Peoria, AZ — (January 30, 2013) –Reigning USAC National Sprint Car champion Bryan Clauson of Noblesville, IN, kicked off the 2013 wingless Sprint Car season by winning Wednesday night’s 30-lap USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast main event as the Winter Challenge finally got under way atop the 1/3-mile Canyon Speedway Park clay oval.
After Mother Nature washed out the initial trio of scheduled events this past weekend, Clauson redrew the front row outside of the main event after winning his heat race and overtook early leader Bruce St. James on the 11th round en route to the $2,000 winner’s share aboard Mike Martin’s No. 16b machine, the same car that he drove to victory lane in last November’s Western World Championships.
While Clauson took victory honors in the Sprint Car ranks, Anthony Madrid parked it in victory lane in IMCA Modified action.
Clauson was chased to the stripe by multi-time Arizona champion Jeremy Sherman, who advanced from eighth, with pole starter St. James settling for the show position. Richard Vander Weerd raced from the 20th starting position to fourth at the finish, with Mike Martin rounding out the top five. Defending Arizona champion Charles Davis, Jr., advanced from deep in the field as well by racing from 17th to sixth.
The red flag flew 16 laps into the Sprint Car feature for an incident that forced Jace Vander Weerd and Michael Curtis pitside, with third-runner Robert Ballou flipping the Hockett Racing mount in turn one soon after.
In the IMCA Modified ranks, Madrid raced from the ninth starting position to win the 25-lap feature in front of William Gould with Tim Ward climbing from 15th to claim the show position. Jesse Sobbing, the 2012 IMCA Northern Sport Mod National champion was fourth, with 2012 track points runner-up Jason Noll rounding out the top five.
Winter Challenge action featuring the USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast Non-Wing Sprint Cars along with IMCA Modifieds continues on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. with a double dip to follow on Saturday with the first card at noon and then the $5,000-to-win finale at 7:00 p.m.
Canyon Speedway Park
Winter Challenge Wednesday, January 30, Results:
USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast Non-Wing Sprint Cars:
First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 16b-Bryan Clauson, 2. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 3. 7k-Bruce St. James, 4. 1az-Stevie Sussex, 5. 11c-Michael Curtis, 6. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 7. 21-Kevin Thomas, Jr. DNS: 28-Mike Morin.
Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 77m-Jeremy Sherman, 2. 4jr-Josh Pelkey, 3. 20z-Rick Ziehl, 4. 88-Jace Vander Weerd, 5. 74-Colby Copeland, 6. 20-Jon Stanbrough, 7. 10-Richard Vander Weerd.
Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 16-Mike Martin, 2. 29-Bud Kaeding, 3. 48-Thomas Ogle, 4. 77-Robert Ballou, 5. 11T-Lonnie Oliver, 6. 53-Tom Lee, 7. 32b-Brian Hosford.
“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 16b-Bryan Clauson, 2. 77m-Jeremy Sherman, 3. 7k-Bruce St. James, 4. 10-Richard Vander Weerd, 5. 16-Mike Martin, 6. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 7. 74-Colby Copeland, 8. 20-Jon Stanbrough, 9. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 10. 29-Bud Kaeding, 11. 48-Thomas Ogle, 12. 11T-Lonnie Oliver, 13. 53-Tom Lee, 14. 20z-Rick Ziehl, 15. 1az-Stevie Sussex, 16. 77-Robert Ballou, 17. 4jr-Josh Pelkey, 18. 88-Jace Vander Weerd, 19. 11c-Michael Curtis, 20. 28-Mike Morin, 21. 21-Kevin Thomas, Jr., 22. 32b-Brian Hosford.
IMCA Modifieds:
First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 60-William Gould, 2. 1-Shawn Natenstedt, 3. 77-Jason Haug, 4. 44-Jason Noll, 5. 15s-Bill Slocum, 6. 1s-Shane Thome, 7. 39-Derek Huggins, 8. 03-Travis Martineau.
Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 00-Cory Sample, 2. 5m-Anthony Madrid, 3. 8-Nate Warren, 4. 4tw-Tim Ward, 5. 99c-Jesse Sobbing, 6. 99-Zach Washburn, 7. 23jr-Chris McCurdy, Jr., 8. 5-Cory Mohr.
Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 52w-D.J. Wood, 2. 20rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 3. 1j-Jeff Streeker, 4. 51-Joey Moriarty, 5. 01-Mark Patterson, 6. 41-George Fronsman, 7. 74-Garrett Funk, 8. 12d-Scott Drake.
Fourth Heat (8 Laps): 1. 3x-Jason Briese, 2. 18-Bill Meyer, 3. 4R-Ross Statham, 4. 3-Jim Colinsworth, 5. 66-Brandon Eichelberger, 6. L8-Bryan Schultz, 7. B29-Grant Bolt, 8. 1x-Stephen Streeker.
First “B” Feature (10 Laps): 1. 8-Nate Warren, 2. 4tw-Tim Ward, 3. 41-George Fronsman, 4. 4r-Ross Statham, 5. 15s-Bill Slocum, 6. B29-Grant Bolt, 7. 23jr-Chris McCurdy, Jr., 8. 03-Travis Martineau, 9. 1s-Shane Thome, 10. 1x-Stephen Streeker.
Second “B” Feature (10 Laps): 1. 12d-Scott Drake, 2. 51-Joey Moriarty, 3. 1j-Jeff Streeker, 4. 74-Garrett Funk, 5. 3-Jim Colinsworth, 6. 5-Cory Mohr, 7. 39-Derek Huggins, 8. 66-Brandon Eichelberger, 7. 99-zach Washburn, 8. L8-Bryan Schultz.
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 5m-Anthony Madrid, 2. 60-William Gould, 3. 4tw-Tim Ward, 4. 99c-Jesse Sobbing, 5. 44-Jason Noll, 6. 41-George Fronsman, 7. 01-Mark Patterson, 8. 52w-D.J. Wood, 9. 1-Shawn Natenstedt, 10. 00-Cory Sample, 11. 3-Jim Colinsworth, 12. 77-Jason Haug, 13. 15s-Bill Slocum, 14. 4r-Ross Statham, 15. 12d-Scott Drake, 16. 20rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 17. 8-Nate Warren, 18. 1j-Jeff Streeker, 19. 74-Garrett Funk, 20. 3x-Jason Briese, 21. 18-Bill Meyer, 22. 51-Joey Moriarty.
