Photo Credit: A J Johnson
Somerton, Arizona (November 5, 2023)………Daison Pursley’s Western World Championships record remained undefeated on Saturday night as he raced to his second consecutive AMSOIL USAC CRA Sprint Car Series feature victory in as many nights during the 56th running of the event presented by Avanti Windows & Doors and Yuma Insurance at Somerton, Arizona’s Cocopah Speedway.
Aboard the Team AZ Racing No. 21AZ for just the second time, the Locust Grove, Okla. native gave the home state team its third straight triumph at the Western World event dating back to Jake Swanson’s victory on the final night in 2022.
It was nearly déjà vu for Pursley in Saturday night’s 30-lap, $7,000-to-win finale. On Friday night, the recently named 2023 Rookie of the Year on the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship tour, charged from his fourth starting position to first by lap two.
Once again on Saturday, the story was written much the same. Gliding past pole sitter Swanson on the second go-around, Pursley proceeded to lead the remaining 29 laps to earn a commanding 4.184 second margin at the finish line in his Team AZ Racing/Apache Transport – Stratis Construction – USW Cat Construction/DRC/1-Way Chevy.
Pursley’s Western World weekend sweep came in his first visit to Western World since suffering a spinal injury during a USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship event during the event in 2021 when it was held at the now defunct Arizona Speedway.
Behind Pursley at the stripe, Kevin Thomas Jr. made a valiant hard charging effort to finish second after starting 17th. Woodland Auto Display Fast Qualifier C.J. Leary (Greenfield, Ind.) grabbed third with Charles Davis Jr. (Buckeye, Ariz.) fourth and series Rookie Braden Chiaramonte (El Cajon, Calif.) fifth.
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AMSOIL USAC CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: November 4, 2023 – Cocopah Speedway – Somerton, Arizona – 56th Western World Championships presented by Avanti Windows & Doors and Yuma Insurance
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. C.J. Leary, 77m, Michael-16.239; 2. Cody Williams, 44, Williams-16.350; 3. Daison Pursley, 21AZ, Team AZ-16.412; 4. Mitchel Moles, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-16.479; 5. Tommy Malcom, 5x, Napier-16.692; 6. Jake Swanson, 73x, Ford-16.703; 7. Braden Chiaramonte, 73B, Chiaramonte-16.744; 8. R.J. Johnson, 2R, Yeley-16.784; 9. Justin Grant, 37, Mitchell-16.799; 10. Ricky Lewis, 41, Brown-16.825; 11. Charles Davis Jr., 47, Davis-16.827; 12. Max Adams, 44c, Corey-16.855; 13. Logan Williams, 5w, McCarthy-16.871; 14. Austin Williams, 2, Williams-16.885; 15. Matt Westfall, 11c, Turner/Wheeler-17.006; 16. Tye Mihocko, 5, Mihocko-17.019; 17. Kevin Thomas Jr., 15, Bonneau-17.046; 18. Brody Roa, 17R, Dunkel/BR-17.060; 19. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-17.076; 20. Chase Johnson, 73, Ford-17.154; 21. James Turnbull II, 2J, Turnbull-17.192; 22. Verne Sweeney, 98, Guerrero-17.343; 23. Grant Sexton, 22, Sexton-17.359; 24. Austin Grabowski, 72, Grabowski-17.417; 25. Tanner Boul, 99T, Boul-17.548; 26. Josh Pelkey, 12, Allen-17.584; 27. Shane Sexton, 74, Sexton/Gatlin-17.758; 28. Logan Calderwood, 73c, Ford-17.913.
FLOWDYNAMICS INCORPORATED FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Kevin Thomas Jr., 2. C.J. Leary, 3. Tommy Malcolm, 4. Justin Grant, 5. Logan Williams, 6. James Turnbull II, 7. Tanner Boul. NT
BILLSJERKY.NET SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Ricky Lewis, 2. Brody Roa, 3. Jake Swanson, 4. Cody Williams, 5. Austin Williams, 6. Josh Pelkey, 7. Verne Sweeney. NT
IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Daison Pursley, 2. Charles Davis Jr., 3. Matt Westfall, 4. Braden Chiaramonte, 5. Grant Sexton, 6. Shane Sexton, 7. A.J. Bender. NT
WC FRIEND COMPANY FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Chase Johnson, 2. Tye Mihocko, 3. R.J. Johnson, 4. Mitchel Moles, 5. Max Adams, 6. Austin Grabowski, 7. Logan Calderwood. NT
FACTORY WRAPS SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Max Adams, 2. Austin Williams, 3. Grant Sexton, 4. Logan Williams, 5. James Turnbull II, 6. Logan Calderwood, 7. Austin Grabowski, 8. Tanner Boul, 9. Shane Sexton, 10. Verne Sweeney, 11. A.J. Bender, 12. Josh Pelkey. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Daison Pursley (4), 2. Kevin Thomas Jr. (17), 3. C.J. Leary (6), 4. Charles Davis Jr. (11), 5. Braden Chiaramonte (7), 6. Mitchel Moles (3), 7. Matt Westfall (15), 8. R.J. Johnson (8), 9. Jake Swanson (1), 10. Tommy Malcolm (2), 11. Chase Johnson (19), 12. Brody Roa (18), 13. Tye Mihocko (16), 14. James Turnbull II (20), 15. Grant Sexton (21), 16. Max Adams (12), 17. A.J. Bender (23-P), 18. Logan Calderwood (22), 19. Verne Sweeney (24-P), 20. Cody Williams (5), 21. Ricky Lewis (10), 22. Austin Williams (14), 23. Logan Williams (13), 24. Justin Grant (9). NT
(P) represents a provisional starter
**Tanner Boul flipped during the first heat.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Jake Swanson, Laps 2-30 Daison Pursley.
IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER / STEVE LAFOND JAR OF CHANGE HARD CHARGER: Kevin Thomas Jr. (17th to 2nd)
WILWOOD DISC BRAKES LUCKY 13 AWARD: Tye Mihocko
NEW AMSOIL USAC CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Brody Roa-1208, 2-Tommy Malcolm-1093, 3-Austin Williams-944, 4-Cody Williams-857, 5-A.J. Bender-854, 6-Charles Davis Jr.-734, 7-Logan Calderwood-729, 8-Grant Sexton-629, 9-Verne Sweeney-554, 10-R.J. Johnson-532.
NEXT AMSOIL USAC CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: November 11, 2023 – Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, California