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USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS IN HISTORIC 70TH
ANNIVERSARY SALUTE TO INDY AT PERRIS AUTO
SPEEDWAY SATURDAY!
By Scott
Daloisio
(Perris, CA, May 22, 2018)
This Saturday night, May 26th, Perris Auto
Speedway will host one of the longest
running races in sprint car racing when it
hosts the “70th Anniversary Salute to
Indy.” The holiday weekend racing card on
the famous Riverside County half-mile clay
oval will be headlined by the Amsoil
USAC/CRA Sprint Cars. The California
Lightning Sprint Cars and The PAS Senior &
Young Gun Sprints will also be in action.
Spectator gates will open at 5:00 P.M.
with racing at 7:00.
Fans can
expect to see wild sprint car action at
the 70th Anniversary Salute to Indy this
Saturday night at Perris Auto Speedway.
Please give photo credit to Anthony
Hernandez.
The “Salute to
Indy,” which is a tip of the hat to the
Indianapolis 500, dates back to 1948 when
Dempsey Wilson captured the first one.
From 1948 through 1990 the race was
contested in all but five years. After
legendary Ascot Park closed in 1990, the
race was put on ice until The PAS opened
in 1996. Since being reborn in 96’, the
prestigious race has taken place each year
except for 2008 when it was rained out.
While this
weekend’s affair is the 70th anniversary
of the race, it will actually be the 67th
running of it. You may be asking how it
can be the 67th running if the race was
not held eleven times. The answer is a
simple one. Some years in the 1970’s and
1980’s Ascot held multiple races over
Memorial Day weekend and each race was
titled “Salute to Indy.” In 1971, 1978,
1981, 1982 and 1983, there were two
“Salute to Indy” races. In 1980, there was
three.
Over the
years, National Sprint Car Hall of Famers
Dean Thompson and Bubby Jones won the race
the most times with five wins each.
However, all of Thompson’s wins came in
years when the race was held multiple
times. In addition, three of Jones five
triumphs took place when the race was held
more than one time per year.
Only two
drivers have won the race four times. One
is National Sprint Car Hall of Famer Billy
Wilkerson and the other is six-time
USAC/CRA Sprint Car champion Damion
Gardner of Concord, California. Unlike
Thompson and Jones, Wilkerson and
Gardner’s triumphs all came when the race
was only run one time per year. If
Gardner, who leads Brody Roa by
nine-points in the 2018 USAC/CRA point
standings heading into Saturday’s race,
wins this weekend, he will be tied with
Thompson and Jones for most wins in race
history.
“If Damion
Gardner had not taken six seasons away to
run in the USAC National Sprint Car
Series, I think it is safe to say he would
have more “Salute to Indy” wins than
anyone else,” Perris Auto Speedway
promoter Don Kazarian said. “He won it two
times (2003 and 2004) before he went to
the Midwest and he has won it two times
(2014 and 2017) since he came back. He has
a great chance of tying Dean and Bubby on
Saturday, but he is going to be hard
pressed to do it. Brody Roa, Jake Swanson,
the Williams brothers (Cody, Austin and
Logan), R.J. Johnson, Austin Liggett and
Max Adams among others are all more than
capable of adding their name to the
prestigious winner’s list.”
Damion
Gardner will be looking for his record
tying fifth win in the “Salute to Indy”
Saturday at Perris Auto Speedway. Please
give photo credit to Doug Allen.
Gardner leads
all drivers with 44 USAC/CRA wins at The
PAS since the series inception in 2004.
Going into Saturday’s race, he has won two
of the first four USAC/CRA races in 2018.
Roa of Garden Grove, California and Tracy,
California’s Austin Liggett have won the
other two.
The California
Lightning Sprint Cars will be making their
first of two 2018 appearances at The PAS
on Saturday. Last Saturday, when they made
their first appearance in more than
10-years at the Barona Speedway,
Camarillo, California’s Cody Nigh, who
grew up watching sprint cars at The PAS,
posted his first ever CLS win.
In the Senior
Sprint Car class (drivers 45 and over),
Apple Valley’s John Aden will be
attempting to make it two wins in a row
and Eddie Tafoya Jr. of Chino Hills will
be attempting to do likewise in the Young
Guns (drivers 14-25 with no prior sprint
car experience).
Adult tickets
for Saturday are $25.00. Seniors 65 and
over get in for $20.00. For active
military members with proper id, teens
13-18 with their school id and kids 6-12,
it is just $5.00. Children 5 and under are
free. Parking on the fairgrounds is $8.00.
Advance
tickets for all PAS events, including this
Saturday, the July 4th Night of
Destruction and November’s 23rd Annual
Budweiser Oval Nationals presented by All
Coast Construction, are available 24 hours
a day online at
https://pas.tix.com/Schedule.aspx?OrgNum=7
or by calling 1-800-595-4849. For fans who
do not want to buy advance tickets, there
will be plenty available for everyone at
the ticket window each race night.
Perris Auto
Speedway wants to thank its corporate
partners for the 2017 season. All Coast
Construction, Amsoil, Austin Hutchinson
Realtor, Ayers Hotel & Spa, Brass and Bass
Firearms & Fishing Supplies, Budweiser,
Bud’s Tire Pro, Center Point Church,
Champion Towing, Chris’ Hauling, City of
Perris, Country Values Magazine, Daytona
Boat & RV Storage, Ed Moore Bullet Proof
Driveshaft, Edelbrock, Flowdynamics, Full
Throttle Scissor Lift Rental, Green Sheet,
Greg Smith Equipment, Harley’s Custom
Cycles, HD Industries, Hoosier Tires,
Indiana Truck Salvage, K&N Engineering,
Living Water’s Hospice, Luke’s
Transmission, Moreno Valley Magazine of
Values, Paul Oil Company, Pepsi-Cola,
Pick-A-Part Auto Salvage, Pole Position,
Precision Engine of Temecula,
PrintItNow.com, Scott Sales, Shaver
Specialties, Square H, Sunstate Equipment,
Swedish Speed, Original Tommy’s Burgers,
Trench Shoring, Valley News and Vista
Paint.
To keep up
with all the latest Perris Auto Speedway
news, photos, gossip and receive special
offers, please use the following links:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Perris-Auto-Speedway/113876798686480?ref=hl
Twitter:
Perris Auto Speedway on Twitter.
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/perrisautospeedway/
Website:
http://perrisautospeedway.com/
Video and DVD
productions of all racing events at Perris
Auto Speedway are available from Loudpedal
Productions. For more information on these
productions you can contact them by
calling (805) 844-3854, E-mailing
mailto:trtruex@gmail.com or you can visit
the web site LoudPedal Productions
Perris Auto
Speedway is conveniently located on the So
Cal Fair and Event Center (home of
October’s Southern California Fair),
approximately one-hour east of Los Angeles
and one-hour North of San Diego. To get to
the track, take the 215 freeway, exit on
the Ramona Expressway and go three miles
east to the fairgrounds. For directions on
MapQuest, the address to enter is: 18700
Lake Perris Drive and the zip code is
92571.
racesatthepas@aol.com is the only
authorized Internet address to issue
official media news released from The
Perris Auto Speedway or Oval
Entertainment.
2018 Perris
Auto Speedway
May 26th
"SALUTE TO INDY " USAC/CRA Sprint Cars,
PAS Senior Sprint Cars and PAS Young Guns
Sprint Cars, California Lightning Sprint
Cars AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY NIGHT
Benefiting the Up, Down 'n Dirty 4 a Cure
MUD RUN
June 9th
PASSCAR SERIES - Street Stocks, Super
Stocks, Factory Stocks and IMCA Modifieds
June 16th
NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION IV - Demo Cross,
Figure 8's, Figure 8 Trailer Racing and
Formula-X Autocross & CrossKarts
June 23rd
USAC/CRA Sprint Cars, PAS Senior Sprint
Cars and PAS Young Guns Sprint Cars
June 30th
PASSCAR SERIES - Street Stocks, Super
Stocks, Factory Stocks and IMCA Modifieds
July 4th 4TH
OF JULY CELEBRATION AND FIREWORKS NIGHT OF
DESTRUCTION V - Demo Cross, Figure 8's,
Figure 8 Trailer Racing and Formula-X
Autocross & CrossKarts AMERICAN CANCER
SOCIETY NIGHT Benefiting the Up, Down 'n
Dirty 4 a Cure MUD RUN
July 21st
PASSCAR SERIES - Street Stocks, Super
Stocks, Factory Stocks and IMCA Modifieds
July 28th
NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION VI - Demo Cross,
Figure 8's, Figure 8 Trailer Racing and
Formula-X Autocross & CrossKarts
August 18th
"CALIFORNIA RACERS HALL OF FAME NIGHT"
USAC/CRA Sprint Cars, PAS Senior Sprint
Cars and PAS Young Guns Sprint Cars,
California Lightning Sprint Cars
August 25th
PASSCAR SERIES - Street Stocks, Super
Stocks, Factory Stocks and IMCA Modifieds
September 1st
NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION NOD VII - Demo Cross,
Figure 8's, Figure 8 Trailer Racing and
Formula-X Autocross & CrossKarts
September 22nd
"GLENN HOWARD CLASSIC" USAC/CRA Sprint
Cars, PAS Senior Sprint Cars and PAS Young
Guns Sprint Cars
October 6th -
14th SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FAIR
October 20th
USAC/CRA Sprint Cars, PAS Senior Sprint
Cars and PAS Young Guns Sprint Cars
October 27th
PASSCAR "Champions Night” - Street Stocks,
Super Stocks, Factory Stocks and Modifieds
November 7th
Oval Nationals Practice
November 8th
23rd Annual Budweiser Oval Nationals
“Presented by All Coast Construction" USAC
National and USAC/CRA Sprint Cars
November 9th
23rd Annual Budweiser Oval Nationals
“Presented by All Coast Construction" USAC
National and USAC/CRA Sprint Cars
November 10th
23rd Annual Budweiser Oval Nationals
“Presented by All Coast Construction" USAC
National and USAC/CRA Sprint Cars
NOTE; THIS
SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE |
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