CRA Back to the Pas May 2; Vander Weerd Takes Perris “So-Cal Showdown”

Former AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car Champions Damion Gardner and Mike Spencer continue their battle for the 2015 championship May 2 when the series returns to Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway. The two are separated by just five points after taking second and third respectively in last Saturday night’s “So-Cal Showdown” at the PAS.

Richard Vander Weerd of Visalia, Calif. remained unbeaten at Perris Saturday on “Power of Purple Night.” Wheeling the Vander Weerd Construction/Battery Worx Maxim/Shark, he passed Spencer on lap eight and led the final 23 laps to beat Gardner, Spencer, Ryan Bernal and Austin Williams. The win left Vander Weerd sixth in the new standings.

Gardner and Spencer will also continue their mastery at the PAS May 2. Gardner, who has three series titles, has 32 wins there while Spencer, a five-time USAC/CRA king, has 25.

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AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: April 18, 2015 – Perris, California – Perris Auto Speedway – “So-Cal Showdown”

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-16.607; 2. Damion Gardner, 4, Alexander-16.640; 3. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-16.737; 4. Richard Vander Weerd, 10, Vander Weerd-16.825; 5. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-16.834; 6. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-16.841; 7. Jace Vander Weerd, 88, Vander Weerd-16.971; 8. A.J. Bender, 21B, Bender-16.940; 9. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-16.944; 10. Ryan Bernal, 73, Ford-17.071; 11. Ronnie Gardner, 93, Gardner-17.090; 12. Rickie Gaunt, 9, McDonald-17.190; 13. David Bezio, 37X, Bezio-17.312; 14. Cory Kruseman, 21K, Kruseman-17.448; 15. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-17.599; 16. Logan Williams, 5, Jory-17.607; 17. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-17.615; 18. Tommy Malcolm, 5X, Napier-17.637; 19. Cal Smith, 39, Cal-Sun-17.744; 20. Verne Sweeney, 98X, Tracy-17.782; 21. Terry Schank Jr., 1, Gleeson-17.842; 22. Parker Colston, 64, Gore-17.915; 23. Jeremy Ellertson, 98, Ellertson-17.996; 24. Anthony Lopiccolo, 36, Springstead-18.240; 25. Tobey Sampson, 12B, Blair-18.345; 26. Gary Potter, 6P, Potter-19.151; 27. Chris Dyson, 71K, Kruseman-19.301.

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Bernal, 2. R. Vander Weerd, 3. J. Vander Weerd, 4. L. Williams, 5. Colston, 6. Bezio, 7. Smith, 8. Sampson, 9. Swanson. 2:57.80

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. D. Gardner, 2. Kruseman, 3. R. Gardner, 4. Spencer, 5. Bender, 6. Sweeney, 7. Ellertson, 8. Gansen, 9. Potter. 2:58.19

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. C. Williams, 2. A. Williams, 3. Roa, 4. Gaunt, 5. Schank, 6. Malcolm, 7. Lopiccolo, 8. Dyson, 9. Mitchell. NT

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Mitchell, 2. Swanson, 3. Bezio, 4. Bender, 5. Schank, 6. Gansen, 7. Malcolm, 8. Sweeney, 9. Ellertson, 10. Colston, 11. Lopiccolo, 12. Smith, 13. Dyson, 14. Sampson, 15. Potter. 3:32.13

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Richard Vander Weerd, 2. Damion Gardner, 3. Mike Spencer, 4. Ryan Bernal, 5. Austin Williams, 6. Matt Mitchell, 7. Jace Vander Weerd, 8. Brody Roa, 9. Rickie Gaunt, 10. David Bezio, 11. Ronnie Gardner, 12. Cory Kruseman, 13. Cody Williams, 14. Logan Williams, 15. Chris Gansen, 16. Tommy Malcolm, 17. A.J. Bender, 18. Verne Sweeney, 19. Jake Swanson, 20. Terry Schank Jr., 21. Jeremy Ellertson, 22. Parker Colston. NT

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**Mitchell flipped during the third heat. Schank flipped during the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-7 Spencer, Laps 8-30 R.Vander Weerd.

TRACK ADDRESS: 18700 Lake Perris Dr, Perris, CA 92571