A Vander Weerd Night in Sokola Shootout

PERRIS, Cal. (March 7, 2015) – Richard Vander Weerd opened the 2015 Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car season by racing to victory lane in Saturday night’s 30-lap “Sokola Shootout” at Perris Auto Speedway.

After starting seventh, Vander Weerd took the lead away from early pacesetter Matt Mitchell on the eighth round and led the rest of the way to take the victory ahead of Austin Williams, Mike Spencer, defending series champion Damion Gardner and Mitchell.

AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT RACE RESULTS: March 7, 2015 – Perris, California – Perris Auto Speedway – “Sokola Shootout”

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-16.393; 2. Richard Vander Weerd, 10 Vander Weerd-16.486; 3. Ronnie Gardner, 93, Gardner-16.502; 4. Hunter Schuerenberg, 73, Ford-16.582; 5. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-16.595; 6. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-16.634; 7. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-16.679; 8. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-16.679; 9. Damion Gardner, 4, Alexander-16.713; 10. Rickie Gaunt, 9, McDonald-16.779; 11. Geoff Ensign, 3F, Finkenbinder-16.866; 12. David Bezio, 37X, Bezio-16.879; 13. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-16.995; 14. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-17.020; 15. Parker Colston, 64, Colston-17.198; 16. Logan Williams, 5, Jory-17.262; 17. Jace Vander Weerd, 88, Vander Weerd-17.308; 18. Johnny Bluntach, 58, Bluntach-17.339; 19. Tommy Malcolm, 5X, Napier-17.344; 20. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-17.362; 21. Terry Schank Jr., 1, Gleeson-17.375; 22. Cal Smith, 39, Cal-Sun-17.414; 23. Michael Curtis, 45C, Turner/Wheeler-17.423; 24. Mike Martin, 16, Martin-17.536; 25. Jeremy Ellertson, 98X, Ellertson-17.567; 26. Anthony Lopiccolo, 36, Springstead-17.657; 27. Tobey Sampson, 12B, Blair-18.442; 28. Tony Everhart, 55, Everhart-NT.

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Johnson, 2. Spencer, 3. Swanson, 4. Schuerenberg, 5. Gaunt, 6. L.Williams, 7. Malcolm, 8. Ellertson, 9. Smith. 2:52.99

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. R.Vander Weerd, 2. A.Williams, 3. C.Williams, 4. Roa, 5. J.Vander Weerd, 6. Ensign, 7. Gansen, 8. Lopiccolo, 9. Curtis. 2:53.39

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. D.Gardner, 2. Mitchell, 3. Bezio, 4. R.Gardner, 5. Martin, 6. Schank, 7. Colston, 8. Bluntach, 9. Sampson. 2:54.90

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Ensign, 2. Schank, 3. Gaunt, 4. J.Vander Weerd, 5. Colston, 6. Gansen, 7. L.Williams, 8. Bluntach, 9. Curtis, 10. Martin, 11. Lopiccolo, 12. Malcolm, 13. Ellertson, 14. Sampson, 15. Smith. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Richard Vander Weerd, 2. Austin Williams, 3. Mike Spencer, 4. Damion Gardner, 5. Matt Mitchell, 6. Jake Swanson, 7. Hunter Schuerenberg, 8. Ronnie Gardner, 9. Cody Williams, 10. Brody Roa, 11. Geoff Ensign, 12. Rickie Gaunt, 13. David Bezio, 14. Terry Schank Jr., 15. Mike Martin, 16. Michael Curtis, 17. Parker Colston, 18. Chris Gansen, 19. R.J. Johnson, 20. Jace Vander Weerd, 21. Logan Williams, 22. Johnny Bluntach. NT —————————

**L.Williams flipped during the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-7 Mitchell, Laps 8-30 R.Vander Weerd,

(Steve Lafond photo)