Perris, California (August 17, 2024)………Cody Williams’ last lap pass in the main event netted him a complete sweep of Saturday’s Avanti Windows & Doors USAC CRA Sprint Car Series feature at southern California’s Perris Auto Speedway.
Williams (Corona, Calif.) set quick time in Woodland Auto Display Time Trials, then followed it up by charging from sixth to first to win his heat race. To top of the night, Williams raced by A.J. Bender (San Diego, Calif.) on the final lap to score his first feature victory of the season, in an inaugural Brother Brett Classic which feature five lead changes in a 30-lap span.
The event honored the memory of Brett Taylor, who passed away at the age of 66 earlier this year. Taylor was everyone’s friend in the pit area and was known throughout short track racing in southern and central California. In addition, he was a mainstay with the Police and Fire Departments in Ventura County.
Bender led the opening nine laps before giving way for a lap to Charles Davis Jr. on the sixth circuit. Bender quickly grabbed the top spot once again on the 11th go around and led through lap 16. Meanwhile, Williams was hustling his way to the front in his family-owed No. 44, taking the lead on lap 17 and pacing the field for the next five go arounds.
Not going away lightly into the night was Bender who reemerged as the leader on lap 22 and took the white flag as the leader. On the final lap, Williams got by Bender once again to notch the victory, the fourth of his USAC CRA career and his first since May of 2022, also at Perris. Bender finished second with point leader Tommy Malcolm (Corona, Calif.) third, Charles Davis Jr. (Buckeye, Ariz.) fourth and R.J. Johnson (Laveen, Ariz.) fifth.
Cody Williams became the ninth different driver to claim a victory during the 2024 USAC CRA season through 12 events. He also now leads all USAC CRA drivers with four fast qualifying awards in 2024. To put the cherry on top of his night, Williams also earned hard charger honors in memory of Jim & Chet Gardner.
Williams’ fourth fast time award of the season was the 19th of his career, which ranks fourth on the all-time USAC CRA list.
An extra $1,000 went to the winner of the 30-lap main event courtesy of Mike Grosswendt from All Coast Construction, bumping the winner's share to $4,000 total.
Furthermore, the fastest four qualifiers competed in the Brother Brett Trophy Dash, a series of four three-lap rotating dashes where points were earned. R.J. Johnson was the overall winner and pocketed an extra $2,000.
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AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: August 17, 2024 – Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, California – Brother Brett Classic
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Cody Williams, 44, Williams-16.512; 2. R.J. Johnson, 51, Johnson-16.721; 3. Matt McCarthy, 28m, McCarthy-16.866; 4. Logan Williams, 5w, McCarthy-16.959; 5. Charles Davis Jr., 47, Davis-17.012; 6. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-17.124; 7. Kyle Edwards, 39E, Edwards-17.152; 8. Tommy Malcolm, 5x, Napier-17.177; 9. David Gasper, 18, Kittle/Gasper-17.215; 10. Verne Sweeney, 98, Guerrero-17.308; 11. Austin Williams, 17w, Dunkel-17.515; 12. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 51T, Tafoya-17.594; 13. Elexa Herrera, 5E, Herrera-17.757; 14. Austin Grabowski, 72, Grabowski-17.790; 15. Jordan Hermansader, 71, Martin-18.121; 16. Jonas Reynolds, 0, Reynolds-18.130; 17. Tanner Boul, 99T, Boul-18.190; 18. Dan Taylor, T5, Taylor-18.432; 19. Cal Smith, 39, Cal-Sun-18.961; 20. Tyler Hatzikian, 27, Hatzikian-NT.
BROTHER BRETT TROPHY DASH: (four 3-lap dashes) 1. R.J. Johnson (10 points), 2. Matt McCarthy (8 points), 3. Logan Williams (4 points), 4. Cody Williams (2 points).
FLOWDYNAMICS INCORPORATED / SEXTON FIRE PROTECTION / IN HONOR OF WILEY MILLER SR. & WILEY MILLER JR. FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, all cars transfer to feature) 1. Cody Williams, 2. Verne Sweeney, 3. Logan Williams, 4. Kyle Edwards, 5. Elexa Herrera, 6. Jonas Reynolds, 7. Cal Smith. 2:58.60
BILLSJERKY.NET / FACTORY WRAPS SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, all cars transfer to feature) 1. Tommy Malcolm, 2. Charles Davis Jr., 3. R.J. Johnson, 4. Austin Williams, 5. Austin Grabowski, 6. Tanner Boul, 7. Tyler Hatzikian. 3:03.38
WC FRIEND COMPANY / IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, all cars transfer to feature) 1. A.J. Bender, 2. Matt McCarthy, 3. David Gasper, 4. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 5. Jordan Hermansader, 6. Dan Taylor. 3:06.04
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Cody Williams (6), 2. A.J. Bender (1), 3. Tommy Malcolm (8), 4. Charles Davis Jr. (2), 5. R.J. Johnson (5), 6. Logan Williams (3), 7. Austin Williams (11), 8. David Gasper (9), 9. Verne Sweeney (10), 10. Eddie Tafoya Jr. (12), 11. Kyle Edwards (7), 12. Austin Grabowski (14), 13. Elexa Herrera (13), 14. Jordan Hermansader (15), 15. Matt McCarthy (4), 16. Dan Taylor (18), 17. Tyler Hatzikian (20), 18. Tanner Boul (17), 19. Jonas Reynolds (16), 20. Cal Smith (19). NT
**Jonas Reynolds flipped on lap 15 of the feature. Matt McCarthy flipped on lap 21 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-9 A.J. Bender, Lap 10 Charles Davis Jr., Laps 11-16 A.J. Bender, Laps 17-21 Cody Williams, Laps 22-29 A.J. Bender, Lap 30 Cody Williams.
IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER HARD CHARGER: Cody Williams (6th to 1st)
NEW AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Tommy Malcolm-789, 2-R.J. Johnson-781, 3-A.J. Bender-721, 4-Logan Williams-713, 5-Austin Williams-704, 6-Cody Williams-700, 7-David Gasper-639, 8-Verne Sweeney-511, 9-Eddie Tafoya Jr.-500, 10-Austin Grabowski-467.
NEXT AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: August 31, 2024 – The Dirt Track at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway – Bakersfield, California
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