By Lonnie Wheatley
TULSA, Okla. (May 16, 2011) – The winged forces of the Sunoco Fuel ASCS Southwest Region are set to take to the semi-banked, 3/8-mile Canyon Speedway Park clay oval in Peoria, AZ, for the first time in 2011 this Saturday night.
After five nights of competition down the road at Tucson’s USA Raceway, Saturday’s card marks the first of four scheduled ASCS Southwest events at Canyon Speedway Park.
Three-time and reigning ASCS Southwest champion Rick Ziehl of Las Cruces, NM, is out to the early lead in the title chase with a 27-point advantage over El Paso’s John Carney II. Knoxville, IA, resident Calvin Landis is another 22 point back in third, with the Glendale, AZ, shoe Joshua Williams and Alamogordo’s Kyle McCutcheon rounding out the current top five.
The rest of the current top ten in ASCS Southwest points includes Lance Norick (Scottsdale), Dalten Gabbard (Peoria), Joshua Hodges (Tijeras, NM), John Van Horn (Tucson) and Steve Stone (Mesa).
The ASCS Southwest Region brought winged Sprint Car racing back to Canyon Speedway Park last May after an absence of several years with Albuquerque’s Johnny Herrera taking the win. An October return found another Albuquerque shoe, 19-year-old Derrik Ortega, in CSP victory lane.
Saturday’s Sunoco Fuel ASCS Southwest Region action at Canyon Speedway Park is slated to go green at 7:30 p.m.
Peoria’s Canyon Speedway Park is located 25 miles north of Phoenix on I-17 to Exit 223, then 6.3 miles west. For more information, contact the track at 602-258-7223.
The Sunoco Fuel ASCS Southwest Region is currently slated for 20 overall nights of competition in 2011.
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.