For fans attending Saturday’s Avanti Windows and Doors USAC/CRA Sprint Car race at Perris Auto Speedway, one of the drivers to keep an eye on is third-generation racer, Logan Williams. The youngest of the three Williams brothers racing in the now 20-year-old series has yet to finish out of the top 10 in the first four races of 2024. Going into Saturday’s race, he is fourth in the championship standings and is only 14 points out of the lead. His teammate Matt McCarthy will join the personable driver at the race on the series home track.
thumbnail (3).jpgLogan Williams at Mohave Valley courtesy of Lance Jennings – scrafan.com
Williams’ last racing adventure on April 6th, saw him competing on the banked 1/3 mile Mohave Valley Raceway in Arizona. The Yorba Linda, California-based driver qualified seventh fastest in the talent-laden 28-car field with a time of 14.667. He started third in his 10-lap heat race and advanced one spot to second. That served him well as one of the top six qualifiers did not finish in the top four in his heat. That gave Williams the pole for the 30-lap main. Williams would have started seventh if the other driver had finished in the top four.
Once the main began, Williams assumed the lead and set the pace over the first two laps before relinquishing the top spot to his oldest brother Cody Williams. He slipped back to third and stayed there until the race’s midway point before dropping back a little farther.
“I was on the bottom to begin with and it was obviously better on the start,” Williams said about the Mohave main. “But it went away pretty quick. Cody got by me a couple of laps later and then KTJ (Kevin Thomas Jr.) got me. I went up to the top with them and was running third until lap 15 or 16 and then there was a yellow. I kind of messed up on the top a little bit and three or four cars got by me on the bottom. So, then I went to the bottom. Then it started taking rubber on the top and three more guys got past me. Just a combination of bad decisions and the track moving a little faster than I thought it was. I would like to have finished better. We had a good enough car to do it. That was a little disappointing but I can’t complain about this season. That is for sure.”
Impressively, the ninth-place finish goes along with fifth, sixth, and seventh-place results in the first three races of the year. It is the best start of his career and he is thoroughly enjoying it.
“It feels great,” Williams said when asked what it feels like to run up front with the big dogs.
“I have been waiting a long time to run up there with them. It feels good. We are figuring some new stuff out and we are trying some different things. It is starting to finally work out. I am just starting to figure out these cars and I have a brand-new car (DRC). The new things we have been doing with the car and the new things we have done with the chassis have been helping a lot.”
Not to be overlooked is the fact that he is currently, ranked higher in the series point standings than his two older siblings. Austin is two spots and 25 points behind him. Cody, who ended up second at Mohave, is currently 13th.
“Yeah, a little bit,” Williams laughed when told he currently has bragging rights over his brothers in the USAC/CRA standings. “They still have bragging rights over me because I have not won a race yet. That is my goal. If we can get a couple wins then I could really start bragging.”
When Williams gets back into action on the 27th at Perris, his teammate McCarthy, who did not contest the Mohave Valley race, will also be on the track. At the season opener in February, the Riverside, California driver was quick right out of the box. He qualified seventh fastest but was knocked out of his heat and the B main due to steering box problems. In March, the youthful-looking driver won his heat race and came from a 13th-place starting spot to finish 10th in the 30-lap A main.
Adult tickets to see the Flowdynamics drivers in action on Saturday are $30.00. Seniors 65 and over get in for $25.00. For kids 6-12 it is only $5.00 and children 5 and under are free. Advance tickets are available online at https://www.tix.com/ticket-sales/pas/7 or by calling 1-800-595-4849. For those who do not wish to buy advance tickets, there will be plenty available for everyone at the ticket window on Saturday. The fairgrounds charge $10.00 for parking. Perris Auto Speedway is located on the Lake Perris Fairgrounds at 18700 Lake Perris Drive in the City of Perris. Take the 215 Freeway. Exit at the Ramona Expressway and go three miles east to the fairgrounds. The track website is http://www.perrisautospeedway.com/ and the office phone number is (951) 940-0134.
Whenever you get the chance to meet the Flowdynamics drivers in person, be sure to visit them in the pits. They will be glad to sign autographs for you and each will have their fine-looking team shirts available.
If you or your company would like to be a part of one of the West Coast’s most prominent sprint car teams in the 2024 season, please contact John McCarthy at 909 930-5522 or mailto:[email protected].
McCarthy and Williams would like to thank the following sponsors for making the 2023 season possible. Flowdynamics Inc., PurgePlugs.com, Cal Therm Mechanical Insulators, JFK Design Build, So Cal Racing Fuel, and Full Throttle Lift.
Flowdynamics PR