PERRIS, Calif. — Mike Spencer turned the tables on Cory Kruseman Saturday at Perris Auto Speedway when he made a late-race pass to score his first 30-lap USAC-CRA Sprint Car Series victory of the year.
For Spencer, his ninth-career USAC-CRA triumph served as a little payback for the second race of the season when Kruseman passed Spencer headed to the white flag.
“We took the lead that night and Cory got by us there at the end. Tonight, it was kind of the opposite and we were able to get by him at the end,” Spencer recalled. “We come out here trying to put ourselves in a position to win every week and fortunately we’ve been close. I’m just excited to get our first win of the season and, hopefully, there’s more to come.”  
Spencer grabbed the lead on lap 23 and held off Kruseman.
“It was exciting racing side by side with Cory,” Spencer explained. “We swapped the lead a couple times with him and it just seems like we’ve been battling Cory the last three or four times we’ve been here. He’s a great racer, and he’s always tough to beat here, especially when he starts up front.”
Defending series champion Tony Jones started ninth and finished third, while Tyler Brown and Rickie Gaunt rounded out the top five.
The summary:
Qualifications: 1. Josh Ford, Ford 73, 16.633; 2. Mike Spencer, Chaffin 50, 16.679; 3. Tyler Brown, Gardner 96, 16.706; 4. Blake Miller, Gardner 93, 16.761; 5. Alex Schutte, Kruseman 41k, 16.935; 6. Davey Pombo, Crossno 38, 16.963; 7. Cory Kruseman, Kruseman 21k, 16.990; 8. Garrett Hansen, Preistley 7, 17.027; 9. Tony Jones, Alexander 4, 17.081; 10. Rickie Gaunt, Smiley 2a, 17.099; 11. Danny Sheridan, Kittle 18, 17.100; 12. Nic Faas, Faas 117, 17.125; 13. David Cardey, Crossno 83, 17.232; 14. Luis Espinoza, Sertich 92, 17.288; 15. Jordan Hermansader, Rase 32, 17.343; 16. J. Hicks, Miller 66, 17.420; 17. Jonas Reynolds, Reynolds 48, 17.629; 18. Royal Adderson, Adderson 40, 17.651; 19. Todd Hunsaker, Hunsaker 6, 17.673; 20. Cody Williams, Jory 3, 17.691; 21. Austin Mero, Kruseman 71k, 17.706; 22. Rusty Carlile, Carlile 51x, 17.741; 23. Billy Blinn, Blinn 26, 17.754; 24. Tony Everhart, Everhart 55, 18.246; 25. Kenny Perkins, Perkins 34, 18.404; 26. Joe Gunderson, Gunderson 57, 18.538; 27. Eric Severson, Leonard 48n, 18.802; 28. Brein Kinney, Persall 85, 19.156; 29. J.J. Ercse, Persall 84, 21.343.
First Heat (10 laps): Ford, Jones, Cardey, Schutte, Mero, Ercse, Reynolds, Perkins.
Second Heat (10 laps): Spencer, Pombo, Gaunt, Espinoza, Carlile, Adderson, Gunderson.
Third Heat (10 laps): Sheridan, Brown, Kruseman, Hermansader, Hunsaker, Blinn, Severson.
Fourth Heat (10 laps): Miller, Hicks, Hansen, Faas, Williams, Kinney, Everhart.
Semi (12 laps): Williams, Reynolds, Mero, Carlile, Hunsaker, Ercse, Blinn, Everhart, Perkins, Kinney, Severson, Gunderson, Adderson.
Feature (30 laps): Spencer, Kruseman, Jones, Brown, Gaunt, Cardey, Hermansader, Espinoza, Schutte, Sheridan, Faas, Williams, Hansen, Carlile, Mero, Ercse, Reynolds, Hunsaker, Hicks, Ford, Miller, Pombo.