From Lonnie Wheatley
Peoria, AZ — (May 25, 2013) – R.J. Johnson continued his hot streak in USAC Southwest Sprint Car action atop the 1/3-mile Canyon Speedway Park clay oval by winning the opening leg of the Second Annual Salute to Indy on Saturday night.
While the Phoenix shoe topped his third USAC Southwest points event in as many tries at CSP, other Saturday night Salute to Indy winners included Josh Shipley in LoanMart Challenge Cup Sprint Cars, Dave Van Ess in Micro Sprints and Chaz Baca, Jr., in the AMA Mod Lites.
Entering the weekend atop the USAC Southwest Sprint Car point charts, Johnson raced from the front row outside to his fourth win of the season in points action aboard the Michaels No. 77m Kodiak Products Sherman-chassis ahead of reigning Arizona Sprint Car champion Charles Davis, Jr.
New Mexico’s Joshua Hodges chased Johnson and Davis, Jr., to the stripe, with Mike Martin and 12th-starter Andrew Reinbold rounding out the top five. Shon Deskins turned in the feature’s top passing performance by racing from 18th to seventh.
Josh Shipley raced from five rows deep to capture his fourth LoanMart Challenge Cup feature triumph in five tries, taking the checkered flag ahead of fellow fifth-row starter Johnny Shelton, Jr., with Jacob Hawkins, Larry Gibson and Mike Visser rounding out the top five.
Dave Van Ess raced from seventh for his first Micro Sprint score of the year at CSP in front of Tyler Ybarra and Colton Hardy, while Chaz Baca, Jr., snared his first AMA Mod Lite win from the front row outside in front of pole starter Josh Rivera and John Priest.
Canyon Speedway Park’s Second Annual Salute to Indy concludes with a full card of action on Sunday night featuring the USAC Southwest Sprint Cars along with LoanMart Challenge Cup Sprint Cars, Micro Sprints and AMA Mod Lites with racing action going green at 7:00 p.m.
Canyon Speedway Park
Second Annual Salute to Indy Saturday Results:
USAC Southwest Sprint Cars:
Racers Advantage Heat Race One: 1. 16-Mike Martin, 2. 48-Thomas Ogle, 3. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 4. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 5. 5-Tye Mihocko, 6. 20-Shon Deskins, 7. 94-James Aragon, 8. 74-Jacob Hawkins, 9. 93-Justin Quinn.
Racers Advantage Heat Race Two: 1. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 2. 68-Bryan Swinehart, 3. 60-Steven Harms, 4. 8-Bob Ream, Jr., 5. 57x-Stevie Sussex, 6. 18-Ron Shuman, 7. 28-Mark Morin, 8. 12-Josh Pelkey.
Racers Advantage Heat Race Three: 1. 1a-Nathan High, 2. 77m-R.J. Johnson, 3. 7k-Bruce St. James, 4. 78-Chris Bonneau, 5. 29-Mike Bonneau, 6. 6-Ronnie Clark, 7. 32b-Brian Hosford, 8. 11c-Michael Curtis.
Passing Masters Dash: 1. 8-Bob Ream, Jr., 2. 77m-R.J. Johnson, 3. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 4. 16-Mike Martin, 5. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 6. 48-Thomas Ogle, 7. 60-Steven Harms, 8. 1a-Nathan High.
“B” Feature: 1. 12-Josh Pelkey, 2. 20-Shon Deskins, 3. 6-Ronnie Clark, 4. 32b-Brian Hosford, 5. 74-Jacob Hawkins, 6. 11c-Michael Curtis, 7. 93-Justin Quinn, 8. 28-Mark Morin, 9. 18-Ron Shuman.
Hose Advantage “A” Feature: 1. 77m-R.J. Johnson, 2. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 3. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 4. 16-Mike Martin, 5. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 6. 8-Bob Ream, Jr., 7. 20-Shon Deskins, 8. 12-Josh Pelkey, 9. 1a-Nathan High, 10. 78-Chris Bonneau, 11. 48-Thomas Ogle, 12. 6-Ronnie Clark, 13. 32b-Brian Hosford, 14. 57x-Stevie Sussex, 15. 29-Mike Bonneau, 16. 5-Tye Mihocko, 17. 7k-Bruce St. James, 18. 11c-Michael Curtis, 19. 60-Steven Harms, 20. 74-Jacob Hawkins, 21. 94-James Aragon, 22. 68-Bryan Swinehart.
LoanMart Challenge Cup Sprint Cars:
First Heat: 1. 98-Matt Lundy, 2. 71-Crash Vegas, 3. 16-Mike Visser, 4. 9-Johnny Shelton, Jr., 5. 7J-Kiley Fellars, 6. 5g-Gene Gile, 7. 11T-Lonnie Oliver, 8. 29-Dean Colquette, 9. 35-Steve Wagner.
Second Heat: 1. 53-Tom Lee, 2. 2-Josh Shipley, 3. 74-Jacob Hawkins, 4. 2x-Larry Gibson, 5. 11az-Jesse Turner, 6. 0h-Brian Hatlestad, 7. 0-Tanner Grau, 8. 8-Tim Beal.
“A” Feature: 1. 2-Josh Shipley, 2. 9-Johnny Shelton, Jr., 3. 74-Jacob Hawkins, 4. 2x-Larry Gibson, 5. 16-Mike Visser, 6. 11T-Lonnie Oliver, 7. 53-Tom Lee, 8. 0h-Brian Hatlestad, 9. 5g-Gene Gile, 10. 98-Matt Lundy, 11. 11az-Jesse Turner, 12. 35-Steve Wagner, 13. 0-Tanner Grau, 14. 29-Dean Colquette, 15. 71-Kiley Fellars, 16. 7j-Kiley Fellars.
Micro Sprints:
First Heat: 1. F17-Joe Scheopne, 2. 50-Cliff Cormany, 3. 6-Dave Van Ess, 4. 55-Greg Pritts, 5. 77-Aaron Miller, 6. 53-Joe Pitts, 7. 3-Marty Morin.
Second Heat: 1. 31-Tyler Ybarra, 2. 6az-Gary Winter, 3. mr07-Patrick Hurtado, 4. 7-Kevin Keefer, 5. 21r-Johnathon Patrick, 6. 2-Dennis Carrier, 7. 32-Jacob Hawkins.
Third Heat: 1. 4-Ryan Walter, 2. 41-Colton Hardy, 3. 21b-Brandon Hacker, 4. 97-Bryan Dawson, 5. 81-Tyler Dean, 6. 14-Dustin Cormany.
“A” Feature: 1. 6-Dave Van Ess, 2. 31-Tyler Ybarra, 3. 41-Colton Hardy, 4. F17-Joe Scheopne, 5. 6az-Gary Winter, 6. Mr07-Patrick Hurtado, 7. 4-Ryan Walter, 8. 53-Joe Pitts, 9. 50-Cliff Cormany, 10. 77-Aaron Miller, 11. 7-Kevin Keefer, 12. 21r-Johnathon Patrick, 13. 55-Greg Pritts, 14. 97-Bryan Dawson, 15. 81-Tyler Dean, 16. 21b-Brandon Hacker, 17. 3-Marty Morin, 18. 14-Dustin Cormany.
AMA Mod Lites:
First Heat: 1. 30-Lexus Gann, 2. 55-Nick Gann, 3. 75-Chaz Baca, Jr., 4. 99-Adam Etcher, 5. 24-Mike Martin, 6. 58-Scott Strei, 7. B4-Doug Borders, 8. 19-Bryan Dervage.
Second Heat: 1. X-John Priest, 2. 52-Brenden Priedt, 3. 14-Josh Rivera, 4. 21-Jimmy Terstriep, 5. 5-Dallas Caldwell, 6. 26-Cody Taylor, 7. 57-Kyler Repella, 8. 15-Ken Young.
“A” Feature: 1. 75-Chaz Baca, Jr., 2. 14-Josh Rivera, 3. X-John Priest, 4. 55-Nick Gann, 5. 99-Adam Etcher, 6. 52-Brenden Priedt, 7. 5-Dallas Caldwell, 8. 15-Ken Young, 9. 58-Scott Strei, 10. 21-Jimmy Terstriep, 11. B4-Doug Borders, 12. 30-Lexus Gann, 13. 57-Kyler Repella, 14. 24-Mike Martin, 15. 26-Cody Taylor, 16. 19-Bryan Dervage.