DAMION GARDNER MAKES STATEMENT AT COCOPAH
By Lance Jennings
FEBRUARY 1, 2022... After the checkered flags waved last Saturday night at Cocopah Speedway (Yuma, AZ), “The Demon” Damion Gardner (Concord, CA) served notice that he wants his tenth AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car Championship. Piloting Mark Alexander’s #1 Performance Online.com / Carman Trucking Spike, Gardner won all three nights of the season opening tripleheader and heads to Thunderbowl Raceway (Tulare, CA) with a 37-point advantage.
Gardner opened the Thursday night program by breaking former Alexander teammate Nic Faas’ 2013 track record with a time of 16.295 over the 27-car roster. For “The Demon,” that effort marked the 100th Woodland Auto Display Fast Time Award of his career. The following night, “The Big Game Hunter” Austin Williams (Yorba Linda, CA) had his eighth career fast time with a 16.660 over the 25-car field. On Saturday, “The Cadillac” Cody Williams (Corona, CA) established a new track record of 16.213 at Cocopah Speedway and earned the sixth fast time award of his career with 22 cars in attendance.
In heat race action, Gardner raced to victory all three nights at the fast 3/8-mile oval. Other drivers to claim their 10-lap events were “Chargin” Charles Davis Jr. (Buckeye, AZ), “Thunder” Tommy Malcolm (Corona, CA), Matt McCarthy (Riverside, CA), “The Pride of Garden Grove” Brody Roa (Garden Grove, CA), and “The Big Game Hunter” Austin Williams. Dustin Cormany (Surprise, AZ) won his Saturday night heat race using an iron block 360 engine.
While the Thursday night main event had several flips, Danny Parrish took the #21K Cory Kruseman Sprint Car and Midget Driving School entry to hard charger honors with thirteenth place run from twenty-second. Matt Mitchell (Yorba Linda, CA) blazed from twenty-second to tenth in Friday’s non-stop feature and “Sugar” Shane Sexton (Warner Springs, CA) was the Saturday hard charger after racing to eleventh from eighteenth.
Leaving Cocopah, Damion Gardner sits atop the standings over Charles Davis Jr., Brody Roa, Eddie Tafoya Jr. (Chino Hills, CA), Austin Williams, Logan Williams (Yorba Linda, CA), Tommy Malcolm, “The Magic Man” Mike Martin (Yuma, AZ), Chris Gansen (Verdemont Heights, CA), and Matt Mitchell. Leading rookie contender, Nate Schank (Santa Rosa, CA) is currently twelfth in the point chase.
The USAC/CRA Sprint Cars are will return to action for two nights in the Central Valley of California. On Friday, March 4th, the series will battle at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare. The following night, the traditional 410s will clash at Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford. The USAC Western States Midgets will join the action packed card on both shows.
The AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series thanks BillsJerky.com, Factory Wraps, Flowdynamics, The Gardner Family (In Memory of Jim & Chet Gardner), Hoosier Racing Tires, Laser X Manufacturing, Woodland Auto Display, and Extreme Mufflers for their support. If you or your company would like to become part of the series, contact Series Director Tony Jones at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or PR Director Lance Jennings at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
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THURSDAY, JANUARY 27 FEATURE: (30 laps, with Starting Positions) 1. Damion Gardner (6), 2. Austin Williams (4), 3. Ricky Lewis (3), 4. Brody Roa (7), 5. Charles Davis Jr. (11), 6. Logan Williams (9), 7. Eddie Tafoya Jr. (13), 8. Chris Gansen (12), 9. Mike Martin (14), 10. Verne Sweeney (16), 11. Nate Schank (19), 12. Dustin Burkhart (17), 13. Danny Parrish (22), 14. Shane Sexton (21), 15. Austin Grabowski (15), 16. Travis Buckley (20), 17. Jess Beckett (23), 18. Ikaika O’Brien (18), 19. Tommy Malcolm (1), 20. Matt Mitchell (8), 21. Cody Williams (2), 22. Matt McCarthy (10), 23. Austin Ervine (25), 24. Stevie Sussex (5), 25. J.J. Yeley (24). NT.
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**Cling flipped on lap 5 of the third heat. McCarthy flipped on lap 15 of the feature. Mitchell flipped on lap 18 of the feature. O’Brien flipped on lap 22 of the feature. Sexton flipped on lap 28 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-3 Lewis, Laps 4-6 C.Williams, Laps 7-30 Gardner
HARD CHARGER: Danny Parrish (22nd to 13th)
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FRIDAY, JANUARY 28 FEATURE: (30 laps, with Starting Positions) 1. Damion Gardner (2), 2. Tommy Malcolm (1), 3. Chase Johnson (3), 4. Charles Davis Jr. (5), 5. Cody Williams (4), 6. Brody Roa (10), 7. Logan Williams (9), 8. Austin Williams (6), 9. Eddie Tafoya Jr. (8), 10. Matt Mitchell (22), 11. Mike Martin (16), 12. Verne Sweeney (13), 13. Nate Schank (19), 14. Chris Gansen (11), 15. Matt McCarthy (14), 16. Dustin Cormany (12), 17. Travis Buckley (20), 18. Dustin Burkhart (15), 19. Danny Parrish (18), 20. Jess Beckett (21), 21.Shane Sexton (25), 22. Jonas Reynolds (17), 23. Ricky Lewis (7), 24. J.J. Yeley (24). NT.
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**Lewis flipped on lap 2 of the first heat. Ervine did not start feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-14 Malcolm, Laps 15-30 Gardner.
IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER HARD CHARGER: Matt Mitchell (22nd to 10th)
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SATURDAY, JANUARY 29 FEATURE: (30 laps, with Starting Positions) 1. Damion Gardner (6), 2. Eddie Tafoya Jr. (1), 3. Matt Mitchell (4), 4. Charles Davis Jr. (5), 5. Brody Roa (7), 6. Tommy Malcolm (9), 7. Logan Williams (8), 8. Chris Gansen (11), 9. Dustin Cormany (14), 10. Mike Martin (12), 11. Shane Sexton (18), 12. Verne Sweeney (15), 13. Nate Schank (17), 14. Matt McCarthy (13), 15. Danny Parrish (20), 16. Chase Johnson (2), 17. Jess Beckett (21), 18. Jonas Reynolds (19), 19. Austin Williams (3), 20. Ricky Lewis (10). NT.
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**Johnson flipped on lap 16 of the feature. Buckley did not start the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-2 Johnson, Laps 3-30 Gardner.
IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER HARD CHARGER: Shane Sexton (18th to 11th)
NEW AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR POINT STANDINGS: 1. Damion Gardner-246, 2. Charles Davis Jr.-209, 3. Brody Roa-195, 4. Eddie Tafoya Jr.-181, 5. Austin Williams-173, 6. Logan Williams-172, 7. Tommy Malcolm-166, 8. Mike Martin-147, 9. Chris Gansen-145, 10. Matt Mitchell-139, 11. Verne Sweeney-136, 12. Nate Schank ®-127, 13. Ricky Lewis-126, 14. Chase Johnson-119, 15. Cody Williams-118, 16. Matt McCarthy-106, ---. Shane Sexton-106, 18. Danny Parrish-102, 19. Dustin Cormany-89, 20. Jess Beckett-87, 21. Travis Buckley-75, 22. Dustin Burkhart-74, 23. Jonas Reynolds-57, 24. J.J. Yeley-47, 25. Austin Grabowski-40, 26. Austin Ervine-37, 27. Stevie Sussex-35, 28. Ikaika O'Brien-29, 29. Sterling Cling-13.
2022 AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SCHEDULE:
January 27: Cocopah Speedway – Yuma, AZ (Winner: Damion Gardner)
January 28: Cocopah Speedway – Yuma, AZ (Winner: Damion Gardner)
January 29: Cocopah Speedway – Yuma, AZ (Winner: Damion Gardner)
February 19: Longshadow Ranch & Winery – Temecula, CA (2021 USAC/CRA Awards Banquet)
March 4: Thunderbowl Raceway – Tulare, CA
March 5: Keller Auto Speedway – Hanford, CA
March 19: TBA
March 26: Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, CA (So Cal Showdown)
April 1: Keller Auto Speedway – Hanford, CA
April 2: Thunderbowl Raceway – Tulare, CA (Chris & Brian Faria Memorial)
April 23: Mohave Valley Raceway – Mohave Valley, AZ
April 30: Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, CA (Sokola Shootout)
May 14: Bakersfield Speedway – Bakersfield, CA
May 28: Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, CA (Salute to Indy)
June 11: Ventura Raceway – Ventura, CA
June 25: Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, CA (Bubby Jones & Ray Sheetz Memorial)
July 2: TBA
July 8: Keller Auto Speedway – Hanford, CA (Spanky Mathews Memorial)
July 9: Thunderbowl Raceway – Tulare, CA
August 6: TBA
August 20: Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, CA (California Racers Hall of Fame Night)
September 1: TBA
September 3: TBA (Louie Vermeil Classic)
September 4: TBA (Louie Vermeil Classic)
September 5: TBA
September 17: Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, CA (Glenn Howard Classic)
October 1: Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, CA
October 8: Mohave Valley Raceway – Mohave Valley, AZ
October 28: *TBA (Western World Championships)
October 29: *TBA (Western World Championships)
November 3: *Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, CA (Oval Nationals)
November 4: *Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, CA (Oval Nationals)
November 5: *Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, CA (Oval Nationals)
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* = Co-Sanctioned Event with AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Cars.
TBA = To Be Announced.
This schedule is subject to change.