Austin Williams wins a shocker at the PAS

The author attended the “California Racers Hall of Fame” race program Saturday night at Perris Auto Speedway (PAS) which featured the Lightning Sprints, the PAS Young Guns sprint cars, PAS Senior sprint cars, and as  the featured class,  the USAC/CRA sprint cars.


The author attended the event as a guest of Kim Kazarian and Chris Holt, and as always, the PAS staff were warm and welcoming, and the half-mile facility looks just as pristine as when the author attended his first race at the PAS in its first year of operation in 1996.

Photo by the author

Before the racing program kicked off the PAS hosted a Hall of Fame autograph session that featured a “who’s who” of California racing, including Richard and Claudia Woodland, Tommy and Tony Hunt, John Redican, George Blacker, Shane Carson, Jimmy Oskie, Brad Nofsinger and many more (there were too many to list, and our apologies to those we overlooked.) 


The author was honored to assist Shane Carson and Jimmy Oskie in their efforts to raise money to aid veteran CRA racer and National Sprint Car Hall of Fame member Bob Hogle, who at age 84 is at home in Phelan California on the mend from a broken hip.


At the same time, behind the main grandstand there was also an impressive display of vintage race cars from the Western Racing Association including two of Junior Kurtz' dirt champ cars.  

Damion Gardner in the Alexander #4 sponsored by Trench Shoring who topped the speed charts at 16.662 seconds in time trials for the twenty-two USAC/CRA sprint cars. The "Demon" was trailed by Brody Roa at 16.764 seconds with Cody Williams in third as the only other car in the 16-second bracket with a best lap of 16.885 seconds.

The evening's racing program began with the Junior Kurtz trophy dash, which was conducted in four sets of three-lap dashes with each of the four-car taking a turn as the pole position starter. Gardner dominated and won the first three dashes before he settled for second place in the fourth and final dash. Gardner as the leading point earner won the dash series over Roa and the brothers Cody and Austin Williams. Victories in the subsequent three ten-lap heat races went to Gardner, Roa, and Max Adams, who was hot off his recent win at Santa Maria Speedway.

Arizona’s Tye Mihocko and Adams shared the front row for the 30-lap feature with Danny Sheridan and Austin Williams in row two, Roa and Gardner in row three, and Cody Williams and RJ Johnson, the new driver of the Mooser Racing #92 the fourth row starters.


Max Adams led the first three circuits until Damion Gardner powered past to take the point on the fourth lap. In the early stages of the race, the lead pair of cars, leader Gardner with Roa close behind, built a straightway cushion over third place Sheridan when the caution flag flew on lap 13.

When racing resumed, Gardner continued to lead, but steadily fell back in the clutches of Roa who took over command of the race on lap 23. Two laps later, as Roa and Gardner raced through turns three and four in heavy traffic, their cars made contact, and Damion’s sliver #4 flipped. Almost simultaneously, the left rear tire on Sheridan’s fluorescent red #12 car exploded in spectacular fashion.  

All the carnage left Austin “the Big Game Hunter” Williams in the lead in the John Jory #2 with Max Adams second and Cody Williams in the #44 Jory machine third.  The last four laps were run without incident with Austin taking the win over Adams, and brother Cody with Danny Faria Junior in fourth place as Brody Roa made a great recovery to finish fifth.


Faria, who had started 12^th was awarded the race’s hard charger award, while Roa’s finish moved him into the lead of the USAC/CRA points with half the season yet to run.