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HONDA, USAC ANNOUNCE MAJOR PARTNERSHIP
Honda New Title Sponsor of USAC’s 3 Midget Championships
The United States Auto Club and American Honda Motor Company have announced a major sponsorship program to commence this year beginning a multi-year agreement which includes title sponsorships and engine development programs.
Honda will become title sponsor for USAC’s National Midget, Ignite Midgets and .25 Midget racing series. A racing version of the Honda K24 engine, distributed by Honda Performance Development (HPD), will become the new spec engine for the Honda Ignite Midget Series.
USAC National Midget Series events currently include cars utilizing Honda K- and F-series engines supplied by HPD and .25 Midget competitors have found the Honda GX-series engines to be popular choices.
Honda will become the official vehicle of USAC, as well as the Official Side-by-Side and All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) supplier; Official Generator and Official Pit Bike for USAC. Honda will also become the presenting sponsor of all USAC National race broadcasts via live streaming through USAC Racing.TV, Ustream and USACRacing.com.
“USAC is extremely pleased to announce this new affiliation with Honda,” says USAC CEO/President Kevin Miller. “We feel their involvement in USAC’s racing programs will be a perfect fit, not only for them, but for our participants as well with Honda’s national marketing footprint. Honda brings an expanded level of excitement to the Midget racing community and we are excited to announce this partnership today.
“Historically, USAC has occupied a leadership role in oval-track racing and grass roots motorsports nationwide,” says Mike Accavitti, Senior Vice President, Automotive Operations for American Honda. “We’re pleased to be able to greatly expand our role in USAC competition, while taking the next significant step in advancing HPD’s grassroots motorsports initiative. We look forward to a long and successful association.”
The 2013 Honda USAC National Midget series will continue with the May 25 “Night Before the 500” Classic at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis and incorporate events across America, culminating in the annual “Turkey Night Grand Prix” at Perris, Calif. in November. The Honda Ignite Midget Series includes events determining championships in Washington, Oregon, Western, Midget and Eastern disciplines. And the Honda .25 Midget Series offers youth the largest organized circle track National Championship for young racers starting at age five.
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HOOSIER HUNDRED RESET FRIDAY DUE TO WET GROUNDS
The “Hoosier Hundred,” USAC’s 2013 opening TRAXXAS USAC Silver Crown Championship race at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, has been reset for Friday night after morning rains left the grounds extremely wet.
“We anticipate sunny skies tomorrow,” says series coordinator James Spink. “That will allow race organizers at the Fairgrounds to properly prepare the grounds and race track to provide the optimum experience for participants and race fans.”
The “Hoosier Hundred” is one of America’s most revered dirt-track events, the 100-mile race on the historic one-mile oval dating back to 1953. Former winners have included numerous Indianapolis 500 veterans and winners and Jerry Coons Jr. hopes to become only the third driver to score a third consecutive victory on Friday night.
Pit gates will open Friday at noon and the grandstands will open at 3 pm. Practice starts at 5, followed by qualifying at 6.
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TONY HULMAN CLASSIC RESCHEDULED JUNE 21
Terre Haute, IN........Race organizers Bob Sargent and Reece O'Connor have reaffirmed their committment to the United States Auto Club and the rich tradition of the "Tony Hulman Classic" by quickly rescheduling the AMSOIL National Sprint race at the Terre Haute Action Track for Friday night, June 21.
Rains led to today's postponement but quick work led to the rescheduling which now couples the race with a June 22 race at I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Mich.
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WESTERN MIDGET DIRT RACE RESULTS: May 18, 2013 – Ventura, California – Ventura Raceway
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Kyle Edwards (#39 Edwards), 2. Kyle Smith (#55 Smith), 3. Cody Swanson (#71 Swanson), 4. Randi Pankratz (#8 Pankratz), 5. Trey Marcham (#37 McQueen), 6. Terry Nichols (#45 Neverlift). NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. David Prickett (#15 Neverlift), 2. Jerome Rodela (#25 Rodela), 3. Shannon McQueen (#7 McQueen), 4. Bruce Douglas (#31 Douglas), 5. Bobby Michnowicz (#21jr Michnowicz), 6. Bryan Drollinger (#55x Prickett). NT
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Ronnie Gardner (#68 Johnson), 2. Frankie Guerrini (#63 Guerrini), 3. Rick Hendrix (#12 Hendrix), 4. Jake Swanson (#5 VanDyne), 5. Robby Josett (#2 Josett). NT
ALSO AT THE TRACK: Sean Dodenhoff (#9d Dodenhoff).
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Ronnie Gardner, 1. Cody Swanson, 3. Frankie Guerrini, 4. David Prickett, 5. Robby Josett, 6. Jake Swanson, 7. Rick Hendrix, 8. Trey Marcham, 9. Bruce Douglas, 10. Shannon McQueen, 11. Terry Nichols, 12. Randi Pankratz, 13. Bobby Michnowicz, 14. Kyle Edwards, 15. Kyle Smith, 16. Jerome Rodela, 17. Bryan Drollinger. NT
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**Drollinger flipped during the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 C.Swanson, Laps 2-30 Gardner.
NEW USAC WESTERN MIDGET POINTS: 1-Gardner-352, 2-J.Swanson-334, 3-Prickett-294, 4-C.Swanson-219; 5-Guerrini-212, 6-Kody Swanson-212, 7-Scott Pierovich-200, 8-McQueen-178, 9-Marcham-169, 10-Bryan Clauson-143.
NEW USAC WESTERN MIDGET DIRT POINTS: 1-Gardner-352, 2-J.Swanson-334, 3-Prickett-294, 4-C.Swanson-219, 5-McQueen-178, 6-Marcham-168, 7-Bryan Clauson-143, 8-Kody Swanson-140, 9-Scott Pierovich-138, 10-R.Pankratz-130.
NEXT USAC WESTERN MIDGET DIRT RACE: June 1 – Placerville (CA) Speedway
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AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: May 18, 2013 – Tulare, California – Thunderbowl Raceway
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Damion Gardner, 4a, Alexander-14.853; 2. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-15.015; 3. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-15.283; 4. Bud Kaeding, 29, Bowman-15.329; 5. Nic Faas, 4, Alexander-15.350; 6. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-15.378; 7. Richard Vander Weerd, 10, Vander Weerd-15.440; 8. Ryan Bernal, 73, Ford-15.468; 9. Danny Faria Jr., 17v, Faria-15.491; 10. Jace Vander Weerd, 88, Vander Weerd-15.519; 11. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-15.534; 12. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-15.858; 13. Seth Wilson, 1x, Wilson-15.974; 14. D.J. Johnson, 33, Johnson-16.072; 15. Rusty Carlile, 51, Carlile-16.201; 16. Marty Hawkins, 3m, Hawkins-16.448; 17. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-16.906.
FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Faria, 2. Faas, 3. Gardner, 4. A.Williams, 5. Mitchell, 6. R.Vander Weerd, 7. Carlile, 8. Wilson, 9. C.Williams. NT
SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. J.Vander Weerd, 2. R.Williams, 3. Spencer, 4. Kaeding, 5. Bernal, 6. Roa, 7. Hawkins, 8. Johnson. NT
DASH: (6 laps) 1. Faria, 2. Faas, 3. Spencer, 4. J.Vander Weerd, 5. Kaeding, 6. Gardner. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Mike Spencer, 2. Ryan Bernal, 3. Danny Faria Jr., 4. Bud Kaeding, 5. Matt Mitchell, 6. Damion Gardner, 7. Austin Williams, 8. Nic Faas, 9. Richard Vander Weerd, 10. Brody Roa, 11. Cody Williams, 12. Jace Vander Weerd, 13. Rip Williams, 14. Seth Wilson, 15. D.J. Johnson, 16. Rusty Carlile, 17. Marty Hawkins. NT
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**Gardner flipped during the dash.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-5 Faas, Laps 6-16 Kaeding, Lap 17 Spencer, Laps 18-26 Bernal, Laps 27-30 Spencer.
NEW AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT POINTS: 1-Gardner-528, 2-Faas-507, 3-Spencer-434, 4-Kaeding-415, 5-C.Williams-331, 6-A.Williams-323, 7-R.J. Johnson-300, 8-Mitchell-287, 9-A.Williams-287, 10-Bernal-242.
NEXT AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT RACE: May 25, 2013 – Perris (CA) Auto Speedway – “Salute to Indy”
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AMSOIL USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: May 17, 2013 – Bloomington, Indiana – Bloomington Speedway – “Larry Rice Classic”
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-11.597; 2. Bryan Clauson, 20, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-11.604; 3. Chase Stockon, 32, Stockon-11.740; 4. Dave Darland, 71P, Phillips-11.744; 5. Hunter Schuerenberg, 35, Byram-11.793; 6. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 17RW, Dutcher/RW/TriStar-11.807; 7. Chase Briscoe, 5B, Briscoe-11.826; 8. Matt Westfall, 54, Best Performance-11.878; 9. Bobby East, 5E, East-11.888; 10. Levi Jones, 39, Walker-11.899; 11. Tracy Hines, 4, Hines-11.907; 12. Chris Windom, 11, Walker-11.910; 13. Logan Hupp, 9H, Hupp-11.963; 14. Robert Ballou, 5, Baldwin-11.965; 15. Brady Short, 11p, Pottorff-11.973; 16. Jordan Kinser, 5k, JKR-11.999; 17. Dakota Jackson, 3, Jackson-12.002; 18. Tyler Courtney, 23c, Courtney-12.027; 19. Landon Simon, 41, SST-12.047; 20. Jon Stanbrough, 66, Tate/Wade-12.051; 21. Danny Holtsclaw, 3H, Holtsclaw-12.057; 22. Nick Drake, 55, Cline-12.123; 23. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-12.161; 24. Chris Babcock, 35x, Babcock-12.180; 25. Josh Burton, 04, Burton-12.224; 26. Casey Shuman, 21k, Krockenberger-12.233; 27. Bub Cummins, 71, Cummins-12.408; 28. Kurt Gross, 1x, Gross-12.427; 29. Daylan Chambers, 4c, Chambers-12.809; 30. Shane Cottle, 2, Epperson-NT; 31. Kent Christian, 1c, Christian-NT; 32. Jon Sciscoe, 7s, Sciscoe-NT.
FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Holtsclaw, 2. Bacon, 3. Jackson, 4. East, 5. Schuerenberg, 6. Hupp, 7. Chambers, 8. Burton.
SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Ballou, 2. Jones, 3. Clauson, 4. Thomas, 5. Shuman, 6. Courtney, 7. Drake, 8. Cottle.
THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Short, 2. Stockon, 3. Simon, 4. Leary, 5. Hines, 6. Briscoe, 7. Cummings.
FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Stanbrough, 2. Darland, 3. Windom, 4. Kinser, 5. Babcock, 6. Westfall, 7. Gross.
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Schuerenberg, 2. Shuman, 3. Briscoe, 4. Hines, 5. Courtney, 6. Westfall, 7. Drake, 8. Hupp, 9. Cummings, 10. Cottle, 11. Chambers, 12. Babcock, 13. Burton, 14. Gross. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Dave Darland, 2. Kevin Thomas, 3. Brady Short, 4. Chase Stockon, 5. Brady Bacon, 6. Robert Ballou, 7. Bryan Clauson, 8. Levi Jones, 9. Hunter Schuerenberg, 10. Matt Westfall, 11. C.J. Leary, 12. Tracy Hines, 13. Chris Windom, 14. Jon Stanbrough, 15. Jordan Kinser, 16. Casey Shuman, 17. Tyler Courtney, 18. Nick Drake, 19. Chase Briscoe, 20. Bobby East, 21. Dakota Jackson, 22. Landon Simon, 23. Danny Holtsclaw. NT
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**East flipped on lap 14 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-18 Thomas, Laps 19-30 Darland.
NEW AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT POINTS: 1-Stockon-466, 2-Darland-452, 3-Thomas-440, 4-Bacon-439, 5-Schuerenberg-422, 6-Clauson-417, 7-Ballou-406, 8-Hines-381, 9-Leary-275, 10-Courtney-254.
NEXT AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT RACE: May 22 – Terre Haute (IN) Action Track – 43rd “Tony Hulman Classic”
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DARR LAWSON NAMED NEW USAC COMPETITION DIRECTOR
Darr Lawson, whose mechanical expertise contributed to last year’s phenomenal USAC Traxxas Silver Crown success for RW/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports, has been named USAC’s Director of Competition and Technical Director.
Lawson, 33, hails from Kokomo, Ind., and in his new role with USAC he will oversee all competition and rules applications.
A tool maker with a degree from Vincennes University in Indiana, Darr assisted sprint car driver Tim Cox in the early 1990s amd raced mini-sprints and sprint cars in central Indiana. In 2007 he worked with driver Brady Short and car owner Scott Benic, then joined the RW Motorsports team of Lederach, Pa. in 2008.
As general manager for the RW/Curb-Agajanian team, he orchestrated last season’s USAC Traxxas Silver Crown Car Owner Championship as drivers Bryan Clauson, Bobby Santos and Jerry Coons Jr. swept five of the eight series races!
"I look forward to this new challenge,” says Lawson. “I feel my expertise provides a good fit for this area of the sport and I am excited about the season ahead and the future of USAC and its participants.”
“We are fortunate to have Darr’s knowledge of our operations,” adds USAC’s Jason McCord. “His track record speaks for itself and I know our participants will be in good hands with his guidance.”
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SANTOS GOES FOR 3-IN-A-ROW AT “HALL OF FAME CLASSIC”
Bobby Santos of Franklin, Mass. will try to score an unprecedented third consecutive Traxxas USAC Silver Crown victory at Lucas Oil Raceway Saturday in the second USAC “Hall of Fame Classic.”
Saturday’s event salutes USAC’s 57-year heritage as twelve individuals will be inducted into the USAC Hall of Fame during ceremonies prior to the 100-lap feature event. They include Henry Banks, Tony Bettenhausen, Tom Bigelow, Pancho Carter, Earl Baltes, Jack Hewitt, Johnny Rutherford, Bobby and Al Unser, A.J. Watson, Don White and Bob Wilke.
The opening race of the 2013 Silver Crown series features former Lucas Oil Raceway Silver Crown race winners Santos, East (3), Tracy Hines, Brian Tyler, Kody Swanson and Russ Gamester. East is the defending series champion, while Hines’ 13 victories in various series leads all USAC drivers at the .686-mile paved oval.
Jason Leffler holds the one-lap LOR track record of 121.667 mph. from 2000, while Mike Bliss set the 100-lap record of 104.306 mph in 2001.
Tyler, East and Levi Jones will each try to give their car owners the all-time lead in terms of career series victories. Tyler pilots a car fielded by Six-R Racing, while East and Jones team up in cars fielded by Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing. Each have 27 series wins.
In the 37 previous LOR Silver Crown races, 25 drivers have tasted victory lane, with only seven scoring multiple wins.
Grandstand ticket holders at LOR will have all-access pit passes to enjoy the evening’s activities and a special Hall of Fame autograph session is planned from 6:30-7:30 pm.
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Rotondo Weirich Team Seeking History In May 23 Hoosier 100
Indianapolis, IN (May 13, 2013)-Rotondo Weirich Motorsports has been an entrant in the USAC Silver Crown Series since 1999, starting with Rich Tobias, Jr. and the team can write their name in the USAC history book on May 23 if one of their two drivers can win the 60th Hoosier 100 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. If two-time Hoosier Hundred winner Jerry Coons , Jr. or rookie Kevin Thomas can enter victory lane next Thursday night, RW Motorsports would join the late Al Dean and Vel’s_Parnelli Jones as the only entrants to win four consecutive Hoosier Hundred races.
Dean Van Lines entered the 1953 national championship season somewhat in disarray with equipment that needed to be rebuilt and in search of a driver who could stand on the gas, as well as a top wrench to look after the equipment. After the 1953 Indianapolis 500, Al Dean hired a west coast mechanic named Clint Brawner to look after the team’s Eddie Kuzma built Offenhauser powered dirt car and find a pilot who could wring the most out of the machine. After Brawner assessed the equipment, he told Dean that the Offy engine was in need of a rebuild. Instead of resistance, Brawner found an owner willing to accommodate his request and Dean had the new parts shipped to Indianapolis. After rebuilding the Dean machine Brawner settled on an eager young driver named Bob Sweikert.
Sweikert won the pole at Syracuse in September and led a good chunk of that race before falling out due to an accident. He and Brawner were ready for Jo Quinn and Roger Wolcott’s first Hoosier Hundred on September 19, 1953 but the track wasn’t as rain postponed the rich dirt track event until the 26th. Sweikert qualified the Dean car in third, grabbed the lead on lap 6 and ran to the checkers under a blanket with three other machines in the closest Hoosier Hundred finish in history. The Dean Van Lines car returned in 1954 with Jimmy Bryan at the helm, and would pocket the lion’s share of the purse in 1955 and 1956 as well.
Vel’s-Parnelli Jones Racing was in its second year of existence in 1970 when they entered the 18th running of the fall classic at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Second year driver Al Unser was in his third season working with chief mechanic George Bignotti, the two having come from John Mecom’s stable after the 1968 season. VPJ debuted on of the first Ford DOHC powered dirt cars in 1969, a Grant King creation that Al won with at DuQuoin in late 1969. Now in navy blue with lightning bolts, the Johnny Lightning Special simply looked fast. Al slowly reeled in early race leader A.J. Foyt in September of 1970 and led most of the second half before an ABC Wide World of Sports audience on the way to his first Hoosier Hundred. He captured three more, one in Johnny Lightning livery, and two in the red and white Viceroy colors. In a twist of irony, historians think that the Dean Van Lines Kuzma and the VPJ King-Ford are the only two cars to win four consecutive Hoosier Hundred events.
RW Motorsports entered Beast chassis in 2010 for Coons and Shane Hmiel with Hmiel gaining an emotional 100-mile win two nights before the 2010 Indianapolis 500. Coons won in 2011, and last year dominated over the last 80 miles to put the RW Toyota powered Beast into victory lane. Both he and rookie Kevin Thomas, Jr. will have similar machines at their disposal on May 23.
The 2013 Hoosier Hundred gets a new look as promoter Bob Sargent of Track Enterprises has moved the race to the former “Carb Day” for the Indianapolis 500, the new date is the Thursday night before the Indianapolis 500. “We felt that this was the right move for the event and gives fans one fantastic stretch of races in about a ten day period, with Indy 500 qualifying the weekend before, a USAC sprint race at Terre Haute on May 22, the Hoosier Hundred on Thursday and Carb Day at the Speedway on Friday”, said Sargent. “A lot of the participants over at the Speedway wanted to come out for the Hoosier Hundred but with the Carb Day festivities and their commitments, couldn’t fit Friday night in at the Fairgrounds.” “I expect that to change with the race now on Thursday and there is no telling who you might see out at the Fairgrounds May 23.”
Tickets for the Hoosier Hundred are now on sale at Ticketmaster or through Track Enterprises at 217-764-3200.
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AMSOIL USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: May 11, 2013 – Haubstadt, Indiana – Tri-State Speedway – “Spring Showdown” – Co-Sanctioned by Midwest Sprint Car Series
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Wes McIntyre, 83, McIntyre-13.182; 2. Dave Darland, 71P, Phillips-13.283; 3. Bryan Clauson, 20, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-13.303; 4. Robert Ballou, 5, Baldwin-13.311; 5. Seth Parker, 38P, Parker-13.347; 6. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-13.349; 7. Hunter Schuerenberg, 35, Byram-13.374; 8. Brady Short, 11P, Pottorff-13.417; 9. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-13.445; 10. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 17RW, Dutcher/RW/Tri-Star-13.450; 11. Justin Grant, 21x, Pollock-13.458; 12. Chase Stockon, 32, 32/TBI-13.481; 13. Kyle Cummins, 3c, Cummins-13.490; 14. Levi Jones, 12, Rogers-13.558; 15. Casey Shuman, 21K, Krockenberger-13.582; 16. Jon Stanbrough, 56, Fox-13.623; 17. Dakota Jackson, 3, Jackson-13.630; 18. Shane Cottle, 2, Epperson-13.654; 19. Daron Clayton, 92, Clayton-13.654; 20. Bradley Sterrett, 90, Leer-13.691; 21. Danny Holtsclaw, 3H, Holtsclaw-13.710; 22. Landon Simon, 41, Stensland-13.781; 23. Josh Burton, 04, Burton-13.827; 24. Nick Drake, 55, Cline-13.854; 25. Tracy Hines, 4,Hines-13.857; 26. Tyler Courtney, 23c, Courtney/Anderson-13.991; 27. Chris Babcock, 35x, Babcock-14.221; 28. Parker Price-Miller, 9P, Ronk-14.282; 29. Chase Briscoe, 5B, Briscoe-14.398; 30. Kurt Gross, 1x, Gross-14.416; 31. Patrick Budde, 90x, Budde-14.573; 32. Kevin Chambers, 18, DC-14.637; 33. Jake Simmons, 3x, Simmons-14.963; 34. Chet Williams, 38, Williams-15.165.
FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Jackson, 2. Cummins, 3. Bacon, 4. Holtsclaw, 5. Hines, 6. Parker, 7. McIntyre, 8. Briscoe, 9. Simmons. 2:15.78
SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Thomas, 2. Darland, 3. Simon, 4. Jones, 5. Cottle, 6. Courtney, 7. Gross, 8. Leary, 9. Williams. NT
THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Clayton, 2. Clauson, 3. Burton, 4. Shuman, 5. Babcock, 6. Budde, 7. Schuerenberg, 8. Grant. NT
FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Ballou, 2. Stockon, 3. Drake, 4. Short, 5. Stanbrough, 6. Sterrett, 7. Price-Miller, 8. Chambers. 2:20.51
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Parker, 2. Leary, 3. McIntyre, 4. Schuerenberg, 5. Stanbrough, 6. Hines, 7. Grant, 8. Cottle, 9. Sterrett, 10. Courtney, 11. Briscoe, 12. Price-Miller, 13. Babcock, 14. Gross, 15. Chambers, 16. Budde, 17. Williams, 18. Simmons. 2:53.78
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 2. Robert Ballou, 3. Chase Stockon, 4. Brady Short, 5. Dave Darland, 6. Levi Jones, 7. Wes McIntyre, 8. Landon Simon, 9. Hunter Schuerenberg, 10. Brady Bacon, 11. Casey Shuman, 12. Kyle Cummins, 13. Tracy Hines, 14. Nick Drake, 15. Chase Briscoe, 16. Danny Holtsclaw, 17. Shane Cottle, 18. Dakota Jackson, 19. Josh Burton, 20. Daron Clayton, 21. Seth Parker, 22. C.J. Leary, 23. Tyler Courtney, 24. Bryan Clauson, 25. Jon Stanbrough. NT
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**Leary flipped on lap 15 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-19 Thomas, Laps 20-24 Ballou, Laps 25-30 Thomas.
NEW AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT POINTS: 1-Stockon-404; 2-Darland-382; 3-Schuerenberg-380; 4-Bacon-378; 5-Thomas-375; 6-Clauson-364; 7-Ballou-353; 8-Hines-351; 9-Cottle-245; 10-Leary-239.
NEXT AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT RACE: May 17 – Bloomington, IN – Bloomington Speedway – “Larry Rice Classic”
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HOOSIER HUNDRED MAY INCLUDE 2 FEMALES!
It’s been 32 years since a female driver competed in USAC’s TRAXXAS Silver Crown Series at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. That could change on Thursday night, May 23 when the Hoosier Hundred unfolds at the one-mile dirt Indianapolis oval on its new date.
This year two female drivers are expected to compete in the 100-mile race which switches from its traditional Friday date to Thursday prior to the Indianapolis 500.
Taylor Ferns of Shelby Township, Mich. and Miranda Throckmorton of Avon, Ind. are targeting the Hoosier Hundred for their series dirt-track debuts. The race would be Throckmorton’s first Silver Crown race ever while Ferns competed in three pavement Silver Crown events last year.
Ferns’ eight USAC feature wins top the 24 females who have visited USAC victory lanes through the years and in 2011 she scored a rare USAC driving championship in the D1 Midget Series. The 17-year-old will pilot a car fielded by her father Jim.
Throckmorton is entered in a car fielded by Eddie Sachs Racing and in 2007 she became the first female to post a Sprint race victory in Indiana in a non-USAC-sanctioned race at Paragon Speedway. An 11-year racing veteran, she finished fifth in USAC’s Kenyon Midget Series in 2005.
“I’m looking forward to teaming up with Six-R for this race,” says Ferns, who has done a fair amount of dirt racing. “The Silver Crown car will provide a new challenge for me but with the car and team I have we should have a great shot at a top finish. The race has a fantastic tradition and it’ll be an honor to now be a part of it”
"’m excited to get my first laps in a Silver Crown car and it’ll be my first trip on a mile race track,” says Throckmorton, who got a taste of the track Wednesday when she rode in the two-seat car piloted by Jack Hewitt. “I picked up a few pointers from Jack,” she admits. “I’ve always looked up to him, ever since he actually provided my first baby bed. It’ll certainly be a learning experience and I just hope to give Eddie (Sachs) and the team a respectable showing.”
The only previous female driver in series history at the Indiana State Fairgrounds was Washington state sprint car driver Cheryl Glass, who participated in the 1982 Hulman Hundred but lasted just nine laps before mechanical woes sent her to the sideline.
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“HALL OF FAMERS” HEADED FOR INDY MAY 18
Numerous USAC “Hall of Fame” inductees are heading for Indianapolis, Ind. May 18 to participate in formal ceremonies prior to the second annual “Hall of Fame Classic” USAC Traxxas Silver Crown race at Lucas Oil Raceway.
The 2013 class of inductees include drivers, car owners, race organizers, officials and mechanics and most are expected to be on hand or be represented by family members in the case of those now deceased.
Living inductees include Bobby and Al Unser, Johnny Rutherford, Jack Hewitt, Tom Bigelow, Pancho Carter, Earl Baltes, A.J. Watson and Don White. Tony Bettenhausen, Henry Banks and Bob Wilke are those being honored who have passed.
It all leads up to the night’s 100-lap race which features the opening pavement race in the 2013 series.
Defending race winner Bobby Santos is expected to return to the .686-mile paved oval, along with former Lucas Oil Raceway Silver Crown winners Bobby East, Brian Tyler, Tracy Hines, Kody Swanson and Russ Gamester.
It’ll be a festive atmosphere as the Indianapolis community gears up for the fast-approaching May 26 Indianapolis 500. Coupled with the previous night’s “Larry Rice Classic” AMSOIL USAC Sprint race at Bloomington (Ind.) Speedway and Saturday afternoon’s “Pole Day” activities at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, it’ll be a weekend for race fans to long remember.
Swanson won the pole for last year’s “Hall of Fame Classic” and led the first 13 laps before surrendering to Santos. Swanson eventually claimed second ahead of Bud Kaeding at the checkered flag.
Tickets are priced at $20 for adults and $5 for kids and adult tickets will admit holder to pit access starting at 5 pm.
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RONNIE GARDNER LEADS USAC WESTERN MIDGETS TO SANTA MARIA
by Lance Jennings
USAC Western Midget Point Leader. Photo by Lance Jennings.
SANTA MARIA, CA – MAY 7, 2013... This Saturday, May 11th, the cars and stars of the USAC Western Midget Series will make their only appearance at Ruben & Katy Munoz’s Santa Maria Speedway. The action packed showcase will also feature the Papich Construction IMCA Modifieds, NMRA TQ Midgets, USAC Ignite Midgets, and the Toste Construction Mini Stocks. The Front Gates will open at 4:30pm and Racing at "The West Coast's Best Short Track" is set to begin at 6:00pm.
Since May 1985, the Santa Maria clay oval has featured twenty-nine USAC Western Midget events. The legendary Sleepy Tripp leads all drivers with six victories as Rusty Rasmussen (3), and Billy Boat (2) have claimed multiple wins. Other drivers to have won at Santa Maria are Mario Bringetto Jr., Tyler Brown, Johnny Cofer, Tommie Estes Jr., Nic Faas, Terry Farrar, Robby Flock, Frankie Guerrini, Garrett Hansen, Johnathon Henry, Cory Kruseman, Brad Kuhn, Jeff Meyer, Wally Pankratz, Bryan Stanfill, Danny Stratton, Tommy White, and Josh Wise.
After winning the April 6th “Battle at the Beach” at Ventura Raceway, Ronnie Gardner of Norco leads both the overall and dirt series point standings. Piloting the Six8 Motorsports’ #68 Baldozier Racing / Esslinger Engineering Stewart, Gardner has three top-five finishes and 18 feature laps led to his credit. The 2011 USAC/CRA Sprint Car Most Improved Driver will be looking to add a Santa Maria victory to his resume.
Anaheim’s Jake Swanson is second in both the overall and dirt series point chase. Racing the Swanson Motorsports' #05 Honda Racing / Goodwine Glass Stealth, Jake claimed second at Ventura Raceway. To date, the 2012 USAC/CRA Rookie of the Year has two heat race victories, two top-5 finishes, and 18 feature laps led on the season. Swanson will have his sights on a feature win at Santa Maria and becoming the new point leader.
Kody Swanson of Kingsburg sits third in the overall points, fifth in the dirt series, and fifth in the pavement standings. Driving the Neverlift Motorsports' #55 Crysalli Water / Mt. Rose Cocktail Mixes Spike, Swanson ran fifth in Ventura’s “Battle at the Beach.” Currently, the 2005 USAC Western Sprint Car Champion has one feature win, three top-10 finishes, and 41 feature laps led on the year. Kody will be looking to add Saturday’s 30-lap main event to his win list.
Alamo’s Scott Pierovich is fourth in the overall standings, sixth in the dirt series, and seventh in the pavement points. Piloting the family owned #35 Mid-Coast Trans / Good Guys Spike, Pierovich did not race at Ventura, but finished third at Madera on May 4th. To date, the veteran driver has two heat race victories and four top-10 finishes in the campaign. On Saturday, Scott will be looking add the Santa Maria feature to his resume.
David Prickett of Fresno has climbed to fifth in the overall points and third in the dirt series. Racing the Neverlift Motorsports' #15 Crysalli Water / Mt. Rose Cocktail Mixes Spike, Prickett claimed fourth at Ventura Raceway. Currently, the veteran driver has one heat race victory, one semi-main win, and three top-10 finishes on the season. David will have his sights on winning the 30-lap feature on Saturday night.
Among the other drivers expected to be in action are Frankie Guerrini, Cody Swanson, Tanner Swanson, Trey Marcham, Shannon McQueen, Kyle Edwards, Troy Rutherford, Robby Josett, Randi Pankratz, Terry Nichols, Alex Schutte, Britton Bock, Jimmy Voitel, and more.
Santa Maria Speedway is located 1/4-mile north of the 101/166 interchange at 1900 Hutton Road in Nipomo, California. Adult tickets are $14, Senior, Military, and Student tickets (13-17) are $12, Kids tickets (6-12) are $6, and Children’s tickets (5 and under) are FREE. For more event information, visit the track’s website at www.racesantamariaspeedway.com or call (805) 315-2023.
The USAC Western Midget Series would like to thank Amsoil, Hoosier Tire, and Western Performance Parts for their support. For more information on the group, visit www.usacracing.com or follow the series on Facebook (www.facebook.com/usacwsmidgets).
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USAC WESTERN MIDGET POINT STANDINGS:
1-Ronnie Gardner-217, 2-Jake Swanson-215, 3-Kody Swanson-212; 4-Scott Pierovich-200, 5-David Prickett-177, 6-Bryan Clauson-143, 7-Rico Abreu-128, 8-Christopher Bell-125, 9-Frankie Guerrini-108, 10-Chad Nichols-101.
USAC WESTERN DIRT MIDGET POINT STANDINGS:
1-Ronnie Gardner-217, 2-Jake Swanson-215, 3-David Prickett-177, 4-Bryan Clauson-143, 5-Kody Swanson-140, 6-Scott Pierovich-138, 7-Rico Abreu-128, 8-Christopher Bell-125, 9-Cody Swanson-98, 10-Shannon McQueen-91.
USAC WESTERN PAVEMENT MIDGET POINT STANDINGS:
1-Frankie Guerrini-108, 2-Chad Nichols-101, 3-Dan Gundo-83, 4-Kenneth Nichols-74, 5-Kody Swanson-72, 6-Tanner Swanson-70, 7-Scott Pierovich-62, 8-J.R. Williams-61, 9-Nick Chivello-36.
2013 USAC WESTERN MIDGET SERIES SCHEDULE
DATE - TRACK - LOCATION
May 11: Santa Maria Speedway - Santa Maria, CA
May 18: *Ventura Raceway - Ventura, CA (Battle At The Beach)
June 1: **Placerville Speedway - Placerville, CA
June 8: **Madera Speedway - Madera, CA (Al Pombo Classic)
June 15: **Petaluma Speedway - Petaluma, CA
June 22: Thunderbowl Speedway - Tulare, CA
June 29: Plaza Park Raceway - Visalia, CA
July 12: Ocean Speedway - Watsonville, CA (Howard Kaeding Classic)
July 13: **Madera Speedway - Madera, CA (Gerhardt Classic)
July 20: *Ventura Raceway - Ventura, CA (Battle At The Beach)
August 1: ***Belleville High Banks - Belleville, KS (Belleville Midget Nationals / Non-Points)
August 3: ***Belleville High Banks - Belleville, KS (Belleville Midget Nationals / Non-Points)
August 10: Madera Speedway - Madera, CA
August 31: Calistoga Speedway - Calistoga, CA (Louie Vermeil Classic)
September 1: Calistoga Speedway - Calistoga, CA (Louie Vermeil Classic)
September 5: **Silver Dollar Speedway - Chico, CA (Gold Cup Race of Champions)
September 14: **Madera Speedway - Madera, CA (Harvest Classic)
September 21: Bakersfield Speedway - Bakersfield, CA
September 28: *Ventura Raceway - Ventura, CA (Battle At The Beach)
October 5: **Petaluma Speedway - Petaluma, CA (Soares Classic)
November 14: ***Canyon Speedway Park - Peoria, AZ (Western World Championships)
November 15: ***Canyon Speedway Park - Peoria, AZ (Western World Championships)
November 16: ***Canyon Speedway Park - Peoria, AZ (Western World Championships)
November 22: Cocopah Speedway - Yuma, AZ
November 23: Cocopah Speedway - Yuma, AZ
November 28: ***Perris Auto Speedway - Perris, CA (Turkey Night Grand Prix)
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* = Co-Sanctioned Event With VRA Midget Series.
** = Co-Sanctioned Event With BCRA Midget Series.
*** = Co-Sanctioned Event With USAC National Midget Series.
This schedule is subject to change.
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Coons Looking for "Threepeat" in Hoosier 100
INDIANAPOLIS, In (May 7, 2013)-Arizona’s Jerry Coons, Junior can join Al Unser and the late Jimmy Bryan as the only drivers to win the prestigious Hoosier Hundred three consecutive years when the USAC Traxxas Silver Crown Series visits the Indiana State Fairgrounds on May 23. Coons qualified third fastest for last year’s race and led the final 86 laps in a dominant victory two nights before the 2012 Indianapolis 500, becoming the first back to back winner of the classic dirt car race in 11 years.
The 2008 USAC Silver Crown champion, Coons returns with the same RW Motorsports team that joined him in victory lane at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in 2011 and 2012. The same team won the 2010 Hoosier Hundred with Shane Hmiel behind the wheel.
Defending USAC Silver Crown champ Bobby East of Brownsburg, Indiana is slated to give Coons a run to the checker as East searches for his first ever mile dirt track win. Olney, Illinois’ Levi Jones is East’s teammate at Tony Stewart racing and a past two-time champion of the series. Levi is still in search of his first one mile dirt track win as well and holds the distinction of having led the most laps in Silver Crown cars at the Indiana State Fairgrounds (156 in three races) without ever scoring a victory on the tricky one mile dirt track.
Other drivers expected include three time Hoosier Hundred (1995, 1996, 2004) winner Dave Darland of Kokomo, Indiana, 2000 USAC Silver Crown champ Tracy Hines of New Castle, Indiana, A.J. Fike of Galesburg, Illinois and Kody Swanson of Kingsburg, California.
Auto racing at the Indiana State Fairgrounds has a lineage that dates back to the early 1900’s including a 24 hour race and the first one mile per minute lap on a closed oval course by Barney Oldfield in 1903. It is thought that perhaps Carl Fisher gained some of the ideas for the future Indianapolis Motor Speedway from his competition days on the one mile fairground track. It wasn’t until 1946 that a true national championship race was held on the fairground mile, and it would be another seven years before the first Hoosier Hundred was contested in September of 1953.
Over the years legends such as Bryan, Sachs, Ward, Foyt, Andretti, Unser, Bettenhausen and Hewitt have all visited victory lane in the Hoosier Hundred. A.J. has the most victories with six, while Big Al is the only driver to ever win four in a row.
The 2013 Hoosier Hundred gets a new look as promoter Bob Sargent of Track Enterprises has moved the race to the former “Carb Day” for the Indianapolis 500, the new date is the Thursday night before the Indianapolis 500. “We felt that this was the right move for the event and gives fans one fantastic stretch of races in about a ten day period, with Indy 500 qualifying the weekend before, a USAC sprint race at Terre Haute on May 22, the Hoosier Hundred on Thursday and Carb Day at the Speedway on Friday”, said Sargent. “A lot of the participants over at the Speedway wanted to come out for the Hoosier Hundred but with the Carb Day festivities and their commitments, couldn’t fit Friday night in at the Fairgrounds.” “I expect that to change with the race now on Thursday and there is no telling who you might see out at the Fairgrounds May 23.”
Tickets for the Hoosier Hundred are now on sale at Ticketmaster or through Track Enterprises at 217-764-3200.
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TULARE THUNDERBOWL HOSTS CRA MAY 18; GARDNER NOTCHES 26TH PERRIS CRA VICTORY
Damion Gardner’s lead in the AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint standings entering the May 18 race at the Tulare (Calif.) Thunderbowl Raceway stands at 12 points after he scored his third consecutive series victory Saturday at Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway.
Gardner, of Concord, Calif., led the final 22 laps of the 30-lap “Don Flanders Classic” in his Scott Sales Company/CSI Shocks Spike/J & D. He was the fastest qualifier and first heat winner and passed Mike Spencer on lap nine for the lead which he never relinquished. Spencer was second ahead of Nic Faas, Cody Williams, who led the first three laps, and Austin Williams.
The win was Gardner’s 26th in USAC/CRA action at Perris as he extended his all-time lead over Spencer, who has 24 career wins at the half-mile dirt oval.
USAC’s last Tulare USAC/CRA outing was in 2010, a race in which Gardner flipped and Bud Kaeding took the victory. Kaeding currently sits fourth in the latest AMSOIL USAC/CRA standings.
2013 AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Damion Gardner-471, 2-Nic Faas-459, 3-Mike Spencer-363, 4-Bud Kaeding-356, 5-R.J. Johnson-300, 6-Cody Williams-300, 7-Austin Williams-276, 8-Brody Roa-250, 9-Charles Davis Jr.-232, 10-Matt Mitchell-231.
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SANTA MARIA HOSTS WESTERN DIRT MIDGETS SATURDAY; CHAD NICHOLS TAKES “VUKOVICH CLASSIC”
Ronnie Gardner of Norco, Calif. will try to protect two USAC point leads this Saturday when the USAC Western Midgets invade Santa Maria (Calif.) Speedway.
Gardner is two points ahead of Jake Swanson on both the dirt and overall Western points going into the race at the one-third-mile dirt oval. In last year’s two USAC Western Midget races at Santa Maria, Gardner and Swanson each posted a second-place finish.
Chad Nichols of Colma, Calif. led all 30 laps to win Saturday night’s “Vukovich Classic” USAC/BCRA Western Pavement Midget feature at Madera (Calif.) Speedway. Driving the Paul Eskesen Rescino Motors/Matco Tools Beast/Mopar, Nichols was trailed by Tanner Swanson, Scott Pierovich, Darrin Snider and Kevin Morris. Swanson was the fastest qualifier.
The USAC Western Pavement Midget calendar resumes June 8 at Madera.
2013 USAC WESTERN MIDGET PAVEMENT POINTS: 1-Frankie Guerrini-108, 2-Chad Nichols-101, 3-Dan Gundo-83, 4-Kenneth Nichols-74, 5-Kody Swanson-72, 6-Tanner Swanson-70, 7-Scott Pierovich-62, 8-J.R. Williams-61, 9-Nick Chivello-36.
2013 USAC WESTERN MIDGET DIRT POINTS: 1-Ronnie Gardner-217, 2-Jake Swanson-215, 3-David Prickett-177, 4-Bryan Clauson-143, 5-Kody Swanson-140, 6-Scott Pierovich-138, 7-Rico Abreu-128, 8-Christopher Bell-125, 9-Cody Swanson-98, 10-Shannon McQueen-91.
2013 USAC WESTERN MIDGET POINTS: 1-Ronnie Gardner-217, 2-Jake Swanson-215, 3-Kody Swanson-212; 4-Scott Pierovich-200, 5-David Prickett-177, 6-Bryan Clauson-143, 7-Rico Abreu-128, 8-Christopher Bell-125, 9-Frankie Guerrini-108, 10-Chad Nichols-101.
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SOUTHWEST SPRINTS AT ARIZONA SPEEDWAY SATURDAY
Arizona Speedway welcomes the USAC Southwest Sprint Cars back to its 3/8-mile dirt in Queen Creek, Ariz. this Saturday. The track’s USAC debut in April found Mike Martin winning the inaugural feature event.
R.J. Johnson currently stands atop the series points, 13 ahead of Charles Davis Jr. Johnson was sixth and Davis third in the April race.
Davis can tie for the all-time Arizona lead in terms of USAC feature wins with a victory Saturday. He has seven, while drivers Damion Gardner, Bryan Clauson, Dave Steele and A.J. Foyt each have eight.
2013 USAC Southwest Sprint Car Standings: 1-R.J. Johnson-229, 2-Charles Davis Jr.-216, 3-Ronnie Clark-207, 4-Josh Pelkey-196, 5-Bryan Swinehart-188, 6-Justin Quinn-186, 7-Mike Martin-169, 8-Tom Ogle-162, 9-Shon Deskins-156, 10-Chris Bonneau-150.
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WEST COAST SPRINT “BILLET CUP” AT KINGS SATURDAY; BERNAL STILL ON TOP OF CLASSICS WITH PLACERVILLE WIN
This Saturday’s “Billet Cup” at Kings Speedway in Hanford, Calif. offers Ryan Bernal another change to build on his growing 2013 repertoire which already includes six USAC main event wins. He enters the event with a 30-point lead over Richard Vander Weerd in the USAC West Coast Sprint Car standings.
Bernal, of Hollister, Calif., is three wins behind Bryan Clauson in the 2013 USAC season as those two have blistered the competition so far.
Bernal remains undefeated in the 2013 USAC Western Classic Sprint Series after winning Saturday night’s 30-lap race at Placerville (Calif.) Speedway. He trailed Max Adams for four laps, then led the final 26 in his King Racing Products/A & A Precision Machine Spike/Raney. James Sweeney finished second ahead of Adams, fast qualifier D.J. Johnson and Jim Trulli.
So far this year Bernal has recorded three West Coast Sprint wins at Tulare and one at Bakersfield and will be aiming for a third consecutive series win at Hanford.
Bernal’s 26-point Western Classic Sprint point lead will carry to the next event on June 14 at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif.
2013 USAC West Coast Sprint Car Standings: 1-Ryan Bernal-404, 2-Richard Vander Weerd-374, 3-Danny Faria Jr.-327, 4-Jace Vander Weerd-306, 5-Bud Kaeding-305, 6-Markus Niemela-294, 7-Rusty Carlile-264, 8-Ricky Kirkbride-226, 9-Marty Hawkins-200, 10-Chris Ennis-162.
2013 USAC Western Classic Sprint Car Standings: 1-Ryan Bernal-140, 2-D.J. Johnson-114, 3-Tony Hunt-102, 4-Colton Slack-93, 5-Matt Streeter-93, 6-Jim Richardson-81, 7-Shauna Hogg-74, 8-Gordon Rodgers-68, 9-James Sweeney-67, 10-Tanner Swanson-62.
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7-WAY POINT BATTLE SPICES HAUBSTADT SATURDAY; CAMERON, EAGLE SPRINTS “FROZEN OUT”
Saturday’s “Spring Showdown” at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind. showcases stars of the AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car Series and the MSCS Sprints.
The seven-way battle for the 2013 USAC point lead continues after last weekend’s races at Cameron, Mo. and Eagle, Neb. were cancelled due to frigid temperatures and snow flurries.
Chase Stockon and Hunter Schuerenberg are virtually tied for the lead, while drivers Bryan Clauson, Brady Bacon, Tracy Hines, Dave Darland and Kevin Thomas Jr. are all within a 36-point span with 74 points available at Haubstadt.
Schuerenberg is the only one of the seven who won at Tri-State last year, while Clauson and Thomas each had a third in the three USAC 2012 appearances. Darland had a fourth and Stockon a pair of fifths. Hines struggled at Tri-State last year, his best finish in three starts a 17th. Bacon did not compete at Haubstadt last year.
2013 AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car Point Standings: 1-Chase Stockon-343, 2-Hunter Schuerenberg-343, 3-Bryan Clauson-340, 4-Brady Bacon-339, 5-Tracy Hines-323, 6-Dave Darland-322, 7-Kevin Thomas Jr.-307, 8-Robert Ballou-285, 9-Shane Cottle-226, 10-C.J. Leary-222.
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AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: May 4, 2013 – Perris, California – Perris Auto Speedway – “Don Flanders Classic”
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Damion Gardner, 4a, Alexander-16.287; 2. Nic Faas, 4, Alexander-16.312; 3. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-16.508; 4. David Cardey, 92, Sertich-16.629; 5. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-16.642; 6. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-16.721; 7. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-16.759; 8. Markus Niemela, 81, Watt-16.835; 9. Charles Davis Jr., 4G, Cook-16.892; 10. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-16.923; 11. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-16.961; 12. Mike Martin, 16B, Martin-16.976; 13. Bud Kaeding, 29, Bowman-17.000; 14. Josh Pelkey, 12a, Allen-17.062; 15. David Bezio, 37X, Bezio-17.091; 16. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-17.096; 17. Richard Vander Weerd, 10, Vander Weerd-17.272; 18. Seth Wilson, 1x, Wilson-17.306; 19. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-17.310; 20. Kenny Perkins, 0k, Perkins-17.443; 21. Jace Vander Weerd, 88, Vander Weerd-17.589; 22. Billy Blinn, 26, Blinn-17.680; 23. Austin Smith, 14, Springstead-17.688; 24. Jesse Denome, 6x, Denome-17.801; 25. Johnny Bluntach, 58, Bluntach-17.863; 26. Tony Everhart, 55, Everhart-17.932; 27. Mike Collins, 04, Collins-18.429; 28. Gary Potter, 6, Potter-18.807; 29. Jerry Welton, 62, Welton-18.916.
FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Gardner, 2. R.Vander Weerd, 3. Davis, 4. Kaeding, 5. R.Williams, 6. J. Vander Weerd, 7. Bluntach, 8. Welton. 2:53.12
SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Wilson, 2. Faas, 3. C.Williams, 4. Johnson, 5. Pelkey, 6. Blinn, 7. Everhart. NT
THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Spencer, 2. Mitchell, 3. Smith, 4. A.J. Bender, 5. Bezio, 6. A.Williams, NT
FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Cardey, 2. Martin, 3. Niemela, 4. Denome, 5. Potter, 6. Perkins, 7. Roa. Nt
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. A.Williams, 2. Pelkey, 3. R.Williams, 4. Roa, 5. J.Vander Weerd, 6. Blinn, 7. Bluntach, 8. Perkins, 9. Everhart, 10. Collins, 11. Welton, 12. Potter NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Damion Gardner, 2. Mike Spencer, 3. Nic Faas, 4. Cody Williams, 5. Austin Williams, 6. Rip Williams, 7. Markus Niemela, 8. Bud Kaeding, 9. Richard Vander Weerd, 10. David Cardey, 11. Matt Mitchell, 12. R.J. Johnson, 13. Mike Martin, 14. Jace Vander Weerd, 15. Brody Roa, 16. A.J. Bender, 17. Charles Davis Jr., 18. Seth Wilson, 19. Jesse Denome, 20. Billy Blinn, 21. Josh Pelkey, 22. Austin Smith. NT
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**Potter flipped during the semi.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-3 C.Williams, Laps 4-8 Spencer, Laps 9-30 Gardner.
NEW AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT POINTS: 1-Gardner-471, 2-Faas-459, 3-Spencer-363, 4-Kaeding-356, 5-Johnson-300, 6-C.Williams-300, 7-A.Williams-276, 8-Roa-250, 9-Davis-232, 10-Mitchell-231.
NEXT AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT RACE: May 18, 2013 – Tulare (CA) Thunderbowl Speedway
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USAC WESTERN CLASSIC SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: May 4, 2013 – Placerville, California – Placerville Speedway
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. D.J. Johnson, 33, Johnson-11.662; 2. James Sweeney, 11, Lewis-11.690; 3. Jim Trulli, 33T, Trulli-11.723; 4. Matt Streeter, 14jr, Streeter-11.794; 5. Ryan Bernal, 73, Ford-11.850; 6. C.J. Humphreys, 85, Happy Camper-11.942; 7. Marc Mackay, 86, Mackay-12.062; 8. Jim Richardson, 8, Richardson-12.096; 9. Tony Hunt, 56, Phulps-12.126; 10. Max Adams, 5x, Adams-12.473; 11. Colton Slack, 17, Slack-12.609; 12. Myles Bishop, 18, Bishop-12.862; 13. Gordon Rodgers, 94, Dusin-13.060; 14. Shauna Hogg, 5, Hogg-16.361; 15. Justin Johnson, 25, Johnson-NT.
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Hogg, 2. Adams, 3. Richardson, 4. Sweeney, 5. Streeter, 6. Bishop, 7. Humphreys, 8. J.Johnson. NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Mackay, 2. Bernal, 3. Trulli, 4. Slack, 5. Hunt, 6. Rodgers, 7. D.J. Johnson. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Ryan Bernal, 2. James Sweeney, 3. Max Adams, 4. D.J. Johnson, 5. Jim Trulli, 6. Marc Mackay, 7. Tony Hunt, 8. C.J. Humphreys, 9. Justin Johnson, 10. Jim Richardson, 11. Gordon Rodgers, 12. Shauna Hogg, 13. Matt Streeter, 14. Colton Slack, 15. Myles Bishop. NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-4 Adams, Laps 5-30 Bernal.
NEW USAC WESTERN CLASSIC SPRINT POINTS: 1-Bernal-140, 2-D.J. Johnson-114, 3-Hunt-102, 4-Slack-93, 5-Streeter-93, 6-Richardson-81, 7-Hogg-74, 8-Rodgers-68, 9-Sweeney-67, 10-Tanner Swanson-62.
NEXT USAC WESTERN CLASSIC SPRINT RACE: June 14, 2013 – Watsonville, CA -Ocean Speedway
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WEATHER HALTS CAMERON, EAGLE SPRINTS
Once again, weather has intervened and forced cancellation of AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car races this weekend at Cameron, Mo. and Eagle, Neb.
Frigid temperatures and snow flurries are forecast for mid-America this weekend, so race organizers at the two venues are attempting to reschedule their events but dates have not yet been finalized.
“It’s been a frustrating streak for all of us,” says USAC’s Jason McCord. “The weather has been unseasonably cold and while we are disappointed by the delays we appreciate the efforts of our race organizer partners in working toward the rescheduling.”
Levi Jones won last year’s race at U.S. 36 Raceway, while Bryan Clauson won last year’s inaugural USAC Sprint race in Nebraska.
The AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car Series resumes with an MSCS co-sanctioned race May 11 at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind.
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LINCOLN PARK SPRINTS RESCHEDULED JULY 4
The AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Cars will return to Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Ind. July 4, replacing the event interrupted by rain last Saturday night.
The July 4 event will be a “complete” program, including qualifications, heats, semi and feature.
Rain halted last Saturday night’s program at the 5/16-mile dirt oval during the second heat race. Bryan Clauson had posted the B & W Auto Mart fastest qualifying time and Landon Simon won the first heat prior to the weather.
Race organizer Joe Spiker has announced tickets from last Saturday night will be honored for the July 4 race, or for that matter any one of the remaining USAC races at Lincoln Park. “Indiana Midget Week” visits Lincoln Park June 13 and “Indiana Sprint Week” stops there July 18.
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SOUTHWEST SPRINTS RESUME MAY 11 AT ARIZONA SPEEDWAY; JOHNSON #1 IN CANYON 30-LAPPER
R.J. Johnson of Phoenix, Ariz. vaulted into the lead in the USAC Southwest Sprint Car series points following Saturday night’s 30-lap victory at Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria, Ariz.
Johnson passed Charles Davis Jr. on the 17th lap of the “Canyon Clash” and led the final 14 laps in his Weiler Farms/Pecon Builders Maxim/Pro-Flyer. Bryan Swinehart took second ahead of Chris Bonneau, Nathan High and Justin Quinn.
Charles Davis Jr., who trails Johnson by 13 points in the new standings, led 10 of the first 16 laps, while Mike Martin led five.
The series resumes May 11 as it returns to Arizona Speedway in Queen Creek, Ariz. where Martin was the winner April 13.
2013 USAC Southwest Sprint Car Standings: 1-R.J. Johnson-229, 2-Charles Davis Jr.-216, 3-Ronnie Clark-207, 4-Josh Pelkey-196, 5-Bryan Swinehart-188, 6-Justin Quinn-186, 7-Mike Martin-169, 8-Tom Ogle-162, 9-Shon Deskins-156, 10-Chris Bonneau-150.
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CLASSICS AT PLACERVILLE SATURDAY; HANFORD NEXT FOR WCSP; BERNAL GETS #4 AT HANFORD
Ryan Bernal of Hollister, Calif. enters this Saturday’s USAC Western Classic Sprint race at Placerville (Calif.) Speedway as the 2013 point leader. Last Saturday he remained atop USAC’s West Coast Sprint Car series standings after scoring a 30-lap victory at Bakersfield (Calif.) Speedway.
Bernal, who now has five USAC victories in the past six weeks, led the final 14 laps at Bakersfield in his King Racing Products/A & A Precision Machine Spike/Raney. He led laps 1-13, then yielded to Danny Faria Jr. for three laps before taking back the top spot. Richard Vander Weerd finished second ahead of Bud Kaeding, Faria and Markus Niemela.
Bernal’s lead in the Western Classics stands at eight over Colton Slack. Last year’s Placerville Western Classic outing went to Kyle Hirst.
The West Coast Sprint cars are idle this week but resume May 11 at Kings Speedway in Hanford, Calif.
2013 USAC West Coast Sprint Car Standings: 1-Ryan Bernal-404, 2-Richard Vander Weerd-374, 3-Danny Faria Jr.-327, 4-Jace Vander Weerd-306, 5-Bud Kaeding-305, 6-Markus Niemela-294, 7-Rusty Carlile-264, 8-Ricky Kirkbride-226, 9-Marty Hawkins-200, 10-Chris Ennis-162.
2013 USAC Western Classic Sprint Car Standings: 1-Ryan Bernal-71, 2-Colton Slack-63, 3-Tanner Swanson-62, 4-Matt Streeter-59, 5-Tony Hunt-56, 6-D.J. Johnson-55, 7-Nathan Washam-52, 8-Jim Richardson-42, 9-Klint Simpson-40, 10-Scott Hall-40.
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“DON FLANDERS CLASSIC” SATURDAY AT PERRIS
Saturday night’s “Don Flanders Classic” pays tribute to one of the sport’s most ardent supporters as the AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Cars roar back to life at Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway.
Alexander Racing teammates Damion Gardner and Nic Faas enter Saturday’s race separated by just four points in the latest standings. They have two 1-2 finishes already this season, including the last Perris race, and neither has finished worse than fourth in any race this year!
Gardner has a pair of seconds in this year’s Perris outings as he tries to protect the all-time lead in terms of Perris USAC/CRA feature wins. He enters Saturday’s race with 25 career Perris wins, one more than defending five-time series champion Mike Spencer, who has yet to win this year.
2013 AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Damion Gardner-397, 2-Nic Faas-393, 3-Bud Kaeding-312, 4-Mike Spencer-294, 5-R.J. Johnson-266, 6-Cody Williams-242, 7-Brody Roa-226, 8-Austin Williams-224, 9-Bryan Clauson-210, 10-Charles Davis Jr.-207.
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CAMERON, EAGLE ON TAP FOR AMSOIL SPRINTS; THOMAS TAKES GAS CITY, RAIN INTERRUPTS LINCOLN PARK
The AMSOIL USAC National Sprint cars head for mid-America this weekend to compete Friday at US 36 Raceway in Cameron, Mo. and Saturday in the “Rumble in the Bull Ring” at Eagle (Neb.) Raceway.
Chase Stockon of Sullivan, Ind. leads seven drivers separated by just 36 points going into the two races. Stockon finished 12th last Friday at Gas City, Ind. and technically shares the point lead with Hunter Schuerenberg, who was ninth at Gas City.
Kevin Thomas Jr. of Cullman, Ala. recorded his second consecutive series feature win Friday at Gas City I-69 Speedway. Driving the Rotondo Weirich/Black Jack Oil Maxim/Fisher, Thomas caught Robert Ballou on lap 23 and led the last eight laps for the win over fast qualifier and new track record holder Thomas Meseraull. Ballou took third ahead of Jerry Coons Jr. and Dave Darland.
Saturday night’s race at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Ind. was interrupted by rain during the second heat race. Bryan Clauson was the night’s fastest qualifier.
Trailing Stockon and Schuerenberg in the standings are Clauson (three back), Brady Bacon (four back), Tracy Hines (10 back), Darland (21 back) and Thomas (36 behind).
Clauson won last year’s race at Eagle, while Levi Jones was the 2012 winner at Cameron.
2013 AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car Point Standings: 1 Chase Stockon-343, 2-Hunter Schuerenberg-343, 3-Bryan Clauson-340, 4-Brady Bacon-339, 5-Tracy Hines-323, 6-Dave Darland-322, 7-Kevin Thomas Jr.-307, 8-Robert Ballou-285, 9-Shane Cottle-226, 10-C.J. Leary-222.
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SILVER CROWN EYES MAY 18 “HALL OF FAME CLASSIC;” WEATHER CANCELS TERRE HAUTE’S “SUMAR CLASSIC”
The Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Championship Series will open May 18 in the USAC “Hall of Fame Classic” at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis, Ind. after weather concerns forced cancellation of last Sunday’s “Sumar Classic” at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track.
Persistent rains and inclement weather forced Sunday’s cancellation and USAC and track officials are exploring options regarding a possible rescheduling of the event.
The May 18 race at Indianapolis includes the annual induction for USAC’s Hall of Fame. Twelve persons will receive distinctive plaques during ceremonies held prior to the night’s 100-lap feature event. They are Henry Banks, Tony Bettenhausen, Tom Bigelow, Pancho Carter, Earl Baltes, Jack Hewitt, Johnny Rutherford, Bobby and Al Unser, A.J. Watson, Don White and Bob Wilke.
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USAC SOUTHWEST SPRINT RACE RESULTS: April 27, 2013 – Peoria, Arizona – Canyon Speedway Park – “Canyon Clash”
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Mike Martin, 16, Martin-14.082; 2. Charles Davis Jr., 50, Massey-14.126; 3. Stevie Sussex, 1AZ, Sussex-14.184; 4. R.J. Johnson, 77M, Michaels-14.219; 5. Shon Deskins, 20, Deskins-14.263; 6. Mike Bonneau, 29, Bonneau-14.274; 7. Bruce St. James, 7K, St. James-14.304; 8. Chris Bonneau, 78, Bonneau-14.353; 9. Josh Pelkey, 12, Allen-14.463; 10. Justin Quinn, 93, Quinn-14.499; 11. Ronnie Clark, 6, Clark-14.506; 12. Tom Ogle, 48, Ogle-14.507; 13. Jason Grady, 45, Grady-14.515; 14. Bob Ream Jr., 8, BRAT-14.530; 15. Bryan Swinehart, 68, Beal-14.546; 16. Andy Reinbold, 19, Underwood-14.562; 17. Michael Curtis, 11C, Turner/Wheeler-14.583; 18. Nick Auito, 27, Aiuto-14.592; 19. Nathan High, 1A, High-14.609; 20. James Aragon, 94, Aragon-14.610; 21. Brian Hosford, 32B, Weber-14.676; 22. Jody Wirth, 5X, Wirth-14.711; 23. Stephen Harms, 60, Harms-14.868; 24. Tye Mihocko, 5, Mihocko-14.908; 25. Kyle Danielson, 17K, Danielson-15.218; 26. Darrell Sickles, 29S, Sickles-16.192; 27. Mark Morin, 28, Morin-16.878; 28. Johnny Shelton, 9, Shelton-18.438.
FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Pelkey, 2. Deskins, 3. Martin, 4. Hosford, 5. Grady, 6. Curtis, 7. Danielson. NT
SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Aiuto, 2. Quinn, 3. Davis, 4. Ream, 5. M. Bonneau, 6. Wirth, 7. Sickles. NT
THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. High, 2. Clark, 3. Swinehart, 4. St. James, 5. Sussex, 6. Harms, 7. Morin. NT
FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Johnson, 2. Ogle, 3. Aragon, 4. C. Bonneau, 5. Reinbold, 6. Mihocko, 7. Shelton. NT
DASH: (6 laps) 1. Davis, 2. Martin, 3. Pelkey, 4. Deskins, 5. C. Bonneau, 6. St. James, 7. Johnson, 8. Quinn. NT
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Reinbold, 2. Grady, 3. Harms, 4. M. Bonneau, 5. Mihocko, 6. Sussex, 7. Wirth, 8. Sickles, 9. Danielson, 10. Curtis, 11. Shelton, 12. Morin. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. R.J. Johnson, 2. Bryan Swinehart, 3. Chris Bonneau, 4. Nathan High, 5. Justin Quinn, 6. Brian Hosford, 7. Ronnie Clark, 8. Josh Pelkey, 9. Mike Bonneau, 10. Shon Deskins, 11. Stevie Sussex, 12. Bruce St. James, 13. Mike Martin, 14. Tom Ogle, 15. Andy Reinbold, 16. James Aragon, 17. Stephen Harms, 18. Ty Mihocko, 19. Charles Davis, Jr., 20. Nick Aiuto, 21. Jason Grady, 22. Bob Ream Jr. NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-5 Davis, Laps 6-11 Martin, Laps 12-16 Davis, Laps 17-30 Johnson.
NEW USAC SOUTHWEST SPRINT POINTS:
NEXT USAC SOUTHWEST SPRINT RACE: May 11 – Queen Creek, AZ - Arizona Speedway
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WEATHER CLAIMS SUMAR CLASSIC AT TERRE HAUTE
TERRE HAUTE, IN........Persistent rain and inclement weather have forced cancellation of Sunday's "Sumar Classic" Traxxas USAC Silver Crown race at the Terre Haute Action Track.
Track and USAC officials are investigating options for rescheduling but no new date has yet been established.
The 2013 series will now debut with the May 18 USAC "Hall of Fame Classic" at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis.
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AMSOIL USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: April 27, 2013 – Putnamville, Indiana – Lincoln Park Speedway
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Bryan Clauson, 20, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-12.865; 2. Dave Darland, 71p, Phillips-12.892; 3. Shane Cottle, 2, Epperson-12.914; 4. Robert Ballou, 5, Baldwin-12.951; 5. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-12.982; 6. Chase Stockon, 32, 31 TBI Racing-12.993; 7. Brent Beauchamp, 34, Olson-13.005; 8. Thomas Meseraull, 17T, McGhee-13.012; 9. Chris Windom, 39, Walker-13.100; 10. Nick Drake, 55, Cline-13.125; 11. Hunter Schuerenberg, 35, Byram-13.125; 12. Kurt Gross, 1x, Gross-13.126; 13. Tyler Courtney, 23c, Courtney-13.152; 14. Max McGhee, 17, McGhee-13.230; 15. Tracy Hines, 4, Hines-13.241; 16. Chad Boespflug, 57, Hazen-13.251; 17. Josh Burton, 04, Burton-13.291; 18. Jerry Coons Jr., 10E, Edison-13.321; 19. Kevin Thomas Jr., 17RW, Dutcher/RW/Tri-Star-13.325; 20. Casey Shuman, 21k, Krockenberger-13.345; 21. Landon Simon, 41, SST-13.352; 22. Kyle Robbins, 17R, Robbins-13.360; 23. Logan Jarrett, 29, Jarrett-13.362; 24. Brady Short, 11p, Pottorff-13.401; 25. C.J. Leary, 30,Leary-13.423; 26. Justin Grant, 11, Walker-13.435; 27. Seth Parker, 38p, Parker-13.462; 28. Chris Gurley, 12G, Team Automotive-13.524; 29. A.J. Martin, 70, TMR-13.525; 30. Daylon Chambers, 4c, Chambers-13.592; 31. Bradley Sterrett, 90, Leer-13.723; 32. Brian Hayden, 77, Wingo-13.895; 33. Anthony Nicholson, 16, Nicholson-14.120; 34. A.J. Hopkins, 14H, Hopkins-NT; 35. Dakota Jackson, 3, Jackson-NT.
FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Simon, 2. Burton, 3. Windom, 4. Leary, 5. Nicholson, 6. Martin, 7. Bacon, 8. Courtney, 9. Clauson. 2:09.22
RACING PROGRAM INTERRUPTED BY RAIN DURING SECOND HEAT – RESCHEDULED DATE TO BE ANNOUNCED MONDAY
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**Parker flipped during qualifying. Jackson flipped during qualifying. Hopkins flipped during the second heat.
NEW AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT POINTS: 1-Schuerenberg-343, 2-Stockon-343, 3-Clauson-340, 4-Bacon-339, 5-Hines-323, 6-Darland-322, 7-Thomas-307, 8-Ballou-285, 9-Cottle-226, 10-Leary-222.
NEXT AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT RACE: May 3 – Cameron, MO – US 36 Raceway
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AMSOIL USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: April 26, 2013 – Gas City, Indiana – Gas City I-69 Speedway
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Thomas Meseraull, 17T, McGhee-11.441; 2. Bryan Clauson, 20, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-11.601; 3. Dave Darland, 71p, Phillips-11.615; 4. Jerry Coons Jr., 10E, Edison-11.620; 5. Shane Cottle, 2, Epperson-11.684; 6. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-11.7037. Coleman Gulick, 14, Gulick-11.706; 8. Kevin Thomas Jr., 17RW, Dutcher/RW/Tri-Star-11.719; 9. Robert Ballou, 5, Baldwin-11.738; 10. Scotty Weir, 18, Keen-11.788; 11. Chase Stockon, 32, 31 TBI Racing-11.811; 12. Tracy Hines, 4, Hines-11.827; 13. Justin Grant, 11, Walker-11.836; 14. Chad Boespflug, 57, Hazen-11.841; 15. Chris Windom, 39, Walker-11.861; 16. Nick Drake, 55, Cline-11.899; 17. Gary Taylor, 40, Hery-11.925; 18. Hunter Schuerenberg, 35, Byram-11.937; 19. Landon Simon, 41, SST-11.972; 20. A.J. Hopkins, 42G, Jackson-12.151; 21. Tyler Courtney, 23c, Courtney-12.160; 22. Ted Hines, 12, Hines-12.167; 23. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-12.170; 24. Max McGhee, 17, McGhee-12.235; 25. Logan Jarrett, 29, Jarrett-12.262; 26. Travis Welpott, 18x, Gorman-12.286; 27. Chris Gurley, 12G, Team Automotive-12.444; 28. Tyler, Hewitt, 97x, Hewitt-12.467; 29. Anthony Nicholson, 16, Nicholson-12.796.
FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Grant, 2. Courtney, 3. Meseraull, 4. Ballou, 5. Cottle, 6. Taylor, 7. Jarrett, 8. Nicholson. NT
SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Schuerenberg, 2. Weir, 3. Clauson, 4. Boespflug, 5. Ted Hines, 6. Bacon, 7. Welpott. 2:03.48
THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Leary, 2. Windom, 3. Stockon, 4. Darland, 5. Simon, 6. Gurley, 7. Gulick. NT
FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. McGhee, 2. Tracy Hines, 3. Hopkins, 4. Coons, 5. Drake, 6. Hewitt, 7. Thomas. NT
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Cottle, 2. Bacon, 3. Thomas, 4. Taylor, 5. Gulick, 6. Jarrett, 7. Ted Hines, 8. Gurley. 9. Nicholson, 10. Simon, 11. Welpott, 12. Drake, 13. Hewitt. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Kevin Thomas Jr., 2. Thomas Meseraull, 3. Robert Ballou, 4. Jerry Coons Jr., 5. Dave Darland, 6. Brady Bacon, 7. Gary Taylor, 8. Tracy Hines, 9. Hunter Schuerenberg, 10. Bryan Clauson, 11. Shane Cottle, 12. Chase Stockon, 13. Chris Windom, 14. Chad Boespflug, 15. C.J. Leary, 16. Tyler Courtney, 17. Max McGhee, 18. Logan Jarrett, 19. Scotty Weir, 20. Justin Grant, 21. Landon Simon, 22. Coleman Gulick, 23. A.J. Hopkins. NT
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**Thomas flipped during the fourth heat. Drake flipped during the semi. Simon flipped during the semi. Hopkins flipped on lap 1 of the feature.Gulick flipped on lap 2 of the feature. Weir flipped on the 22nd lap of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-22 Ballou, Laps 23-30 Thomas.
NEW AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT POINTS: 1-Schuerenberg-283, 2-Stockon-282, 3-Bacon-277, 4-Clauson-274, 5-Tracy Hines-262, 6-Darland-257, 7-Thomas-247, 8-Ballou-222, 9-Cottle-162, 10-Leary-162.
NEXT AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT RACE: April 27 – Putnamville, IN – Lincoln Park Speedway
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YUMA SWEEP GIVES GARDNER CRA POINT LEAD
Yuma, AZ……..Damion Gardner of Concord, Calif. is the new AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car point leader after his second victory in two nights at Cocopah Speedway. He trailed Bud Kaeding for six laps, then led the last 24 in his Scott Sales Company/CSI Shocks Spike/J & D to beat Kaeding, Mike Spencer, fast qualifier Nic Faas and R.J. Johnson.
AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: April 20, 2013 – Yuma, Arizona – Cocopah Speedway
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Nic Faas, 4, Alexander-17.030; 2. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-17.094; 3. Damion Gardner, 4a, Alexander-17.339; 4. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-17.420; 5. Bud Kaeding, 29, BK-17.523; 6. Mike Martin, 16B, Martin-17.602; 7. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-17.725; 8. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-17.779; 9. Charles Davis Jr., 4G, Cook-17.828; 10. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-17.897; 11. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-18.023; 12. Seth Wilson, 1x, Wilson-18.046; 13. Bob Ream, 8, BRAT-18.163; 14. Matt Rossi, 02, Rossi-18.327; 15. David Bezio, 37x, Bezio-18.332; 16. A.J. Bender, 12, Bender-18.950; 17. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-NT.
FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Gardner, 2. Faas, 3. Kaeding, 4. Davis, 5. Bezio, 6. R.Williams, 7. Ream, 8. C.Williams. NT
SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Martin, 2. Spencer, 3. Johnson, 4. A.Williams, 5. Mitchell, 6. Rossi, 7. Bender, 8. Wilson. NT
DASH: (6 laps) 1. Kaeding, 2. Gardner, 3. Johnson, 4. Spencer, 5. Martin, 6. Faas. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Damion Gardner, 2. Bud Kaeding, 3. Mike Spencer, 4. Nic Faas, 5. R.J. Johnson, 6. Charles Davis Jr., 7. Matt Mitchell, 8. Austin Williams, 9. Rip Williams, 10. Brody Roa, 11. Matt Rossi, 12. Bob Ream Jr., 13. Cody Williams, 14. Mike Martin, 15. Seth Wilson, 16. David Bezio, 17. A.J. Bender. NT
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**Bender flipped during the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-6 Kaeding, Laps 7-30 Gardner.
NEW AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT POINTS: 1-Gardnre-397, 2-Faas-393, 3-Kaeding-312, 4-Spencer-294, 5-Johnson-266, 6-C.Williams-242, 7-A.Williams-224, 8-Roa-224, 9-Bryan Clauson-210, 10-Davis-207.
NEXT AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT RACE: May 4, 2013 – Perris (CA) Auto Speedway
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POINT LEADER BERNAL TAKES TULARE WEST COAST FEATURE
Tulare, CA……..Ryan Bernal of Hollister, Calif. captured Saturday night’s 30-lap USAC West Coast Sprint Car feature at the Thunderbowl Raceway. He caught Markus Niemela on lap 16 and led the last half of the race in his King Racing Products/A & A Precision Machine Spike/Raney. Fast qualifier Richard Vander Weerd finished second ahead of Niemela, Marty Hawkins and Rusty Carlile.
USAC WEST COAST SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: April 20, 2013 – Tulare, California – Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Richard Vander Weerd, 10, Vander Weerd-15.329; 2. Danny Faria Jr., 17V, Faria-15.367; 3. Jace Vander Weerd, 88, Vander Weerd-15.453; 4. Ryan Bernal, 73, Ford-15.499; 5. Dennis Howell, 62, Howell-15.570; 6. Markus Niemela, 81, Watt-15.716; 7. Greg Alexander, 13a, Rickard-15.882; 8. Jeff Sibley, 18, Watt-16.046; 9. Marty Hawkins, 3M, Hawkins-16.063; 10. Landon Hurst, 179, Hurst-16.130; 11. Rusty Carlile, 51, Carlile-16.228; 12. Ricky Kirkbride, 87, Van Meter- 16.332; 13. Jonathan Logan, 32, Evett/Logan-16.356; 14. Seth Hancock, 51s, Hancock-16.597; 15. Trent Carter, 13, Carter-16.649; 16. Kevin Barnes, 36B, Barnes-16.661; 17. Jim Richardson, 8, Richardson-16.891.
FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Hawkins, 2. R.Vanderweerd, 3. Carlile, 4. J.Vander Weerd, 5. Alexander, 6. Howell, 7. Logan, 8. Carter. NT
SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Niemela, 2. Faria, 3. Bernal, 4. Hurst, 5. Kirkbride, 6. Barnes, 7. Hancock, 8. Sibley. NT
DASH: (6 laps) 1. Niemela, 2. Hurst, 3. J. Vanderweerd, 4. Carlile, 5. Bernal, 6. R.Vander Weerd, 7. Hawkins, 8. Faria. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Ryan Bernal, 2. Richard Vander Weerd, 3. Markus Niemela, 4. Marty Hawkins, 5. Rusty Carlile, 6. Trent Carter, 7. Dennis Howell, 8. Danny Faria Jr., 9. Jace Vander Weerd, 10. Landon Hurst, 11. Greg Alexander, 12. Ricky Kirkbride, 13. Jonathan Logan, 14. Jim Richardson, 15. Seth Hancock, 16. Kevin Barnes. NT
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**Sibley flipped during the second heat. Hancock, Hurst, Alexander and Faria all flipped during the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-15 Niemela, Laps 16-30 Bernal.
NEW USAC WEST COAST SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Bernal-332, 2-R.Vander Weerd-308, 3-J.Vander Weerd-277, 4-Faria-267, 5-Bud Kaeding-242, 6-Niemela-240, 7-Carlile-218, 8-Kirkbride-185, 9-Hawkins-168, 10-Hurst-151.
NEXT USAC WEST COAST SPRINT RACE: April 27 – Bakersfield (CA) Speedway
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WEATHER FORCES ELDORA CANCELLATION
Rossburg, OH........Saturday night's AMSOIL USAC National Sprint race at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio has been cancelled due to frigid temperatures and a wintry mix of precipitation.
The National Weather Service has also issued freeze warnings throughout Darke and Mercer Counties. The bitter cold temperatures this morning are hampering the track crew's diligent efforts to rework the high-banked .500-mile clay oval into optimal condition and have forced Eldora and USAC officials to cancel tonight's event featuring the AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car Series, UMP DIRTcar Modifieds and Eldora Stocks.
It will not be rescheduled.
The AMSOIL USAC National Sprint cars now prepare for next Friday and Saturday's races at Gas City and Putnamville, Ind. respectively.
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AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: April 19, 2013 – Yuma, Arizona – Cocopah Speedway
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Nic Faas, 4, Alexander-16.451; 2. Damion Gardner, 4a, Alexander-16.673; 3. Bud Kaeding, 29, BK-17.008; 4. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-17.058; 5. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-17.189; 6. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-17.269; 7. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-17.283; 8. Mike Martin, 16B, Marftin-17.340; 9. Seth Wilson, 1x, Wilson-17.348; 10. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-17.366; 11. Bob Ream, 8, BRAT-17.415; 12. Matt Rossi, 02, Rossi-17.430; 13. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-17.516; 14. Charles Davis Jr., 4G, Cook-17.549; 15. David Bezio, 37x, Bezio-17.596; 16. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-17.658; 17. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-NT; 18. A.J. Bender, 12, Bender-NT.
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Johnson, 2. Faas, 3. C.Williams, 4. Kaeding, 5. A.Williams, 6. Bezio, 7. Ream, 8. Wilson. NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Spencer, 2. Davis, 3. Rossi, 4. Gardner, 5. Martin, 6. Roa, 7. Mitchell, 8. Bender. NT
DASH: (6 laps) 1. Gardner, 2. Johnson, 3. Spencer, 4. Kaeding, 5. Faas, 6. C.Williams. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Damion Gardner, 2. Nic Faas, 3. Mike Spencer, 4. Bud Kaeding, 5. Charles Davis Jr., 6. R.J. Johnson, 7. Cody Williams, 8. Brody Roa, 9. Mike Martin, 10. Matt Mitchell, 11. Austin Williams, 12. Bob Ream, 13. David Bezio, 14. Matt Rossi, 15. A.J. Bender (#12), 16. Seth Wilson. NT
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**Bender flipped during the second heat. Rossi flipped during the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Gardner.
NEW AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT POINTS: 1-Faas-329, 2-Gardner-325, 3-Kaeding-247, 4-Spencer-228, 5-C.Williams-214, 6-Bryan Clauson-210, 7-Johnson-209, 8-Roa-191, 9-Ryan Bernal-181, 10-A.Willams-180.
NEXT AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT RACE: April 20, 2013 – Yuma, AZ – Cocopah Speedway
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USAC WESTERN CLASSIC SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: April 19, 2013 – Watsonville, California – Ocean Speedway
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Nathan Washam, 33x, Hood-14.814; 2. Ryan Bernal, 73, Ford-14.837; 3. Tony Hunt, 56, Phulps-15.030; 4. Matt Streeter, 14jr, Streeter-15.101; 5. D.J. Johnson, 33, Johnson-15.129; 6. Joe Stornetta, 3F, Finkenbinder-15.249; 7. Tanner Swanson, 69, Kaiser-15.355; 8. Klint Simpson, 84, Simpson-15.482; 9. Colton Slack, 17, Slack-15.485; 10. Gordon Rodgers, 94, Dusin-15.949; 11. Jim Richardson, 8, Richardson-16.152; 12. Shauna Hogg, 5, Hogg-16.191; 13 Tom Baker, 3T, Baker-16.389; 14. Scott Hall, 56x, Hall-18.921; 15. A.J. Kirkpatrick, 12k, Kirkpatrick-NT.
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Swanson, 2. Hunt, 3. Slack, 4. Johnson, 5. Washam, 6. Richardson, 7. Kirkpatrick, 8. Baker. NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Hogg, 2. Hall, 3. Bernal, 4. Streeter, 5. Simpson, 6. Rodgers, 7, Stornetta. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Ryan Bernal, 2. Colton Slack, 3. Tanner Swanson, 4. Matt Streeter, 5. D.J. Johnson, 6. Tony Hunt, 7. Nathan Washam, 8. Jim Richardson, 9. Klint Simpson, 10. Scott Hall, 11. Gordon Rodgers, 12. Shauna Hogg, 13, Tom Baker, 14. A.J. Kirkpatrick. NT
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**Stornetta flipped during the second heat. Rodgers flipped during the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-3 T.Swanson, Laps 4-30 Bernal.
NEW USAC WESTERN CLASSIC SPRINT POINTS: 1-Bernal-71, 2-Slack-63, 3-T.Swanson-62, 4-Streeter-59, 5-Hunt-56, 6-Johnson-55, 7-Washam-52, 8-Richardson-42, 9-Simpson-40, 10-Hall-40.
NEXT USAC WESTERN CLASSIC SPRINT RACE: May 4, 2013 – Placerville (CA) Speedway
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FAAS-GARDNER SHOOTOUT AT COCOPAH THIS WEEKEND
The AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series makes its second appearance at Cocopah Speedway in Yuma, Ariz. this weekend and Mark Alexander teammates Nic Faas and Damion Gardner are ready to square off for the series point lead.
Races at the 3/8-mile dirt oval are set for Friday and Saturday nights and the two point leaders are separated by just four points after the first four races.
Faas, the winner at Perris, Calif. April 6, also has a pair of seconds and a third, while Gardner, seeking to increase his all-time series victory lead which stands at 41, has a pair of seconds and a pair of fourths so far this year.
Brody Roa captured last year’s USAC CRA debut at Yuma where Faas was the fastest qualifier and finished sixth. Gardner did not compete in the 2012 Yuma race but after competing full-time in USAC National racing last year he has returned to compete full-time in the 2013 USAC/CRA series.
2013 AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Nic Faas-259, 2-Damion Gardner-255, 3-Bryan Clauson-210, 4-Bud Kaeding-187, 5-Ryan Bernal-181, 6-Rickie Gaunt-167, 7-Cody Williams-166, 8-Mike Spencer-163, 9-R.J. Johnson-154, 10-Brody Roa-148.
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NATIONAL MIDGETS EYE INDIANAPOLIS, PONTOON BEACH EVENTS; WEATHER CANCELS KOKOMO GRAND PRIX
USAC’s National Midget Series are idle until late-May, with the pavement series resuming May 25 at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis, Ind. and the dirt series resuming May 31 at Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Ill.
Last weekend’s “Kokomo Grand Prix” at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway was washed out by weather. The O’Connor Family, race organizers at the third-mile dirt oval, has vowed to reinstitute the inaugural event in 2014 after discussions with both USAC and Powri, the co-sanctions, indicated that a suitable 2013 replacement date was unavailable.
Heavy rains on Thursday and sub-normal temperatures throughout the late week led USAC, Powri and track officials to postpone the Friday-Saturday events to Saturday-Sunday, but flooding intervened and forced the cancellation of the program.
The Kokomo events were scheduled as the opening dirt events of 2013 so the May 31 Pontoon Beach race will now serve as the first dirt race of the season.
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HINES SEEKS 4TH “BRANSON-LARSON” SPRINT AT ELDORA
Tracy Hines of New Castle, Ind. seeks a record fourth “Don Branson/Jud Larson Classic” victory this Saturday when the AMSOIL USAC National Sprint cars visit Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. Last year he became the second three-time race winner (Jay Drake also won three) and his 85 total USAC National race victories are tops among “active” USAC drivers.
Hines is also chasing Tom Bigelow’s all-time career leading 52 series victories and stands at 45, just one back of Jack Hewitt after winning twice at Ocala, Fla. in February. He’s fifth in the current series points, 31 behind point leader Chase Stockon. Hines’ three “Branson/Larson” wins came in 2001, 2008 and last year.
Robert Ballou and Jerry Coons Jr. also have two previous “Branson/Larson” wins and could join the three-time winners list Saturday.
Third-ranking Bryan Clauson (Ocala) and seventh-ranking Kevin Thomas Jr. (Lawrenceburg) also have 2013 series victories and will be among challengers Saturday.
The Eldora race salutes the late drivers who lost their lives in 1966 USAC Sprint racing accidents. Branson, USAC’s 1959 Midwest and 1964 National Sprint Car Champion, scored 13 victories in the Sprint cars. Larson earned 15 USAC Sprint wins. Both were veterans of the Indianapolis 500. Larson won three times in USAC Sprint competition at Eldora and Branson won twice.
Chase Stockon stands eight points ahead of Hunter Schuerenberg entering the Eldora race. Both drivers have “top-ten” finishes in all four races held this season.
2013 AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car Point Standings: 1-Chase Stockon-247, 2-Hunter Schuerenberg-239, 3-Bryan Clauson-230, 4-Brady Bacon-228, 5-Tracy Hines-216, 6-Dave Darland-200, 7-Kevin Thomas Jr.-185, 8-Ballou-163, 9-Tyler Courtney-133, 10-C.J. Leary-131.
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USAC WEST COAST SPRINT RACE RESULTS: April 13, 2013 – Tulare, California – Thunderbowl Raceway
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Richard Vander Weerd, 10, Vander Weerd-15.484; 2. Markus Niemela, 81, Watt-15.526; 3. Jace Vander Weerd, 88, Vander Weerd-15.626; 4. Austin Liggett, 83, Liggett-15.814; 5. Bud Kaeding, 29, Bowman-15.885; 6. Dennis Howell, 62, Howell-16.057; 7. Danny Faria Jr., 17V, Faria-16.069; 8. Andy Ferris, 4J, Ferris-16.179; 9. Ricky Kirkbride, 87, Van Meter- 16.200; 10. Kevin Barnes, 36B, Barnes-16.451; 11. Tom Hendricks, 14K, Kruseman-16.456; 12. Marty Hawkins, 3M, Hawkins-16.490; 13. Rusty Carlile, 51, Carlile-16.637; 14. Chris Ennis, 86, Ennis-16.752; 15. Jeff Sibley, 18, Watt-17.008; 16. Trent Carter, 13, Carter-17.019; 17. Matt Day, 97, Day-17.282; 18. Ryan Bernal, 73, Ford-NT.
FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Faria, 2. Carlile, 3. R.Vander Weerd, 4. Liggett, 5. Barnes, 6. Carter. NT
SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Ennis, 2. Kaeding, 3. Ferris, 4. Hendricks, 5. Niemela, 6. Day. NT
THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Bernal, 2. Hawkins, 3. Kirkbride, 4. J.Vander Weerd, 5. Sibley, 6. Howell. NT.
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Richard Vander Weerd, 2. Ryan Bernal, 3. Jace Vander Weerd, 4. Markus Niemela, 5. Bud Kaeding, 6. Danny Faria Jr., 7. Dennis Howell, 8. Rusty Carlile, 9. Trent Carter, 10. Andy Ferris, 11. Tom Hendricks, 12. Jeff Sibley, 13. Kevin Barnes, 14. Matt Day, 15. Marty Hawkins, 16. Chris Ennis, 17. Ricky Kirkbride, 18. Austin Liggett. NT
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**Bernal flipped during qualifications. Liggett and Ennis flipped during the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 R. Vander Weerd.
NEXT WEST COAST SPRINT RACE: April 20– Tulare, CA - Thunderbowl Raceway
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USAC SOUTHWEST SPRINT RACE RESULTS: April 13, 2013 – Queen Creek, Arizona – Arizona Speedway
FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Shon Deskins (#20 Deskins), 2. Chris Bonneau (#78 Bonneau), 3. Ronnie Clark (#6 Clark), 4. Bruce St. James (#7K St James), 5. Nathan High (#97 High), 6. R.J. Johnson (#77M Michaels), 7. Jody Wirth (#5X Wirth), 8. Stephen Harms (#60 Harms), 9. Mark Morin (#28 Morin). NT
SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Bob Ream Jr. (#8 BRAT), 2. Mike Martin (#16 Martin), 3. Charles Davis Jr., (#50 Massey), 4. Josh Pelkey (#12 Allen), 5. Tom Ogle (#48 Ogle), 6. Jason Grady (#45 Grady), 7. Brian Hosford (#32B Weber), 8. Lealand Fuller (#3 Fuller), 9. Michael Dayney (#36D Dayney). NT
THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Nick Aiuto (#27 Aiuto), 2. Stevie Sussex (#1AZ Sussex), 3. Mike Bonneau (#29 Bonneau), 4. Tom Lee (#53 Lee), 5. Bryan Swinehart (#68 Beal), 6. Justin Quinn (#93 Quinn), 7. Andy Reinbold (#19 Underwood), 8. Michael Curtis (#11C Turner/Wheeler), 9. Kyle Danielson (#17K Danielson). NT
DASH: (6 laps) 1. M. Bonneau, 2. Clark, 3. Davis, 4. Aiuto, 5. C. Bonneau, 6. Martin, 7. Deskins, 8. Sussex. NT
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Quinn, 2. Wirth, 3. Curtis, 4. Fuller, 5. Dayney, 6. Morin, 7. Harms, 8. Grady, 9. Hosford, 10. High, 11. Danielson. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Mike Martin, 2. Stevie Sussex, 3. Charles Davis Jr., 4. Ronnie Clark, 5. Shon Deskins, 6. R.J. Johnson, 7. Bob Ream Jr., 8. Josh Pelkey, 9. Tom Ogle, 10. Chris Bonneau, 11. Justin Quinn, 12. Bryan Swinehart, 13. Nick Aiuto, 14. Jody Wirth, 15. Michael Dayney, 16. Michael Curtis, 17. Lealand Fuller, 18. Tom Lee, 19. Bruce St. James, 20. Andy Reinbold, 21. Mike Bonneau, 22. Mark Morin. NT
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**Danielson flipped during the third heat.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-12 M. Bonneau, Laps 13-30 Martin.
NEW SOUTHWEST SPRINT POINTS:
NEXT SOUTHWEST SPRINT RACE: April 27 – Peoria, Arizona – Canyon Speedway Park
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"KOKOMO GRAND PRIX" CANCELLED, FALLS VICTIM TO THE WEATHER!
Kokomo, IN......This weekend's "Kokomo Grand Prix" has been cancelled. Torrential rains and consequential flooding have conspired to force cancellation of the USAC and Powri Midget, USAC Midwest Ignite and Powri 600cc Outlaw Micro Series "tripleheaders" slated for Saturday and Sunday nights. at the third-mile dirt oval.
The facility has been inundated with water, rendering the buildings, pits and parking not conducive to hosting the event.
"We hate to pull the plug," the race organizer O'Connor family admits, "but we have absolutely no choice under the circumstances. We appreciate the effort extended by USAC, Powri and all other parties in trying to reschedule this event but the 2013 calendars simply do not offer any options, therefore we will direct our efforts toward 2014 to inaugurate this sensational racing concept."
USAC's next National event is the April 20 "Don Branson-Jud Larson Classic" AMSOIL Sprint race at the Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.
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USAC ADDS CHAD McDANIEL MEMORIAL TO MIDGET SKED; MILWAUKEE DATE REMOVED, PIKES PEAK TICKETS ON SALE
One brand new date has been added to the 2013 USAC racing calendar while another has been removed.
The 4th “Chad McDaniel Memorial” Midget race at Solomon Valley Raceway in Beloit, Kans. joins the USAC National Dirt Midget calendar on Tuesday night, July 30. The Beloit Midget race joins a week of activity filled with USAC National Midget racing, preceding the August 1-3 “Belleville Midget Nationals” at the half-mile North Central Kansas Free Fair oval.
The July 7 Traxxas USAC Silver Crown race at the Milwaukee (Wisc.) Mile has been removed due to scheduling conflicts at the facility. Tickets for the June 29 “Rocky Mountain Classic” Traxxas Silver Crown race at Pikes Peak International Raceway in Fountain, Colo. are now on sale and can be ordered through http://pikespeakjune29th.eventbrite.com.
The race at the quarter-mile dirt Beloit oval honors the memory of the late Concordia, Kansas driver who lost his life while competing in a 2009 USAC National Midget race at Knoxville, Iowa.
The race will be the first for USAC at the Beloit oval, where past “Chad McDaniel Memorial” winners have included Brad Kuhn (2010) and Scott Hatton (2012). Rain forced the 2011 cancellation.
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SUNDAY KOKOMO TIMES ANNOUNCED
Sunday's "Kokomo Grand Prix" timetable at the Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway has been established, with pit gates opening at 1 pm, practice at 4 and racing at 5.
Sunday's event was created when the Friday-Saturday events were moved to Saturday-Sunday due to impending weather concerns.
The event showcases the USAC and Powri National Midgets, USAC Midwest Ignite Midgets and Powri 600cc Outlaw Micro Series. Saturday's events have pit gates at 3 pm and practice at 6.
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INAUGURAL “KOKOMO GRAND PRIX” FRIDAY & SATURDAY
This weekend’s inaugural USAC/Powri “Kokomo Grand Prix” at the Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway is expected to generate a battle for the early USAC National Dirt Midget point lead. The 3/8-mile dirt oval hosts complete racing programs Friday and Saturday which also feature the USAC Midwest Ignite Midgets and Powri 600cc Outlaw Micro Series.
The events kick off the 2013 USAC National Midget Dirt campaign after the USAC National Pavement campaign opened at New Smyrna Beach, Fla. in February.
Defending USAC National Midget Champion Darren Hagen of Riverside, Calif. finished sixth in last year’s Indiana Midget Week feature at Kokomo and faces a formidable field at Kokomo which will include 2012 Powri Midget Champ Andrew Felker.
Bryan Clauson of Noblesville, Ind. will seek his 10th and 11th USAC feature event victories on the season in the Kokomo races. His nine wins so far are two months ahead of J.J. Yeley’s record of nine wins in 2003, which he achieved in June on his way to an all-time USAC victory record of 24 for the year. Clauson returns this year to the familiar #39 Tucker/BCI/Curb Agajanian entry.
A 30-lap feature will complete Friday night’s program, while a 40-lapper is on tap Saturday.
USAC Midget racing at the Kokomo oval, which underwent reconfiguration several years ago, dates back to USAC’s debut season with Forrest Parker winning a 100-lapper in 1956. A total of 69 USAC Midget races have been conducted there with Rich Vogler scoring seven wins and Mel Kenyon six.
Dave Darland, who trails Tracy Hines by just three wins in their battle for the all-time USAC lead in terms of “active” drivers, owns the Kokomo Midget track record of 13.149 second, set in 2010.
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AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: April 6, 2013 – Perris, California – Perris Auto Speedway – “Power of Purple Night”
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-16.095; 2. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-16.256; 3. Nic Faas, 4, Alexander-16.276; 4. Damion Gardner, 4a, Alexander-16.314; 5. Rickie Gaunt, 66, Miller-16.382; 6. Ryan Bernal, 73, Ford-16.399; 7. Markus Niemela, 81, Watt-16.423; 8. David Cardey, 92, Sertich-16.429; 9. David Bezio, 37X, Bezio-16.534; 10. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-16.572; 11. Bud Kaeding, 29, Bowman-16.666; 12. Richard Vander Weerd, 10, Vander Weerd-16.673; 13. Greg Alexander, 72, Ford-16.709; 14. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-16.731; 15. John Aden, 7a, Aden-16.742; 16. Mike Martin, 16B, Martin-16.776; 17. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-16.835; 18. Jace Vander Weerd, 88, Vander Weerd-16.876; 19. Seth Wilson, 1x, Wilson-16.899; 20. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-16.994; 21. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-17.068; 22. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-17.089; 23. Billy Blinn, 26, Blinn-17.254; 24. Kenny Perkins, 0k, Perkins-17.275; 25. Cal Smith, 39, CalSun-17.403; 26. Jeff Sibley, 18, Watt-17.536; 27. Corey Ballard, 20, Ballard-17.553; 28. Tony Everhart, 55, Everhart-17.595; 29. Austin Smith, 14, Springstead-17.841; 30. Matt Stewart, 27, Stewart-17.884; 31. Mike Collins, 04, Collins-17.890; 32. Royal Adderson, 40, Adderson-18.004; 33. Brandon Thomosn, 12x, Blair-18.075; 34. Gary Potter, 6, Potter-18.113; 35. Jerry Welton, 62, Welton-18.292; 36. J.J. Ercse, 36, Springstead-NT; 37. A.J. Bender, 12, Bender-NT.
FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Spencer, 2. R.Williams, 3. Bezio, 4. Alexander, 5. Gaunt, 6. A.Smith, 7. C.Smith, 8. Bender. NT
SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Johnson, 2. C.Williams, 3. A.Williams, 4. Bernal, 5. J.Vander Weerd, 6. Roa, 7. Sibley, 8. Potter, 9. Stewart. NT
THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Faas, 2. Mitchell, 3. Niemela, 4. Kaeding, 5. Blinn, 6. Ballard, 7. Aden, 8. Welton. NT
FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. D.Gardner, 2. Cardey, 3. Wilson, 4. J.Vander Weerd, 5. Perkins, 6. Martin, 7. Everhart, 8. Adderson. NT
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Gaunt, 2. Aden, 3. Roa, 4. Perkins, 5. Bender (#12), 6. Everhart, 7. A.Smith, 8. J.Vander Weerd, 9. Thomson, 10. C.Smith, 11. Blinn, 12. Sibley, 13. Potter, 14. Welton, 15. Adderson, 16. Martin, 17. Ballard. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Nic Faas, 2. Damion Gardner, 3. David Cardey, 4. Ryan Bernal, 5. Cody Williams, 6. Mike Spencer, 7. Brody Roa, 8. Austin Williams, 9. Bud Kaeding, 10. Seth Wilson, 11. Mike Martin, 12. A.J. Bender, 13. Rickie Gaunt, 14. Richard Vander Weerd, 15. Markus Niemela, 16. Matt Mitchell, 17. R.J. Johnson, 18. Tony Everhart, 19. Greg Alexander, 20. David Bezio, 21. Kenny Perkins, 22. John Aden, 23. Rip Williams. NT
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**Adderson flipped during the semi. Martin flipped during the semi. R.Williams flipped during the feature. Aden flipped during the feature. Alexander flipped during the feature. Wilson flipped during the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-28 Cardey, Laps 29-30 Faas.
NEW AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT POINTS: 1-Faas-259, 2-D.Gardner-255, 3-Bryan Clauson-210, 4-Kaeding-187, 5-Bernal-181, 6-Gaunt-167, 7-C.Williams-166, 8-Spencer-163, 9-Johnson-154, 10-Roa-148.
NEXT AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT RACE: April 19, 2013 – Yuma, AZ – Cocopah Speedway
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USAC WESTERN MIDGET DIRT RACE RESULTS (Co-sanctioned by VRA): April 6, 2013 – Ventura, California – Ventura Raceway – “Battle at the Beach”
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. David Prickett (#15 Neverlift), 2. Kody Swanson (#55x Neverlift), 3. Johnathon Henry (#88 Graunstadt), 4. Kyle Edwards (#39 Edwards), 5. Randi Pankratz (#8 Pankratz), 6. Steve Davis (#2D Davis). NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Jake Swanson (#05 Swanson), 2. Ronnie Gardner (#68 Johnson), 3. Sean Dodenhoff (#9d Dodenhoff), 4. Kyle Smith (#55 Smith), 5. Shannon McQueen (#7 McQueen), 6. Jimmy Voitel (#21 Voitel). NT
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Troy Rutherford (#11 Martens), 2. Cody Swanson (#71 Swanson), 3. Danny Ebberts (#5x VanDyne), 4. Jim Donley (#89k Kruseman), 5. Kyle Cline (#2 Cline), 6. Terry Nichols (#45 Neverlift). NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Ronnie Gardner, 2. Jake Swanson, 3. Johnathon Henry, 4. David Prickett, 5. Kody Swanson, 6. Sean Dodenhoff, 7. Shannon McQueen, 8. Danny Ebberts, 9. Kyle Edwards, 10. Jim Donley, 11. Terry Nichols, 12. Troy Rutherford, 13. Kyle Smith, 14. Randi Pankratz, 15. Cody Swanson, 16. Jimmy Voitel, 17. Kyle Cline, 18. Steve Davis. NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-18 J.Swanson, Laps 19-30 Gardner.
NEW USAC WESTERN MIDGET POINTS: 1-Gardner-217, 2-J.Swanson-215, 3-K.Swanson-212, 4-Prickett-177, 5-Bryan Clauson-143, 6-Scott Pierovich-138, 7-Rico Abreu-128, 8-Christopher Bell-125, 9-C.Swanson-98, 10-McQueen-91.
NEW USAC WESTERN MIDGET DIRT POINTS: 1-Gardner-217, 2-J.Swanson-215, 3-Prickett-177, 4-Bryan Clauson-143, 5-K.Swanson-140, 6-Scott Pierovich-138, 7-Rico Abreu-128, 8-Christopher Bell-125, 9-C.Swanson-98, 10-McQueen-91.
NEXT USAC WESTERN MIDGET RACE (Paved): May 4, 2013 – Madera (CA) Speedway
NEXT USAC WESTERN MIDGET DIRT RACE: May 11, 2013 – Santa Maria (CA) Speedway
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AMSOIL USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: April 6, 2013 – Lawrenceburg, Indiana – Lawrenceburg Speedway
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Tracy Hines, 4, Hines-13.966; 2. Thomas Meseraull, 17, McGhee-13.978; 3. Chase Stockon, 32, Stockon-14.015; 4. Jerry Coons Jr., 10E, Edison-14.099; 5. Shane Cottle, 2, Epperson-14.130; 6. Dave Darland, 71P, Phillips-14.209;7. Coleman Gulick, 14, Gulick-14.215; 8. Hunter Schuerenberg, 35, Byram-14.248; 9. Chris Windom, 21x, Pollock-14.257; 10. Logan Jarrett, 29, Jarrett-14.280; 11. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 17RW, Dutcher/RW/TriStar-14.285; 12. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-14.337; 13. Bryan Clauson, 20, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-14.347; 14. Ted Hines, 12, Hines-14.381; 15. Landon Simon, 41, SST-14.415; 16. Tyler Courtney, 23c, Courtney-14.498; 17. Kyle Robbins, 17R, Dutcher/RW/Tri-Star-14.549; 18. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-14.602; 19. Justin Grant, 11, Walker-14.608; 20. Christopher Bell, 67, Kunz-14.637; 21. Nick Drake, 55, Cline-14.741; 22. Dallas Hewitt, 2m, Marshall-14.746; 23. Matt Westfall, 54, Best Performance-14.756; 24. Robert Ballou, 5, Baldwin-14.761; 25. Scotty Weir, 18, Keen-14.777; 26. Dakota Jackson, 3, Jackson-14.865; 27. David Applegate, 11x, Applegate-14.925; 28. Joss Moffatt, 5J, Moffatt-14.967; 29. Drew Abel, 04, Abel-15.033; 30. Pat Giddens, 2G, Giddens-15.156; 31. Gary Taylor, 40, Hery-15.255; 32. Derek Hastings, 32m, Marshall-15.375; 33. Mike Weber, 22w, Weber-15.527; 34. Cody Gardner, 46, Gardner-15.748; 35. Travis Hery, 21H, Hery-15.942; 36. Anthony Nicholson, 16, Nicholson-15.957; 37. Adam Cruea, 83, Cruea-16.214; 38. John Race, 42, Race-16.415; 39. Justin Owen, 26, Owen-NT (time of 14.965 disallowed); 40. Logan Hupp, 9H, Hupp-NT.
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Drake, 2. Clauson, 3. Tracy Hines, 4. Robbins, 5. Windom, 6. Cottle, 7. Weir, 8. Abel, 9. Cruea, 10. Weber. 2:01.32
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Darland, 2. Meseraull, 3. Leary, 4. Ted Hines, 5. Jarrett, 6. Hewitt, 7. Jackson, 8. Giddens, 9. Gardner, 10. Race. NT
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Stockon, 2. Thomas, 3. Gulick, 4. Simon, 5. Grant, 6. Taylor, 7. Westfall, 8. Hery, 9. Applegate. NT
FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Ballou, 2. Bacon, 3. Schuerenberg, 4. Bell, 5. Hupp, 6. Coons, 7. Moffatt, 8. Courtney, 9. Hastings, 10. Nicholson. NT
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Cottle, 2. Grant, 3. Coons, 4. Windom, 5. Westfall, 6. Hupp, 7. Hewitt, 8. Courtney, 9. Hastings, 10. Nicholson, 11. Jackson, 12. Giddens, 13. Abel, 14. Hery, 15. Weir, 16. Gardner, 17. Applegate, 18. Taylor, 19. Moffatt, 20. Cruea, 21. Race, 22. Jarrett, 23. Weber. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Kevin Thomas Jr., 2. Chase Stockon, 3. Brady Bacon, 4. Hunter Schuerenberg, 5. Bryan Clauson, 6. Coleman Gulick, 7. Thomas Meseraull, 8. Shane Cottle, 9. Landon Simon, 10. Jerry Coons Jr., 11. Dave Darland, 12. Tracy Hines, 13. Justin Grant, 14. Tyler Courtney, 15. Logan Hupp, 16. Ted Hines, 17. Nick Drake, 18. Kyle Robbins, 19. Christopher Bell, 20. Robert Ballou, 21. C.J. Leary, 22. Matt Westfall, 23. Chris Windom. NT
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**Windom flipped on lap 8 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-11 Gulick, Lap 12 Stockon, Laps 13-21 Gulick, Laps 22-29 Stockon, Lap 30 Thomas.
NEW AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT POINTS: 1-Stockon-247, 2-Schuerenberg-239, 3-Clauson-230, 4-Bacon-228, 5-Hines-216, 6-Ballou-200, 7-Thomas-185, 8-Ballou-163, 9-Courtney-134, 10-Leary-131.
NEXT AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT RACE: April 20 – Rossburg, OH – Eldora Speedway – “Don Branson/Jud Larson Classic”
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EAST OPENS TITLE DEFENSE IN APRIL 28 “SUMAR CLASSIC”; TIMETABLE HAS PRACTICE AT 3 AND THE FEATURE AT 6
Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Champion Bobby East of Brownsburg, Ind. is set to open defense of his 2012 title April 28 when the series returns to the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track, site of its 2012 season finale.
The “Sumar Classic” serves as the first of 10 rounds in this year’s series and continues a tradition dating back to 1995 when Donnie Beechler won the inaugural at the half-mile dirt oval.
East’s wire-to-wire victory in last year’s race contributed to the 12-point margin of victory he enjoyed over Jerry Coons Jr. at season’s end. He is expected to return at the wheel of the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing/Chevrolet Performance – Curb Records/Maxim/Kistler.
East is one of 11 drivers who have won the Terre Haute race. Beechler and Tony Elliott are two-time winners, while Kevin Thomas, Jack Hewitt, J.J. Yeley, Brian Tyler, Josh Wise, Bud Kaeding, Dave Darland and Levi Jones also are former winners.
Terre Haute’s rich history actually includes one other Silver Crown appearance. Gary Bettenhausen won the 1980 running before the race was christened the “Sumar Classic” 15 years later.
The April 28 schedule sees gates opening at noon, followed by the drivers meeting at 2:30 pm. Practice commences at 3, with heats for modified races at 4. Silver Crown qualifying starts at 4:30 and a modified feature is planned at 5. Pre-race begins at 5:45 and the 50-lap “Sumar Classic” feature is slated to get under way at 6 pm.
An interesting sideline will be the ongoing struggle for supremacy between Tony Stewart Racing and Six-6 Motorsports in their battle to become the winningest car owner in series history. Each has 27 victories to their credit.
East will team with Levi Jones in the Tony Stewart Racing/Curb-Agajanian entries while Brian Tyler will pilot the Six-R entry.
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4 ADDITIONAL USAC HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES FINALIZED;BETTENHAUSEN, RUTHERFORD, HEWITT & BIGELOW GET NOD
Tony Bettenhausen, Tom Bigelow, Jack Hewitt and Johnny Rutherford emerged the winners in USAC’s recent social media poll to complete the 2013 list of inductees into the USAC Hall of Fame.
he four drivers received the most votes from a select list of 16 candidates and will join eight previously-announced inductees in the ceremony which accompanies USAC’s May 18 “Hall of Fame Classic” Traxxas Silver Crown Championship race at Raceway Park in Indianapolis, Ind.
Previously-announced inductees include Earl Baltes, Henry Banks, Pancho Carter, Al Unser, Bobby Unser, A.J. Watson, Don White, and Bob Wilke.
Tony Bettenhausen of Tinley Park, Ill. joins his son Gary, a 2012 USAC Hall of Fame inductee. The 1951 AAA and 1958 USAC National Driving Champion competed in 14 Indianapolis 500s and finished second to Bob Sweikert in 1955. He was also fourth in 1958 and 1959. Already a member of numerous motorsports Halls of Fame, Bettenhausen is a former winner of the prestigious “Turkey Night Grand Prix” and “Hut Hundred” Midget races. In 1961 he was fatally injured in a practice crash at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
om Bigelow of Winchester, Ind. owns 81 career USAC National feature victories. The winningest driver in USAC Sprint car history has 52 total wins, plus 23 Midget wins Tand six in the Silver Crown cars. He won the 1978 USAC National Sprint car title and added the 1984 USAC National Midget crown and in 1982 was USAC’s Indianapolis Speedrome Midget king. A member of both the National Sprint Car and Midget Halls of Fame, he started nine Indianapolis 500s and finished sixth in 1977. In 1969 he emerged as the overall champion of the inaugural USAC Midget event at the Houston (Tex.) Astrodome.
Troy, Ohio’s Jack Hewitt is the winningest driver in USAC Silver Crown history, with 23 total victories to his credit. He also owns 46 USAC Sprint wins and seven in the Midgets. The 1986 and 1987 USAC Silver Crown driving champion achieved a life-long goal in 1998 by competing in the Indianapolis 500 where he finished 12th. In 1998 he achieved what many believe to be one of motorsports’ most incredible feats – a clean sweep of the “4-Crown Nationals” at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. His wins in USAC Silver Crown, USAC Sprint, USAC Midget and modified competition came with four different teams!
“Lone Star J.R.,” as Fort Worth, Tex. driver Johnny Rutherford is affectionately known, is a three-time Indianapolis 500 champion (1974, 1976 and 1980) and won USAC’s National Sprint Car title in 1965 and added the USAC Indy Car crown in 1980. A multiple Hall of Fame member, he also won three Indianapolis 500 poles and scored 20 Championship car wins and eight in USAC Sprints. In 1986 he added the Michigan 500 to his resume and he’s also a five-time IROC veteran. USAC’s 2000 Roger McCluskey Award winner has had heavy involvement as a driver coach and pace car driver for Indy Car events and in 1963 set a world qualifying record during NASCAR stock car competition at Daytona Beach, Fla. He followed that by winning his initial NASCAR start – a 100-miler at Daytona!
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AMSOIL SPRINTS HEAD FOR THE “BURG” SATURDAY
Tracy Hines of New Castle, Ind. continues his pursuit of the all-time record for AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car wins this Saturday when the series visits Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway. None of his 45 wins to date have come at the 3/8-mile dirt oval, although he did win a 2010 USAC National Midget race there.
Hines ranks third in the current standings and a win Saturday would tie him with Jack Hewitt on the all-time list at 46, six behind the leader Tom Bigelow. He trails series leader Hunter Schuerenberg by just seven points in the 2013 standings after winning a pair of races in February at Ocala, Fla.
Schuerenberg, of Sikeston, Mo., posted fourth and fifth-place finishes in last year’s Lawrenceburg races and had a third and two fifths in the three Ocala openers.
Chase Stockon of Sullivan, Ind. is second in the current standings, just four behind Schuerenberg going into Saturday’s race. Stockon and Justin Grant were the first-time winners in 2012 AMSOIL USAC National Sprint racing at Lawrenceburg.
Dave Darland of Lincoln, Ind., however, holds the title of winningest USAC Sprint driver at the southeastern Indiana track. He has six victories there and his 82 total USAC National wins in three categories trail only Hines’ 85 among “active” USAC drivers.
Fourth ranking Bryan Clauson of Noblesville, Ind. is tied with Hines, seven points back of Schuerenberg. Clauson is having a record-breaking USAC season so far and will seek his 10th USAC feature win Saturday at Lawrenceburg, which includes the 2013 Sprint opener at Ocala.
2013 AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car Point Standings: 1-Hunter Schuerenberg-182; 2-Chase Stockon-178; 3-Tracy Hines175, 4-Bryan Clauson-175; 5-Brady Bacon-167; 6-Dave Darland-160; 7-Robert Ballou-142; 8-Kevin Thomas Jr.-118; 9-C.J. Leary-112; 10-Scotty Weir-110.
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“POWER OF PURPLE NIGHT” FOR CRA SPRINTS AT THE PAS
Damion Gardner of Concord, Calif. hopes to hold onto an all-time lead while trying to vault to the 2013 AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint point lead Saturday night when the series competes in the “Power of Purple Night” benefitting the City of Perris Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society at the Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway.
Gardner, who will focus on the USAC/CRA campaign this season, has 25 career wins at Perris, one more than five-time series titlist Mike Spencer of Temecula, Calif. Spencer has won seven of the past 11 races at the PAS, all since Gardner’s last Perris win in 2011.
Gardner trails Bryan Clauson by 23 points in the latest AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint standings. He is tied in the current points with Nic Faas of Huntington Beach, Calif., who scored three Perris wins in 2011 and one last year.
Clauson scored a Perris win last year and the 2013 opener over Gardner and Faas this season.
Cory Kruseman is the only other 2012 winner at the half-mile dirt oval and he has 16 career wins there. His 2013 Perris debut resulted in a flip during a heat race.
2013 AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Bryan Clauson-210, 2-Damion Gardner-187, 3-Nic Faas-187, 4-Bud Kaeding-146, 5-Rickie Gaunt-134, 6-R.J. Johnson-127, 7-Ryan Bernal-124, 8-Cody Williams-111, 9-Mike Spencer-104, 10-Charles Davis Jr.-102.
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WESTERN MIDGETS PART OF VENTURA’S “BATTLE AT THE BEACH;” CODY SWANSON GETS 1ST MIDGET WIN AT BAKERSFIELD
Ronnie Gardner and Kody Swanson enter this Saturday night’s “Battle at the Beach” at the Ventura (Calif.) Raceway as 2013 USAC Western Midget point leaders. Gardner, of Corona, Calif., already has a second and a third in this year’s Western dirt events and Swanson, of Kingsburg, Calif., won the 2013 pavement opener at Madera, Calif.
Gardner was second to Cody Swanson in Saturday night’s 30-lapper at Bakersfield (Calif.) Speedway, while Swanson was 20th.
Cody Swanson of Norco, Calif. led all 30 laps at Bakersfield piloting his Edmunds Autoresearch/K & N Filters machine. Trailing Gardner in third was Ryan Bernal, Jake Swanson and David Prickett rounding out the top-five.
Gardner trails Kody Swanson by just seven points in the “overall” standings and has a three-point lead over Jake Swanson in the Western Midget dirt points.
Johnathon Henry of Stockton, Calif., despite not making the feature at Bakersfield Saturday, might be among favorites at Ventura after winning two of the 2011 series races at the fifth-mile dirt oval.
2013 USAC WESTERN OVERALL MIDGET STANDINGS: 1-K.Swanson-157, 2-R.Gardner-150, 3-J.Swanson-150, 4-Bryan Clauson-143, 5-Pierovich-138, 6-Rico Abreu-128, 7-Christopher Bell-125, 8-Prickett-118, 9-Marcham-90, 10-Tanner Thorson-72.
2013 USAC WESTERN DIRT MIDGET STANDINGS: 1-R.Gardner-150, 2-J.Swanson-147, 3-Bryan Clauson-143, 4-Pierovich-138, 5-Rico Abreu-128, 6-Christopher Bell-125, 7-Prickett-118, 8-Marcham-90, 9-K.Swanson-85, 10-Tanner Thorson-72.
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USAC WESTERN MIDGET DIRT RACE RESULTS: March 30, 2013 – Bakersfield, California – Bakersfield Speedway
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Shannon McQueen, 7, McQueen-13.393; 2. Jake Swanson, 05, Swanson-13.617; 3. Ronnie Gardner, 68, Johnson-13.617; 4. Jace Vander Weerd, 8v, Vander Weerd-13.664; 5. David Prickett, 15, Neverlift-13.670; 6. Troy Rutherford, 11, Martens-13.680; 7. Cody Swanson, 71, Swanson-13.702; 8. Ryan Bernal, 72, Ford-13.715; 9. Markus Niemela, 81, Watt-13.751; 10. Randi Pankratz, 8, Pankratz-13.767; 11. Kody Swanson, 55, Neverlift-13.801; 12. Richard Vander Weerd, 19F, Sala-13.815; 13. Johnathon Henry, 88, Graunstadt-13.854; 14. Alex Schutte, 9E, Dodenhof-13.889; 15. Scott Pierovich, 35, Pierovich-13.914; 16. Trey Marcham, 37, McQueen-13.943; 17. Kyle Edwards, 39, Edwards-13.952; 18. Tanner Swanson, 27B, Blackwell-14.015; 19. Britton Bock, 67, Bock-14.080; 20. Rick Shuman, 22a, Shuman-14.178; 21. Robby Josett, 2, Josett-14.191; 22. Nick Chivello, 27N, Chivello-14.192; 23. Sean Dodenhof, 9d, Dodenhof-14.194; 24. Terry Nichols, 45, Neverlift-14.222; 25. Greg Edenholm, 73,
Ford-14.341; 26. Jimmy Voitel, 21, Voitel-14.405.
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. C.Swanson, 2. Pankratz, 3. McQueen, 4. Marcham, 5. J.Vander Weerd, 6. Chivello, 7. Edenholm, 8. Bock, 9. Henry. NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. J.Swanson, 2. Bernal, 3. K.Swanson, 4. Edwards, 5. Shuman, 6. Dodenhof, 7. Prickett, 8. Voitel. NT
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Pierovich, 2. R.Vander Weerd, 3. T.Swanson, 4. Gardner, 5. Niemela, 6. Josett, 7. Rutherford, 8. Nichols. NT
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Prickett, 2. Schutte, 3. Dodenhof, 4. Josett, 5. Voitel, 6. Nichols, 7. Edenholm, 8. Henry, 9. Rutherford, 10. Bock, 11. Chivello. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Cody Swanson, 2. Ronnie Gardner, 3. Ryan Bernal, 4. Jake Swanson, 5. David Prickett, 6. Richard Vander Weerd, 7. Jace Vander Weerd, 8. Scott Pierovich, 9. Markus Niemela, 10. Shannon McQueen, 11. Trey Marcham, 12. Alex Schutte, 13. Tanner Swanson, 14. Jimmy Voitel, 15. Greg Edenholm, 16. Randi Pankratz, 17. Kyle Edwards, 18. Robby Josett, 19. Terry Nichols, 20. Kody Swanson, 21. Sean Dodenhof, 22. Rick Shuman. NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 C.Swanson.
NEW USAC WESTERN MIDGET DIRT POINTS: 1-R.Gardner-150, 2-J.Swanson-150, 3-Bryan Clauson-143, 4-Pierovich-138, 5-Rico Abreu-128, 6-Christopher Bell-125, 7-Prickett-118, 8-Marcham-90, 9-K.Swanson-85, 10-Tanner Thorson-72.
NEW USAC WESTERN MIDGET OVERALL POINTS: 1-K.Swanson-157, 2-R.Gardner-150, 3-J.Swanson-150, 4-Bryan Clauson-143, 5-Pierovich-138, 6-Rico Abreu-128, 7-Christopher Bell-125, 8-Prickett-118, 9-Marcham-90, 10-Tanner Thorson-72.
NEXT USAC WESTERN MIDGET DIRT RACE: April 6, 2013 – Ventura (CA) Raceway
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USAC SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: March 16, 2013 – Peoria, Arizona – Canyon Speedway Park
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Charles Davis Jr. (#50 Massey), 2. Bruce St. James (#7K St. James), 3. Shon Deskins (#20 Deskins), 4. Jody Wirth (#5X Wirth), 5. Josh Pelkey (#12 Allen), 6. Justin Quinn (#93 Quinn), 7. Mike Bonneau (#29 Bonneau), 8. Bob Ream Jr. (#8 BRAT), 9. Andy Reinbold (#19 Underwood). NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Bryan Swinehart (#68 Beal), 2. Nick Auito (#27 Aiuto/Allen), 3. Tom Lee (#53 Lee), 4. Chris Bonneau (#78 Bonneau), 5. Tom Ogle (#48 Ogle), 6. Nathan High (#1A High), 7. James Aragon (#94 Aragon), 8. Brian Hosford (#32B Weber). NT
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Ronnie Clark (#6 Clark), 2. Mike Martin (#16 Martin), 3. R. J. Johnson (#77M Michaels), 4. Michael Curtis (#11C Turner/Wheeler), 5. Kyle Danielson (#17K Danielson), 6. Stephen Harms (#60 Harms), 7. Mark Morin (#28 Morin), 8. Stevie Sussex (#1AZ Sussex). NT
DASH: (6 laps) 1. Johnson, 2. St. James, 3. Davis, 4. Swinehart, 5. Martin, 6. Clark, 7. Aiuto, 8. Deskins. NT
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. High, 2. Ream, 3. Reinbold, 4. M. Bonneau, 5. Hosford, 6. Aragon, 7. Danielson, 8. Morin, 9. Sussex. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. R.J. Johnson, 2. Charles Davis Jr., 3. Ronnie Clark, 4. Justin Quinn, 5. Nathan High, 6. Josh Pelkey, 7. Tom Ogle, 8. Bob Ream Jr., 9. Mike Bonneau, 10. Andy Reinbold, 11. Brian Hosford, 12. Bryan Swinehart, 13. James Aragon, 14. Shon Deskins, 15. Tom Lee, 16. Stephen Harms, 17. Mike Martin, 18. Chris Bonneau, 19. Nick Aiuto, 20. Bruce St. James, 21. Michael Curtis, 22. Jody Wirth. NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-17 Davis, Laps 18-27 Johnson, Lap 28 Davis, Laps 29-30 Johnson.
NEW USAC SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Johnson-66, 2-Davis-65, 3-Clark-62, 4-High-55, 5-Quinn-54, 6-Pelkey-49, 7-Ogle-46, 8-Ream-43, 9-M.Bonneau-39, 10-Swinehart-37.
NEXT USAC SOUTHWEST SPRINT RACE: March 23 – Casa Grande, AZ – Central Arizona Raceway
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USAC WEST COAST SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: March 16, 2013 – Tulare, California – Thunderbowl Raceway
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Jace Vander Weerd (#88 Vander Weerd), 2. Richard Vander Weerd (#10 Vander Weerd), 3. Chris Ennis (#86 Ennis), 4. Marty Hawkins (#3M Hawkins), 5. Joe Stornetta (#3F Finkenbinder), 6. Jim Richardson (#8 Richardson), 7. Kolby Araki (#30K Araki). NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Bud Kaeding (#29 Bowman), 2. Landon Hurst (#179 Hurst), 3. Rusty Carlile (#51 Carlile), 4. Jonathan Logan (#32 Evett/Logan), 5. Brody Roa (#91R BR), 6. Matt Day (#97 Day), 7. Andy Ferris (#4J Ferris). NT
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Ryan Bernal (#73 Ford), 2. Markus Niemela (#81 Watt), 3. Austin Liggett (#83 Liggett), 4. Danny Faria Jr. (#17V Faria), 5. Ricky Kirkbride (#87 Van Meter), 6. Kevin Barmes (#36B Barnes), 7. Jeff Sibley (#18 Watt). NT
DASH: (6 laps) 1. Bernal, 2. Carlile, 3. Kaeding, 4. R.Vander Weerd, 5. Niemela, 6. J.Vander Weerd, 7. Ennis, 8. Hurst. NT
FEATURE: (25 laps) 1. Ryan Bernal, 2. Richard Vander Weerd, 3. Bud Kaeding, 4. Austin Liggett, 5. Jace Vander Weerd, 6. Danny Faria Jr., 7. Brody Roa, 8. Jonathan Logan, 9. Andy Ferris, 10. Ricky Kirkbride, 11. Marty Hawkins, 12. Landon Hurst, 13. Jim Richardson, 14. Kevin Barmes, 15. Matt Day, 16. Markus Niemela, 17. Chris Ennis, 18. Joe Stornetta, 19. Rusty Carlile, 20. Jeff Sibley. NT
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**Araki flipped during the first heat.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-25 Bernal.
NEW USAC WEST COAST SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Bernal-134, 2-Kaeding-124, 3-J.Vander Weerd-111, 4-Faria-108, 5-R.Vander Weerd-95, 6-Niemela-93, 7-Kirkbride-86, 8-Hurst-83, 9-Liggett-80, 10-Hawkins-79.
NEXT USAC WEST COAST SPRINT RACE: March 23 – Bakersfield (CA) Speedway
USAC WEST COAST SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: March 15, 2013 – Tulare, California – Thunderbowl Raceway
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Bud Kaeding (#29 Bowman), 2. Danny Faria Jr. (#17V Faria), 3. Austin Liggett (#83 Liggett), 4. Jeff Sibley (#18 Watt), 5. Marty Hawkins (#3M Hawkins), 6. Kolby Araki (#30K Araki), 7. Landon Hurst (#179 Hurst). NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Markus Niemela (#81 Watt), 2. Ricky Kirkbride (#87 Van Meter), 3. Rusty Carlile (#51 Carlile), 4. Chris Ennis (#86 Ennis), 5. Jim Richardson (#8 Richardson), 6. Joe Stornetta (#3F Finkenbinder). NT
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Richard Vander Weerd (#10 Vander Weerd), 2. Jace Vander Weerd (#88 Vander Weerd), 3. Ryan Bernal (#73 Ford), 4. Andy Ferris (#4J Ferris), 5. Jonathan Logan (#32 Evett/Logan), 6. Terry Nichols (#33 Nichols). NT
DASH: (6 laps) 1. Kaeding, 2. Niemela, 3. Bernal, 4. R. Vander Weerd, 5. J. Vander Weerd, 6. Faria, 7. Kirkbride, 8. Carlile. NT
FEATURE: (15 laps) 1. Ryan Bernal, 2. Markus Niemela, 3. Bud Kaeding, 4. Danny Faria Jr., 5. Jace Vander Weerd, 6. Landon Hurst, 7. Ricky Kirkbride, 8. Marty Hawkins, 9. Rusty Carlile, 10. Andy Ferris, 11. Jeff Sibley, 12. Chris Ennis, 13. Jim Richardson, 14. Kolby Araki, 15. Richard Vander Weerd, 16. Jonathan Logan, 17. Terry Nichols, 18. Austin Liggett, 19. Joe Stornetta. NT
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**Liggett flipped during the feature. Nichols flipped during the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-10 Niemela, Laps 11-15 Bernal.
NEW USAC WEST COAST SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Bernal-66, 2-Niemela-65, 3-Kaeding-62, 4-Faria-58, 5-J.Vander Weerd-55, 6-Kirkbride-49, 7-Hurst-47, 8-Hawkins-43, 9-Carlile-42, 10-Ferris-38.
NEXT USAC WEST COAST SPRINT RACE: March 16 – Tulare, CA – Thunderbowl Raceway
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CRA SPRINTS BACK TO PERRIS APRIL 6; “SOKOLA SHOOTOUT” IS #9 FOR CLAUSON!
Damion Gardner and Nic Faas are expected to shoot it out for the AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint car point lead April 6 when the series resumes at Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway. They are tied for the runner-up position in the standings behind Bryan Clauson, who won Saturday night’s “Sokola Shootout” at the Pas.
Clauson is expected to compete in the April 6 AMSOIL National Sprint Car race at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway after scoring his ninth victory of 2013 in last Saturday’s Perris main event.
Clauson, of Noblesville, Ind., led the final 23 laps in his Mike Martin Ultimate Offroad/Naquin Precision Earth Moving Maxim after early leader Mike Spencer blew an engine. Gardner and Faas finished second and third, followed by Rickie Gaunt and Cody Williams.
Clauson, also the fastest qualifier, has now won nine USAC features this year, three months ahead of the earliest previous driver to achieve nine in a single season!
2013 AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Bryan Clauson-210, 2-Damion Gardner-187, 3-Nic Faas-187, 4-Bud Kaeding-146, 5-Rickie Gaunt-134, 6-R.J. Johnson-127, 7-Ryan Bernal-124, 8-Cody Williams-111, 9-Mike Spencer-104, 10-Charles Davis Jr.-102.
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WEST COAST, SOUTHWEST SPRINTS VISIT TULARE, PEORIA; CLAUSON TAKES LAS VEGAS “GRUDGE SERIES” FEATURE
USAC’s West Coast and Southwest Sprint Car Series compete this weekend as the Western Sprint landscape bursts into action at dirt ovals in California and Arizona.
The West Coast Sprint cars officially open their 2013 calendar at Tulare, Calif.’s Thunderbowl Raceway Friday and Saturday while the Southwest Sprints open their 2013 point campaign Saturday at Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria, Ariz.
Last Thursday night was the first race of the 2013 "Grudge Series,” a special “non-points” race for both the West Coast and Southwest competitors, but USAC National Drivers Champion Bryan Clauson of Noblesville, Ind. walked off with the “Sin City Showdown” feature hardware at the Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway dirt track.
Clauson wheeled the Mike Martin Ultimate Offroad/Naquin Precision Earth Moving Maxim to the victory, grabbing the lead after Ryan Bernal’s spin on lap 23. Clauson led the final three laps to beat R.J. Johnson, Richard Vander Weerd, Rusty Carlile and Shon Deskins. Carlile led the first 13 laps and Bernal the next 10 before Clauson took over.
Last year’s two West Coast Sprint features at Tulare were won by Kyle Larson.
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AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: March 9, 2013 – Perris, California – Perris Auto Speedway – “Sokola Shootout”
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Bryan Clauson, 16B, Martin-16.392; 2. Damion Gardner, 4a, Alexander-16.604; 3. Ronnie Gardner, 18, Kittle-16.694; 4. Nic Faas, 4, Alexander-16.712; 5. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-16.748; 6. David Bezio, 37X, Bezio-16.750; 7. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-16.756; 8. David Cardey, 92, Sertich-16.767; 9. Ryan Bernal, 73, Ford-16.768; 10. Rickie Gaunt, 66, Miller-16.782; 11. Richard Vander Weerd, 10, Vander Weerd-16.802; 12. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-16.815; 13. Cory Kruseman, 7, Priestley-16.878; 14. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-17.015; 15. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-17.044; 16. J.J. Ercse, 14, Springstead-17.070; 17. John Aden, 7a, Aden-17.076; 18. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-17.089; 19. Jace Vander Weerd, 88, Vander Weerd-17.103; 20. Bud Kaeding, 29, Bowman-17.173; 21. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-17.226; 22. Markus Niemela, 81, Watt-17.230; 23. Cody Kershaw, 27, Kershaw-17.244; 24. Mike Martin, 16, Martin-17.315; 25. A.J. Bender, 12B, Bender-17.443; 26. Seth Wilson, 1x, Wilson-17.482; 27. Johnny Bluntach, 58, Bluntach-17.676; 28. Kenny Perkins, 0k, Perkins-17.727; 29. Cal Smith, 39, CalSun-17.986; 30. Billy Blinn, 26, Blinn-17.989; 31. Jon Kairot, 18w, Watt-18.262; 32. Gary Potter, 6, 18.494; 33. Austin Smith, 36, Springstead-18.604; 34. Mike Collins, 04, Perkins-18.771; 35. Jerry Welton, 62, Welton-19.129; 36. Trevor Cooper, 21k, Kruseman-NT; 37. Justin Grant, 01, Grant-NT.
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Mitchell, 2. Bernal, 3. Clauson, 4. Spencer, 5. Aden, 6. A.J. Bender, 7. A.Smith, 8. C.Smith, 9. Kruseman. NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Johnson, 2. Niemela, 3. D.Gardner, 4. Gaunt, 5. R.Williams, 6. Bezio, 7. Wilson, 8. Blinn, 9. Collins. 2:53.80
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. R.Vander Weerd, 2. R.Gardner, 3. Kershaw, 4. Bluntach, 5. Roa, 6. J.Vander Weerd, 7. Kairot, 8. Welton, 9. A.Williams. NT
FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Martin, 2. Kaeding, 3. Faas, 4. C.Williams, 5. Cardey, 6. Ercse, 7. Perkins, 8. G.Potter, 9. Cooper. 2:57.97
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. A.Williams, 2. Bezio, 3. R.Williams, 4. Roa, 5. Ercse, 6. J.Vander Weerd, 7. Aden, 8. A.J. Bender, 9. Wilson, 10. Perkins, 11. C.Smith, 13. A.Smith, 13. Cooper, 14. G.Potter, 15. Kairot, 16. Collins, 17. Welton. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Bryan Clauson, 2. Damion Gardner, 3. Nic Faas, 4. Rickie Gaunt, 5. Cody Williams, 6. Ronnie Gardner, 7. Richard Vander Weerd, 8. Rip Williams, 9. Austin Williams, 10. Jace Vander Weerd, 11. R.J. Johnson, 12. Bud Kaeding, 13. Brody Roa, 14. Mike Martin, 15. Markus Niemela, 16. David Bezio, 17. Ryan Bernal, 18. Mike Spencer, 19. J.J. Ercse, 20. Matt Mitchell, 21. Seth Wilson, 22. Johnny Bluntach, 23. Cody Kershaw. NT
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** Kruseman flipped during the first heat. Mitchell and Bezio flipped during the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-7 Spencer, Laps 8-30 Clauson.
NEW AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT POINTS: 1-Clauson-210, 2-D.Gardner-187, 3-Faas-187, 4-Kaeding-146, 5-Gaunt-134, 6-Johnson-127, 7-Bernal-124, 8-C.Williams-111, 9-Spencer-104, 10-Charles Davis Jr.-102.
NEXT AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT RACE: April 6, 2013 – Perris (CA) Auto Speedway
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LAST 3 LAPS THE BEST FOR CLAUSON AT LVMS
Las Vegas, NV........It’s only March 7 and Bryan Clauson of Noblesville, Ind. already has eight USAC feature event wins under his belt this year! Thursday night it was the first race of the 2013 "Grudge Series” and the opening point race of USAC’s brand-new Southwest Sprint Series – the “Sin City Showdown” at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Dirt Track in Nevada.
Driving the Mike Martin Ultimate Offroad/Naquin Precision Earth Moving Maxim, Clauson grabbed the lead when Ryan Bernal spun on lap 23 and he led the final three laps to beat R.J. Johnson, Richard Vander Weerd, Rusty Carlile and Shon Deskins. Carlile led the first 13 laps and Bernal the next 10 before Clauson took over.
The race was also considered a special" non-points event for the USAC West Coast Sprint cars.
USAC SOUTHWEST & WEST COAST (SE) SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: March 7, 2013 – Las Vegas, Nevada – Las Vegas Motor Speedway Dirt Track – “Sin City Showdown”
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Shon Deskins (#20 Deskins), 2. Rusty Carlile (#51 Carlile), 3. Mike Martin (#16 Martin), 4. Charles Davis Jr. (#50 Massey), 5. Bruce St. James (#7K St. James), 6. Colby Copeland (#74 Williams), 7. James Aragon (#94 Aragon). NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Ryan Bernal (#73 Ford), 2. Stevie Sussex (#1AZ Sussex), 3. Bud Kaeding (#29 Bowman), 4. Richard Vander Weerd (#10 Vander Weerd), 5. Jace Vander Weerd (#88 Vander Weerd), 6. Trevor Cooper (#89K Kruseman). NT
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. R.J. Johnson (#77M Michaels), 2. Mike Spencer (#7M Priestley), 3. Bryan Clauson (#16B Martin), 4. Cory Kruseman (#21K Kruseman), 5. Brody Roa (#91 BR), 6. Andy Reinbold (#19 Underwood). NT
FEATURE: (25 laps) 1. Bryan Clauson, 2. R.J. Johnson, 3. Richard Vander Weerd, 4. Rusty Carlile, 5. Shon Deskins, 6. Charles Davis Jr., 7. Cory Kruseman, 8. Bruce St. James, 9. Bud Kaeding, 10. Mike Martin, 11. Brody Roa, 12. Ryan Bernal, 13. Jace Vander Weerd, 14. Mike Spencer, 15. Andy Reinbold, 16. Trevor Cooper, 17. Colby Copeland, 18. James Aragon, 19. Stevie Sussex. NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-13 Carlile, Laps 14-22 Bernal, Laps 23-25 Clauson.
NEW USAC SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Clauson-66, 2-Johnson-65, 3-R.Vander Weerd-59, 4-Carlile-58, 5-Deskins-56, 6-Davis-50, 7-Kruseman-47, 8-St. James-43, 9-Kaeding-42, 10-Martin-39.
NEXT USAC SOUTHWEST SPRINT RACE: March 16 – Peoria, AZ – Canyon Speedway Park
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CLAUSON #1 IN PEORIA’S “COPPER ON DIRT” MIDGETS
Peoria, AZ……..Bryan Clauson of Noblesville, Ind. won Friday night’s 25-lap “Copper on Dirt” USAC Western Midget feature at Canyon Raceway Park, leading the final 19 laps in his Curb Records Spike/Esslinger after passing Ronnie Gardner on lap seven. Kyle Larson took second ahead of Gardner, Christopher Bell and fast qualifier Rico Abreu.
USAC WESTERN MIDGET DIRT RACE RESULTS: March 1, 2013 – Peoria, Arizona – Canyon Speedway Park – 6th “Copper on Dirt”
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Rico Abreu, 67, Kunz-14.097; 2. Bryan Clauson, 39, Tucker/BCI/Curb-Agajanian-14.178; 3. Kyle Larson, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.251; 4. Alex Sewell, 7, McQueen-14.308; 5. Casey Shuman, 12, Dunlap-14.337; 6. Tyler Thorson, 67w, Kunz-14.396; 7. Ronnie Gardner, 68, Johnson-14.400; 8. Dillon Welch, 39x, Tucker/BCI/Curb-Agajanian-14.402; 9. Tyler Thomas, 91T, Thomas-14.406; 10. Scott Pierovich, 35, Pierovich-14.460; 11. Kody Swanson, 45, Neverlift-14.462; 12. Christopher Bell, 71k, Kunz-14.474; 13. Riley Emmel, 67k, Kunz-14.498; 14. David Prickett, 15, Neverlift-14.559; 15. Ryan Bernal, 72, Ford-14.591; 16. Troy Rutherford, 11, Martens-14.608; 17. Trey Marcham, 37, McQueen-14.654; 18. Rick Shuman, 2, Baxter-14.656; 19. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-14.685; 20. Jake Swanson, 05, Swanson-14.722; 21. Terry Goodwin, 22a, Goodwin-15.095; 22. Stevie Sussex, 1az, Sussex-NT.
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Rutherford, 2. Gardner, 3. Abreu, 4. Johnson, 5. Emmel, 6. Sewell, 7. Pierovich. NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Clauson, 2. Prickett, 3. Welch, 4. Marcham, 5. C.Shuman, 6. K.Swanson, 7. J.Swanson. NT
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Thomas, 2. Larson, 3. Bell, 4. Thorson, 5. R.Shuman, 6. Goodwin, 7. Bernal. NT
FEATURE: (25 laps) 1. Bryan Clauson, 2. Kyle Larson, 3. Ronnie Gardner, 4. Christopher Bell, 5. Rico Abreu, 6. Tyler Thomas, 7. Casey Shuman, 8. Scott Pierovich, 9. Kody Swanson, 10. Jake Swanson, 11. R.J. Johnson, 12. Trey Marcham, 13. Dillon Welch, 14. Riley Emmel, 15. Tyler Thorson, 16. Rick Shuman, 17. Troy Rutherford, 18. Terry Goodwin, 19. David Prickett, 20. Stevie Sussex, 21. Alex Sewell. NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-6 Gardner, Laps 7-25 Clauson.
NEW USAC WESTERN MIDGET DIRT POINTS: 1-Clauson-73, 2-Gardner-61, 3-Abreu-60, 4-Bell-57, 5-C.Shuman-48, 6-Pierovich-41, 7-K.Swanson-39, 8-J.Swanson-35, 9-Marcham-34, 10-Welch-33.
NEXT USAC WESTERN MIDGET DIRT RACE: March 2, 2013 – Peoria, AZ – Canyon Speedway Park – 6th “Copper on Dirt”
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AMSOIL USAC SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: February 23, 2013 – Ocala, Florida – Bubba Raceway Park – “Winter Dirt Games IV”
QUALIFYING: 1. Chase Stockon, 32, Stockon-13.936; 2. Levi Jones, 39, Walker-14.158; 3. Justin Grant, 11, Walker-14.164; 4. Hunter Schuerenberg, 35, Byram-14.216; 5. Tracy Hines, 4, Hines-14.221; 6. Robert Ballou, 5, Baldwin-14.230; 7. Dave Darland, 71P, Phillips-14.283; 8. Bryan Clauson, 20, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-14.286; 9. Nick Drake, 55, Cline-14.290; 10. Tyler Courtney, 23c, Courtney-14.325; 11. Mark Smith, 1M, Smith-14.330; 12. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-14.359; 13. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-14.438; 14. Chris Gurley, 12, Team Automotive-14.462; 15. Scotty Weir, 40, Hery-14.467; 16. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 17RW, Dutcher/RW/TriStar-14.497; 17. A.J. Hopkins, 42G, Jackson-14.516; 18. Chris Windom, 21x, Pollock-14.554; 19. Landon Simon, 41, Stensland-14.560; 20. Shane Cottle, 2, Epperson-14.699; 21. Dallas Hewitt, 2M, Marshall-14.774; 22. Brady Short, 11P, Pottorff-14.915; 23. Kurt Gross, 1x, Gross-14.954; 24. Brian Paulus, 28, Paulus-15.034; 25. Brian Hayden, 77, Wingo-15.126; 26. Travis Hery, 21H, Hery-15.617; 27. Dan Statter, 59, Statter-NT.
FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Stockon, 2. Hines, 3. Hopkins, 4. Leary, 5. Drake, 6. Hewitt, 7. Hayden. NT
SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Windom, 2. Courtney, 3. Short, 4. Jones, 5. Ballou, 6. Gurley, 7. Hery. 1:56.73
THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Simon, 2. Gross, 3. Grant, 4. Smith, 5. Darland, 6. Weir, 7. Statter. 1:55.62
FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Bacon, 2. Cottle, 3. Schuerenberg, 4. Thomas, 5. Clauson, 6. Paulus. 1:55.88
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Ballou, 2. Clauson, 3. Darland, 4. Drake, 5. Weir, 6. Hewitt, 7. Gurley, 8. Paulus, 9. Hayden, 10. Hery, 11. Statter. 2:52.77
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Tracy Hines, 2. Tyler Courtney, 3. Chase Stockon, 4. Robert Ballou, 5. Hunter Schuerenberg, 6. Levi Jones, 7. Brady Bacon, 8. Dave Darland, 9. C.J. Leary, 10. Bryan Clauson, 11. Chris Windom, 12. Scotty Weir, 13. Justin Grant, 14. Chris Gurley, 15. Landon Simon, 16. Brady Short, 17. Nick Drake, 18. A.J. Hopkins, 19. Shane Cottle, 20. Kurt Gross, 21. Mark Smith, 22. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 23. Dallas Hewitt.NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Hines.
NEW AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT POINTS: 1-Schuerenberg-182; 2-Stockon-178; 3-Hines/Clauson-175; 5-Bacon-167; 6-Darland-160; 7-Ballou-142; 8-Thomas-118; 9-Leary-112; 10-Weir-110.
NEXT AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT RACE: April 6 – Lawrenceburg, Indiana – Lawrenceburg Speedway
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CLAUSON STARTS TITLE DEFENSE WITH OCALA WIN
Ocala, Florida…….Bryan Clauson of Noblesville, Indiana began his defense of last year’s AMSOIL National Sprint Car championship in style by winning Thursday’s 30-lap Feature at Bubba Raceway Park. Clauson, who was making his first start aboard the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing sprint car, out-dueled last year’s championship runner-up Dave Darland in a spirited fight over the race’s last fifteen laps en route to his 19th career USAC sprint car win.
Darland took advantage of his front-row starting spot to race to the lead, but Clauson kept pace over the first half of the race as the two stretched out an advantage over the rest of the field. After two early cautions, Darland jumped to the top and led as the pair entered traffic, giving Clauson the chance to pounce for the lead on lap 20. Darland shot back in front with a turn-one slide-job and the battle intensified.
With less than five laps to go, Clauson regrouped for one more run at Darland, catching him in turn-three as Darland dropped low to deal with slower cars. Clauson rocketed off the turn-four cushion with the lead as the white flag flew, completing the final circuit without issue to win in his first night aboard the Chevrolet Performance – Curb Records #20 Beast/Kistler Chevy.
“It was a heckuva race there with Dave. I feel like him and I just picked up right where we left off last year. It was a fun battle. I threw everything I had at him in the middle of the race, and I felt like he countered my best stuff. Traffic helped us get back to him there, and I was able to rail two good corners to get by him. It’s a great way to start the year, and I can’t say enough about my guys on this team getting us the victory in our first night together,” Clauson said.
Darland also ended his first night with a new team, coming home a strong second in the Phillips Motorsports – Racers Advantage #71P DRC/Foxco.
“It was a fun race. Bryan showed me the top there early. I really wasn’t sure what to do – I was looking around for someone to tell me what the hell to do because I couldn’t make up my mind. I got to the top for a bit, but I was trying to get up beside those two cars to block the top, and I didn’t quite get there quick enough. I knew he was there and wasn’t going away, so I was trying to pick the right lanes at the right times, and I did for a while, just not long enough,” Darland said.
Brady Bacon, who intends to pursue the 2013 AMSOIL National Sprint Car championship with Hoffman Auto Racing, closed in on the leaders through traffic, but with a few cars not playing his way was forced to settle for third in the Mean Green – Lykins Oil #69 Triple X/Stanton Mopar.
“A couple lapped cars just didn’t play in my favor. We got close and had a really good car the last five laps, but never got close enough to capitalize. I can’t complain about third, but we’ll keep making improvements and try to get better all year. We were good at the beginning of the night and good at the end, so that’s positive. I’m getting back in the groove of non-wing stuff and our adjustments and the increments of adjustments. Definitely a good start to the season,” Bacon said.
Hunter Schuerenberg finished fourth in the MyLocalFordStore.com – Fatheadz Eyewear #35 Mach1/Rider, and Robert Ballou rounded out the top-five in his first night aboard the Baldwin Brothers Racing – Fox Paving #5 Maxim/Kercher.
AMSOIL USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: February 21, 2013 – Ocala, Florida – Bubba Raceway Park – “Winter Dirt Games IV”
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Chase Stockon, 32, Stockon-14.150; 2. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-14.204; 3. Hunter Schuerenberg, 35, Byram-14.259; 4. Bryan Clauson, 20, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-14.302; 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 17RW, Dutcher-RW-TriStar-14.398; 6. Chris Windom, 21x, Pollock-14.413; 7. Dave Darland, 71P, Phillips-14.433; 8. Coleman Gulick, 14, Gulick-14.505; 9. Mark Smith, 1M, Smith-14.512; 10. Justin Grant, 11, Walker-14.567; 11. Robert Ballou, 5, Baldwin-14.568; 12. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-14.576; 13. Tracy Hines, 4, Hines-14.577; 14. Scotty Weir, 40, Hery-14.628; 15. Tyler Courtney, 23c, Courtney-14.629; 16. Shane Cottle, 2, Epperson-14.694; 17. Nick Drake, 55, Cline-14.783; 18. Brady Short, 11P, Pottorff-14.797; 19. Jac Haudenschild, 41, Stensland-14.811; 20. Landon Simon, 41s, Stensland-15.032; 21. Brian Hayden, 77, Wingo-15.162; 22. Collin Cabre, 12x, Cabre-15.195; 23. Kurt Gross, 1x, Gross-15.237; 24. Chris Gurley, 12, Team Automotive-15.294; 25. Kyle Simon, 21H, Hery-15.317; 26. Derek Hastings, 32M, Marshall-15.490; 27. Dallas Hewitt, 2M, Marshall-15.692; 28. Brian Paulus, 28, Paulus-15.892; 29. Dan Statter, 59, Statter-18.997; 30. A.J. Hopkins, 42G, Jackson-NT.
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Drake, 2, Smith, 3. Hines, 4. Thomas, 5. Stockon, 6. Hayden, 7. K.Simon, 8. Statter. 1:59.97
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Short, 2. Grant, 3. Weir, 4. Bacon, 5. Windom, 6. Cabre, 7. Hastings. 1:59.16
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Haudenschild, 2. Ballou, 3. Darland, 4. Schuerenberg, 5. Gross, 6. Courtney, 7. Hewitt. 1:59.08
FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Cottle, 2. Gulick, 3. Clauson, 4. Leary, 5. Gurley, 6. Paulus, 7. L.Simon. NT
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Windom, 2. Stockon, 3. Courtney, 4. Gurley, 5. L.Simon, 6. Gross, 7. Hewitt, 8. K.Simon, 9. Cabre, 10. Paulus, 11. Statter, 12. Hastings, 13. Hayden. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Bryan Clauson, 2. Dave Darland, 3. Brady Bacon, 4. Hunter Schuerenberg, 5. Robert Ballou, 6. Kevin Thomas, 7. Chase Stockon, 8. Chris Windom, 9. Scotty Weir, 10. Jac Haudendchild, 11. Tracy Hines, 12. Brady Short, 13. Tyler Courtney, 14. C.J. Leary, 15. Mark Smith, 16. Justin Grant, 17. Chris Gurley, 18. Landon Simon, 19. Kurt Gross, 20. Nick Drake, 21. Coleman Gulick, 22. Shane Cottle. NT
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**Hastings flipped during the semi. Cottle flipped on Lap 4 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-19 Darland, Lap 20 Clauson, Laps 21-28 Darland, Laps 29-30 Clauson.
NEW AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT POINTS: 1-Clauson-69; 2-Bacon-64; 3-Darland-63; 4-Schuerenberg-60; 5-Ballou-55; 6-Thomas-52; 7-Stockon-51; 8-Windom-44; 9-Weir-42; 10-Hines-37.
NEXT AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT RACE: February 22 – Ocala, FL – Bubba Raceway Park – “Winter Dirt Games IV”
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Championship Trio To Pilot Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Entries in USAC Silver Crown and Sprint Car Series
Bobby East, Levi Jones and Bryan Clauson Form Potent Three-Car Lineup in 2013
INDIANAPOLIS (Feb. 19, 2013) – With a decorated driver roster for the 2013 U.S. Auto Club (USAC) season, Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing has set its sights on adding to the 12 championships its already earned in the ultra-competitive, open-wheel racing series.
The team will field three entries – two in the USAC Silver Crown division and one in the USAC Sprint Car Series – with drivers Bobby East, Levi Jones and Bryan Clauson.
East will return to the seat of the No. 22 Chevrolet Performance/Curb Records entry to defend the Silver Crown title he earned last year. The 2004 USAC Midget champion was the only driver to score feature victories in all three USAC National Series in 2012, winning in Sprint Car, Midget and Silver Crown.
Joining East in the Silver Crown ranks is Jones, who is a seven-time USAC champion, with five Sprint Car titles (2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011) and two Silver Crown championships (2010, 2011). Jones had season-ending surgery in early September and was forced to miss the final three events of the 2012 season, but the time off has him well-positioned for a strong return in 2013 behind the wheel of the No. 10 Chevrolet Performance/Curb Records machine.
Clauson will be the lone representative for Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing in the USAC Sprint Car ranks. He’ll pilot the No. 20 Chevrolet Performance/Curb Records Maxim as he defends his 2012 Sprint Car championship. In addition to his Sprint Car title, Clausen is a two-time USAC Midget champion (2010, 2011) and a three-time USAC National Drivers champion (2010, 2011, 2012), where USAC tallies a driver’s best 25 finishes among its top-three touring series – Sprint Car, Midget and Silver Crown – to recognize an overall champion.
East closed his first season for Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing in thrilling fashion by winning the Sumar Classic 100 at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track, which enabled him to clinch the USAC Silver Crown title. He won twice and finished inside the top-five six times in nine starts driving the No. 22 Chevrolet Performance/Curb Records machine. The 28-year-old from Pittsboro, Ind., will begin his title defense in April on the same half-mile oval where he hoisted the championship hardware last October.
“It was a tremendous honor to win my first Silver Crown championship last season,” East said. “The support I got from everyone involved with Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing was incredible. Whether it was the people from Chevy Performance, my crew guys and even my teammate Levi Jones, it was unbelievable to accomplish what we did last year. We kind of set the bar pretty high, and I’m really excited to go out and see if we can be champions again.”
Now fully healed, Jones will join East at Terre Haute in April when the 2013 USAC Silver Crown season begins.
“We’re excited about the chance to go out and try to win another Silver Crown championship for Chevy Performance and Curb Records,” said Jones, who hails from Olney, Ill. “I’m feeling great after the surgery and I’m excited about the opportunity to earn Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing another USAC championship.”
In the 2010 and 2011 seasons, Clauson was a teammate of Jones in the Silver Crown division and, this season, he’ll be looking to rejoin Jones as a USAC champion driving a Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing machine. Jones won Sprint Car titles in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011, but it was Clauson who claimed the Sprint Car championship in 2012. Clauson, a participant in last year’s Indianapolis 500, won seven times en route to the Sprint Car title. The Noblesville, Ind., native also win the USAC National Drivers championship for a third consecutive season.
“It’s really exciting to take over the reins of the No. 20 car,” Clauson said. “I’ve got some big shoes to fill with all the success Levi and the team have had the in the past. It’s a special opportunity for me to come back to Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing as the driver of the No. 20. I’m looking forward to continuing the success the team has had with Chevrolet Performance and Curb Records the past few years and to keep growing the team’s tradition of winning.”
All three drivers will be racing machines backed by Chevrolet Performance and Curb Records, continuing a longstanding relationship between Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing and one of the world’s largest car brands.
The success of Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing in USAC has come with the help of many partners. In 2005, Jones carried the Chevrolet bowtie on his Sprint Car and brought Chevrolet its first USAC championship. Last season, Chevrolet Performance and Curb Records served as co-primary sponsors on the machines of Jones and East. This season, the Chevrolet Performance brand will again be a co-primary sponsor on Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing’s USAC Sprint Car and Silver Crown entries.
“Chevrolet’s association with Tony Stewart Racing gives us a direct link to loyal, passionate short-track fans who have a tremendous appreciation for performance,” said Jim Campbell, U.S. Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “This relationship provides us a great opportunity to expose the fans to Chevrolet’s performance vehicles, high performance parts and accessories.”
The team continues its partnership with renowned car owners Mike Curb and Cary Agajanian. For the past three seasons, Tony Stewart Racing has been joined by Curb-Agajanian Racing in its USAC Silver Crown effort. In 2012, that relationship expanded to include both the Silver Crown and Sprint Car entries. In 2013, the team again carries the historic Curb-Agajanian name as a co-entrant with its storied USAC program.
“We are proud to continue our relationship with Tony Stewart Racing where we have shared three consecutive USAC Silver Crown National Championships with drivers Levi Jones and Bobby East,” said Curb, President, Curb Records. “We are also excited to defend our USAC Sprint Car Championship with Bryan Clauson moving to our program. We are also proud to be involved with Donny Schatz and Steve Kinser in the World of Outlaws Series and most of all to be partnered with Tony Stewart.”
“Our goal when we formed Tony Stewart Racing was to create a grassroots motorsports program that would compete for wins and championships while promoting qualified drivers to the next level, as well as providing them with an opportunity to leave their mark on the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series and among the USAC National Series,” said Stewart, who captured four USAC national championships early in his career, including the elusive Triple Crown in 1995 when he earned titles in each of USAC’s top divisions – Sprint Car, Midget and Silver Crown. “We’ve been successful but, in order to remain successful, we needed partners committed to us and committed to motorsports. We’ve found the perfect partners in Chevrolet Performance and Curb Records.
“I’m really proud to work with Mike Curb and Cary Agajanian again this season, not only as co-entrants with our USAC program, but as a sponsor on our World of Outlaws program. They both have such a storied and diverse history in the sport. It’s an honor to work with them.”
Kicking off the season in Florida has become commonplace for many forms of motorsports. Florida Speedweeks brings the best in the business to the Sunshine State and, for the third straight season, USAC will begin its season in Ocala at Bubba Raceway Park. It is where Clauson will make his debut in the No. 20 Chevrolet Performance/Curb Records Feb. 21-23.
For more information regarding the 2013 USAC National Sprint Car or Traxxas Silver Crown Series, visit www.usacracing.com.
Additional information regarding Stewart and TSR can be found at www.tonystewart.com or www.tonystewartracing.com.
Follow Tony Stewart Racing on Facebook at Tony Stewart Racing, and on Twitter at @tonystewart_rcg.
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USAC WESTERN CHAMPS FETED IN PASO ROBLES
USAC's 2012 Western Champions and special award winners were honored Saturday night at the Estrella Warbirds Museum and Woodland Auto Display in Paso Robles, Calif. Competitors in the Ignite Midgets, Western Midgets, Western Classic Sprints, West Coast Sprints, USAC/CRA Sprints, and more were celebrated as a large crowd was in attendance.
Perris Auto Speedway Announcer Chris Holt served as master of ceremonies and before the festivities began, Anne Wilkerson honored Dick Woodland with the "Billy Wilkerson Award." Western Region Director Chris Kearns addressed the crowd and celebrated Clay Daly and Steve Drake for winning their Dirt Late Model Championships at Santa Maria Speedway. Kearns also announced that the Woodland Auto Display will sponsor both the West Coast and AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Cars during the 2013 campaign.
USAC/CRA Sprint Champion Mike Spencer was honored by USAC Vice President Dick Jordan for making history with his fifth consecutive title. Bud Kaeding (West Coast Sprint), Tony Hunt (Western Classic Sprint), and Ryan Bernal (Santa Maria Sprint) were also celebrated for their championships. Shannon McQueen was noted for becoming the fifth female champion driver in USAC history by claiming the Western Midget crown. David Prickett (Western Dirt Midget), Chad Nichols (Western Pavement Midget), along with Ignite Midget champions Garrett Peterson (Northern Pavement), Cory Elliott (Western Dirt), and Bryant Dawson (Las Vegas Pavement) were also recognized.
Ron Chaffin (USAC/CRA Sprint) and Junior Bowman (West Coast Sprint) were celebrated for winning their respective Car Owner Championships.
Rookie of the Year honors were awarded to Jake Swanson (USAC/CRA Sprint), Austin Liggett (West Coast Sprint), and Nick Chivello (Western Midget). Brody Roa earned the title of USAC/CRA's Most Improved Driver and Mechanic of the Year Awards went to Bruce Bromme Jr. (USAC/CRA Sprint), and Brian Matherly (West Coast Sprint). Jimmy May earned the Western All Out Mechanic Award for the JFM team's success with the USAC/CRA Sprints, West Coast Sprints, and Western Midget Series.
Veteran driver Wally Pankratz presented the Joe Lynch Mechanical Achievement Award to Kirk Swanson.
A good time was had by all in attendance and visitors had free access to the exhibits at the Estrellla Warbird Museum and Woodland Auto Display.
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MIDGETS, SPRINTS HEAD FOR FLORIDA OPENERS
USAC racing has a storied past in Florida and enters its future in the coming two weeks with National events at two ovals during the state’s biggest racing motorsports period.
The National Midgets, returning to Florida for the first time in eight years, visit New Smyrna Speedway in New Smyrna Beach February 17 and 18 (Sunday and Monday) during the final buildup to the famed Daytona 500, slated at Daytona Beach February 24 just to the north of New Smyrna Beach.
The following Thursday, Friday and Saturday (February 21-22-23) finds the AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Cars competing at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala.
Josh Wise won USAC’s last Florida Midget race at Orlando in 2005, while the Sprint Cars are returning to Ocala for the third consecutive year.
Race fans will be treated to both pavement and dirt racing, with the Midgets on New Smyrna’s half-mile paved oval and the Sprints pounding the 3/8-mile dirt at Ocala.
Drivers Tracy Hines and Bryan Clauson are expected to be among those competing in all five races. Hines is a former USAC Silver Crown and Sprint Champion, while Hagen earned his initial Midget crown last year. Both Hagen and Hines are former USAC winners in the state. Hagen won a Sprint race at Ocala last year and Hines won a Silver Crown race at Homestead-Miami in 2007.
Race fans unable to make the journey from the north will also be able to catch all the non-stop Sprint car action from Ocala by accessing the USAC website, usacracing.tv, where those events will be streamed live on a pay-per-view basis.
Florida USAC racing debuted in 1956 with the first-ever USAC Sprint races at West Palm Beach, Jacksonville and Miami. The USAC Midgets made their Florida debut the following year with the popular “Tangerine Tournament” at eight different venues.
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HAUDENSCHILD LATEST TO THROW HAT IN OCALA RING!
Jac Haudenschild of Wooster, Ohio, who earned the richest payday in the history of Sprint racing when he grabbed the “Mopar Million” at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio in 2003, has joined the field for USAC’s 2013 AMSOIL National Sprint Car openers February 21-23 at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla.
audenschild will team with fellow Ohio driver and potential USAC “Rookie of the Year” candidate Landon Simon of Tipp City.
“The Wild Child’s” last USAC appearance came in a non-points event at Oskaloosa, Iowa last year. His last points appearance in a USAC National event came at Lawrenceburg, Ind. in 2011.
In 2003, Jac polished off the largest field of drivers in USAC history when he took the $200,000 winner’s share at Eldora. A total of 138 cars competed in that event and Haudenschild led the final 12 laps of the 40-lap classic after passing Dickie Gaines, who finished third behind runner-up Stevie Smith.
Haudenschild has a half-dozen previous USAC Sprint car wins to his credit, all in his home state of Ohio. Four of those six came at Eldora Speedway in 1982, 1984, 1985 and 1988. His other wins were at Findlay in 1982 and Attica in 1990.
Defending USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Champion Bryan Clauson is also among pre-race favorites, along with former series champions Tracy Hines and Levi Jones, 2012 “Rookie of the Year” C.J. Leary and 2012 USAC “Most Improved Driver” Chase Stockon.
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LVMS HOSTS NEXT WEST COAST SPRINT – MARCH 7; CLAUSON TAKES 3, JOHNSON 1 IN “WINTER CHALLENGE”
USAC National Drivers Champion Bryan Clauson of Noblesville, Ind. emerged as the winner of the “Winter Challenge” at Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria, Ariz. this past week. Driving the Mike Martin Ultimate Offroad/Naquin Precision Earth Moving Maxim, he scored Wednesday, Friday and Saturday feature wins at the 3/8-mile dirt oval.
R.J. Johnson of Phoenix, Ariz. kept Clauson from recording a “clean sweep” with his Saturday win in the Bobby Martin Weiler Farms/Pecon Builders Maxim.
The USAC West Coast and Southwest Sprint Cars now gear up for another “special event” March 7 in the “Sin City Showdown” at the Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway Dirt Track.
Clauson passed Bruce St. James on the 11th lap of Wednesday night’s 30-lapper and led the final 20 laps to beat Jeremy Sherman, St. James, Richard Vander Weerd and Mike Martin. On Friday, Clauson passed Jon Stanbrough on lap 12 and led the final 19 laps to beat Stanbrough, Robert Ballou, Ryan Bernal and Charles Davis Jr.
Saturday’s day-night “doubleheader” was created by the previous weekend’s triple rainout. Johnson paced all 30 laps of Saturday’s daytime event to beat Stanbrough, Bernal, Davis and Josh Pelkey.
Clauson led all 30 laps of Saturday night’s 30-lapper, leading Sherman, Davis, Colby Copeland and Stanbrough to the checkered flag.
Final 2013 “Winter Challenge” Points
1-Bryan Clauson-232, 2-Jon Stanbrough-226, 3-Charles Davis Jr.-215, 4-Jeremy Sherman-186, 5-Richard Vander Weerd-180.
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Sprints
2013 points
May 17
1. Chase Stockon 466
2. Dave Darland 452
3. Kevin Thomas 440
4. Brady Bacon 439
5. Hunter Schuerenberg 422
6. Bryan Clauson 417
7. Robert BVallou 406
8. Tracy Hines 381
9. C.J. Leary 275
10. Tyler Courtney 254
USAC Midgets
FINAL
1. Darren Hagen 1312
2. Tracy Hines 1111
3. Bryan Clauson 1051
4. Caleb Armstrong 955
5. Kyle Larson 927
6. Brad Kuhn 867
7. Rico Abreu 829
8. Jerry Coons 794
9. Bobby East 745
10. Dakota Armstrong 695
Silver Crown
FINAL
1. Bobby East 412
2. Jerry Coons 400
3. Kody Swanson 374
4. Bud Kaeding 358
5. Tanner Swanson 325
6. Tracy Hines 310
7. Brian Tyler 276
8. Levi Jones 270
9. Bobby Santos 253
10. Russ Gamester 249
USAC/CRA
May 4
1. Damion Gardner 471
2. Nic Faas 459
3. Mike Spencer 363
4. Bud Kaeding 356
5. R.J. Johnson 300
5. Cody Williams 300
7. Austin Williams 276
8. Brody Roa 250
9. Charles Davis Jr. 232
10. Matt Mitchell 231
West Coast 360s
April 19
1. Ryan Bernal 332
2. R.Vander Weerd-308
3. J.Vander Weerd-277
4. Danny Faria 267
5. Bud Kaeding 242
6. Markus Niemela 240
7. Rusty Carlile 218
8. Ricky Kirkbride 185
9. Marty Hawkins 168
10. Landon Hurst 151
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