From Lance Jennings & Lonnie Wheatley
Peoria, AZ — (March 16, 2013) — R.J. Johnson headlined Saturday night’s Canyon Speedway Park Season Opening event by racing to victory lane in the USAC Southwest Sprint Car feature atop the 1/3-mile clay oval.
While Johnson topped the initial wingless USAC Southwest point event of the year, other winners on the night included Josh Shipley in LoanMart Challenge Cup Sprint Car action, Pat Wing in Micro Sprint competition and John Priest in AMA Mod Lites.
Johnson, who snared a win during Winter Challenge action in early February, picked off the initial USAC Southwest triumph in front of reigning Arizona champion Charles Davis, Jr., with Ronnie Clark, 15th-starter Justin Quinn and 17th-starter Nathan High rounding out the top five.
Josh Pelkey was sixth, with Thomas Ogle, Bob Ream, Jr., Mike Bonneau and Andrew Reinbold completing the top ten.
Shipley captured the first LoanMart Challenge Cup Sprint Car feature win of the year from the pole position in front of Lonnie Oliver and Johnny Shelton, Jr., Pat Wing raced from sixth for Micro Sprint honors ahead of Jacob Hawkins and Dennis Carrier with John Priest advancing from eighth to take the AMA Mod Lite checkered flag ahead of Nick Gann and Brenden Priedt.
Next up at Canyon Speedway Park is the Spring Speed Event on Saturday night, April 6, featuring IMCA Modifieds, Viper Smart Start Pure Stocks, LoanMart Challenge Cup Sprint Cars, Micro Sprints and Renegades.
Canyon Speedway Park
Season Opening Event Results:
USAC Southwest Sprint Cars:
Racers Advantage Heat Race One: 1. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 2. 7k-Bruce St. James, 3. 20-Shon Deskins, 4. 5x-Jody Wirth, 5. 12-Josh Pelkey, 6. 93-Justin Quinn, 7. 29-Mike Bonneau, 8. 8-Bob Ream, Jr., 9. 19-Andrew Reinbold.
Racers Advantage Heat Race Two: 1. 68-Bryan Swinehart, 2. 27-Nick Aiuto, 3. 53-Tom Lee, 4. 78-Chris Bonneau, 5. 48T-Thomas Ogle, 6. 1a-Nathan High, 7. 94-James Aragon, 8. 32b-Brian Hosford.
Racers Advantage Heat Race Three: 1. 6-Ronnie Clark, 2. 16-Mike Martin, 3. 77m-R.J. Johnson, 4. 11c-Michael Curtis, 5. 17k-Kyle Danielson, 6. 60-Steve Harms, 7. 28-Mike Morin, 8. 1az-Stevie Sussex.
“B” Feature: 1. 1a-Nathan High, 2. 8-Bob Ream, Jr., 3. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 4. 29-Mike Bonneau, 5. 32b-Brian Hosford, 6. 94-James Aragon, 7. 17k-Kyle Danielson, 8. 28-Mike Morin, 9. 1az-Stevie Sussex.
Hose Advantage “A” Feature: 1. 77m-R.J. Johnson, 2. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 3. 6-Ronnie Clark, 4. 93-Justin Quinn, 5. 1a-Nathan High, 6. 12-Josh Pelkey, 7. 48T-Thomas Ogle, 8. 8-Bob Ream, Jr., 9. 29-Mike Bonneau, 10. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 11. 32b-Brian Hosford, 12. 68-Bryan Swinehart, 13. 94-James Aragon, 14. 20-Shon Deskins, 15. 53-Tom Lee, 16. 60-Steve Harms, 17. 16-Mike Martin, 18. 78-Chris Bonneau, 19. 27-Nick Aiuto, 20. 7k-Bruce St. James, 21. 11c-Michael Curtis, 22. 5x-Jody Wirth.
LoanMart Challenge Cup Sprint Cars:
First Heat: 1. 2-Josh Shipley, 2. 7j-Kiley Fellars, 3. 98-Matt Lundy, 4. 11T-Lonnie Oliver, 5. 11az-Jesse Turner, 6. 74-Jacob Hawkins, 7. 0-Tanner Grau, 8. 35-Steve Wagner.
Second Heat: 1. 9-Johnny Shelton, Jr., 2. 5-Ty Mihocko, 3. 16-Mike Visser, 4. 2x-Larry Gibson, 5. 8-Tim Beal, 6. 71-Chase Vegas, 7. 29-Dean Colquette.
“A” Feature: 1. 2-Josh Shipley, 2. 11T-Lonnie Oliver, 3. 9-Johnny Shelton, Jr., 4. 7j-Kiley Fellars, 5. 5-Ty Mihocko, 6. 16-Mike Visser, 7. 8-Tim Beal, 8. 2x-Larry Gibson, 9. 71-Crash Vegas, 10. 11az-Jesse Turner, 11. 0-Tanner Grau, 12. 74-Jacob Hawkins, 13. 29-Dean Colquette, 14. 35-Steve Wagner, 15. 98-Matt Lundy.
Micro Sprints:
First Heat: 1. 32-Jacob Hawkins, 2. 50-Cliff Cormany, 3. 12-David Tardiff, 4. 4-Ryan Walter, 5. 31-Brandon Hacker, 6. 53-Joe Pitts, 7. 55-Greg Pritts, 8. 5-Bradley Huish, 9. 29-Paul Martin, 10. 2-Dennis Carrier.
Second Heat: 1. 14-Dustin Cormany, 2. 17-Joe Scheopner, 3. 24a-Pat Wing, 4. 45-Josh Shipley, 5. 00-Kenny Hilton, 6. 41-Colton Hardy, 7. 6-Dave Van Ess, 8. 20az-Jarrett Martin, 9. 101-Jim Branum.
“A” Feature: 1. 24a-Pat Wing, 2. 32-Jacob Hawkins, 3. 2-Dennis Carrier, 4. 50-Cliff Cormany, 5. 41-Colton Hardy, 6. 45-Josh Shipley, 7. 6-Dave Van Ess, 8. 29-Paul Martin, 9. 14-Dustin Cormany, 10. 4-Ryan Walter, 11. 53-Joe Pitts, 12. 12-David Tardiff, 13. 00-Kenny Hilton, 14. 55-Greg Pritts, 15. 101-Jim Branum, 16. 17-Joe Scheopner, 17. 31-Brandon Hacker, 18. 20az-Jarrett Martin, 19. 5-Bradley Huish.
AMA Mod Lites:
First Heat: 1. 30-Lexus Gann, 2. 52-Brenden Priedt, 3. 97-Steve Bender, 4. 5-Dallas Caldwell, 5. 25-Cody Taylor, 6. 38z-Fritz Croy, 7. 14-Josh Rivera, 8. 9-Mark Hammill, 9. 95-Collin Bender.
Second Heat: 1. 55-Nick Gann, 2. X-John Priest, 3. 17-Steve Moriarity, 4. 96-Hayden Bender, 5. 15-Ken Young, 6. 40-Vince Perez, 7. 24-Mike Martin, 8. 48-Jason Burstein, 9. 19-Bryan Dervage.
“A” Feature: 1. X-John Priest, 2. 55-Nick Gann, 3. 52-Brandon Priedt, 4. 17-Steve Moriarity, 5. 15-Ken Young, 6. 40-Vince Perez, 7. 24-Mike Martin, 8. 5-Dallas Caldwell, 9. 14-Josh Rivera, 10. 9-Mark Hammill, 11. 30-Lexus Gann, 12. 38z-Fritz Croy, 13. 97-Steve Bender, 14. 95-Collin Bender, 15. 96-Hayden Bender, 16. 48-Jason Burstein, 17. 25-Cody Taylor, 18. 19-Bryan Dervage.