Imperial, California (October 18, 2024)………David Gasper raced into the lead late, then led the final eight laps to score his second career Avanti Windows & Doors USAC CRA Sprint Car Series victory during Friday night’s 3rd Annual Heritage Fall Classic in the series debut at California’s Imperial Valley Raceway.
Gasper (Goleta, Calif.), the leading Rookie of the Year contender with the series, led early and led late during the 30-lap feature, but had his hands full with Tye Mihocko and Austin Williams throughout. Gasper paced the opening two circuits before yielding to Mihocko from laps 3-16. Williams emerged up front on lap 17 and led the ensuing six laps.
On lap 23, Gasper wrestled control and led the remainder of the way in his Kittle-Gasper No. 18. Austin Williams (Yorba Linda, Calif.) grabbed second ahead of series point leader R.J. Johnson in third, Tye Mihocko (Peoria, Ariz.) fourth and Shon Deskins (Waddell, Ariz.) fifth.
The night featured three notable incidents. Ricky Lewis caught a rut while running the top line during the semi and flipped his backup car in turn one. On lap five of the feature, series newcomer Dayton Shelton flipped on the back straightaway. On the 17th lap of the feature, Mark Henry Jr. flipped in turn one. All drivers were able to walk away.
R.J. Johnson (Laveen, Ariz.) was the Woodland Auto Display Fast Qualifier and topped the 25-car roster by establishing a new track record. Johnson also won the FlowDynamics Inc. / Sexton Fire Protection / In Honor of Wiley Miller Sr. and Wiley Miller II First Heat Race. Grant Sexton (Lakeside, Calif.) scored the BillsJerky.net / Factory Wraps Second Heat Race victory. A.J. Bender (San Diego, Calif.) was triumphant in the WC Friend Company / In Memory of Jim and Chet Gardner Third Heat Race.
Blake Bower (Brentwood, Calif.) earned hard charger honors in memory of Jim & Chet Gardner after advancing from his 19th place starting spot to finish 10th in the feature.
AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: October 18, 2024 – Imperial Valley Raceway – Imperial, California – 3rd Annual Heritage Fall Classic
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. R.J. Johnson, 51, Johnson-11.976 (New Track Record); 2. Cody Williams, 44, Williams-11.984; 3. Austin Grabowski, 72, Grabowski-12.008; 4. Tommy Malcolm, 5x, Napier-12.033; 5. Ricky Lewis, 17, Dunkel-12.092; 6. Tye Mihocko, 5, Wilson-12.113; 7. Austin Williams, 17w, Dunkel-12.178; 8. Logan Williams, 5w, McCarthy-12.190; 9. David Gasper, 18, Kittle/Gasper-12.238; 10. Shon Deskins, 20, Deskins-12.319; 11. Charles Davis Jr., 47, Davis-12.326; 12. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-12.373; 13. Verne Sweeney, 98, Guerrero-12.376; 14. Grant Sexton, 22, Sexton-12.508; 15. Jeff Dyer, 39, Cal-Sun-12.543; 16. Mark Henry Jr., 39R, Henry-12.567; 17. Stevie Rogers, 11, Burgeson/Rogers-12.641; 18. Jonas Reynolds, 0, Reynolds-12.705; 19. Dayton Shelton, 9, Shelton-12.722; 20. Blake Bower, 17x, Dunkel-12.742; 21. Jon DeWees, 63D, DeWees-12.835; 22. Elexa Herrera, 5E, Herrera-12.886; 23. Tom Dunkel, 17A, Dunkel-13.369; 24. Todd Pratt, 17T, Pratt-13.466; 25. Brent Sexton, 44s, Sexton-13.927.
FLOWDYNAMICS INCORPORATED / SEXTON FIRE PROTECTION / IN HONOR OF WILEY MILLER SR. & WILEY MILLER II FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. R.J. Johnson, 2. Shon Deskins, 3. Verne Sweeney, 4. Austin Williams, 5. Dayton Shelton, 6. Tommy Malcolm, 7. Mark Henry Jr., 8. Elexa Herrera, 9. Brent Sexton. NT
BILLSJERKY.NET / FACTORY WRAPS SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Grant Sexton, 2. Charles Davis Jr., 3. Logan Williams, 4. Stevie Rogers, 5. Blake Bower, 6. Cody Williams, 7. Tom Dunkel, 8. Ricky Lewis. NT
WC FRIEND COMPANY / IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. A.J. Bender, 2. David Gasper, 3. Tye Mihocko, 4. Austin Grabowski, 5. Jon DeWees, 6. Jonas Reynolds, 7. Todd Pratt, 8. Jeff Dyer. NT
FACTORY WRAPS SEMI: (12 laps, top-7 transfer to feature) 1. Cody Williams, 2. Tommy Malcolm, 3. Jeff Dyer, 4. Jonas Reynolds, 5. Elexa Herrera, 6. Mark Henry Jr., 7. Brent Sexton, 8. Todd Pratt, 9. Tom Dunkel, 10. Ricky Lewis. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. David Gasper (1), 2. Austin Williams (3), 3. R.J. Johnson (6), 4. Tye Mihocko (4), 5. Shon Deskins (9), 6. Tommy Malcolm (8), 7. A.J. Bender (11), 8. Charles Davis Jr. (10), 9. Verne Sweeney (12), 10. Blake Bower (19), 11. Austin Grabowski (5), 12. Cody Williams (7), 13. Brent Sexton (22), 14. Jeff Dyer (14), 15. Elexa Herrera (21), 16. Stevie Rogers (16), 17. Jonas Reynolds (17), 18. Logan Williams (2), 19. Mark Henry Jr. (15), 20. Jon DeWees (20), 21. Grant Sexton (13), 22. Dayton Shelton (18). NT
**Ricky Lewis flipped during lap 1 of the semi. Dayton Shelton flipped during lap 5 of the feature. Mark Henry Jr. flipped on lap 17 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-2 David Gasper, Laps 3-16 Tye Mihocko, Lap 17-22 Austin Williams, Laps 23-30 David Gasper.
IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER HARD CHARGER: Blake Bower (19th to 10th)
AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-R.J. Johnson-1226, 2-Tommy Malcolm-1143, 3-Austin Williams-1094, 4-A.J. Bender-1050, 5-David Gasper-1039, 6-Logan Williams-991, 7-Cody Williams-986, 8-Verne Sweeney-807, 9-Austin Grabowski-795, 10-Charles Davis Jr.-763.
NEXT AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: October 19, 2024 – Imperial Valley Raceway – Imperial, California – 3rd Annual Heritage Fall Classic
