THUNDER STRIKES TWICE! MALCOLM WINS SECOND-IN-A-ROW AT PERRIS

Perris, California (May 27, 2023)………Tommy Malcolm’s wait to win his first career AMSOIL USAC CRA Sprint Car feature lasted eight years and 109 starts.

The Corona, California driver’s wait to score series win number two lasted exactly one week and one start.

Malcolm, nicknamed "Tommy Thunder," went back-to-back to capture the victory in Saturday’s Salute to Indy at California’s Perris Auto Speedway in his Dino Napier-owned No. 5x, leading the final nine laps after taking the lead away from Matt Mitchell on the 22nd circuit.

Mitchell (Yorba Linda, Calif.) led twice for a total of 11 laps, most among the 18-car starting field.  Mitchell led the initial nine laps after starting from the pole before being overtaken by Brody Roa (Garden Grove, Calif.) on the 10th lap.

Roa led 10 trips around the half-mile dirt oval between laps 19-20 before falling by the wayside, dropping him to 15th in the running order.  Despite his worst finish of the season, Roa still commands the series point standings by a 99-point margin over Malcolm.

Mitchell once again grabbed the lead on laps 20 and 21 before fifth place starting Malcolm surged ahead for good to earn his second-straight series victory.  Austin Williams (Yorba Linda, Calif.) took second with Mitchell third, A.J. Bender (San Diego, Calif.) fourth and Logan Williams (Yorba Linda, Calif.) fifth.

With his advancement from his 18th starting position to a finish of ninth, leading series Rookie of the Year contender Grant Sexton (Lakeside, Calif.) earned hard charger honors in memory of Jim and Chet Gardner.

Cody Williams (Corona, Calif.) stopped the clocks with a time of 16.340 seconds to set fast time in Woodland Auto Display Qualifications.

The two heat races, sponsored by FlowDynamics, Inc., In Memory of Jim & Chet Gardner, Factory Wraps, BillsJerky.net and WC Friend Company, were captured by Bender and Logan Calderwood (Goodyear, Ariz.).

Gary Marshall Jr. (Pomona, Calif.) was the recipient of the night’s Wilwood Disc Brakes Lucky 13 Award following his 13th place feature finish.

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AMSOIL USAC CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: May 27, 2023 – Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, California – Salute to Indy

WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Cody Williams, 44, Williams-16.340; 2. Tommy Malcolm, 5x, Napier-16.696; 3. Austin Williams, 2, Williams-16.794; 4. Brody Roa, 17R, Dunkel/BR-16.875; 5. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-16.894; 6. Logan Williams, 5w, McCarthy-16.901; 7. Matt McCarthy, 28m, McCarthy-16.907; 8. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-16.927; 9. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-16.933; 10. Logan Calderwood, 6, Calderwood-17.169; 11. Jeff Dyer, 39, Cal-Sun-17.214; 12. James Turnbull II, 2J, Turnbull-17.331; 13. Brent Owens, 71, Martin-17.341; 14. Andrew Sweeney, 98, Guerrero-17.582; 15. Gary Marshall Jr., 23, Bellegante-17.857; 16. Tony Everhart, 55, Everhart-18.173; 17. James Herrera, 5J, Herrera-18.527; 18. Grant Sexton, 22, Sexton-NT.

FLOWDYNAMICS INCORPORATED / BILLSJERKY.NET FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. A.J. Bender, 2. Cody Williams, 3. Chris Gansen, 4. Austin Williams, 5. Jeff Dyer, 6. Matt McCarthy, 7. Gary Marshall Jr., 8. Brent Owens, 9. James Herrera. NT

WC FRIEND COMPANY / IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER / FACTORY WRAPS SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Logan Calderwood, 2. Matt Mitchell, 3. Brody Roa, 4. Tommy Malcolm, 5. Logan Williams, 6. James Turnbull II, 7. Grant Sexton, 8. Tony Everhart, 9. Andrew Sweeney. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Tommy Malcolm (5), 2. Austin Williams (4), 3. Matt Mitchell (1), 4. A.J. Bender (9), 5. Logan Williams (7), 6. Chris Gansen (2), 7. James Turnbull II (12), 8. Matt McCarthy (8), 9. Grant Sexton (18), 10. Andrew Sweeney (14), 11. Brent Owens (13), 12. James Herrera (17), 13. Gary Marshall Jr. (15), 14. Cody Williams (6), 15. Brody Roa (3), 16. Logan Calderwood (10), 17. Jeff Dyer (11), 18. Tony Everhart (16). NT

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-9 Matt Mitchell, Laps 10-19 Brody Roa, Laps 20-21 Matt Mitchell, Laps 22-30 Tommy Malcolm.

IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER HARD CHARGER: Grant Sexton (18th to 9th)

WILWOOD DISC BRAKES LUCKY 13 AWARD: Gary Marshall Jr.

NEW AMSOIL USAC CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Brody Roa-747, 2-Tommy Malcolm-648, 3-Cody Williams-608, 4-Austin Williams-606, 5-A.J. Bender-502, 6-Logan Calderwood-482, 7-Charles Davis Jr.-460, 8-Grant Sexton-367, 9-R.J. Johnson-324, 10-Verne Sweeney-277.

NEXT AMSOIL USAC CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: June 10, 2023 – Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, California – Bubby Jones & Ray Scheetz Memorial