By Lonnie Wheatley
TULSA, Okla. (October 17, 2011) – Arizona race fans get the best of both worlds this coming weekend with both winged and wingless Sprint Cars taking to the 3/8-mile Canyon Speedway Park clay oval in Peoria, AZ.
On Friday night, the winged Sunoco Fuel ASCS Southwest Region slings the CSP clay, with the non-wing Sunoco Fuel ASCS Canyon Region taking to the track on Saturday night.
The second annual ASCS Canyon-Southwest Championships event marks the final events of the season for both series before the season-ending 44th Annual Western World Championships at Tucson’s USA Raceway on November 17-19.
Las Cruces’ Rick Ziehl and Surprise, Arizona’s Jeremy Sherman lead their respective series into the weekend as they both look to add to their career title counts.
After a run of five feature wins over the middle portion of the season, Ziehl holds a 226-point advantage over Calvin Landis as he seeks a fourth consecutive ASCS Southwest championship. Dalten Gabbard, Kyle McCutcheon and Lance Norick round out the current top ten in ASCS Southwest points.
In the wingless ranks, Jeremy Sherman has finished outside the top five just once in 14 events as he guns for a third ASCS Canyon Region title. Sherman holds a 66-point lead over Charles Davis, Jr., with R.J. Johnson, Andrew Reinbold and Ronnie Clark rounding out the current top five.
The winged Southwest Region has taken to CSP three times this season with Ziehl, wingless ace R.J. Johnson and Johnny Herrera each collecting victories.
The wingless Canyon forces have taken to CSP on five occasions this year, with Charles Davis, Jr., and R.J. Johnson topping the last two features after Sherman swept through the first three.
Racing action goes green at 7:30 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday.
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 Sunoco Fuel ASCS Canyon Region brings the best of wingless Sprint Car racing action to fans in Arizona with 19 scheduled nights of competition at Tucson’s USA Raceway and Peoria’s Canyon Speedway Park.
Current ASCS Southwest Top Ten in Points: 1. Rick Ziehl 1,951, 2. Calvin Landis 1,725, 3. Dalten Gabbard 1,631, 4. Kyle McCutcheon 1,626, 5. Lance Norick 1,581, 6. Joshua Williams 1,555, 7. Steve Stone 1,436, 8. Joshua Hodges 1,362, 9. Jordan Stetson 1,333, 10. Joey Chester 1,329.
Current ASCS Canyon Top Ten in Points: 1. Jeremy Sherman 1,958, 2. Charles Davis, Jr. 1,892, 3. R.J. Johnson 1,665, 4. Andrew Reinbold 1,606, 5. Ronnie Clark 1,573, 6. Bruce St. James 1,507, 7. Mike Martin 1,473, 8. Josh Pelkey 1,464, 9. (tie) Ryan Linder 1,375 and Justin Quinn 1,375.
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.