September 14, 2025 | By Alex Nietem, WOO Sprint Car PR

Balog Fends Off Gravel for Perris World of Outlaws Victory

PERRIS, Calif.—Nothing was stopping Bill Balog Saturday at Perris Auto Speedway. Not even a hole in his right rear tire.

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars rolled into the SoCal oval, and Balog’s No. 17B was on rails right when the green flag flew for the 30-lap Feature. The “North Pole Nightmare” drove away from the field in the early stages.

Even when lapped traffic became a factor, Balog didn’t falter. He put cars between himself and runner-up David Gravel and padded his advantage to nearly four seconds at one point. There looked to be no doubt that Balog would cruise to Victory Lane. But then the closing stages of the race threw a curveball to the Hartland, WI resident.

A small hole appeared on Balog’s right rear, and Gravel started to close the gap. The defending Series champion chipped away at Balog’s lead and looked as if he may be able to steal it late as Balog tripped on the Turn 2 cushion. But that mistake prompted Balog to move to the bottom at just the right time and play defense as the final laps clicked away. With his lane occupied by Balog, Gravel had no answer. He got close in the final set of corners, but Balog held on for his first victory in the state of California.

“I definitely was losing a little bit of drive,” Balog said of the final portion of the race. “Anytime you can beat David for even just a couple laps it’s kind of a win. The car was just operating tremendously… I didn’t want to start making the wrong decisions or anything like that, so we were just kind of working on it and trying to feel what it liked, and obviously the car was just super good.

“It’s just really hard to beat these guys. I’ve said it before. It’s tough. Hats off to the track crew. We’re definitely going to celebrate this one.”

Saturday’s score moved Balog up to three wins in 2025 with The Greatest Show on Dirt to go along with triumphs at Talladega Short Track and Huset’s Speedway. That gives him sole possession of the fourth most among full-time competitors. He became the 13th different driver to win with the World of Outlaws at the “PAS.”

David Gravel rebounded after a flat tire derailed his Friday in Bakersfield by bringing the Big Game Motorsports No. 2 home in the runner-up spot at Perris. The Watertown, CT native has been on the podium in eight of his last 10 races this year. The defending Series champion was happy with his speed but found himself wishing he’d attacked the final lap slightly differently to have a shot to potentially steal the victory.

“Bill was awesome early on in lapped traffic. He was the class of the field,” Gravel admitted. “And then there at the end he started getting spinny. It seems like he got a hole in his right rear. When I had the whole bottom to myself, I was definitely gaining on him. Once he kind of moved down my car kind of unhooked. I still had a shot at it though. If I ran the bottom of (Turns) 3 and 4 on the last lap, I think I had a chance to win.”

Michael “Buddy” Kofoid followed up his Friday Bakersfield victory with a third place run aboard the Roth Motorsports No. 83 at Perris. The Penngrove, CA native hasn’t missed the top five over the last nine races.

“The track shaped up better than I thought,” Kofoid said. “I wish the top would’ve come in. I felt really good on the top at the end. It just gets dirty and dirty from everyone being down there on the bottom. You can only give it so much before you get back down.”

Garet Williamson and D.J. Netto completed the top five.

Kaleb Montgomery earned the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger.

Carson Macedo snagged his sixth Simpson Quick Time of 2025 in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying.

Heat Races belonged to Carson Macedo (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Bill Balog (Real American Beer Heat Two), and Buddy Kofoid (WIX Filters Heat Three).

The SPA Technique #1 Redraw went to David Gravel.

Bill Balog topped the Toyota Dash.

The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Carson Macedo.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars finalize the California swing in a big way at Thunderbowl Raceway’s (Tulare, CA) $83,000-to-win Dennis Roth Classic on Sept. 19-20. For ticket and event information, CLICK HERE.

If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.


RESULTS

NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps): 1. 17B-Bill Balog[1]; 2. 2-David Gravel[2]; 3. 83-Michael Kofoid[3]; 4. 23-Garet Williamson[5]; 5. 88N-DJ Netto[4]; 6. 1S-Logan Schuchart[9]; 7. 21-Spencer Bayston[8]; 8. 15S-Kerry Madsen[7]; 9. 18-Emerson Axsom[12]; 10. 3-Kaleb Montgomery[15]; 11. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[16]; 12. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[11]; 13. W-Donny Schatz[10]; 14. 0-Tim Kaeding[17]; 15. 99-Skylar Gee[13]; 16. 7S-Chris Windom[20]; 17. 41S-Dominic Scelzi[19]; 18. 2C-Cole Macedo[14]; 19. 10-Dominic Gorden[18]; 20. 6-Zach Hampton[21]; 21. 14-Mariah Ede[23]; 22. 41-Carson Macedo[6]; 23. 8-Jake Helsel[24]; 24. 28M-Conner Morrell[22]

Toyota Dash (6 Laps): 1. 17B-Bill Balog[2]; 2. 2-David Gravel[1]; 3. 83-Michael Kofoid[3]; 4. 88N-DJ Netto[4]; 5. 23-Garet Williamson[6]; 6. 41-Carson Macedo[5]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo[1]; 2. 23-Garet Williamson[2]; 3. 15S-Kerry Madsen[3]; 4. W-Donny Schatz[5]; 5. 99-Skylar Gee[4]; 6. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[7]; 7. 41S-Dominic Scelzi[6]; 8. 28M-Conner Morrell[8]; 9. 98-Verne Sweeney[9]

Real American Beer Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 17B-Bill Balog[2]; 2. 2-David Gravel[1]; 3. 21-Spencer Bayston[3]; 4. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[4]; 5. 2C-Cole Macedo[5]; 6. 0-Tim Kaeding[7]; 7. 7S-Chris Windom[6]; 8. 14-Mariah Ede[8]

WIX Filters Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 83-Michael Kofoid[1]; 2. 88N-DJ Netto[2]; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart[3]; 4. 18-Emerson Axsom[4]; 5. 3-Kaleb Montgomery[5]; 6. 10-Dominic Gorden[6]; 7. 6-Zach Hampton[7]; 8. 8-Jake Helsel[8]

Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying (2 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo, 00:14.244[22]; 2. 2-David Gravel, 00:14.267[8]; 3. 83-Michael Kofoid, 00:14.397[10]; 4. 23-Garet Williamson, 00:14.417[17]; 5. 17B-Bill Balog, 00:14.455[3]; 6. 88N-DJ Netto, 00:14.478[13]; 7. 15S-Kerry Madsen, 00:14.481[9]; 8. 21-Spencer Bayston, 00:14.533[18]; 9. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 00:14.534[20]; 10. 99-Skylar Gee, 00:14.550[4]; 11. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 00:14.563[15]; 12. 18-Emerson Axsom, 00:14.582[12]; 13. W-Donny Schatz, 00:14.586[16]; 14. 2C-Cole Macedo, 00:14.605[5]; 15. 3-Kaleb Montgomery, 00:14.655[21]; 16. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 00:14.688[25]; 17. 7S-Chris Windom, 00:14.705[1]; 18. 10-Dominic Gorden, 00:14.709[11]; 19. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 00:14.713[19]; 20. 0-Tim Kaeding, 00:14.725[7]; 21. 6-Zach Hampton, 00:14.795[23]; 22. 28M-Conner Morrell, 00:14.934[14]; 23. 14-Mariah Ede, 00:15.057[24]; 24. 8-Jake Helsel, 00:15.145[6]; 25. 98-Verne Sweeney, 00:17.026[2]


CURRENT WORLD OF OUTLAWS SERIES STANDINGS

Points Updated: September 12, 2025

Pos. No. Driver Hometown Points Gap Starts Wins Top 5s Top 10s
1 2 David Gravel Watertown, CT 7514  55 13 47 53
2 83 Michael Kofoid Penngrove, CA 7372 -142 55 11 34 47
3 41 Carson Macedo Lemoore, CA 7298 -216 55 10 31 43
4 1S Logan Schuchart Hanover, PA 7174 -340 53 2 28 42
5 17 Sheldon Haudenschild Wooster, OH 7018 -496 55 2 23 36
6 W Donny Schatz Fargo, ND 6856 -658 55 0 8 29
7 17B Bill Balog North Pole, AK 6700 -814 53 2 13 29
8 23 Garet Williamson Columbia, MO 6578 -936 53 0 4 21
9 7S Chris Windom Canton, IL 6542 -972 50 0 4 20
10 2C Cole Macedo Lemoore, CA 6396 -1118 47 0 4 15
11 55 Hunter Schuerenberg Sikeston, MO 6218 -1296 44 0 1 13
12 6 Zach Hampton Mooresville, IN 6124 -1390 43 0 1 6
13 99 Skylar Gee Leduc, AB, CA 6050 -1464 37 0 2 8
14 28M Conner Morrell Bradenton, FL 5776 -1738 38 0 2 3
15 7BC Giovanni Scelzi Fresno, CA 5250 -2264 41 1 7 28
16 18 Emerson Axsom Franklin, IN 4674 -2840 34 0 3 13
17 39M Anthony Macri Dillsburg, PA 2772 -4742 23 3 6 12
18 15 Kerry Madsen Knoxville, IA 2588 -4926 18 0 3 10
19 45X Landon Crawley Benton, AR 2584 -4930 10 0 1 2
20 24T Christopher Thram Sanborn, MN 2518 -4996 17 0 0 0



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R.J. JOHNSON TAKES USAC CRA’S PERRIS SO-CAL SHOWDOWN

By: Lance Jennings

PERRIS, Calif. -- Starting fifth, R.J. Johnson took the lead from “Chargin” Charles Davis Jr. on the 15th lap and shook free from all challengers to win the “So-Cal Showdown” at Perris Auto Speedway.

The Laveen, Arizona driver took the Petty Performance Racing #33p Sherman to his first Avanti Windows & Doors USAC CRA Sprint Car victory of the season over Ricky Lewis, Davis, hard charger Eddie Tafoya Jr., and Tommy “Thunder” Malcolm.

For his efforts, the multi-time Arizona Sprint Car Champion also earned an extra $500 from the series title sponsor, Avanti Windows & Doors.

Ricky Lewis of Oxnard, California began the night by claiming his fourth career Woodland Auto Display / WC Friend Company Access Systems Fast Time Award. The owner/driver of the Mesilla Valley Transportation #41 DRC posted a time of 16.819 seconds over the 21-car roster.

Making his second start in the J.W. Mitchell Motorsports #37 Maxim, Yorba Linda, California’s Logan Williams raced to victory in the 8-lap In Honor of Wiley Miler Sr. & Wiley Miller II / Sexton Fire Protection First Heat Race. Defending series champion, R.J. Johnson powered past Brody Roa to top the Silbermann Solar / Factory Wraps Second Heat Race. Verne Sweeney of Lomita, California held off Logan Calderwood to win the WC Friend Company Access Systems / In Memory of Jim & Chet Gardner Third Heat Race aboard the Rachel Guerrero #98 DRC.

Starting 13th, Chino Hills, California’s Eddie Tafoya Jr. earned his second In Memory of Jim and Chet Gardner Hard Charger Award / “Best Passing Job” honors of the campaign. The 2019 Rookie of the Year raced up to fourth at the checkered flags.

The Avanti Windows & Doors USAC CRA Sprint Car Series will be back in action on Saturday, September 27th at Perris Auto Speedway. For more information on the Avanti Windows & Doors USAC CRA Sprint Car Series, visit www.usacracing.com and the social media for USAC Racing. You can also find exclusive content on the USAC CRA Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.


AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: September 13, 2025 – Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, California – So-Cal Showdown

WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY / WC FRIEND COMPANY ACCESS SYSTEMS QUALIFYING: 1. Ricky Lewis, 41, Lewis-16.819; 2. R.J. Johnson, 33p, Petty-16.932; 3. Tommy Malcolm, 5x, Napier-16.960; 4. Connor Lundy, 97, Lundy-17.037; 5. David Gasper, 18, Kittle/Gasper-17.150; 6. Blake Bower, 17x, Dunkel-17.213; 7. Logan Williams, 37, Mitchell-17.358; 8. Charles Davis Jr., 47, Davis-17.362; 9. Cole Wakim, 73, Ford-17.379; 10. Austin Williams, 17w, Dunkel-17.412; 11. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-17.430; 12. Logan Calderwood, 6, Calderwood-17.433; 13. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 51T, Tafoya-17.441; 14. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-17.454; 15. Verne Sweeney, 98, Guerrero-17.625; 16. Brent Sexton, 44s, Sexton-18.319; 17. Brecken Guerrero, 98B, Guerrero-18.414; 18. Lonnie Hochstetler, 31H, Hochstetler-18.525; 19. Elexa Herrera, 5E, Herrera-18.732; 20. Jeff Shelton, 72, Shelton-18.812; 21. Jon DeWees, 63D, DeWees-18.903.

IN HONOR OF WILEY MILLER SR. & WILEY MILLER II / SEXTON FIRE PROTECTION FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Logan Williams, 2. Austin Williams, 3. Ricky Lewis, 4. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 5. Connor Lundy, 6. Elexa Herrera, 7. Brent Sexton. 2:24.01

SILBERMANN SOLAR / FACTORY WRAPS SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. R.J. Johnson, 2. Brody Roa, 3. Charles Davis Jr., 4. David Gasper, 5. A.J. Bender, 6. Brecken Guerrero, 7. Jeff Shelton. 2:21.38

WC FRIEND COMPANY ACCESS SYSTEMS / IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Verne Sweeney, 2. Logan Calderwood, 3. Tommy Malcolm, 4. Cole Wakim, 5. Blake Bower, 6. Jon DeWees, 7. Lonnie Hochstetler. 2:22.67

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. R.J. Johnson (5), 2. Ricky Lewis (6), 3. Charles Davis Jr. (1), 4. Eddie Tafoya Jr. (13), 5. Tommy Malcolm (4), 6. Logan Calderwood (12), 7. Austin Williams (10), 8. Brody Roa (14), 9. Connor Lundy (7), 10. David Gasper (3), 11. Cole Wakim (9), 12. Logan Williams (2), 13. A.J. Bender (11), 14. Jon DeWees (21), 15. Elexa Herrera (19), 16. Brecken Guerrero (17), 17. Lonnie Hochstetler (18), 18. Jeff Shelton (20), 19. Verne Sweeney (15), 20. Blake Bower (8), 21. Brent Sexton (16). NT

**Blake Bower flipped on lap 1 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-14 Charles Davis Jr., Laps 15-30 R.J. Johnson.

IN MEMORY OF JIM & CHET GARDNER HARD CHARGER: Eddie Tafoya Jr. (13th to 4th)

AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-R.J. Johnson-1085, 2-Ricky Lewis-1070, 3-Austin Williams-912, 4-A.J. Bender-871, 5-Tommy Malcolm-864, 6-David Gasper-766, 7-Blake Bower-742, 8-Charles Davis Jr.-730, 9-Connor Lundy-650, 10-Eddie Tafoya Jr.-583.

NEXT AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS USAC CRA SPRINT CAR RACE: September 27 – Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, California