MIKE GROSSWENDT NAMED BUDWEISER OVAL NATIONALS GRAND MARSHAL! By Scott Daloisio (Perris, CA, October 3, 2018) One of sprint car racings biggest fans and supporters, Mike Grosswendt, has been named Grand Marshal of the 23rd Annual Budweiser Oval Nationals Presented by All Coast Construction at Perris Auto Speedway. The race, which is an annual showdown between the USAC National and CRA Sprint Cars, takes place on November 8th, 9th and 10th and features a purse of more than $131,000.00. Promoter Don Kazarian made the announcement at the USAC/CRA Sprint Car race on September 22nd after a meeting with Grosswendt. This was the second time Kazarian approached Grosswendt about being Grand Marshal and this time he was determined to not take no for an answer. “I asked Mike to be Grand Marshal of the Oval Nationals two years ago and he said no, because he did not think he was worthy of it,” Kazarian said with a smile. “Frankly, I cannot think of anyone who is worthier of the honor. His company, All Coast Construction, is widely known throughout the sprint car world. I told him at our meeting last month that I wanted him to be Grand Marshal. He reluctantly agreed. I am very pleased that we will get to honor him.” “Mike contributes to the purse, takes care of the media with swag bags, puts up the Tony Jones Hard Charger Award and much more,” Kazarian continued. “And, it is not only the Oval Nationals. He is involved with events at other tracks and has helped a lot of race teams. He was one of the main components to Damion Gardner establishing a speed record for a sprint car at Bonneville a few years ago. Mike is also a very talented racing photographer and a polished writer. But, most of all, he is as big a fan of non-wing sprint car racing as you will ever find.” Promoter Don Kazarian (left) and Mike Grosswendt at the 2015 Oval Nationals. Please give photo credit to Doug Allen. “It is a tremendous honor,” Grosswendt said when asked about being named Grand Marshal. “I want to thank Don for the honor. It is such a prestigious race. Drivers are inspired to take home one of the famous Budweiser Eagle trophies and the big payday. I believe it is the biggest purse in non-wing racing.” Being that he has a special place in his heart for the race, the USAC/CRA Series and Perris Auto Speedway, makes being Grand Marshal so much sweeter. “The USAC/CRA Series is the epitome of non-wing racing in the west and Perris is for all practical purpose its home base,” Grosswendt said. “The Ovals is the culmination of that series and the USAC National Series and the championship in both may come down to that final night. I have been working with Don (Kazarian) and Levi Jones from USAC and we are determined to put on a sensational show and make it as good as it has ever been.” This year’s purse for the Oval Nationals is $131,380.00. The winner of Saturday’s finale will take home $25,000.00, second place will pocket $15,000.00 and third will receive $10,000.00. The finale will pay $1,000.00 to start. The Thursday and Friday preliminaries will each pay $5,000.00 to win and $500.00 to start. All three nights will be full points paying races for both the National and CRA Series.’ Entry blanks for the Oval Nationals are available at http://perrisautospeedway.com/. Advance tickets are available at the following link https://pas.tix.com/Schedule.aspx?OrgNum=7. For fans who do not wish to buy advance tickets, there will be plenty available for everyone at the front gate each night. Oval Nationals Champions 1996 Jimmy Sills 1997 Rip Williams 1998 Rodney Argo 1999 Rickie Gaunt 2000 Tony Jones 2001 Bud Kaeding 2002 Bud Kaeding 2003 Cory Kruseman 2004 Cory Kruseman 2005 Dave Darland 2006 Dave Darland 2007 Bud Kaeding 2008 Jesse Hockett 2009 Damion Gardner 2010 Chris Windom 2011 Damion Gardner 2012 Mike Spencer 2013 Dave Darland 2014 Robert Ballou 2015 Bryan Clauson 2016 Damion Gardner 2017 Kevin Thomas Jr. Advance tickets for all PAS events, including the November 8th, 9th and 10th 23rd Annual Budweiser Oval Nationals presented by All Coast Construction, are available 24 hours a day online at https://pas.tix.com/Schedule.aspx?OrgNum=7 or by calling 1-800-595-4849. For fans who do not want to buy advance tickets, there will be plenty available for everyone at the ticket window each race night. Perris Auto Speedway wants to thank its corporate partners for the 2017 season. All Coast Construction, Amsoil, Austin Hutchinson Realtor, Battery Systems, Brass and Bass Firearms & Fishing Supplies, Budweiser, Bud’s Tire Pro, Center Point Church, Chris’ Hauling, City of Perris, Country Values Magazine, Daytona Boat & RV Storage, Ed Moore Bullet Proof Driveshaft, Edelbrock, Flowdynamics, Full Throttle Scissor Lift Rental, Green Sheet, Greg Smith Equipment, Harley’s Custom Cycles, HD Industries, Hoosier Tires, Indiana Truck Salvage, K2 Displays, K&N Engineering, Living Water’s Hospice, Luke’s Transmission, Moreno Valley Magazine of Values, Paul Oil Company, Pepsi-Cola, Pick-A-Part Auto Salvage, Pole Position, Precision Engine of Temecula, PrintItNow.com, Shaver Specialties, Square H, Sunstate Equipment, Swedish Speed, Trench Shoring, Valley News and Vista Paint. To keep up with all the latest Perris Auto Speedway news, photos, gossip and receive special offers, please use the following links: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Perris-Auto-Speedway/113876798686480?ref=hl Twitter: Perris Auto Speedway on Twitter. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perrisautospeedway/ Website: http://perrisautospeedway.com/ Video and DVD productions of all racing events at Perris Auto Speedway are available from Loudpedal Productions. For more information on these productions you can contact them by calling (805) 844-3854, E-mailing mailto:trtruex@gmail.com or you can visit the website LoudPedal Productions Perris Auto Speedway is conveniently located on the So Cal Fair and Event Center (home of October’s Southern California Fair), approximately one hour east of Los Angeles and one hour North of San Diego. To get to the track, take the 215 freeway, exit on the Ramona Expressway and go three miles east to the fairgrounds. For directions on MapQuest, the address to enter is: 18700 Lake Perris Drive and the zip code is 92571. racesatthepas@aol.com is the only authorized Internet address to issue official media news released from The Perris Auto Speedway or Oval Entertainment. 2018 Perris Auto Speedway October 6th - 14th SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FAIR October 6th - Hay Bucking 2:00 P.M., Nitro Circus 7:00 P.M. October 7th - Monster Trucks 1:30 and 6:30 P.M. October 8th - Monster Trucks 7:30 P.M. October 12th - TUFF Trucks & Off-Road Jump Contest ARENA 1:00 and 6:00 P.M October 13th - TUFF Trucks & Off-Road Jump Contest ARENA 1:00 and 6:00 P.M October 14th - Night of Destruction Democross 1:30 and 6:30 P.M. October 20th USAC/CRA Sprint Cars, PAS Senior Sprint Cars and PAS Young Guns Sprint Cars October 27th PASSCAR "Champions Night” - Street Stocks, Super Stocks, Factory Stocks and Modifieds November 7th Oval Nationals Practice November 8th 23rd Annual Budweiser Oval Nationals “Presented by All Coast Construction" USAC National and USAC/CRA Sprint Cars November 9th 23rd Annual Budweiser Oval Nationals “Presented by All Coast Construction" USAC National and USAC/CRA Sprint Cars November 10th 23rd Annual Budweiser Oval Nationals “Presented by All Coast Construction" USAC National and USAC/CRA Sprint Cars NOTE; THIS SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE