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TROY RUTHERFORD WINS USAC/CRA SHOWDOWN AT VENTURA

VENTURA, CA – MAY 4, 2019… Reclaiming the lead from Jake Swanson on lap 27, Troy Rutherford (Ojai, CA) scored the Saturday night victory at Ventura Raceway. Racing his #11 Trench Shoring / Grimes Rock Maxim with an iron block 360 cubic-inch engine, Rutherford started eleventh and earned his second career AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car triumph. Hard charger Austin Williams, Swanson, A.J. Bender, and point leader Brody Roa followed Troy to the checkered flags.

Williams earned the Specialty Fasteners Hard Charger Award with a twenty-second to second place run. Verne Sweeney scored the Wilwood Disc Brakes “Lucky 13 Award” with a thirteenth place finish in the main event.

“The Demon” Damion Gardner scored his 84th Woodland Auto Display Fast Time Award over the 23-car field by posting a time of 12.454.

The night’s 10-lap heat race victories went to Brody Roa (Extreme Mufflers First Heat), Troy Rutherford (Circle Track Performance / Ultra Shield Race Products Second Heat), and Ricky Lewis (Saldana Racing Products / ButlerBuilt Seats Third Heat). 

Next Saturday, May 11th, the AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Cars will battle at Bakersfield Speedway.

The AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series thanks All Coast Construction, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Butlerbuilt Professional Seat Systems, Circle Track Performance, Competition Suspension Incorporated, Extreme Mufflers, Five Star Grafix, Flowdynamics, Hoosier Racing Tire, Loudpedal Productions, Pyrotect Racing Cells, Saldana Racing Products, Specialty Fasteners, surfnsprint.com, Ultra Shield Race Products, Wilwood Disc Brakes, and Woodland Auto Display for their support. 

For more information on the series, visit usacracing.com and the social media for USAC Racing. You can also find exclusive content on the USAC/CRA Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.

AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: May 4, 2019 – Ventura Raceway – Ventura, California

WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Damion Gardner, 4, Alexander-12.454; 2. Jake Swanson, 73, Ford-12.678; 3. Tommy Malcolm, 5X, Napier-12.919; 4. Austin Liggett, 83, Liggett-13.001; 5. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-13.044; 6. Trent Williams, 52, Williams-13.097; 7. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-13.175; 8. Joel Rayborne, 12B, Blair-13.178; 9. Jeremy Ellertson, 98J, Ellertson-13.240; 10. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-13.273; 11. Troy Rutherford, 11, Rutherford-13.318; 12. Rick Hendrix, 15, Hendrix-13.599; 13. Ryan Timmons, 29T, Timmons-13.741; 14. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 51T, Tafoya-13.855; 15. Ricky Lewis, 81M, Watt-13.930; 16. Verne Sweeney, 98, Tracy-14.036; 17. Brent Owens, 71, Martin-14.101; 18. Austin Ervine, 51, AJ-14.351; 19. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-14.510; 20. Jeff Dyer, 39, Cal-Sun-14.576; 21. Steve Hix, 57, Hix-14.630; 22. Austin Williams, 92, Sertich-14.684; 23. Matt McCarthy, 28M, McCarthy-NT.

EXTREME MUFFLERS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Roa, 2. Gardner, 3. Liggett, 4. A.Williams, 5. Sweeney, 6. Timmons, 7. Gansen, 8. Bender. NT

CIRCLE TRACK PERFORMANCE / ULTRA SHIELD RACE PRODUCTS SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Rutherford, 2. Mitchell, 3. Swanson, 4. Owens, 5. McCarthy, 6. Tafoya, 7. Rayborne, 8. Dyer. NT

SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS / BUTLERBUILT SEATS THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Lewis, 2. Malcolm, 3. Hendrix, 4. Ellertson, 5. T.Williams, 6. Hix, 7. Ervine. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps, with starting positions) 1. Troy Rutherford (11), 2. Austin Williams (22), 3. Jake Swanson (5), 4. A.J. Bender (8), 5. Brody Roa (10), 6. Austin Liggett (3), 7. Chris Gansen (19), 8. Damion Gardner (6), 9. Rick Hendrix (12), 10. Steve Hix (21), 11. Matt McCarthy (23), 12. Trent Williams (7), 13. Verne Sweeney (16), 14. Ryan Timmons (13), 15. Jeremy Ellertson (1), 16. Ricky Lewis (15), 17. Joel Rayborne (9), 18. Brent Owens (17), 19. Jeff Dyer (20), 20. Eddie Tafoya Jr. (14), 21. Austin Ervine (18), 22. Matt Mitchell (2), 23. Tommy Malcolm (4).
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**Mitchell flipped on lap 3 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-7 Ellertson, Laps 8-25 Rutherford, Lap 26 Swanson, Laps 27-30 Rutherford.
SPECIALTY FASTENERS HARD CHARGER:  Austin Williams (22nd to 2nd)
WILWOOD DISC BRAKES LUCKY 13 AWARD: Verne Sweeney

NEW AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Roa-353, 2-Gardner-337, 3-A.Williams-314, 4-R.J. Johnson-262, 5-Malcolm-207, 6-Gansen-200, 7-Charles Davis Jr.-187, 8-Stevie Sussex-184, 9-Swanson-179, 10-Mike Martin-174. 
 
NEXT AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: May 11 – Bakersfield Speedway – Bakersfield, California

Not that surprised, for sure. TR is a =veteran= driver who raced 410s with the CRA many years ago in the Priestly #7. He's also shown in recent times that a heavier, well set-up 360 actually has an advantage vs. the lighter 410s in power transfer to the track surface on a short, tight track (I believe it was Santa Maria; not 100% sure). AND, it may be (not sure) that he has won more sprint car mains at (=very= short) Ventura than anyone else over the past 15 years or so. In whatever event, congratulations to him on a well-deserved win all the way from row six against the "big boys."

I always look forward to going to Jim Naylor's joint for the USAC CRA sprints.  This past weekend was another adventure in the drive from Orange County to this outstanding venue.  It is always entertaining to see the newbys in the parking lot dressed in their shorts, tanktops and sandals going into the stands, who then later return to their cars for jackets and blankets.  It does get cold in the stands later on in the evening.

The first several cars out to qualify, including Damion, were fast, but then the track went dry and slick and dusty.  After qualifying, Jimmy did his magic and dug the whole track and got it in good shape for the heats.  Before the main, he did the same thing, and the main event was a typical Ventura classic.  Rutherford was fast all night and anyone who has seen him at Ventura whould know that he is one of the favorites.  Several shunts got Roa and Damion collected and sent to the rear.  Austin qualified next to last after trying to knock down the turn 1 wall.  It becomes a challenge to watch both the leaders and the hard chargers coming from the rear.  The main event was a great race that just looking at the results doesn't do it justice.  Lots of passing and the typical wheel to wheel racing.  Troy Rutherford's win was a popular one for the hometown crowd.  

The crowd was very good and had a lot of the golden years seniors, but also a lot of young families with kids.  Just what the sport needs more of.  Now if Jimmy can somehow figure out how to build a scoreboard in his sign business and use the Pa during the quite times, things would be almost perfect