By Lonnie Wheatley
TUCSON, Ariz. (June 25, 2011) – Rick Ziehl continued his recent hot streak in Sunoco Fuel ASCS Southwest Region action by winning Saturday night’s 25-lap main event atop the 3/8-mile USA Raceway clay oval.
After starting on the front row outside, Ziehl assumed the point when race-long leader Kyle McCutcheon flipped in the closing circuits. Ziehl went on to post his third series wins in a row aboard the Wesmar-powered Lucas Oil No. 20z Maxim.
It was an emotional win as well, as Ziehl carried the green No. 1 top wing of Rick Sipes, who passed away in his sleep on Thursday night.
Ziehl was chased to the stripe by Calvin Landis, with Joshua Hodges, Dalten Gabbard and Perry McMillan rounding out the top five. John Carney II was sixth, with 18th-starter Mike Rux, Jr., Jody Williams, 15th-starter Steve Stone and 17th-starter Koty McGullam completing the top ten.
Joshua Williams and McCutcheon topped heat race action.
Sunoco Fuel ASCS Southwest Region Results from USA Raceway:
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 41w-Joshua Williams, 2. 20z-Rick Ziehl, 3. 90-Lance Norick, 4. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 5. 8-John Carney II, 6. 15c-Joey Chester, 7. 1x-J.T. Imperial, 8. 57x-Steve Stone, 9. 76-Jesse Stone, 10. 44k-Koty McGullam.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 5-Kyle McCutcheon, 2. 79-Calvin Landis, 3. 27-Perry McMillan, 4. 78-Jody Williams, 5. 77-Dalten Gabbard, 6. 8az-Jordan Stetson, 7. 55T-Brent McKee, 8. 43-Rick Eckert, 9. 22-Mike Rux, Jr.
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 20z-Rick Ziehl, 2. 79-Calvin Landis, 3. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 4. 77-Dalten Gabbard, 5. 27-Perry McMillan, 6. 8-John Carney II, 7. 22-Mike Rux, Jr., 8. 78-Jody Williams, 9. 57x-Steve Stone, 10. 44k-Koty McGullam, 11. 8az-Jordan Stetson, 12. 76-Jesse Stone, 13. 55T-Brent McKee, 14. 5-Kyle McCutcheon, 15. 1x-J.T. Imperial, 16. 43-Rick Eckert, 17. 41w-Joshua Williams, 18. 90-Lance Norick, 19. 15c-Joey Chester.
Sunoco Fuel ASCS Southwest Points (Top 10): 1. Rick Ziehl 1,144, 2. John Carney II 1,061, 3. Calvin Landis 1,011, 4. Kyle McCutcheon 966, 5. Joshua Williams 942, 6. Lance Norick 910, 7. Dalten Gabbard 887, 8. Joshua Hodges 832, 9. Steve Stone 795, 10. Joey Chester 692.