From Lonnie Wheatley
TULSA, Okla. (March 15, 2010) – Arizona race fans had the opportunity to watch the wingless ASCS Canyon Region ranks open up the 2010 season at Tucson’s USA Raceway this past weekend.
Now, just seven nights later, they’ll get to witness the winged forces of the ASCS Southwest Region for the first time in 2010 as the series lifts the lid on its season at USA Raceway this Saturday night.
And, the driver gunning for a three-peat will be Rick Ziehl of Las Cruces, NM, after capturing the ASCS Southwest crown in both 2008 and 2009.
Ziehl will be hoping for better winged luck this weekend than he experienced on Saturday night in the wingless ASCS Canyon Region opener, when his night was cut short by engine problems in heat race action.
After a pair of DNF’s to start the 2008 season, Ziehl reeled off eleven top-five feature finishes in a row to take the title by a narrow 22-point margin over Shawn Sander. The 2009 season featured another fierce championship points battle, with Ziehl earning the crown by just seven points over Ben Gregg.
Ziehl has captured one feature win over each of the past two seasons en route to the title.
While Gregg fell little more than a handful of points shy of Ziehl last year, National Rookie of the Year Joshua Hodges (gone Lucas Oil National this year), John Gaston and Ronnie Clark were in the mix all the way as well, with Charles Davis, Jr., John Van Horn, Mike Martin, Jessica Van Dyke and Joshua Williams filling out the balance of the top ten.
Saturday’s ASCS Southwest Region action at USA Raceway is slated to go green at 6:45 p.m.
The 3/8-mile USA Raceway clay oval is located east of Tucson off I-10 Exit 268, then 1.6 mile south on Craycroft Road, which turns into Los Reales. For more information, contact the track at 520-574-8515.
The Discount Tire Co. ASCS Canyon Region is currently slated for 17 overall nights of competition in 2010, including 11 nights in Arizona and three New Mexico weekend doubles.
In its 19th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing, the American Sprint Car Series brings the best of Sprint Car racing to approximately 100 different tracks throughout 30 states and Canada. Anchored by the Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters, ASCS also consists of eleven different Regions throughout the nation.
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.