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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com

GARDNER GRABS $25 GRAND;TAKES "OVAL NATIONALS" WIN #3 AT THE PAS

Perris, California November 12, 2016 - On a night in which he had been awarded the hardware of a hard-earned USAC/CRA AMSOIL Sprint Car season title, Damion Gardner collected the biggest single-night reward of his championship season - a $25,000 check and the addition of his name to the list of the only three-time winners in the 21-year history of the Budweiser "Oval Nationals" presented by All Coast Construction at Perris Auto Speedway.

Gardner, of Concord, California, trailed for all of one half-straightaway Saturday night before retaking the lead from Richard Vander Weerd on the back straightaway with 13 laps remaining and cruising to a one-second victory in his Mark Alexander/Scott Sales Company - Weld Racing/Spike/J & D.

Gardner, who also won in 2009 and 2011, joined Bud Kaeding and Dave Darland as the only drivers to capture an "Oval Nationals" crown for a third-time in the richest dirt-track race in the state of California. Furthermore, Gardner kept the Eagle trophy in the hands of a USAC/CRA regular for the first time since Mike Spencer in 2012.

"We worked together really well tonight," Gardner said. "We made some big decisions tonight and did some different things and, ultimately, that's what won us the race. I looked at the track and knew it was going to be middle/bottom. I just didn't know if the top would come late. I knew it would slow down enough on the bottom that the top would come late, but I just wasn't sure when. It's tough being out front for 40 laps because you just don't know where to go. On the same hand, running second or third is tough when you have one of these guys running out front. Getting to them and getting around them is a tough task. I knew I was pretty fast and I knew it was slowing down, but I was getting really good runs off the corner. They gave me a good car and, everywhere it went, it worked. Mark and Steve (Alexander) always talk about having bad luck at the 'Oval Nationals' and I wanted to be the one to turn it around for them. That meant a lot to me."

Bad luck plagued Gardner throughout the early portion of the USAC/CRA schedule. It wasn't until late August when Gardner finally broke through for his first triumph of the season. Prior to this year's campaign, the latest Gardner has gone through a season as a full-time USAC/CRA competitor before scoring his first win was mid-April of 2013, but despite the setback, Gardner and the Alexanders persevered to win five races in the final two-and-a-half months of the season to take their fourth consecutive series title together as a team.

"Mark and Steve and everybody on the team have stuck together and kept digging," a prideful Gardner said. "It's been a tough season, not because we haven't been fast, but because we've had to go to the back I don't know how many times and it wasn't because of our doings. Maybe a couple of them, but we always managed to fight back and have a decent finish. We missed the first race, but we battled back and those guys stuck with me. I knew we could do it, but to win the championship and the 'Oval Nationals' in one year is huge."

In a battle of supremacy between USAC's CRA and National Sprint Car divisions in the season finales for both series, two west coast regulars - Brody Roa and Gardner - occupied the front row for the highest-paying National event on the USAC calendar.

Gardner got the best of Roa on the opening lap as he used the inside line on the back straight to surge ahead before sliding up in front of Roa at the exit of four to take the top spot.

On the second lap, Roa slapped the concrete with the right-side tires on the back straightaway, scrubbing off enough speed to allow Vander Weerd to get by for second.

Following a lap eight yellow flag for Josh Hodges' contact with the wall between turns one and two, the front of the field settled into a groove in the middle of the racetrack, but Vander Weerd peeked at the topside of turns one and two, nearly making it work to his advantage. Gardner hammered the throttle, pointed his front wheels to the sky and shot out in front of Vander Weerd to retain the lead.

Near the midway point, Gardner and the rest of the front runners met the tail-end of lapped traffic. Second-running Vander Weerd and third-place Roa managed to catch Gardner as he became hung up in the gridlock. But, on lap 28, Vander Weerd slipped under Gardner between the first and second turn to spurt to the lead. Gardner instantly countered to the inside of Vander Weerd off turn two to blast back to the front of the pack.

Lappers continued to be a bear, but a lap 33 caution for the slowing car of Chris Gansen gave the front of the field a clear sight ahead for the eight-lap shootout to the finish. However, Gardner could not be contained in the final laps as he distanced himself from second-running Vander Weerd. Although, the surging Chris Windom made a late charge on the cushion to spring from fourth to second past Roa and Vander Weerd on the final lap to grab second.

Meanwhile, up ahead, Gardner took the checkered flag for his first USAC National win since 2012 as well as his record-extending 70th career USAC/CRA victory by 1.040 seconds over Windom, Vander Weerd, Roa and 2016 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car champion Brady Bacon.

Chris Windom, of Canton, Illinois, took the runner-up spot in his Baldwin Brothers Racing/Fox Paving - AMSOIL/DRC/Claxton Mopar, finishing off a historic run of results that never saw him finish outside the top-six in any USAC National points-paying race through the last four months of the season.

"I found that line late," Windom admits. "I wish I would've found it a few laps sooner; I think we might've had a shot at it at the end. But Derek Claxton is the best crew chief in the country. He works his butt off every night and so does Billy (Grace). We've been rolling the last half of the year really well. It's unfortunate the season's over; I'd like to keep it going. We'll start back up strong going into Florida next year."

Visalia, California's Richard Vander Weerd led briefly coming out of turn two on lap 28, but in the end, settled for a solid third-place run to follow up Friday night's runner-up finish in his Ron Vander Weerd/Vander Weerd Construction - Stone Gate Development/Maxim/Shark.

"I knew we were in a tough position and I knew it was going to be a hard track to pass on," Vander Weerd explained. "We were able to get to second right at the start. Brody (Roa) pushed a little bit on the first corner and we got around him and then Brady (Bacon) and that got us into second. We just followed Damion (Gardner) for most of the first 30 laps, then I got underneath him and he crossed me back over coming off the top of the corner. He had a little more speed down the back straightaway and he got back underneath me, but I knew lapped traffic would come into play and I knew that was the only way we were going to get back by him. We stayed right with him, but those yellows hurt us. We just got so tight toward the end and, on the last lap, I could hear somebody coming behind me. I thought Chris (Windom) was coming on the inside, but I guess he was running the top. He got me right there at the line. But a third-place finish in the 'Oval Nationals' is awesome!"

Contingency award winners Saturday night at Perris Auto Speedway included Bud Kaeding (ProSource/Woodland Auto Display Fast Qualifier), Chase Stockon (Simpson Race Products/Extreme Mufflers First Heat Winner), Chad Boespflug (Competition Suspension, Inc. (CSI)/DJ Safety Second Heat Winner), Joe Stornetta (Benic Enterprises/Circle Track Performance Third Heat Winner and Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Feature Finisher), Jon Stanbrough (Indy Race Parts/Stand 21 Racer Goes Safer Foundation Fourth Heat Winner), Brody Roa (Keizer Aluminum Wheels Super Six Dash Winner), Kevin Thomas, Jr. and Jake Swanson (Brown & Miler Racing Solutions Semi Winners) and Austin Williams (KSE Racing Products/BR Motorsports/King Racing Products Hard Charger).

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USAC AMSOIL NATIONAL & CRA SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: November 12, 2016 - Perris, California - Perris Auto Speedway - 21st Budweiser "Oval Nationals" presented by All Coast Construction

PROSOURCE/WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: (Top 6 in points excluded - No Points) 1. Bud Kaeding, 16, Martin-16.587; 2. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-16.634; 3. Josh Hodges, 17, McGhee-16.645; 4. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-16.665; 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 1, Ballou-16.754; 6. Mike Spencer, 4s, Gansen-16.768; 7. Hunter Schuerenberg, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-16.810; 8. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-16.851; 9. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-16.881; 10. Chad Boespflug, 98E, NineEight/EZR-16.903; 11. Joe Stornetta, 3T, Finkenbinder-16.921; 12. Danny Faria, Jr., 17v, Faria-16.956; 13. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR-16.960; 14. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-16.967; 15. Colton Slack, 3F, Finkenbinder-16.979; 16. Jon Stanbrough, 81, Stanbrough-16.994; 17. Ryan Bernal, 56, Phulps-17.093; 18. Logan Williams, 5w, Jory-17.141; 19. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-17.171; 20. Austin Liggett, 83, Liggett-17.191; 21. Tommy Malcolm, 5x, Napier-17.260; 22. Thomas Meseraull, 42x, Bates-17.270; 23. Troy Rutherford, 4D, Gansen-17.273; 24. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-17.318; 25. Carson Macedo, 42, Cheney-17.345; 26. Aaron Farney, 17GP, Dutcher-17.364; 27. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-17.370; 28. Kyle Edwards, 39E, Edwards-17.476; 29. Max Adams, 5m, Adams-17.546; 30. Parker Colston, 64, Gore-17.548; 31. Jeremy Ellertson, 98, Ellertson-17.730; 32. Cody Majors, 81x, Watt-17.763; 33. Verne Sweeney, 98v, Tracy-17.787; 34. Anthony Lopiccolo, 36, Springstead-17.817; 35. Randy Waitman, Y69, Waitman-17.881; 36. Eddie Tafoya, 51T, Tafoya-17.965; 37. Matt McCarthy, 55, McCarthy-18.227.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS/EXTREME MUFFLERS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Stockon, 2. Kaeding, 3. Chapple, 4. Bernal, 5. Thomas, 6. Macedo, 7. Adams, 8. Malcolm. NT

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI)/DJ SAFETY SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Boespflug, 2. Johnson, 3. A. Williams, 4. Spencer, 5. L. Williams, 6. Farney, 7. Colston, 8. Meseraull. NT

BENIC ENTERPRISES/CIRCLE TRACK PERFORMANCE/KEIZER ALUMINUM WHEELS THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Stornetta, 2. Schuerenberg, 3. Hodges, 4. Rutherford, 5. Gansen, 6. Bender, 7. Slack, 8. Ellertson. NT

INDY RACE PARTS/STAND 21 RACER GOES SAFER FOUNDATION FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Stanbrough, 2. Leary, 3. Faria, 4. Swanson, 5. Liggett, 6. Majors, 7. Edwards, 8. C. Williams. 2:54.53

KEIZER ALUMINUM WHEELS SUPER SIX DASH: (6 laps) 1. Roa, 2. Gardner, 3. Bacon, 4. Vander Weerd, 5. Windom, 6. Darland. NT

BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS FIRST SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Thomas, 2. Hodges, 3. Bernal, 4. Liggett, 5. Chapple, 6. Farney, 7. L. Williams, 8. Majors, 9. Sweeney, 10. Ellertson, 11. McCarthy, 12. Lopiccolo, 13. Tafoya. NT

BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS SECOND SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Swanson, 2. Meseraull, 3. A. Williams, 4. Spencer, 5. Gansen, 6. Malcolm, 7. C. Williams, 8. Slack, 9. Edwards, 10. Rutherford, 11. Waitman, 12. Faria. NT

FEATURE: (40 laps) 1. Damion Gardner, 2. Chris Windom, 3. Richard Vander Weerd, 4. Brody Roa, 5. Brady Bacon, 6. Bud Kaeding, 7. Chad Boespflug, 8. Dave Darland, 9. Chase Stockon, 10. R.J. Johnson, 11. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 12. Austin Williams, 13. Joe Stornetta, 14. Jon Stanbrough, 15. Mike Spencer, 16. Austin Liggett, 17. Jake Swanson, 18. Hunter Schuerenberg, 19. Isaac Chapple, 20. Chris Gansen, 21. Aaron Farney, 22. C.J. Leary, 23. Thomas Meseraull, 24. Logan Williams, 25. Max Adams, 26. Josh Hodges, 27. Ryan Bernal. NT
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**Macedo and Adams flipped during the first heat. Slack flipped during the third heat. Tafoya flipped during the first semi. Faria flipped during the second semi. Bernal flipped on lap 5 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-40 Gardner.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/BR MOTORSPORTS/KING RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Austin Williams (20th to 12th)

FINAL USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Bacon-2676, 2-Stockon-2362, 3-Darland-2251, 4-Windom-2226, 5-Meseraull-2166, 6-Boespflug-2158, 7-Leary-2038, 8-Robert Ballou-1919, 9-Thomas-1419, 10-Farney-1383.

FINAL USAC/CRA AMSOIL SPRINT CAR CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-D. Gardner-1645, 2-Vander Weerd-1473, 3-Roa-1342, 4-Swanson-1320, 5-A. Williams-1254, 6-Spencer-1061, 7-Adams-938, 8-L. Williams-824, 9-C. Williams-759, 10-Gansen-721.

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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com

DARLAND TAKES THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED TO WIN NIGHT TWO OF THE "OVAL NATIONALS"

Perris, California November 11, 2016 - From the earliest moments of the race, Dave Darland made a commitment to run the top.

Even though it appeared the race was going to become a bottom-feeding procession in the first several laps, the veteran driver blazed his own trail on the cushion as he methodically picked his way through the field to take the lead at the halfway point, then held off a hard-charging Richard Vander Weerd to win his record-extending 59th career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature on night two of the 21st Budweiser "Oval Nationals" presented by All Coast Construction at southern California's Perris Auto Speedway.

The victory was the Lincoln, Indiana native's first in the series since April at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway in his Jeff Walker-Curb-Agajanian Racing/Jam-It-In Storage - Hoosier Tire/Maxim/Claxton. In what has, at times, been a trying season for the winningest driver in the history of the USAC National Sprint division, the three-time "Oval Nationals" champ showed he can still get the job done, even when the deck is stacked against him.

"I went to the bottom early," Darland recalled. "I started on the outside and didn't get too good of a start. I was a little bit scared of that cushion to start with, but by the time I got the chance to go to the bottom, I was tenth! I took a chance going up there, but everybody was bottled up around the bottom and not going very fast, so I opted to go to the top and tried to make it work to get a groove going up there. A couple of guys ahead of me went up there and got away from it, so I was up there by myself. It worked out great! I got up there and made my own lane and went by guys when I could."

"Oval Nationals" opening night winner Chad Boespflug began the race from the pole position and immediately sprinted out to a five-car-length lead by the end of the first lap with Brody Roa and Bud Kaeding in tow.

The night's scariest moment occurred on the fourth lap as Kaeding began to slow dramatically in the middle of the racetrack between turns three and four. Flames began to rise out of the cockpit, forcing Kaeding to evacuate through the top of the rollcage. As Kaeding bailed out of his still-moving machine, both of his legs were engulfed in flames. As the tense seconds ticked away, the fire was extinguished and Kaeding managed to walk away from the scene, albeit in discomfort.

By lap seven, several of the frontrunners remained in single-file formation on the bottom of the racetrack. However, Darland led the topside brigade from the seventh position, awakening the upper groove as he worked his way to sixth by lap nine and fifth on lap 12.

On a restart following Ryan Bernal's climb of the wall on lap 14, the top-four all stuck to the bottom, but not Darland. The 1999 USAC National Sprint Car titlist rode the cushion to rip past Vander Weerd between turns one and two, then outpaced R.J. Johnson off the fourth corner to take third at the stripe.

On lap 15, Darland picked off Roa for second and, one lap later, recorded his fastest lap of the race as he ran down Boespflug to take over the lead, nipping him at the line as the two passed underneath the crossed flags signaling the halfway mark.

Boespflug instantly came right back at Darland with a turn one slider, but Darland stayed on the throttle and narrowly escaped between the concrete and Boespflug's right side wheels to retain the race lead.

Boespflug migrated to the top and stayed within reach of Darland with less than ten to go while Vander Weerd worked the low groove in the third position.

On lap 25, though, Boespflug's race came to a crashing halt after tagging the wall at the exit of turn two, sending him tumbling down the back straightaway. Fortunately, Boespflug walked away uninjured from his battered racecar.

With six laps remaining and the half-mile dirt oval slicked off and widened out from the berm to the concrete wall, it was a tale of two strategies at play with Darland holding steady on the top and Vander Weerd alternating between the top and bottom lines.

The two ran wheel-to-wheel on the first lap following the restart with Darland able to cling to the lead by the smallest of margins. Vander Weerd made a run at him at the entrance of turn one on the 26th lap, but slid up through the middle of the racetrack and over the turn cushion, disrupting his charge to the front for the time being.

However, Vander Weerd came right back at Darland, running as low as possible through the third and fourth turns with the front wheels scraping the top of the berm with Darland in his crosshairs.

Meanwhile, USAC National Sprint point leader Brady Bacon entered the fray, poking his nose underneath Darland and Vander Weerd on the bottom entering turn one.

As Darland and Vander Weerd received the white flag separated by a mere half-car-length, the two ran nose-to-tail on the outside entering the first turn with Bacon on the inside. Vander Weerd ducked to the bottom in turn three for one last try on the final lap, but Darland kept his foot in it and used the momentum to propel himself to the victory by a single car length over Vander Weerd with Bacon a car length back of Vander Weerd in third.

Visalia, California's Richard Vander Weerd just narrowly missed his first career USAC National victory, taking second in his Ron Vander Weerd/Vander Weerd Construction - Stone Gate Development/Maxim/Shark.

"We were all running the bottom at the beginning," Vander Weerd explains. "It was too scary to jump to the top. You definitely want to wait until the bottom slows down a little bit before you jump to the top. Darland went to the top first and we went there second. Darland and I went side-by-side there with about three or four laps to go. I didn't have enough momentum and I knew that if I slid him, it probably wouldn't have been clean, so I just backed out of it, followed him and waited until the last lap. I knew if I was going to win, I had to hit my marks just perfect. We didn't make that corner perfect on the last lap and he got the win."

Brady Bacon of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma grabbed his second-straight third place result at Perris in as many nights in his Dynamics, Inc./Mean Green - Lykins Oil/Triple X/Williams Mopar.

"Our weakness has been starting back in the pack," Bacon admits. "We started 12th last night and 14th tonight. Fortunately, we put ourselves in a position that we don't have to start that far back on Saturday. We've had a really good car both nights. Hopefully, we can just keep it underneath us and get 40 good laps tomorrow."

"We were pretty good on the bottom, but there was just always someone there," Bacon said. "We just had to go where the guy in front of us wasn't. That's why it took us a little while to get going. We were jammed up in the back and there wasn't a place for me to go. Finally, it got slick enough that guys in front of me were messing up. Then, we could sneak around them on the bottom. It got pretty technical there at the end. If I would've ran the last three laps perfect, I might've been able to pull it off, but it was just so slick down there and the window was so small. We put ourselves in a position to win at the end despite being handicapped a bit at the beginning. That's what you have to do in these point accumulation deals; you just have to make the most of what's given to you and try not to mess up too bad."

Contingency award winners Friday night at Perris Auto Speedway included Jake Swanson (ProSource/Woodland Auto Display Fast Qualifier), Hunter Schuerenberg (Simpson Race Products/Extreme Mufflers First Heat Winner), Chris Windom (Competition Suspension, Inc. (CSI)/DJ Safety Second Heat Winner), A.J. Bender (Benic Enterprises/Circle Track Performance Third Heat Winner), Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Indy Race Parts/Stand 21 Racer Goes Safer Foundation Fourth Heat Winner), Brady Bacon (Keizer Aluminum Wheels Fifth Heat Winner and KSE Racing Products/BR Motorsports/King Racing Products Hard Charger), Ryan Bernal (Brown & Miler Racing Solutions Semi Winner) and Josh Hodges (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Feature Finisher).

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USAC AMSOIL NATIONAL & CRA SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: November 11, 2016 - Perris, California - Perris Auto Speedway - 21st Budweiser "Oval Nationals" presented by All Coast Construction

PROSOURCE/WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-16.417; 2. Damion Gardner, 4, Alexander-16.484; 3. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-16.630; 4. Carson Macedo, 42, Cheney-16.764; 5. Bud Kaeding, 16, Martin-16.810; 6. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-16.844; 7. Chad Boespflug, 98E, NineEight/EZR-16.853; 8. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-16.872; 9. Dave Darland, 11, Walker/Curb-Agajanian-16.942; 10. Richard Vander Weerd, 10, Vander Weerd-16.997; 11. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-17.003; 12. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-17.004; 13. Jon Stanbrough, 81, Stanbrough-17.016; 14. Joe Stornetta, 3T, Finkenbinder-17.037; 15. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-17.045; 16. Danny Faria, Jr., 17v, Faria-17.060; 17. Mike Spencer, 4s, Gansen-17.092; 18. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-17.140; 19. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 1, Ballou-17.159; 20. Ryan Bernal, 56, Phulps-17.165; 21. Hunter Schuerenberg, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-17.177; 22. Josh Hodges, 17, McGhee-17.267; 23. Logan Williams, 5w, Jory-17.279; 24. Parker Colston, 64, Gore-17.322; 25. Thomas Meseraull, 42x, Bates-17.381; 26. Aaron Farney, 17GP, Dutcher-17.421; 27. Tommy Malcolm, 5x, Napier-17.445; 28. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-17.448; 29. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-17.455; 30. Max Adams, 5m, Adams-17.468; 31. Colton Slack, 3F, Finkenbinder-17.494; 32. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR-17.623; 33. Jeremy Ellertson, 98, Ellertson-17.656; 34. Bret Mellenberndt, 97, Mellenberndt-17.764; 35. Kyle Edwards, 39E, Edwards-17.804; 36. Cody Majors, 81x, Watt-17.867; 37. Randy Waitman, Y69, Waitman-17.873; 38. Verne Sweeney, 98v, Tracy-17.917; 39. Troy Rutherford, 4D, Gansen-17.937; 40. Eddie Tafoya, 51T, Tafoya-18.160; 41. Anthony Lopiccolo, 36, Springstead-18.188; 42. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-18.314; 43. Matt McCarthy, 55, McCarthy-18.383; 44. Austin Liggett, 83, Liggett-NT.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS/EXTREME MUFFLERS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Schuerenberg, 2. Leary, 3. Swanson, 4. Roa, 5. Farney, 6. Slack, 7. Lopiccolo, 8. Majors, 9. Faria. NT

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI)/DJ SAFETY SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Windom, 2. Boespflug, 3. Hodges, 4. Gardner, 5. Chapple, 6. Gansen, 7. Waitman, 8. Spencer, 9. Malcolm. NT

BENIC ENTERPRISES/CIRCLE TRACK PERFORMANCE THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Bender, 2. Stockon, 3. L. Williams, 4. Stanbrough, 5. Johnson, 6. A. Williams, 7. Sweeney, 8. McCarthy, 9. Ellertson. 2:55.31

INDY RACE PARTS/STAND 21 RACER GOES SAFER FOUNDATION FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Thomas, 2. Darland, 3. Stornetta, 4. Liggett, 5. Rutherford, 6. Colston, 7. Macedo, 8. Mellenberndt, 9. C. Williams. NT

KEIZER ALUMINUM WHEELS FIFTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Bacon, 2. Meseraull, 3. Vander Weerd, 4. Kaeding, 5. Adams, 6. Bernal, 7. Edwards, 8. Tafoya. 2:53.01

BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Bernal, 2. Johnson, 3. Spencer, 4. Faria, 5. A. Williams, 6. Farney, 7. Adams, 8. Chapple, 9. Edwards, 10. Mellenberndt, 11. Majors, 12. Gansen, 13. Waitman, 14. Sweeney, 15. Tafoya, 16. Lopiccolo, 17. McCarthy, 18. Macedo, 19. Rutherford, 20. Colston, 21. Malcolm, 22. Slack, 23. Ellertson. NT

EVELYN PRATT FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Dave Darland, 2. Richard Vander Weerd, 3. Brady Bacon, 4. Chris Windom, 5. Brody Roa, 6. C.J. Leary, 7. Chase Stockon, 8. Damion Gardner, 9. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 10. Jon Stanbrough, 11. R.J. Johnson, 12. Joe Stornetta, 13. Josh Hodges, 14. Thomas Meseraull, 15. Ryan Bernal, 16. Jake Swanson, 17. A.J. Bender, 18. Hunter Schuerenberg, 19. Austin Williams, 20. Logan Williams, 21. Austin Liggett, 22. Chad Boespflug, 23. Mike Spencer, 24. Danny Faria, Jr., 25. Max Adams, 26. Bud Kaeding. NT
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**Macedo flipped during the fourth heat. Boespflug flipped on lap 25 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-15 Boespflug, Laps 16-30 Darland.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/BR MOTORSPORTS/KING RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Brady Bacon (14th to 3rd)

NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Bacon-2618, 2-Stockon-2316, 3-Darland-2202, 4-Windom-2159, 5-Meseraull-2143, 6-Boespflug-2106, 7-Leary-2015, 8-Robert Ballou-1919, 9-Thomas-1378, 10-Farney-1360.

NEW USAC/CRA AMSOIL SPRINT CAR CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-D. Gardner-1575, 2-Vander Weerd-1409, 3-Swanson-1291, 4-Roa-1281, 5-A. Williams-1215, 6-Spencer-1028, 7-Adams-915, 8-L. Williams-801, 9-C. Williams-749, 10-Gansen-698.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL NATIONAL & CRA SPRINT CAR CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: November 12 - Perris, California - Perris Auto Speedway - 21st Annual Budweiser "Oval Nationals"

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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com

BOESPFLUG STOPS WINDOM'S STREAK TO TAKE "OVAL NATIONALS" NIGHT ONE

Perris, California November 10, 2016 - In what has already been a banner year for Chad Boespflug, the Hanford, California native checked off yet another highlight-reel moment during the 2016 season - a USAC victory in his home state - after winning night one of the 21st Budweiser "Oval Nationals" at Perris Auto Speedway.

In fact, the Thursday Perris triumph marks the fifth different state Boespflug has won in during his five career USAC point-paying victories - Indiana, Ohio, New Jersey, Nebraska and California, not to mention his $60,000 two-night performance at South Dakota's Badlands Motor Speedway in a non-points special event back in August.

Though the box score shows Boespflug leading all 30 laps, it was never quite that easy. Especially so when you have to fend off the hottest sprint car driver in the USA.

Boespflug got the jump at the start, drifting up to the topside to take the lead into turn one ahead of fellow native-Californian Thomas Meseraull. Just four laps in, though, Chris Windom rode the bottom line past Meseraull between turns one and two, then was able to clear him by the midway point of the backstretch to grab second.

On laps seven and eight, Boespflug and Windom engaged in a side-by-side battle for the lead as Ryan Bernal began to surge in the third spot. Bernal would fall out of contention just moments after bursting onto the scene, biking his machine between turns three and four, resulting in a flat left rear tire that brought out the yellow flag.

On the lap eight restart, Boespflug immediately distanced himself from Windom, lifting the left front as he raced down the back straightaway to put a seven car-length gap between first and second.

By lap 12, though, Windom used the extreme bottom on the infield berm to catch and pull even with Boespflug for the lead, but Boespflug hung on by the skin of his teeth to nip Windom at the line to stay at the front by a single car length.

Just after the halfway point, Boespflug hiked the left rear as he bounced through the entrance of turn three and over the cushion, momentarily losing the lead to Windom, the winner of the last three USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car races coming into Thursday's Perris round.

However, good fortune found Boespflug as, simultaneously, a caution fell for a three-car tangle involving Austin Liggett, Hunter Schuerenberg and Danny Faria, Jr. prior to the entire lap being scored. The field reverted to the running order on the last completed lap, which relegated Windom to second behind Boespflug on the lap 16 restart.

The second half of the race was all Boespflug as he left Windom in the distance without encountering an ounce of trouble, save for a kiss of the concrete with his right rear tire at the exit of turn four with seven laps to go, to take his sixth USAC Sprint Car win of the season - fourth points-paying - in his NineEight Motorsports-EZR/Capitol Renegade - Beaver Stripes/Maxim/Claxton.

"I saw Chris (Windom)'s nose there before that first yellow," Boespflug remembers. "I was trying to give it away; I was overdriving it in (turns) three and four and I just had to make sure I hit my marks racing with Chris and Derek (Claxton). They've been so stellar these last couple of weeks. We've been good early on, but we just need to be better in the end. (Crew Chief) Davey Jones and I walked the entire track and got a good setup for what we thought we needed and it worked. I got tighter as the race went on. Usually, we start out too tight, but this time, we got tighter as the race went on which I think was to our advantage. The bottom seemed to go away a little bit, so under the yellows, I tried to pack it in and help kill it as much as I could."

It was Boespflug's first win at Perris and, even though he has plenty of previous experience on the Southern California half-mile, he credits much of his success on Thursday night to the open practice session at the track one night prior.

"Everything we learned happened last night at the open practice," Boespflug admits. "We didn't test for speed; we wanted to make sure we could race and move around on the racetrack and have a car that's drivable for me. I think we found that and everything we learned definitely worked tonight. But, it's pretty special. I raced here for almost an entire year in 2006 back when I lived out here. I'm just so happy to be able to put this on my resume."

Chris Windom scored second in his Baldwin Brothers Racing/Fox Paving - AMSOIL/DRC/Claxton Mopar. The Canton, Illinois driver saw his winning streak come to an end as he attempted to become the first driver since Rick Hood in 1985 to win four-straight USAC National Sprint Car features.

"We had a really good car all night," Windom said. "I was just searching there in the feature. I think we were better than Chad there in the middle of the race. On the restarts, we got a little snug on the right rear. He got too far away from us the first five laps after the (lap 16) restart. I couldn't reel him back in. But, we were fast all night. Derek (Claxton)'s done a great job on this car the last few months. We'd won three in a row and we were hoping to make it four, but we'll take a second on opening night. We have a lot of momentum and a lot of confidence coming into this weekend, so we'll keep plugging away and, hopefully, we can come back and win the one that counts on Saturday."

USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car point leader Brady Bacon took third in the Dynamics, Inc./Mean Green - Lykins Oil/Triple X/Williams Mopar, his season-leading 20th top-five finish in his 39th series start of the season.

"We drew a pretty high pill and had to go out pretty late and didn't quite get the qualifying time we would've liked," Bacon said. "It set us back and we had to start 11th in the feature. It took us awhile to get up through there, but we were fortunate enough to get up to third. I think we might've had something for them if we could've started a little closer to the front. It puts you in a good spot having a good first night. You can't afford to have any problems these first two nights with the way the points work, so I think we're in pretty good shape. We were fast right out of the box tonight!"

Contingency award winners Thursday night at Perris Auto Speedway included Damion Gardner (ProSource/Woodland Auto Display Fast Qualifier), Bud Kaeding (Simpson Race Products/Extreme Mufflers First Heat Winner and KSE Racing Products/BR Motorsports/King Racing Products Hard Charger), Brady Bacon (Competition Suspension, Inc. (CSI)/DJ Safety Second Heat Winner), Chad Boespflug (Benic Enterprises/Circle Track Performance Third Heat Winner), Brody Roa (Indy Race Parts/Stand 21 Racer Goes Safer Foundation Fourth Heat Winner), Carson Macedo (Keizer Aluminum Wheels Fifth Heat Winner), Austin Williams (Brown & Miler Racing Solutions Semi Winner) and Jon Stanbrough (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Feature Finisher).

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USAC AMSOIL NATIONAL & CRA SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: November 10, 2016 - Perris, California - Perris Auto Speedway - 21st Budweiser "Oval Nationals" presented by All Coast Construction

PROSOURCE/WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Damion Gardner, 4, Alexander-16.249; 2. Dave Darland, 11, Walker/Curb-Agajanian-16.313; 3. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-16.333; 4. Ryan Bernal, 56, Phulps-16.407; 5. Thomas Meseraull, 42x, Bates-16.413; 6. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-16.437; 7. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-16.459; 8. Chad Boespflug, 98E, NineEight/EZR-16.514; 9. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-16.576; 10. Carson Macedo, 42, Cheney-16.609; 11. Joe Stornetta, 3T, Finkenbinder-16.634; 12. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-16.658; 13. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 1, Ballou-16.712; 14. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-16.727; 15. Danny Faria, Jr., 17v, Faria-16.788; 16. Richard Vander Weerd, 10, Vander Weerd-16.796; 17. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-16.814; 18. Mike Spencer, 4s, Gansen-16.828; 19. Josh Hodges, 17, McGhee-16.837; 20. Austin Liggett, 83, Liggett-16.838; 21. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-16.847; 22. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR-16.850; 23. Jon Stanbrough, 81, Stanbrough-16.860; 24. Logan Williams, 5w, Jory-16.898; 25. Hunter Schuerenberg, 19, Underwood-16.959; 26. Bud Kaeding, 16, Martin-16.973; 27. Aaron Farney, 17GP, Dutcher-17.020; 28. Max Adams, 5m, Adams-17.147; 29. Kyle Edwards, 39E, Edwards-17.192; 30. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-17.218; 31. Matt Mitchell, 21A, Burkhart-17.245; 32. Troy Rutherford, 11x, Bellegante-17.284; 33. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-17.287; 34. Colton Slack, 3F, Finkenbinder-17.324; 35. Bret Mellenberndt, 97, Mellenberndt-17.331; 36. Verne Sweeney, 98v, Tracy-17.429; 37. Cody Majors, 81x, Watt-17.453; 38. Parker Colston, 64, Gore-17.609; 39. Tommy Malcolm, 5x, Napier-17.656; 40. Eddie Tafoya, 51T, Tafoya-17.708; 41. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-17.899; 42. Randy Waitman, Y69, Waitman-17.911; 43. Jeremy Ellertson, 98, Ellertson-17.958; 44. Anthony Lopiccolo, 36, Springstead-18.099.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS/EXTREME MUFFLERS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Kaeding, 2. Stockon, 3. Gardner, 4. Vander Weerd, 5. Stornetta, 6. A. Williams, 7. Mitchell, 8. Bender, 9. Sweeney. 2:53.79

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI)/DJ SAFETY SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Bacon, 2. Leary, 3. Darland, 4. Farney, 5. Swanson, 6. Chapple, 7. Rutherford (#11 Rutherford), 8. Waitman, 9. Majors. 2:52.36

BENIC ENTERPRISES/CIRCLE TRACK PERFORMANCE THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Boespflug, 2. Thomas, 3. Windom, 4. Stanbrough, 5. Spencer, 6. Adams, 7. Gansen, 8. Colston, 9. Ellertson. 2:51.09

INDY RACE PARTS/STAND 21 RACER GOES SAFER FOUNDATION FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Roa, 2. Bernal, 3. Johnson, 4. L. Williams, 5. Hodges, 6. Malcolm, 7. Slack, 8. Edwards, 9. Lopiccolo. NT

KEIZER ALUMINUM WHEELS FIFTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Macedo, 2. Meseraull, 3. Schuerenberg, 4. Faria, 5. Liggett, 6. Mellenberndt, 7. Tafoya, 8. C.Williams. NT

BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS SEMI: (12 laps) 1. A. Williams, 2. Swanson, 3. Hodges, 4. Liggett, 5. Chapple, 6. Rutherford, 7. Malcolm, 8. Edwards, 9. Slack, 10. Majors, 11. Gansen, 12. Sweeney, 13. Lopiccolo, 14. Stornetta, 15. Bender, 16. Colston, 17. Adams, 18. Mitchell, 19. Tafoya, 20. Spencer, 21. Mellenberndt, 22. Ellertson. NT

BILL PRATT FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Chad Boespflug, 2. Chris Windom, 3. Brady Bacon, 4. Damion Gardner, 5. Austin Williams, 6. Dave Darland, 7. Carson Macedo, 8. R.J. Johnson, 9. Richard Vander Weerd, 10. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 11. Bud Kaeding, 12. Brody Roa, 13. Jon Stanbrough, 14. C.J. Leary, 15. Josh Hodges, 16. Thomas Meseraull, 17. Chase Stockon, 18. Ryan Bernal, 19. Jake Swanson, 20. Logan Williams, 21. Aaron Farney, 22. Danny Faria, Jr., 23. Max Adams, 24. Chris Gansen, 25. Hunter Schuerenberg, 26. Austin Liggett. NT
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**Mellenberndt and Stornetta flipped during the semi.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Boespflug.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/BR MOTORSPORTS/KING RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Bud Kaeding (23rd to 11th)

NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Bacon-2546, 2-Stockon-2253, 3-Darland-2125, 4-Meseraull-2101, 5-Windom-2090, 6-Boespflug-2076, 7-Leary-1953, 8-Robert Ballou-1919, 9-Farney-1350, 10-Thomas-1324.

NEW USAC/CRA AMSOIL SPRINT CAR CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-D. Gardner-1516, 2-Vander Weerd-1336, 3-Swanson-1248, 4-Roa-1217, 5-A. Williams-1190, 6-Spencer-1003, 7-Adams-892, 8-L. Williams-772, 9-C. Williams-739, 10-Gansen-688.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL NATIONAL & CRA SPRINT CAR CHAMPIONSHIP RACES: November 11-12 - Perris, California - Perris Auto Speedway - 21st Annual Budweiser "Oval Nationals"

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Contact: Richie Murray | richie@usacracing.com

BACON BESTS SOUTHWEST SPRINTS IN ARIZONA; R.J. JOHNSON WINS 4TH SERIES TITLE

Queen Creek, Arizona November 5, 2016 - Brady Bacon of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma scored the feature victory in Saturday night's "Western World" USAC Southwest Sprint Car season finale at Arizona Speedway.

Bacon, driving his Keith Ford/Walker Filtration Systems - Sun Valley AG Transport/Spike/Nogrady, exchanged the lead with early race leader Ryan Bernal on three separate occasions, taking the lead for good with 18 laps to go, then pulling away for the victory over R.J. Johnson, Chris Windom, Ryan Bernal and Shon Deskins.

Meanwhile, Johnson was crowned as USAC Southwest Sprint Car champion for the fourth consecutive year by 131 points over Charles Davis, Jr., Matt Rossi, Mike Martin and Tye Mihocko.

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USAC SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: November 5, 2016 - Queen Creek, Arizona - Arizona Speedway - "49th Annual Western World Championships"

FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Shon Deskins (#20 SDR), 2. Chris Windom (#5X Baldwin), 3. Aaron Farney (#17GP Dutcher), 4. Dennis Gile (#13G Gile), 5. Charles Davis Jr. (#50 Massey), 6. Stevie Sussex (#21AZ Burkhart), 7. Jason Grady (#45 Grady), 8. Andy Reinbold (#19 Underwood). NT

SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. R.J. Johnson (#77M Michael), 2. Ryan Bernal (#56 Phulps), 3. Zach Madrid (#98Z Madrid), 4. Mike Martin (#16 Martin), 5. Tye Mihocko (#5 Mihocko), 6. Tom Ogle (#48 Ogle), 7. Ryan Stolz (#56X Stolz). NT

THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Chris Bonneau (#78 Bonneau), 2. Brady Bacon (#73 Ford), 3. Brady Short (#19A Underwood), 4. C.J. Leary (#30 Leary), 5. Michael Curtis (#11C Turner/Wheeler), 6. Josh Grady (#12J Grady), 7. Asa Kesterson (#18 Kesterson). NT

FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Brian Hosford (#22B Weber), 2. Matt Rossi (#02 Rossi), 3. Clinton Boyles (#77 JHR), 4. Josh Hodges (#74X Hodges), 5. Matt Lundy (#98 Lundy), 6. Bruce St. James (#7K St. James), 7. Rob Lindsey (#23 Lindsey). NT

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Sussex, 2. Mihocko, 3. Curtis, 4. Ogle, 5. Reinbold, 6. Lundy, 7. Jo.Grady, 8. Ja.Grady, 9. Lindsey, 10. Stolz, 11. Kesterson, 12. St. James. NT

ALSO AT TRACK: Tanner Grau (#34 Team AZ)

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Brady Bacon, 2. R.J. Johnson, 3. Chris Windom, 4. Ryan Bernal, 5. Shon Deskins, 6. Matt Rossi, 7. Josh Hodges, 8. C.J. Leary, 9. Charles Davis Jr., 10. Stevie Sussex, 11. Mike Martin, 12. Brady Short, 13. Tye Mihocko, 14. Tom Ogle, 15. Aaron Farney, 16. Andy Reinbold, 17. Matt Lundy, 18. Chris Bonneau, 19. Michael Curtis, 20. Zach Madrid, 21. Brian Hosford, 22. Clinton Boyles. NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-3 Bernal, Laps 4-10 Bacon, Lap 11 Bernal, Laps 12-30 Bacon.

HARD CHARGER: Josh Hodges (15th to 7th)

FINAL USAC SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Johnson-1,470, 2-Davis-1,339, 3-Rossi-1,166, 4-Martin-1,160, 5-Mihocko-1,020, 6-Gile-927, 7-Sussex-897, 8-Hosford-820, 9-Bonneau-799, 10-Reinbold-787.

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Contact: Richie Murray | richie@usacracing.com

WINDOM WRAPS UP DOMINANT WESTERN WORLD WEEKEND IN ARIZONA SPEEDWAY VICTORY LANE

Queen Creek, Arizona November 5, 2016 - After two straight nights of domination in the Valley of the Sun, Chris Windom may very well be hotter than the surface of the sun at this moment.

One night after claiming victories in both the 410 and 360 sprint car features in his Baldwin Brothers Racing/Fox Paving - AMSOIL/Maxim/Claxton Mopar, the Canton, Illinois native finished off his incredible weekend by winning Saturday night's USAC AMSOIL National/CRA Sprint Car "Western World Championships" finale for his third feature victory in the last two nights at Arizona Speedway.

With his October victory at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track, Windom became the first driver to win three USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car features in a row this season and the first to pull off the hat trick since Robert Ballou during Eastern Storm in June of 2015.

"This has been an awesome weekend," Windom exclaimed. "(Crew Chief) Derek (Claxton) and Billy (Grace) have been busting their butts to keep two cars going. To not finish outside the top-three all weekend is a pretty big feat. It would've been cool to win all four, but I'm not going to complain with three firsts and a third. We're all gelling well together; My crew chiefs and I just work really well together. We just have a lot of confidence right now. When you come to the track knowing you have a really good shot at winning, it just seems to get easier every night."

At the drop of the green flag for the 30-lap feature, outside front row starter Damion Gardner swung wide to gain traction on the cushion, but pole sitter Windom was still able to beat Gardner to turn one, sliding up in front of the four-time USAC/CRA champ to take the point.

Just after completion of lap one, the roles became reversed as Gardner dove to the bottom in turn one to successfully slide job Windom to retake the top spot exiting turn two. However, Windom reset and came right back at Gardner entering turn three, briefly overtaking Gardner for the lead as he drifted up to the outside guardrail. Gardner countered, sprinting downhill off the banking to reclaim the number one spot again at the stripe.

In contrast to the previous night's heavy, hammer down racing surface, the cushion on Saturday night's racetrack was pushed a car width higher, thus presenting the opportunity for a slider-fest in the early going and, after settling in for the next couple of circuits, Windom threw his machinery sideways at the bottom of the first turn, beating Gardner to the cushion between turns one and two. As Gardner checked up, Windom bolted away out front. Gardner thought about making the same response one lap later, but wasn't quite close enough to pull the trigger and, instead, fell into line behind Windom.

Windom instantly established a continuously increasing lead over Gardner and the rest of the 24-car field by the 13th lap as he found himself maneuvering around lapped traffic. Simultaneously, the car of Matt Rossi began to slow in turn two. Max Adams piled in, resulting in him flipping over on the topside of the racetrack. Adams was uninjured as was his racecar, which allowed him to restart the race from the tail of the field with 17 laps remaining.

Continuing the trend from one night earlier, Windom flexed his muscles on the ensuing restart where he advanced his lead to nearly three-quarters of a second just one lap following the restart and, one lap later, stopped the watch at an interval of 1.15 second between himself and Gardner.

The battle for second suddenly became the race to witness as Brady Bacon hawked Gardner for the runner-up spot, but when Bacon stumbled atop the turn two cushion on the 20th lap, Gardner made his getaway and began setting sail for Windom.

The closing gap between the two appeared to be a classic desert mirage as it looked as though each time Gardner got one step (and one car length) closer to the leader, Windom would respond by ripping past a lapped car of his own to maintain the buffer zone between himself and Gardner.

With just four laps remaining, Windom closed the door on any remote possibility that Gardner would be able to run him down. Windom got a two-for-one deal by simultaneously sliding past lappers C.J. Leary and R.J. Johnson entering turn one that gave birth to an insurmountable advantage that Gardner would not overcome.

In a repeat podium sight from one night earlier, Windom was followed to the line by Damion Gardner, who was the only driver to lead race laps (4) other than Windom. Bacon, Dave Darland and Chase Stockon filled out the remainder of the top-five.

Concord, California's Gardner earned a second straight runner-up finish in his Mark Alexander/Scott Sales Company - Weld Racing/Spike/J & D that provided him with a seemingly untouchable 158-point lead in the USAC/CRA standings entering the series' final three series races of the season in conjunction with USAC's National Sprint Cars on Nov. 10-11-12 at Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway's 21st Budweiser "Oval Nationals."

"When the national guys come to town, we want to run good," Gardner explained. "I think the 4-car can go anywhere pretty much. I think we can go anywhere and run up front with anyone. Not to say we would dominate, but when you run up front, you're going to win some. Windom was really fast all weekend and I'm trying figure out how they get around the cushion so good. His car was working really nice on the top, just like it normally does. I got a little work to do to figure out how to get around this joint. We were fast all weekend; that's about all you can ask. It was a good weekend; we just needed a little bit more to keep up with them."

USAC National Sprint Car point leader Brady Bacon of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma virtually put a lock on his second career series title Saturday night with a third-place run in his Dynamics, Inc./Mean Green - Lykins Oil/Triple X/Williams Mopar.

"We were running on seven cylinders from the time we pushed off at the start of the feature," Bacon admitted. "It puts you in a weird spot knowing your motor's not running 100 percent; it's really hard to throw a bomb on a guy and not know if it's going to be there when you step on it and could wind up taking you both out. You race a little different because it's always in the back of your mind and it kind of puts you a half step back. I might have had a car capable of winning if we could've raced a little different, but it just puts you in a bad spot when you have something like that weighing on your mind."

Contingency award winners Saturday night at Arizona Speedway included Chad Boespflug (ProSource/Woodland Auto Display Fast Qualifier), Jon Stanbrough (Simpson Race Products/Extreme Mufflers First Heat Winner and Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Feature Finisher), Chris Windom (Competition Suspension, Inc. (CSI)/DJ Safety Second Heat Winner), C.J. Leary (Benic Enterprises/Circle Track Performance/Keizer Aluminum Wheels Third Heat Winner), Ryan Bernal (Indy Race Parts/Stand 21 Racer Goes Safer Foundation Fourth Heat Winner & KSE Racing Products/BR Motorsports/King Racing Products Hard Charger) and Carson Macedo (Brown & Miler Racing Solutions Semi Winner),

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USAC AMSOIL NATIONAL & CRA SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: November 5, 2016 - Queen Creek, Arizona - Arizona Speedway - 49th "Western World Championships"

PROSOURCE/WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Chad Boespflug, 98E, NineEight/EZR-14.625 (New Track Record); 2. Jerry Coons Jr., 20, Nolen-14.922; 3. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-14.961; 4. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-15.004; 5. Carson Macedo, 42, Cheney-15.051; 6. Matt Rossi, 02, Rossi-15.071; 7. Kevin Thomas Jr., 1, Ballou-15.082; 8. Dave Darland, 11, Walker/Curb-Agajanian-15.079; 9. Damion Gardner, 4, Alexander-15.092; 10. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-15.123; 11. Richard Vander Weerd, 10, Vander Weerd-15.128; 12. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR-15.223; 13. Max Adams, 5m, Adams-15.242; 14. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-15.243; 15. Josh Hodges, 17, McGhee-15.306; 16. Michael Curtis, 45c, Turner/Wheeler-15.323; 17. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-15.367; 18. Jon Stanbrough, 81, Stanbrough-15.354; 19. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-15.417; 20. Ryan Bernal, 56, Phulps-15.418; 21. Mike Spencer, 4s, Gansen-15.427; 22. Thomas Meseraull, 9x, SC-15.468; 23. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-15.476; 24. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-15.495; 25. Ronnie Gardner, 12, Allen-15.522; 26. Bret Mellenberndt, 97, Mellenberndt-15.530; 27. Stevie Sussex, 21AZ, Burkhart-15.556; 28. Mike Martin, 16, Martin-15.633; 29. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-15.690; 30. Aaron Farney, 17GP, Dutcher-15.737; 31. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-15.781; 32. Jeremy Ellertson, 98, Ellertson-15.928; 33. Logan Williams, 5x, Jory-16.000.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS/EXTREME MUFFLERS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Stanbrough, 2. D. Gardner, 3. Boespflug, 4. Spencer, 5. Macedo, 6. Adams, 7. Gansen, 8. R. Gardner, 9. L. Williams. 2:07.60

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI)/DJ SAFETY SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Windom, 2. Meseraull, 3. Johnson, 4. Coons, 5. Swanson, 6. Rossi, 7. Farney. 2:09.79

BENIC ENTERPRISES/CIRCLE TRACK PERFORMANCE/KEIZER ALUMINUM WHEELS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Leary, 2. Bacon, 3. Vander Weerd, 4. Hodges, 5. Darland, 6. C. Williams, 7. A. Williams, 8. Sussex. 2:06.54

INDY RACE PARTS/STAND 21 RACER GOES SAFER FOUNDATION FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Bernal, 2. Roa, 3. Stockon, 4. Martin, 5. Thomas, 6. Ellertson, 7. Chapple, 8. Curtis. 2:05.61 (New Track Record)

BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Macedo, 2. Rossi, 3. Darland, 4. Thomas, 5. Swanson, 6. Adams, 7. Chapple, 8. R. Gardner, 9. C. Williams, 10. Mellenberndt, 11. Ellertson, 12. L. Williams, 13. Curtis, 14. Farney, 15. Gansen, 16. A. Williams. 3:17.83

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Chris Windom, 2. Damion Gardner, 3. Brady Bacon, 4. Dave Darland, 5. Chase Stockon, 6. Richard Vander Weerd, 7. Jerry Coons, Jr., 8. Ryan Bernal, 9. Carson Macedo, 10. Josh Hodges, 11. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 12. Chad Boespflug, 13. Jon Stanbrough, 14. C.J. Leary, 15. R.J. Johnson, 16. Brody Roa, 17. Thomas Meseraull, 18. Jake Swanson, 19. Max Adams, 20. Mike Spencer, 21. Matt Rossi, 22. Mike Martin, 23. Cody Williams, 24. Austin Williams. NT
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**Adams flipped on lap 13 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Windom, Laps 2-5 D. Gardner, Laps 6-30 Windom.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/BR MOTORSPORTS/KING RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Ryan Bernal (18th to 8th)

NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Bacon-2474, 2-Stockon-2217, 3-Meseraull-2061, 4-Darland-2059, 5-Windom-2013, 6-Boespflug-1998, 7-Robert Ballou-1919, 8-Leary-1911, 9-Farney-1322, 10-Thomas-1274.

NEW USAC/CRA AMSOIL SPRINT CAR CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-D. Gardner-1443, 2-Vander Weerd-1285, 3-Swanson-1220, 4-Roa-1170, 5-A. Williams-1127, 6-Spencer-993, 7-Adams-869, 8-L. Williams-744, 9-C. Williams-729, 10-Gansen-665.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL NATIONAL & CRA SPRINT CAR CHAMPIONSHIP RACES: November 10-11-12 - Perris, California - Perris Auto Speedway - 21st Annual Budweiser "Oval Nationals"

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Contact: Richie Murray | richie@usacracing.com

WINDOM SWEEPS BOTH ENDS OF WESTERN WORLD NIGHT #1 AT ARIZONA SPEEDWAY

Queen Creek, Arizona November 4, 2016 - The unstoppable force that has been Chris Windom over the past three and a half months was unleashed in the southwest Friday night as the Canton, Illinois driver swept both the USAC AMSOIL National/CRA and Southwest Sprint Car features on night number one of the 49th Annual "Western World Championships" at Arizona Speedway.

After taking the checkered flag in the USAC Southwest feature earlier in the night, Windom lined up fourth in the 30-lap USAC National/CRA Sprint Car feature. Quickly, though, Windom worked his way to the front past early race leader and three-time USAC Western States Midget champ Ronnie Gardner on lap five after outpacing him with a run off turn two to grab the top spot as the pair hit turn three.

One lap later, Thomas Meseraull followed suit as he slipped by Ronnie Gardner for second with a similar move off turn four.

Torrential rains that washed-out Thursday night's practice provided a heavy and lightning fast racetrack for competitors Friday night, but nobody was as fast as Windom as he extended his lead just before halfway.

Windom had his advantage wiped away due to separate yellows for the turned around car of Jeremy Ellertson and the slowing car of Dave Darland, who was running fifth. Yet, the slowdown for Windom was only temporary as, on each restart, Windom got the jump and immediately distanced himself from second-running Meseraull.

With five to go, Damion Gardner began to make a charge at Meseraull for the second position. Damion was close enough to poke his nose under Meseraull on multiple occasions getting into turns one and three, but to no avail.

By that point, though, the race for the win slowly dissipated into the desert horizon as Windom now held a three-quarter straightaway lead that he wouldn't relinquish, as he drove to a three-second victory.

On the final corner of the last lap, Gardner blasted around the outside of Meseraull to grab the runner-up spot. Meseraull took third ahead of Brady Bacon and Jerry Coons, Jr.
Windom extended his streak of top-6 finishes in USAC National "points-paying" events that began on July 17 while also becoming the first driver since Bud Kaeding (Terre Haute, Ind. in 2001) to win multiple USAC-sanctioned Sprint Car features in a single night in his Baldwin Brothers Racing/Fox Paving - AMSOIL/Maxim/Claxton Mopar.

"That was in true Bryan Clauson fashion right there," Windom exclaimed. "This is pretty cool to come out here and win both of these races. I can't say enough about (Crew Chief) Derek Claxton, with all the work he and Billy put into these cars that allow us to come out here and do this. Both of our cars were bad fast all night. The track was heavy and hammer down tonight with all the rain they had yesterday. I'm sure we'll have different track conditions tomorrow. Hopefully we can come out here and sweep the whole weekend."

While Windom has been the hottest National Sprint Car driver of late, the hottest driver in USAC/CRA over the past couple of months has been Concord, California's Damion Gardner, who lengthened his series point lead by taking second in his Mark Alexander/Scott Sales Company - Weld Racing/Spike/J & D.

"The car was really good," Gardner said. "I got to thank Steve and Mark (Alexander) and all the guys on the crew who work really hard. We put some good pieces together for these end-of-the-year races. I'm not going to say we couldn't pass because we were passing cars all night. We had the right amount of power, we just ran out of laps. We were coming through the field and just had a really, really good car. I couldn't be more proud of these guys on the crew."

San Jose, California's Thomas Meseraull is one five drivers this season to win features in both the USAC National Sprint Car division as well as the CRA. On Friday night, he rounded out the podium with a third-place finish in his SC Racing/Flag City Machine - C.A. Kustoms/Hawk/Fisher.

"I got lucky," Meseraull admitted. "I started up front. Usually, you don't start that close to the front after qualifying 11th quickest. It was one groove early on, but the track was super fast for the feature. I was running second the whole feature and if Damion was going to squeeze around me on the outside, so be it. Sure enough, he did. I had fans that handed me $100 bills tonight. I towed this car out here myself. Stan Courtad owns the car and Don Whitney loaned me a truck and bought me some shocks. It was just kind of a collaboration of all my friends, so I'm really pumped to be up here."

Contingency award winners Saturday night at the Terre Haute Action Track included Chad Boespflug (ProSource/Woodland Auto Display Fast Qualifier and Brown & Miler Racing Solutions Semi Winner), Carson Macedo (Simpson Race Products/Extreme Mufflers First Heat Winner), Ryan Bernal (Competition Suspension, Inc. (CSI)/DJ Safety Second Heat Winner and KSE Racing Products/BR Motorsports/King Racing Products Hard Charger), Jon Stanbrough (Benic Enterprises/Circle Track Performance/Keizer Aluminum Wheels Third Heat Winner and Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Feature Finisher) and Stevie Sussex (Indy Race Parts/Stand 21 Racer Goes Safer Foundation Fourth Heat Winner)

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USAC AMSOIL NATIONAL & CRA SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: November 4, 2016 - Queen Creek, Arizona - Arizona Speedway - 49th "Western World Championships"

PROSOURCE/WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Chad Boespflug, 98E, NineEight/EZR-14.806; 2. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-14.828; 3. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-14.875; 4. Damion Gardner, 4, Alexander-14.955; 5. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-14.956; 6. Kevin Thomas Jr., 1, Ballou-14.972; 7. Dave Darland, 11, Walker/Curb-Agajanian-15.029; 8. Jerry Coons Jr., 20, Nolen-15.117; 9. Mike Spencer, 4s, Gansen-15.163; 10. Ronnie Gardner, 12, Allen-15.186; 11. Thomas Meseraull, 9x, SC-15.191; 12. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-15.195; 13. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-15.200; 14. Michael Curtis, 45c, Turner/Wheeler-15.228; 15. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-15.257; 16. Max Adams, 5m, Adams-15.305; 17. Carson Macedo, 42, Cheney-15.320; 18. Richard Vander Weerd, 10, Vander Weerd-15.330; 19. Jon Stanbrough, 81, Stanbrough-15.350; 20. Stevie Sussex, 21AZ, Burkhart-15.362; 21. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR-15.392; 22. Ryan Bernal, 56, Phulps-15.409; 23. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-15.420; 24. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-15.451; 25. Josh Hodges, 17, McGhee-15.455; 26. Brady Short, 19s, Underwood-15.491; 27. Aaron Farney, 17GP, Dutcher-15.505; 28. Mike Martin, 16, Martin-15.523; 29. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-15.631; 30. Matt Rossi, 02, Rossi-15.654; 31. Logan Williams, 5x, Jory-15.696; 32. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-15.734; 33. Jeremy Ellertson, 98, Ellertson-15.869; 34. Bret Mellenberndt, 97, Mellenberndt-NT

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS/EXTREME MUFFLERS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Macedo, 2. Chapple, 3. Roa, 4. Windom, 5. Boespflug, 6. Spencer, 7. Hodges, 8. Gansen, 9. Ellertson. 2:07.13

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI)/DJ SAFETY SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Bernal, 2. Vander Weerd, 3. Bacon, 4. R. Gardner, 5. Thomas, 6. Curtis, 7. Short, 8. Rossi, 9. Mellenberndt. 2:09.80

BENIC ENTERPRISES/CIRCLE TRACK PERFORMANCE/KEIZER ALUMINUM WHEELS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Stanbrough, 2. Johnson, 3. Meseraull, 4. Darland, 5. Swanson, 6. Farney, 7. Stockon, 8. L. Williams. 2:06.22

INDY RACE PARTS/STAND 21 RACER GOES SAFER FOUNDATION FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Sussex, 2. C. Williams, 3. D. Gardner, 4. Adams, 5. Coons, 6. Leary, 7. A. Williams. 2:06.43

BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Boespflug, 2. Stockon, 3. Coons, 4. A. Williams, 5. Swanson, 6. Spencer, 7. Hodges, 8. Curtis, 9. Short, 10. Leary, 11. Farney, 12. Gansen, 13. L. Williams, 14. Mellenberndt, 15. Ellertson, 16. Thomas. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Chris Windom, 2. Damion Gardner, 3. Thomas Meseraull, 4. Brady Bacon, 5. Jerry Coons, Jr., 6. Ronnie Gardner, 7. Chad Boespflug, 8. Chase Stockon, 9. Brody Roa, 10. Jake Swanson, 11. Richard Vander Weerd, 12. Austin Williams, 13. Jon Stanbrough, 14. Ryan Bernal, 15. R.J. Johnson, 16. Carson Macedo, 17. Mike Spencer, 18. Isaac Chapple, 19. Aaron Farney, 20. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 21. Max Adams, 22. Cody Williams, 23. Chris Gansen, 24. Jeremy Ellertson, 25. Dave Darland, 26. Stevie Sussex. NT
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**Farney flipped during qualifying.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-4 R. Gardner, Laps 5-30 Windom.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/BR MOTORSPORTS/KING RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Ryan Bernal (20th to 14th)

NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Bacon-2399, 2-Stockon-2150, 3-Meseraull-2025, 4-Darland-1996, 5-Boespflug-1947, 6-Windom-1935, 7-Robert Ballou-1919, 8-Leary-1868, 9-Farney-1312, 10-Max McGhee-1264.

NEW USAC/CRA AMSOIL SPRINT CAR CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-D. Gardner-1369, 2-Vander Weerd-1224, 3-Swanson-1192, 4-Roa-1132, 5-A. Williams-1104, 6-Spencer-965, 7-Adams-843, 8-L. Williams-734, 9-C. Williams-706, 10-Gansen-655.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACES: November 5 - Queen Creek, AZ - Arizona Speedway - "49th Western World Championships"