By Lonnie Wheatley
PEORIA, Ariz. (July 23, 2011) – Phoenix shoe R.J. Johnson has made a habit of visiting ASCS Regional victory lane over the past couple of years with 11 Canyon Region triumphs. But, those have all been without a wing overhead.
Saturday night, the 24-year-old notched his first winged Sprint Car feature win when he was awarded the 25-lap Sunoco Fuel ASCS Southwest main event victory at Canyon Speedway Park.
Johnson took the top spot after fellow non-winger Josh Pelkey, who took the checkered flag in first position, was disqualified after failing to pass post-race technical inspection. Johnson’s win also put a stop to Rick Ziehl’s four-race ASCS Southwest win streak.
Johnson took the win in front of Calvin Landis, with three-time series champion and current points leader Ziehl in third. Kyle McCutcheon and Mike Rux, Jr., rounded out the top five, with the rest of the top ten including Lance Norick, Jordan Stetson, Chuck Buckman, Joshua Williams and Steve Stone.
McCutcheon and Ziehl topped heat race action.
Sunoco Fuel ASCS Southwest Region Results from Canyon Speedway Park:
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 5-Kyle McCutcheon, 2. 41w-Joshua Williams, 3. 79-Calvin Landis, 4. 22-Mike Rux, Jr., 5. 15c-Joey Chester, 6. 57x-Steve Stone, 7. 11T-Steve Lohn. DNS: 77-Dalten Gabbard.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 20z-Rick Ziehl, 2. 31-Josh Pelkey, 3. 76-Jesse Stone, 4. 97-R.J. Johnson, 5. 90-Lance Norick, 6. 8az-Jordan Stetson, 7. 61-Chuck Buckman.
“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 97-R.J. Johnson, 2. 79-Calvin Landis, 3. 20z-Rick Ziehl, 4. 5-Kyle McCutcheon, 5. 22-Mike Rux, Jr., 6. 90-Lance Norick, 7. 8az-Jordan Stetson, 8. 61-Chuck Buckman, 9. 41w-Joshua Williams, 10. 57x-Steve Stone, 11. 11T-Steve Lohn, 12. 76-Jesse Stone, 13. 77-Dalten Gabbard, 14. 15c-Joey Chester, 15. 31-Josh Pelkey (Disqualified; failed to pass post-race technical inspection).
Sunoco Fuel ASCS Southwest Points (Top 10): 1. Rick Ziehl 1,429, 2. Calvin Landis 1,247, 3. Kyle McCutcheon 1,231, 4. John Carney II 1,203, 5. Joshua Williams 1,171, 6. Lance Norick 1,145, 7. Dalten Gabbard 1,116, 8. Steve Stone 1,015, 9. Joshua Hodges 962, 10. Joey Chester 902.