Justin Grant poses with a pair of bulls after winning Friday's "Western World Championships" Night 1 USAC AMSOIL National/CRA Sprint Car feature at Arizona Speedway. (Photo Courtesy Adam Mollenkopf)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

San Tan Valley, Arizona.........In a nutshell, the opening night of the 51st "Western World Championships" is a microcosm of the way the 2018 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car season has unfolded for Justin Grant and TOPP Motorsports.

Just when you began to count this pair out, here they are, back with gusto in the autumn of Friday night's 30-lapper at Arizona Speedway and in the autumn of the racing season.

After relinquishing the lead twice - on lap 7 and lap 18 - Grant didn't let himself get thrown far from the bull. He grabbed it by the horns and charged back into contention, for the final time with five laps remaining, escaping between Tyler Courtney and the outside turn two wall like a matador side stepping the brunt of a bull's charge to score his third USAC National Sprint Car feature victory in his last four starts.

It was the Ione, California native's 11th win with the series, moving him past Tony Stewart on the career wins list and into a tie for 45th alongside Daron Clayton, Greg Leffler and Chase Stockon.

Grant began the race from the pole position, initially crawling the bottom into turn one to get past outside front row starter C.J. Leary for the lead. By the time Grant got to turn three, he went topside as Kevin Thomas, Jr and Damion Gardner gave chase on the bottom.

Thomas dug his way to the lead off the fourth turn on the seventh lap to snare the lead. But his time up front was already fleeting as Grant charged back on the outside off turn two the following lap and slammed the door in turn three to yank the low line away from Thomas.

Grant shuffled his line, going to the shelf between turns one and two and skimming the bottom of three and four, searching the 3/8-mile dirt oval for any potential gains while Thomas and Gardner see-sawed the runner-up spot.

At the halfway mark, Logan Williams got sideways between turns one and two as the front runners bore down on him. While Williams was able to right his ship, Gardner and Thomas got bogged up just enough that allowed fourth-running Courtney to capitalize and skedaddle his way around both from fourth to second in one fell swoop off turn four. Moments later, seventh-running Jason McDougal was found turned around in turn two to bring out the feature's lone stoppage.

On the ensuing restart, Courtney and Gardner both stuck their hands in the cookie jar between turns one and two, racing three-wide with leader Grant momentarily before Grant was able to pop his way out of the crowd and escape with the lead.

A lap later, though, the story would take a turn as Courtney used a massive run off the cushion in turn four to blast past Grant like his shoes were stuck in mud.

However, stories have chapters. And Grant was more than eager to write a different ending than one might have suspected based on Courtney's 10 victories this year. But, Grant had no cliffhanger or sequel in mind. This one was going to have a concise, fairytale ending.

Grant never let Courtney stray too far as they both religiously ripped the topside. Once traffic came into play, Courtney came off the top to split between the lapped cars of Danny Faria, Jr. and Tye Mihocko between turns three and four, which allowed Grant to draw nearer. Courtney tried the 7/10 split again in turn one while Grant nailed his boots up top.

As Courtney slid across the track toward the turn two wall on the 26th lap, Grant had two choices: lift and relent the position or gas it up and go like hell. He chose the latter and escaped with the lead with roughly the width of a dime to spare between he and contact.

Courtney took one final shot at Grant on the final lap with a slider into turn one. Grant stamped the throttle, banging off the turn two concrete as he jetted back around Courtney one final time to bring home a 0.892 second victory over Courtney, Gardner, Chris Windom and Thomas.

"On tracks like this, you end up being a sitting duck when you're the leader and the track is moving around. Once (Courtney) got by us, I jumped up there behind him and he left us half a hole over there and I wasn't planning on losing this race tonight." - Justin Grant (Photo Courtesy Rich Forman)

Grant was an user of the entire racetrack on this night, from the bottom to the top, searching and scouring the land like Amerigo Vespucci for 30 laps. Once he got passed just after halfway, he found the fast way around, but all he needed was a little bit of daylight that he could use to get by Courtney and conquer the land they call victory lane.

"We were leading early and then went to the bottom," Grant recalled. "On tracks like this, you end up being a sitting duck when you're the leader and the track is moving around. Once (Courtney) got by us, I jumped up there behind him and he left us half a hole over there and I wasn't planning on losing this race tonight! This 4 car has been amazing and I'm having a blast. I've won a lot of races against the concrete and on the fence. I don't know if I've ever run one that hard on the concrete and hit it quite that many times."

Unlike Grant, Indianapolis, Indiana's Courtney was simultaneously racing for a feature win as well as a series title. While he did gain six points on Thomas with four races remaining on the National trail, he felt like this was one he let slip away.

"I threw one away tonight," Courtney admitted. "I got a little impatient there in traffic and wasted a lot of time with lapped cars. You just can't make mistakes like that when you're racing against guys that are at the top of their game."

A pair of title races were in play tonight. The National Sprint points have tightened up slightly with Thomas now holding a 28-point lead over Courtney with Windom 60 markers behind the leader. The CRA standings have shrunk as well with Brody Roa holding the edge by nine points over Gardner.

Contingency award winners Friday night at Arizona Speedway were Brody Roa (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner & KSE Racing Products Hard Charger), Chris Windom (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), R.J. Johnson (Chalk Stix Third Heat Winner), Dave Darland (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Thomas Meseraull (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) and Jake Swanson (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier).

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USAC AMSOIL NATIONAL & CRA SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: November 2, 2018 - Arizona Speedway - San Tan Valley, Arizona - 51st"Western World Championships"

QUALIFYING: 1. Thomas Meseraull, 77m, Michael-15.204; 2. Logan Seavey, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-15.257; 3. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 69, Dynamics-15.279; 4. Jason McDougal, 19s, Reinbold/Underwood-15.305; 5. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson Marshall Newman-15.309; 6. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-15.358; 7. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-15.362; 8. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-15.377; 9. Damion Gardner, 4x, Alexander-15.390; 10. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-15.422; 11. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-15.431; 12. Dave Darland, 12, Ballou-15.440; 13. Jake Swanson, 34AZ, Grau/Burkhart-15.501; 14. Brady Bacon, 99, Bacon-15.525; 15. Danny Faria, Jr., 42, Cheney-15.552; 16. Stevie Sussex, 12A, Allen-15.569; 17. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-15.594; 18. Ryan Bernal, 73, Ford-15.653; 19. R.J. Johnson, 92, Sertich-15.685; 20. Danny Sheridan, 15, Johnson-15.711; 21. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-15.836; 22. Matt Rossi, 02, Rossi-15.851; 23. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-15.892; 24. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-16.159; 25. Joel Rayborne, 12B, Blair-16.167; 26. Logan Williams, 5x, Jory-16.170; 27. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-16.181; 28. Dennis Gile, 13, Gile-16.236; 29. Tye Mihocko, 5T, Mihocko-16.376; 30. Mike Martin, 16, Martin-16.398.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Roa, 2. Gardner, 3. Chapple, 4. Meseraull, 5. Courtney, 6. Swanson, 7. Mihocko, 8. Rayborne. 2:42.24

COMPETITION SUSPENSION, INC. (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Windom, 2. Seavey, 3. Bacon, 4. Bernal, 5. A. Williams, 6. Rossi, 7. L. Williams. 2:39.60

CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Johnson, 2. Stockon, 3. Leary, 4. Thomas, 5. Faria, 6. Gansen, 7. C. Williams. 2:36.99

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Darland, 2. McDougal, 3. Hodges, 4. Grant, 5. Sussex, 6. Sheridan, 7. Gile. 2:29.45

SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Courtney, 2. A. Williams, 3. Rossi, 4. Faria, 5. Mihocko, 6. L. Williams, 7. Gansen, 8. C. Williams, 9. Gile, 10. Rayborne, 11. Sheridan, 12. Sussex, 13. Swanson. NT
**Sussex flipped during the semi.

FEATURE: (30 laps - starting positions in parentheses) 1. Justin Grant (1), 2. Tyler Courtney (7), 3. Damion Gardner (9), 4. Chris Windom (10), 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (4), 6. C.J. Leary (2), 7. Brody Roa (15), 8. Brady Bacon (13), 9. Dave Darland (12), 10. Logan Seavey (5), 11. R.J. Johnson (17), 12. Chase Stockon (11), 13. Thomas Meseraull (6), 14. Isaac Chapple (18), 15. Matt Rossi (19), 16. Austin Williams (8), 17. Josh Hodges (20), 18. Cody Williams (23), 19. Danny Faria, Jr. (14), 20. Tye Mihocko (22), 21. Ryan Bernal (16), 22. Joel Rayborne (24), 23. Logan Williams (21), 24. Jason McDougal (3). NT

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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-5 Grant, Lap 6 Thomas, Laps 7-17 Grant, Laps 18-25 Courtney, Laps 26-30 Grant.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Brody Roa (15th to 7th)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Thomas Meseraull
ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Jake Swanson
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Chris Gansen
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-K. Thomas-2464, 2-Courtney-2436, 3-Windom-2404, 4-Bacon-2136, 5-Darland-2117, 6-Leary-2104, 7-Stockon-2084, 8-Grant-2022, 9-Robert Ballou-1771, 10-Chapple-1418.
NEW AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Roa-1422, 2-Gardner-1413, 3-A. Williams-1211, 4-C. Williams-1092, 5-Swanson-1022, 6-Johnson-994, 7-Max Adams-943, 8-Faria-890, 9-L. Williams-858, 10-Gansen-793.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: November 3 - Arizona Speedway - San Tan Valley, Arizona - 51st "Western World Championships"

#2 Austin Williams of Yorba Linda, Calif. (Photo Courtesy Rich Forman)

Via USAC Media

San Tan Valley, Arizona.........Speed Shift TV has live coverage for both nights of the 51st "Western World Championships" from Arizona Speedway this Friday and Saturday, November 2-3.

The field features the top guns from the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car tour and the USAC/CRA Sprint Car circuit. Both series are in the midst of tight points battles with just five races remaining.

Cullman, Alabama's Kevin Thomas, Jr. leads Indianapolis, Indiana's Tyler Courtney by just 34 points while reigning series champ and 2016 "Western World" 410 winner Chris Windom of Canton, Ill. resides in third, 62 points behind the leader.

Meanwhile, in the CRA standings, Garden Grove, California's Brody Roa stands atop the points by 20 markers over six-time champ Damion Gardner of Concord, Calif., who is aiming for a sixth-straight series title.

The card features a doubleheader of 410 and 360 sprints with the Southwest Series also on hand for two complete programs both nights. Thomas Meseraull and Chase Stockon won each end of the USAC National/CRA show in 2017 while Brady Bacon and Chris Windom captured the pair of Southwest features.

On both nights of Western World, the pits open at 2pm and front gates at 3pm. The drivers meeting is at 4:30pm with cars set to hit the track at 5:25pm Mountain time.

Make sure to catch all the action from both nights of "Western World" live on http://www.SpeedShiftTV.com/ and/or listen to the live audio feed on the USAC app. You can also catch all the action a day later, on-demand, at http://www.Loudpedal.TV/.

#7BC Tyler Courtney was the fastest on "Western World" practice night. (Photo Courtesy Rich Forman)

Via USAC Media

San Tan Valley, Arizona.........Tyler Courtney led all drivers in practice Thursday night at Arizona Speedway in preparation for the 51strunning of the "Western World Championships" Friday and Saturday night, November 2-3.

Courtney, of Indianapolis, Ind., ripped around the 3/8-mile with the top time of 14.943 seconds aboard his Clauson Marshall Newman Racing/NOS Energy Drink - Priority Aviation/Spike/Rider Chevy. Jason McDougal was the only other driver under 15 seconds at 14.958. Justin Grant was third ahead of Chris Windom, Brady Bacon, Thomas Meseraull, Kevin Thomas, Jr., Chase Stockon, Isaac Chapple and Dave Darland.

The open practice featured cars and drivers competing in both the USAC AMSOIL National/CRA Sprint Car event as well as the Southwest Sprint Car race. A handful of drivers took laps in both their 410 and 360-powered rides Thursday night, including C.J. Leary, Thomas, Stockon and Darland.

Make sure to catch all the action from both nights of "Western World" live on http://www.SpeedShiftTV.com/ and/or listen to the live audio feed on the USAC app.
On both nights of Western World, the pits open at 2pm and front gates at 3pm. The drivers meeting is at 4:30pm with cars set to hit the track at 5:25pm Mountain time.

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USAC AMSOIL NATIONAL & CRA SPRINT CAR PRACTICE RESULTS: November 1, 2018 - Arizona Speedway - San Tan Valley, Arizona - 51st "Western World Championships"

1. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson Marshall Newman-14.943; 2. Jason McDougal, 19s, Reinbold/Underwood-14.958; 3. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-15.096; 4. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-15.195; 5. Brady Bacon, 99, Bacon-15.202; 6. Thomas Meseraull, 77m, Michael-15.237; 7. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 69, Dynamics-15.304; 8. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-15.307; 9. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-15.355; 10. Dave Darland, 12, Ballou-15.369; 11. Stevie Sussex, 12A, Allen-15.592; 12. Danny Sheridan, 15, Johnson-15.684; 13. Tye Mihocko, 5T, Mihocko-15.707; 14. Colton Hardy, 74, Hardy-15.723; 15. C.J. Leary, 33-15.870; 16. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 73, Ford-15.877; 17. Shon Deskins, 7, Deskins-15.926; 18. Sterling Cling, 34, Cling-16.042; 19. Chase Stockon, 1AZ-16.144; 20. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-16.217; 21. Nick Aiuto, 27, Aiuto-16.255; 22. Caleb Saiz, 42, Saiz-16.269; 23. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-16.432; 24. Joel Rayborne, 12x, Rayborne-16.586; 25. #68-16.611; 26. Travis Oldfield, 38, Oldfield-16.612; 27. Spencer Hill, 11w, Hill-16.707; 28. Matt Lundy, 98, Lundy-16.762; 29. Dave Darland, 2, Yeley-16.763; 30. J.R. Bonesteel, 0, Yeley-16.872; 31. #72-17.258.

#57 Daniel Whitley and #8c Anissa Curtice

Via Humboldt Outlaw Karts Media

Eureka, CA (November 1, 2018) – Two Humboldt County teenage racers took on some of the best Outlaw Kart racers in the country Wednesday evening at Millbridge Speedway in Salisbury, North Carolina. 15-year-old Daniel Whitley of Ferndale and 16-year-old Anissa Curtice of Eureka both attempted to start the prestigious 50-lap Keith Kunz Motorsports Giveback Classic in which the winner would earn a ride for the Chili Bowl, the biggest midget event of the year. In all, nearly 70 of the top outlaw kart racers in the United States attempted to start in the main event which featured 24 starters.

Both Whitley and Curtice were able to make their way into the starting lineup without having to go through the ‘C’ or ‘B’ main event races. Curtice was victorious in the second of eight heat races which assured her a spot in the feature while Whitley’s second place effort in the fifth heat assured his position. Curtice started the main event in eighth while Whitley started just outside of the top 10. Curtice was able to race inside the top five until a spin took her off the lead lap. Unfortunately, Curtice dropped out of the event on lap 30 resulting in an 18th place finish. Whitley maneuvered his way into the top 10 and looked to have a solid finish in hand before a late race incident took him out of the race. He too was unable to get to the finish and was scored 15th six laps down.

Both Whitley and Curtice raced with the Humboldt Outlaw Karts in 2018 with each winning in the NorCal Automotive 500cc/open division. Whitley’s victory came on the June 21st event which was the final race on the 1/10-mile dirt track. Curtice won the season finale race on October 13th on the 1/8-mile circuit.

The Mike Martin Racing #16 that Bud Kaeding will drive in the Budweiser "Oval Nationals" presented by All Coast Construction Nov. 8-9-10 at California's Perris Auto Speedway. (Photo Courtesy Ben Thrasher)

Perris, California.........Three-time Oval Nationals winner Bud Kaeding has signed on to drive for Mike Martin Racing in the 23rd annual running of the event on November 8-9-10 at California's Perris Auto Speedway.

Kaeding, of Campbell, Calif., is a three-time winner of the Oval Nationals, scoring in 2001, 2002 and again in 2007 - one of three drivers to do so along with Dave Darland and Damion Gardner.

A much-accomplished racer on the full USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car trail throughout the 2000s, Kaeding has been victorious on 17 occasions with the series, most recently in 2012 "Tony Hulman Classic" at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track. Kaeding's last appearance came in the 2016 Oval Nationals where he finished in the sixth position in Martin's No. 16.

Kaeding is a five-time champion under the USAC banner. He is a three-time USAC Silver Crown champion, capturing titles in 2006, 2007 and 2009 and has won regional Sprint Car titles with the Western series in 1999 and the West Coast series in 2012.

The Mike Martin Racing car has made three appearances with the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Cars in 2018, all coming in February at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla. Mike Martin, as a driver, won a USAC National/CRA Sprint Car feature at Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria, Ariz. back in 2012.

Over 40 drivers are already entered for the event that includes past "Ovals" winners Damion Gardner, Dave Darland, Chris Windom and Kevin Thomas, Jr., plus 2018 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature winners Justin Grant, Tyler Courtney, C.J. Leary, Chase Stockon and Brady Bacon and 2018 USAC/CRA Sprint Car feature winners Austin Williams, Max Adams, Jake Swanson, Chase Johnson, Austin Liggett, Jace Vander Weerd and Brody Roa as well as five-time USAC Southwest Sprint Car titlist R.J. Johnson, current Southwest point leader Charles Davis, Jr., past West Coast Sprint champ Danny Faria, Jr. and current USAC Light Up The World Beverages Western States Midget point leader Michael Faccinto, among many others.

Advance tickets for all the Budweiser Oval Nationals presented by All Coast Construction, are available 24 hours a day online at https://pas.tix.com/Schedule.aspx?OrgNum=7 or by calling 1-800-595-4849. For fans who do not want to buy advance tickets, there will be plenty available for everyone at the ticket window each race night.

Watch the race live on http://www.SpeedShiftTV.com/ and/or listen to live audio on the USAC app.

#19 Logan Seavey in the Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports sprinter in last weekend's USAC Southwest Sprint Car race at Central Arizona Speedway.

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

San Tan Valley, Arizona.........Two of USAC's youngest sensations, Logan Seavey and Jason McDougal, have teamed up with Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports for this weekend's 51st running of the "Western World Championships" at Arizona Speedway on November 2-3.

Reinbold/Underwood was successful on the opening night of "Western World" in 2017 when Thomas Meseraull drove to victory in the 30-lap USAC AMSOIL National & CRA Sprint Car feature with a last-lap pass of Brady Bacon.

This year, the team has partnered with Seavey and McDougal as part of a two-car effort. Seavey, of Sutter, Calif., has been a standout on the USAC P1 Insurance National Midget trail this year, leading both the championship standings and the Rookie of the Year points on the strength of two victories. He's also been solid in just a handful of USAC National Sprint Car appearances in 2018 with a pair of third-place runs at Bloomington (Ind.) Speedway and Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind. serving as his best results in eight starts.

Seavey has made two starts for Reinbold/Underwood this year in USAC/CRA action, both in September at Arizona. One night, he took fast qualifying honors, then followed it up with a second-place finish the following night at Arizona.

Broken Arrow, Oklahoma's McDougal has gotten off to a hot start in his first 14 career USAC National Sprint Car starts, all coming since the beginning of July where he made a 22nd to 3rd charge at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Ind. McDougal won in just his eighth series start on Labor Day weekend in Pevely, Mo. at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55, one of his eight top-ten and four top-five finishes this season.

McDougal will also join the Reinbold/Underwood team when the series heads to California's Perris Auto Speedway for the 23rd Budweiser "Oval Nationals" presented by All Coast Construction on Nov. 8-9-10.

The 51st "Western World Championships" from Arizona Speedway in San Tan Valley, Ariz. on November 2-3 will feature the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship with the USAC/CRA Sprint Cars as well as the USAC Southwest Sprint Cars. Pits open at 2pm, front gates at 3pm, with the drivers meeting taking place at 4:30pm and cars hitting the track for hot laps at 5:25pm. All times are local.

The 23rd Budweiser "Oval Nationals" California's Perris Auto Speedway on November 8-9-10 features three-straight nights of USAC AMSOIL National & CRA Sprint Cars, concluding with a $25,000-to-win prize on the final night.

All five remaining races will all be streamed live on http://www.SpeedShiftTV.com/ and live audio will be on the USAC app.

Six-time USAC/CRA Sprint Car champion Damion Gardner. (Photo Courtesy Mike Grosswendt)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

When the USAC AMSOIL National and CRA Sprint Cars get together, it creates an extra dynamic to the racing program. Akin to a team going on the road in stick and ball sports, it pits one against the other on their "home turf" so to speak for bragging rights.

That's the stage that's set as the National teams head west to face off with CRA for the 51st edition of the "Western World Championships" at Arizona Speedway in San Tan Valley on November 2-3, then concluding November 8-9-10 at California's Perris Auto Speedway for the 23rd annual Budweiser "Oval Nationals" presented by All Coast Construction.

Since the 2004 season, when CRA went under the sanctioning of USAC, they and the USAC National Sprint Cars have formally raced with each other on 77 occasions. The CRA has held their own on occasion and have been victorious against National competition 17 times over the past 14 years, including in each of the past two years with drivers Damion Gardner (2016) and Brody Roa (2017) having the upper hand at Perris.

Some drivers fall into both categories as a representative of both the National and CRA divisions at one point in their career, such as Gardner, who is tied with Bryan Clauson as the winningest driver when the National and CRA series meet with eight victories apiece.

USAC vs. the CRA regulars goes all the way back to the 1960 season when the USAC Sprints made their first venture west to California and Clovis Speedway. Don Davis would defeat the USAC regulars that day in the D.K. Purvis No. 3 en route to that year's California Roadster Association title. The win would prove to be his only USAC National Sprint Car victory, same as 12 other CRA regulars who got their single USAC win out west: Bob McCoy, Bob Hogle, Gary Patterson, Bobby Olivero, Eddie Wirth, Mike Sweeney, Mike Kirby, David Cardey, Rickie Gaunt, Garrett Hansen, Mike Martin and Roa.

Most of those individuals were stars in their own right and by no means a one-hit-wonder, holding the crown as a CRA driving titlist, including Hogle in 1963 & 1968, Bobby Olivero in 1975 (also a Silver Crown titlist in 1979), Wirth in 1985, Kirby in 1993 and Gaunt in 2004.

The USAC and original CRA first officially met at the conclusion of the 1984 for a pair of non-points special events at Manzanita Speedway and Ascot Park entitled the "USAC/CRA Sprint Challenge Series." CRA regulars, Arizonian Lealand McSpadden and Californian Rip Williams, took respective victories. They would eventually both be inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame.

The following year, the "USAC/CRA Sprint Challenge Series" expanded to venues throughout the country, beginning in the west to open the season before working its way through the Midwest and back home to conclude the year. Eleven races were held at eight different venues with Rick Hood claiming three victories at Phoenix, Arizona's Manzanita Speedway, Devil's Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, Texas and State Fair Speedway in Oklahoma City, Okla. The opening night triumph at Manzanita was especially memorable, coming just five months after both of Hood's legs were broken in a freak accident when he was struck by a sprint car while walking through the infield to watch a practice session at the very same track.

Bubby Jones scored two at 81 Speedway in Wichita, Kans. and at Ascot Park in Gardena, Calif. Single victories were owned by McSpadden (Manzanita), Wirth (Ascot Park), Sheldon Kinser (Putnamville, Indiana's Lincoln Park Speedway), Ron Shuman (Indiana's Terre Haute Action Track), Mike Sweeney (Oklahoma's Lawton Speedway) and Bob East (Manzanita).

While CRA regulars took 6 of 11 victories, it was USAC National Sprint Car and Silver Crown champ Rick Hood earning the title by 34 points over Sweeney, Wirth, Brad Noffsinger and Steve Butler.

More informally, several of the top SCRA drivers made their way to the Hoosier state for "Indiana Sprint Week" in 1997 and 1998. Arizona's J.J. Yeley burst onto the nationwide scene, winning back-to-back races at Kokomo and Terre Haute on his way to the ISW title. Throughout the week, five-time CRA champ Richard Griffin of Silver City, New Mexico was mesmerizing, going 6-for-6 as fast qualifier in his six appearances. In 1998, times were tougher for the west coast contingent during ISW as USAC regulars swept the six events and the title went to Dave Darland.

In 1999 and 2000, the Non-Wing World Championship arrived at the Terre Haute half-mile for a big payday and the ultimate showcase for sprint car supremacy. The battlefield proved pretty equal both years with eventual 2007 USAC/CRA champ Tony Jones capturing the victory on night one with Jerry Coons, Jr. following up the next night with his first career series win as well. The final night saw the versatile, standout wing invader, Frankie Kerr, playing spoiler by taking the cash and the trophy back home to Ohio.

In 2000, the NWWC series returned to Terre Haute with Jay Drake dominating both of his designated nights, while Griffin nailed his first series victory down with a late-race pass of Kevin Briscoe.

The final matchup between USAC and SCRA for the NWWC arrived in 2003 for a three-race set in three consecutive nights. USAC Triple Crown champ J.J. Yeley scored at Terre Haute with Tracy Hines taking top honors at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway and California's Troy Rutherford taking the finale at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Ill.

Will this year be the year that CRA stars get it done yet again on their home tracks? Viable candidate lie in waiting everywhere you look with Gardner and Austin Williams already winning this year at Perris while Gardner and Jake Swanson have sealed the deal at Arizona. Throw in CRA point leader Roa, Cody Williams, R.J. Johnson, Max Adams, Danny Faria, Jr., Logan Williams, Ryan Bernal and several others and you've got a bunch who can make some noise, following in the footsteps of their brethren who staked their claim on their home dirt against National competition.

The 51st "Western World Championships" from Arizona Speedway in San Tan Valley, Ariz. on November 2-3 will feature the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship with the USAC/CRA Sprint Cars as well as the USAC Southwest Sprint Cars. Pits open at 2pm, front gates at 3pm, with the drivers meeting taking place at 4:30pm and cars hitting the track for hot laps at 5:25pm. All times are local.

The 23rd Budweiser "Oval Nationals" California's Perris Auto Speedway on November 8-9-10 features three-straight nights of USAC AMSOIL National & CRA Sprint Cars, concluding with a $25,000-to-win prize on the final night.

All five remaining races will all be streamed live on http://www.SpeedShiftTV.com/ and live audio will be on the USAC app.

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WHEN USAC NATIONAL & USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS
HAVE RACED IN SAME EVENT (SINCE 2004):

CRA Winners (17)
1. (3) Damion Gardner & Mike Spencer
3. (2) Nic Faas & Tony Jones
5. (1) David Cardey, Rickie Gaunt, Garrett Hansen, Mike Kirby, Mike Martin, Brody Roa & Rip Williams

National Winners (60)
1. (8) Bryan Clauson
2. (6) Dave Darland
3. (5) Robert Ballou & Damion Gardner
5. (4) Levi Jones, Bud Kaeding & Chris Windom
8. (3) Jerry Coons, Jr., Chase Stockon & Kevin Swindell
11. (2) Darren Hagen, Jesse Hockett & Josh Wise
14. (1) Brady Bacon, Chad Boespflug, Daron Clayton, Tracy Hines, Cory Kruseman, Thomas Meseraull, Jon Stanbrough, Kevin Thomas, Jr. & Cole Whitt

#30 C.J. Leary of Greenfield, Indiana. (Photo Courtesy Brian Bouder)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

One-thousand, eight-hundred and sixty-eight. That's the number of USAC Sprint Car events held since the club's inception in 1956 coming into the final two weekends of the 2018 season Nov. 2-3 at Arizona Speedway and Nov. 8-9-10 at California's Perris Auto Speedway.

Of those 1,868 races throughout a 63-year span, this year actually marks one of the busiest years in USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car history with a total of 37 events already held - 36 points races and one non-points, special event. Barring any weather disruptions over these next two weekends - knock on wood - this would mark the fourth largest schedule in terms of events run by the series.

The year 1977 set the highwater mark with 51 events held, but the schedule consisted visits to only six different states: Indiana, California, Illinois, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. In 2018 already, the series has ventured to 10 states, with two more to be added in November for a total of 12 states, which will make it the third most diverse schedule as far as states traveled to: Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

What makes it the third busiest schedule in its 63-year-history? If you add the Number of Events + the Number of Tracks, 1977's cumulative score works out as 57 (51 events + 6 tracks). Meanwhile, 2016 had 45 events in 11 states to become the second busiest at 56 points.

This year, if all goes according to schedule at Arizona and Perris, with 41 events in 12 states, you would arrive at a cumulative score of 53, making it the third busiest overall season in the history of the series when all the pieces are put together. And that goes with having five rain outs which prevented a trip to the state of Kansas, which would've added one more point to the total.

Without further ado, here's a gander at the year-by-year history of USAC National Sprint Car racing, ranked by the number of events held and how many states held those events.

YEAR-BY-YEAR EVENT AND TRACK COUNT (BY RANK)
1. 1977: (51) 51 Points Races (6 States)
2. 2016: (45) 41 Points Races, 4 Special Events (11 States)
3. 1976: (44) 44 Points Races (4 States)
4. 1973: (41) 41 Points Races (6 States)
5. 1978: (40) 40 Points Races (9 States)
6. 1968: (39) 39 Points Races (9 States)
7. 1979: (39) 39 Points Races (5 States)
8. 2010: (39) 39 Points Races (10 States)
9. 2012: (39) 38 Points Races, 1 Special Event (13 States)
10. 2015: (39) 39 Points Races (10 States)
11. 2009: (38) 36 Points Races, 2 Special Events (9 States)
12. 2017: (38) 37 Points Races, 1 Special Event (10 States)
13. 2004: (37) 35 Points Races, 2 Special Events (15 States)
14. 2006: (37) 36 Points Races, 1 Special Event (11 States)
15. 2003: (36) 31 Points Races, 5 Special Events (7 States)
16. 2005: (36) 34 Points Races, 2 Special Events (9 States)
17. 2011: (36) 36 Points Races (10 States)
18. 2018: (36) 35 Points Races, 1 Special Event (12 States)
19. 1967: (34) 34 Points Races (8 States)
20. 1974: (34) 34 Points Races (4 States)
21. 1975: (34) 34 Points Races (5 States)
22. 1999: (34) 34 Points Races (5 States)
23. 2013: (33) 33 Points Races (9 States)
24. 2001: (32) 31 Points Races, 1 Special Event (7 States)
25. 2014: (32) 32 Points Races (10 States)
26. 1970: (31) 31 Points Races (8 States)
27. 1971: (31) 31 Points Races (5 States)
28. 1972: (31) 31 Points Races (7 States)
29. 1997: (31) 31 Points Races (4 States)
30. 1998: (31) 31 Points Races (6 States)
31. 1990: (29) 29 Points Races (7 States)
32. 2000: (29) 29 Points Races (5 States)
33. 2002: (29) 28 Points Races, 1 Special Event (6 States)
34. 2007: (29) 29 Points Races (8 States)
35. 1956: (28) 27 Point Races, 1 Special Event (8 States)
36. 2008: (28) 27 Points Races, 1 Special Event (8 States)
37. 1965: (27) 27 Points Races (6 States)
38. 1966: (27) 27 Points Races (9 States)
39. 1969: (27) 27 Points Races (7 States)
40. 1985: (27) 27 Points Races (9 States)
41. 1994: (27) 27 Points Races (5 States)
42. 1996: (27) 27 Points Races (10 States)
43. 1982: (26) 26 Points Races (8 States)
44. 1995: (26) 26 Points Races (8 States)
45. 1961: (24) 24 Points Races (6 States)
46. 1963: (24) 24 Points Races (7 States)
47. 1964: (24) 24 Points Races (6 States)
48. 1980: (24) 24 Points Races (4 States & 2 Countries)
49. 1991: (24) 24 Points Races (7 States)
50. 1960: (23) 23 Points Races (6 States)
51. 1962: (22) 22 Points Races (5 States)
52. 1984: (22) 20 Points Races, 2 Special Events (5 States)
53. 1981: (21) 21 Points Races (5 States)
54. 1957: (20) 20 Points Races (4 States)
55. 1988: (20) 20 Points Races (6 States)
56. 1989: (20) 20 Points Races (6 States & 2 Countries)
57. 1958: (19) 19 Points Races (4 States)
58. 1993: (19) 19 Points Races (4 States)
59. 1992: (18) 18 Points Races (6 States)
60. 1959: (17) 17 Points Races (7 States)
61. 1983: (17) 17 Points Races (3 States)
62. 1987: (14) 14 Points Races (6 States)
63. 1986: (11) 11 Points Races (3 States)

The 51st "Western World Championships" from Arizona Speedway in San Tan Valley, Ariz. on November 2-3 will feature the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship with the USAC/CRA Sprint Cars as well as the USAC Southwest Sprint Cars.

The 23rd Budweiser "Oval Nationals" California's Perris Auto Speedway on November 8-9-10 features three-straight nights of USAC AMSOIL National & CRA Sprint Cars, concluding with a $25,000-to-win prize on the final night.

All five remaining races will all be streamed live on http://www.SpeedShiftTV.com/ and live audio will be on the USAC app.

BC39 winner Brady Bacon of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. (Photo Courtesy Rich Forman)

Via USAC Media

Ventura, California.........The initial entry list for the 78th running of the "Turkey Night Grand Prix" has been released with 60 drivers already indicating their intentions to compete in the prestigious race.

The November 22 event at Ventura Raceway featuring the USAC P1 National National Midgets and Light Up The World Beverages USAC Western States Midgets will have a stacked lineup featuring the best-of-the best from a variety of racing disciplines, including past "Turkey Night" winners Kyle Larson (2012 & 2016), Christopher Bell (2014 & 2017) and 2015 winner Tanner Thorson heading the list.

Also entered are 2018 USAC National Midget feature winners Tyler Courtney, Justin Grant, Logan Seavey, Chad Boat, Spencer Bayston, Kevin Thomas, Jr., Zeb Wise and Brady Bacon as well as Western States winners Alex Schutte, Michael Faccinto, Damion Gardner, Shane Golobic and Jake Swanson along with USAC Triple Crown champ Jerry Coons, Jr., USAC/CRA's winningest sprint car driver Damion Gardner and past Western States champ David Prickett among many others.

Sheldon Haudenschild, Brad Sweet and Carson Macedo are studs in the winged sprint car world who will hop in a midget for their USAC Midget season debuts.

The race will take place Thanksgiving night, Thursday, November 22, with a practice night scheduled for Wednesday, November 21. USAC West Coast/VRA Sprints will be on the card both nights.

The race will be streamed live on http://www.SpeedShiftTV.com/ with live audio available on the USAC app.

2018 "TURKEY NIGHT GRAND PRIX" MIDGET ENTRY LIST:
1 Kyle Larson/Elk Grove, CA
1K Brayton Lynch/Springfield, IL
1P Tristan Thomas/Burlington, WA
2 Robby Josett/Santa Clarita, CA
2D Kevin Woody/Victor, NY
3c Tanner Thorson/Minden, NV
4D Robert Dalby/Anaheim, CA
4M Michelle Decker/Guthrie, OK
7BC Tyler Courtney/Indianapolis, IN
7u Grady Chandler/Piedmont, OK
8 Randi Pankratz/Atascadero, CA
9D Michael Faccinto/Hanford, CA
9F Frankie Guerrini/San Rafael, CA
10 Lance Bennett/Aurora, CO
10B Blaze Bennett/Parker, CO
15 Jason McDougal/Broken Arrow, OK
15c Carson Garrett/Littleton, CO
15x Ashley Hazelton-Heredia/Chatsworth, CA
17BC Justin Grant/Ione, CA
17G Dustin Golobic/Fremont, CA
17s Sheldon Haudenschild/Wooster, OH
17w Shane Golobic/Fremont, CA
20 C.J. Sarna/Long Beach, CA
21 Christopher Bell/Norman, OK
24x David Prickett/Fresno, CA
25 Jerry Coons, Jr./Tucson, AZ
25x Damion Gardner/Concord, CA
27 Tucker Klaasmeyer/Paola, KS
28 Alex Schutte/Redding, CA
31 Kyle Beilman/Santa Monica, CA
33P Mike Leach/Foothill Ranch, CA
35 Holley Hollan/Broken Arrow, OK
39BC Zeb Wise/Angola, IN
50 Tony DiMattia/Malvern, PA
55 C.J. Leary/Greenfield, IN
57 Maria Cofer/Macdoel, CA
63 Kevin Thomas, Jr./Cullman, AL
63D Brad Sweet/Grass Valley, CA
67 Logan Seavey/Sutter, CA
67K Holly Shelton/Sacramento, CA
68 Jake Swanson/Anaheim, CA
71 Ryan Robinson/Foresthill, CA
71K Tanner Carrick/Lincoln, CA
71R Chase Johnson/Penngrove, CA
71s Cody Swanson/Covina, CA
71x Bryan Drollinger/Lomita, CA
72 Sam Johnson/St. Peters, MO
73 Dylan Ito/Newbury Park, CA
73K Buddy Kofoid/Penngrove, CA
73T Ryan Bernal/Hollister, CA
73x Carson Macedo/Lemoore, CA
76M Brady Bacon/Broken Arrow, OK
77 Daniel Anderson/Riverside, CA
77B Olivia Bennett/Aurora, CA
84 Chad Boat/Phoenix, AZ
85 McKenna Haase/Des Moines, IA
87 Colby Copeland/Roseville, CA
91 Chris Sheil/Aurora, CA
97 Spencer Bayston/Lebanon, IN
97F Jesse Fernandez/Parker, CO

2018 USAC Southwest Sprint Car point leader Charles Davis, Jr. (Photo Courtesy Ben Thrasher)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

The Sands Chevrolet USAC Southwest Sprint Car Series has announced it will open up their rules package to include 410 cubic-inch engines beginning with the 2019 racing season.

The move now aligns the series with the same rulebook as the USAC AMSOIL National and CRA Sprint Car Series. Although, 360 c.i. engines will remain legal to run with the series, the rule change will give the series a major boost heading into the future.

"The tradition of both USAC and Arizona Sprint Car racing is with 410 c.i. engines," series coordinator Chris Kearns said. "More and more Arizona-based teams have been purchasing 410's of late and this move is going to bring new life to the Southwest Sprint Car Series in 2019 and beyond."

The Southwest Sprint Cars will also now feature a raised purse for each race, paying a minimum of $2000-to-win and $250 to start. Additionally, the USAC/CRA events at Arizona venues will now be co-sanctioned by the Southwest Sprints and will have an increased payout of $3000-to-win and $400 to start.

Furthermore, beginning with the 52nd running of the "Western World Championships" at Arizona Speedway in November of 2019, the main event will now have the Southwest Sprints competing with the National Sprint series.

The Southwest Sprints will now venture into California's Perris Auto Speedway for a pair of events in 2019 that will be co-sanctioned by the USAC/CRA Sprints, paying $2500-to-win and $300 to start. Throughout its history, the Southwest Sprints have been a primarily Arizona-based series, with a handful of races this year at locales such as Nevada, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

The Southwest Sprint Car Series is currently in its eighth season under USAC sanction, all run under the previous 360 c.i. engine rules.

The Southwest Sprints made their debut in 2003 with Rick Ziehl as the champion with Beau Binder grabbing the title in 2004. After nearly a decade, the USAC Southwest Sprints returned in 2013 with R.J. Johnson taking five consecutive titles between then and 2017. Charles Davis, Jr. currently leads the standings with two races remaining this season, this Friday and Saturday, November 2-3 at Arizona Speedway in San Tan Valley for the 51st running of the "Western World Championships."

Kris Price led Randy Houston across the finish line at the season opener at Shasta Speedway to jump-start his run for the 2018 North State Modified Series championship.

Via Nadine Strauss/NSMS Media

North State Modified Series (NSMS), presented by Protect the Harvest, now has five years of history in the record books. The series traveled from Redwood Acres Raceway on California's north coast in Eureka, up Highway 5 to Shasta Speedway in Anderson, over the mountains to Lakeport Speedway on the west shores of Clearlake, west to Highway 101's Ukiah Speedway, back down the valley to All American Speedway in Roseville, and all the way to the middle of the state of California to Madera Speedway. The schedule will once again expand to Stockton 99 Speedway in 2019.

NSMS dedicated its 2018 racing season to cancer awareness and research, and the “Driving Out Cancer Tour” collected and donated over $5,500 toward cancer awareness.

The 2018 season saw 49 different drivers compete with a high car count of 27 and an average of 20 cars per event. There were six different feature winners this year and seven different winners in the Lucas Oil Dash for Cash. Eight drivers shared the Ward Land Management and Development Fast Time Award. The fields were close all season long with usually less than one second per lap separating the fastest and slowest cars.

Kris Price of Sacramento was the dominant force in 2018, taking home four NSMS wins and capturing the North State Modified Series championship. He won both the season opener in May and the September race at Shasta Speedway. Price also had back-to-back victories in July at All American Speedway and Ukiah Speedway. He only finished out of the top 5 one time.

Other feature winners in 2018 were Jason Philpot of Sacramento (Redwood Acres Raceway, May 27), Cameron Austin of Santa Rosa (Madera Speedway, June 9), Kyle Tellstrom from Ukiah (Ukiah Speedway June 23), Darrin Sullivan of Kelseyville (Redwood Acres Raceway, July 21), and Eric Price II of Rio Linda (All American Speedway, October 13.)

Dustin DeRosier of Cloverdale finished second in the 2018 championship race chalking up six top-5 finishes. His season bests were two third place runs at both Ukiah and Roseville.

Eric Price II's big October Classic win at All American Speedway boosted him from fifth in the standings to third. Eric Johnson and Darrin Sullivan, both from Kelseyville, placed fourth and fifth.

Sixth through tenth in points went to Terry Deal of Roseville, Cameron Austin, Jason Philpot, Ian Elliott from Lakeport, and Rick Avila of Pleasanton.

The 2018 NSMS Championship Awards Banquet and End of the Year Celebration will be held at Granzella's Restaurant in Williams, California, on January 26.

The North State Modified Series is presented by: Protect the Harvest, Lucas Oil, Ward Land Management & Development, Hoosier Tire West, Sunoco Race Fuels, Naake Suspension, Five Star Bodies, Racer Bling, Scribner Plastics, and Frank's Radios.

(Photo Courtesy Jason Wedehase)

Via Madera Speedway Media

MADERA, CALIFORNIA (October 30, 2018) – The culmination of the first year of a multi-year agreement between Madera Speedway and McCallister Precision Marketing will come during the 2018 Championship Awards Banquet. On Saturday night, November 10th, one lucky driver in the 51FIFTY Energy Drink Jr. Late Model Series will be awarded a marketing contract with MPM for 2019 including a test with Lee Faulk Racing.

The eligible drivers for the award will be Napa’s Dylan Zampa, Las Vegas’ Tanner and Tyler Reif, Bakersfield’s Kabe McClenny, and Watsonville’s Lilly Mead. They collectively accumulated five wins during the nine race MAVTV-televised series for drivers ages 10-16 years old. The youngest of the bunch – Tyler Reif – is just 11 years old.

“Everything that we are doing is to provide opportunities for talent to shine from the western United States,” Madera Speedway promoter Kenny Shepeherd said. “We are very excited to have a partnership with MPM to provide a promotional package for one of our drivers. To be able to provide a test with one of the top teams in the eastern United States is something we are very excited about as well.”

MPM Marketing is a full service established marketing agency that assists up and coming race drivers with all of their marketing needs. They help clients with promotion, career advancement, placing drivers with driver development teams, consulting, media training and much more!

Lee Faulk Racing’s pedigree is unmatched in the Carolinas, having been selected to handle the Late Model development for second- and third-generation drivers such as Austin Green, Kate Dallenbach, and Pietro Fittipaldi.

“We are so thankful to be able to partner with such a great group of people at Madera Speedway,” Tonya McCallister said. “They have done an amazing job developing a platform for the future stars to grow.”

“We are excited about the top eligible candidates and cannot wait to be able to work with the recipient. All are deserving and have worked hard to put themselves in this position. I look forward having the winner out east to test with one of the elite teams in the Carolinas, Lee Faulk Racing. I cannot thank Kenny, Steven and the rest of the staff enough for the opportunity. We look forward to doing this again for one or more of the series in 2019.”

For more information about Madera Racing on MAVTV please visit www.racemadera.com or www.mavtv.com. For more information on RPM Mortgage and to obtain loan information please visit www.rpmwins.com and for more information about 51FIFTY Energy Drink visit www.51fiftyenergydrink.com

Madera Speedway is presented by major partners RPM Mortgage, 51FIFTY Energy Drink, Nut Up Industries, NICERIDE, iPull-uPull, and Color Fast Industries.

Madera Racing on MAVTV airs Thursdays every week. The show airs at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. PST and is also available on the Lucas Oil Racing TV app. The sixth round of the 51FIFTY Energy Drink Jr. Late Model Series, which includes a photo finish battle between Tanner and Tyler Reif, airs on November 8th.

Photo Courtesy Chris Cleveland

Via Dalton Hill PR

MADERA RANCHOS, CALIFORNIA (October 29, 2018) – Madera Ranchos’ Dalton Hill completed his 2018 Micro Sprint season in a big way, grabbing a $1000 second place finish in Turkey Bowl XVIII on Friday and Saturday night at Delta Speedway. Hill drove Greg Gillespie’s #20 PMP Chassis backed by Totlcom and West Hills Farm Services.

Friday action saw 43 Non Wing Micro Sprints on hand for the heat race and qualifier action. Finishing positions and passing points were used to set the starting lineups for the Saturday features. Hill drew a 53 pill to start eighth in heat race five. He charged to the front, finishing fourth and grabbing 20 passing points in the process.

He emerged from the heat races as the high point earner, which lined him up fourth after the inversion in the first 15 lap qualifier. Hill’s qualifier included multiple race winners and champions in the field but he was undeterred, using the inside line to jump into second by lap three. A caution closed down the gap to the leader. He used a bobble by the top car in turn two to sneak underneath and take the lead on lap seven. With the qualifier win, Hill earned the highest points of the night for $100 courtesy of Micro Sprint Mart.

The top-six drivers battled in the $500 to win Panella Trucking Pole Shuffle. As high point car, Hill was guaranteed to start on the front row of the feature. He battled hard with Brandon Carey in the final round of the shuffle, missing the win by just a few feet at the finish.

Starting second in the 40 lap feature, Hill immediately swept past Carey to take the lead. He held the lead through several restarts and lapped traffic until 20th starting Tyler “TJ” Smith grabbed the top spot on lap 29.

Hill fell back by a few car lengths as the car got tight but the advantage was nullified by a lap 39 caution. Hill had a one lap shot to try to take the win away from Smith but was unable to do so, rounding out a strong weekend by crossing the stripe in second place.

“It was a really good weekend and kind of hard to complain,” Hill said. “Go high point one night. Run up front all night and finish second to who I think is the best micro sprint driver in the country. When you come home second to Tyler Smith, it’s like ‘What are you going to do?’”

“A big thanks to Stan Yockey for all his support this weekend and over the years. His advise and expertise is always a big help!”

Race fans can keep up on all of the action for Dalton Hill Racing on Facebook or by visiting www.DaltonHillRacing.com

Dalton Hill thanks Double D's Motorsports, Totlcom voice & Data systems, West Hills Farm Services, KW Suspensions, MPD Racing, King Racing Products, and Blakesley Sports Media for their support.

#7BC Tyler Courtney of Indianapolis, Ind. - 2nd in USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car standings, 34 behind Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Photo Courtesy Gene Crucean)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

The 2018 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car season comes down to just five races in the month of November. That's five opportunities for things to go perfectly right and five opportunities for things to go perfectly awry. Over the years, we've seen our share of both.

Over the next two weekends, the series will indulge in the final five events of the season at Arizona Speedway on November 2-3 and California's Perris Auto Speedway on November 8-9-10. The common refrain has always been "How the west was won." But in this case, it's been "How the championship was won...out west."

Kevin Thomas, Jr. leads Tyler Courtney by 34 coming into the final stretch while the distance between Thomas and third-place Chris Windom is separated by only 62 points, the third such closest title race between the top-three at this point in the season since the USAC National Sprint Car series began concluding its season out west in 2004 - behind only 2015 (43 pts.) and 2012 (57 pts.). Since 2004, only two title races have ended with a race closer than that between the top-three - 2011 (34 pts.) and 2017 (58 pts.).

It's a tight race that could go in any one driver's favor and, since 2004, some have played out in the leader's favor while some years have featured a comeback of epic proportions. Let's dig into the stats for those years.

Between 2004 and 2006, the champs saw their lead in the standings shrink out west, but had enough of a cushion to handle their business. Jay Drake's 2004 lead dwindled from 141 to 74, Levi Jones in 2005 went from 78 to 13, while Josh Wise's fell from 113 to 88. Jones took his second title in 2007, upping the interval from 71 to 85 by the finale.

In 2008, Jerry Coons, Jr. took a miniscule two-point lead over Jones into races at Perris and Manzanita. Consistency was his magic wand down to the wire, clicking off five-straight top-fives to close out his only career USAC National Sprint Car title by 86 markers over Jones.

The following year, in 2009, Jones found himself in the driver's seat, leading Dave Darland by 27 points going into Perris and Tulare. Jones reeled off four top-fives in the final five, including a win on a preliminary night of the "Oval Nationals" at Perris to take his third title by 224. Meanwhile, Cole Whitt slipped into second as misfortune befell Darland's hopes of a second series title. Jones was back at it a year later in 2010 with a little less pressure, bumping up his lead from 91 to 179 to notch title number four.

In 2011, Jones was back at it once again, up by 44 and on the verge of a third consecutive championship. No driver of his era was more consistent in locking down a title than him and he proved it once again with a 4th, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd and a victory in the season finale at Kings Speedway in Hanford, Calif. to become the sixth, and most recent, driver to win the finale and the series title in one fell swoop, which he did by 99 over Chris Windom.

In 2012, Bryan Clauson came firing on all cylinders to conclude the season, erasing Darland's 23-point advantage that included a prelim night win at Perris. Though Darland won at Canyon to open the western swing, it is one costly night that basically determined his fate - a 17th place finish the next night at Canyon. Clauson won by a narrow margin of five over Darland despite missing a chunk of races earlier in the year due to his Indianapolis 500 commitments.

It was the Bryan and Dave show once again in 2013, but the roles were reversed this time around as Clauson held a mere 13-point lead with four to go at Canyon and Perris. Clauson got a win at Canyon, then tallied up a 7th, 4th and 2nd to win over Darland by 63.

Clauson was in contention for a third-straight title in 2014, but Brady Bacon was determined to get his first, upping his 51-point lead to 56 by the end of the swing following finishes of 2nd, 8th, 7th and 3rd. Bacon duplicated the feat in most-dominating fashion in 2016, jumping up his interval from 233 to 314 based on night-after-night of top-five runs.

Robert Ballou got his first a year later in his historical 13-win year, winning three of the final six to up the ante from 19 to 87 points over Darland to become the champ. Just last year, Windom was the next in line to become a first-time champ, deleting a 29-point lead by Grant in the western swing opener at Arizona and bringing it home by a scant six points. The top-three were separated by just 58 at season's end with a red-hot and closing Kevin Thomas, Jr. claiming third.

It seems pretty simple. The mathematical solution is to get yourself up front night-after-night at all five races. One off night could spell failure, especially with three individuals in this heated contest. And that seems to be the one thing that separates Thomas, Courtney and Windom. All have been able to finish on a consistent basis this year, hence, the reason they are at the position they're in right now. One missed setup, one bike, one night of disarray. The one who avoids those will live without regret, but will that be enough to win the title? Let's find out for ourselves, shall we?

The 51st "Western World Championships" from Arizona Speedway in San Tan Valley, Ariz. on November 2-3 will feature the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship with the USAC/CRA Sprint Cars as well as the USAC Southwest Sprint Cars.

The 23rd Budweiser "Oval Nationals" California's Perris Auto Speedway on November 8-9-10 features three-straight nights of USAC AMSOIL National & CRA Sprint Cars, concluding with a $25,000-to-win prize on the final night.

All five remaining races will all be streamed live on http://www.SpeedShiftTV.com/ and live audio will be on the USAC app.

----------------------------------

YEAR-BY-YEAR TOP-3 IN USAC AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT CAR POINTS
(Since 2004)

2004
Standings Prior To West Trip: 1-Jay Drake-1,480; 2-Bud Kaeding-1,339; 3-Cory Kruseman-1,304
Final Standings: 1-Drake-1,620; 2-Kaeding-1,546; 3-Kruseman-1,538
Drake up by 141 coming in, wins by 74 at season's end.
Top-three separated by 176 coming in, 82 at season's end.

2005
Standings Prior To West Trip: 1-Levi Jones-1,375; 2-Dave Darland-1,297; 3-Jay Drake-1,188
Final Standings: 1-Jones-1,670; 2-Darland-1,657; 3-Bud Kaeding-1,349
Jones up by 78 coming in, wins by 13 at season's end.
Top-three separated by 187 coming in, 321 at season's end.

2006
Standings Prior To West Trip: 1-Josh Wise-1,490; 2-Levi Jones-1,377; 3-Dave Darland-1,332
Final Standings: 1-Wise-1,773; 2-Jones-1,685; 3-Darland-1,599
Wise up by 113 coming in, wins by 88 at season's end.
Top-three separated by 158 coming in, 174 at season's end.

2007
Standings Prior To West Trip: 1-Levi Jones-1,232; 2-Darren Hagen-1,161; 3-Dave Darland-1,078
Final Standings: 1-Jones-1.402; 2-Hagen-1,317; 3-Darland-1,274
Jones up by 71 coming in, wins by 85 at season's end.
Top-three separated by 154 coming in, 128 at season's end.

2008
Standings Prior To West Trip: 1-Jerry Coons, Jr.-1,114; 2-Levi Jones-1,112; 3-Cole Whitt-1,051
Final Standings: 1-Coons-1,402; 2-Jones-1,316; 3-Tracy Hines-1,193
Coons up by 2 coming in, wins by 86 at season's end.
Top-three separated by 63 coming in, 209 at season's end.

2009
Standings Prior To West Trip: 1-Levi Jones-1,554; 2-Dave Darland-1,527; 3-Cole Whitt-1,448
Final Standings: 1-Jones-1,827; 2-Whitt-1,603; 3-Darland-1,601
Jones up by 27 coming in, wins by 224 at season's end.
Top-three separated by 106, coming in, 226 at season's end.

2010
Standings Prior To West Trip: 1-Levi Jones-1,898; 2-Bryan Clauson-1,807; 3-Damion Gardner-1,769
Final Standings: 1-Jones-1,781; 2-Gardner-1,602; 3-Clauson-1,557
Jones up by 91 coming in, wins by 179 at season's end.
Top-three separated by 129 coming in, 224 at season's end.

2011
Standings Prior To West Trip: 1-Levi Jones-1,324; 2-Chris Windom-1,280; 3-Jon Stanbrough-1,242
Final Standings: 1-Bryan Clauson-1,056, 2-Windom-1,024; 3-Jones-1,022
Jones up by 44 coming in, Clauson wins by 32 at season's end.
Top-three separated by 82 coming in, 34 at season's end.

2012
Standings Prior To West Trip: 1-Dave Darland-1,876, 2-Bryan Clauson-1,853, 3-Jon Stanbrough-1,819
Final Standings: 1-Clauson-2,087, 2-Darland-2,082, 3-Stanbrough-2,019
Darland up by 23 coming in, Clauson wins by 5 at season's end.
Top-three separated by 57 coming in, 68 at season's end.

2013
Standings Prior To West Trip: 1-Bryan Clauson-1,706, 2-Dave Darland-1,693, 3-Brady Bacon-1,583
Final Standings: 1-Clauson-1,948, 2-Darland-1,885, 3-Bacon-1,770
Clauson up by 13 coming in, wins by 63 at season's end.
Top-three separated by 123 coming in, 178 at season's end.

2014
Standings Prior To West Trip: 1-Brady Bacon-1,762, 2-Bryan Clauson-1,711, 3-Dave Darland-1,683
Final Standings: 1-Bacon-1,974; 2-Clauson-1,918; 3-Darland-1,885
Final Standings: Bacon up by 51 coming in, wins by 56 at season's end.
Top-three separated by 79 coming in, 89 at season's end.

2015
Standings Prior To West Trip: 1-Robert Ballou-1,902, 2-Chase Stockon-1,883, 3-Dave Darland-1,859
Final Standings: 1-Ballou-2,274, 2-Darland-2,187, 3-Stockon-2,092
Ballou up by 19 coming in, wins by 87 at season's end.
Top-three separated by 43 coming in, 182 at season's end.

2016
Standings Prior To West Trip: 1-Brady Bacon-2,327, 2-Chase Stockon-2,094, 3-Dave Darland-1,968
Final Standings: 1-Bacon-2676, 2-Stockon-2362, 3-Darland-2251
Bacon up by 233 coming in, wins by 314 at season's end.
Top-three separated by 359 coming in, 425 at season's end.

2017
Standings Prior To West Trip: 1-Justin Grant-2,006, 2-Chris Windom-1,977, 3-Kevin Thomas, Jr.-1,891
Final Standings: 1-Windom-2,290, 2-Grant-2,284, 3-Thomas-2,232
Grant up by 29 coming in, Windom wins by 6 at season's end.
Top-three separated by 115 coming in, 58 at season's end.

Via Davey Hamilton, Jr. PR

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA (October 29, 2018) – 2016 King of the Wing National Champion Davey Hamilton, Jr. will return to Irwindale Speedway and Bakersfield’s Kern County Raceway Park this weekend driving Glenn Hutchison’s #8 Winged Sprint Car. Saturday and Sunday’s events serve as the series finale for 2018.

Hamilton, the third-generation driver from Boise, ID, is making a comeback to Irwindale after a serious crash last November. He battled hard for the lead with more than half a dozen lead changes before hitting the wall in turn two. Hamilton was able to escape from the car under his own power, but later had a lengthy recovery process from a severe concussion and broken ribs.

When he was approved by doctors to return to competition this spring, he didn’t waste any time getting up to speed. Hamilton set the pole for the prestigious Little 500 sprint car race at Anderson Speedway in Indiana and also made his Indianapolis Motor Speedway debut in the Freedom 100 for the Indy Lights.

“I can’t wait to get back to Southern California to see the great racing fans and the beautiful facilities we visit,” Hamilton said. “I believe we have a great shot to get back to victory lane and set our 2019 season off on the right foot as well!”

In September, he returned back to the seat of a Winged Sprint Car when competed with the King of the Wing at his home track Meridian Speedway in Idaho. With the rust knocked off, Hamilton looks prepared for his return on Saturday at Irwindale and Sunday at Kern. It will be Hamilton’s first appearance in a Sprint Car at the state-of-the-art Kern County Raceway Park since 2016 where he finished fourth and won the series title.

You can learn more about Davey Hamilton, Jr. on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter. A complete 2019 schedule is expected to be released in December.

Dave Darland will wheel the Ballou Motorsports #12 out west at the final 5 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car races. (Photo Courtesy Ryan Sellers)

Via USAC Media

The United States Auto Club (USAC Racing) Competition Committee met on Saturday, Oct., 27, 2018 to discuss a request by suspended USAC driver Robert Ballou to have a car entered into the remaining five events on the AMSOIL National Sprint Car 2018 season.

The Competition Committee reviewed this request and approved the Ballou Motorsports #12 would be allowed entry into those events based upon the provision that only Lincoln, Indiana's Dave Darland could be the driver Nov. 2-3 in the 51st "Western World Championships" at Arizona Speedway in San Tan Valley, Ariz. and Nov. 8-9-10 in the 23rd Budweiser "Oval Nationals" presented by All Coast Construction at Perris Auto Speedway in Perris, Calif.

Darland, 5th in points, is the winningest driver in the history of the series with 62 victories, including three this year at Indiana's Bloomington Speedway, Lincoln Park Speedway and Tri-State Speedway. As a driver, Ballou won his 29th career series victory this season at Pennsylvania's BAPS Motor Speedway. Both are past champions of the series, Darland in 1999 and Ballou in 2015.

On Sept. 26, 2018 Ballou was prohibited from all USAC competition for the remainder of the 2018 calendar year due to numerous actions conducted by Ballou which were deemed detrimental to the sport of auto racing. The car entry by Robert Ballou will not be eligible for owner points or 2018 incentives as part of additional penalties/fines announced previously.

The 51st "Western World Championships" from Arizona Speedway in San Tan Valley, Ariz. on November 2-3 will feature the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship with the USAC/CRA Sprint Cars as well as the USAC Southwest Sprint Cars.

The 23rd Budweiser "Oval Nationals" California's Perris Auto Speedway on November 8-9-10 features three-straight nights of USAC AMSOIL National & CRA Sprint Cars, concluding with a $25,000-to-win prize on the final night.

All five remaining races will all be streamed live on http://www.SpeedShiftTV.com/ and live audio will be on the USAC app.

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Derek Thorn’s return to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West ended with another championship celebration.

After stepping away from full-time competition at the end of the 2013 season, Thorn got the urge to return to action for Bob Bruncati’s Sunrise Ford team, and rolled to his second championship this season.

The Lakeport, California, driver concluded a season filled with success, scoring two wins and top-10 finishes in all 14 events. He finished fifth in the season-finale at Kern County Raceway Park on Saturday.

Derek Kraus won the season-finale, grabbing his fourth win and sweeping the two races at the California oval. The victory was the fifth consecutive at Kern for the No. 16 out of the Bill McAnally Racing stable — with Kraus winning the last three and former champion Todd Gilliland winning the two previous events.

Thorn’s previous K&N Pro Series West title came in 2013, and in his three years of full-time racing, he has two championships and a third-place finish in the standings.

“The five year hiatus we had, the guys have come a long way in the shop,” Thorn said. “There were some races we were competing for wins, and some we were competing just to finish in the top five. To keep a championship hope alive, you have be able to capitalize on every opportunity, and make the most of the bad days.”

Thorn’s 2018 championship run included two victories — one at Colorado National and another at Evergreen Speedway. He finished inside the top five in all but one race, and ended with an average finish of just over three. In the final championship standings, Thorn defeated his Sunrise Ford Racing teammate, Ryan Partridge, by 27 points, completing a clean sweep of the top two spots for Bob Bruncati.

“The No. 22 (Trevor Huddleston) and the No. 9 (Ryan Partridge) teams deserve a lot of credit, without the team dynamic, I don’t think we would be here,” Thorn said. “It’s awesome to be able to win this right in front of the hometown crowd.”

Trevor Huddleston, who charged through the field late, tied his best career finish with a third. David Mayhew was fourth, just ahead of Thorn.

Hailie Deegan, who clinched the Sunoco Rookie of the Year title in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, finished sixth. Cole Rouse was seventh, followed by Kody Vanderwal, Todd Souza and Matt Levin.

Thorn, his entire Bob Bruncati team, and the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West top finishers and special award winners will be honored at NASCAR Awards Charlotte on Friday, Dec. 7.

Contact:
Jason Christley
NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications
(386) 310-6094
jchristley@nascar.com

NASCAR K&N PRO SERIES WEST-NAPA Auto Parts 175 presented by West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame Results
Saturday
At Kern County Raceway Park
Bakersfield
Lap length: 0.5 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (2) Derek Kraus, Stratford, Wis., Toyota, 175 laps, 65.584 mph.
2. (3) Ryan Partridge, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., Ford, 175.
3. (6) Trevor Huddleston, Agoura Hills, Calif., Ford, 175.
4. (4) David Mayhew, Atascadero, CA, Chevrolet, 175.
5. (7) Derek Thorn, Lakeport, CA, Ford, 175.
6. (1) Hailie Deegan, Temecula, CA, Toyota, 175.
7. (5) Cole Rouse, Fort Smith, Ark., Toyota, 175.
8. (8) Kody Vanderwal, LaSalle, Colo, Ford, 175.
9. (9) Todd Souza, Aromas, Calif., Toyota, 175.
10. (10) Matt Levin, Tucson, Ariz., Chevrolet, 174.
11. (14) Bill Kann, Scottsdale, Ariz., Chevrolet, 172.
12. (15) Takuma Koga, Nagoya, Japan, Chevrolet, 168.
13. (13) Nick Joanides, Woodland Hills, CA, Toyota, 167.
14. (17) Taylor Canfield, San Diego, CA, Ford, 167.
15. (11) Ron Norman, Tucson, Ariz., Chevrolet, 165.
16. (16) Rich DeLong III, Santa Clarita, Calif., Chevrolet, 137, oil leak.
17. (12) Travis Milburn, Eagle, ID, Toyota, 31, suspension.
18. (18) Keith McGee, Eagle River, AK, Toyota, 16, clutch.

Race Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 20 minutes 3 seconds
Margin of Victory: 1.496 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: H.Deegan * (98.452 mph, 18.283 seconds)
Caution Flags: 4 for 17 laps.
Lead Changes: 5 among 3 drivers.
Lap Leaders: H. Deegan 1-3; D. Kraus 4-20; H. Deegan 21-43; D. Kraus 44-104; D. Thorn 105; D. Kraus 106-175.
Standings: 1. D. Thorn, 586; 2. R. Partridge, 559; 3. C. Rouse, 557; 4. D. Kraus, 543; 5. H. Deegan, 514; 6. T. Huddleston, 504; 7. K. Vanderwal, 479; 8. M. Levin, 426; 9. T. Koga, 399; 10. T. Souza, 272.