USAC’s Lucas Oil National and USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series are headed for the 12th “Budweiser Oval Nationals” this week at Perris (Calif. ) Auto Speedway, presented by Temecula Valley Pipe and Supply. Twenty-five lap features are scheduled Thursday and Friday and Saturday night’s finale is a 40-lapper on the 1/2-mile dirt oval.
National points leaders Levi Jones, Darren Hagen and Dave Darland stamped themselves as favorites with their podium finishes in Saturday night’s 30-lap Lucas Oil USAC/CRA race at the Las Vegas (Nev. ) Motor Speedway Dirt Track. Hagen won the race in his Keith Kunz Motorsports Advanced Racing/Hoosier Tire Bullet/Speedway Dodge, while Darland took second and Jones third. Hagen took the lead on lap 14 when early leader Brady Bacon blew a tire while leading.
USAC/CRA point leaders Tony Jones, Mike Spencer and Danny Sheridan finished seventh, fourth and 12th in the Las Vegas feature, leaving Jones only 50 points ahead of Spencer in the new standings. Jones’ National lead over Hagen stands at 61 points, with a total of over 200 points available at Perris.
Robert Ballou, who posted a pair of National victories at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio this year, also bears watching at Perris after out-qualifying the field at Las Vegas. Ballou unfortunately did not secure a feature berth at Las Vegas.
Spencer, Jones and Darland recorded victories in last year’s “Budweiser Oval Nationals, ” with Darland taking the 40-lap finale.
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