Brent Sexton Places 11th in Usac/Cra Main at Perris on His Mom’s Birthday - Speedway Digest

A festive mood greeted visitors to the Sexton Gatlin Racing pit area when the Avanti Windows and Doors USAC/CRA Sprint Cars visited Perris Auto Speedway last Saturday night. The crew and drivers were celebrating the birthday of Brent Sexton’s mom and co-team owner, Nita Gatlin. On the night, Brent steered his eye-catching #44 to an 11th-place finish in the 30-lap main event.

Bent Sexton photo from Perris courtesy of Kenny Lonngren.

On the pleasant last day of summer, when the daytime temperature failed to reach 100 degrees at the track for the first time at a PAS sprint car race since April, Brent was accompanied by his talented 20-year-old son, Grant. Besides them, 20 of the other fastest traditional sprint cars on the West Coast were on hand for an evening of 410 sprint car series racing.

Grant got the ball rolling for SGR when he timed in 14^th fastest of the cars on hand with a lap of 17.343. Brent, 52, was not far behind when he stopped the track clocks at 17.590. That was just under a quarter second slower than his son. That is very good considering he was using a 360 engine and he was pitted against a powerful field of 410s. It was the 18^th best time of the night.

For Grant, the 2021 POWRi Southwest Lightning Sprint Car champion, his lap placed him on the outside of row one in the second 10-lap heat race. Ultimately, the talkative racer ended up in the same second-place position as he started. Brent also started on the front of his heat, and after scrapping up front early on, he rolled past the checkers in sixth.

When the 22-car field pulled onto the track for the 30-lap finale, Grant was on the outside of the seventh row, and Brent was outside row nine. Unfortunately, Grant’s time in the race did not last long. A wild lap-two crash involving several cars in front of him gathered him in. His car and four others suffered major damage and were knocked out of the race. Sadly, that meant he ended up 21^st.

Brent managed to steer his way through the crash and several others in the remainder of the race. With the numerous tangles throughout the night, that was a feat in itself. By the end of the 30th lap, he improved his position by six spots to finish 11^th. That was his second-best result in the USAC/CRA Series this season. It was also his fourth best of the year overall in a full-sized sprint car, as he has ninth-place finishes in both USAC and the USCS. He also has a 10^th in USCS competition.

Brent left Perris 13^th in points, with Grant 14^th. In addition, Brent is third in the Rookie of the Year chase and is just 35 points out of second.

This Saturday night, September 28^th, rookie Braydin Collie will be making his fourth start in the SGR #44 in the SoCal Lightning Sprint Car Series. The teen has finished in the top 10 in his first three starts placing fifth and ninth at Barona and sixth at Santa Maria. The last time the USCS ran wingless was at Barona on May 25th, and the car Collie was driving won the main event with Brent at the wheel.

To see Collie in action at Barona, gates will open at noon, with racing at 6:00. Adult tickets are $20.00. For kids 7 to 17, admission is $10.00. Seniors, Military, and EMTs also get in for $10.00. Children 6 and under are free. Family packs of two adults and two kids are $50.00. Parking is free. The Barona Speedway is located at 1754 Wildcat Canyon Road in Lakeside, California. The track website is https://baronaspeedway.com/, and the phone number is (619) 994-6560.

Sexton Gatlin Racing would like to thank the following companies for making the 2024 season possible. East County Electric Works, Keys Brothers, BR Motorsports, Maxima Oil, Automated Interiors, Sexton Fire Protection, BK Wings, Troy Dirt.

If you or your company are interested in becoming a marketing partner with Sexton Gatlin Racing in 2024, please call (619) 454-6945 or E-mail mailto:[email protected] or mailto:[email protected].

SGR PR