Bakersfield, California (August 31, 2024)………In a feature in which the lead exchanged hands five times between Tommy Malcolm and Charles Davis Jr., it was Malcolm who ultimately had the last word.
Malcolm (Corona, Calif.) led the final two laps to prevail during Saturday night’s Avanti Windows & Doors USAC CRA Sprint Car Series’ $4,500-to-win Bob Vermeer & Narcie Ferreira Classic at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway Dirt Track.
Davis (Buckeye, Ariz.) led the initial 16 laps of the 30-lapper before the duel of the year commenced. Malcolm surged ahead of Davis on lap 17 before Davis fought back to lead on lap 20. Malcolm edged ahead of Davis on lap 21 before Davis bolted back ahead on lap 22.
Davis led the next seven laps until the white flag lap when Davis, Malcolm and R.J. Johnson (Laveen, Ariz.) were three-wide at the start finish line. Ultimately, Malcolm outdueled both on the final lap to earn his seventh career USAC CRA main event victory, and his fourth of the year, to extend his championship point lead to 26 over R.J. Johnson.
Davis finished a close second with Austin Williams (Yorba Linda, Calif.) third, David Gasper (Goleta, Calif.) fourth and Blake Bower (Brentwood, Calif.) fifth. Johnson dropped back to seventh at the finish line.
Logan Calderwood (Goodyear, Ariz.) won the Flowdynamics Incorporated / Sexton Fire Protection / In Memory of Wiley Miller Sr. & Wiley Miller Jr. First Heat Race. A.J. Bender (San Diego, Calif.) won the 10-lap BillsJerky.net / Factory Wraps Second Heat Race. Jake Andreotti (Castro Valley, Calif.) topped the 10-lap W.C. Friend Company / In Memory of Jim & Chet Gardner Third Heat Race.
Steve Lafond awarded Verne Sweeney (Lomita, Calif.) a $100 hard charger bonus. The 60-year old driver raced from 20th to 11th in the feature. Meanwhile, Blake Bower earned the first career USAC CRA Woodland Auto Display Fast Time Award.
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AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES: August 31, 2024 – The Dirt Track at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway – Bakersfield, California – Bob Vermeer & Narcie Ferreira Classic
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Blake Bower, 3F, Finkenbinder-14.348; 2. Cody Williams, 44, Williams-14.439; 3. Austin Grabowski, 72, Grabowski-14.469; 4. Tommy Malcolm, 5x, Napier-14.628; 5. Ryan Timmons, 29T, Timmons-14.634; 6. R.J. Johnson, 51, Johnson-14.635; 7. Austin Williams, 17w, Dunkel-14.643; 8. Charles Davis Jr., 47, Davis-14.645; 9. Grant Sexton, 22, Sexton-14.698; 10. David Gasper, 18, Kittle/Gasper-14.786; 11. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-14.799; 12. Kaleb Montgomery, 3, Montgomery-14.831; 13. Logan Calderwood, 4, Calderwood-14.834; 14. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 51T, Tafoya-14.890; 15. Jake Andreotti, 8m, May-14.943; 16. Jacob Tuttle, 69, Tuttle-14.986; 17. Logan Williams, 5w, McCarthy-15.033; 18. Brent Sexton, 44s, Sexton-15.133; 19. Jordan Hermansader, 71, Martin-15.152; 20. Chris Ennis, 86, Ennis-15.179; 21. Elexa Herrera, 5E, Herrera-15.181; 22. Verne Sweeney, 98, Guerrero-15.257; 23. Blake Hendricks, 14, Hendricks-15.324; 24. Steve Hix, 57, Hix-15.428; 25. Tom Dunkel, 17A, Dunkel-15.608; 26. Aaron Altaffer, 84, Altaffer-16.104; 27. Camie Bell, 29c, Bell-16.248.
FLOWDYNAMICS INCORPORATED / SEXTON FIRE PROTECTION / IN HONOR OF WILEY MILLER SR. & WILEY MILLER JR. FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top 5 transfer to the feature) 1. Logan Calderwood, 2. Austin Williams, 3. Jacob Tuttle, 4. Tommy Malcolm, 5. Blake Bower, 6. David Gasper, 7. Verne Sweeney, 8. Tom Dunkel, 9. Jordan Hermansader. NT
BILLSJERKY.NET / FACTORY WRAPS SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top 5 transfer to the feature) 1. A.J. Bender, 2. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 3. Charles Davis Jr., 4. Logan Williams, 5. Cody Williams, 6. Ryan Timmons, 7. Blake Hendricks, 8. Aaron Altaffer, 9. Chris Ennis. NT
WC FRIEND COMPANY / IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top 5 transfer to the feature) 1. Jake Andreotti, 2. R.J. Johnson, 3. Kaleb Montgomery, 4. Grant Sexton, 5. Brent Sexton, 6. Austin Grabowski, 7. Steve Hix, 8. Elexa Herrera, 9. Camie Bell. NT
FACTORY WRAPS SEMI: (12 laps, top 7 transfer to the feature) 1. David Gasper, 2. Ryan Timmons, 3. Austin Grabowski, 4. Verne Sweeney, 5. Steve Hix, 6. Jordan Hermansader, 7. Aaron Altaffer, 8. Blake Hendricks, 9. Camie Bell, 10. Elexa Herrera, 11. Tom Dunkel, 12. Chris Ennis. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Tommy Malcolm (4), 2. Charles Davis Jr. (1), 3. Austin Williams (2), 4. David Gasper (10), 5. Blake Bower (6), 6. Kaleb Montgomery (12), 7. R.J. Johnson (3), 8. Jake Andreotti (15), 9. Eddie Tafoya Jr. (14), 10. Austin Grabowski (7), 11. Verne Sweeney (20), 12. Logan Calderwood (13), 13. Brent Sexton (18), 14. Jacob Tuttle (16), 15. Jordan Hermansader (19), 16. Aaron Altaffer (22), 17. A.J. Bender (11), 18. Logan Williams (17), 19. Cody Williams (5), 20. Grant Sexton (9), 21. Steve Hix (21), 22. Ryan Timmons (8). NT
**A.J. Bender flipped on lap 27 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-16 Charles Davis Jr., Laps 17-19 Tommy Malcolm, Lap 20 Charles Davis Jr., Lap 21 Tommy Malcolm, Laps 22-28 Charles Davis Jr., Laps 29-30 Tommy Malcolm.
IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER HARD CHARGER: Verne Sweeney (20th to 11th)
AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Tommy Malcolm-867, 2-R.J. Johnson-841, 3-Austin Williams-775, 4-A.J. Bender-758, 5-Logan Williams-745, 6-Cody Williams-734, 7-David Gasper-704, 8-Eddie Tafoya Jr.-553, 9-Verne Sweeney-553, 10-Austin Grabowski-516.
NEXT AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: September 7, 2024 – Santa Maria Speedway – Nipomo, California
