BERNAL BECOMES FIRST USAC/CRA REPEAT WINNER OF 2016; CASHES IN AT CALISTOGA CALI SPRINT WEEK OPENER
Calistoga, California………Hollister, California’s Ryan Bernal became the first driver to repeat as a feature winner during the 2016 USAC/CRA AMSOIL Sprint season after picking up the victory Saturday in the sprint car portion of the program on night one of Calistoga Speedway’s “Louie Vermiel Classic.”
Bernal drove his Mike Phulps-owned Metal Works – Tri-L Mandarin Ranch/ART/S & S no. 56 to the front with 22 laps to go on his way to victory lane in the “California Sprint Week” opener despite having to hold off heavy challenges from both Damion Gardner and Robert Ballou throughout much of the second half of the 30-lap event.
Gardner, Carson Macedo, Richard Vander Weerd and Tanner Thorson rounded out the top-five at the finish of the 30-lapper.
Gardner holds a 21-point lead over Vander Weerd heading into Sunday’s backend of the Calistoga doubleheader this weekend.
Bernal holds an eight-point advantage over Gardner after round one of “California Sprint Week.”
AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: September 3, 2016 – Calistoga, California – Calistoga Speedway – “9th Annual Louie Vermeil Classic” / “All Coast Construction California Sprint Week”
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Robert Ballou, 1X, Ballou-19.365; 2. Ryan Bernal. 56, Phulps-19.560; 3. Richard Vander Weerd, 10, Vander Weerd-19.749; 4. Carson Macedo, 21X, Tarlton-19.786; 5. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-19.788; 6. Damion Gardner, 4, Alexander-19.841; 7. Chad Boespflug, 69. Kaiser-19.909; 8. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-19.951; 9. Thomas Meseraull, 42X, Bates-19.966; 10. Geoff Ensign, 3F, Finkenbinder-19.976; 11. Logan Williams, 5, Jory-19.981; 12. Austin Liggett, 83, Liggett-19.988; 13. Tanner Thorson, 3C, Lamar-20.040; 14. Stevie Sussex, 21AZ, Burkhart-20.055; 15. Joe Stornetta Jr., 3T, Finkenbinder-20.085; 16. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-20.149; 17. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-20.194; 18. Max Adams, 5M, Adams-20.216; 19. Kevin Thomas Jr., 42, Cheney-20.255; 20. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-20.344; 21. Jace Vander Weerd, 88, Vander Weerd-20.413; 22. Mike Spencer, 4S, Gansen-20.538; 23. Chase Johnson, 68, Thomas-20.576; 24. Jac Haudenschild, 57, Silva-20.703; 25. Terry Schank Jr., 1, Gleeson-21.013; 26. Britton Bock, 67, Bock-21.582; 27. Sparky Howard, 1V, Van Lare-21.686; 28. Jeff Sibley, 42N, Sibley-21.913; 29. John Clark, 30C, Clark-22.045; 30. Brian Sperry, 51, Sperry-22.081; 31. Jeremy Ellertson, 98, Ellertson-22.517.
EXTREME MUFFLERS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Thorson, 2. Ballou, 3. Meseraull, 4. Swanson, 5. J.Vander Weerd, 6. C.Williams, 7. Schank, 8. Clark. NT
DJ SAFETY SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Bernal, 2. Gardner, 3. Sussex, 4. Ensign, 5. Spencer, 6. Adams, 7. Bock, 8. Sperry. NT
CIRCLE TRACK PERFORMANCE / KEIZER ALUMINUM WHEELS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Johnson, 2. Thomas, 3. Boespflug, 4. R.Vander Weerd, 5. L.Williams, 6. Stornetta, 7. Ellertson, 8. Howard. NT
STAND 21 RACER GOES SAFER FOUNDATION FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Haudenschild, 2. Roa, 3. A.Wiliams, 4. Liggett, 5. Macedo, 6. Gansen, 7. Sibley. NT
BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Macedo, 2. Stornetta, 3. C.Williams, 4. L.Williams, 5. Spencer, 6. J.Vander Weerd, 7. Adams, 8. Schank, 9. Howard, 10. Gansen, 11. Bock, 12. Clark, 13. Sperry, 14. Sibley, 15. Ellertson. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Ryan Bernal, 2. Damion Gardner, 3. Carson Macedo, 4. Richard Vander Weerd, 5. Tanner Thorson, 6. Thomas Meseraull, 7. Jac Haudenschild, 8. Stevie Sussex, 9. Kevin Thomas Jr., 10. Geoff Ensign, 11. Brody Roa, 12. Austin Liggett, 13. Jace Vander Weerd, 14. Jake Swanson, 15. Austin Williams, 16. Cody Williams, 17. Chase Johnson, 18. Max Adams, 19. Terry Schank Jr., 20. Mike Spencer, 21. Robert Ballou, 22. Chad Boespflug, 23. Logan Williams, 24. Joe Stornetta Jr. NT
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**Ballou flipped during the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-8 Gardner, Laps 9-30 Bernal
BR MOTORSPORTS / KING RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Jac Haudenschild (23rd to 7th)
NEW AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT POINTS: 1-Gardner-677, 2-R. Vander Weerd-656, 3-Swanson-636, 4-Roa-614, 5-A. Williams-572, 6-Spencer-567, 7-C. Williams-434, 8-Adams-407, 9-L. Williams-406, 10-Ellertson-370.
NEW CALIFORNIA SPRINT WEEK POINTS: 1-Bernal-83, 2-Gardner-75, 3-Macedo-71, 4-R. Vander Weerd-70, 5-Thorson-66, 6-Meseraull-61, 7-Haudenschild-60, 8-Sussex-55, 9-Thomas-53, 10-Roa-48.
NEXT AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT RACES: September 4 – Calistoga (CA) Speedway – “9th Annual Louie Vermeil Classic” / “All Coast Construction California Sprint Week”
