From Cody Morris
Las Cruces, NM — (June 9, 2012) — On the heels of his first Canyon score one night earlier in inaugural ASCS action at El Paso Speedway Park, Phoenix, Arizona’s Rickey Hood repeated the effort to sweep the double dose of non winged ASCS Canyon Region action along the I-10 corridor.
Hood’s Saturday night score at the inaugural ASCS Canyon event at Las Cruces, New Mexico’s Southern New Mexico Speedway made the accomplished veteran only the second racer to capture more than one Canyon win through 10 events this season.
Hood took the score following a hell of a 30 lap battle with current Canyon point leader and former two time Canyon champ Charles Davis Jr.
Starting fourth in the initial starting lineup of the main event, Davis powered to an early lead and fought off assaults from Hood, Jeff Swindell, and Josh Hodges. Swindell had briefly taken the point at the halfway mark only to have Davis sneak back by. Swindell made another move on the 16th circuit and led that round, however the lead was negated as a Justin Quinn collision with the turn two wall took the field back to the last fully completed lap.
Davis resumed his defense with Josh Hodges challenging before Hood found the line to move into the runner up spot just before another caution with 10 laps remaining.
On the ensuing restart, Hood tried the high side to no avail, but on the 23rd circuit would not be denied as he overtook command of the 30 lap main event on the 5/16th mile oval. It proved to be the winning pass, earning Hood a hard fought weekend sweep of ASCS Canyon action.
Davis settled for runner up honors that gained back much of the ASCS Canyon point lead that had been lost the night before, with Hodges claiming the show position at the finish line.
Challenging for the lead in the midway stages of the main event, Jeff Swindell slid too high while trying to ride the extreme rim of the racing surface, losing several positions as a result. However the Bartlett, Tennessee veteran was able to fight his way back to fourth at the end to claim a pair of top five runs in the weekend double header.
A first time winner in ASCS Canyon action at Canyon Speedway Park nearly a month ago, Dalten Gabbard concluded a strong weekend with a top five finish at Las Cruces after finishing sixth in Friday night Canyon action in El Paso.
Starting in what appears may have been a Promoter’s provisional, Bob Ream Jr. took the Hard Charger award with a run from 21st to ninth following a fifth place finish in the first of the twin B Mains.
Jesse Baker, Rickey Hood, Dalten Gabbard, R.J. Johnson, and Charles Davis Jr. earned heat race wins over the 43 car field with Justin Quinn and Mike Martin taking winning style transfers in the twin 12 lap B Feature events.
ASCS Canyon Region / 43 cars
June 9th, 2012 / Event 10 of 24
Southern New Mexico Speedway / Las Cruces, New Mexico
A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 186-Rickey Hood[3]; 2. 50-Charles Davis Jr[4]; 3. 74X-Joshua Hodges[1]; 4. 1x-Jeff Swindell[12]; 5. 77-Dalten Gabbard[7]; 6. 7k-Bruce St. James[8]; 7. 51-R.J. Johnson[9]; 8. 78-Chris Bonneau[2]; 9. 8-Bob Ream Jr[21]; 10. 41w-Rick Ziehl[16]; 11. XXX-Zach Sawyers[15]; 12. 16-Mike Martin[14]; 13. 62-Bill Mitchell[20]; 14. 16x-Tom Ball[19]; 15. 7-Jason Tanner[17]; 16. 93-Justin Quinn[13]; 17. 2-Stephen Nix[6]; 18. 93t-Jon Taylor[18]; 19. 71-Jesse Baker[5]; 20. 45x-Derek Demartino[22]; 21. 19-Andy Reinbold[10]; 22. 21tx-Brandon Schure[11]
Lap Leaders: Charles Davis Jr. 1-22, Rickey Hood 23-30
B Feature 1
(12 Laps): 1. 93-Justin Quinn; 2. XXX-Zach Sawyers; 3. 71-Jesse Baker; 4. 16x-Tom Ball; 5. 8-Bob Ream Jr; 6. 6u-Anton Salopek; 7. 19s-Ronnie Smith; 8. 41-Cody Mansfield; 9. 22b-Bo Baker; 10. 24-Jordan Mattson; 11. 29x-Randy Smith; 12. 52nm-David Burns; 13. 50x-Jerry Higginbotham; 14. 40x-Butch Box; 15. 36dd-Matt Ziehl
Top 4 advance to A Feature
B Feature 2
(12 Laps): 1. 16-Mike Martin; 2. 41w-Rick Ziehl; 3. 93t-Jon Taylor; 4. 62-Bill Mitchell; 5. 29-Michael Bonneau; 6. 45x-Derek Demartino; 7. 32B-Brian Hosford; 8. 9x-Robert Herrera; 9. 6JT-Michael Curtis; 10. 17k-Kyle Danielson; 11. 57-Austin Mansfield; 12. 4L-Kristy Smith; 13. 99-Chuck Jackson; DNS 9-Jesse Higginbotham
Top 4 advance to A Feature
Heat 1
(8 Laps): 1. 71-Jesse Baker; 2. 93t-Jon Taylor; 3. 7-Jason Tanner; 4. XXX-Zach Sawyers; 5. 41w-Rick Ziehl; 6. 17k-Kyle Danielson; 7. 45x-Derek Demartino; 8. 36dd-Matt Ziehl; 9. 24-Jordan Mattson
Heat 2
(8 Laps): 1. 186-Rickey Hood; 2. 19-Andy Reinbold; 3. 74X-Joshua Hodges; 4. 41-Cody Mansfield; 5. 9x-Robert Herrera; 6. 6JT-Michael Curtis; 7. 29-Michael Bonneau; 8. 22b-Bo Baker; 9. 99-Chuck Jackson
Heat 3
(8 Laps): 1. 77-Dalten Gabbard; 2. 2-Stephen Nix; 3. 78-Chris Bonneau; 4. 16x-Tom Ball; 5. 40x-Butch Box; 6. 52nm-David Burns; 7. 50x-Jerry Higginbotham; 8. 4L-Kristy Smith; DNS 21z-Jason Ziehl
Heat 4
(8 Laps): 1. 51-R.J. Johnson; 2. 21tx-Brandon Schure; 3. 1x-Jeff Swindell; 4. 16-Mike Martin; 5. 6u-Anton Salopek; 6. 29x-Randy Smith; 7. 9-Jesse Higginbotham; DNS 4-Jerrill Higginbotham
Heat 5
(8 Laps): 1. 50-Charles Davis Jr; 2. 7k-Bruce St. James; 3. 62-Bill Mitchell; 4. 93-Justin Quinn; 5. 19s-Ronnie Smith; 6. 32B-Brian Hosford; 7. 57-Austin Mansfield; 8. 8-Bob Ream Jr
2012 ASCS Canyon Region Point Standings (top 15):
1. Charles Davis Jr. 1,271; 2. R.J. Johnson 1222; 3. Dalten Gabbard 1179; 4. Rick Ziehl 1106; 5. Chris Bonneau 1058; 6. Brian Hosford 1049; 7. Justin Quinn 1032; 8. Bob Ream Jr. 997; 9. Andy Reinbold 948; 10. Michael Bonneau 924; 11. Bruce St. James 909; 12. Mike Martin 900; 13. Ryan Linder 806; 14. Josh Pelkey 743; 15. Michael Curtis 710