Jon Stanbrough on the gas at Tulare on Sunday. Photo Doug Allen

4 USAC CHAMPIONS TO BE CROWNED AT 69th LUCAS OIL “TURKEY NIGHT GRAND PRIX”

Four USAC Champions will be crowned November 26 at the conclusion of the 69th Lucas Oil “Turkey Night Grand Prix” at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, Calif.

One of America’s most revered racing traditions showcases the USAC Mopar National and Western Midget Series, the USAC Western Sprint Car Series and the USAC California Pavement Ford Focus Series in their only 2009 appearance at the facility which sports both a half-mile and a third-mile oval. The Midgets and Sprint cars compete on the half and the Focuses on the third.

The event honors the Agajanian Family, who continue to serve as the race organizers as they have for the past half-century. In their honor, the traditional 100-lap Midget race has become a 98-lapper. The famed #98 graced the Agajanian entry at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for years and found victory lane there with Troy Ruttman in 1952 and Parnelli Jones in 1963.l

Brad Kuhn of Avon, Ind., Garrett Hansen of Manhattan Beach, Calif., Tanner Swanson of Kingsburg, Calif. and Nik Romano of Atherton, Calif. are the respective point leaders entering Thursday’s action but only Kuhn’s lead is in any jeopardy.

Kuhn has a 40-point lead over Brad Sweet of Alpine, Calif. and 53-point edge over Darren Hagen of Riverside, Calif. with a total of 66 points available. A 19th-place feature finish for Kuhn would eliminate Hagen and a 13th-place finish would eliminate Sweet. Last year, Cole Whitt posted an 11-th-place finish and beat Tracy Hines for the title by a single point in the closest USAC point race of all time!

Hansen sits atop the Western Midget standings, while Swanson is tops in the Western Sprints and Romano leads the California Pavement Ford Focus points. USAC Championships would be the first for Hansen and Romano, while Swanson is eyeing his second Western Sprint crown and Kuhn won the USAC Speedrome Midget title in 2005.

Over 200 laps of racing are on tap between during the “tripleheader” with 40-lap features for the Sprints and Focuses and the 98-lap Midget race following prelims.

Defending “Turkey Night” champions are Bobby Santos III of Franklin, Mass. (Midgets), Tracy Hines of New Castle, Ind. (Sprints) and Alex Bowman of Tucson, Ariz. (Ford Focuses).

It’s been six years since track records fell at Irwindale and drivers will be aiming at those 2003 marks when qualifying commences Thursday. Dave Steele set the Midget mark of 16.556 in 2003, while Michael Lewis owns the Sprint record of 16.378 set the same year. Todd Hunsaker also established the Focus record of 14.249 in 2003.

It remains to be seen if USAC will have a new all-time car owner National feature victory leader after Thursday’s event. Car owners Steve Lewis of Laguna Beach, Calif. and the Wilke-Pak Motorsports team from Milwaukee, Wisc. are currently tied for the all-time lead with a total of 133 wins apiece.

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“J.W. MITCHELL CLASSIC” SATURDAY AT VENTURA; SANTOS POSTS “LAST-LAP” PHOENIX COPPER WORLD WIN

The inaugural “J.W. Mitchell Classic” is Saturday night at Ventura (Calif.) Raceway and Garrett Hansen of Manhattan Beach, Calif. continues to enjoy a healthy point lead in the USAC Western Midget Series standings.

Hansen finished 24th in Thursday night’s 25-mile “Copper World Classic” feature at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway, won by Bobby Santos III.

Santos, of Franklin, Mass., emerged the winner at the 34th “Copper World Classic”. Santos wrested the lead from Bryan Clauson on lap 23, then slipped behind Clauson at the white flag. On the final lap Clauson slid high in turn three and Santos went on to the win in his Santos Motorsports Beast/Esslinger Ford.

Pole starter Bobby East finished second ahead of Alex Bowman, Brad Kuhn and Cole Whitt. Kuhn extended his National point lead to 40 points over Brad Sweet, who finished 14th. East led the first seven laps and Clauson led the next 15 before the final three lap dramatics.

Saturday’s Ventura USAC “tripleheader” also features the National Dirt Ford Focus Championship race and the Ford Focus Young Guns.

Hansen appears to occupy the favorite’s role Saturday, having won the last two Western Midget races at Ventura, but he’ll have to contend with a bevy of National stars as well as local favorite Cory Kruseman and Matt Mitchell, both of whom have posted Midget wins at the 1/5-mile dirt oval this year.

The USAC National and Western Midget Series conclude the 2009 campaign on Thursday night, November 26 at the 69th Lucas Oil “Turkey Night Grand Prix” at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, Calif.

USAC NATIONAL MIDGET CAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1-Brad Kuhn-1,226, 2--Brad Sweet-1,186, 3-Darren Hagen-1,173, 4-Jerry Coons Jr.-1,103, 5-Cole Whitt-1,003, 6-Bobby East-993, 7-Tracy Hines-945, 8-Bryan Clauson-840, 9-Chad Boat-748, 10-Kevin Swindell-540.

USAC WESTERN MIDGET CAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1-Garrett Hansen-1,029, 2-Jerome Rodela-937, 3-Alex Schutte-927, 4-Tanner Swanson-719, 5-David Prickett-699, 6-Scott Pierovich-591, 7-Shannon McQueen-540, 8-Josh Ford-494, 9-Alex Bowman-461; 10-Randi Pankratz-405.

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SPENCER SET TO CLAIM 2ND USAC/CRA TITLE AT PERRIS NOVEMBER 28; JONES PUT LID ON 3rd NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP; “PACIFIC COAST NATIONALS” WINS TO HANSEN, STANBROUGH

Mike Spencer of Temecula, Calif. and Levi Jones of Avon, Ind. shared the spotlight with race winners Garrett Hansen of Manhattan Beach, Calif. and Jon Stanbrough of Avon, Ind. at last weekend’s 30th “Pacific Coast Nationals” at the Tulare (Calif.) Thunderbowl Raceway.

Spencer mathematically locked up the 2009 Lucas Oil USAC/CRA title going into the November 28 “Glenn Howard Memorial” finale at the Perris (Calif.) Speedway, while Jones rounded out his third USAC National Sprint Car Championship, which he had clinched the previous week at Perris.

USAC Western Midget point leader Hansen led all 30 laps to win Saturday night’s ‘Pacific Coast Nationals” opener at Tulare in his Roy Miller Freightlines/Hansen’s Welding Maxim/Chevy. He led all 30 laps and held off repeated challenges from Cory Kruseman to score the win. Spencer took third, ahead of Jones and fast qualifier Bryan Clauson.

Stanbrough then led all 40 laps of Sunday night’s Tulare closer in his Indiana Underground Construction Maxim/Gaerte to beat Chad Boat, Bud Kaeding, Damion Gardner and Clauson. Sunday’s program included a USAC-record 12 flips but there were no serious driver injuries. Cole Whitt was Sunday’s fastest qualifier.

FINAL USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1-Levi Jones-1,827, 2-Cole Whitt-1,603, 3-Dave Darland-1,601, 4-Tracy Hines-1,408, 5-Jerry Coons Jr.-1,401, 6-Damion Gardner-1,399, 7-Bryan Clauson-1,040; 8-Darren Hagen-1,006, 9-Chad Boat-973, 10-Jon Stanbrough-945.

LUCAS OIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1-Mike Spencer-997, 2-David Cardey-897, 3-Garrett Hansen-847; 4-Blake Miller-719, 5-Greg Bragg-700, 6-Danny Sheridan-698, 7-Matt Mitchell-634, 8-Rip Williams-01, 9-Cory Kruseman-564, 10-Damion Gardner-443.

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WHITT, KAEDING STAR IN “COPPER WORLD” FINALE AT PIR

Cole Whitt of Alpine, Calif. and Bud Kaeding of Campbell, Calif. shared the spotlight Thursday night at the 34th “Copper World Classic” USAC K & N Silver Crown Series finale at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway. Whitt won the 100-mile race and Kaeding concluded his drive to a record-tying third series championship.

Whitt led the final 83 laps to win the race in the Johnny Vance Racing Team Aristocrat Products Beast/Gaerte. Kody Swanson, who made a determined late-race bid for victory, took second, ahead of Tracy Hines, A.J. Fike and Levi Jones.

Pole starter Jason Leffler was ninth and Kaeding, who had already clinched the series title entering the race, was eighth. Jones led the opening lap and Leffler led the next 16 before yielding to Whitt. The win was Whitt’s first under the USAC sanction on pavement. He previously won the “Tony Bettenhausen 100” at Springfield, Ill. in August.

Kaeding’s title ties the mark set by Jimmy Sills in winning the 1990, 1994 and 1996 championships.

FINAL USAC K & N SILVER CROWN SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1-Bud Kaeding-402, 2-A.J. Fike-343, 3-Tracy Hines-338, 4-Levi Jones-331, 5-Kody Swanson-307, 6-Josh Wise-297, 7-Brian Tyler-279, 8-Shane Hmiel-273, 9-Jerry Coons Jr.-256, 10-Zach Daum-221.

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Jon Stanbrough leads flag-to-flag for Pacific Coast Nationals victory at Thunderbowl Raceway

By Gary Thomas

Tulare, CA – November 15, 2009…With the USAC National Sprint Car Series competing at the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway for the first time it was an Indiana driver that showed the fast way around on Sunday night as Jamestown's Jon Stanbrough utilized his outside front row starting spot to dominate all 40-laps of the feature during the 30th Pacific Coast Nationals and score the $12,500 top prize.

The 40-lap finale of the Pacific Coast Nationals lined-up with Orange's Henry Clarke and Stanbrough sharing the front row and it saw Stanbrough quickly jump into the lead at the waving of Willie Williams' green flag. Moving into second early on was Phoenix, Arizona's Chad Boat, who was the lone driver to seemingly be able to even give the fast moving Stanbrough a slight challenge. The first stoppage of the race was a red flag on lap seven that involved Elk Grove's Kyle Larson and Ventura's Cory Kruseman.

The night as a whole featured numerous spins and flips, but the main event ran relatively incident free as the final slow down of the feature was on lap 10 when Visalia's Gregg Bragg got upside down in the second corner. When the green lights came back on Stanbrough continued to sit out front with no worries, although Boat closed in at one point, it didn't last for long as the driver of the Indiana Underground No. 37x sprinter ran the bottom side of the 1/3 mile clay oval to perfection and easily pulled away from the rest of the field.

The most excitement in the main event was the battle for the second, third and fourth positions as Boat, Concord's Damion Gardner and Campbell's Bud Kaeding ran different lines on the raceway trying to push their way forward. Gardner moved into third on lap 20, but would lose the spot to Kaeding on lap 33. The now three-time USAC Silver Crown Series champion ran the high scary side all the way around the Thunderbowl Raceway and closed in on Boat, but ran out of time as the laps clicked off very quickly.

When the checkered flag was unveiled Stanbrough crossed under it with plenty of breathing room to score his first career Thunderbowl win during his very first weekend of racing at the track. Boat charged under the stripe in second with Kaeding, Gardner and Indiana driver Bryan Clauson completing the top-five. Rounding out the top-10 in the Pacific Coast Nationals main event were Clarke, Tucson, Arizona's Jerry Coons Jr., Indiana's Tracy Hines, Riverside's David Cardey and Grass Valley, CA native Brad Sweet. Olney, Illinois' Levi Jones, who wrapped up the 2009 USAC National Sprint Car title on Sunday night, finished the feature in 12th.

Saturday's opener of the Pacific Coast Nationals featured a lightning fast race track and saw Clauson break the 410 wingless track record in qualifying with a blazing fast clocking of 14.646. The main event on Saturday saw Manhattan Beach's Garrett Hansen hold off the challenges of Kruseman, USAC/CRA point leader Mike Spencer of Temecula, Levi Jones and Clauson to score his first ever USAC National Sprint Car win.

On behalf of all involved with the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway we would like to thank everyone for making 2009 another successful year and would like to wish everyone a happy and safe off-season and look forward to seeing all in 2010.

USAC NATIONAL & LUCAS OIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: November 15, 2009 – Tulare, California – Thunderbowl Raceway - 30th “Pacific Coast Nationals”

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Cole Whitt, 67k, Kunz-14.874, 2. Tracy Hines, 21, Stewart-14.884, 3. Chad Boat, 30, Boat-15.051, 4. Bud Kaeding, 29, BK-15.090, 5. Jon Stanbrough, 37, Indiana Underground-15.111, 6. Henry Clarke, 67, Kunz-15.172, 7. Bryan Clauson, 7, Tucker-15.185, 8. Damion Gardner, 71, DG-15.246, 9. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-15.248, 10. Brad Sweet, 9, Kahne-15.256, 11. Nic Faas, 17F, Faas-15.342, 12. Levi Jones, 20, Stewart-15.359, 13. Jerry Coons Jr., 83jr, Roth-15.364, 14. Kyle Larson, 99, Kaeding-15.447, 15. Casey Riggs, 37r, Riggs-15.460, 16. Justin Grant, 5, Baldwin-15.522, 17. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-15.528, 18. Cory Kruseman, 21k, Kruseman-15.565, 19. Dave Darland, 2B, RWB-15.569, 20. Keith Bloom Jr., 27, Braund-15.574, 21. Darren Hagen, 71g, Iish-15.608, 22. Matt Streeter, 14jr, Streeter-15.635, 23. Coleman Gullick, 14, Gullick-15.693, 24. Jace VanderWeerd, 88, VanderWeerd-15.720, 25. Brady Short, 36, Short-15.724, 26. Ronnie Gardner, 96, Gardner-15.729, 27. Davey Pombo, 11p, Buster & Ziggy-15.732; 28. Matt Mitchell, 37x, Mitchell-15.746, 29. Bill Rose, 66, Miller-15.747, 30. Kevin Swindell, 83, Roth-15.773, 31. Richard VanderWeerd, 10, VanderWeerd-15.811, 32. Austin Mero, 71k, Kruseman-15.814, 33. Garrett Hansen, 7x, Priestley-15.821, 34. David Cardey, 38, Crossno-15.821, 35. Shane Golobic, 88g, Golobic-15.941 36. Peter Murphy, 21t, Tarlton-15.947, 37. Greg Taylor, 7t, Taylor-15.976, 38. Danny Faria Jr., 17v, Faria-15.996, 39. Jesse Hockett, 13, Buch/VKCC-15.996, 40. Cale Conley, 1Z, 2B Racing-16.004, 41. Greg Bragg, 92, Sertich-16.056, 42. Blake Miller, 93, Gardner-16.190, 43. Wes Gutierrez, 007, WG-16.211, 44. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-16.232, 45. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-16.236, 46. Danny Sheridan, 18x, Kittle-16.348, 47. Rusty Carlile, 51, Carlile-16.387, 48. Justyne Hamblin, 8, JH Motorsports-16.408, 49. Shain Matthews, 167, Matthews-16.553, 50. Anthony Simone, 10, Simone-16.830, 51. Mathew Shedarowich, 8z, Shedarowich-20.431. (DannySheridan, 18, Kittle-withdrawn)

“C” MAIN: (10 laps) 1. Cardey, 2. Murphy, 3. Hansen, 4. Golobic, 5. Hockett, 6. Taylor, 7. Miller, 8. Carlile, 9. C.Williams, 10. Bragg, 11. Faria, 12. Sheridan, 13. Conley, 14. A.Williams, 15. Gutierrez, 16. Shedarowich, 17. Hamblin, 18. Matthews, 19. Simone. NT

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Whitt, 2. Stanbrough, 3. Coons, 4. Cardey, 5. Rose, 6. R.Williams, 7. Spencer, 8. Hockett, 9. Hagen, 10. Short. NT

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Swindell, 2. Kruseman, 3. Hines, 4. R.Gardner, 5. Sweet, 6. Murphy, 7. Taylor, 8. Streeter, 9. Larson, 10. Clarke. NT

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Pombo, 2. R.VanderWeerd, 3. Darland, 4. Hansen, 5. Boat, 6. Clauson, 7. Faas, 8. Riggs, 9. Miller, 10. Gullick. NT

FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Mitchell, 2. Jones, 3. Bloom, 4. D.Gardner, 5. Grant, 6. Mero, 7. Golobic, 8. J.VanderWeerd, 9. Kaeding, 10. Carlile. NT

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Boat, 2. Kaeding, 3. Clauson, 4. Spencer, 5. Clarke, 6. Sweet, 7. Larson, 8. R.Williams, 9. Faas, 10. Streeter, 11. Golobic, 12. Murphy, 13. Gullick, 14. Riggs, 15. Rose, 16. Taylor, 17. Grant, 18. Mero, 19. C.Williams, 20. Hagen, 21. J.VanderWeerd, 22. Hockett, 23. Carlile. NT

FEATURE: (40 laps) 1. Jon Stanbrough, 2. Chad Boat, 3. Bud Kaeding, 4. Damion Gardner, 5. Bryan Clauson, 6. Henry Clarke, 7. Jerry Coons Jr., 8. Tracy Hines, 9. David Cardey, 10. Brad Sweet, 11. Garrett Hansen, 12. Levi Jones, 13. Kyle Larson, 14. Mike Spencer,  15. Kevin Swindell, 16. Matt Mitchell, 17. Davey Pombo, 18. Keith Bloom Jr., 19. Ronnie Gardner, 20. Cole Whitt, 21. Nic Faas, 22. Dave Darland, 23. Jesse Hockett, 24. Blake Miller, 25. Greg Bragg, 26. Cory Kruseman, 27. Richard VanderWeerd, 28. Austin Williams (#3). NT
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**Darland flipped during practice. Faria & Sheridan flipped during qualifying. Simone, Matthews, Gutierrez, Faria & Sheridan flipped during the C-Main. Larson & Clarke flipped during the second heat. Larson flipped on lap-8 of the feature. Bragg flipped on lap 11 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-40 Stanbrough

FINAL USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-L.Jones-1,827; 2-Whitt-1,603; 3-Darland-1,601; 4-Hines-1,408; 5-Coons-1,401; 6-D.Gardner-1,399; 7-Clauson-1,040; 8-Hagen-1,006; 9-Boat-973; 10-Stanbrough-945.

NEW LUCAS OIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Spencer-997; 2-Cardey-897; 3-Hansen-847; 4-Miller-719; 5-Bragg-700; 6-Sheridan-698; 7-Mitchell-634; 8-R.Williams-601; 9-Kruseman-564; 10-D.Gardner-443.

NEXT LUCAS OIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: November 28 – Perris (CA) Auto Speedway – “Glenn Howard Memorial”

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Jon Stanbrough back it in at Tulare on Sunday. Photo copyright Doug Allen.

“J.W. MITCHELL CLASSIC” SATURDAY AT VENTURA; SANTOS POSTS “LAST-LAP” PHOENIX COPPER WORLD WIN

The inaugural “J.W. Mitchell Classic” is Saturday night at Ventura (Calif.) Raceway and Garrett Hansen of Manhattan Beach, Calif. continues to enjoy a healthy point lead in the USAC Western Midget Series standings.

Hansen finished 24th in Thursday night’s 25-mile “Copper World Classic” feature at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway, won by Bobby Santos III.

Santos, of Franklin, Mass., emerged the winner at the 34th “Copper World Classic”. Santos wrested the lead from Bryan Clauson on lap 23, then slipped behind Clauson at the white flag. On the final lap Clauson slid high in turn three and Santos went on to the win in his Santos Motorsports Beast/Esslinger Ford.

Pole starter Bobby East finished second ahead of Alex Bowman, Brad Kuhn and Cole Whitt. Kuhn extended his National point lead to 40 points over Brad Sweet, who finished 14th. East led the first seven laps and Clauson led the next 15 before the final three lap dramatics.

Saturday’s Ventura USAC “tripleheader” also features the National Dirt Ford Focus Championship race and the Ford Focus Young Guns.

Hansen appears to occupy the favorite’s role Saturday, having won the last two Western Midget races at Ventura, but he’ll have to contend with a bevy of National stars as well as local favorite Cory Kruseman and Matt Mitchell, both of whom have posted Midget wins at the 1/5-mile dirt oval this year.

The USAC National and Western Midget Series conclude the 2009 campaign on Thursday night, November 26 at the 69th Lucas Oil “Turkey Night Grand Prix” at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, Calif.

USAC NATIONAL MIDGET CAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1-Brad Kuhn-1,226, 2--Brad Sweet-1,186, 3-Darren Hagen-1,173, 4-Jerry Coons Jr.-1,103, 5-Cole Whitt-1,003, 6-Bobby East-993, 7-Tracy Hines-945, 8-Bryan Clauson-840, 9-Chad Boat-748, 10-Kevin Swindell-540.

USAC WESTERN MIDGET CAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1-Garrett Hansen-1,029, 2-Jerome Rodela-937, 3-Alex Schutte-927, 4-Tanner Swanson-719, 5-David Prickett-699, 6-Scott Pierovich-591, 7-Shannon McQueen-540, 8-Josh Ford-494, 9-Alex Bowman-461; 10-Randi Pankratz-405.

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SPENCER SET TO CLAIM 2ND USAC/CRA TITLE AT PERRIS NOVEMBER 28; JONES PUT LID ON 3rd NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP;“PACIFIC COAST NATIONALS” WINS TO HANSEN, STANBROUGH

Mike Spencer of Temecula, Calif. and Levi Jones of Avon, Ind. shared the spotlight with race winners Garrett Hansen of Manhattan Beach, Calif. and Jon Stanbrough of Avon, Ind. at last weekend’s 30th “Pacific Coast Nationals” at the Tulare (Calif.) Thunderbowl Raceway.

Spencer mathematically locked up the 2009 Lucas Oil USAC/CRA title going into the November 28 “Glenn Howard Memorial” finale at the Perris (Calif.) Speedway, while Jones rounded out his third USAC National Sprint Car Championship, which he had clinched the previous week at Perris.

USAC Western Midget point leader Hansen led all 30 laps to win Saturday night’s ‘Pacific Coast Nationals” opener at Tulare in his Roy Miller Freightlines/Hansen’s Welding Maxim/Chevy. He led all 30 laps and held off repeated challenges from Cory Kruseman to score the win. Spencer took third, ahead of Jones and fast qualifier Bryan Clauson.

Stanbrough then led all 40 laps of Sunday night’s Tulare closer in his Indiana Underground Construction Maxim/Gaerte to beat Chad Boat, Bud Kaeding, Damion Gardner and Clauson. Sunday’s program included a USAC-record 12 flips but there were no serious driver injuries. Cole Whitt was Sunday’s fastest qualifier.

FINAL USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1-Levi Jones-1,827, 2-Cole Whitt-1,603, 3-Dave Darland-1,601, 4-Tracy Hines-1,408, 5-Jerry Coons Jr.-1,401, 6-Damion Gardner-1,399, 7-Bryan Clauson-1,040; 8-Darren Hagen-1,006, 9-Chad Boat-973, 10-Jon Stanbrough-945.

LUCAS OIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1-Mike Spencer-997, 2-David Cardey-897, 3-Garrett Hansen-847; 4-Blake Miller-719, 5-Greg Bragg-700, 6-Danny Sheridan-698, 7-Matt Mitchell-634, 8-Rip Williams-01, 9-Cory Kruseman-564, 10-Damion Gardner-443.

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WHITT, KAEDING STAR IN “COPPER WORLD” FINALE AT PIR

Cole Whitt of Alpine, Calif. and Bud Kaeding of Campbell, Calif. shared the spotlight Thursday night at the 34th “Copper World Classic” USAC K & N Silver Crown Series finale at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway. Whitt won the 100-mile race and Kaeding concluded his drive to a record-tying third series championship.

Whitt led the final 83 laps to win the race in the Johnny Vance Racing Team Aristocrat Products Beast/Gaerte. Kody Swanson, who made a determined late-race bid for victory, took second, ahead of Tracy Hines, A.J. Fike and Levi Jones.

Pole starter Jason Leffler was ninth and Kaeding, who had already clinched the series title entering the race, was eighth. Jones led the opening lap and Leffler led the next 16 before yielding to Whitt. The win was Whitt’s first under the USAC sanction on pavement. He previously won the “Tony Bettenhausen 100” at Springfield, Ill. in August.

Kaeding’s title ties the mark set by Jimmy Sills in winning the 1990, 1994 and 1996 championships.

FINAL USAC K & N SILVER CROWN SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1-Bud Kaeding-402, 2-A.J. Fike-343, 3-Tracy Hines-338, 4-Levi Jones-331, 5-Kody Swanson-307, 6-Josh Wise-297, 7-Brian Tyler-279, 8-Shane Hmiel-273, 9-Jerry Coons Jr.-256, 10-Zach Daum-221.

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USAC NATIONAL & LUCAS OIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: November 15, 2009 – Tulare, California – Thunderbowl Raceway - 30th “Pacific Coast Nationals”

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Cole Whitt, 67k, Kunz-14.874, 2. Tracy Hines, 21, Stewart-14.884, 3. Chad Boat, 30, Boat-15.051, 4. Bud Kaeding, 29, BK-15.090, 5. Jon Stanbrough, 37, Indiana Underground-15.111, 6. Henry Clarke, 67, Kunz-15.172, 7. Bryan Clauson, 7, Tucker-15.185, 8. Damion Gardner, 71, DG-15.246, 9. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-15.248, 10. Brad Sweet, 9, Kahne-15.256, 11. Nic Faas, 17F, Faas-15.342, 12. Levi Jones, 20, Stewart-15.359, 13. Jerry Coons Jr., 83jr, Roth-15.364, 14. Kyle Larson, 99, Kaeding-15.447, 15. Casey Riggs, 37r, Riggs-15.460, 16. Justin Grant, 5, Baldwin-15.522, 17. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-15.528, 18. Cory Kruseman, 21k, Kruseman-15.565, 19. Dave Darland, 2B, RWB-15.569, 20. Keith Bloom Jr., 27, Braund-15.574, 21. Darren Hagen, 71g, Iish-15.608, 22. Matt Streeter, 14jr, Streeter-15.635, 23. Coleman Gullick, 14, Gullick-15.693, 24. Jace VanderWeerd, 88, VanderWeerd-15.720, 25. Brady Short, 36, Short-15.724, 26. Ronnie Gardner, 96, Gardner-15.729, 27. Davey Pombo, 11p, Buster & Ziggy-15.732; 28. Matt Mitchell, 37x, Mitchell-15.746, 29. Bill Rose, 66, Miller-15.747, 30. Kevin Swindell, 83, Roth-15.773, 31. Richard VanderWeerd, 10, VanderWeerd-15.811, 32. Austin Mero, 71k, Kruseman-15.814, 33. Garrett Hansen, 7x, Priestley-15.821, 34. David Cardey, 38, Crossno-15.821, 35. Shane Golobic, 88g, Golobic-15.941 36. Peter Murphy, 21t, Tarlton-15.947, 37. Greg Taylor, 7t, Taylor-15.976, 38. Danny Faria Jr., 17v, Faria-15.996, 39. Jesse Hockett, 13, Buch/VKCC-15.996, 40. Cale Conley, 1Z, 2B Racing-16.004, 41. Greg Bragg, 92, Sertich-16.056, 42. Blake Miller, 93, Gardner-16.190, 43. Wes Gutierrez, 007, WG-16.211, 44. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-16.232, 45. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-16.236, 46. Danny Sheridan, 18x, Kittle-16.348, 47. Rusty Carlile, 51, Carlile-16.387, 48. Justyne Hamblin, 8, JH Motorsports-16.408, 49. Shain Matthews, 167, Matthews-16.553, 50. Anthony Simone, 10, Simone-16.830, 51. Mathew Shedarowich, 8z, Shedarowich-20.431. (Danny Sheridan, 18, Kittle-withdrawn)

“C” MAIN: (10 laps) 1. Cardey, 2. Murphy, 3. Hansen, 4. Golobic, 5. Hockett, 6. Taylor, 7. Miller, 8. Carlile, 9. C.Williams, 10. Bragg, 11. Faria, 12. Sheridan, 13. Conley, 14. A.Williams, 15. Gutierrez, 16. Shedarowich, 17. Hamblin, 18. Matthews, 19. Simone. NT

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Whitt, 2. Stanbrough, 3. Coons, 4. Cardey, 5. Rose, 6. R.Williams, 7. Spencer, 8. Hockett, 9. Hagen, 10. Short. NT

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Swindell, 2. Kruseman, 3. Hines, 4. R.Gardner, 5. Sweet, 6. Murphy, 7. Taylor, 8. Streeter, 9. Larson, 10. Clarke. NT

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Pombo, 2. R.VanderWeerd, 3. Darland, 4. Hansen, 5. Boat, 6. Clauson, 7. Faas, 8. Riggs, 9. Miller, 10. Gullick. NT

FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Mitchell, 2. Jones, 3. Bloom, 4. D.Gardner, 5. Grant, 6. Mero, 7. Golobic, 8. J.VanderWeerd, 9. Kaeding, 10. Carlile. NT

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Boat, 2. Kaeding, 3. Clauson, 4. Spencer, 5. Clarke, 6. Sweet, 7. Larson, 8. R.Williams, 9. Faas, 10. Streeter, 11. Golobic, 12. Murphy, 13. Gullick, 14. Riggs, 15. Rose, 16. Taylor, 17. Grant, 18. Mero, 19. C.Williams, 20. Hagen, 21. J.VanderWeerd, 22. Hockett, 23. Carlile. NT

FEATURE: (40 laps) 1. Jon Stanbrough, 2. Chad Boat, 3. Bud Kaeding, 4. Damion Gardner, 5. Bryan Clauson, 6. Henry Clarke, 7. Jerry Coons Jr., 8. Tracy Hines, 9. David Cardey, 10. Brad Sweet, 11. Garrett Hansen, 12. Levi Jones, 13. Kyle Larson, 14. Mike Spencer,  15. Kevin Swindell, 16. Matt Mitchell, 17. Davey Pombo, 18. Keith Bloom Jr., 19. Ronnie Gardner, 20. Cole Whitt, 21. Nic Faas, 22. Dave Darland, 23. Jesse Hockett, 24. Blake Miller, 25. Greg Bragg, 26. Cory Kruseman, 27. Richard VanderWeerd, 28. Austin Williams (#3). NT
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**Darland flipped during practice. Faria & Sheridan flipped during qualifying. Simone, Matthews, Gutierrez, Faria & Sheridan flipped during the C-Main. Larson & Clarke flipped during the second heat. Larson flipped on lap-8 of the feature. Bragg flipped on lap 11 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-40 Stanbrough

FINAL USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-L.Jones-1,827; 2-Whitt-1,603; 3-Darland-1,601; 4-Hines-1,408; 5-Coons-1,401; 6-D.Gardner-1,399; 7-Clauson-1,040; 8-Hagen-1,006; 9-Boat-973; 10-Stanbrough-945.

NEW LUCAS OIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Spencer-997; 2-Cardey-897; 3-Hansen-847; 4-Miller-719; 5-Bragg-700; 6-Sheridan-698; 7-Mitchell-634; 8-R.Williams-601; 9-Kruseman-564; 10-D.Gardner-443.

NEXT LUCAS OIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: November 28 – Perris (CA) Auto Speedway – “Glenn Howard Memorial”

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USAC NATIONAL & LUCAS OIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: November 14, 2009 – Tulare, California – Thunderbowl Raceway – 30th “Pacific Coast Nationals”

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Bryan Clauson, 7, Tucker-14.646, 2. Nic Faas, 17F, Faas-14.802, 3. Chad Boat, 30, Boat-14.858, 4. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-14.888, 5. Garrett Hansen, 7x, Priestley-14.942, 6. Cory Kruseman, 21k, Kruseman-15.010, 7. Tracy Hines, 21, Stewart-15.038, 8. Ronnie Gardner, 96, Gardner-15.134, 9. Henry Clarke, 67, Kunz-15.144, 10. Bruce St. James, 7k, St. James-15.161, 11. Jesse Hockett, 13, Hockett-15.188, 12. Justin Grant, 5, Baldwin-15.190, 13. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-15.200, 14. Levi Jones, 20, Stewart-15.202, 15. Blake Miller, 93, Gardner-15.213, 16. Davey Pombo, 11p, Buster & Ziggy-15.219, 17. Damion Gardner, 71, DG-15.221, 18. Greg Bragg, 92, Sertich-15.240, 19. Danny Sheridan, 18, Kittle-15.255, 20. Jon Stanbrough, 37, Indiana Underground-15.266, 21. Dave Darland, 2B, RWB-15.277, 22. Matt Streeter, 14jr, Streeter-15.295, 23. Peter Murphy, 21t, Tarlton-15.295, 24. Bill Rose, 66, Miller-15.314, 25. Cole Whitt, 67k, Kunz-15.322, 26. Rusty Carlile, 51,Carlile-15.332, 27. Kyle Larson, 99, Kaeding-15.332, 28. Cole Carter, 7c, Carter-15.357, 29. Austin Mero, 71k, Kruseman-15.363, 30. Matt Mitchell, 37x, Mitchell-15.376, 31. Kevin Swindell 83, Roth-15.411, 32. Brad Sweet, 9, Kahne/Curb-15.425, 33. Danny Faria, Jr., 17v, Faria-15.430, 34. Bud Kaeding, 29, BK-15.439, 35. Darren Hagen, 71g, Iish-15.443, 36. Casey Riggs, 37r, Riggs-15.451, 37. Richard VanderWeerd, 10, VanderWeerd-15.484, 38. Mathew Shedarowich, 8z, Shedarowich-15.490, 39. David Cardey, 38, Crossno-15.563, 40. Coleman Gulick, 14, Gulick-15.570, 41. Greg Taylor, 7t, Taylor-15.639, 42. Brady Short, 36, Short-15.640, 43. Keith Bloom, Jr., 27, Braund-15.642, 44. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-15.654, 45. Shane Golobic, 88g, Golobic-15.666, 46. Jim Richardson 8, Richardson-15.680, 47. Wes Gutierrez, 007, WG-15.687, 48. Jerry Coons Jr., 83jr, Roth-15.692, 49. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-15.734, 50. Anthony Simone, 10a, Simone-15.889, 51. Cale Conley, 1Z, 2B Racing-15.969, 52. Jace VanderWeerd, 88, VanderWeerd-15.980, 53. Bill Aton, 26, Larson/Aton-16.344, 54. Shain Matthews, 167, Matthews-16.612.

“C” MAIN #1: (8 laps) 1. Hagen, 2. Faria, 3. R.VanderWeerd, 4. Taylor, 5. Golobic, 6. Bloom, 7. Gutierrez, 8. Conley, 9. C.Williams, 10. Aton, 11. Cardey. NT

“C” MAIN #2: (8 laps) 1. Riggs, 2. Kaeding, 3. Gullick, 4. Coons, 5. A.Williams, 6. Shedarowich, 7. J.VanderWeerd, 8. Richardson, 9. Matthews, 10. Simone, 11. Short. NT

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Whitt, 2. Darland, 3. D.Gardner, 4. R.Williams, 5. Clarke, 6. Hansen, 7. Clauson, 8. Mero, 9. Hagen, 10. Riggs. NT

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Mitchell, 2. Carlile, 3. Bragg, 4. Jones, 5. Faas, 6. Kruseman, 7. Streeter, 8. Faria, 9. St. James, 10. Kaeding. NT

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Larson, 2. Swindell, 3. Sherdian, 4. Murphy, 5. Hockett, 6. Hines, 7. Boat, 8. R.VanderWeerd, 9. Gullick, 10. Miller. NT

FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Carter, 2. Sweet, 3. Stanbrough, 4. Pombo, 5. Grant, 6. Rose, 7. Coons, 8. Spencer, 9. R.Gardner, 10. Taylor. NT

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Faas, 2. Clauson, 3. Boat, 4. Hansen, 5. Spencer, 6. Kruseman, 7. Hines, 8. Hockett, 9. Clarke, 10. Grant, 11. Rose, 12. Faria, 13. Hagen, 14. Kaeding, 15. Streeter, 16. R.Gardner, 17. Mero, 18. Miller, 19. Coons, 20. Gullick, 21. Taylor, 22. Riggs, 23. R.VanderWeerd, 24. St. James. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Garrett Hansen, 2. Cory Kruseman, 3. Mike Spencer, 4. Levi Jones, 5. Bryan Clauson, 6. Tracy Hines, 7. Damion Gardner, 8. Jon Stanbrough, 9. Davey Pombo, 10. Rip Williams, 11. Henry Clarke, 12. Greg Bragg, 13. Danny Sheridan, 14. Kevin Swindell, 15. Cole Whitt, 16. David Cardey, 17. Dave Darland, 18. Rusty Carlile, 19. Brad Sweet, 20. Matt Mitchell, 21. Peter Murphy, 22. Cole Carter, 23. Ronnie Gardner, 24. Chad Boat, 25. Nic Faas, 26. Kyle Larson, 27. Jesse Hockett. NT
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**Miller flipped during the third heat. R.VanderWeerd flipped during the semi. Hockett flipped on the first lap of the feature. Murphy flipped on lap 29 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Hansen.

NEW USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-L.Jones-1,791; 2-Darland-1,582; 3-Whitt-1,576; 4-Hines-1,358; 5-Coons-1,353; 6-D.Gardner-1,343; 7-Hagen-1,005; 8-Clauson-990; 9-Boat-908; 10-Stanbrough-876.

NEW LUCAS OIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Spencer-971; 2-Cardey-856; 3-Hansen-811; 4-Miller-706; 5-Sheridan-698; 6-Bragg-687; 7-Mitchell-605; 8-R.Williams-600; 9-Kruseman-544; 10-Tony Jones-392.

NEXT USAC NATIONAL & LUCAS OIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: November 15 – Tulare, CA – Thunderbowl Raceway

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30TH “PACIFIC COAST NATIONALS” AT TULARE SATURDAY & SUNDAY

This Saturday and Sunday the USAC National and Lucas Oil USAC/CRA Sprint Car series will compete in the 30th “Pacific Coast Nationals” at the Tulare (Calif.) Thunderbowl Raceway. The event is being revived after a 14-year hiatus as a tribute to the Agajanian family, who spearheaded its 29-year success.

The championship point focus has shifted to the USAC/CRA series, where Mike Spencer of Temecula, Calif.; holds an 80-point lead over David Cardey of Perris, Calif. with three races remaining in the 2009 series. The series concludes November 28 at Perris.

Last weekend’s point-rich “Budweiser Oval Nationals” at Perris Auto Speedway resulted in an insurmountable point lead for Levi Jones of Avon, Ind. in the National series. He will celebrate his third National title this weekend at Tulare.

The winner of Sunday’s “twilight” feature will earn a paycheck of $12,500, while minimum feature-start money is $700. Saturday night’s standard USAC/CRA purse offers $4,000-to-win. USAC has been to the Tulare Fairgrounds five times, but only once before with Sprint Cars, a race won by Cory Kruseman.

Damion Gardner of Concord, Calif. caught Spencer on lap 37 and led the final four laps to win Saturday night’s 14th :”Budweiser Oval Nationals” 40-lap feature at Perris, claiming the $12,500 winner’s prize in his Pace Lighting Eagle/Shaver. Spencer took second ahead of Jones, Bryan Clauson and Bud Kaeding.

Dave Darland, second entering the Perris event, suffered car damage in a B Main incident Saturday and was unable to start the feature.

Rip Williams, the only driver to win both the “Budweiser Oval Nationals” and the “Pacific Coast Nationals,” led the first 21 laps of Saturday’s race. Spencer led the next 15 and Gardner led the final four.

Jones won a thrilling 25-lap preliminary feature at Perris on Friday. He passed Gardner on lap 14 and led the final 12 laps in his Tony Stewart Racing Chevy/Bass Pro Shops Maxim/Kistler Chevy. Fast qualifier Jon Stanbrough finished second ahead of Spencer, Gardner and Darren Hagen.

Bryan Clauson of Noblesville, Ind. led all 25 laps to win Thursday night’s Perris prelim in the Parker Stone Company/Gaerte Engines Maxim. It was his ninth victory in USAC competition this season. Stanbrough finished a close second ahead of Jones, Gardner and Williams.

USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1-Levi Jones-1,735, 2-Dave Darland-1,557, 3-Cole Whitt-1,545, 4-Jerry Coons Jr.-1,352, 5-Tracy Hines-1,312, 6-Damion Gardner-1,295, 7-Darren Hagen-1,004, 8-Bryan Clauson-933; 9-Chad Boat-889, 10-Jon Stanbrough-831.

LUCAS OIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1-Mike Spencer-913, 2-David Cardey-835, 3-Garrett Hansen-748; 4-Blake Miller-705, 5-Danny Sheridan-665, 6-Greg Bragg-652, 7-Matt Mitchell-584, 8-Rip Williams-562, 9-Cory Kruseman-485, 10-Tony Jones-392.

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KAEDING PUTS LID ON 3RD SILVER CROWN TITLE THURSDAY AT PHOENIX

Bud Kaeding of Campbell, Calif. will conclude his historic drive to a third USAC K & N Silver Crown championship Thursday when the series partners with the USAC Mopar National/Western Midget series in the 34th Lucas Oil “Copper World Classic” at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway.

Kaeding will become only the second driver in series history with three titles, matching the feat accomplished by Jimmy Sills in (1990, 1994 and 1996). Kaeding’s first two titles came in 1996 and 1997.

Bud opened the 2009 campaign with a victory in Phoenix, at the half-mile dirt Manzanita Speedway. His eight starts in his Alviso Rock/High Five Pizza Beast/Speedway Mopar have produced no finish worse than 10th.

While Kaeding’s point lead is secure, a bevy of drivers will battle for the number two ranking in Thursday’s series finale. No less than seven drivers are mathematically still in the hunt for the runner-up spot, with 66 points available and only 48 points separating positions two through eight.

A.J. Fike of Galesburg, Ill., still seeking his first career win, has an eight-point margin over Tracy Hines of New Castle, Ind. Fike has had a trio of “top-5s” this year, while Hines has six “top-10s” in eight starts. Levi Jones, Hines’ teammate, plus Josh Wise, Brian Tyler, Kody Swanson and Shane Hmiel are the other contenders for the number two ranking.

Dave Steele, who won five straight “Copper World” Silver Crown races from 2002-2006, holds the 1-lap track qualifying record of 142.197 mph.

Bobby East swept last year’s “Copper World” Midget and Silver Crown “doubleheader” and he is expected to be joined Thursday by former “Copper World” Silver Crown race winners Jason Leffler (2000), Tyler (1999) and Cameron Dodson (2007). Dodson’s story is remarkable, recovering from critical injuries in a highway accident last winter to come back and win in the Silver Crown cars at Iowa Speedway in July.

USAC K & N SILVER CROWN SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1-Bud Kaeding-363, 2-A.J. Fike-292, 3-Tracy Hines-284, 4-Levi Jones-283, 5-Josh Wise-278, 6-Brian Tyler-266, 7-Kody Swanson-250, 8-Shane Hmiel-244, 9-Jerry Coons Jr.-225, 10-Zach Daum-221.

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KUHN, HANSEN FACE TITLE CHALLENGES IN THURSDAY’S “COPPER WORLD” MIDGET RACE AT PHOENIX

Brad Kuhn of Avon, Ind. and Garrett Hansen of Manhattan Beach, Calif. lead their respective USAC racing series entering Thursday’s 34th “Copper World Classic” at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway. Kuhn has a 14-point lead over Brad Sweet of Alpine, Calif. in the Mopar National Midget Series and Hansen is 89 points ahead of Alex Schutte of Redding, Calif. in the Western Midget series.

The Midgets share the spotlight with the USAC K & N Silver Crown Series in Thursday’s race at the Phoenix mile. A 25-mile Midget race precedes the 100-mile Silver Crown race.

The National point race is actually a four-way affair, with Darren Hagen of Riverside, Calif. 35 back of Kuhn and two-time series champion Jerry Coons Jr. of Tucson, Ariz. 95 behind the leader. Both series conclude November 26 with the 69th Lucas Oil “Turkey Night Grand Prix” at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, Calif. but the Western Midgets also have the “J.W. Mitchell Fall Classic” at Ventura (Calif.) Raceway November 21.

A total of 66 points are available at Phoenix Thursday and drivers will aim for Dave Steele’s 1-lap track qualifying record of 138.201 mph set back in 2004.

Coons has added incentive for a win Thursday. His team, Wilke-Pak Motorsports of Milwaukee, Wisc., is gunning for their 134th career USAC National race victory (in all series), which would break the tie with Steve Lewis for the all-time USAC lead.

In terms of 2009 performance, Kuhn has a victory, three seconds and four thirds, while Sweet has three wins, five seconds and two thirds. Hagen scored two early-season wins and Coons also has two 2009 victories. Hansen has five wins and a second so far this season, while Schutte has won twice.

Bobby East of Brownsburg, Ind. is the defending champion of both “Copper World Classic” feature events.

USAC NATIONAL MIDGET CAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1-Brad Kuhn-1,175, 2-Brad Sweet-1,161, 3-Darren Hagen-1,140, 4-Jerry Coons Jr.-1,080, 5-Cole Whitt-952, 6-Bobby East-930, 7-Tracy Hines-903, 8-Bryan Clauson-818, 9-Chad Boat-729, 10-Kevin Swindell-540.

USAC WESTERN MIDGET CAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS:1-Garrett Hansen-1,016, 2-Alex Schutte-927, 3-Jerome Rodela-916, 4-Tanner Swanson-706, 5-David Prickett-699, 6-Scott Pierovich-591, 7-Shannon McQueen-540, 8-Josh Ford-494, 9-Alex Bowman-406; 10-Randi Pankratz-405.

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USAC NATIONAL & LUCAS OIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: November 7, 2009 – Perris, California – Perris Auto Speedway – 14th “Budweiser Oval Nationals”

“C” MAIN: (20 laps) 1. Austin Williams (#2 Jory), 2. Keith Bloom Jr. (#27 Braund), 3. Chad Boat (#30 Boat), 4. Dave Darland (#2B RWB), 5. Richard VanderWeerd (#10 VanderWeerd), 6. Brent Camarillo (#51 Camarillo), 7. Peter Murphy (#21t Tarlton), 8. Jace VanderWeerd (#88 VanderWeerd), 9. Austin Mero (#71k Kruseman), 10. Justin Grant (#5 Baldwin), 11. Matthew Shedarowich (#8z Shedarowich), 12. Marty Hawkins (#3m Hawkins), 13. Rusty Carlile (#151 Carlile), 14. Jonny Bates (#33 Bates), 15. Blake Miller (#93 Gardner), 16. Ludvig Solberg IV (#84 Persall), 17. Cody Williams (#44 Jory), 18. Cody Kershaw (#51k Camarillo), 19. Kenny Perkins (#0K Perkins). NT

“B” MAIN: (20 laps) 1. Cole Whitt (#67k Kunz), 2. Tracy Hines (#21 Stewart), 3. Tony Jones (#4 Alexander), 4. Darren Hagen (#4x Alexander), 5. Kevin Swindell (#83 Roth), 6. Bud Kaeding (#29 BK Racing), 7. Cory Kruseman (#21k Kruseman), 8. Bloom, 9. Greg Bragg (#92 Sertich), 10. Garrett Hansen (#7x Priestley), 11. Ronnie Gardner (#96 Gardner), 12. Boat, 13. Davey Pombo (#11p Buster & Ziggy), 14. Jimmy Crawford (#11 Crawford), 15. Murphy, 16. J.VanderWeerd, 17. Brent Camarillo, 18. John Aden (#7a Aden), 19. Steve Sussex (#0 Price), 20. Darland, 21. Bruce St. James (#7k St. James), 22. R.VanderWeerd, 23. A.Williams, 24. R.J. Johnson (#15 Martin). NT

FEATURE: (40 laps) 1. Damion Gardner (#71 DG), 2. Mike Spencer (#50 Chaffin), 3. Levi Jones (#20 Stewart), 4. Bryan Clauson (#7 Tucker), 5. Bud Kaeding, 6. Garrett Hansen, 7. Rip Williams (#3 Jory), 8. Cory Kruseman, 9. Henry Clarke (#67 Kunz), 10. Brady Short (#36 Short), 11. Greg Bragg, 12. Keith Bloom Jr., 13. Danny Sheridan (#18 Kittle), 14. Ronnie Gardner, 15. Austin Williams, 16. Tony Jones, 17. David Cardey (#38 Crossno), 18. Blake Miller, 19. Kevin Swindell, 20. Nic Faas (#17F Faas), 21. Cole Whitt, 22. Tracy Hines, 23. Chad Boat, 24. Jon Stanbrough (#37 Indiana Underground), 25. Matt Mitchell (#37x Mitchell), 26. Darren Hagen. NT

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**Hagen flipped on lap 5 of the feature. Hines flipped on lap 10 of the feature. Whitt flipped on lap 11 of the feature. Swindell flipped on lap 29 of the feature. Cardey flipped on lap 32 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-21 R.Williams, Laps 22-36 Spencer, Laps 37-40 Gardner.

NEW USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-L.Jones-1,735; 2-Darland-1,557; 3-Whitt-1,545; 4-Jerry Coons Jr.-1,352; 5-Hines-1,312; 6-D.Gardner-1,295; 7-Hagen-1,004; 8-Clauson-933; 9-Boat-889; 10-Stanbrough-831.

NEW LUCAS OIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Spencer-913; 2-Cardey-835; 3-Hansen-748; 4-Miller-705; 5-Sheridan-665; 6-Bragg-652; 7-Mitchell-584; 8-R.Williams-562; 9-Kruseman-485; 10-T.Jones-392.

NEXT USAC NATIONAL & LUCAS OIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACES: November 13-14 – Tulare, CA – Thunderbowl Raceway – 30th “Pacific Coast Nationals”

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USAC NATIONAL & LUCAS OIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: November 6, 2009 – Perris, California – Perris Auto Speedway – 14th “Budweiser Oval Nationals”

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Jon Stanbrough, 37, Indiana Underground-16.303; 2. Nic Faas, 17F, Faas-16.312; 3. Bryan Clauson, 7, Tucker-16.337; 4. Cole Whitt, 67k, Kunz-16.359; 5. Dave Darland, 2B, RWB-16.401; 6. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-16.430; 7. Jimmy Crawford, 11, Crawford-16.447; 8. Damion Gardner, 71, DG-16.499; 9. Darren Hagen, 4x, Alexander-16.516; 10. Matt Mitchell, 37x, Mitchell-16.516; 11. Levi Jones, 20, Stewart-16.546; 12. Henry Clarke, 67, Kunz-16.600; 13. Cory Kruseman, 21k, Kruseman-16.606; 14. Chad Boat, 30, Boat-16.611; 15. Ronnie Gardner, 96, Gardner-16.653; 16. Garrett Hansen, 7x, Priestley-16.656; 17. Keith Bloom Jr., 27, Braund-16.697; 18. Tracy Hines, 21, Stewart-16.703; 19. Bud Kaeding, 29, BK Racing-16.710; 20. Justin Grant, 5, Baldwin-16.731; 21. Brady Short, 36, Short-16.778; 22. Danny Sheridan, 18, Kittle-16.780; 23. David Cardey, 38, Crossno-16.787; 24. Richard VanderWeerd, 10, VanderWeerd-16.807; 25. Davey Pombo, 11p, Buster & Ziggy-16.809; 26. Blake Miller, 93, Gardner-16.838; 27. Cody Kershaw, 51k, Camarillo-16.842; 28. Greg Bragg, 92, Sertich-16.852; 29. R.J. Johnson, 15, Martin-16.857; 30. Peter Murphy, 21t, Tarlton-16.928; 31. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-16.975; 32. Steve Sussex, 0, Price-17.051; 33. Brent Camarillo, 51, Camarillo-17.062; 34. Bruce St. James, 7k, St. James-17.081; 35. Kenny Perkins, 0K, Perkins-17.101; 36. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-17.134; 37. Kevin Swindell 83, Roth-17.135; 38. Austin Mero, 71k, Kruseman-17.155; 39. Tony Jones, 4, Alexander-17.208; 40. Casey Riggs, 37r, Riggs-17.224; 41. Ludvig Solberg IV, 84, Persall-17.298; 42. Matthew Shedarowich, 8z, Shedarowich-17.299; 43. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-17.304; 44. Jace Vander Weerd, 88, Vander Weerd-17.342; 45. John Aden, 7a, Aden-17.382; 46. Brian Camarillo, 22, Camarillo-17.497; 47. Rusty Carlile, 151, Carlile-17.599; 48. Marty Hawkins, 3m, Hawkins-17.991; 49. Jonny Bates, 33, Bates-NT; 50. Jeff Bland, Jr., 36r, Short-NT; 51. Coleman Gullick, 14, Gullick-NT.

“C” MAIN: (10 laps) 1. Solberg IV, 2. C.Williams, 3. Aden, 4. Carlile, 5. Brian Camarillo, 6. Shedarowich, 7. J.Vander Weerd, 8. Hawkins. NT

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. R.Williams, 2. L.Jones, 3. Spencer, 4. Short, 5. Stanbrough, 6. Hansen, 7. Miller, 8. A.Williams. NT

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Swindell, 2. Sheridan, 3. Sussex, 4. Clarke, 5. Faas, 6. Crawford, 7. Kershaw, 8. Bloom. 2:52.52

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Cardey, 2. Brent Camarillo, 3. D.Gardner, 4. Kruseman, 5. Bragg, 6. Hines, 7. Mero, 8. Clauson. NT

FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. T.Jones, 2. St. James, 3. Johnson, 4. Hagen, 5. Whitt, 6. Boat, 7. Kaeding, 8. R.VanderWeerd. NT

FIFTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Mitchell, 2. Riggs, 3. Perkins, 4. Pombo, 5. Grant, 6. Murphy, 7. Darland, 8. Gardner. 2:55.70

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Stanbrough, 2. Faas, 3. Clauson, 4. Crawford, 5. Whitt, 6. Hansen, 7. Bloom, 8. Hines, 9. Boat, 10. Kaeding, 11. R.Gardner, 12. Grant, 13. Miller, 14. Bragg, 15. R.VanderWeerd, 16. Murphy, 17. Kershaw, 18. A.Williams, 19. Mero, 20. C.Williams, 21. Aden, 22. Solberg, 23. Carlile. 3:22.84

FEATURE: (25 laps) 1. Levi Jones, 2. Jon Stanbrough, 3. Mike Spencer, 4. Damion Gardner, 5. Darren Hagen, 6. Matt Mitchell, 7. Bryan Clauson, 8. Cole Whitt, 9. David Cardey, 10. Nic Faas, 11. Cory Kruseman, 12. Brady Short, 13. Henry Clarke, 14. Danny Sheridan, 15. Garrett Hansen, 16. Rip Williams, 17. Greg Bragg, 18. Tracy Hines, 19. Kevin Swindell, 20. R.J. Johnson, 21. Jimmy Crawford, 22. Bruce St. James, 23. Davey Pombo, 24. Steve Sussex, 25. Brent Camarillo, 26. Kenny Perkins, 27. Tony Jones, 28. Casey Riggs. NT
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**Gullick flipped during practice. Hawkins and Bland flipped during qualifications. Darland flipped during the fifth heat. T.Jones flipped on lap 6 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-2 Jones, Laps 3-6 D.Gardner, Laps 7-12 Jones, Lap 13 D.Gardner, Laps 14-25 Jones.

NEW USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-L.Jones-1,681; 2-Darland-1,557; 3-Whitt-1,532; 4-Jerry Coons Jr.-1,352; 5-Hines-1,299; 6-D.Gardner-1,235; 7-Hagen-991; 8-Clauson-882; 9-Boat-876; 10-Stanbrough-818.

NEW LUCAS OIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Spencer-856; 2-Cardey-816; 3-Hansen-703; 4-Miller-688; 5-Sheridan-638; 6-Bragg-621; 7-Mitchell-571; 8-R.Williams-520; 9-Kruseman-446; 10-T.Jones-371.

NEXT USAC NATIONAL & LUCAS OIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: November 7 – Perris (CA) Auto Speedway – 14th “Budweiser Oval Nationals”

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USAC NATIONAL & LUCAS OIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: November 5, 2009 – Perris, California – Perris Auto Speedway – 14th “Budweiser Oval Nationals”

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Jon Stanbrough, 37, Indiana Underground-16.364, 2. Damion Gardner, 71, DG-16.570, 3. Ronnie Gardner, 96, Gardner-16.659, 4. Bryan Clauson, 7, Tucker-16.680, 5. Levi Jones, 20, Stewart-16.758, 6. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-16.934, 7. Nic Faas, 17F, Faas-16.935, 8. Henry Clarke, 67, Kunz-16.954, 9. Matt Mitchell, 37x, Mitchell-16.957, 10. Tony Jones, 4, Alexander-16.999, 11. Chad Boat, 30, Boat-17.006, 12. Garrett Hansen, 7x, Priestley-17.020, 13. Cole Whitt, 67k, Kunz-17.031, 14. Darren Hagen, 4x, Alexander-17.047, 15. Justin Grant, 5, Baldwin-17.050, 16. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-17.061, 17. Coleman Gullick, 14, Gullick-17.063, 18. Greg Bragg, 92, Sertich-17.098, 19. Tracy Hines, 21, Stewart-17.103, 20. Jeff Bland, Jr., 36r, Short-17.112, 21. Jimmy Crawford, 11, Crawford-17.116, 22. R.J. Johnson, 15, Martin-17.132, 23. Blake Miller, 93x, Gardner-17.181, 24. Brady Short, 36, Short-17.183, 25. Dave Darland, 2B, RWB-17.185, 26. Kevin Swindell 83, Roth-17.191, 27. Davey Pombo, 11p, Buster & Ziggy-17.195, 28. Cory Kruseman, 21k, Kruseman-17.245, 29. Matthew Shedarowich, 8z, Shedarowich-17.262, 30. Jerry Coons Jr., 73, Ford-17.262, 31. Bud Kaeding, 29, BK Racing-17.285, 32. Austin Mero, 71k, Kruseman-17.287, 33. John Aden, 7a, Aden-17.318, 34. Danny Sheridan, 18, Kittle-17.353, 35. Richard VanderWeerd, 10, VanderWeerd-17.355, 36. David Cardey, 38, Crossno-17.389, 37. Casey Riggs, 37r, Riggs-17.448, 38. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-17.452, 39. Bruce St. James, 7k, St. James-17.465, 40. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-17.494, 41. Keith Bloom, Jr., 27, Braund-17.506, 42. Brian Camarillo, 22, Camarillo-17.517, 43. Ludvig Solberg IV, 84, Persall-17.529, 44. Cody Kershaw, 51k, Camarillo-17.650, 45. Jace VanderWeerd, 88, VanderWeerd-17.670, 46. Kenny Perkins, 0K, Perkins-17.738, 47. Wes Gutierrez, 007, WG Motorsports-17.759, 48. Peter Murphy, 21t, Tarlton-17.762, 49. Steve Sussex, 0, Price-17.815, 50. Brent Camarillo, 51, Camarillo-18.014, 51. Jonny Bates, 33,
Bates-18.027, 52. Marty Hawkins, 3m, Hawkins-18.332. (Blake Miller, 93, Gardner-withdrawn)

“C” MAIN: (10 laps) 1. Solberg, 2. Brian Camarillo, 3. J.Vander Weerd, 4. Sussex, 5. Bates, 6. Murphy, 7. Kershaw, 8. Brent Camarillo, 9. Perkins, 10. Hawkins, 11. Gutierrez. 2:56.

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Spencer, 2. Stanbrough, 3. Mero, 4. R. Williams, 5. Crawford, 6. Riggs, 7. Pombo, 8. Boat. 2:51.58

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. C.Williams, 2. D.Gardner, 3. Aden, 4. Hansen, 5. Faas, 6. Gullick, 7. Johnson, 8. Kruseman. 2:53.79

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Sheridan, 2. Short, 3. Whitt, 4. Bragg, 5. St. James, 6. R.Gardner, 7. Shedarowicz, 8. Clarke. NT

FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. A.Williams, 2. Hines, 3. Darland, 4. Clauson, 5. Mitchell, 6. R.Vander Weerd, 7. Hagen, 8. Coons. NT

FIFTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Cardey, 2. Bland, 3. T.Jones, 4. Kaeding, 5. Bloom, 6. L.Jones, 7. Swindell. NT

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. L.Jones, 2. Clarke, 3. Faas, 4. R.Gardner, 5. Mitchell, 6. Hagen, 7. Boat, 8. Crawford, 9. Swindell, 10. Johnson, 11. Pombo, 12. R.Vander Weerd, 13. Bloom, 14. Solberg, 15. Coons, 16. Sussex, 17. J.Vander Weerd, 18. Riggs, 19. Brian Camarillo, 20. St. James, 21. Gullick, 22. Kruseman, 23. Shedarowicz. NT

FEATURE: (25 laps) 1. Bryan Clauson, 2. Jon Stanbrough, 3. Levi Jones, 4. Damion Gardner, 5. Rip Williams, 6. Henry Clarke, 7. Mike Spencer, 8. Tracy Hines, 9. Cole Whitt, 10. Ronnie Gardner, 11. Greg Bragg, 12. Brady Short, 13. David Cardey, 14. Bud Kaeding, 15. Nic Faas, 16. Dave Darland, 17. John Aden, 18. Danny Sheridan, 19. Jeff Bland Jr., 20. Cory Kruseman, 21. Matt Mitchell, 22. Garrett Hansen, 23. Cody Williams, 24. Tony Jones, 25. Austin Williams, 26. Chad Boat, 27. Austin Mero. NT

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**Blake Miller flipped #93 during qualifying. Blake Miller flipped #93x during qualifying. Clarke flipped during the third heat. Swindell flipped during the fifth heat. A.Williams flipped on lap 17 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-25 Clauson.

NEW USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-L.Jones-1,614; 2-Darland-1,554; 3-Whitt-1,490; 4-Coons-1,352; 5-Hines-1,282; 6-D.Gardner-1,178; 7-Hagen-938; 8-Boat-875; 9-Clauson-834; 10-Brad Sweet-784.

NEW LUCAS OIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Spencer-795; 2-Cardey-772; 3-Blake Miller-687; 4-Hansen-680; 5-Sheridan-606; 6-Bragg-602; 7-Mitchell-518; 8-R.Williams-491; 9-Kruseman-410; 10-C.Williams-352.

NEXT USAC NATIONAL & LUCAS OIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: November 6 – Perris (CA) Auto Speedway – 14th “Budweiser Oval Nationals”

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PAS THIS WEEK’S FOCUS, BUT SPRINT EYES ALSO TURNED TO TULARE WITH NATIONAL TITLE TO BE DETERMINED AT “PACIFIC COAST NATIONALS”

Numerous drivers participating in the “Budweiser Oval Nationals” at Perris Auto Speedway tonight, Friday and Saturday also have their sights set on next week’s big “Pacific Coast Nationals” at the Tulare (Calif.) Thunderbowl Raceway. The USAC National Sprint Car Champion will be crowned on Sunday night, November 15, following Saturday and Sunday competition at the third-mile dirt oval as USAC’s “Gold Rush Tour” continues.

Levi Jones, Dave Darland, Cole Whitt and Jerry Coons Jr. are the primary title contenders entering tonight’s action at Perris. Jones’ lead is only 27 over Darland, with Whitt 106 back and Coons 203 in arrears. A total of 212 points are available at Perris during the next three nights of racing.

The “Pacific Coast Nationals,” a salute to the Agajanian Family, is being revived after a 14-year hiatus. This year’s running is the 30th and Rip Williams of Yorba Linda, Calif. will be the only former champion in the field. He won the race in 1990 at Ascot Park in Gardena, Calif. Past winners of the event, which has experienced format and headlining division changes, include Jim Wood (1962), Jim Cox (1963), Marshall Sargent (1964), Dick Fries (1965), Bobby Adamson (1967), Bob Hogle (1968), Gene Brown (1972), Rick Ferkel (1973), Clark Templeman (1974), Ron Shuman (1976, 1977, 1983 and 1994), Buster Venard (1978), Dean Thompson (1979, 1980, 1982 and 1985), Sammy Swindell (1981), Bubby Jones (1984), Brad Doty (1986), Steve Kinser (1987 and 1988), Brad Noffsinger (1989), Rip Williams (1990) and Mike Kirby (1995).

Cory Kruseman won the 2007 USAC/CRA race at Tulare and is excited about the Pacific Coast Nationals. “It’s about damn time,” he says, referring to the revival of the Pacific Coast Nationals. “I can’t think of a better place to do this. It’s one of my favorite tracks. It’s a nice facility, where the promoter cares about the people and he always comes around to thank you for being there. The surface stays good and you can drive the track in the old west style – “drive it in hard and back it in.”

The winner of Sunday’s “twilight” feature will earn a paycheck of $12,500, while minimum feature-start money is $700. Saturday night’s standard USAC/CRA purse offers $4,000-to-win.

USAC has been to the Tulare Fairgrounds five times, but only once before with Sprint Cars. The “Pacific Coast Nationals” will offer points toward both the USAC National and Lucas Oil USAC/CRA Sprint championships. The USAC/CRA series concludes November 28 at Perris.

Race organizer Steve Faria is excited about the “Pacific Coast Nationals” finding a home at his track. “We are honored to host the event,” he said. “Non-wing racing has a bright future here and with Kevin Miller’s leadership and perspectives I think USAC is headed in the right direction. This event will be good for California and we were really disappointed following last year’s USAC rainout.” Thunderbowl Raceway derived its name from a track which operated in the 1940s on the south side of Tulare but was disbanded. Steve and his staff reconfigured the track in 1993, then expanded it in the late-1990s, but auto racing on the grounds actually dates back to right after the second World War.

The first USAC appearance at Tulare in 1988 saw P.J. Jones victorious in a Midget race. The following year, Robby Flock and Sleepy Tripp won USAC Midget races there and Wiley Miller won a USAC TQ Midget feature.

The scheduling of the Tulare program for Saturday and Sunday allows ample time for travel for USAC teams participating in Thursday’s (Nov. 12) “Copper World Classic” Silver Crown and Midget races at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway.

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PERRIS, TULARE CONCLUDE 2009 NATIONAL SPRINT CAMPAIGN; 27 POINTS SEPARATE JONES & DARLAND

The USAC National Sprint Car Series concludes its 2009 campaign with major back-to-back events in California and drivers Levi Jones and Dave Darland are separated by only 27 points with a total of over 350 points still available.

The 14th “Budweiser Oval Nationals” are scheduled November 5-7 at Perris Auto Speedway and the 30th “Pacific Coast Nationals” (a salute to the Agajanian Family) unfolds November 14-15 at the Tulare Thunderbowl.

Jesse Hockett of Warsaw, Mo. is the defending winner of the “Budweiser Oval Nationals,” while Mike Kirby won the last “Pacific Coast Nationals” feature in 1995!

Rip Williams of Yorba Linda, Calif. is the only driver to have won both events. He won the “Pacific Coast Nationals” in 1990 and 1993 and the “Budweiser Oval Nationals” in 1997.

While Levi Jones has never won either race, Darland owns victories in the 2005 and 2006 Perris classic. Other active “Budweiser Oval Nationals” champions include Rodney Argo (1998), Rickie Gaunt (1999), Tony Jones (2000), Cory Kruseman (2003 & 2004) and three-time champion Bud Kaeding (2001, 2002 and 2007).

The upcoming “Budweiser Oval Nationals” offers $12,500 to win and 25-lap features are slated Thursday and Friday, with a big 40-lap feature on tap Saturday. A practice session on Wednesday is also open free to the race fans and a special on-track autograph session is planned on Saturday prior to the final events.

Defending Lucas Oil USAC/CRA Sprint Car Champion and 2009 point leader Mike Spencer of Temecula, Calif. has won the last two races at Perris and owns nine Perris victories since the USAC/CRA series debuted in 2004. He finished 10th in last year’s “Budweiser Oval Nationals” main event.

USAC/CRA Champions Tony Jones and Cory Kruseman and own 2009 Perris victories, as do Rickie Gaunt, David Cardey and Blake Miller, so the list of possible “Budweiser Oval Nationals” winner is a lengthy one. Gaunt’s win came in the National/CRA feature held at the PAS in February.

With five races remaining in the 2009 USAC National Sprint season, Jones and Darland must keep an eye on Cole Whitt, Jerry Coons Jr. and Tracy Hines, who round out the “top-five” in the latest standings. Whitt is the only driver to score back-to-back dirt wins this season, while Coons has already added to his team’s (Dynamics, Inc.) all-time USAC leading total of National wins with #72 and #73 on the dirt this year. Hines is still seeking his first dirt win this year after a pair of wins on the pavement.

Listed below are the previous winners of the “Budweiser Oval Nationals” and the “Pacific Coast Nationals:”

BUDWEISER OVAL NATIONALS
1996 – Jimmy Sills
1997 – Rip Williams
1998 – Rodney Argo
1999 – Rickie Gaunt
2000 – Tony Jones
2001 – Bud Kaeding
2002 – Bud Kaeding
2003 – Cory Kruseman
2004 – Cory Kruseman
2005 – Dave Darland
2006 – Dave Darland
2007 – Bud Kaeding
2008 – Jesse Hockett

PACIFIC COAST NATIONALS
1962 – Jim Wood
1963 – Jim Cox
1964 – Marshall Sargent
1965 – Dick Fries
1967 – Bobby Adamson
1968 – Bob Hogle
1972 – Gene Brown
1973 – Rick Ferkel
1974 – Clark Templeman
1976 – Ron Shuman
1977 – Ron Shuman
1978 – Buster Venard
1979 – Dean Thompson
1980 – Dean Thompson
1981 – Sammy Swindell
1982 – Dean Thompson
1983 – Ron Shuman
1984 – Bubby Jones
1985 – Dean Thompson
1986 – Brad Doty
1987 – Steve Kinser
1988 – Steve Kinser
1989 – Brad Noffsinger
1990 – Rip Williams
1991 – Bubby Jones
1992 – Lealand McSpadden
1993 – Rip Williams
1994 – Ron Shuman
1995 – Mike Kirby

(Races not held in 1966, 1969, 1970, 1971 and 1975)

USAC SPRINTS KICK OFF 2010 AT EAST BAY RACEWAY; FIRST USAC DIRT SPRINT RACES IN FLORIDA SINCE 1987

The 2010 USAC National racing season will start in the Sunshine State with the announcement today of the February 8-9-10 non-wing 410-c.i. USAC National Sprint Car races at East Bay Raceway Park near Tampa, Fla. It’s part of East Bay’s big six-night February slate which also includes the All Star Sprint Car Series, which competes at the track February 11-12-13.

Located in Gibsonton, the 1/3-mile clay oval has been a hotbed of Sprint racing in recent years but the February races mark the debut of USAC Sprint racing at the track. The only previous USAC appearance at the facility was in 2006 when Ryan Smith and Mike Ward won Ford Focus races at East Bay.

Florida actually hosted the second outdoor race in USAC history, a February 5, 1956 Sprint race at Southland Speedway in West Palm Beach won by Bob Sweikert, who had won the previous year’s Indianapolis 500. Subsequent USAC Sprint races were held the following weekends at Jacksonville and Miami, with Chuck Weyant and Pat O’Connor taking home the trophies. It would be 14 years before USAC Sprint racing returned to Florida, Larry Dickson winning a pair of races at Miami’s Hollywood Speedway.

In 1987 Rich Vogler won the only USAC dirt-track Sprint race ever in Florida, a 30-lapper at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa.

“We are truly excited about bringing our product back to the Sunshine State,” says USAC President/CEO Kevin Miller. “We’ve had tremendous success with events there through the years and this opportunity presents a great destination for our participants during the Midwestern winter. We hope this will be the first of many annual trips to the Southeast.”

“I remember several Florida trips and how much they were valued by the USAC family,” adds USAC VP/Race Operations Jason Smith. The state has a great motorsports fan base and all of us are excited about this new venue.”

“USAC has long been recognized as a leader in the field of motorsports entertainment,” says East Bay race organizer Al Varnadore, “and we are pleased to be part of their 2010 calendar of events. Their brand of racing is universally recognized as professional and extremely competitive and these February races should be fan favorites.”

The February 8-9-10 dates fall during the annual “Speed Weeks” in Florida leading up to the February 14 Daytona 500. Support classes for the three-night racing program are yet to be announced.

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USAC WESTERN MIDGET CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: October 17, 2009 – Ventura, California – Ventura Raceway

FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Brad Loyet (#05 Loyet), 2. Alex Schutte (#12k Kruseman). 3. Chris Gansen (#04 Gansen), 4. Jeff Slinkard (#72 Slinkard), 5. Brian Camarillo (#22 Camland), 6. David Prickett (#15 Neverlift), 7. Austin Smith (#33 Smith). NT

SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Garrett Hansen (#47 Bondio), 2. Shannon McQueen (#7 McQueen), 3. Jake Swanson (#05x Swanson), 4. Alex Bowman (#55 Bowman), 5. R.J. Johnson (#51 Johnson), 6. Victor Davis (#31x Davis), 7. Mike Gehringer (#27 Gehringer). NT

THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Dennis Howell (#62 Howell), 2. Bruce Douglas (#31 Douglas), 3. Blake Miller (#7R Priestley), 4. Wally Pankratz (#25x Rodela), 5. Randi Pankratz (#8 Pankratz), 6. Brent Camarillo (#51x Camland), 7. Tanner Swanson (#19k Team 6R/TK). NT

FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Rick Hendrix (#12 Hendrix), 2. Cory Kruseman (#17k Kruseman), 3. Matt Mitchell (#37 Mitchell), 4. Cody Kershaw (#21k Kruseman). 5. Jerome Rodela (#25 Rodela), 6. Johnny Rodriguez (#37m Mitchell), 7. Joey Fabozzi (#48 Fabozzi). NT

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Johnson, 2. Rodela, 3. Brian Camarillo, 4. Gehringer, 5. R.Pankratz, 6. Smith, 7. Prickett, 8. Brent Camarillo, 9. Fabozzi, 10. Davis, 11. Rodriguez, 12. T.Swanson. NT

FEATURE: (25 laps) 1. Garrett Hansen, 2. Brad Loyet, 3. Jerome Rodela, 4. Shannon McQueen, 5. Matt Mitchell, 6. R.J. Johnson, 7. Alex Schutte, 8. Cory Kruseman, 9. Cody Kershaw, 10. Jake Swanson, 11. Brian Camarillo, 12. Randi Pankratz, 13. Bruce Douglas, 14. Jeff Slinkard, 15. Wally Pankratz, 16. Chris Gansen, 17. Blake Miller, 18. Dennis Howell, 19. Rick Hendrix, 20. Mike Gehringer, 21. Alex Bowman. NT
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**Swanson flipped during the third heat. Swanson flipped during the semi.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-25 Hansen.

NEW WESTERN MIDGET POINTS: 1-Hansen-974; 2-Rodela-877; 3-Schutte-876; 4-T.Swanson-706; 5-Prickett-678; 6-Scott Pierovich-591; 7-McQueen-540; 8-Josh Ford-494; 9-R.Pankratz-405; 10-Bowman-381.

NEXT USAC WESTERN MIDGET RACE: October 31 – Las Vegas (NV) Motor Speedway Bullring

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