By Lance Jennings
Mohave Valley, Arizona (February 22, 2025)………After problems forced early leader Kevin Thomas Jr. to the work area during a lap six caution, Jake Swanson (Anaheim, California) led the rest of the way to claim victory in Saturday night’s Avanti Windows & Doors USAC CRA Sprint Car season opener at Mohave Valley Raceway.
Piloting Tom and Christy Dunkel’s No. 17x Inland Rigging / Maxima Racing Oils DRC, Swanson fought off several challenges to earn his seventh career series triumph. Tommy “Thunder” Malcolm, R.J. Johnson, Brody Fuson and Eddie Tafoya Jr. followed the former Western World Champion to the checkered flag.
Fuson began the night by scoring the second Woodland Auto Display / WC Friend Company Fast Time Award of his career. The pilot of the Bob & Toni Van Meter No. 51 Spike recorded a time of 13.997 seconds over the 31-car roster.
Blake Bower, Malcolm, Brody Wake and “The Rattlesnake” Andrew Sweeney took the checkered flags in their 10-lap heat races.
Fuson topped the 12-lap Factory Wraps Semi-Feature as Logan Calderwood, Tafoya, Grant Sexton, “The Big Game Hunter” Austin Williams and Lonnie Oliver earned the final transfer spots.
In his first USAC/CRA start, Lonnie Oliver earned the In Memory of Jim and Chet Gardner Hard Charger Award with a 15th place run from 22nd.
Next Saturday, March 1st, the USAC/CRA Sprint Cars will battle at Perris Auto Speedway. Track promoter Don Kazarian has recently announced the addition of November 1st as a make-up date for the February 15th rainout.
For more information on the Avanti Windows & Doors USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series, visit usacracing.com and the social media for USAC Racing. You can also find exclusive content on the USAC/CRA Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.
AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: February 22, 2025 – Mohave Valley Raceway – Mohave Valley, Arizona
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY / WC FRIEND COMPANY QUALIFYING: 1. Brody Fuson, 51, Van Meter-13.997; 2. R.J. Johnson, 33p, Petty-14.063; 3. Cody Williams, 44, Williams-14.071; 4. Charles Davis Jr., 47, Davis-14.075; 5. Jake Swanson, 17x, Dunkel-14.089; 6. Tommy Malcolm, 5x, Napier-14.095; 7. Kevin Thomas Jr., 15, Bonneau-14.118; 8. Logan Williams, 5w, McCarthy-14.290; 9. Blake Bower, 17, Dunkel-14.299; 10. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 51T, Tafoya-14.303; 11. Austin Williams, 17w, Dunkel-14.342; 12. Logan Calderwood, 6, Calderwood-14.342; 13. Grant Sexton, 22, Sexton-14.398; 14. David Gasper, 18, Kittle/Gasper-14.418; 15. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-14.505; 16. Braden Chiaramonte, 73B, OCC-14.542; 17. Cole Wakim, 73, Ford-14.604; 18. Jeff Dyer, 39, Cal-Sun-14.679; 19. Austin Ervine, 2, Ervine-14.741; 20. Andrew Sweeney, 98A, Guerrero-14.746; 21. Racin Silva, 5s, Silva-14.785; 22. Verne Sweeney, 98, Guerrero-14.788; 23. Brody Wake, 78B, Wake-14.838; 24. Lonnie Oliver, 22AZ, Oliver-14.846; 25. Connor Speir, 57s, Speir-14.892; 26. Connor Lundy, 97, Lundy-14.892; 27. Dayton Shelton, 4D, Shelton-15.010; 28. Shane Sexton, 74, Sexton-15.329; 29. Brecken Guerrero, 98B, Guerrero-15.775; 30. Ricky Lewis, 41, Lewis-NT; 31. Elexa Herrera, 5E, Herrera-NT.
IN HONOR OF WILEY MILLER SR. & WILEY MILLER II FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Blake Bower, 2. Jake Swanson, 3. Racin Silva, 4. Cole Wakim, 5. Grant Sexton, 6. Connor Speir, 7. Brecken Guerrero, 8. Brody Fuson. NT
WC FRIEND COMPANY SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Tommy Malcolm, 2. R.J. Johnson, 3. Verne Sweeney, 4. David Gasper, 5. Ricky Lewis, 6. Connor Lundy, 7. Jeff Dyer. NT
SILBERMANN SOLAR THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Brody Wake, 2. A.J. Bender, 3. Kevin Thomas Jr., 4. Cody Williams, 5. Austin Williams, 6. Dayton Shelton, 7. Austin Ervine, 8. Elexa Herrera. NT
SEXTON FIRE PROTECTION FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Andrew Sweeney, 2. Braden Chiaramonte, 3. Logan Williams, 4. Charles Davis Jr., 5. Logan Calderwood, 6. Lonnie Oliver. NT
FACTORY WRAPS SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Brody Fuson, 2. Logan Calderwood, 3. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 4. Grant Sexton, 5. Austin Williams, 6. Lonnie Oliver, 7. Dayton Shelton, 8. Austin Ervine, 9. Elexa Herrera, 10. Ricky Lewis, 11. Connor Lundy, 12. Brecken Guerrero, 13. Connor Speir, 14. Jeff Dyer. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Jake Swanson (3), 2. Tommy Malcolm (2), 3. R.J. Johnson (6), 4. Brody Fuson (7), 5. Eddie Tafoya Jr. (10), 6. Logan Williams (8), 7. Logan Calderwood (12), 8. Austin Williams (11), 9. Blake Bower (9), 10. Charles Davis Jr. (4), 11. A.J. Bender (15), 12. Braden Chiaramonte (16), 13. Cole Wakim (17), 14. Verne Sweeney (20), 15. Lonnie Oliver (22), 16. Andrew Sweeney (18), 17. David Gasper (14), 18. Racin Silva (19), 19. Brody Wake (21), 20. Grant Sexton (13), 21. Kevin Thomas Jr. (1), 22. Cody Williams (5). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-2 Kevin Thomas Jr., Lap 3 Jake Swanson, Laps 4-6 Kevin Thomas Jr., Laps 7-30 Jake Swanson.
IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER HARD CHARGER: Lonnie Oliver (22nd to 15th)
NEXT AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: March 1, 2025 – Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, California