MORE THAN $13,000 ADDED TO SATURDAYS USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR RACE PURSE AT PERRIS AUTO SPEEDWAY By Scott Daloisio (Perris, CA, August 17, 2021) When the Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Cars return to Perris Auto Speedway for the “California Racer’s Hall of Fame Night” this Saturday, August 21st, they will have 13,000 extra reasons to be there. Those 13,000 reasons are actually dollars as $13,000.00 has been added to the normal purse. Included will be $2,100.00 for the fast qualifier, a $4,000.00 trophy dash and more than $6,000.00 in main event lap money. Spectator gates will open at 5:00 P.M. with racing at 7:00. Damion Gardner has two USAC/CRA wins at Perris this year and is one of the favorites this Saturday. Doug Allen photo. “Hall of Fame Night is one of our biggest races of the year,” Perris promoter Don Kazarian said. “Due to the generosity of so many people, the drivers are going to be rewarded with some handsome bonus payouts. The people come through every year and the event just gets bigger and bigger. In addition to everyone’s generosity, much of the thanks has to go to Chris Holt. Every year he puts all of this together to make it a special night for all the drivers and the fans. We can never thank him enough for all of his hard work.” The show will start off with qualifying which will be run like normal with every driver getting two laps on the clock. The difference is, Saturday’s fast qualifier will win the “Billy Wilkerson Fast Time Award” and the $2,100.00 that goes with it! And, if that fast time is a new track record, the prize will be increased to $3,100.00. The current track record of 15.833 was set by Nick Faas on February 25, 2012. “$2,100.00 dollars for being fast qualifier is sensational,” Kazarian stated. “Think about it for a moment. That will be $2,100.00 for a little over 32 seconds of work. You cannot forget that if that fast time is a new track record, it will be $3,100.00 for about 32 seconds. Qualifying is always interesting, but this bonus will add a lot of excitement.” “California Racer’s Hall of Fame Night” also brings back a mostly forgotten race night tradition, the trophy dash. A longtime staple of short tracks around the nation, trophy dashes have become scarce over the past quarter century. Cars have become too expensive to risk for a small, plastic trophy. However, there is no trophy dash like a PAS trophy dash. Unlike the old school four car dash with four cars racing for three or four laps, The PAS trophy dash has the four fastest qualifiers racing four separate, three lap races. Each driver will start from each starting position one time. The winner of each three lapper will get three-points. Second-place will get two-points, third place will get one-point and fourth spot gets zero. At the end of the fourth race, the points will be totaled up and the high point driver in this year’s Junior Kurtz/Bill Simpson Trophy Dash will take home $2,000.00 of the $4,000.00 race purse. “The Junior Kurtz/Bill Simpson Trophy Dash” is not like the old school dash,” Kazarian enthused. “The format and point scoring system is borrowed from Speedway Motorcycle racing. The fans love it as it is fast paced and full of drama as the drivers try to score points. Compared to the old school four lapper, this one is a lot fairer and more competitive as each driver starts in each starting position one time. And then there is the purse. These days nobody is going to run hard for just a trophy. But for $2,000.00 to win, they are going to go at it hot and heavy. Thanks to Michelle Kurtz everything has doubled this year so in addition to it paying $2,000.00 to win, the driver who finishes with the second highest point total will get $1,000. Third-place will get $700.00 and the driver who finishes fourth will get $300.00.” In addition to the fast time award and the trophy dash bucks, the main event will have more than $6,000.00 in lap money up for grabs. “The lap money in the main is icing on the cake,” Kazarian stated with a grin. “It pays a minimum of $100.00 to lead each lap. Some laps pay more. For instance, laps three, seven and 10 each pay $500.00 to lead! When you add it all up, if a driver was to sweep Saturday’s show by setting a new track record, winning the dash and leading every lap in the main event, he would take home over $13,000.00. The drivers are going to come into Saturday hungry for the big bucks. They always do.” Saturday’s race will be the fifth of the year for the USAC/CRA Series at The PAS. The first four races have produced three different winners. Concord’s Damion Gardner won the season opener in April and took the checkered in June as well. Garden Grove driver Brody Roa captured the annual “Salute to Indy” in May. Last month Corona’s Austin Williams took home the winner’s trophy and check. In addition to the Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Cars, The PAS Seniors Sprint Cars will also be in action. Tyler Hatzikian of El Segundo has a 14-point lead over Santa Fe Springs’ Ed Schwarz in the over 40 class. Anaheim’s Dale Gamer is third with Orange County restauranter Greg Badgwell and longtime star Wally Pankratz of Orange holding down the fourth and fifth positions. Be sure to bring all the neighborhood kids for the on track autograph session at intermission where all the drivers will be passing out free candy to the young ones. Beginning at 5:00 p.m. when the gates open, legendary drivers Eddie Wirth, Chuck Gurney, Jimmy Oskie, Brad Noffsinger, John Redican, Stan Atherton, “Super” Rickie Gaunt and others will be signing autographs in the sports bar. In addition, the WRA vintage race cars will be on display as soon as fans walk through the gates. Adult tickets are $30.00. For seniors 65 and over it is $25.00. Kids 6-12 get in for just $5.00 and children five and under are free. There will be plenty of tickets available at the ticket window on Saturday. We will not sellout. For fans who wish, advance tickets are available at www.tix.com The Fairgrounds charges $10.00 for parking. Camping at the fairgrounds on the grassy area outside of turn four will begin at noon on Friday. The cost is $25.00 per night. Perris Auto Speedway is conveniently located on the Lake Perris Fairgrounds (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, on the Ramona Expressway and go three miles east to the fairgrounds. For directions on online, the address to enter is: 18700 Lake Perris Drive and the zip code is 92571. Advance tickets for all other races on the 2021 schedule are also available at www.tix.com Fans can stay up to date on track and driver news on The PAS social media efforts at the links below. 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/ Perris Auto Speedway wants to thank the following corporate partners. Ahern Equipment Rentals, All Coast Construction, Anderson Chevrolet, Battery Systems, Bud’s Tire Pro, Chris’ Hauling, City of Perris, Communication Innovations, Daytona Boat & RV Storage, Ed Moore Bullet Proof Driveshaft, Flowdynamics, HD Industries, Heimark/Anheuser Busch, Hoosier Tires, Inland Rigging, Living Water’s Hospice, LKQ Pick Your Part, Luke’s Transmission, Moose Racing, Pepsi-Cola, Performance Online, Pole Position, PrintItNow.com, Rainbow Bolt & Supply, Rugged Radios, Shaver Specialties, Square H, Sunoco Race Fuels, Trench Shoring, Upland Rock, Varner Construction and Vista Paint. Video and DVD productions of all racing sprint cars 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 website LoudPedal Productions. DVDs of all the PASSCAR/IMCA racing and Nights of Destruction at The PAS are available from Fourvideos. For more information call (714) 225-9500. mailto:perrisautospeedway1@gmail.com is the only authorized Internet address to issue official media news released from The Perris Auto Speedway or Oval Entertainment. 2021 EVENT SCHEDULE August 21st - CALIFORNIA RACERS HALL OF FAME NIGHT" AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS, PAS Senior Sprints August 28th - LKQ Pick Your Part Presents NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION V – Demo Cross, Figure 8's, Trailer Figure 8's, Mini Stocks and Double Deckers September 11th - LKQ Pick Your Part Presents NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION VI - Demo Cross, Figure 8's, Trailer Figure 8's, Mini Stocks and Double Deckers September 18th - PASSCAR SERIES - Super Stocks, Street Stocks, American Factory Stocks and IMCA Modifieds September 25th - "GLENN HOWARD CLASSIC" AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS, PAS Senior Sprints October 16th - PASSCAR SERIES – “FAN APPRECIATION NIGHT” Super Stocks, Street Stocks, American Factory Stocks and IMCA Modifieds October 23rd - AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS, PAS Senior Sprints October 30th - LKQ Pick Your Part Presents NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION VII - Demo Cross, Figure 8's, Trailer Figure 8's, Mini Stocks and Double Deckers November 3rd - 25TH ANNUAL HEIMARK/ANHEUSER BUSCH OVAL NATIONALS Presented by ALL COAST CONSTRUCTION - Practice Night November 4th - 25TH ANNUAL HEIMARK/ANHEUSER BUSCH ANNUAL OVAL NATIONALS Presented by ALL COAST CONSTRUCTION AMSOIL USAC National and USAC/CRA Sprint Cars November 5th - 25TH ANNUAL HEIMARK/ANHEUSER BUSCH OVAL NATIONALS Presented by ALL COAST CONSTRUCTION AMSOIL USAC National and USAC/CRA Sprint Cars November 6th - 25TH ANNUAL HEIMARK/ANHEUSER BUSCH OVAL NATIONALS Presented by ALL COAST CONSTRUCTION AMSOIL USAC National and USAC/CRA Sprint Cars November 13th - PASSCAR “CHAMPION’S NIGHT” - Super Stocks, Street Stocks, American Factory Stocks, IMCA Modifieds November 20th LKQ Pick Your Part Presents NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION V – Demo Cross, Figure 8's, Trailer Figure 8's, Mini Stocks and Double Deckers NOTE: SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE DUE COVID 19 LEVELS AND MODIFICATIONS REQUIRED REOPENING.