By Dick Jordan
Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria, Ariz. hosts the 13th Annual Hose Advantage “Hall of Fame Classic” this weekend as the AMSOIL USAC National and USAC/CRA Sprint Car series compete in back-to-back Friday and Saturday night programs.
Bryan Clauson and Damion Gardner will try to protect their respective point leads as they look forward to the November 1-2 series finales at Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway.
Clauson’s National lead is a tenuous 13 points over Dave Darland, while Gardner has a somewhat comfortable 99-point lead over Nic Faas in the USCA/CRA standings.
Clauson has a half-dozen feature wins, three seconds and two thirds, while Darland also has a half-dozen wins, three seconds and three thirds. Gardner’s season has yielded five wins, five thirds and two seconds. Faas has three wins, three seconds and four thirds.
Clauson is in the midst of one of USAC’s most victorious seasons. His 18 wins in various series rank fifth all-time in USAC single-season history. J.J. Yeley has the record of 24 from 2003, while Sleepy Tripp had 20 in 1988. A.J. Foyt (1961) and Jay Drake (2000) each logged 19 total wins.
2013 AMSOIL USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Bryan Clauson-1,706, 2-Dave Darland-1,693, 3-Brady Bacon-1,585, 4-Kevin Thomas-1,496, 5-Chase Stockon-1,479, 6-Tracy Hines-1,339, 7-Robert Ballou-1,312, 8-Chris Windom-1,085, 9-Hunter Schuerenberg-1,000, 10-Tyler Courtney-971.
2013 AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Damion Gardner-1,107, 2-Nic Faas-1,008, 3-Mike Spencer-960, 4-Bud Kaeding-753, 5-Matt Mitchell-745, 6-Cody Williams-708, 7-Austin Williams-692, 8-Brody Roa-659, 9-Ryan Bernal-551, 10-Richard Vander Weerd-447.