RICHARD VANDER WEERD WINS “SOKOLA SHOOTOUT”

Perris, CA……..Richard Vander Weerd of Visalia, Calif. passed Matt Mitchell on the eighth lap and led the rest of the way to win Saturday night’s 30-lap “Sokola Shootout” at Perris Auto Speedway, the opening race of the 2015 AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car campaign. Austin Williams finished second ahead of Woodland Auto Display fast qualifier and five-time USAC/CRA champ Mike Spencer, defending series king Damion Gardner and 2014 USAC West Coast champ Mitchell. Vander Weerd piloted the Vander Weerd Construction/Battery Worx Maxim/Shark to the victory.

AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: March 7, 2015 – Perris, California – Perris Auto Speedway – “Sokola 

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-16.393; 2. Richard Vander Weerd, 10 Vander Weerd-16.486; 3. Ronnie Gardner, 93, Gardner-16.502; 4. Hunter Schuerenberg, 73, Ford-16.582; 5. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-16.595; 6. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-16.634; 7. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-16.679; 8. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-16.679; 9. Damion Gardner, 4, Alexander-16.713; 10. Rickie Gaunt, 9, McDonald-16.779; 11. Geoff Ensign, 3F, Finkenbinder-16.866; 12. David Bezio, 37X, Bezio-16.879; 13. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-16.995; 14. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-17.020; 15. Parker Colston, 64, Colston-17.198; 16. Logan Williams, 5, Jory-17.262; 17. Jace Vander Weerd, 88, Vander Weerd-17.308; 18. Johnny Bluntach, 58, Bluntach-17.339; 19. Tommy Malcolm, 5X, Napier-17.344; 20. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-17.362; 21. Terry Schank Jr., 1, Gleeson-17.375; 22. Cal Smith, 39, Cal-Sun-17.414; 23. Michael Curtis, 45C, Turner/Wheeler-17.423; 24. Mike Martin, 16, Martin-17.536; 25. Jeremy Ellertson, 98X, Ellertson-17.567; 26. Anthony Lopiccolo, 36, Springstead-17.657; 27. Tobey Sampson, 12B, Blair-18.442; 28. Tony Everhart, 55, Everhart-NT.

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Johnson, 2. Spencer, 3. Swanson, 4. Schuerenberg, 5. Gaunt, 6. L.Williams, 7. Malcolm, 8. Ellertson, 9. Smith. 2:52.99

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. R.Vander Weerd, 2. A.Williams, 3. C.Williams, 4. Roa, 5. J.Vander Weerd, 6. Ensign, 7. Gansen, 8. Lopiccolo, 9. Curtis. 2:53.39

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. D.Gardner, 2. Mitchell, 3. Bezio, 4. R.Gardner, 5. Martin, 6. Schank, 7. Colston, 8. Bluntach, 9. Sampson. 2:54.90

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Ensign, 2. Schank, 3. Gaunt, 4. J.Vander Weerd, 5. Colston, 6. Gansen, 7. L.Williams, 8. Bluntach, 9. Curtis, 10. Martin, 11. Lopiccolo, 12. Malcolm, 13. Ellertson, 14. Sampson, 15. Smith. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Richard Vander Weerd, 2. Austin Williams, 3. Mike Spencer, 4. Damion Gardner, 5. Matt Mitchell, 6. Jake Swanson, 7. Hunter Schuerenberg, 8. Ronnie Gardner, 9. Cody Williams, 10. Brody Roa, 11. Geoff Ensign, 12. Rickie Gaunt, 13. David Bezio, 14. Terry Schank Jr., 15. Mike Martin, 16. Michael Curtis, 17. Parker Colston, 18. Chris Gansen, 19. R.J. Johnson, 20. Jace Vander Weerd, 21. Logan Williams, 22. Johnny Bluntach. NT

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**L.Williams flipped during the feature.

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

NEW AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-R.Vander Weerd-73, 2-Spencer-67, 3-A.Williams-66, 4-D.Gardner-59, 5-Mitchell-55, 6-Swanson-51, 7-Schuerenberg-50, 8-R.Gardner-48, 9-C.Williams-42, 10-Roa-38,

NEXT AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT RACE: March 20 – Tucson, AZ – USA Raceway Park – 8th “Copper on Dirt”