R.J. Johnson and Clauson Copper on Dirt Champions!

From Lonnie Wheatley

Peoria, AZ — (March 2, 2013) — R.J. Johnson put a stop to Byan Clauson’s reign of Canyon Speedway Park domination by winning Saturday night’s Sixth Annual Copper on Dirt 30-lap main event in the USAC/CRA Sprint Car ranks after Clauson had earlier completed a sweep of the weekend’s USAC Western States Midget action atop the 1/3-mile clay oval.

While Phoenix native Johnson bested the Sprint Car ranks and Clauson conquered the Midgets, Garrett Alberson took Copper on Dirt honors in West Coast Late Model action with George Fronsman victorious in IMCA Modified competition.

After starting from the second row inside, Johnson took the lead away from Bruce St. James on the second round and led the rest of the way for Copper on Dirt honors in the 30-lap USAC/CRA feature aboard the Martin owned Weiler Farms/Pecon Builders to deny Clauson his ninth CSP triumph in ten feature starts.

Johnson took the checkered flag ahead of front row outside starter Nic Faas, with Clauson settling for the show position.  Damion Gardner climbed from 12th to fourth, with Ryan Bernal charging from 19th to round out the top five.  Bud Kaeding, 18th-starter Hunter Schuerenberg, 17th-starter Rickie Gaunt, Charles Davis, Jr., and Brody Roa completed the top ten.

Starting from the front row outside, Clauson completed a sweep of the weekend’s USAC Western States Midget Copper on Dirt action after chasing Kody Swanson for the opening 18 rounds of the 25-lapper.  Clauson took command on the 19th circuit aboard the Tucker/BCI/Curb-Agajanian No. 39 and beat Rico Abreu to the stripe, with fast qualifier Christopher Bell rebounding from an early spin to claim the show position.  R.J. Johnson was fourth, with Kyle Larson showing up in time to tag the field and race from 21st to round out the top five.

Alberson bested the West Coast Late Models by racing from the second row inside to take the checkered flag in front of reigning series champion Clay Daly, with Anthony Madrid, Nick Bartels and Tony Torte rounding out the top five.

George Fronsman raced from the pole position to take top IMCA Modified honors ahead of 10th-starter Anthony Madrid with Guy Norton, Ricky Thornton, Jr., and Brandon Eichelberger rounding out the top five.

Canyon Speedway Park kicks off the 2013 regular season on Saturday night, March 16, with a card that features the USAC Southwest Sprint Cars along with Micro Sprints, Challenge Cup Sprint Cars and Southwest Mod Lites.

Canyon Speedway Park
Sixth Annual Copper on Dirt Finale Results:

USAC/CRA Sprint Cars:

Qualifying: 1. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-13.588; 2. Charles Davis Jr., 4G, Cook-13.712; 3. Bryan Clauson, 16B, Martin-13.729; 4. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-13.784; 5. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-13.829; 6. Bud Kaeding, 29, Bowman-13.970; 7. Nic Faas, 4, Alexander-13.972; 8. Bruce St. James, 7K, St. James-14.029; 9. Brody Roa, 91, BR-14.033; 10. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-14.127; 11. Cory Kruseman, 7, Priestley-14.175; 12. Damion Gardner, 4a, Alexander-14.199; 13. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-14.222; 14. Seth Wilson, 1x, Wilson-14.251; 15. David Cardey, 92, Sertich-14.254; 16. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-14.267; 17. Rickie Gaunt, 66, Miller-14.309; 18. Hunter Schuerenberg, 8, Ream-14.332; 19. Ryan Bernal, 73, Ford-14.441; 20. J.J. Yeley, 11, Yeley-14.521; 21. David Bezio, 37x, Bezio-14.626; 22. Andrew Reinbold, 19, Underwood-14.634; 23. Michael Curtis, 11c, Brett-14.643; 24. Josh Hodges, 74X, Hodges-14.654; 25. Tony Everhart, 55, Everhart-14.771; 26. Mike Martin, 16, Martin-NT.

First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 2-Austin Williams, 2. 4-Nic Faas, 3. 37-Matt Mitchell, 4. 50-Mike Spencer, 5. 51-R.J. Johnson, 6. 73-Ryan Bernal, 7. 44-Cody Williams, 8. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 9. 55-Tony Everhart.

Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 4g-Charles Davis, Jr., 2. 1x-Seth Wilson, 3. 7-Cory Kruseman, 4. 66-Rickie Gaunt, 5. 7k-Bruce St. James, 6. 11-J.J. Yeley, 7. 16-Mike Martin, 8. 3-Rip Williams, 9. 11c-Michael Curtis.

Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 16b-Bryan Clauson, 2. 4a-Damion Gardner, 3. 8-Hunter Schuerenberg, 4. 92-David Cardey, 5. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 6. 29-Bud Kaeding, 7. 91-Brody Roa, 8. 37x-David Bezio.

“B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 29-Bud Kaeding, 2. 3-Rip Williams, 3. 73-Ryan Bernal, 4. 91-Brody Roa, 5. 11-J.J. Yeley, 6. 44-Cody Williams, 7. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 8. 16-Mike Martin, 9. 37x-David Bezio, 10. 55-Tony Everhart, 11. 11c-Michael Curtis.

“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 51-R.J. Johnson, 2. 4-Nic Faas, 3. 16b-Bryan Clauson, 4. 4a-Damion Gardner, 5. 73-Ryan Bernal, 6. 29-Bud Kaeding, 7. 8-Hunter Schuerenberg, 8. 66-Rickie Gaunt, 9. 4g-Charles Davis, Jr., 10. 91-Brody Roa, 11. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 12. 92-David Cardey, 13. 11-J.J. Yeley, 14. 3-Rip Williams, 15. 44-Cody Williams, 16. 1x-Seth Wilson, 17. 19-Andew Reinbold, 18. 2-Austin Williams, 19. 37x-David Bezio, 20. 7-Cory Kruseman, 21. 7k-Bruce St. James, 22. 37-Matt Mitchell, 23. 50-Mike Spencer.

USAC Western Midgets:

Qualifying: 1. Christopher Bell, 71k, Kunz-14.297; 2. Rico Abreu, 67, Kunz-14.376; 3. Ronnie Gardner, 68, Johnson-14,422; 4. Kody Swanson, 45, Neverlift-14.454; 5. Bryan Clauson, 39, Tucker/BCI/Curb-Agajanian-14.