By Lonnie Wheatley
PEORIA, Ariz. (June 12, 2010) – R.J. Johnson picked off his first American Sprint Car Series Canyon Region win of the year by topping Saturday night’s 30-lap main event at Canyon Speedway Park.
Johnson made the most of his front row outside starting position by capturing his third career wingless ASCS Canyon Region aboard the Mountain Valley Performance Ford powered Michael Brothers Racing Mammoth Sound No. 77m Sherman-chassis.
Johnson raced to the stripe in front of fellow front row starter Josh Pelkey, with Andrew Reinbold, 13th-starter Stevie Sussex and Mike Martin rounding out the top five.
Jeremy Sherman was sixth, with current point leader Charles Davis, Jr., 15th-starter Justin Quinn, 16th-starter Bruce St. James and Thomas Ogle completing the top ten.
Davis, Jr., Ronnie Clark and Ogle topped heat race action, with Quinn winning the “B” Main. After earning the night’s most passing points in heat race action, Clark was unable to make the call for the main event with engine woes.
ASCS Canyon Region Results from Canyon Speedway Park:
First Heat (10 Laps): 1. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 2. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 3. 77m-R.J. Johnson, 4. 21-Jeremy Sherman, 5. 97-Bernie Smith, 6. 61-Jeff Slinkard, 7. 7k-Bruce St. James, 8. 11-Sean Hendricsen, 9. 32b-Brian Hosford.
Second Heat (10 Laps): 1. 6-Ronnie Clark, 2. 12-Josh Pelkey, 3. 16-Mike Martin, 4. 27n-Nick Aiuto, 5. 5x-Jody Wirth, 6. 27h-Jeremy Huebner, 7. 93-Justin Quinn, 8. 98-Leland Fuller, 9. 2g-Terry Goodwin.
Third Heat (10 Laps): 1. 48T-Thomas Ogle, 2. 77-Dalten Gabbard, 3. 8-Bob Ream, Jr., 4. 78-Chris Bonneau, 5. 62-Stevie Sussex, 6. 90-Lance Norick, 7. 7b-Eugene Thomas, 8. 71-Harris Brooks, 9. 1x-J.T. Imperial.
“B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 93-Justin Quinn, 2. 7k-Bruce St. James, 3. 97-Bernie Smith, 4. 11-Seainn Hendricsen, 5. 7b-Eugene Thomas, 6. 71-Harris Brooks, 7. 5x-Jody Wirth, 8. 98-Leland Fuller, 9. 32b-Brian Hosford. DNS: 1x-J.T. Imperial, 2g-Terry Goodwin.
“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 77m-R.J. Johnson, 2. 12-Josh Pelkey, 3. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 4. 62-Stevie Sussex, 5. 16-Mike Martin, 6. 21-Jeremy Sherman, 7. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 8. 93-Justin Quinn, 9. 7k-Bruce St. James, 10. 48T-Thomas Ogle, 11. 61-Jeff Slinkard, 12. 27h-Jeremy Huebner, 13. 97-Bernie Smith, 14. 8-Bob Ream, Jr., 15. 90-Lance Norick, 16. 11-Seainn Hendricsen, 17. 77-Dalten Gabbard, 18. 78-Chris Bonneau, 19. 6-Ronnie Clark (DNS), 20. 27n-Nick Aiuto (DNS).
ASCS Canyon Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Charles Davis, Jr. 821, 2. Josh Pelkey 794, 3. Mike Martin 774, 4. R.J. Johnson 757, 5. Jeremy Sherman 733, 6. Andrew Reinbold 706, 7. Stevie Sussex 691, 8. Ronnie Clark 620, 9. Dalten Gabbard 582, 10. Seainn Hendricsen 580.