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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series
#83 Kyle Hirst - Louie Vermeil Classic Winner.
KYLE HIRST WINS LOUIE VERMEIL CLASSIC AT CALISTOGA
By Lance Jennings
CALISTOGA, CA – SEPTEMBER 4, 2012… After setting fast time the previous night, Elk Grove's Kyle Hirst led all 30-laps to claim the 5th Annual Louie Vermeil Classic. Last Sunday's $7,500 victory at Calistoga Speedway was the first Amsoil USAC/CRA feature win for veteran driver as he was followed by point leader Mike Spencer, Matt Streeter, Chad Boespflug, and Brody Roa.
Inheriting the outside front row position after a flip by Danny Sheridan on the initial start, Hirst made the most of the opportunity. Powering to the lead past pole-sitter Terry Schank Jr., Kyle looked to run away from the field. Ryan Bernal, who won the two previous main events, quickly made his way to second and chased after the leader. By the seventh lap, Hirst reached slower traffic but this did not slow his pace. Making some daring moves and splitting back markers, the second generation driver maintained his advantage.
After several yellows stalled the action, Hirst had excellent restarts throughout the event and kept the field at bay. As track conditions were changing, tire wear became an issue for several drivers. With the white flag waving over the speedway, second place Bernal suffered a flat right rear tire and brought out the caution flag. The JFM crew made the necessary repairs and Ryan was able to rejoin the field. Without lappers to separate the leaders, Spencer and Boespflug had a one lap dash to steal the victory. It was not to be, as Hirst had a brilliant restart and took the checkered flags. Spencer claimed second, and Streeter wrestled third away from Boespflug.
Driving the Rod Tiner's #83 ART Enterprises / VanLare Steering Repair ART, Kyle Hirst dominated the main event of the Louie Vermeil Classic. After flipping his machine and scoring fourteenth the previous night, Hirst qualified fifth quick and placed fourth in his heat race. With the feature win, Kyle gave Tiner Racing their third career USAC/CRA triumph and second Vermeil Classic. In 2010, "The Demon" Damion Gardner swept both nights of Calistoga's Labor Day Classic in the Tiner #83.
Mike Spencer of Temecula had a great Labor Day Weekend with a third and second place finish at Calistoga. Piloting Ron Chaffin's famed #50 Madera Produce / Grubstake Mini Storage Maxim, the 4-time defending champion earned his tenth Sander Engineering / Rod End Supply Fast Time Award and ran second in his heat race. Heading into Perris' Glenn Howard Memorial on September 15th, Spencer has a 303 point advantage with seven feature wins, four heat race victories, one Keizer Wheels / Ringers Gloves Hard Charger Award, sixteen top-5 finishes, and 139 feature laps led to his credit.
In his second Amsoil USAC/CRA start of 2012, Galt's Matt Streeter scored third at Calistoga after starting eleventh. Driving his #14JR S&S Automotive / T&T Trucking Maxim, the former BCRA Midget Champion earned the night's LRB Inc. Race Products Award, qualified eleventh, placed fifth in his heat, and won the 10-lap Competition Suspension Inc. / Diversified Machine Inc. Semi-Main. With a sixth place finish the previous night, Streeter had his best performances with USAC/CRA.
Chad Boespflug of Brownsburg, Indiana battled hard from his tenth starting spot and briefly held third in the feature. Placing fourth in the Louie Vermeil Classic, the pilot of Dustin Baxter's #25B General Hydroponics / Wescon Motorsports ART was tenth quick on the night and claimed third in his heat race. The former SCRA 360 Champion ran second on Saturday night and is looking forward to competing in more West Coast races.
Scoring fifth for the second night in a row at Calistoga was Buena Park's Brody Roa. Driving the BR Performance #91R HD Industries / Burris Racing Spike with a borrowed engine, Roa was second fast in time trials and second in his heat race. The former Wagsdash Champion left the Vermeil Classic second in points with one feature win, two heat race victories, one Competition Suspension Inc. / Diversified Machine Inc. Semi-Main win, one Keizer Wheels / Ringers Gloves Hard Charger Award, 47 feature laps led, and six top-five finishes on the year.
Klint Simpson of Santa Rosa earned the night's Keizer Wheels / Ringers Gloves "Hard Charger / Best Passing Job" honors with a seventh place run after starting twentieth. Piloting the family owned #84 Peter's Racing Engines / Generator Services Triple X, Simpson qualified twenty-first, claimed fifth in his heat race, and scored fourth in the semi-main. Klint was ninth in the Saturday main event and looks forward to racing more with USAC/CRA in the future.
Fremont's Shane Golobic won the 8-lap Extreme Mufflers Heat Race #1. Driving the Dave Vertullo / Ken Pierson owned #14 Starr Prop. Mng. / ART Enterprises Eagle, Golobic qualified seventeenth, won the Calistoga Hall of Fame Dash, and scored nineteenth in the main event. Claiming eleventh in Saturday's feature, Golobic has three heat race victories and two top-5 finishes on the year with USAC/CRA.
Ronnie Gardner of Norco claimed victory in the Saldana Racing Products / Circle Track Performance Heat Race #2. Driving the Kittle Motorsports' #18 Pace Lighting / PJ1 Products Sherman, Gardner qualified eighteenth and scored twenty-first in the Vermeil Classic. The young driver finished nineteenth on Saturday and had a rough weekend at Calistoga. To date, Gardner has two heat race victories, one Keizer Wheels / Ringers Gloves Hard Charger Award, and four top-ten finishes on the season.
Sebastapol's "The Human Highlight Reel" Geoff Ensign won the program's DJ Safety Heat Race #3. Piloting Ted Finkenbinder's #3F Western Industrial X-Ray / Bailey Bros. powered Eagle, Ensign was nineteenth fast in time trials and finished sixth in the main event after starting eighteenth. Last year's USAC Western Classic Champion competed in the Knoxville Nationals and missed Saturday's action at Calistoga.
Johnathon Henry of Stockton raced to victory in the SBI Fuel Systems / Integra Racing Shocks Heat Race #4. Driving the Graunstadt Enterprises' #88 Gaines Liquor / Simpson Race Products Ellis with 360 power, last year's Vermeil Classic Midget winner was sixteenth fast in qualifications and thirteenth in the Vermeil Classic. Henry finished eighteenth the previous night and races when his budget allows.
The Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series will return to action on Saturday, September 15th, at Don Kazarian's Perris Auto Speedway. The "Glenn Howard Memorial" will also feature the PAS 360 Senior Sprint Cars and California Lightning Sprints. Located on the Lake Perris Fairgrounds, more event information can be found at www.perrisautospeedway.com or calling (951) 940-0134.
To catch all of the action of the Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series at Perris Auto Speedway, Mike Truex's Loudpedal Productions has DVD videos available for purchase. For more information, call (805) 407-7229 or visit www.loudpedalvideo.com. In addition, Perris Auto Speedway offers a pay per view feed of every event at www.circletracknetwork.com.
The Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series would like to thank Hoosier Tire, Circle Track Performance, Competition Suspension Inc., DJ Safety, Diversified Machine Inc., Extreme Mufflers, Hilborn Fuel Injection, Integra Racing Shocks, Keizer Wheels, LRB Inc. Race Products, Ringers Gloves, Rod End Supply, SBI Fuel Systems, Saldana Racing Products, and Sander Engineering for their support.
For more information on the Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series, visit www.usacracing.com/cra or follow the series on Facebook (www.facebook.com/pages/USAC-CRA-Sprint-Car-Series/167535183297971) or Twitter (www.twitter.com/#!/USAC_CRA).
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USAC AMSOIL USAC/CRA & WESTERN CLASSIC SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS:
September 2, 2011 – Calistoga, California – Calistoga Speedway – “Louie Vermeil Classic”
SANDER ENGINEERING / ROD END SUPPLY TIME TRIALS:
1. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-20.767; 2. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-20.843; 3. Ryan Bernal, 73, Ford-20.900; 4. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-20.907; 5. Kyle Hirst, 83, Tiner-20.920; 6. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-21.146; 7. Danny Sheridan, 73X, Ford-21.148; 8. Terry Schank Jr., 1X, Gleason-21.289; 9. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-21.313; 10. Chad Boespflug, 25B, Baxter-21.393; 11. Matt Streeter, 14JR, Streeter-21.490; 12. Jeff Griffin, 50M, Griffin-21.508; 13. Andy Forsberg, 92X, Forsberg-21.553; 14. Tony Hunt, 56, Phulps-21.615; 15. Marty Hawkins, 3M, Hawkins-21.800; 16. Johnathon Henry, 88, Graunstadt-21.800; 17. Shane Golobic, 14, Pierson/Vertullo-21.866; 18. Ronnie Gardner, 18, Kittle-21.976; 19. Geoff Ensign, 3F, Finkenbinder-22.292; 20. Shauna Hogg, 5, Hogg-22.366; 21. Klint Simpson, 84, Simpson-22.399; 22. Jeff Parady, 6C, Parady-22.490; 23. Taylor Simas, 7T, Simas-22.800; 24. Jim Richardson, 8, Richardson-22.933; 25. Dusty Green, 52, Green-23.410; 26. Gordon Rodgers, 94, Rodgers-23.473; 27. Jeremy Hawes, 7, Dolner-23.799; 28. Jerry Cisco, 4B, Baisden-23.869; 29. Sparky Howard, 6, Howard-24.078; 30. Marvin Mitchell, 68, Mitchell-24.897; 31. Tom Baker, 3T, Baker-NT.
CALISTOGA SPEEDWAY HALL OF FAME DASH: (12 laps)
1. Shane Golobic, 2. Jeff Parady, 3. Terry Schank Jr., 4. Andy Forsberg, 5. Shauna Hogg, 6. Taylor Simas, 7. Tony Hunt, 8. Sparky Howard, 9. Marty Hawkins, 10. Jerry Cisco, 11. Gordon Rodgers, 12. Marvin Mitchell. NT
EXTREME MUFFLERS HEAT RACE 1: (8 laps)
1. Shane Golobic, 2. Mike Spencer, 3. Cody Williams, 4. Kyle Hirst, 5. Klint Simpson, 6. Sparky Howard, 7. Dusty Green, 8. Andy Forsberg. NT
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS / CIRCLE TRACK PERFORMANCE HEAT RACE 2: (8 laps)
1. Ronnie Gardner, 2. Brody Roa, 3. Chad Boespflug, 4. Austin Williams, 5. Tony Hunt, 6. Jeff Parady, 7. Gordon Rodgers, 8. Marvin Mitchell. NT
DJ SAFETY HEAT RACE 3: (8 laps)
1. Geoff Ensign, 2. Taylor Simas, 3. Ryan Bernal, 4. Danny Sheridan, 5. Matt Streeter, 6. Marty Hawkins, 7. Jeremy Hawes. NT
SBI FUEL SYSTEMS / INTEGRA RACING SHOCKS HEAT RACE 4: (8 laps)
1. Johnathon Henry, 2. Rip Williams, 3. Terry Schank Jr., 4. Jeff Griffin, 5. Shauna Hogg, 6. Jim Richardson, 7. Jerry Cisco. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION INC. / DIVERSIFIED MACHINE INC. SEMI-MAIN: (10 laps)
1. Matt Streeter, 2. Andy Forsberg, 3. Marty Hawkins, 4. Klint Simpson, 5. Shauna Hogg, 6. Jim Richardson, 7. Dusty Green, 8. Jeff Parady, 9. Sparky Howard, 10. Jeremy Hawes, 11. Gordon Rodgers, 12. Marvin Mitchell, 13. Jerry Cisco, 14. Tony Hunt. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps - With Starting Positions)
1. Kyle Hirst (4th), 2. Mike Spencer (8th), 3. Matt Streeter (11th), 4. Chad Boespflug (10th), 5. Brody Roa (7th), 6. Geoff Ensign (18th), 7. Klint Simpson (20th), 8. Terry Schank Jr. (1st), 9. Rip Williams (5th), 10. Shauna Hogg (19th), 11. Ryan Bernal (6th), 12. Tony Hunt (23rd), 13. Johnathon Henry (15th), 14. Marty Hawkins (14th), 15. Gordon Rodgers, 16. Austin Williams (3rd), 17. Andy Forsberg (13th), 18. Cody Williams (9th), 19. Shane Golobic (16th), 20. Jeff Griffin (12th), 21. Ronnie Gardner (17th), 22. Jim Richardson (22nd), 23. Taylor Simas (21st), 24. Danny Sheridan (2nd). NT
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**Danny Sheridan and Andy Forsberg flipped during the feature.
**Tony Hunt & Gordon Rodgers used a provisional.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Kyle Hirst.
RINGERS GLOVES / KEIZER WHEELS HARD CHARGER: Klint Simpson (20th to 7th)
LRB INC. RACE PRODUCTS AWARD: Matt Streeter
NEW AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS:
1-Spencer-1,090, 2-Roa-787, 3-Bernal-776, 4-Nic Faas-769, 5-A.Williams-706, 6-R.williams-696, 7-Cory Kruseman-613, 8-C.Williams-519, 9-Matt Mitchell-461, 10-Seth Wilson-431.
NEW USAC WESTERN CLASSIC SPRINT CAR POINTS:
1-Hunt-701, 2-Hogg-681, 3-Rodgers-441, 4-Tom Baker-395, 5-Scott Pierovich-388, 6-Hawkins-359, 7-Simas-278, 8-Brian McClish-209, 9-Tim Skoglund-179, 10-Cody Gerhardt-174.
NEW USAC WESTERN CLASSIC DIRT SPRINT CAR POINTS:
1-Hunt-542, 2-Hogg-512, 3-Hawkins-359, 4-Tom Baker-307, 5-Rodgers-286, 6-Simas-278, 7-Scott Pierovich-214, 8-Cisco-100, 9-Mitchell-12,
2012 AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES SCHEDULE
DATE - TRACK - LOCATION
September 15: Perris Auto Speedway - Perris, CA (Glenn Howard Memorial)
October 6: Perris Auto Speedway - Perris, CA (Southern California Fair)
October 26: *Canyon Speedway Park - Peoria, AZ (Hall of Fame Classic)
October 27: *Canyon Speedway Park - Peoria, AZ (Hall of Fame Classic)
November 2: *Perris Auto Speedway - Perris, CA (Budweiser Oval Nationals)
November 3: *Perris Auto Speedway - Perris, CA (Budweiser Oval Nationals)
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* = Co-Sanctioned Event With USAC National Sprints.
This schedule is subject to change.
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