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#92 Austin
Williams. Anthony Hernandez Photo.
GLENN HOWARD MEMORIAL FOR USAC/CRA
SPRINT CARS SATURDAY AT PERRIS AUTO
SPEEDWAY
By Scott Daloisio
(Perris, CA, September 21, 2021)
The Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Cars and The
PAS Senior Sprint Cars return to “The
Southern California Home of Major League
Sprint Car Racing,” Perris Auto Speedway,
this Saturday night for the “13th Annual
Glenn Howard Memorial.” Spectator gates
will open at 5:00 p.m. with racing at
7:00. Be sure to load up all the
neighborhood kids and bring them to
Saturday’s event. At intermission, all the
drivers will bring their cars to the front
straightaway for the on track autograph
session. In addition, they will be passing
out free candy to all the kids in
attendance.
The race honors Howard,
who passed away in 2007. In his decades on
the Southern California racing scene,
Howard was a driver, car owner, racing
dad, entrepreneur, fabricator and
official. Even though it has been 14-years
since he passed away, his fingerprint is
still on the sport in Southern California
today. Through his So Cal Performance
company which supplied drivers with
everything they needed to compete, he
virtually knew everyone in the sport. He
was free with his knowledge of car setups,
driving and race strategy to anyone who
asked. That made him a mentor to everyone
and perhaps more important, he was
everyone’s friend. That is what makes this
race very special to all the competitors.
It was obvious that Howard had a
lifelong love affair with the sport, and
he wanted it to succeed. In 1993, with the
original CRA having issues, Howard and
others founded another group named SCRA
that fortunately kept traditional 410
sprint car racing alive in the west. He
was the original President of the new
group and was instrumental when the
current USAC/CRA was formed a little over
a decade later in 2004.
“Glenn was
a great man, who did everything he could
to help anyone and everyone when it came
to sprint car racing,” Perris Auto
Speedway promoter Don Kazarian said. “If
anyone ever needed advice whether it was a
driver, crew chief, race official or
promoter, you could always go to Glenn and
get his opinion on what one should do.
That made him respected by everyone to
this day. The sport sorely misses him and
all that he offered.”
All 12
running’s of the “Glenn Howard” have taken
place on the famous Perris Auto Speedway
clay surface. However, like nearly
everything else, the race was canceled due
to COVID in 2020. When last contested in
2019, Austin Williams won the race for the
second time. Recently, the Corona,
California driver won the last race in the
USAC/CRA Series on September 6 at the
Petaluma Speedway. He comes into Saturday
night third in the USAC/CRA standings.
Concord, California’s Damion Gardner leads
all drivers with four “Glenn Howard” wins.
The only other driver with more than one
win in the event is Nic Faas, who
currently has put his racing career on
pause.
Another driver among the
favorites for the win on Saturday is
Garden Grove, California’s Brody Roa. The
veteran driver has already won two
prestigious races at The PAS this year -
the “Salute To Indy” and “California
Racer’s Hall of Fame Night” - and comes
into Saturday second in the standings,
44-points behind seven-time series
champion Gardner. The longtime rivalry
between Roa and Gardner is legendary
around the sport, and it reached the
boiling point once again after the finale
at the “Louie Vermeil Classic” at Silver
Dollar Speedway in Chico on September 6th.
“Rivalries have been a part of
racing since the beginning,” Kazarian
stated. “They always have been and always
will be a part of the sport. In the case
of Damion Gardner and Brody Roa, it is the
familiar rivalry in racing when two top
drivers meet. They are both very good
drivers. While the personalities of the
two are polar opposites, they are both
extremely competitive. They each have good
equipment and a tremendous will to win
races and championships. A few things have
happened between them over the years and
every so often it boils over. Situations
like this are inevitable when you have the
competitive nature of sprint car racing.
They both have a lot of fans that think
their guy wears the white hat while the
other guy wears a black hat. Rivalries
keep things interesting.”
In
addition to the USAC/CRA portion of the
show, The PAS Senior Sprint Series will be
contesting it’s next to last race of the
2021 season. El Segundo’s Tyler Hatzikian
has a narrow six-point advantage over Ed
Schwarz of Santa Fe Springs heading into
Saturday’s race. Anaheim’s Dale Gamer is
third and is followed by Greg Badgwell of
Tustin and Arizona’s Richard McCormick.
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
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 9th – WTP Motorsports $50K Best
Whip Pro Invitational
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. |
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