2019 CRA Sprint Cars at Ventura Raceway

Rutherford Wins USAC/CRA Showdown at Ventura

Rutherford Wins USAC/CRA Showdown at Ventura

Reclaiming the lead from Jake Swanson on lap 27, Troy Rutherford (Ojai, CA) scored Saturday night's USAC/CRA Sprint Car victory at Ventura Raceway.

May 5, 2019 by Richie Murray
Rutherford Wins USAC/CRA Showdown at Ventura

Reclaiming the lead from Jake Swanson on lap 27, Troy Rutherford (Ojai, CA) scored the Saturday night victory at Ventura Raceway.

Racing his #11 Trench Shoring / Grimes Rock Maxim with an iron block 360 cubic-inch engine, Rutherford started eleventh and earned his second career AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car triumph. Hard charger Austin Williams, Swanson, A.J. Bender, and point leader Brody Roa followed Troy to the checkered flags.

Williams earned the Specialty Fasteners Hard Charger Award with a twenty-second to second place run. Verne Sweeney scored the Wilwood Disc Brakes “Lucky 13 Award” with a thirteenth place finish in the main event.

“The Demon” Damion Gardner scored his 84th Woodland Auto Display Fast Time Award over the 23-car field by posting a time of 12.454.

The night’s 10-lap heat race victories went to Brody Roa (Extreme Mufflers First Heat), Troy Rutherford (Circle Track Performance / Ultra Shield Race Products Second Heat), and Ricky Lewis (Saldana Racing Products / ButlerBuilt Seats Third Heat).

Next Saturday, May 11th, the AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Cars will battle at Bakersfield Speedway.

The AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series thanks All Coast Construction, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Butlerbuilt Professional Seat Systems, Circle Track Performance, Competition Suspension Incorporated, Extreme Mufflers, Five Star Grafix, Flowdynamics, Hoosier Racing Tire, Loudpedal Productions, Pyrotect Racing Cells, Saldana Racing Products, Specialty Fasteners, surfnsprint.com, Ultra Shield Race Products, Wilwood Disc Brakes, and Woodland Auto Display for their support.

For more information on the series, visit usacracing.com and the social media for USAC Racing. You can also find exclusive content on the USAC/CRA Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.

AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: May 4, 2019 – Ventura Raceway – Ventura, California

WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Damion Gardner, 4, Alexander-12.454; 2. Jake Swanson, 73, Ford-12.678; 3. Tommy Malcolm, 5X, Napier-12.919; 4. Austin Liggett, 83, Liggett-13.001; 5. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-13.044; 6. Trent Williams, 52, Williams-13.097; 7. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-13.175; 8. Joel Rayborne, 12B, Blair-13.178; 9. Jeremy Ellertson, 98J, Ellertson-13.240; 10. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-13.273; 11. Troy Rutherford, 11, Rutherford-13.318; 12. Rick Hendrix, 15, Hendrix-13.599; 13. Ryan Timmons, 29T, Timmons-13.741; 14. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 51T, Tafoya-13.855; 15. Ricky Lewis, 81M, Watt-13.930; 16. Verne Sweeney, 98, Tracy-14.036; 17. Brent Owens, 71, Martin-14.101; 18. Austin Ervine, 51, AJ-14.351; 19. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-14.510; 20. Jeff Dyer, 39, Cal-Sun-14.576; 21. Steve Hix, 57, Hix-14.630; 22. Austin Williams, 92, Sertich-14.684; 23. Matt McCarthy, 28M, McCarthy-NT.

EXTREME MUFFLERS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Roa, 2. Gardner, 3. Liggett, 4. A.Williams, 5. Sweeney, 6. Timmons, 7. Gansen, 8. Bender. NT

CIRCLE TRACK PERFORMANCE / ULTRA SHIELD RACE PRODUCTS SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Rutherford, 2. Mitchell, 3. Swanson, 4. Owens, 5. McCarthy, 6. Tafoya, 7. Rayborne, 8. Dyer. NT

SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS / BUTLERBUILT SEATS THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Lewis, 2. Malcolm, 3. Hendrix, 4. Ellertson, 5. T.Williams, 6. Hix, 7. Ervine. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps, with starting positions) 1. Troy Rutherford (11), 2. Austin Williams (22), 3. Jake Swanson (5), 4. A.J. Bender (8), 5. Brody Roa (10), 6. Austin Liggett (3), 7. Chris Gansen (19), 8. Damion Gardner (6), 9. Rick Hendrix (12), 10. Steve Hix (21), 11. Matt McCarthy (23), 12. Trent Williams (7), 13. Verne Sweeney (16), 14. Ryan Timmons (13), 15. Jeremy Ellertson (1), 16. Ricky Lewis (15), 17. Joel Rayborne (9), 18. Brent Owens (17), 19. Jeff Dyer (20), 20. Eddie Tafoya Jr. (14), 21. Austin Ervine (18), 22. Matt Mitchell (2), 23. Tommy Malcolm (4).

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**Mitchell flipped on lap 3 of the feature.

 FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-7 Ellertson, Laps 8-25 Rutherford, Lap 26 Swanson, Laps 27-30 Rutherford.

SPECIALTY FASTENERS HARD CHARGER:  Austin Williams (22nd to 2nd)

WILWOOD DISC BRAKES LUCKY 13 AWARD: Verne Sweeney

NEW AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Roa-353, 2-Gardner-337, 3-A.Williams-314, 4-R.J. Johnson-262, 5-Malcolm-207, 6-Gansen-200, 7-Charles Davis Jr.-187, 8-Stevie Sussex-184, 9-Swanson-179, 10-Mike Martin-174.

 NEXT AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: May 11 – Bakersfield Speedway – Bakersfield, California