Flowdynamics Drivers Return to Action at Saturday’s Perris Salute to Indy - Speedway Digest

After a month off from racing, the Flowdynamics duo of Matt McCarthy and Logan Williams will return to action this Saturday night, May 25th, when Perris Auto Speedway hosts the Avanti Windows and Doors USAC/CRA Sprint cars in the 71st Salute to Indy. Spectator gates for the night of family fun and 900 horsepower sideways racing will open at 5:00 PM, and the first race will begin at 7:00.

The last time the two drivers were in action was on the same famous Riverside County Half Mile Clay Oval on April 27th. That night ended when they experienced two totally different fortunes in the exciting 30-lap main event. Earlier, each had experienced success in the preliminaries. Yorba Linda, California’s Williams entered the night fourth in the series championship point standings. In the first four races of the year, he had finished in the top 10 each time, including a season-best fifth at Perris on March 16th. He kicked his night off with a dazzling qualifying lap of 16.676. That was the fourth fastest time in the 22-car field. McCarthy, a father of two who makes his home in Riverside, California, had a lap of 17.089. That was the 14th fastest time of the twenty-two cars on hand.

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Matt McCarthy at the last Perris Auto Speedway race. Anthony Hernandez photo.

Williams, who, like always, was racing against his two older brothers, was the first of the duo to compete in a 10 lap heat race. The likable driver started on the inside of the fourth row. Unfortunately, he finished fifth. That ruled him out of the invert for the first three rows in the main event. However, he would start inside row four in the 30-lapper.

In the second 10-lap heat race, McCarthy, who was only competing for the third time this year, was outside the front row. In a dazzling performance, he ran away from the field for his first heat race victory of the 2024 season.

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Logan Williams hooking up the rear tires at Perris in April. Kenny Lonngren photo.

As previously stated, Williams was lined up inside row four when the field assembled on the track for the 30-lap finale. McCarthy had a much tougher road to hoe as he came from outside the seventh row in 14th. Unfortunately, Williams’ race only lasted two laps. Drivetrain issues saw him slow to a stop near the end of the front straightaway and retire to the pit area. That broke his string of top-10 finishes and he ended up with a disappointing 22nd.

McCarthy’s fortune was quite the opposite. After disappointment due to an issue with the steering box knocking him out of his heat and the B main at the season opener, he finished 10th on March 16th. At the April race, he put on a show for the fans. The now-veteran driver moved forward throughout the race and drove all the way up to sixth. If the race had been more than 30 laps, he would have passed more cars and would have had his first top-five finish of the year.

Over the last two years, the Flowdynamics duo has done well overall at the Salute to Indy, with three top-10 finishes. Williams was fifth last year and sixth in 2022. McCarthy finished two spots behind Williams in eighth in 2023. In 2022, McCarthy placed 15th.

Adult tickets to see the Flowdynamics drivers in action at the Salute to Indy 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, plenty will be 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 your autographs, and each of them 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