Darland wins second straight Oval Nationals

Defending Budweiser Oval Nationals winner Dave Darland of Kokomo, Ind., took home the $30,000 first prize offered by the Perris Auto Speedway for the second year in a row.

Although Darland started on the front row, his 40-lap victory did not come easily. Temecula’s Mike Spencer, who won Thursday’s preliminary feature, took the lead from Darland on the 14th lap and again on the 19th. Showing the grit of a former USAC National sprint car champion, Darland battled back to take the lead for good 14 laps from the finish.

Spencer tried to rally but had difficulty lapping cars and ultimately settled for third behind defending USAC National sprint car champion Levi Jones of Olney, Ill.

“It was anything but easy,” Darland said in victory lane. “Lapped traffic played a big part in the outcome of this race. Mike led and had me pretty worried for a while.

“There were a lot of good drivers here this weekend and for me to come out on top is really something.”

Despite a great run from the 11th starting spot, Darland’s victory in the Jeff Walker Racing No. 11 car was more than a little tough for Jones to accept.

“Me and my dad built the car Dave drove in my garage, and let me tell you, it’s hard to get beat by your own car,” Jones said.

USAC/CRA point leader Cory Kruseman of Ventura moved one step closer to nailing down his first CRA title with his fourth-place finish.

Sixteen-year-old Brady Bacon of Broken Arrow, Okla., finished fifth.

It was a tough weekend for many of the 74 drivers that entered this year’s Oval Nationals. In contrast, only one car, driven by Rip Williams of Yorba Linda, flipped in the championship race.

Williams, who has more victories than any other driver at Perris, was unhurt.