By Lonnie Wheatley
TUCSON, Ariz. (April 16, 2011) – A past Arizona state Sprint Car champion, Josh Pelkey finally captured his first career feature win under the American Sprint Car Series banner by topping Saturday night’s 30-lap Sunoco Fuel ASCS Canyon Region main event at USA Raceway.
So close to previous ASCS accolades with 18 podium finishes in 64 previous ASCS Canyon Region feature starts, Pelkey finally reached the top step of the podium by racing from the sixth starting position to take the checkered flag aboard Robbie Allen’s Advanced Engine ABC Body Shop No. 12.
After battling with Chris Bonneau and pole starter Charles Davis, Jr., much of the way, Pelkey crossed the stripe ahead of current series points leader and two-time ASCS Canyon Region champion Jeremy Sherman, who rallied from the 15th starting position for runner-up honors.
Andrew Reinbold raced from 12th to claim the show position, with Bonneau and 18th-starter R.J. Johnson rounding out the top five after rebounding from a heat race flip to make the feature cut.
Stevie Sussex was sixth, with defending series champion Davis, Jr., Matt Rossi, Josh Castro and Thomas Ogle completing the top ten.
Ogle, Pelkey and Bonneau won heat races for Saturday night’s 26-car field, with Bob Ream, Jr., winning the “B” Main.
Sunoco Fuel ASCS Canyon Region Results from USA Raceway:
First Heat (10 Laps): 1. 48T-Thomas Ogle, 2. 1-Stevie Sussex, 3. 20z-Rick Ziehl, 4. 16-Mike Martin, 5. 93-Justin Quinn, 6. 7k-Bruce St. James, 7. 44-Nick Aiuto, 8. 6s-Bryan Swinehart, 9. 51-R.J. Johnson.
Second Heat (10 Laps): 1. 12-Josh Pelkey, 2. 99-James Aragon, 3. 77-Dalten Gabbard, 4. 6-Ronnie Clark, 5. 2-Matt Rossi, 6. 20-Shon Deskins, 7. 8-Bob Ream, Jr., 8. 96-Carson Ditsch, 9. 74b-Derek Williams.
Third Heat (10 Laps): 1. 78-Chris Bonneau, 2. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 3. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 4. 21-Jeremy Sherman, 5. 23-Josh Castro, 6. 32b-Brian Hosford, 7. 8az-Jordan Stetson, 8. 9x-Ryan Linder.
“B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 8-Bob Ream, Jr., 2. 51-R.J. Johnson, 3. 20-Shon Deskins, 4. 44-Nick Aiuto, 5. 32b-Brian Hosford, 6. 96-Carson Ditsch, 7. 8az-Jordan Stetson, 8. 74b-Derek Williams. DNS: 9x-Ryan Linder, 6s-Bryan Swinehart.
“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 12-Josh Pelkey, 2. 21-Jeremy Sherman, 3. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 4. 78-Chris Bonneau, 5. 51-R.J. Johnson, 6. 1-Stevie Sussex, 7. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 8. 2-Matt Rossi, 9. 23-Josh Castro, 10. 48T-Thomas Ogle, 11. 8-Bob Ream, Jr., 12. 16-Mike Martin, 13. 6-Ronnie Clark, 14. 93-Justin Quinn, 15. 77-Dalten Gabbard, 16. 7k-Bruce St. James, 17. 99-James Aragon, 18. 44-Nick Aiuto, 19. 20z-Rick Ziehl, 20. 20-Shon Deskins.
Sunoco Fuel ASCS Canyon Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Jeremy Sherman 434, 2. R.J. Johnson 391, 3. Charles Davis, Jr. 379, 4. Andrew Reinbold 366, 5. Ronnie Clark 342, 6. Josh Pelkey 340, 7. Bob Ream, Jr. 337, 8. Matt Rossi 335, 9. Thomas Ogle 324, 10. Dalten Gabbard 311.