GASPER WINS HIS FIRST IN A WILD ONE AT PERRIS
Perris, California (March 16, 2024)………In just his fourth career Avanti Windows & Doors USAC CRA Sprint Car start, David Gasper became the newest first-time series winner on Saturday night at southern California’s Perris Auto Speedway.
In a 30-lap event that featured six different lead changes, the 18-year-old Gasper (Goleta, Calif.) was the last of the four drivers to head up the pack in a back-and-forth affair at the half-mile dirt oval.
Behind the wheel of the Josh Ford Motorsports No. 73x, Gasper led the initial nine laps after starting from the pole before Austin Williams (Yorba Linda, Calif.) took over between laps 10-11. Ricky Lewis (Camarillo, Calif.) raced his way to the front to lead laps 12-15 before ultimately falling by the wayside to an 18th place result.
Williams made a second stint as the leader when he took the point from laps 15-23. Reigning series champion and 10th place starting Brody Roa (Garden Grove, Calif.) briefly got by for the lead on laps 24-25 before Williams slashed back to the front on lap 26. With four laps remaining, Gasper surged past Roa for second, then Williams for the lead on the 27th circuit, then warded off the field to score the victory.
Gasper’s triumph elevated him to the top of the USAC CRA point standings. Williams collected a runner-up finish with Matt Westfall (Pleasant Hill, Ohio) finishing third after starting 12th. Roa crossed the line in fourth while Logan Williams (Yorba Linda, Calif.) started 15th and finished fifth to earn hard charger honors in memory of Jim and Chet Gardner.
Matt Mitchell (Yorba Linda, Calif.) took the Woodland Auto Display Fast Qualifying time with a lap of 15.926 seconds. Matt McCarthy (Riverside, Calif.), Cody Williams (Corona, Calif.) and Lewis corralled heat race wins courtesy of FlowDynamics Inc., Sexton Fire Protection, BillsJerky.net, Factory Wraps and the WC Friend Company.
Two incidents took place during the night with Braden Chiaramonte (El Cajon, Calif.) flipping on the seventh lap of the second heat and was transported to a local hospital observation. Grant Sexton (Lakeside, Calif.) got upside down on the second lap of the feature.
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AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: March 16, 2024 – Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, California
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-15.926; 2. Cody Williams, 44, Williams-16.167; 3. Grant Sexton, 22, Sexton-16.258; 4. Charles Davis Jr., 47, Davis-16.469; 5. R.J. Johnson, 2, Yeley-16.473; 6. Logan Calderwood, 73, Ford-16.475; 7. Brody Roa, 15, Bonneau-16.482; 8. Austin Williams, 17w, Dunkel-16.490; 9. Ricky Lewis, 41, Lewis-16.502; 10. David Gasper, 73x, Ford-16.539; 11. Tommy Malcolm, 5x, Napier-16.563; 12. Matt Westfall, 11c, Turner/Wheeler-16.565; 13. Matt McCarthy, 28m, McCarthy-16.568; 14. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 51T, Tafoya-16.574; 15. Logan Williams, 5w, McCarthy-16.603; 16. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-16.684; 17. Braden Chiaramonte, 73B, OCC-16.995; 18. Austin Grabowski, 72, Grabowski-16.995; 19. Brent Owens, 71, Martin-17.037; 20. Jeff Dyer, 39, Cal-Sun-17.117; 21. Verne Sweeney, 98, Guerrero-17.356; 22. Shane Sexton, 74, Sexton-17.372; 23. Brent Sexton, 44s, Sexton-17.575; 24. Elexa Herrera, 5E, Herrera-17.996.
FLOWDYNAMICS INCORPORATED / SEXTON FIRE PROTECTION FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Matt McCarty, 2. A.J. Bender, 3. Matt Mitchell, 4. David Gasper, 5. Brody Roa, 6. Charles Davis Jr., 7. Brent Owens, 8. Shane Sexton. NT
BILLSJERKY.NET / FACTORY WRAPS SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Cody Williams, 2. Austin Williams, 3. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 4. Tommy Malcolm, 5. R.J. Johnson, 6. Brent Sexton, 7. Jeff Dyer, 8. Braden Chiaramonte. NT
WC FRIEND COMPANY / IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Ricky Lewis, 2. Logan Williams, 3. Matt Westfall, 4. Grant Sexton, 5. Austin Grabowski, 6. Logan Calderwood, 7. Verne Sweeney, 8. Elexa Herrera. 2:55.36
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. David Gasper (1), 2. Austin Williams (3), 3. Matt Westfall (12), 4. Brody Roa (10), 5. Logan Williams (15), 6. Tommy Malcolm (11), 7. Cody Williams (5), 8. R.J. Johnson (8), 9. Brent Owens (18), 10. Matt McCarthy (13), 11. Logan Calderwood (9), 12. Verne Sweeney (20), 13. Brent Sexton (21), 14. Austin Grabowski (17), 15. Elexa Herrera (22), 16. A.J. Bender (16), 17. Eddie Tafoya Jr. (14), 18. Ricky Lewis (2), 19. Jeff Dyer (19), 20. Charles Davis Jr. (7), 21. Grant Sexton (4), 22. Matt Mitchell (6). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-9 David Gasper, Laps 10-11 Austin Williams, Laps 12-15 Ricky Lewis, Laps 16-23 Austin Williams, Laps 24-25 Brody Roa, Lap 26 Austin Williams, Laps 27-30 David Gasper.
**Braden Chiaramonte flipped on the seventh lap of the second heat and was transported to a local hospital observation. Grant Sexton flipped on the second lap of the feature.
IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER HARD CHARGER: Logan Williams (15th to 5th)
NEW AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-David Gasper-146, 2-Austin Williams-126, 3-R.J. Johnson-123, 4-Tommy Malcolm-123, 5-Matt Mitchell-119, 6-Logan Williams-119, 7-Matt Westfall-117, 8-Ricky Lewis-105, 9-Charles Davis Jr.-98, 10-Cody Williams-95.
NEXT AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: March 23 – Cocopah Speedway – Somerton, Arizona
