PERRIS, Calif. — Report by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — USAC Racing photo —
Richard Vander Weerd continued his recent dominance of the AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series during Saturday night’s So-Cal Showdown at Perris Auto Speedway.
Vander Weerd powered past early race leader Mike Spencer on lap eight of the 30-lap A-main and never looked back from there, leading the rest of the way to take the Power of Purple Night race win at the controls of his No. 10 Vander Weerd Construction/Battery Worx Maxim/Shark.
The score was his second series win in 2015 after also winning the opener at Perris back in March.
“The Demon”, Damion Gardner, snuck by Spencer for second in the closing laps and took over the series’ points lead by five points as a result of the runner-up effort.
Spencer held on to collect third, with Ryan Bernal and Austin Williams rounding out the top five.
Jake Swanson set fast time in qualifying to kick off the program, with a fast lap of 16.607 seconds (108.388 mph) at the wheel of his No. 92 Sertich-powered mount.
Heat race wins went to Bernal, Gardner, and Cody Williams. Matt Mitchell came back to take the semi-feature victory after flipping in his heat race.
The AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series returns to action on May 2 for the series’ third visit of the year to Perris.
For more information, visit www.usacracing.com.
RESULTS: AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series; So-Cal Showdown; Perris Auto Speedway; Perris, Calif.; April 18, 2015
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-16.607; 2. Damion Gardner, 4, Alexander-16.640; 3. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-16.737; 4. Richard Vander Weerd, 10, Vander Weerd-16.825; 5. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-16.834; 6. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-16.841; 7. Jace Vander Weerd, 88, Vander Weerd-16.971; 8. A.J. Bender, 21B, Bender-16.940; 9. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-16.944; 10. Ryan Bernal, 73, Ford-17.071; 11. Ronnie Gardner, 93, Gardner-17.090; 12. Rickie Gaunt, 9, McDonald-17.190; 13. David Bezio, 37X, Bezio-17.312; 14. Cory Kruseman, 21K, Kruseman-17.448; 15. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-17.599; 16. Logan Williams, 5, Jory-17.607; 17. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-17.615; 18. Tommy Malcolm, 5X, Napier-17.637; 19. Cal Smith, 39, Cal-Sun-17.744; 20. Verne Sweeney, 98X, Tracy-17.782; 21. Terry Schank Jr., 1, Gleeson-17.842; 22. Parker Colston, 64, Gore-17.915; 23. Jeremy Ellertson, 98, Ellertson-17.996; 24. Anthony Lopiccolo, 36, Springstead-18.240; 25. Tobey Sampson, 12B, Blair-18.345; 26. Gary Potter, 6P, Potter-19.151; 27. Chris Dyson, 71K, Kruseman-19.301.
HEAT WINNERS: (10 laps each) Bernal, D.Gardner, C.Williams
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Mitchell, 2. Swanson, 3. Bezio, 4. Bender, 5. Schank, 6. Gansen, 7. Malcolm, 8. Sweeney, 9. Ellertson, 10. Colston, 11. Lopiccolo, 12. Smith, 13. Dyson, 14. Sampson, 15. Potter.
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Richard Vander Weerd, 2. Damion Gardner, 3. Mike Spencer, 4. Ryan Bernal, 5. Austin Williams, 6. Matt Mitchell, 7. Jace Vander Weerd, 8. Brody Roa, 9. Rickie Gaunt, 10. David Bezio, 11. Ronnie Gardner, 12. Cory Kruseman, 13. Cody Williams, 14. Logan Williams, 15. Chris Gansen, 16. Tommy Malcolm, 17. A.J. Bender, 18. Verne Sweeney, 19. Jake Swanson, 20. Terry Schank Jr., 21. Jeremy Ellertson, 22. Parker Colston. NT
* Mitchell flipped during the third heat. Schank flipped during the feature. *
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-7 Spencer, Laps 8-30 R.Vander Weerd
CREDIT: USAC Racing
