It is appropriate the 200th USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series race at Perris Auto Speedway will be the annual Glenn Howard Classic. Also on the card, which gets the green flag at 7 p.m., will be the PAS Seniors and Young Guns Sprints.
Arizona’s R.J. Johnson will be after his fourth PAS consecutive win, but faces stiff competition from five-time series champion and current point leader Damion Gardner, Brody Roa, Jake Swanson, Austin Williams and Cal Poly Pomona graduate Mike Spence.
PAS promoter Don Kazarian had plenty of observations about Saturday’s main event.
“Glenn was very instrumental when the USAC/CRA Series was formed over the winter of 2003-04. It is safe to say that without his input, there may not have been a USAC/CRA Series,” Kazarian said. “Glenn was a man who did everything in racing from being a driver, car owner, racing business owner to being an official. Everyone looked to him for advice and he was liked by everyone he ever came in contact with.
“I had no idea we had hosted that many races in the series until Lance Jennings (USAC public relations) brought it up. The first one was the 2004 season opener and Mike Kirby won the main event. It has been a longtime good series and it features the best drivers on the West Coast. We are honored to be its home track.”
Johnson has enjoyed quite a career in the sport in the past three months, winning three series races at PAS. The second-generation driver has led 89 of the 90 laps competed June 24, July 22 and Aug. 26,
“The last three races, he’s whipped up on the locals,” Kazarian said. “He has the track dialed in right now and has been running away from the field. With the way he has been making it look easy, you have to throw his hat in the ring as one of the main contenders for November’s Budweiser Oval Nationals. Good for him.
“R.J., his dad and the entire crew are great people. It is nice to see them have so much success not only in Arizona, but here as well.”
Cody Williams is sixth in the standings, with Logan Williams, Max Adams, Chris Gansen and Mike McCarthy rounding out the top 10.
The PAS Senior and Young Gun Sprints will also be in action Saturday and it will be there next-to-last race of the year. In the Senior Sprints, Richard McCormick of Canyon Country has a 22-point lead over Palmdale’s Rick Hendrix. It’s much closer in the Young Guns, as college student Hannah Mayhew holds a four-point margin over 15-year-old Covina High School student Joel Rayborne.
- Rodney Rayborne on Sep 26, 2017
- Article Date: 9/21/2017 by Los Angeles Daily News