By Lance Jennings
PERRIS, CA – APRIL 13, 2014… Concord’s “The Demon” Damion Gardner raced to his third consecutive Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car victory of the campaign. Taking the lead from Matt Mitchell on lap four and battling with Mike Spencer, Gardner claimed the $2,500 “So Cal Sprint Car Spectacular” at Perris Auto Speedway. Fast qualifier Spencer, Mitchell, Nic Faas, and Austin Williams rounded out the top-five drivers.
Driving Mark Alexander’s #4 Scott Sales Company / Advanced Racing Suspension Spike, Damion Gardner nearly swept Saturday’s program. Qualifying second out of the 28 cars in the pit area, the defending champion also won his 10-lap heat race, sponsored by DJ Safety. After claiming his series leading 28th Perris victory (49th overall), Damion left USAC/CRA’s “home track” with a 29 point advantage over the competition. In addition to his third main event win, Gardner has one Woodland Auto Display Fast Time Award, two heat race victories, and 45 feature laps led in 2014.
Briefly grabbing the lead from Gardner on lap 20, Mike Spencer of Temecula had to settle for second on this night. Racing Ron Chaffin’s #50 Grubstake Mini Storage / Madera Produce Maxim, Spencer earned his second Woodland Auto Display Fast Time Award and ran fourth in his heat race. The five-time champion has climbed to third in the point chase with one heat race victory, two top-10 finishes, and 11 feature laps led to his credit.
Yorba Linda’s Matt Mitchell had an excellent start from third and took command of the first three laps.
Piloting his #37 MPD Racing / A.R.T. Enterprises Maxim, Mitchell continued to race hard and traded slide jobs with Spencer before claiming third at the finish line. After posting sixth quick in time trials and running fourth in his heat race, the 2-time “Salute to Indy” winner sits fourth in the standings with three top-10 finishes.
Nic Faas of Huntington Beach scored fourth in the “So Cal Sprint Car Spectacular.” Driving Keith Ford’s #73 Berry Pack / King Racing Products Spike, Faas qualified third overall and scored second in his heat race. The 2008 Rookie of the Year is currently second in the USAC/CRA point chase with one heat race victory and three top-10 finishes on the year.
Yorba Linda’s Austin Williams charged to fifth in the Perris 30-lap main event after starting eighth. Racing Jack Jory’s #2 John Jory Corporation / AMA Plastics Spike, Williams was fifth fast in time trials, placed fifth in his heat race, and claimed second in the semi-main. The 2009 Rookie of the Year has one heat race victory and one top-10 finish on the season.
Logan Williams of Yorba Linda earned his first USAC/CRA Keizer Wheels / Racing Optics “Hard Charger / Best Passing Job” honors with a thirteenth place run from twenty-second. Piloting Jack Jory’s #5 John Jory Corporation / AMA Plastics Stinger, Williams qualified twenty-sixth overall, ran eighth in his heat race, and placed ninth in the semi-main.
San Marcos’ A.J. Bender raced to his first career USAC/CRA heat race victory in the Extreme Mufflers sponsored event. Driving the family owned #21 K&R Motorsports / Rosson Racing DRC, Bender was sixteenth quick in time trials and ran fourteenth in the main event. The California Lightning Sprint Car veteran has his sights on moving up the ranks with USAC/CRA.
“The Kruser” Cory Kruseman of Ventura won the Saldana Racing Products / Circle Track Performance Heat Race #3. Racing Mark Priestley’s #7 Roy Miller Freight Lines / Sander Engineering Bullet, Kruseman qualified ninth overall and finished eighth in the 30-lap feature. The 2006 Champion has climbed to eighth in point standings with two heat race victories and one top-10 finish.
Norco’s Ronnie Gardner won the night’s 12-lap Competition Suspension Inc. / Rod End Supply Semi-Main. Piloting his #93 Esslinger Engineering / Six8 Motorsports Sled, Gardner was fourth fast in time trials, took fifth in his heat race, and finished eleventh in the main event. The defending USAC Western Midget Champion has one heat race victory, one top-10 finish, and two feature laps led on the year.
The Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series will return to action on Saturday, May 3rd, at Perris Auto Speedway. Located on the Lake Perris Fairgrounds, more event information can be found at www.perrisautospeedway.com or calling (951) 940-0134. To catch all of the action of the Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series, 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 thanks Hoosier Tire, Circle Track Performance, Competition Suspension Inc., DJ Safety, Engler Machine & Tool, Extreme Mufflers, Huntington Beach Glass & Mirror, Keizer Wheels, Pyrotect Racing Cells, Racing Optics, Rod End Supply, Rugged Radios, Saldana Racing Products, 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 or follow the series on Facebook (www.facebook.com/pages/USAC-
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AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS:
April 12, 2014 – Perris, California – Perris Auto Speedway – “So-Cal Sprint Car Spectacular”
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY TIME TRIALS:
1. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-16.307; 2. Damion Gardner, 4, Alexander-16.350; 3. Nic Faas, 73, Ford-16.401; 4. Ronnie Gardner, 93, Gardner-16.548; 5. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-16.573; 6. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-16.663; 7. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-16.703; 8. Gary Taylor, 04G, Cook-16.712; 9. Cory Kruseman, 7, Priestley-16.975; 10. David Bezio, 37X, Bezio-16.803; 11. Cody Swanson, 36, Springstead-16.878; 12. Rickie Gaunt, 66, Miller-16.898; 13. J.J. Ercse, 14, Springstead-16.953; 14. Seth Wilson, 6W, Wilson-16.956; 15. Corey Ballard, 34, Ballard-16.975; 16. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-16.996; 17. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-17.053; 18. Verne Sweeney, 98, Tracy-17.075; 19. Greg Alexander, 72, Tyler-17.193; 20. Kenny Perkins, 0K, Perkins-17.329; 21. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-17.509; 22. Tony Everhart, 55, Everhart-17.735; 23. Jesse Denome, 6, Denome-17.744; 24. Cal Smith, 39, Cal-Sun-17.761; 25. Jeremy Ellertson, 98x, Ellertson-18.053; 26. Logan Williams, 5, Jory-18.162; 27. Gary Potter, 6P, Potter-19.197; 28. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-NT.
EXTREME MUFFLERS HEAT RACE #1: (10 laps)
1. A.J. Bender, 2. David Bezio, 3. Brody Roa, 4. Mike Spencer, 5. Ronnie Gardner, 6. Greg Alexander, 7. J.J. Ercse, 8. Tony Everhart, 9. Jeremy Ellertson. 2:52.54
DJ SAFETY HEAT RACE #2: (10 laps)
1. Damion Gardner, 2. Seth Wilson, 3. Gary Taylor, 4. Cody Williams, 5. Austin Williams, 6. Cody Swanson, 7. Kenny Perkins, 8. Logan Williams, 9. Jesse Denome. 2:49.61
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS / CIRCLE TRACK PERFORMANCE HEAT RACE #3: (10 laps)
1. Cory Kruseman, 2. Nic Faas, 3. Rickie Gaunt, 4. Matt Mitchell, 5. Verne Sweeney, 6. Corey Ballard, 7. Chris Gansen, 8. Cal Smith, 9. Gary Potter. 2:52.03
COMPETITION SUSPENSION INC. / ROD END SUPPLY SEMI-MAIN: (12 laps)
1. Ronnie Gardner, 2. Austin Williams, 3. Cody Swanson, 4. Greg Alexander, 5. Corey Ballard, 6. J.J. Ercse, 7. Verne Sweeney, 8. Kenny Perkins, 9. Logan Williams, 10. Cal Smith, 11. Jesse Denome, 12. Tony Everhart, 13. Jeremy Ellertson, 14. Chris Gansen. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps – With Starting Positions)
1. Damion Gardner (5th), 2. Mike Spencer (6th), 3. Matt Mitchell (3rd), 4. Nic Faas (4th), 5. Austin Williams (8th), 6. Gary Taylor (1st), 7. Rickie Gaunt (12th), 8. Cory Kruseman (9th), 9. Brody Roa (2nd), 10. Cody Swanson (11th), 11. Ronnie Gardner (7th), 12. Greg Alexander (19th), 13. Logan Williams (22nd), 14. A.J. Bender (16th), 15. Verne Sweeney (18th), 16. J.J. Ercse (13th), 17. Kenny Perkins (20th), 18. Cody Williams (17th), 19. Seth Wilson (14th), 20. David Bezio (10th), 21. Corey Ballard (15th), 22. Cal Smith (21st). NT
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**Chris Gansen flipped during the semi. Cody Williams flipped during the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-3 Matt Mitchell, Laps 4-30 Damion Gardner.
KEIZER WHEELS / RACING OPTICS HARD CHARGER: Logan Williams (22nd to 13th)
AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR POINT STANDINGS:
1-Damion Gardner-215, 2-Nic Faas-184, 3-Mike Spencer-171, 4-Matt Mitchell-159, 5-Gary Taylor-143, 6-R.J. Johnson-108, 7-Brody Roa-103, 8-Cory Kruseman-97, 9-Cody Williams-97, 10-Jake Swanson-92.