C.J. LEARY WINS PERRIS 360 OVAL NATIONALS By Lance Jennings PERRIS, CA – NOVEMBER 10, 2014... Taking the lead from Bryan Clauson on lap twenty, Greenfield, Indiana’s C.J. Leary won the “2nd Annual 360 Oval Nationals” at Perris Auto Speedway. The 30-lap feature win was Leary’s first USAC West Coast / SouthWest Sprint Car victory and the young driver earned $2,500 for his efforts. Clauson, Jake Swanson, Richard Vander Weerd, and Mike Spencer followed C.J. to the checkered flags. Racing the family owned #30 Leary Construction / TNEMEC DRC C.J. Leary out-qualified the 46 racers to earn the Woodland Auto Display Fast Time Award and set a new track record in the process. With a format featuring six heat races, Leary earned a direct transfer to the main event with a second place run in the first 10-lap heat. After winning the feature from sixth, Leary finished seventh in the Grudge mini-series points and thirty-second in West Coast standings. Bryan Clauson of Noblesville, Indiana had to settle for second aboard Mike Martin’s #16B PPG / Boulevard Truck Maxim, the USAC National Champion was sixth quick in time trials and won the program’s sixth 10-lap heat race. Starting on the pole position, Bryan took the lead from Kevin Thomas Jr. on the second lap and held the top spot until the twentieth circuit. Clauson ended the night ranked 38th in West Coast points and ninth in the Grudge Series. Anaheim’s Jake Swanson continues to impress with a third place run after starting fifth. Piloting Tom and Laurie Sertich’s #92 Huntington Beach Glass & Mirror / Ram-Bull Racing Victory, Swanson was one of eleven drivers to break the track record and qualified second overall. The former USAC/CRA Rookie of the Year took third in his heat race and ended his night placed twenty-second in West Coast standings and tenth in the Grudge Series with one feature win, three top-10 finishes, and six feature laps led. Richard Vander Weerd of Visalia raced to fourth in the 360 Oval Nationals from the seventh starting spot. Driving the family owned #10 Vander Weerd Construction / Battery Worx Maxim, Richard was seventh fast in time trials and placed third in his heat race. The 2011 West Coast Champion ended his point season ranked third overall and sixth in the Grudge standings. Vander Weerd recorded one feature win, seven heat race victories, one Keizer Wheels / Racing Optics Hard Charger Award, twelve top-10 finishes, and 16 feature laps led to his credit. Temecula’s Mike Spencer charged from fifteenth to score fifth in the 30-lap main event. Piloting Mark Priestley’s #7 Roy Miller Freight Lines / Sander Engineering Maxim, Spencer claimed his second Grudge Series championship. After qualifying fifteenth and wining the Saldana Racing Products Heat Race #3, the five-time USAC/CRA Champion closed out the point season ranked twenty-first in West Coast standings on the strength of two top-10 finishes. R.J. Johnson of Phoenix, Arizona took the victory in the Extreme Mufflers Heat Race #1. Racing Bill Michaels’ #77M Kodiak Products / Beal’s Auto Body Sherman, Johnson was nineteenth quick in time trials and took seventh in the feature from nineteenth. The USAC SouthWest point leader is forty-sixth in West Coast action and sixteenth in the Grudge Series with one hard charger award and five top-10 finishes. Yuma, Arizona’s “The Magic Man” Mike Martin won the 10-lap Deist Safety Heat Race #2. Driving his #16 PPG / Boulevard Truck Maxim, the former Arizona Hall of Fame Classic winner qualified twenty-sixth overall and placed fourteenth in the main event. In limited action, the veteran driver is thirty-fourth in West Coast points and eighth in the Grudge Series with one semi-main win and three top-10 finishes. Troy Rutherford of Ojai took the checkered flags in the Weld Racing Heat Race #4. Piloting his #11 AAA Propane Service / Trench Shoring Spike, Rutherford was fourth quick in time trials and was a contender for the mini-series crown before a flip relegated the former VRA Champion to fifteenth place in the main event. Troy left Perris ranked seventh in the USAC West Coast point chase and fourth in the Grudge Series with one feature win, two heat race victories, nine top-10 finishes, and 14 feature laps led. Cullman, Alabama’s Kevin Thomas Jr. won the Pyrotect Racing Cells Heat Race #5. Racing Keith Ford’s #73 Berry Pack / King Racing Products Spike, Thomas qualified fifth overall and ran tenth in the main event after leading the opening lap. In limited starts, Kevin is fifty-third in West Coast points and nineteenth in the Grudge Series. Matt Mitchell of Yorba Linda clinched the USAC West Coast Championship. Driving his #37 Campbell Bros. Storage / Pit Boss Jacks Maxim, Mitchell was thirteenth fast, took fourth in his heat race, won the Competition Suspension Inc. Semi-Main #1, and claimed seventh in the main event. Also finishing third in the Grudge Series, the newly crowned champion has one feature win, three heat race victories, two semi-main wins, two Keizer Wheels / Racing Optics Hard Charger Awards, twelve top-10 finishes, and 30 feature laps led. Tipton’s “Hollywood” Danny Faria Jr. took the victory in the 12-lap Rod End Supply Semi-Main #2. Piloting Junior Bowman’s #2F Buster & Ziggy Enterprises / DeBoer & Sons Trucking Spike, Faria qualified tenth, placed fifth in his heat, and scored ninth in the main event. Finishing his season ranked fourth in West Coast and thirteenth in the Grudge points, Danny has two heat race victories, two hard charger awards, and nine top-10 finishes. On Thursday, November 20th, the USAC West Coast and SouthWest Sprint Cars will return to Kevin Montgomery's Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria, Arizona for three nights of action. The Sands Chevrolet “46th Annual Western World Championships” will also showcase the Honda USAC National Midget Series. Located at 9777 West Carefree Highway, more event information can be found at www.canyonspeedwaypark.com or calling 602.258.RACE (7223). The USAC West Coast Sprint Car Series thanks Amsoil, Hoosier Tire, Chris Kearns Presents, Competition Suspension Inc., Deist Safety, Engler Machine & Tool, Extreme Mufflers, Five Star Grafix, Keizer Wheels, Pyrotect Racing Cells, Racing Optics, Rod End Supply, Rugged Radios, Saldana Racing Products, SouthWest Contractors, VanLare Steering Repair, Weld Racing, and Woodland Auto Display for their support. For more information, visit westcoastsprintcars.com, www.usacracing.com, follow the series on Facebook (www.facebook.com/#!/pages/USAC-West-Coast-Sprint-Car-Series/369549755817), or Twitter (www.twitter.com/USACwc360). Mike Truex's Loudpedal Productions has DVDs available for purchase that feature the USAC West Coast Sprint Cars and for more information, call 805.407.7229 or visit www.loudpedalvideo.com. The USAC SouthWest Sprint Car Series thanks Sunoco Race Fuels, Hoosier Tire, Racers Advantage Store, and the Hose Advantage Store for their support. For more information on the group, visit www.southwestsprintcars.com, www.usacracing.com, or follow the series on Facebook (www.facebook.com/SouthwestSprintCars). ----------------------------------------------- USAC WEST COAST & SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR "Special Event" RACE RESULTS: November 6, 2014 - Perris, California - Perris Auto Speedway - 19th "Budweiser Oval Nationals" - The Grudge Series QUALIFICATIONS: 1. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-16.416; 2. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-16.503; 3. Austin Liggett, 83, Liggett-16.547; 4. Troy Rutherford, 11, Rutherford-16.622; 5. Kevin Thomas Jr., 73X, Ford-16.640; 6. Bryan Clauson, 16B, Martin-16.644; 7. Richard Vander Weerd, 10, Vander Weerd-16.682; 8. Colby Copeland, 5V, VanLare-16.683; 9. Robert Ballou, 12X, Ballou-16.704; 10. Danny Faria Jr., 2F, Bowman-16.704; 11. Christopher Bell, 51T, Roth-16.728; 12. Jon Stanbrough, 81M, Watt-16.767; 13. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-16.770; 14. Dave Darland, 4G, Gansen-16.833; 15. Mike Spencer, 7M, Priestley-16.864; 16. Charles Davis Jr., 50, Massey-16.871; 17. Shon Deskins, 20. Deskins-16.880; 18. Darren Hagen, 17RW, Dutcher-16.897; 19. R.J. Johnson, 77, Michaels-16.906; 20. Landon Hurst, 9s, Hurst-16.910; 21. Rick Hendrix, 15X, Hendrix-16.918; 22. Josh Pelkey, 12, Allen-16.968; 23. Jace Vander Weerd, 88, Vander Weerd-16.994; 24. Johnathon Henry, 17, Henry-17.060; 25. Jeff Sibley, 42N, Sibley-17.098; 26. Mike Martin, 16, Martin-17.146, 27. Markus Niemela, 73, Ford-17.147; 28. Max Adams, 5X, Adams-17.191; 29. Michael Curtis, 11C, Turner/Wheeler-17.228; 30. A.J. Bender, 12B, Bender-17.262; 31. Chris Ennis, 86, Ennis-17.378; 32. Terry Schank Jr., 3X, Dupont-17.457; 33. Cody Majors, 54, Majors-17.459; 34. Trent Williams, 52, Williams-17.484; 35. Tristan Guardino, 81, Watt-17.510; 36. David Taylor, 74, Taylor-17.608; 37. Tony Everhart, 55, Everhart-17.638; 38. Kyle Edwards, 39E, Edwards-17.783; 39. J.J. Ercse, 15, Boy-17.843; 40. Kyle Smith, 55X, Smith-18.069; 41. Ryan Bernal, 56, Phulps-18.109; 42. George Morris, 3K, Kruseman-18.302; 43. Brian Grosenheider, 25K, Kruseman-18.658; 44. Eddie Tafoya, 51, Perkins-18.877; 45. Ed Schwarz, U47, Schwarz-18.886; 46. Mike Collins, 04, Collins-19.326 FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Johnson, 2. Leary, 3. R.Vander Weerd, 4. Mitchell, 5. Sibley, 6. Edwards, 7. Schank, 8. Tafoya. NT SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Martin, 2. Darland, 3. Swanson, 4. Majors, 5. Copeland, 6. Hurst, 7. Collins, 8. Ercse. 2:58.42 THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Spencer, 2. Ballou, 3. Liggett, 4. Adams, 5. Hendrix, 6. Smith, 7. Williams, 8. Schwarz. 2:56.44 FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Rutherford, 2. Davis, 3. Bernal, 4. Pelkey, 5. Faria, 6. Curtis, 7. Guardino. 2:59.13 FIFTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Thomas, 2. Bell, 3. Deskins, 4. J.Vander Weerd, 5. Bender, 6. Taylor, 7. Morris. 2:59.20 SIXTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Clauson, 2. Hagen, 3. Stanbrough, 4. Henry, 5. Everhart, 6. Ennis, 7. Grosenheider. 2:58.34 FIRST SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Mitchell, 2. Copeland, 3. Curtis, 4. J.Vander Weerd, 5. Ennis, 6. Hendrix, 7. Everhart, 8. Majors, 9. Morris, 10. Guardino, 11. Ercse, 12. Schwarz, 13. Sibley, 14. Tafoya. NT SECOND SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Faria, 2. Hurst, 3. Henry, 4. Pelkey, 5. Adams, 6. Williams, 7. Bender, 8. Edwards, 9. Smith, 10. Schank, 11. Collins, 12. Taylor, 13. Grosenheider. 3:40.66 FEATURE: (30 laps – With Starting Positions) 1. C.J. Leary (6th), 2. Bryan Clauson (1st), 3. Jake Swanson (5th), 4. Richard Vander Weerd (7th), 5. Mike Spencer (15th), 6. Matt Mitchell (13th), 7. R.J. Johnson (19th), 8. Darren Hagen (18th), 9. Danny Faria Jr. (10th), 10. Kevin Thomas Jr. (2nd), 11. Johnathon Henry (21st), 12. Landon Hurst (20th) 13. Charles Davis Jr. (16th), 14. Mike Martin (22nd), 15. Troy Rutherford (3rd), 16. Ryan Bernal (24th), 17. Colby Copeland (8th), 18. Shon Deskins (17th), 19. Michael Curtis (23rd), 20. Jon Stanbrough (12th), 21. Dave Darland (14th), 22. Austin Liggett (4th), 23. Robert Ballou (9th), 24. Christopher Bell (11th). NT ---------------------------- **Niemela flipped during qualifications. Liggett, Stanbrough, Rutherford, Bernal flipped during the feature. FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Thomas, Laps 2-19 Clauson, Laps 20-30 Leary. FINAL USAC GRUDGE SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1. Mike Spencer-116, 2. Austin Liggett-89, 3. Matt Mitchell-88, 4. Troy Rutherford-87, 5. Charles Davis Jr.-78, -. Richard Vander Weerd-78, 7. C.J. Leary-73, 8. Mike Martin-70, 9. Bryan Clauson-66, 10. Jake Swanson-65, 11. J.J. Yeley-64, 12. Landon Hurst-62, 13. Danny Faria Jr.-59, 14. Nic Faas-54, 15. Josh Pelkey-53, 16. R.J. Johnson-50, 17. Markus Niemela-49, 18. Darren Hagen-46, 19. Kevin Thomas Jr.-43, 20. Brody Roa-36. FINAL USAC WEST COAST SPRINT CAR POINT STANDINGS: 1. Matt Mitchell-709, 2. Markus Niemela-632, 3. Richard Vander Weerd-603, 4. Danny Faria Jr.-540, 5. Ryan Bernal-539, 6. Jace Vander Weerd-535, 7. Troy Rutherford-534, 8. Austin Liggett-513, 9. Nic Faas-465, 10. Dennis Howell-399, 11. Landon Hurst-376, 12. Marty Hawkins-269, 13. Kevin Barnes-244, 14. Brody Roa-207, 15. Jeff Sibley-206, 16. Bud Kaeding-180, 17. Trent Carter-159, 18. Chris Ennis-155, 19. Garrett Long-153, 20. Michael Pickens-150. USAC SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR POINT STANDINGS: 1. R.J. Johnson-1259, 2. Josh Pelkey-1149, 3. Charles Davis Jr.-1117, 4. Matt Rossi-1040, 5. Mike Martin-993, 6. Shon Deskins-977, 7. Tye Mihocko-893, 8. Michael Curtis-685, 9. Nick Aiuto-663, 10. Andy Reinbold-656, 11. Brian Hosford-636, 12. Bruce St. James-628, 13. Mike Colegrove-530, 14. Stevie Sussex-457, 15. Tom Ogle-439, 16. Josh Shipley-438, 17. Chris Bonneau-327, 18. Mike Bonneau-318, 19. Mark Morin-293, 20-Josh Hodges-279. 2014 USAC WEST COAST SPRINT CAR SERIES SCHEDULE DATE - TRACK - LOCATION November 20: *Canyon Speedway Park - Peoria, AZ (Western World Championships / Non-Points) November 21: *Canyon Speedway Park - Peoria, AZ (Western World Championships / Non-Points) November 22: *Canyon Speedway Park - Peoria, AZ (Western World Championships / $7,500-to-Win / Non-Points) ----------------------------------------------- * = Co-Sanctioned Event with USAC Southwest Sprints. This schedule is subject to change. 2014 USAC SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR SERIES SCHEDULE November 20: *Canyon Speedway Park - Peoria, AZ (Western World Championships) November 21: *Canyon Speedway Park - Peoria, AZ (Western World Championships) November 22: *Canyon Speedway Park - Peoria, AZ (Western World Championships / $7,500-to-Win) ----------------------------------------------- * = Co-Sanctioned Event with USAC West Coast Sprints. This schedule is subject to change. ATTACHED PHOTOS/IMAGES: - #30 C.J. Leary - 2014 360 Oval Nationals Winner. Photo by Doug Allen.