By: Fast Time Media
6/13/23... Perris, California: Saturday Night, AJ Bender was back in action with the USAC CRA Sprint Cars at Perris Auto Speedway. He put together another great night as he brought home another top-5 finish.
The night got off to a good start with qualifying. AJ would go out late, but would still be able to lay down a very good lap. That put the driver of the number 21 5th quickest overall in time trials.
"The night started off good. Felt good and comfortable in practice and that carried over to qualifying. Went out late in qualifying and was able to qualify 5th."
AJ then started his heat race in the 4th spot on the outside of row two. He quickly jumped to the 2nd spot & began to reel in the leader. AJ assumed the lead & would go on to win his heat race from the 4th starting position.
"That started me 4th in my heat race. Got to second on the start and had to battle with gansen and eventually got to the lead and run away and hide because I knew roa and Williams would be coming. Picked up the heat race win."
With the invert, AJ rolled off from the outside of the front row in 2nd. Unfortunately, things felt off for AJ during the feature. Just a couple laps in, AJ would feel uncomfortable behind the wheel of the 21 as something felt off.
Despite being uncomfortable, AJ would still battle up front & try to stay in the top-5. As the feature went on the car only started to feel worse. However, AJ stayed in the fight & kept the car in the top-5. When the checkered flag fell, AJ was in the 5th spot where he would round out the top-5.
"With the invert that put me starting 2nd. I had a lot of confidence to start the main. But after a couple laps something didn’t feel right. I couldn’t get the tires to start spinning and as the race went on it only got worse and worse. I fall back to 5th and stayed there all race. Turns out the RR had 10 more pounds of air than it should because our bleeder took a crap."
AJ continues to put together consistent nights in 2023. No matter what is thrown at him, he finds a way to overcome it & bring home some solid results & Saturday was no different as he salvaged a 5th place finish.
AJ would like to thank his sponsors!
Next Race: TBA
2023 season stats: 19 events, 17 features, 1 win, 6 top-5's, 13 top-10's
Comments