Perris, California (September 22, 2024)………Charles Davis Jr. led early; he led often; and he led late en route to victory during Saturday night’s Avanti Windows & Doors USAC CRA Sprint Car event at southern California’s Perris Auto Speedway.
Davis (Buckeye, Ariz.) started the 30-lap main event from the outside of the front row, and subsequently led the opening 16 laps before giving way to new series point leader R.J. Johnson. Johnson seemed prime on scoring his first Perris USAC CRA win since 2017.
That is until one lap after the lap 26 restart when Davis found his way back past Johnson with four laps remaining, then successfully fended off Johnson for the balance of the distance to capture his seventh career USAC CRA win and his second of the 2024 season.
Johnson (Laveen, Ariz.) didn’t leave Perris empty handed, however. His runner-up result vaulted him ahead of Tommy Malcolm (Corona, Calif.) in the championship point standings. Johnson now holds a three-point lead with seven events remaining.
Austin Williams (Yorba Linda, Calif.) took third with Malcolm fourth while Austin Grabowski (Riverside, Calif.) collected a season best finish of fifth.
Two red flags occurred during the feature with a total of three drivers getting upside down. Chris Gansen and Logan Calderwood flipped in turn three on lap two of the feature. David Gasper flipped in the second turn on lap 26 of the feature while running sixth. All three drivers walked away.
Matt Mitchell (Yorba Linda, Calif.) earned his 15th career Woodland Auto Display Fast Qualifying time over the 22 car roster. Mitchell tied Cory Kruseman and Blake Miller for fifth on the all-time list with USAC CRA in that category.
Austin Grabowski won the FlowDynamics Incorporated / Sexton Fire Protection / In Honor of Wiley Miller Sr. and Wiley Miller II First Heat Race. Cody Williams scored the BillsJerky.net / Factory Wraps Second Heat Race. Charles Davis Jr. captured the WC Friend Company / In Memory of Jim and Chet Gardner Third Heat Race.
AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES: September 21, 2024 – Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, California
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-16.544; 2. Cody Williams, 44, Williams-16.587; 3. R.J. Johnson, 51, Johnson-16.600; 4. Austin Williams, 17w, Dunkel-16.800; 5. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-16.821; 6. Charles Davis Jr., 47, Davis-16.927; 7. Tommy Malcolm, 5x, Napier-16.972 8. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-16.998; 9. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 51T, Tafoya-17.012; 10. Logan Williams, 5w, McCarthy-17.025; 11. David Gasper, 18, Kittle/Gasper-17.112; 12. Logan Calderwood, 4, Calderwood-17.139; 13. Austin Grabowski, 72, Grabowski-17.330; 14. Grant Sexton, 22, Sexton-17.343; 15. Stevie Rogers, 11, Burgeson/Rogers-17.396; 16. Jordan Hermansader, 71, Martin-17.400; 17. Verne Sweeney, 98, Guerrero-17.459; 18. Brent Sexton, 44s, Sexton-17.590; 19. Elexa Herrera, 5E, Herrera-17.708; 20. Jonas Reynolds, 0, Reynolds-17.846; 21. Cal Smith, 39, Cal-Sun-18.472; 22. Dan Taylor, T5, Taylor-NT.
FLOWDYNAMICS INCORPORATED / SEXTON FIRE PROTECTION / IN HONOR OF WILEY MILLER SR. & WILEY MILLER II FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Austin Grabowski, 2. Tommy Malcolm, 3. Matt Mitchell, 4. Logan Williams, 5. Austin Williams, 6. Jordan Hermansader, 7. Elexa Herrera, 8. Dan Taylor. 2:52.89
BILLSJERKY.NET / FACTORY WRAPS SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Cody Williams, 2. Grant Sexton, 3. David Gasper, 4. Chris Gansen, 5. Verne Sweeney, 6. Jonas Reynolds, 7. A.J. Bender. NT
WC FRIEND COMPANY / IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Charles Davis Jr., 2. R.J. Johnson, 3. Logan Calderwood, 4. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 5. Stevie Rogers, 6. Brent Sexton, 7. Cal Smith. 2:56.48
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Charles Davis Jr. (2), 2. R.J. Johnson (4), 3. Austin Williams (7), 4. Tommy Malcolm (1), 5. Austin Grabowski (13), 6. Eddie Tafoya Jr. (9), 7. A.J. Bender (8), 8. Jordan Hermansader (16), 9. Verne Sweeney (17), 10. Logan Williams (10), 11. Brent Sexton (18), 12. Cody Williams (5), 13. David Gasper (11), 14. Matt Mitchell (6), 15. Stevie Rogers (15), 16. Dan Taylor (22), 17. Jonas Reynolds (20), 18. Cal Smith (21), 19. Chris Gansen (3), 20. Logan Calderwood (12), 21. Grant Sexton (14), 22. Elexa Herrera (19). NT
**Chris Gansen & Logan Calderwood flipped on lap 2 of the feature. David Gasper flipped on lap 26 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-16 Charles Davis Jr., Laps 17-26 R.J. Johnson, Laps 27-30 Charles Davis Jr.
IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER HARD CHARGER: Austin Grabowski (13th to 5th)
NEW AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-R.J. Johnson-998, 2-Tommy Malcolm-995, 3-Austin Williams-915, 4-A.J. Bender-869, 5-Logan Williams-869, 6-David Gasper-820, 7-Cody Williams-786, 8-Verne Sweeney-651, 9-Austin Grabowski-646, 10-Eddie Tafoya Jr.-613.
NEXT AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: September 28, 2024 – The Dirt Track at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway – Bakersfield, California
