By Lonnie Wheatley
TULSA, Okla. (April 12, 2010) – The action at Tucson’s USA Raceway will be topless this Saturday night as the American Sprint Car Series Canyon Region returns to competition atop the 3/8-mile clay oval.
And with the season’s opening pair of events in the books, a mere seven points separate the top three in the championship points race with defending series kingpin Charles Davis, Jr., of Buckeye, AZ, holding the slightest of leads.
Davis, who picked off his first win of the year and 15th career ASCS Canyon score in the series most recent outing at Peoria’s Canyon Speedway Park on March 27, holds a slight five-point lead over Peoria’s Josh Pelkey with two-time ASCS Canyon Region champion Jeremy Sherman of Surprise, AZ, another two points back in third.
A win by either Pelkey or Sherman would assure a new points leader after Saturday night, as there is an eight-point differential between finishing first and finishing second.
A stout field of contenders will be aiming to knock off the lead trio though, including Gilbert’s Andrew Reinbold and Yuma’s Mike Martin, who round out the current top five in ASCS Canyon Region points.
The balance of the current top ten includes R.J. Johnson (Phoenix), Brian Hosford (Gilbert), Thomas Ogle (Waddell), Seainn Hendricsen (Scottsdale) and Ronnie Clark (Tucson).
After suffering engine woes in the March 13 ASCS Canyon opener, two-time and reigning winged ASCS Southwest champion Rick Ziehl of Las Cruces, NM, is expected to shed the wings for Saturday night’s action with Bob Ream, Jr., also returning to the topless scene along with Daniel Hutto.
Saturday night at USA Raceway will also feature the Second Annual Party in the Pits with the winner of the Sunoco Fuel Autograph Challenge winning a grand prize trip to Legoland California.
Saturday’s ASCS Canyon 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 13 nights in Arizona, a two-night Fourth of July weekend in New Mexico and pair of trips to California’s Perris Auto Speedway.
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.