PERRIS, Calif. — After reclaiming the lead on lap 27 with a dramatic slide job of Damion Gardner, Austin Williams raced to victory at Perris Auto Speedway.
Piloting the Tom and Laurie Sertich-owned No. 92 Huntington Beach Glass and Mirror / CSI Construction DRC, Williams scored his first AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car triumph of the campaign.
With 10 career victories to his credit, Williams is now tied with Nic Faas, Mike Kirby and his father Rip Williams for sixth overall on the USAC/CRA win list.
Brody Roa, hard charger Eddie Tafoya Jr., Cody Williams and Stevie Sussex rounded out the top-five drivers.
Starting on the pole position, Tommy Malcolm had his sights on his first career win and led the first two circuits. Austin Williams, who sliced his way from fifth, took command from Malcolm on the half-mile oval and set a torrid pace.
The sixth-starting Damion Gardner was moving forward and grabbed the lead from Williams with a turn-three slider on lap 20. Gardner began to extend his lead, but Williams rallied and powered to the lead seven laps later.
Action was soon halted for a hard hit between Malcolm and Matt Mitchell that brought out a red flag. Before the restart, the second running Gardner had to retire with mechanical issues and Roa was now on Williams’ bumper. From there, the night belonged to Williams.
The finish:
Feature (30 laps): 1. Austin Williams (5), 2. Brody Roa (3), 3. Eddie Tafoya Jr. (12), 4. Cody Williams (11), 5. Stevie Sussex (7), 6. Matt McCarthy (10), 7. Chris Gansen (9), 8. Chris Bonneau (16), 9. Charles Davis Jr. (14), 10. Verne Sweeney (15), 11. Austin Grabowski (17), 12. Jeff Dyer (20), 13. Damion Gardner (6), 14. Matt Mitchell (4), 15. Tommy Malcolm (1), 16. Jonas Reynolds (19), 17. Logan Williams (2), 18. A.J. Bender (13), 19. Joel Rayborne (18), 20. Dan Taylor (21), 21. Troy Rutherford (8), 22. Brent Owens (22). NT