By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Perris, California (November 9, 2024)………Ricky Lewis doesn’t always compete in the Avanti Windows & Doors USAC CRA Sprint Car Series, but when he does, he prefers to win.
For the third time in less than a month, the Camarillo, Calif. racer came away with a USAC CRA victory, this time doing so in the series’ season finale on Saturday night at California’s Perris Auto Speedway.
Lewis led early, late and often. After starting from the pole, Lewis paced the opening the eight laps before giving up the top spot to his teammate, Jake Swanson, a third of the way through the 30-lap event.
Swanson held control for a 14 circuit span from laps 9-22 before Lewis raced his way back on by on lap 23, then led the final eight trips around the 1/2-mile dirt oval en route to victory, the fourth overall of his USAC CRA career and his nation-leading 22nd sprint car win of the 2024 season across all series and divisions.
Lewis’ first career Perris Auto Speedway triumph was extra special. He and his parents used to frequent the southern California venue to watch USAC CRA racing while he was growing up.
Furthermore, Lewis led a one-two Tom & Christy Dunkel Racing sweep as his teammate, Jake Swanson (Anaheim, Calif.) finished second after starting the night as the Woodland Auto Display Fast Qualifier, the 22nd of his career over the 30 drivers on hand with a time of 16.066 seconds. Swanson now ranks third overall on the list behind Damion Gardner (106) and Mike Spencer (63).
Tenth starting David Gasper (Goleta, Calif.), the 2024 USAC CRA Rookie of the Year, crossed the line in third while series champion R.J. Johnson (Laveen, Ariz.) took fourth.
Kevin Thomas Jr. (Cullman, Ala.) rounded out the top-five by earning hard charger honors in memory of Jim & Chet Gardner, advancing 11 spots after starting back in the 16th position. Thomas also captured the FlowDynamics Inc. / Sexton Fire Protection / In Honor of Wiley Miller Sr and Wiley Miller II First Heat Race.
Stevie Sussex (Tempe, Ariz.) won the Perris BillsJerky.net / Factory Wraps Second Heat Race. Tommy Malcolm (Corona, Calif.) scored the Perris WC Friend Company / In Memory of Jim and Chet Gardner Third Heat Race.
AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: November 9, 2024 – Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, California
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Jake Swanson, 17x, Dunkel-16.066; 2. Cody Williams, 44, Williams-16.072; 3. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-16.256; 4. Logan Calderwood, 6, Calderwood-16.260; 5. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 51T, Tafoya-16.330; 6. R.J. Johnson, 51, Johnson-16.381; 7. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-16.413; 8. Ricky Lewis, 17, Dunkel-16.439; 9. Logan Williams, 5w, McCarthy-16.446; 10. David Gasper, 18, Kittle/Gasper-16.477; 11. Matt Westfall, 11c, Turner/Wheeler-16.488; 12. Austin Williams, 17w, Dunkel-16.532; 13. Charles Davis Jr., 47, Davis-16.536; 14. Tye Mihocko, 5, Wilson-16.578; 15. James Turnbull II, 2J, Turnbull-16.616; 16. Kevin Thomas Jr., 15, Bonneau-16.662; 17. Stevie Sussex, 4, Calderwood-16.690; 18. Tommy Malcolm, 5x, Napier-16.741; 19. Jordan Hermansader, 71, Martin-17.083; 20. Austin Grabowski, 72, Grabowski-17.113; 21. Blake Hendricks, 14, Hendricks-17.136; 22. Verne Sweeney, 98, Guerrero-17.298; 23. Mark Henry Jr., 39R, Henry-17.634; 24. Jonas Reynolds, 0, Reynolds-17.656; 25. Gary Marshall Jr., 23, Bellegante-17.661; 26. Dan Taylor, T5, Taylor-17.730; 27. Hayden Reinbold, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-17.832; 28. Bryan Drollinger, 71D, Drollinger/Sweeney-17.880; 29. Heath Holdsclaw, 33, Holdsclaw-17.913; 30. Elexa Herrera, 5E, Herrera-18.199.
FLOWDYNAMICS INCORPORATED / SEXTON FIRE PROTECTION / IN HONOR OF WILEY MILLER SR. & WILEY MILLER II FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-5 transfer to feature) 1. Kevin Thomas Jr., 2. Charles Davis Jr., 3. Jake Swanson, 4. A.J. Bender, 5. David Gasper, 6. Logan Calderwood, 7. Verne Sweeney, 8. Jordan Hermansader, 9. Gary Marshall Jr., 10. Bryan Drollinger. 2:50.71
BILLSJERKY.NET / FACTORY WRAPS SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-5 transfer to feature) 1. Stevie Sussex, 2. Ricky Lewis, 3. Tye Mihocko, 4. Cody Williams, 5. Austin Grabowski, 6. Matt Westfall, 7. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 8. Mark Hendry Jr., 9. Heath Holdsclaw. 2:53.77
WC FRIEND COMPANY / IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-5 transfer to feature) 1. Tommy Malcolm, 2. R.J. Johnson, 3. Austin Williams, 4. Matt Mitchell, 5. Logan Williams, 6. James Turnbull II, 7. Jonas Reynolds, 8. Elexa Herrera, 9. Blake Hendricks, 10. Hayden Reinbold. 2:54.15
FACTORY WRAPS SEMI: (12 laps, top-7 transfer to feature) 1. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 2. Matt Westfall, 3. Logan Calderwood, 4. James Turnbull II, 5. Verne Sweeney, 6. Jordan Hermansader, 7. Jonas Reynolds, 8. Hayden Reinbold, 9. Mark Henry Jr., 10. Bryan Drollinger, 11. Blake Hendricks, 12. Elexa Herrera, 13. Heath Holdsclaw, 14. Gary Marshall Jr. 4:37.01
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Ricky Lewis (1), 2. Jake Swanson (6), 3. David Gasper (10), 4. R.J. Johnson (3), 5. Kevin Thomas Jr. (16), 6. Logan Williams (9), 7. Tommy Malcolm (18), 8. A.J. Bender (2), 9. Tye Mihocko (14), 10. Charles Davis Jr. (13), 11. Eddie Tafoya Jr. (8), 12. James Turnbull II (15), 13. Austin Grabowski (20), 14. Verne Sweeney (21), 15. Matt Westfall (11), 16. Elexa Herrera (23), 17. Jordan Hermansader (19), 18. Cody Williams (5), 19. Austin Williams (12), 20. Matt Mitchell (4), 21. Stevie Sussex (17), 22. Logan Calderwood (7), 23. Jonas Reynolds (22). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-8 Ricky Lewis, Laps 9-22 Jake Swanson, Laps 23-30 Ricky Lewis.
IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER HARD CHARGER: Kevin Thomas Jr. (16th to 5th)
AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-R.J. Johnson-1509, 2-Tommy Malcolm-1324, 3-Austin Williams-1271, 4-A.J. Bender-1256, 5-David Gasper-1251, 6-Logan Williams-1145, 7-Cody Williams-1133, 8-Charles Davis Jr.-990, 9-Verne Sweeney-948, 10-Austin Grabowski-926.
