From Lonnie Wheatley
TULSA, Okla. (March 7, 2011) – Three-peat is what Buckeye, Arizona’s Charles Davis, Jr., will have in mind when the American Sprint Car Series Canyon Region kicks off its 2011 season Saturday night atop Tucson’s 3/8-mile USA Raceway clay oval.
A legion of challengers including the likes of R.J. Johnson, Mike Martin, Josh Pelkey, Andrew Reinbold and more have other ideas in mind though as they look to unseat the two-time and reigning ASCS Canyon Region champion.
Saturday’s card at USA Raceway marks the first of 18 nights of ASCS Canyon Region action in 2011, including 13 nights at USA along with a handful of appearances at Peoria’s Canyon Speedway Park.
After delivering car owner Jim Massey his first championship with the ASCS Canyon Region title in 2009, “Chargin’” Charles Davis, Jr., backed it up by racking up a second series title on the strength of six more wins in 2010.
Davis was matched in the 2010 win column though by Phoenix shoe R.J. Johnson, who earned series runner-up honors for the second year in a row. Davis amassed his 140-point advantage by piling up 16 top-tens in 17 feature events, only finishing outside the top-ten in the season-ending Western World Championship after a flip while dicing for position among the lead pack.
With six wins in 2011, Davis’ career ASCS Canyon Region win total has climbed to 20, just 8 shy of Jeremy Sherman’s series’ best of 28.
Six of Johnson’s eight career ASCS Canyon scores came last year, including five in the last nine events of the year.
While Davis outdistanced Johnson for the 2010 title, others among last year’s top ten in points included Mike Martin, Josh Pelkey, Andrew Reindold, Jeremy Sherman, Ronnie Clark, Stevie Sussex, Dalten Gabbard and Brian Hosford.
Saturday’s racing action at USA Raceway goes 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 ASCS Canyon Region brings the best of wingless Sprint Car racing action to fans in Arizona with 18 scheduled nights of competition at Tucson’s USA Raceway and Peoria’s Canyon Speedway Park.
The 2011 season marks the 20th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing for the American Sprint Car Series, with approximately 200 nights of competition at tracks throughout the nation and into 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.