LEARY SCORES USAC CRA FINALE AT PERRIS, ROA TAKES TITLE
Perris, California (November 11, 2023)………C.J. Leary closed out his year in winning fashion on Saturday night by scoring the AMSOIL USAC CRA Sprint Car season finale at California’s Perris Auto Speedway.
Leary (Greenfield, Ind.) charged to the win from his seventh starting spot in the main event, taking the lead from Brody Roa on lap 18 of the 30-lap tilt before pacing the final 13 laps to earn the victory in his Michael Motorsports No. 77m.
For Leary, it was his second career USAC CRA victory at Perris after also grabbing a win at the half-mile dirt oval back in 2019.
Pole sitter Roa (Garden Grove, Calif.) finished as the runner-up behind Leary, but took consolation by capturing his first career USAC CRA Sprint Car driving championship in his first season as the driver for the Tom & Christy Dunkel/BR Motorsports team.
Tommy Malcolm (Corona, Calif.) took third in the Perris finale en route to a career best second place finish in the USAC CRA standings.
Matt Mitchell (Yorba Linda, Calif.) made a valiant effort in his drive from the 22nd starting position to finish fourth, which earned him hard charger honors in memory of Jim and Chet Gardner.
Charles Davis Jr. (Buckeye, Ariz.), meanwhile, raced to a solid fifth place result to round out the top-five in the final tally.
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AMSOIL USAC CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: November 11, 2023 – Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, California
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Mitchel Moles, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-16.239; 2. Tommy Malcolm, 5x, Napier-16.389; 3. Charles Davis Jr., 47, Davis-16.485; 4. Logan Williams, 5w, McCarthy-16.546; 5. C.J. Leary, 77m, Michael-16.547; 6. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-16.613; 7. Brody Roa, 17R, Dunkel/BR-16.632; 8. Ricky Lewis, 41, Brown-16.668; 9. Cody Williams, 44, Williams-16.719; 10. Logan Calderwood, 73c, Ford-16.789; 11. James Turnbull II, 2J, Turnbull-16.850; 12. R.J. Johnson, 51, Johnson-16.882; 13. Tye Mihocko, 5, Mihocko-16.884; 14. Jeff Dyer, 39, Cal-Sun-16.895; 15. Grant Sexton, 22, Sexton-17.031; 16. Austin Williams, 2, Williams-17.037; 17. Brody Fuson, 51B, Van Meter-17.090; 18. David Gasper, 73, Ford-17.099; 19. Brent Owens, 71, Martin-17.210; 20. Austin Grabowski, 72, Grabowski-17.440; 21. Tanner Boul, 99T, Boul-17.451; 22. Verne Sweeney, 98, Guerrero-17.737; 23. Tommy Dunkel, 17A, Dunkel-18.042; 24. Shane Sexton, 74, Sexton/Gatlin-18.143; 25. Malyssa Perkins, 85m, Perkins-18.248; 26. Gary Marshall Jr., 23, Bellegante-19.236; 27. Matt Westfall, 11c, Turner/Wheeler-21.460; 28. Matt McCarthy, 28m, McCarthy-NT; 29. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-NT.
FLOWDYNAMICS INCORPORATED FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Brody Fuson, 2. Cody Williams, 3. Mitchel Moles, 4. Tye Mihocko, 5. C.J. Leary, 6. Tanner Boul, 7. Malyssa Perkins. NT
BILLSJERKY.NET SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. David Gasper, 2. A.J. Bender, 3. Tommy Malcolm, 4. Logan Calderwood, 5. Jeff Dyer, 6. Verne Sweeney, 7. Gary Marshall Jr.. 2:57.82
IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. James Turnbull II, 2. Brody Roa, 3. Charles Davis Jr., 4. Matt McCarthy, 5. Grant Sexton, 6. Brent Owens, 7. Tommy Dunkel. 2:53.95
WC FRIEND COMPANY FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. R.J. Johnson, 2. Austin Williams, 3. Logan Williams, 4. Austin Grabowski, 5. Shane Sexton, 6. Matt Mitchell, 7. Ricky Lewis. 3:00.10
FACTORY WRAPS SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. C.J. Leary, 2. Grant Sexton, 3. Matt Mitchell, 4. Brent Owens, 5. Jeff Dyer, 6. Verne Sweeney, 7. Shane Sexton, 8. Tommy Dunkel, 9. Malyssa Perkins, 10. Tanner Boul. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. C.J. Leary (7), 2. Brody Roa (1), 3. Tommy Malcolm (5), 4. Matt Mitchell (22), 5. Charles Davis Jr. (4), 6. Cody Williams (8), 7. Tye Mihocko (12), 8. Grant Sexton (14), 9. Brent Owens (18), 10. Logan Calderwood (9), 11. Verne Sweeney (20), 12. Jeff Dyer (13), 13. Mitchel Moles (6), 14. Logan Williams (3), 15. James Turnbull II (10), 16. Matt McCarthy (21), 17. David Gasper (17), 18. R.J. Johnson (11), 19. Brody Fuson (16), 20. Austin Grabowski (19), 21. Austin Williams (15), 22. A.J. Bender (2). NT
**Boul flipped during qualifying. David Gasper and Logan Williams flipped during the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1-17 Brody Roa, Laps 18-30 C.J. Leary.
IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER HARD CHARGER: Matt Mitchell (22nd to 4th)
WILWOOD DISC BRAKES LUCKY 13 AWARD: Mitchel Moles
FINAL AMSOIL USAC CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Brody Roa-1282, 2-Tommy Malcolm-1168, 3-Austin Williams-974, 4-Cody Williams-919, 5-A.J. Bender-884, 6-Charles Davis Jr.-802, 7-Logan Calderwood-777, 8-Grant Sexton-681, 9-Verne Sweeney-596, 10-R.J. Johnson-567.
