MITCHELL MARCHES TO PERRIS USAC CRA VICTORY
Perris, California (April 15, 2023)………Saturday night’s AMSOIL USAC CRA Sprint Car showdown at California’s Perris Auto Speedway was an event that Matt Mitchell originally wasn’t even slated to compete in.
But not only did the veteran racer from Yorba Linda, Calif. compete, he made sure to make it a victorious effort from his sixth starting spot as he chased down Austin Williams for the race lead with nine laps remaining in the contest at the 1/2-mile dirt oval.
Mitchell was originally intending to fly to Indiana to compete in Sunday’s USAC Silver Crown Sumar Classic. But with its cancellation announced on Friday, Mitchell stayed back home in so Cal. where he earned his ninth career USAC CRA feature victory, seventh at Perris.
Mitchell also led the 21-car field in Woodland Auto Display Qualifying by recording the fastest time of the night with a lap of 16.335 seconds.
R.J. Johnson (Laveen, Ariz.) ran second behind Mitchell at the finish line while Austin Williams (Yorba Linda, Calif.), who led the first 21 laps, took third. Charles Davis Jr. (Buckeye, Ariz.) grabbed fourth while point leader Brody Roa (Garden Grove, Calif.) rounded out the top-five.
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AMSOIL USAC CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: April 15, 2023 – Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, California
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-16.335; 2. Cody Williams, 44, Williams-16.350; 3. Brody Roa, 17R, Dunkel/BR-16.614; 4. Charles Davis Jr., 47, Davis-16.681; 5. Logan Williams, 5w, McCarthy-16.791; 6. Austin Williams, 2, Williams-16.925; 7. R.J. Johnson, 51, Johnson-16.984; 8. Austin Grabowski, 72, Grabowski-16.984; 9. Tommy Malcolm, 5x, Napier-17.008; 10. James Turnbull II, 2J, Turnbull-17.009; 11. Matt McCarthy, 28m, McCarthy-17.022; 12. Logan Calderwood, 6, Calderwood-17.127; 13. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 51T, Tafoya-17.170; 14. Verne Sweeney, 98, Guerrero-17.178; 15. Grant Sexton, 22, Sexton-17.203; 16. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-17.217; 17. Andrew Sweeney, 98A, Guerrero-17.336; 18. Shane Sexton, 74, Sexton/Gatlin-17.406; 19. Brent Owens, 71, Martin-17.413; 20. Jeff Dyer, 39, Cal-Sun-19.746; 21. James Herrera, 5J, Herrera-NT.
FLOWDYNAMICS INCORPORATED FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. R.J. Johnson, 2. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 3. Charles Davis Jr., 4. Matt Mitchell, 5. Chris Gansen, 6. James Turnbull II, 7. Brent Owens. NT
BILLSJERKY.NET SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Andrew Sweeney, 2. Matt McCarthy, 3. Logan Williams, 4. Austin Grabowski, 5. Verne Sweeney, 6. Cody Williams, 7. Jeff Dyer. NT
IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Tommy Malcolm, 2. Brody Roa, 3. Austin Williams, 4. Grant Sexton, 5. Logan Calderwood, 6. Shane Sexton. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Matt Mitchell (6), 2. R.J. Johnson (1), 3. Austin Williams (2), 4. Charles Davis Jr. (4), 5. Brody Roa (5), 6. Tommy Malcolm (8), 7. Logan Williams (3), 8. Eddie Tafoya Jr. (12), 9. Matt McCarthy (10), 10. Cody Williams (7), 11. Chris Gansen (15), 12. Grant Sexton (14), 13. Logan Calderwood (11), 14. Andrew Sweeney (16), 15. Brent Owens (18), 16. Jeff Dyer (19), 17. James Herrera (20), 18. Verne Sweeney (13), 19. James Turnbull II (9), 20. Shane Sexton (17). NT.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-21 Austin Williams, Laps 22-30 Matt Mitchell.
IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER HARD CHARGER: Matt Mitchell (6th to 1st)
WILWOOD DISC BRAKES LUCKY 13 AWARD: Logan Calderwood
AMSOIL USAC CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Brody Roa-382, 2-Cody Williams-330, 3-R.J. Johnson-324, 4-Charles Davis Jr.-314, 5-Tommy Malcolm-294, 6-Austin Williams-283, 7-Chase Johnson-237, 8-Ricky Lewis-226, 9-Logan Calderwood-213, 10-A.J. Bender-204.
NEXT AMSOIL USAC CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: April 22, 2023 – Kings Speedway – Hanford, California – Spanky Mathews Memorial
