By Lance Jennings
Imperial, California (March 14, 2026)………Surging off the final corner, Ricky Lewis of Camarillo, California passed both Stevie Sussex and A.J. Bender to win by 0.034 seconds and earn his fifth consecutive Avanti Windows & Doors USAC CRA Sprint Car victory on Saturday night at California’s Imperial Valley Raceway.
Driving his #41 Mesilla Valley Transportation / Morris Family Farms DRC, Lewis finished ahead of Bender, Stevie Sussex, Braden Chiaramonte, and R.J. Johnson.
Lewis began the night by posting his sixth career Woodland Auto Display Fast Time Award with a time of 12.345 seconds over Stevie Sussex, “The Big Game Hunter” Austin Williams, A.J. Bender, R.J. Johnson and the rest of the roster in attendance.
Last season’s rookie of the year, Connor Lundy of Peoria, Arizona raced to victory in the 10-lap Sexton Fire Protection First Heat Race. The pilot of the family owned #97 Apache Transport / Jugo Superfoods Sherman finished ahead of Dayton Shelton, Brecken Guerrero, A.J. Bender, Lewis, and Wayne Siddle.
The 10-lap Roy Miller Freight Lines Second Heat Race went to Laveen, Arizona’s Stevie Sussex. Driving Jack Yeley’s #2 Avanti Windows & Doors / C.K. Electric Twister, Sussex finished ahead of R.J. Johnson, Connor Speir, Rickey Kinney Jr., Verne Sweeney, and Jim Vanzant.
El Cajon, California’s Braden Chiaramonte won Imperial’s 10-lap Rescue Mission Alliance Third Heat Race in the OCC Motorsports #73B Maxim backed by A.M. Ortega and RTL Traffic Control. Austin Williams, Daylin Perreira, Shon Deskins, Broedy Graham, and Elexa Herrera followed Chiaramonte across the stripe.
Ricky Lewis and Elexa Hererra tied for the night’s Steve Lafond Photos Hard Charger Award / “Best Passing Job” honors. Lewis claimed the victory after starting sixth and Herrera of New Cuyama, California drove the family owned #5E All American Drilling / 3H Cattle Company DRC to a thirteenth place finish from eighteenth.
On Saturday, March 21st, the Avanti Windows & Doors USAC CRA Sprint Car Series will return to Perris Auto Speedway in Perris, California for their fifth point race of the campaign. For more information on the 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: March 14, 2026 – Imperial Valley Raceway – Imperial, California – California Mid-Winter Fair
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Ricky Lewis, 41, Lewis-12.345; 2. Stevie Sussex, 2, Yeley-12.632; 3. Austin Williams, 17w, Dunkel-12.682; 4. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-12.826; 5. R.J. Johnson, 1p, Petty-12.865; 6. Shon Deskins, 21x, Deskins-12.871; 7. Dayton Shelton, 4D, Shelton-12.887; 8. Connor Speir, 57, Speir-12.971; 9. Daylin Perreira, 21p, Perreira-13.094; 10. Wayne Siddle, 007, Siddle-13.139; 11. Verne Sweeney, 98, Guerrero-13.190; 12. Braden Chiaramonte, 73B, OCC-13.288; 13. Brecken Guerrero, 98B, Guerrero-13.436; 14. Rickey Kinney Jr., 81K, Kinney-13.492; 15. Broedy Graham, 51, Van Meter-13.589; 16. Connor Lundy, 97, Lundy-13.643; 17. Jim Vanzant, 3v, Vanzant-14.074; 18. Elexa Herrera, 5E, Herrera-14.198.
SEXTON FIRE PROTECTION FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Connor Lundy, 2. Dayton Shelton, 3. Brecken Guerrero, 4. A.J. Bender, 5. Ricky Lewis, 6. Wayne Siddle. NT
ROY MILLER FREIGHT LINES SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Stevie Sussex, 2. R.J. Johnson, 3. Connor Speir, 4. Rickey Kinney Jr., 5. Verne Sweeney, 6. Jim Vanzant. NT
RESCUE MISSION ALLIANCE THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Braden Chiaramonte, 2. Broedy Graham, 3. Austin Williams, 4. Daylin Perreira, 5. Shon Deskins, 6. Elexa Herrera. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Ricky Lewis (6), 2. A.J. Bender (3), 3. Stevie Sussex (5), 4. Braden Chiaramonte (7), 5. R.J. Johnson (2), 6. Connor Lundy (8), 7. Daylin Perreira (11), 8. Dayton Shelton (9), 9. Shon Deskins (1), 10. Brecken Guerrero (14), 11. Wayne Siddle (12), 12. Broedy Graham (16), 13. Elexa Herrera (18), 14. Verne Sweeney (13), 15. Jim Vanzant (17), 16. Austin Williams (4), 17. Connor Speir (10), 18. Rickey Kinney Jr. (15). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-5 Shon Deskins, Laps 6-29 A.J. Bender, Lap 30 Ricky Lewis.
STEVE LAFOND PHOTOS HARD CHARGER: Ricky Lewis (6th to 1st) & Elexa Herrera (18th to 13th)
ROLLS SCAFFOLD 360 CHALLENGE WINNER: Braden Chiaramonte
AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-R.J. Johnson-298, 2-A.J. Bender-269, 3-Austin Williams-251, 4-Connor Lundy-248, 5-Ricky Lewis-234, 6-Verne Sweeney-189, 7-Brecken Guerrero-182, 8-Dayton Shelton-163, 9-Charles Davis Jr.-148, 10-Braden Chiaramonte-142.
NEXT AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: March 21, 2026 – Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, California