The "Southern California Home of Major League Sprint Car Racing," Perris Auto Speedway, will open it's 17th season this Saturday night, February 25th, with the Sokola Shootout for the Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Cars, PAS Senior Sprints and the California Lightning Sprint Cars. Saturday's race honors the memories of past CRA president and car owner Gary Sokola and his son Mark who was a sprint car racer.   Spectator gates will open at 5:00 PM and the first race will be at 7:00. 

While The PAS celebrates it's 17th birthday, 2012 will be the ninth year for the USAC/CRA Series and it could be one of its best seasons to date.

"We are very optimistic that 2012 is going to be a very good year," promoter Don Kazarian said.  "Several young drivers are jumping into the series and USAC made sure there are no conflicts between the CRA and West Coast 360 Series as there have been in the past.  The amount of teams we have seen on the track at practice has been a very pleasant surprise."

Good news for the teams competing at The PAS is the increase in the purse for 2012.  The purse will return to what it was a few years ago and the winner will again get $2,500.00 (as opposed to $2,000.00 the past few seasons) and it will pay a minimum of $300.00 to start the main (as opposed to $150.00).

Temecula, California second generation racer Mike Spencer heads the list of entries for the USAC/CRA portion of the show.  The affable Cal Poly Pomona Engineering graduate will begin the drive for five straight USAC/CRA championships on Saturday.   The 30-year-old led the series with six wins in 2011.  (Media, attached to this release is a photo of Mike Spencer.  Please feel free to publish the photo and if used, please give photo credit to Doug Allen.)

"Mike Spencer is a promoter's dream," Kazarian said.  "In addition to being a great driver, he is good-looking, very well spoken and he is outstanding with the fans.  He has to be considered the favorite for the championship heading into the season, but he may face his stiffest challenges yet."

The leading challengers for Spencer's crown are 22-year-old Nick Faas of Huntington Beach, California and Yorba Linda's Matt Mitchell.  Faas ended up second in the standings to Spencer in 2011 and won three of the final eight races of the year including night number one of the Budweiser Oval Nationals.  Mitchell, 24, won two mains in 2011 and ended up third in points behind champion Spencer and Faas.   

Austin Williams, the 21-year-old middle son of National Sprint Car Hall of Famer Rip Williams, ended up fourth in points last year and scored his first USAC/CRA win at Santa Maria.  Saturday will be his first race back since suffering a fractured shoulder blade in a violent flip on the final day of the Oval Nationals.  The Yorba Linda based racer will be joined by his older brother Cody, who finished sixth in last year's championship chase and his famous father Rip, who was eighth.

One driver who will not be back for 2012 is Visalia's Greg Bragg.  For the past few seasons, the racing farmer has been a fixture in the Tom & Laurie Sertich #92 Moose Racing entry and he finished fifth in points last year.  However, Bragg is taking time away from the series in 2012.  Filling the seat this Saturday will be Mesa, Arizona native Casey Shuman who now calls Indiana home.  Shuman placed 7th and 18th in the season openers for the Amsoil USAC National Championship Series in Ocala, Florida two weeks ago.

The PAS Senior Sprint Car Series will open a full season of racing this Saturday.  Last year the series only had a handful of races, but in 2012, it has nine dates including their first ever appearance at the Oval Nationals on November 2nd and 3rd.  The rules for the Senior Sprints are quite simple.  In fact, besides safety rules, the only rules are drivers must be 45-years-old or older and have a cast iron block 360 engine.  Bill Badger, a 61-year-old from Saugus, will be back to defend his 2011 title. 

Rounding out Saturday's show will be the California Lightning Sprint Series.  2012 will be the 19th season for the series that has produced such stars as Mike Spencer, Darren Hagen, David Cardey and Greg Bragg. The series had a bounce back season in 2011 and fans can expect to see the largest opening night CLS field in years on Saturday.  Wildomar's Tim Brown, who turned 52 last week, won the championship in 2011.

The best deal in racing, money saving 2012 Perris Auto Speedway season tickets, is only available through this Friday, February 24th.  To get yours, please call The PAS office at: (951) 940-0134.