2019 12th Annual Louie Vermeil Classic at Calistoga Speedway

Williams Wins Calistoga USAC CRA Opener

Williams Wins Calistoga USAC CRA Opener

Austin Williams (Yorba Linda, CA) held off a late challenge from Austin Liggett to win Saturday's Louie Vermeil Classic opener at Calistoga Speedway.

Sep 1, 2019 by Richie Murray
Williams Wins Calistoga USAC CRA Opener

"The Big Game Hunter" Austin Williams (Yorba Linda, CA) held off a late challenge from Austin Liggett before the curfew ended the main event at Calistoga Speedway. Piloting Tom & Laurie Sertich’s #92 Huntington Beach Glass & Mirror DRC, Williams earned his first AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car feature of the year over Liggett, “The Demon” Damion Gardner, Brody Roa, and Richard Vander Weerd.

“Hollywood” Danny Faria Jr. earned the Specialty Fasteners / Saldana Racing Products Hard Charger Award with a sixteenth to sixth place run. Chris Gansen claimed the Wilwood Disc Brakes “Lucky 13 Award” with a thirteenth place finish in the main event.

Gardner also scored the night’s Woodland Auto Display / Beaver Stripes Fast Time Award by posting a time of 19.240 over the 25-car roster.

The night’s 8-lap heat race victories went to Faria (Extreme Mufflers / Brown & Miller Racing Solutions First Heat), Jake Swanson (Circle Track Performance / Ultra Shield Race Products / Competition Suspension Inc. Second Heat), and Michael Faccinto (Saldana Racing Products / ButlerBuilt Seats Third Heat).

The AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Cars are back for the Sunday finale of  the “12th Annual Louie Vermeil Classic” at Calistoga 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, Sway-A-Way Racing Technology, Ultra Shield Race Products, Wilwood Disc Brakes, and Woodland Auto Display for their support.

For more information on the AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car 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: August 31, 2019 – Calistoga Speedway – Calistoga, California – “12th Annual Louie Vermeil Classic / California Sprint Week”

WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Damion Gardner, 4, Alexander-19.240; 2. Jake Swanson, 34AZ, Grau/Burkhart-19.377; 3. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-19.660; 4. Austin Williams, 92, Sertich-19.685; 5. Richard Vander Weerd, 10, Vander Weerd-19.782; 6. Chase Johnson, 68, Thomas-19.880; 7. Bud Kaeding, 69, BK-20.022; 8. Matt McCarthy, 28M, McCarthy-20.057; 9. Jason McDougal, 56, Phulps-20.059; 10. Austin Liggett, 83, Liggett-20.084; 11. Geoff Ensign, 3F, Finkenbinder-20.088; 12. Jace Vander Weerd, 88, Vander Weerd-20.109; 13. Ryan Bernal, 24, Copeland-20.124; 14. Mike Martin, 16, Martin-20.147; 15. Michael Faccinto, 8, Richardson-20.208; 16. Danny Faria Jr., 42, Cheney-20.351; 17. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-20.359; 18. Charles Davis Jr., 50, Davis-20.492; 19. Tommy Malcolm, 5X, Napier-20.510; 20. Billy Aton, 26, Aton-20.618; 21. Steve Hix, 57, Hix-20.687; 22. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 51T, Tafoya-20.700; 23. Jake Morgan, 45, Morgan-20.730; 24. Terry Schank Jr., 51, Sperry-20.855; 25. Travis Moore, 11T, Moore-22.514.

EXTREME MUFFLERS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Faria, 2. Bernal, 3. Gardner, 4. Liggett, 5. Williams, 6. Kaeding, 7. Malcolm, 8. Tafoya, 9. Moore. NT

CIRCLE TRACK PERFORMANCE / ULTRA SHIELD RACE PRODUCTS SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Swanson, 2. Gansen, 3. Ensign, 4. R.Vander Weerd, 5. McCarthy, 6. Martin, 7. Morgan, 8. Aton. NT

SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS / BUTLERBUILT SEATS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Faccinto, 2. Johnson, 3. Davis, 4. J.Vander Weerd, 5. McDougal, 6. Roa, 7. Schank, 8. Hix. NT

FEATURE: (22 laps, with starting positions) 1. Austin Williams (8), 2. Austin Liggett (2), 3. Damion Gardner (6), 4. Brody Roa (7), 5. Richard Vander Weerd (4), 6. Danny Faria Jr. (16), 7. Bud Kaeding (9), 8. Jason McDougal (11), 9. Ryan Bernal (13), 10. Jace Vander Weerd (12), 11. Tommy Malcolm (19), 12. Matt McCarthy (10), 13. Chris Gansen (17), 14. Chase Johnson (3), 15. Terry Schank Jr. (24), 16. Billy Aton (20), 17. Steve Hix (21), 18. Mike Martin (14), 19. Eddie Tafoya Jr. (22), 20. Geoff Ensign (1), 21. Jake Swanson (5), 22. Michael Facicnto (15), 23. Charles Davis Jr. (18), 24. Jake Morgan (23), NT

----------------------------

**Swanson and Davis flipped on lap 8 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-13 Ligget, Laps 14-22.

SPECIALTY FASTENERS HARD CHARGER: Danny Faria Jr. (16th to 6th)

WILWOOD DISC BRAKES LUCKY 13 AWARD: Chris Gansen

USAC 360 BONUS: Billy Aton

NEW AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Gardner-812, 2-Roa-784, 3-A.Williams-756, 4-Swanson-630, 5-Malcolm-552, 6-Gansen-524, 7-R.Vander Weerd-462, 8-R.J. Johnson-458, 9-McCarthy-458, 10-C.Williams-405.

NEW CALIFORNIA SPRINT WEEK POINTS: 1-Williams-77, 2-Gardner-76, 3-Liggett-72, 4-Roa-68, 5-R.Vander Weerd-65, 6-Faria-63, 7-Kaeding-55, 8-Bernal-53, 9-McDougal-53, 10-J.Vander Weerd-48.

NEXT AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: September 1 – Calistoga Speedway – Calistoga, California – “12th Louie Vermeil Classic / California Sprint Week”