By Lonnie Wheatley
TULSA, Okla. (May 17, 2010) – There will be some American Sprint Car Series history in the making this Saturday night when the ASCS Canyon Region takes to the ½-mile, semi-banked Perris Auto Speedway clay oval in Perris, CA, for the first time.
Not only will it mark the first time for the non-wing forces of the ASCS Canyon Region at Perris Auto Speedway, it will be the first ASCS event contested in the Golden State since the series began sanctioning Sprint Car racing in 1992.
Saturday’s event has been boosted to $2,000 to win, with a $200 bonus in place for both the top finishing California representative and the top finishing Arizona rep.
Reigning ASCS Canyon Region champ Charles Davis, Jr., of Buckeye, AZ, enters Saturday’s event with a hot hand after picking off his third series win in a row this past Saturday night at Tucson’s USA Raceway to run his career ASCS Canyon win total to 17.
Davis, Jr., carries a 62-point advantage over Peoria’s Josh Pelkey into Saturday’s debut at the PAS, with Yuma’s Mike Martin, two-time series champion Jeremy Sherman of Surprise, AZ, and Gilbert’s Andrew Reinbold rounding out the current top five.
The balance of the current top ten in ASCS Canyon Region points includes R.J. Johnson (Phoenix), Thomas Ogle (Waddell), Stevie Sussex (Laveen), Ronnie Clark (Tucson) and Seainn Hendricsen (Scottsdale).
Seventeen-year-old Dalten Gabbard of Peoria, AZ, is just outside the top ten in points after a career-best third-place run this past Saturday night, with others just outside the top ten including Brian Hosford (Gilbert), Brandon Lane (Gilbert), 17-year-old Justin Quinn (Phoenix) and Jody Wirth (Apache Junction).
Perris Auto Speedway is located southeast of Riverside, CA, on I-215 to SR 215, then south to Ramona Expressway (Cajalco Road turn-off), then 2.6 miles east to Lake Perris Drive, then 0.2 miles north to Gate C. The pit gate 0.2 miles east of Lake Perris Drive. For more information, contact the track at 951-940-0134.
The 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 ten different Regions throughout the nation.
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.