Photo Credit: A J Johnson
Somerton, Arizona (March 23, 2024)………Charles Davis Jr. owns six feature wins in his Avanti Windows & Doors USAC CRA Sprint Car career, but a series victory in his home state of Arizona has been a long time coming.
Outside front row starter Davis (Buckeye, Ariz.) took over the top spot on lap four and led the final 17 laps to win the rain-shortened main event on Saturday night at Somerton, Arizona’s Cocopah Speedway.
When the rain fell after the completion of lap 20 of the scheduled 30-lap event, Davis was in the lead and declared as the winner when the race was officially called. For Davis, it’s his first USAC CRA Sprint Car feature win in the state of Arizona since a 2007 victory at USA Race Park in Tucson.
Davis was followed to the line by Ricky Lewis (Camarillo, Calif.) who led the opening three laps from the pole position. New series point leader R.J. Johnson (Laveen, Ariz.) took third in the final rundown. Matt Westfall (Pleasant Hill, Ohio) was scored fourth while A.J. Bender (San Diego, Calif.) rounded out the top-five.
Austin Williams (Yorba Linda, Calif.) was running fifth on the final lap when he got upside down, dropping him back to 13th in the official finishing order. David Gasper (Goleta, Calif.) earned hard charger honors in memory of Jim and Chet Gardner after starting 16th and finishing 11th.
Tommy Malcolm (Corona, Calif.) was the night’s Woodland Auto Display fastest qualifier with a time of 16.766 seconds around the 3/8-mile dirt oval. Austin Williams and Ricky Lewis captured the two heat race victories sponsored by FlowDynamics, Sexton Fire Protection, BillsJerky.net, Factory Wraps, WC Friend Company and In Memory of Jim and Chet Gardner.
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AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: March 23, 2024 – Cocopah Speedway – Somerton, Arizona
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Tommy Malcolm, 5x, Napier-16.766; 2. Logan Williams, 5w, McCarthy-16.868; 3. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-16.877; 4. Matt Westfall, 11c, Turner/Wheeler-16.900; 5. R.J. Johnson, 51, Johnson-16.926; 6. Charles Davis Jr., 47, Davis-16.936; 7. Grant Sexton, 22, Sexton-17.060; 8. Ricky Lewis, 41, Lewis-17.156; 9. Logan Calderwood, 73, Ford-17.180; 10. Verne Sweeney, 98, Guerrero-17.209; 11. Austin Williams, 17w, Dunkel-17.247; 12. Brody Roa, 2, Yeley-17.276; 13. Austin Grabowski, 72, Grabowski-17.313; 14. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 51T, Tafoya-17.364; 15. Brent Sexton, 44s, Sexton-18.168; 16. Elexa Herrera, 5E, Herrera-18.822; 17. David Gasper, 73x, Ford-NT.
FLOWDYNAMICS INCORPORATED / SEXTON FIRE PROTECTION / BILLSJERKY.NET FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Austin Williams, 2. R.J. Johnson, 3. A.J. Bender, 4. Austin Grabowski, 5. Logan Calderwood, 6. Grant Sexton, 7. Brent Sexton, 8. Tommy Malcolm. NT
FACTORY WRAPS / WC FRIEND COMPANY / IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Ricky Lewis, 2. Logan Williams, 3. Charles Davis Jr., 4. Matt Westfall, 5. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 6. Verne Sweeney, 7. David Gasper, 8. Elexa Herrera, 9. Brody Roa. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, shortened to 20 laps due to rain, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Charles Davis Jr. (2), 2. Ricky Lewis (1), 3. R.J. Johnson (3), 4. Matt Westfall (4), 5. A.J. Bender (5), 6. Logan Williams (6), 7. Tommy Malcolm (7), 8. Logan Calderwood (9), 9. Austin Grabowski (12), 10. Verne Sweeney (10), 11. David Gasper (16), 12. Eddie Tafoya Jr. (13), 13. Austin Williams (11), 14. Brent Sexton (14), 15. Elexa Herrera (15), 16. Grant Sexton (8). NT
**Austin Williams flipped on lap 20 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-3 Ricky Lewis, Laps 4-20 Charles Davis Jr.
IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER HARD CHARGER: David Gasper (16th to 11th)
NEW AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-R.J. Johnson-196, 2-David Gasper-189, 3-Matt Westfall-186, 4-Logan Williams-186, 5-Tommy Malcolm-182, 6-Ricky Lewis-180, 7-Charles Davis Jr.-175, 8-Austin Williams-171, 9-A.J. Bender-152, 10-Logan Calderwood-143.
NEXT AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: April 6 – Mohave Valley Raceway – Mohave Valley, Arizona