USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR SERIES STARS AMONG THE LATEST ENTRIES FOR 25TH OVAL NATIONALS By Scott Daloisio (Perris, CA, October 20, 2021) With the early entry deadline just two days away, entries for November’s 25th Annual Heimark Anheuser Busch Budweiser Oval Nationals Presented by All Coast Construction are starting to arrive at the Perris Auto Speedway Office. The latest group of entries for the prestigious race include some of the top stars from the Amsoil USAC National Sprint Car Series. Over the past few days, entries have been received from national series point leader Brady Bacon of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, series leading rookie Tanner Thorsen of Minden, Nevada, two-time Oval Nationals Champion Kevin Thomas Jr. of Cullman, Alabama, Ion, California’s Justin Grant, who currently ranks third in National points and Anaheim, California native Jake Swanson who is seventh. Other out of town drivers who have already entered this year’s Silver Anniversary Ovals race include Buckeye, Arizona’s Charles Davis Jr., who won the last USAC/CRA race at The PAS on September 25th, and fellow “Copper State” resident Tye “The Bull” Mihocko. Kansas, Illinois star Shane “The Throttle” Cottle has also entered for a rare appearance on the famous Riverside County half mile clay oval. Brady Bacon at his last appearance at The PAS during the 2019 Oval Nationals. Anthony Hernandez photo. Heading the Amsoil USAC/CRA contingent of entrants is Damion Gardner of Concord, California. The seven-time series champion is attempting to make Oval Nationals history by becoming the first driver to win the race four-times. He initially captured one of the winner’s famous eagle trophies for the event in 2009. Subsequent victories have come in 2011 and 2016. Heading into this Saturday’s USAC/CRA race at The PAS, Gardner has 101 wins on the original CRA, SCRA and USAC/CRA victory list that dates back 75 seasons to 1946. That only trails Rip Williams who had 104 wins and the late Dean Thompson who had 105. Included among the other locals who have already entered the Oval Nationals are Chris Gansen of Verdemont Heights, who is fourth in USAC/CRA points and having his finest season to date, Tommy “Thunder” Malcolm of Corona who is sixth, upcoming star Eddie Tafoya Jr. of Chino Hills, and veteran Verne Sweeney of Lomita. The Oval Nationals will take place on November 4th, 5th, and 6th. Each night will be full points paying races for the USAC National and USAC/CRA Series with qualifying, heats and main events. The top six in points after the first two nights will be seeded directly into Saturday’s 40-lap finale and they will contest the “Super Six Dash” to determine the first three rows for the main event. 25th Heimark Anheuser Busch Budweiser Oval Nationals Early Entry List Car Driver City & State Entrant 1 Damion Gardner Concord, California Mark Alexander 4 Justin Grant Ion, California Topp Motorsports 4G Chris Gansen Verdemont Heights, CA Gansen Motorsports 5X Tommy Malcolm Corona, CA Dino Napier 9K Kevin Thomas Jr. Cullman, AL KT Motorsports 19AZ Tanner Thorson Minden, NV Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports 21AZ Jake Swanson Anaheim, CA Mike Burkhardt 38 Tye Mihocko Peoria, AZ Glen Crossno 47 Charles Davis Jr. Buckeye, AZ Charles Davis Jr. 51T Eddie Tafoya Jr. Chino Hills, CA Eddie Tafoya Sr. 69 Brady Bacon Broken Arrow, OK Dynamics 74X Shane Cottle Kansas, IL Hodges Automotive 98 Verne Sweeney Lomita, CA Ken Tracy There will be plenty of tickets available for everyone at the ticket window all three nights of the race. For fans who wish, advance tickets are available online at https://www.tix.com/ticket-sales/pas/7 or by calling 1-800-595-4849. In addition, there will a practice session for Oval Nationals only cars on Wednesday November 3rd that will be free for fans it the grandstands. Perris Auto Speedway is conveniently located on the SoCal Fair and Event Center (home of October’s Southern California Fair), 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. Heimark Anheuser Busch Budweiser Oval Nationals Champions 1996 Jimmy Sills 1997 Rip Williams 1998 Rodney Argo 1999 Rickie Gaunt 2000 Tony Jones 2001 Bud Kaeding 2002 Bud Kaeding 2003 Cory Kruseman 2004 Cory Kruseman 2005 Dave Darland 2006 Dave Darland 2007 Bud Kaeding 2008 Jesse Hockett 2009 Damion Gardner 2010 Chris Windom 2011 Damion Gardner 2012 Mike Spencer 2013 Dave Darland 2014 Robert Ballou 2015 Bryan Clauson 2016 Damion Gardner 2017 Kevin Thomas Jr. 2018 Kevin Thomas Jr. 2019 C.J. Leary 2021 EVENT SCHEDULE 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.