MONTGOMERY SURGES LATE TO FIRST USAC CRA WIN AT SANTA MARIA

Kaleb Montgomery in victory lane. (File Photo)

By: Lance Jennings

Nipomo, California (May 3, 2025)………Kaleb Montgomery earned his first career win with the Avanti Windows & Doors USAC CRA Sprint Car Series on Saturday night at Nipomo, California’s Santa Maria Speedway.

Driving his family-owned No. 3, Montgomery (Templeton, California) made his winning move on lap 28 of the 30-lap feature when racelong leader Tommy Malcolm swung wide off turn four. Montgomery shot underneath and the two banged wheels in the process as they crossed past the flag stand.

After Montgomery surged ahead, he led the remaining three laps to capture his initial series victory to become the 86th different winner with in series history over Malcolm, A.J. Bender and Cody Williams with R.J. Johnson rounding out the top-five. USAC CRA point leader Ricky Lewis finished seventh.

Brian Kittle of Kittle Motorsports donated $100 to the driver leading the 18th lap of the feature, which was Tommy Malcolm.

R.J. Johnson earned his 11th career Woodland Auto Display / WC Friend Company Access Systems Fast Time Award and set a new track record in the process with a time of 13.206 seconds.

David Gasper scored the In Honor of Wiley Miller Sr & Wiley Miller II / Sexton Fire Protection First Heat race win. Austin Williams took the Silbermann Solar / Factory Wraps Second Heat. Logan Williams topped the WC Friend Company Systems / In Memory of Jim and Chet Gardner Third Heat.

Steve Lafond awarded Austin Williams a $100 hard charger bonus. The veteran driver raced from 17th to 8th in the main event.

AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: May 3, 2025 – Santa Maria Speedway – Nipomo, California

WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY / WC FRIEND COMPANY ACCESS SYSTEMS QUALIFYING: 1. R.J. Johnson, 33p, Petty-13.206 (New Track Record); 2. Cody Williams, 44, Williams-13.355; 3. Kaleb Montgomery, 3, Montgomery-13.363; 4. Bryce Eames, 50, Abeytia-13.511; 5. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-13.552; 6. Blake Bower, 17x, Dunkel-13.585; 7. Ricky Lewis, 8m, May-13.587; 8. Tommy Malcolm, 5x, Napier-13.591; 9. Connor Lundy, 97, Lundy-13.660; 10. David Gasper, 18, Kittle/Gasper-13.698; 11. Connor Speir, 57s, Speir-13.753; 12. Logan Williams, 5w, McCarthy-13.758; 13. Verne Sweeney, 98, Guerrero-14.001; 14. Elexa Herrera, 5E, Herrera-14.223; 15. Brecken Guerrero, 98B, Guerrero-14.349; 16. Blake Hendricks, 14, Hendricks-14.389; 17. Austin Williams, 17w, Dunkel-16.110; 18. Brody Wake, 78B, Wake-NT.

IN HONOR OF WILEY MILLER SR. & WILEY MILLER II / SEXTON FIRE PROTECTION FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. David Gasper, 2. R.J. Johnson, 3. Blake Hendricks, 4. Bryce Eames, 5. Ricky Lewis, 6. Verne Sweeney. NT

SILBERMANN SOLAR / FACTORY WRAPS SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Austin Williams, 2. Tommy Malcolm, 3. Connor Speir, 4. A.J. Bender, 5. Cody Williams, 6. Elexa Herrera. NT

WC FRIEND COMPANY ACCESS SYSTEMS / IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Logan Williams, 2. Kaleb Montgomery, 3. Blake Bower, 4. Connor Lundy, 5. Brody Wake, 6. Brecken Guerrero. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kaleb Montgomery (5), 2. Tommy Malcolm (1), 3. A.J. Bender (3), 4. Cody Williams (7), 5. R.J. Johnson (6), 6. David Gasper (10), 7. Ricky Lewis (8), 8. Austin Williams (17), 9. Logan Williams (12), 10. Connor Lundy (9), 11. Connor Speir (11), 12. Verne Sweeney (13), 13. Elexa Herrera (14), 14. Blake Hendricks (16), 15. Brecken Guerrero (15), 16. Blake Bower (2), 17. Bryce Eames (4), 18. Brody Wake (18). NT

**Bryce Eames flipped during lap 6 of the feature and was transported to a local hospital.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-27 Tommy Malcolm, Laps 28-30 Kaleb Montgomery.

IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER / TEAR-OFF HEAVEN FOTOS HARD CHARGER: Austin Williams (17th to 8th)

KITTLE MOTORSPORTS LAP 18 LEADER: Tommy Malcolm

NEW AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Ricky Lewis-524, 2-R.J. Johnson-508, 3-A.J. Bender-440, 4-David Gasper-434, 5-Austin Williams-433, 6-Cody Williams-433, 7-Charles Davis Jr.-380, 8-Tommy Malcolm-378, 9-Logan Williams-344, 10-Blake Bower-327.

NEXT AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: May 24, 2025 – Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, California – Salute to Indy