By Lonnie Wheatley
PERRIS, Cal. (May 22, 2010) – Yuma, Arizona’s Mike Martin worked his own special brand of magic to reach victory lane in the first American Sprint Car Series main event held in the State of California by topping Saturday night’s 30-lapper at the Perris Auto Speedway.
“The Magic Man” made the most of his pole starting position by racing to his first career wingless ASCS Canyon Region triumph aboard the Shaver-powered Ultimate Off Road/Mattco Painting No. 16 Maxim, collecting $2,200 that included a $200 bonus as the top finishing Arizona entry.
Martin raced to the checkered flag ahead of Josh Pelkey, with 10th-starter R.J. Johnson, current series points leader Charles Davis, Jr., and Stevie Sussex rounding out an all-Arizona top five.
Nic Faas picked up an extra $200 as the top finishing California rep in sixth with two-time ASCS Canyon Region champ Jeremy Sherman in seventh.
Jimmy Crawford was eighth, Kenny Perkins charged from 20th to ninth and Bob Ream, Jr., completed the top ten.
Faas, Pelkey, Rusty Carlile and Dalten Gabbard topped heat race action for the 29-car field, with Ronnie Clark winning the “B” Main.
ASCS Canyon Region Results from Perris Auto Speedway:
First Heat (10 Laps): 1. 51x-Nic Faas, 2. 3x-Jimmy Crawford, 3. 7g-Don Gansen, 4. 8x-Ronnie Case, 5. 56-Steve Conrad, 6. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 7. 55-Tony Everhart, 8. 27-Shaun Kautz.
Second Heat (10 Laps): 1. 12-Josh Pelkey, 2. 7a-John Aden, 3. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 4. 37-David Bezio, 5. 11-Seainn Hendricsen, 6. 50x-Ed Schwarz, 7. 11g-Garrett Guilkey.
Third Heat (10 Laps): 1. 51-Rusty Carlile, 2. 77m-R.J. Johnson, 3. 3-Jeremy Sherman, 4. 62-Stevie Sussex, 5. 6-Ronnie Clark, 6. 93-Justin Quinn, 7. 62x-Adam Firth-Smith.
Fourth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 77-Dalten Gabbard, 2. 61-Jeff Slinkard, 3. 16-Mike Martin, 4. 8-Bob Ream, Jr., 5. 32b-Brian Hosford, 6. 27h-Jeremy Huebner, 7. 5k-Kenny Perkins.
“B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 6-Ronnie Clark, 2. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 3. 32b-Brian Hosford, 4. 5k-Kenny Perkins, 5. 56-Steve Conrad, 6. 55-Tony Everhart, 7. 11-Seainn Hendricsen, 8. 27-Shaun Kautz, 9. 62x-Adam Firth-Smith, 10. 50x-Ed Schwarz, 11. 11g-Garrett Guilkey, 12. 93-Justin Quinn, 13. 27h-Jeremy Huebner.
“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 16-Mike Martin, 2. 12-Josh Pelkey, 3. 77m-R.J. Johnson, 4. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 5. 62-Stevie Sussex, 6. 51x-Nic Faas, 7. 3-Jeremy Sherman, 8. 3x-Jimmy Crawford, 9. 5k-Kenny Perkins, 10. 8-Bob Ream, Jr., 11. 37-David Bezio, 12. 8x-Ronnie Case, 13. 6-Ronnie Clark, 14. 32b-Brian Hosford, 15. 7g-Don Gansen, 16. 61-Jeff Slinkard, 17. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 18. 7a-John Aden, 19. 77-Dalten Gabbard, 20. 51-Rusty Carlile.
ASCS Canyon Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Charles Davis, Jr. 702, 2. Josh Pelkey 652, 3. Mike Martin 649, 4. Jeremy Sherman 611, 5. R.J. Johnson 607, 6. Andrew Reinbold 571, 7. Stevie Sussex 561, 8. Ronnie Clark 528, 9. Brian Hosford 487, 10. Dalten Gabbard 486.