From Lonnie Wheatley
Peoria, AZ — (May 25, 2014) — R.J. Johnson defended a portion of his Salute to Indy Crown by topping Sunday night’s 30-lap USAC Southwest Sprint Car feature event atop the 1/3-mile Canyon Speedway Park clay oval that put the wraps on the track’s third annual event.
After sweeping last year’s Salute to Indy, defending USAC Southwest champion Johnson took Sunday night’s win after Josh Pelkey claimed Saturday night honors.
While Johnson enjoyed USAC Southwest victory lane for the second time this year, other winners in the Salute to Indy finale included Mike Welker in Challenge Cup Sprint Cars, Dennis Carrier in Micro Sprints, John Priest in Mod Lites and Mike Strobel in Dwarf Cars.
Johnson took off from the outset to take USAC Southwest Sprint Car honors in front of fellow front row starter Joshua Hodges with Tye Mihocko racing from 12th to claim show honors. Mike Martin and Michael Colegrove rounded out the top five.
Mike Welker scored the Challenge Cup Sprint Car feature win from the pole position in front of Dustin Cormany and Lonnie Oliver while Dennis Carrier nabbed Micro Sprint honors in front of Garrett Guilkey and Saturday night winner Jacob Johnson.
John Priest earned Mod Lite honors from the pole position ahead of Tyler Merrill and Ken Young with Mike Strobel completing the weekend with another win ahead of Helen Hennessey and David Brodeur in Dwarf Car action.
Action resumes at Canyon Speedway Park on Saturday, June 14, with the Fourth Annual Father’s Day Classic featuring USAC Southwest Sprint Cars along with IMCA Modifieds, Micro Sprints, Pure Stocks and Renegades.
Canyon Speedway Park
Third Annual Salute to Indy
May 25, 2014 Results:
USAC Southwest Sprint Cars:
First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 12-Josh Pelkey, 2. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 3. 77m-R.J. Johnson, 4. 78-Chris Bonneau, 5. 48T-Thomas Ogle, 6. 29-Michael Bonneau, 7. 74-Colby Copeland, 8. 28-Mike Morin.
Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 2. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 3. 17m-Michael Colegrove, 4. 20-Shon Deskins, 5. 02-Matt Rossi, 6. 18-Dustin Cormany, 7. 32b-Brian Hosford, 8. 7T-Lonnie Oliver.
Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 16-Mike Martin, 2. 11c-Michael Curtis, 3. 27-Nick Aiuto, 4. 7k-Bruce St. James, 5. 5-Tye Mihocko, 6. 1dm-Stevie Sussex, 7. 13-Dennis Giles.
“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 77m-R.J. Johnson, 2. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 3. 5-Tye Mihocko, 4. 16-Mike Martin, 5. 17m-Michael Colegrove, 6. 11c-Michael Curtis, 7. 74-Colby Copeland, 8. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 9. 48T-Thomas Ogle, 10. 78-Chris Bonneau, 11. 29-Michael Bonneau, 12. 20-Shon Deskins, 13. 27-Nick Aiuto, 14. 13-Dennis Giles, 15. 32b-Brian Hosford, 16. 18-Dustin Cormany, 17. 7k-Bruce St. James, 18. 7T-Lonnie Oliver, 19. 12-Josh Pelkey, 20. 02-Matt Rossi, 21. 1dm-Stevie Sussex, 22. 28-Mike Morin, 23. 50-Charles Davis, Jr.
Challenge Cup Sprint Cars:
First Heat: 1. 22-Mike Welker, 2. 42-Katherine Aragon, 3. 99-Matt Lundy, 4. 17-Joe Scheopner, 5. 7T-Lonnie Oliver, 6. 53-Tom Lee.
Second Heat: 1. 71-Crash Vegas, 2. 18-Dustin Cormany, 3. 63-Don Keesler, 4. 88-Aaron Jones, 5. 40-Vince Perez.
“A” Feature: 1. 22-Mike Welker, 2. 18-Dustin Cormany, 3. 7T-Lonnie Oliver, 4. 99-Matt Lundy, 5. 63-Don Keesler, 6. 42-Katherine Aragon, 7. 53-Tom Lee, 8. 17-Joe Scheopner, 9. 40-Vince Perez, 10. 71-Crash Vegas, 11. 88-Aaron Jones.
Micro Sprints:
First Heat: 1. 41h-Colton Hardy, 2. 37J-Dave Ferneau, 3. 20az-Jarrett Martin, 4. 24-Pat Wing, 5. 42-Kenny Hilton, 6. 57-Kyle Huttenhow, 7. 45az-Ryan Walter, 8. 10-Ryan Hennessey.
Second Heat: 1. 6-Dave Van Ess, 2. 50-Cliff Cormany, 3. 77-Aaron Miller, 4. 4s-Spencer Hill, 5. 91-Tyler Seavey, 6. 89-Marty Morin, 7. 10x-Christine Root.
Third Heat: 1. 2-Dennis Carrier, 2. 17J-Jacob Johnson, 3. 94-Cassie Klenkie, 4. 9-Garrett Guilkey, 5. 6az-Gary Winter, 6. 45-Brandon Selph, 7. 7-Mason Keefer.
“A” Feature: 1. 2-Dennis Carrier, 2. 9-Garrett Guilkey, 3. 17J-Jacob Johnson, 4. 41h-Colton Hardy, 5. 50-Cliff Cormany, 6. 6-Dave Van Ess, 7. 91-Tyler Seavey, 8. 6az-Gary Winter, 9. 42-Kenny Hilton, 10. 20az-Jarrett Martin, 11. 37J-Dave Ferneau, 12. 24-Pat Wing, 13. 4s-Spencer Hill, 14. 89-Marty Morin, 15. 10-Ryan Hennessey, 16. 94-Cassie Klenkie, 17. 7-Mason Keefer, 18. 77-Aaron Miller, 19. 45az-Ryan Walter, 20. 45-Brandon Selph, 21. 10x-Christine Root, 22. 57-Kyle Huttenhow.
Mod Lites:
First Heat: 1. 51-John Priest, 2. 15-Ken Young, 3. 88-Tyler Merrill, 4. 57-Kyler Repella, 5. 77x-Austin Kuehl, 6. 7-Mike Schmidt, 7. 36-Mike Smith.
Second Heat: 1. 52-Brenden Priest, 2. 14-Josh Rivera, 3. 21-Jimmy Terstriep, 4. 97-Steve Bender, 5. 96-Hayden Bender, 6. 2k-Taylor Kuehl, 7. 95-Collin Bender.
“A” Feature: 1. 51-John Priest, 2. 88-Tyler Merrill, 3. 15-Ken Young, 4. 14-Josh Rivera, 5. 77x-Austin Kuehl, 6. 96-Hayden Bender, 7. 57-Kyler Repella, 8. 97-Steve Bender, 9. 95-Collin Bender, 10. 36-Mike Smith, 11. 2k-Taylor Kuehl, 12. 7-Mike Schmidt, 13. 52-Brenden Priest, 14. 21-Jimmy Terstriep.
Dwarf Cars:
First Heat: 1. 04-Mike Strobel, 2. 10-Helen Hennessey, 3. 88-Ed Schuhlke, 4. 58-Doug Bellissimo, 5. 22-David Brodeur, 6. 47-Steve Kapaun, 7. 18-Keaton Swane, 8. 16-Daniel Lamm, 9. 11-Heather Hennessey, 10. 14-Dillon Miller, 11. 41-Tony Martin.
“A” Feature: 1. 04-Mike Strobel, 2. 10-Helen Hennessey, 3. 22-David Brodeaur, 4. 47-Steve Kapaun, 5. 88-Ed Schuhlke, 6. 16-Daniel Lamm, 7. 11-Heather Hennessey, 8. 18-Keaton Swane, 9. 58-Doug Bellissimo, 10. 14-Dillon Miller, 11. 41-Tony Martin.