Laurie Sertich’s #92 Huntington Beach Glass and Mirror Inc. / Victory Race Cars entry, Cardey was fifth quick in time trials and won the Extreme Mufflers Heat Race #1. The former California Lightning Sprint Champion has three heat race victories, four top-10 finishes, and 44 feature laps led on the year.
“The Demon” Damion Gardner of Concord scored fourth in the “Firecracker 30.” Racing Mark Alexander’s #4A Scott Sales Company / Advanced Racing Suspension Spike, Gardner qualified second and won the program’s DJ Safety Heat Race #2. The 2005 Champion holds a 44 point advantage over the competition with five feature wins, four Woodland Auto Display Fast Time Awards, five heat race victories, one dash win, twelve top-10 finishes, and 91 feature laps led.
Ventura’s “The Kruser” Cory Kruseman was looking for his seventh “Firecracker” win and scored fifth in the feature. Piloting Mark & Carmen Priestley’s #7 Roy Miller Freightlines / Sander Engineering Bullet, the 2006 Champion was sixth fast in time trials and ran third in his heat race. Since returning from injury, Kruseman has one heat race victory, one Keizer Wheels / Racing Optics Hard Charger Award, and three top-10 finishes in the campaign.
Markus Niemela of Rauma, Finland earned his second Keizer Wheels / Racing Optics “Hard Charger / Best Passing Job” honors with a tenth place run from twentieth. Driving Steve Watt’s #81 Christian Stover Foundation / Lost Reality Clothing Maxim, Niemela qualified twenty-first and was third in his heat race. Splitting time with the USAC West Coast Sprints, Markus has one heat victory and three top-10 finishes on the year.
Norco’s Ronnie Gardner debuted his new #93 Baldozier Racing / Jamison Engineering Sled and won the 10-lap Saldana Racing Products / Circle Track Performance Heat Race #3. The USAC Western Midget Series point leader was fifteenth quick in time trials and finished eighth in the feature from fourteenth. In limited appearances with USAC/CRA, Gardner has two top-10 finishes on the season.
Austin Williams of Yorba Linda won his third 12-lap Competition Suspension Inc. / Rod End Supply Semi-Main. Racing Jack Jory’s #2 John Jory Corporation / AMA Plastics Spike, Williams qualified ninth, ran sixth in his heat race, and claimed seventh in the main event. The former Rookie of the Year is sixth in points with one heat race victory and seven top-10 finishes to his credit.
The USAC/CRA traditional 410 Sprints will return to action on Friday, August 9th, at John Prentice’s Ocean Speedway in Watsonville. Co-sanctioned with the USAC Western Classic Racing Series, the event will also feature 4-Bangers, American Stocks, BAD Dwarf Cars, and Wingless Sprints. For more information, visit www.oceanspeedway.com or call 831.622.WINN (9466).
The following night, August 10th, USAC/CRA will compete at Ruben and Katy Munoz’s Santa Maria Speedway. The event will also showcase the Papich Construction IMCA Modifieds, C&D Bonding Hobby Stocks, NMRA TQ Midgets, and CDCRA Dwarf Cars. For more information, visit www.racesantamariaspeedway.com or call 805.315.2023.
To catch all of the action of the Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series at Perris Auto Speedway, Mike Truex’s Loudpedal Productions has DVD videos available for purchase. For more information, call (805) 407-7229 or visit www.loudpedalvideo.com. In addition, Perris Auto Speedway offers a pay per view feed of every event at www.circletracknetwork.com.
The Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series would like to thank Hoosier Tire, BR Motorsports, Circle Track Performance, Competition Suspension Inc., DJ Safety, Extreme Mufflers, Huntington Beach Glass & Mirror Inc., Kaeding Performance, Keizer Wheels, King Racing Products, Racing Optics, Rod End Supply, Rugged Radios, SBI Fuel Systems, Saldana Racing Products, Weld Racing, and Woodland Auto Display for their support. If you or your company would like to become part of the series, email PR Director Lance Jennings at lwjennings@earthlink.net.
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 CAR RACE RESULTS:
July 4, 2013 – Perris, California – Perris Auto Speedway – “Firecracker 30”
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY TIME TRIALS:
1. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-16.341; 2. Damion Gardner, 4A, Alexander-16.447; 3. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-16.604; 4. Nic Faas, 4, Alexander-16.632; 5. David Cardey, 92, Sertich-16.680; 6. Cory Kruseman, 7, Priestley-16.697; 7. Rickie Gaunt, 66, Miller-16.798; 8. Greg Alexander, 72, Tyler-16.807; 9. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-16.857; 10. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-16.876; 11. Josh Pelkey, 12, Allen-16.881; 12. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-16.897; 13. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-16.906; 14. Troy Rutherford, 27, Kautz-17.129; 15. Ronnie Gardner, 93, Gardner-17.159; 16. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-17.162; 17. Seth Wilson, 1X, Wilson-17.226; 18. David Bezio, 37X, Bezio-17.259; 19. Kenny Perkins, 0K, Perkins-17.291; 20. Matt Rossi, 02, Rossi-17.408; 21. Markus Niemela, 81, Watt-17.587; 22. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-17.728; 23. Jeremy Ellertson, 98, Ellertson-17.764; 24. Ed Schwarz, 21K, Kruseman-17.900; 25. Jay Waugh, 89K, Kruseman-18.070; 26. Ryan Devitt, 1A, Wilson-18.424; 27. Toby Sampson, 82, Sampson-18.563; 28. Jerry Welton, 62, Welton-20.263.
EXTREME MUFFLERS HEAT RACE 1: (10 laps)
1. David Cardey, 2. Mike Spencer, 3. Markus Niemela, 4. R.J. Johnson, 5. Seth Wilson, 6. Austin Williams, 7. Jay Waugh. NT
DJ SAFETY HEAT RACE 2: (10 laps)
1. Damion Gardner, 2. David Bezio, 3. Cody Kruseman, 4. Brody Roa, 5. Ryan Devitt, 6. Troy Rutherford, 7. A.J. Bender. NT
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS / CIRCLE TRACK PERFORMANCE HEAT RACE 3: (10 laps)
1. Ronnie Gardner, 2. Josh Pelkey, 3. Rip Williams, 4. Rickie Gaunt, 5. Tobey Sampson, 6. Jeremy Ellertson, 7. Kenny Perkins. NT
WELD RACING / SBI FUEL SYSTEMS HEAT RACE 4: (10 laps)
1. Nic Faas, 2. Matt Mitchell, 3. Greg Alexander, 4. Cody Williams, 5. Matt Rossi, 6. Ed Schwarz, 7. Jerry Welton. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION INC. / ROD END SUPPLY SEMI-MAIN: (12 laps)
1. Austin Williams, 2. Seth Wilson, 3. Matt Rossi, 4. Ryan Devitt, 5. Jay Waugh, 6. Kenny Perkins, 7. A.J. Bender, 8. Jerry Welton, 9. Troy Rutherford, 10. Tobey Sampson. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps – With Starting Positions)
1. Nic Faas (3rd), 2. Mike Spencer (6th), 3. David Cardey (2nd), 4. Damion Gardner (5th), 5. Cory Kruseman (1st), 6. Matt Mitchell (12th), 7. Austin Williams (9th), 8. Ronnie Gardner (14th), 9. Rip Williams (4th), 10. Markus Niemela (20th), 11. Brody Roa (10th), 12. Greg Alexander (8th), 13. Josh Pelkey (11th), 14. R.J. Johnson (13th), 15. Rickie Gaunt (7th), 16. Matt Rossi (19th), 17. Seth Wilson (16th), 18. David Bezio (17th), 19. Ryan Devitt (22nd), 20. Cody Williams (15th), 21. Kenny Perkins (18th), 22. Jay Waugh (21st). NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-16 David Cardey, Laps 17-30 Nic Faas.
KEIZER WHEELS / RACING OPTICS HARD CHARGER: Markus Niemela (20th to 10th)
AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT POINT STANDINGS:
1-Damion Gardner-803, 2-Nic Faas-759, 3-Mike Spencer-628, 4-Bud Kaeding-564, 5-Matt Mitchell-519, 6-Austin Williams-461, 7-Cody Williams-441, 8-Brody Roa-420, 9-Ryan Bernal-359, 10-R.J. Johnson-330.
2013 AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES SCHEDULE
DATE – TRACK – LOCATION
August 9: Ocean Speedway – Watsonville, CA
August 10: Santa Maria Speedway – Santa Maria, CA
August 17: Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, CA (California Racers Hall of Fame Night)
August 31: **Calistoga Speedway – Calistoga, CA (Louie Vermeil Classic)
September 1: **Calistoga Speedway – Calistoga, CA (Louie Vermeil Classic)
September 14: Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, CA (Glenn Howard Classic)
October 5: Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, CA (Southern California Fair Race)
October 25: *Canyon Speedway Park – Peoria, AZ (Hall of Fame Classic)
October 26: *Canyon Speedway Park – Peoria, AZ (Hall of Fame Classic)
November 1: *Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, CA (Oval Nationals)
November 2: *Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, CA (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.