By Lonnie Wheatley
TULSA, Okla. (July 11, 2011) – After reeling off a personal-best third Sunoco Fuel ASCS Southwest feature win in a row on June 25, Rick Ziehl will try to extend his victory run to four when the series returns to action this Saturday night at Tucson’s USA Raceway.
The three-time and reigning ASCS Southwest champion from Las Cruces, NM, has extended his current points lead to 83 markers on the strength of his three-race win stretch. Ziehl’s lead stood at only 27 points prior to his recent hot streak.
Shut out of victory lane in the initial five events of the season, Ziehl picked off his first Southwest win of the year at Peoria’s Canyon Speedway Park on May 21 and then followed up with USA Raceway wins on June 4 and June 25.
El Paso’s John Carney II is currently second to Ziehl in points, 50 points ahead of Knoxville, IA, resident Calvin Landis. Alamogordo, New Mexico’s Kyle McCutcheon is currently fourth, with Glendale, Arizona’s Joshua Williams rounding out the top five.
The rest of the current top ten includes Lance Norick (Scottsdale), Dalten Gabbard (Peoria), Joshua Hodges (Tijeras, NM), Steve Stone (Mesa) and Joey Chester (Phoenix).
Saturday’s Sunoco Fuel ASCS Southwest Region action at USA Raceway is slated to go 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 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.