4 PAST WINNERS – KTJ, GARDNER, BALLOU & LEARY - ENTER PERRIS OVAL NATIONALS

By: Scott Daloisio

Perris, California (October 26, 2022)………Four past winners are among the latest entries into the November 3rd, 4th and 5th 26th Annual Heimark Anheuser Busch Budweiser Oval Nationals at Perris Auto Speedway.

The crew of four is made up of three-time champions Kevin Thomas Jr. and Damion Gardner, plus one-time winners C.J. Leary and Robert Ballou.

In addition, Justin Grant and Brady Bacon, who are currently ranked first and second respectively in the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship point standings, have also submitted their entries with several more entries currently on the way for the $20,000-to-win, $1,000-to-start finale.

Thomas has been the dominant driver at the Oval Nationals in recent years.  The Cullman, Alabama native has won three of the last four running’s of the prestigious race.  He went back-to-back in 2017 and 2018.  In 2019, he started 16th in the stacked field and came all the way forward to sixth at the finish.

Due to Covid, the race was not held in 2020, but in 2021, Thomas came back to win again.  That victory tied him with Concord, California’s Damion Gardner (2009, 2011, 2016) and Bud Kaeding of Campbell, California (2001, 2002, 2007) as one of only three drivers to have won the Ovals three times.

Thomas will be wheeling a car for Michael Dutcher Motorsports while Gardner will be in Mark Alexander’s famous silver #1 as they each try to become the first four-time winner of the race.  Gardner is the most recent USAC CRA regular to capture the final night victory at the “Ovals” in 2016.

When Thomas finished sixth in 2019, all eyes were on Leary at the end of the 40-lap grind.  The Greenfield, Indiana star started on the pole and led 24 laps to secure his first ever win at the Ovals.

While Leary was the winner of the race, he was not the favorite going into the final night.  Broken Arrow, Oklahoma’s Bacon started on the pole in the Thursday preliminary and proceeded to lead all 30-laps.  On Friday night, he dominated again.  He started third and led every single lap for the second night in a row.

Anyone would have been a fool to bet against him in the 40-lap finale.  Starting fourth, he was a contender throughout and was challenging for the lead when a yellow flag came out.  Leader Chase Stockon slowed dramatically going into turn three when he saw the yellow light.  Bacon clipped Stockon’s left rear tire and slid to a stop by the wall, ending his hopes of sweeping the weekend.

For Ballou, 2022 will be his first Oval Nationals since 2017.  In 2014, the Rocklin, California native finished 23rd in the Thursday preliminary main.  However, from that point on, he was on a roll.  He won the Friday night preliminary and backed that up with a win in Saturday’s 40-lap finale.

Twelve months later in 2015, Ballou mowed through the competition and won the 30-lappers on both preliminary nights.  Counting the prelim mains and the 2014 finale, he had won four main events in a row at the Ovals.  He was the favorite for the finale, but Bryan Clauson stole the show.

After blowing an engine late in the Friday preliminary, Clauson left the track and drove to Phoenix to borrow a loner engine from Mike Martin.  He picked up the bullet and drove straight back to Perris, arriving early in the morning.  He then proceeded to win the main event from the middle of the pack.  Ballou ended up fifth.  While Ballou lost the battle that night, he won the war by winning his the USAC National Sprint Car Series championship.

Thus far, entries have been received for the top six drivers in the USAC National Sprint Car Series – Grant, Bacon, Leary, Ballou, series leading rookie Emerson Axsom of Franklin, Indiana and Sutter, California’s Logan Seavey.

Going into this weekend’s 55th Annual Chapman Chevrolet Of Yuma Western World Championships Presented By Yuma Insurance and Avanti at the Cocopah Speedway, Grant sits on top of the National Sprint standings.  He has a 78-point lead over three-time series champion Bacon.  Leary is third and trails Grant by 129 points.  Ballou is fourth and Axsom is fifth.  The title will be decided at the Oval Nationals.

The eight combined wins by past champions Thomas, Ballou, Leary, and Gardner accounts for 32% of the first 25 Oval Nationals.

Tickets for the 26th Annual Heimark Anheuser Busch Budweiser Oval Nationals are on sale online at www.perrisautospeedway.com or by calling 1-800-595-4849.  For those who do not wish to buy tickets in advance, there will be tickets available for everyone at the ticket window all three nights.

In addition to the three nights of racing, there will be a practice for Oval Nationals entered cars on Wednesday, November 2nd. The practice will begin at 6:00 PM and it will be free for fans in the grandstands. In addition, fans will be treated to $2.00 pizza, beer, and soda.

2022 OVAL NATIONALS ENTRIES SO FAR

(AS OF OCTOBER 26)

NO./DRIVER/HOMETOWN/TEAM

1 DAMION GARDNER/Concord, CA (Mark Alexander)

1J JAKE NEAL/Omaha, NE (Brian Kracht)

1$ NATE SCHANK/Santa Rosa, CA (Nate Schank)

2 AUSTIN WILLIAMS/Yorba Linda, CA (Rip Williams)

4 JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA (TOPP Motorsports)

4G CHRIS GANSEN/Verdemont Heights, CA (Gansen Engineering Motorsports)

5 TYE MIHOCKO/Phoenix, AZ (Tim Mihocko)

5w LOGAN WILLIAMS/Yorba Linda, CA (John & Tammy McCarthy)

5x TOMMY MALCOLM/Corona, CA (Dino Napier)

6 ©LOGAN CALDERWOOD/Goodyear, AZ (Rex Calderwood)

12 ROBERT BALLOU/Rocklin, CA (Ballou Motorsports)

12x DANNY SHERIDAN/Santa Maria, CA (Robbie & Gaye Allen)

14 JADON ROGERS/Worthington, IN (The Engler Family)

15 CHRIS BONNEAU/Phoenix, AZ (Chris Bonneau)

17GP KEVIN THOMAS JR./Cullman, AL (Michael Dutcher Motorsports)

19AZ ®MITCHEL MOLES/Raisin City, CA (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports)

21 A.J. BENDER/San Diego, CA (Kim & Richard Bender)

28m MATT McCARTHY/Riverside, CA (John & Tammy McCarthy)

33m MATT WESTFALL/Pleasant Hill, OH (Ray Marshall Motorsports)

34 STERLING CLING/Tempe, AZ (Sterling Cling Racing)

39T TROY DeGATON/Live Oak, CA (Troy DeGaton)

41 ®RICKY LEWIS/Oxnard, CA (Stensland-Halley Motorsports)

42 LOGAN SEAVEY/Sutter, CA (Dwight Cheney)

44 CODY WILLIAMS/Corona, CA (Cody Williams)

47 CHARLES DAVIS JR./Buckeye, AZ (Charles Davis Jr.)

47BC ®EMERSON AXSOM/Franklin, IN (Clauson Marshall Newman Racing)

51 R.J. JOHNSON/Laveen, AZ (Bobby Martin Racing)

51T EDDIE TAFOYA JR./Chino Hills, CA (Eddie Tafoya Sr.)

69 BRADY BACON/Broken Arrow, OK (Dynamics, Inc.)

72 AUSTIN GRABOWSKI/Riverside, CA (Austin Grabowski)

74 SHANE SEXTON/Warner Springs, CA (Sexton-Gatlin Racing)

77m C.J. LEARY/Greenfield, IN (Michael Motorsports)

91R BRODY ROA/Garden Grove, CA (BR Performance)

98 VERNE SWEENEY/Lomita, CA (Ken Tracy)

OVAL NATIONALS WINNERS

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

2009 – Damion Gardner

2010 – Chris Windom

2011 – Damion Gardner

2012 – Mike Spencer

2013 – Dave Darland

2014 – Robert Ballou

2015 – Bryan Clauson

2016 – Damion Gardner

2017 – Kevin Thomas Jr.

2018 – Kevin Thomas Jr.

2019 – C.J. Leary

2022 – No Race

2021 – Kevin Thomas Jr.

1 DAMION GARDNER/Concord, CA (Alexander)

1J JAKE NEAL/Omaha, NE (Kracht)

1$ NATE SCHANK/Santa Rosa, CA (Schank)

2 AUSTIN WILLIAMS/Yorba Linda, CA (Williams)

4 JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA (TOPP)

4G CHRIS GANSEN/Verdemont Heights, CA (Gansen)

5 TYE MIHOCKO/Phoenix, AZ (Mihocko)

5w LOGAN WILLIAMS/Yorba Linda, CA (McCarthy)

5x TOMMY MALCOLM/Corona, CA (Napier)

6 ©LOGAN CALDERWOOD/Goodyear, AZ (Calderwood)

12 ROBERT BALLOU/Rocklin, CA (Ballou)

12x DANNY SHERIDAN/Santa Maria, CA (Allen)

14 JADON ROGERS/Worthington, IN (Engler)

15 CHRIS BONNEAU/Phoenix, AZ (Bonneau)

17GP KEVIN THOMAS JR./Cullman, AL (Dutcher)

19AZ ®MITCHEL MOLES/Raisin City, CA (Reinbold-Underwood)

21 A.J. BENDER/San Diego, CA (Bender)

28m MATT McCARTHY/Riverside, CA (McCarthy)

33m MATT WESTFALL/Pleasant Hill, OH (Marshall)

34 STERLING CLING/Tempe, AZ (Cling)

39T TROY DeGATON/Live Oak, CA (DeGaton)

41 ®RICKY LEWIS/Oxnard, CA (Stensland-Halley)

42 LOGAN SEAVEY/Sutter, CA (Cheney)

44 CODY WILLIAMS/Corona, CA (Williams)

47 CHARLES DAVIS JR./Buckeye, AZ (Davis)

47BC ®EMERSON AXSOM/Franklin, IN (Clauson Marshall Newman)

51 R.J. JOHNSON/Laveen, AZ (Martin)

51T EDDIE TAFOYA JR./Chino Hills, CA (Tafoya)

69 BRADY BACON/Broken Arrow, OK (Dynamics)

72 AUSTIN GRABOWSKI/Riverside, CA (Grabowski)

74 SHANE SEXTON/Warner Springs, CA (Sexton-Gatlin)

77m C.J. LEARY/Greenfield, IN (Michael)

91R BRODY ROA/Garden Grove, CA (BR)

98 VERNE SWEENEY/Lomita, CA (Tracy)