A QUICK INTERVIEW WITH “THE CADILLAC,” CODY WILLIAMS By Scott Daloisio (Perris, CA, April 2, 2025) When the Avanti Windows and Doors USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series rolls back into Perris Auto Speedway this Saturday night, April 5th, second-generation racer Cody Williams will be the high point driver on the grounds. In what is shaping up as a tremendous fight for the season-long title, the six highest-point drivers at Saturday’s show will be separated by a mere 14 points. Spectator gates for the next round of action at the “Southern California Home of Major League Sprint Car Racing” will open at 5:00 p.m., and the edge-of-your-seat dirt track racing will begin at 7:00. Cody Williams on March 1st at Perris Auto Speedway. Kenny Lonngren photo. Williams, who lives in Norco, California, will be the high point driver of the USAC/CRA regulars on hand for the night. While the top two spots are currently held down by drivers who spend most of the season in the Midwest, the title will be decided between So Cal drivers, and all of the contenders will be racing Saturday. On Thursday, the father of four took a few minutes off from his busy schedule to answer a handful of questions about the 2025 season. PAS: From early indications, 2025 could be a great race for the title. How excited are you to be ahead of all the series regulars going into Saturday’s race? Williams: I am very excited. We are not technically leading the series, but we are leading the CRA guys. It is nice to actually be leading points. We will just keep going and see what we can do the rest of the season. Hopefully, we can stay ahead of all the guys. PAS: You have already won a sprint car title. The 2010 Victorville Speedway Sprint Car championship. What would a CRA title mean to you? Williams: It is pretty cool to have that title (Victorville) for sure. Obviously, it would be worth way more with CRA. The USAC/CRA title is definitely something we are searching for. PAS: Your dad, Rip, is a National Sprint Car Hall of Famer. He won over 100 main events and was the first-ever USAC/CRA champion in 2004. He is still involved with you and your brothers. What does he do for you when it comes to racing? Williams: He is pretty heavily involved. He makes sure the engine is in top-notch shape. That is the main thing he does. At the racetrack, we can definitely bounce stuff off of him and get the cars the best we can. PAS: The strong point of your racing is qualifying. What makes you so good at it? Williams: The main thing is, I think, I get my car comfortable. We don’t race a whole lot. At the beginning of the season, right now, we have been racing quite a bit. So, it has been nice. Normally, we would race like once, maybe twice a month. I just try to get my car comfortable so it is easier to drive. Especially in the beginning of the night when the track is a bit wetter. A little bit tackier. It seems to suit my setup pretty good. PAS: You were on Dave Stall’s Racer Radio Show on Sunday, and you mentioned that you are looking for sponsors, or you may have to miss some races. What is the deal with that? Williams: We are definitely looking for some more sponsors. We are still short (financially) to finish out the year. We have been searching. If anybody can give a little bit, that would really help get us through the season. We are short about seven or eight races right now. Winning at Perris this weekend would definitely help. We need to keep doing what we are doing and start picking up some wins. That will help us get through part of the season. We would need a little more help to get us through the rest of the way. PAS: Two of your main competitors for the championship are your younger brothers, Austin and Logan. How hard is it to race against them, and do you race them differently than you do anybody else? Wiliams: It is definitely a little nerve-wracking, as we are brothers. Especially with my dad, too. If one of us screws another one of us over, it does not go over well with him. We all do this for fun. We are not like the back east guys where everyone is doing it for a living. It is a different way of racing out here, as we all do it for fun. The last race at Perris, me and Austin were giving slide jobs back and forth. That was a lot of fun. Austin gave me plenty of room, and I gave him plenty of room. We did not do any crappy slide jobs where we plowed into the side of each other. Logan is the same way. He always gives me plenty of room, and I give him plenty of room. It is actually nerve-wracking and fun is what I am trying to get out. PAS: You are a third-generation racer. Your six-year-old son, Little Rip, is the first of the fourth generation to take part in racing. Tell us about him. Williams: Yes, he has been racing up at John Aden’s track (Wheel2Wheel Raceway in Victorville) in the speedway sprints they run up there. He is doing really good. He finished third in the last race. He was really happy about that and for getting a trophy. It has been fun watching him getting better and better. He did like four or five races last year. Every race he goes out, he seems to be getting better. I can’t wait until he can get into something a little bigger and a little faster. Williams wants to thank the following sponsors who are keeping him on the track in 2025. WC Friend Company, Trench Shoring, Edmunds Auto Research, CRW Design & Machining, Full Throttle Scissor Lift Rentals, Doc. Tom Merris, Emery Engineering, FK Indy Shocks, Owens Insurance Agency, CASM Safety Products, and Skunk Works. He also wanted to send a special thank you to crewman Larry Smith for his generosity in helping to keep him on the track. In addition to Williams and the other USAC/CRA stars, the PAS Senior Sprints, Young Gun Sprints, and the PASSCAR Super Stocks and Factory Stocks will also be in action on Saturday. Tickets for those 13 and up are $35.00. Seniors 65 and over get in for $30.00. For kids 6-12, it is $10.00, and children five and under are free. The fairgrounds charge $20.00 for parking. The first 250 fans through the spectator gate will receive a coupon for a free chicken sandwich at the Chick-Fil-A in Perris, which is located at Hwy 215 and Nuevo Road. In addition, early arriving fans will be treated to half off on Budweiser Beer and two for one Pepsi from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. For fans who wish, advance tickets for all of the USAC/CRA & PASSCAR, and Night of Destruction shows are available at https://www.tix.com/ticket-sales/pas/7 or by calling 800-595-4849. For fans who do not wish to purchase advance tickets, there will be plenty available for everyone at the ticket window each night. Tickets for the September 13th return of the World of Outlaw NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars at The PAS are available at https://bit.ly/42Dssil.  Camping on the fairgrounds is available for all races at $25.00 a night beginning at noon on Friday. Perris Auto Speedway is conveniently located close to the freeway at the Lake Perris Fairgrounds, home of the Southern California Fair, in nearby Riverside County. To get there, take the 215 freeway, exit at the Ramona Expressway, and go three miles east to the fairgrounds. For online directions, the address to enter is 18700 Lake Perris Drive, and the zip code is 92571. Perris Auto Speedway 2025 Schedule April 5th AVANTI USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS, PAS SENIOR/YOUNG GUN SPRINTS, PASSCAR SUPER AND FACTORY STOCKS April 12th LKQ Pick Your Part Presents NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION DEMO CROSS, FIGURE 8'S, TRAILER FIGURE 8’S, MINI STOCKS AND DOUBLE DECKERS April 26th AVANTI USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS, PAS SENIOR/ YOUNG GUN SPRINTS, PASSCAR SUPER AND STREET STOCKS May 3rd LKQ Pick Your Part Presents NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION DEMO CROSS, FIGURE 8'S TRAILER FIGURE 8’S, MINI STOCKS AND DOUBLE DECKERS May 24th "SALUTE TO INDY" AVANTI USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS, PAS SENIOR/ YOUNG GUN SPRINTS, PASSCAR STREET AND FACTORY STOCKS June 14th LKQ Pick Your Part Presents NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION DEMO CROSS, FIGURE 8'S TRAILER FIGURE 8’S, MINI STOCKS AND DOUBLE DECKERS June 21st AVANTI USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS, PAS SENIOR/ YOUNG GUN SPRINTS, PASSCAR SUPER AND STREET STOCKS JUNE 28TH “FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR AND SKY CONCERT” LKQ Pick Your Part Presents NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION DEMO CROSS, FIGURE 8'S TRAILER FIGURE 8’S, MINI STOCKS AND DOUBLE DECKERS   July 19th AVANTI USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS, PAS SENIOR/YOUNG GUNS SPRINTS, PASSCAR SUPER AND FACTORY STOCKS July 26th LKQ Pick Your Part Presents NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION DEMO CROSS, FIGURE 8'S, TRAILER FIGURE 8’S, MINI STOCKS AND DOUBLE DECKERS August 9th LKQ Pick Your Part Presents NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION DEMO CROSS, FIGURE 8'S, TRAILER FIGURE 8’S, MINI STOCKS AND DOUBLE DECKERS August 16th AVANTI USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS, PAS SENIOR/YOUNG GUNS SPRINTS, PASSCAR SUPER AND STREET STOCKS August 30th LKQ Pick Your Part Presents NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION DEMO CROSS, FIGURE 8'S, TRAILER FIGURE 8’S, MINI STOCKS AND DOUBLE DECKERS September 6th AVANTI USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS, PAS SENIOR/YOUNG GUNS SPRINTS, PASSCAR STREET AND FACTORY STOCKS SEPTEMBER 13TH THE “GREATEST SHOW ON DIRT!” THE WORLD OF OUTLAW SPRINT CARS September 20th LKQ Pick Your Part Presents NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION DEMO CROSS, FIGURE 8'S, TRAILER FIGURE 8’S, MINI STOCKS AND DOUBLE DECKERS September 27th AVANTI USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS, PAS SENIOR/YOUNG GUNS SPRINTS, PASSCAR SUPER AND FACTORY STOCKS October 18th AVANTI USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS, PAS SENIOR/YOUNG GUNS SPRINTS, PASSCAR SUPER AND STREET STOCKS October 25th LKQ Pick Your Part Presents NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION, DEMO CROSS, FIGURE 8'S, TRAILER FIGURE 8’S, MINI STOCKS AND DOUBLE DECKERS November 1st AVANTI USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS, PAS SENIOR/ YOUNG GUN SPRINTS, PASSCAR SUPER, STREET and FACTORY STOCKS (Front Gates open at 5:00 Showtime 6:30) November 8th AVANTI USAC/CRA SPRINT CARS, PAS SENIOR/YOUNG GUNS SPRINTS, “JERRY DODD CHAMPIONS NIGHT” PASSCAR SUPER, STREET AND FACTORY STOCKS (Front Gates open at 5:00 - Showtime 6:30) THIS SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE. To keep up with everything happening at The PAS, please visit the track’s social media efforts on Facebook and Instagram and visit the website at perrisautospeedway.com. The PAS would like to thank all of its 2024 marketing partners. Budweiser- https://us.budweiser.com/ Chic-Fil-A Perris – Hwy 215 & Nuevo Road Location | Chick-fil-A Chris’s Hauling Ed Pink Racing Engines – edpink.com Heimark Distributors - https://heimark.com/ Hoosier Tire - https://www.hoosiertire.com/ Living Waters Hospice - https://livingwatershospice.com/ LKQ Pick Your Part - https://www.lkqpickyourpart.com/ Marjon RV’s - https://marjonrvs.com/ Mike’s Produce Performance Online - https://www.performanceonline.com/ Premier Medical Transportation - https://pmtpremier.com/ Rapid Tire and Automotive – https://rapidtireauto.com/ Rapid Wraps - https://www.rapidwrapsandtint.com/ Sunoco Race Fuels - https://www.sunocoracefuels.com/ Symbiosis - https://symbiosiscare.com/ Trench Shoring - https://www.trenchshoring.com/ Team Stites - https://teamstites.com/ Vista Paint - https://www.vistapaint.com/ Weathertight Roofing - https://weathertightroofing.com/ Wind N Sea Towing - https://windnseatowing.com/ For information on 2025 billboard advertising at The PAS, please call 951-940-0134 and ask for Charlie Watson. Fans can stay up to date on track and driver news on The PAS social media efforts at the links below. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/.../Perris.../113876798686480...  Twitter: Perris Auto Speedway on Twitter  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perrisautospeedway/  Website: http://perrisautospeedway.com/ The PAS has a segment on Dave Stall’s Racer Radio Show every Sunday afternoon. The show airs from 3:00-5:00 p.m. PST and The PAS segment comes on at 3:30. Fans can listen live online at kcbq.com or 1170 AM on the radio if they are in the San Diego area. Replays are available at http://www.perrisautospeedway.com/radioshow.html. mailto:perrisautospeedway1@gmail.com is the only authorized Internet address to issue official media news released from The Perris Auto Speedway or Oval Entertainment