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.   

     

Arizona invader smokes

the USAC/CRA regulars

 

 

The author visited the Perris Auto Speedway (PAS) for the June 24 2017 AMSOIL United States Auto Club (USAC)/CRA (California Racing Association sprint car “Moose Racing Night” program. Upon arrival, it was noted that there were 27 entries, divided among three classes; in addition to the 410 cubic inch USAC/CRA class, the PAS ‘Young Guns’ and the PAS ‘Senior Sprints.’  The USAC/CRA regulars were joined by a number of Arizona racers who made the long trip West on I-10.

The ‘Young Guns’ class is open to drivers from 14-25 years of age with no previous sprint car experience in cars powered by cast iron block 360 cubic inch engines and restricted aluminum 410 cubic inch engines to allow drivers to gain confidence racing against others of the same ability. The ‘Senior’ sprint cars are similarly powered and are open to drivers 45 years of age or older.  

The program opened with single-car two-lap time trials and Jake Swanson driver of the Moose Racing #92 emerged on top with a best lap of 16.478 seconds, far off of Nic Faas’ track record of 15.833 seconds.

The ‘Senior Sprints’ 4-car heat race was next, with the number of starters reduced by two cars, as Eddie Tafoya’s car broke during hot laps and Richard McCormick’s #71 was pushed off several times but refused to fire off. The ageless Rick Hendrix was the 'Senior' sprint heat winner as he led all 8 laps.  Next up was the ‘Young Guns’ 6-lap heat which started just three cars, and Hannah Mayhew won by a straightaway over Blade Henderson who lost the engine in his #5 entry on the final lap.    

Each of the USAC/CRA 10-lap heat races started nine cars with the top four cars automatically advanced into the feature starting field. The first heat race was won by pole-sitter Chris Gansen ahead of Max Adams with Gansen’s teammate Mike Spencer finishing third. Quick qualifier Jake Swanson finished fifth and would have to start the semi-main.

Damion Gardner won the second heat race ahead of AJ Bender with the VanderWeerd twins, Richard and Jace third and fourth. The final heat race was captured by Austin Williams who staged a race-long duel with multi-time USAC Southwest champion RJ Johnson with Brody Roa finishing third ahead Arizona’s Charles Davis Jr.

The ‘Young Guns’ feature was scheduled for 15 laps, and at the drop of the green Hannah Mayhew leapt into the lead and built up a half-lap lead over the second place runner 14-year old Joel Rayburn. Around lap ten the engine in Mayhew’s machine began to labor and by lap twelve, her #43 sprint car was continually smoking.

The crowd held their breath to see if Mayhew’s engine would survive when on lap 14 the engine in Rayburn’s car broke as he exited turn four and his car erupted in flames and came to a stop nosed into the inside retaining wall and Rayburn bailed out uninjured as the red flap was displayed. Later in Victory Lane, Mayhew revealed that her car’s engine had also broken, so all the entries in the ‘Young Guns’ class this night went home with broken engines. The “Senior Sprint Cars” followed with a twenty-lap 3-car feature in which all three cars finished.  

Jake Swanson went wire-to-wire in the semi-main chased across the finish line by Tommy Malcolm and USAC Western States midget champion Ronnie Gardner. The night’s ninth fastest  qualifier RJ Johnson started on the pole for the night’s 30-lap feature and immediately took the lead and held on by using the low line with his #51 car’s left front wheel just grazing the inside beam through the turns.

Johnson was in the lead on lap seven when the red flag was displayed for the tangled cars of Brody Roa and Jake Swanson in turn one. Neither car overturned, but the track had to be blocked in order to allow the safety crew to untangle the mess. Both drivers were okay, with Swanson’s 'Moose Racing' #92 car eliminated but Roa returned after repairs.

On the restart, Damion Gardner who had fallen to fifth, charged forward and grabbed third place on lap 11, but he soon slowed in turn three with an apparent steering or brake problem. As Gardner angled his stricken #4 machine towards the work area under the caution flag, Chris Gansen ran over Gardner’s machine and flipped at the head of the front straightaway which brought out the evening’s third red flag.  Neither driver was injured in the accident or the subsequent scuffle, but both cars were through for the evening.

When action resumed, Johnson continued to run his low line as second place Richard VenderWeerd experimented with various lines through the corners but was unable to get closer than two car lengths to the speeding Johnson and held off the challenges of third place Ronnie Gardner with Austin Williams in fourth. The running order at the front did not change over the last seventeen laps and RJ Johnson sponsored by the Phoenix area Martin Auto Museum took the trophy and big paycheck home to Phoenix after he led all 30 laps and never was seriously challenged.   

Perris Auto Speedway will be back in action on July 1 with the “Night of Destruction IV’ that will feature Demolition Cross, Figure 8's, Figure 8 Trailer Racing, Spectator Racing, Formula-X Autocross & CrossKarts, while the USAC/CRA sprint cars will return to action that same night at Santa Maria Raceway for the Doug Fort Memorial.