by Lance Jennings
PEORIA, AZ – SEPTEMBER 10, 2013… This Saturday, September 14th, the powerful USAC SouthWest Sprint Cars will battle at Casa Grande’s Central Arizona Raceway. Located on the Pinal County Fairgrounds, the “Law Enforcement Appreciation Night” will also showcase Pure Stocks, X-Mods, and Dwarf Cars. The Spectator Gates will open at 4pm and Racing at the fast 3/8-mile oval is set to begin at 7:00pm.
The “Law Enforcement Appreciation Night” marks the third race of the campaign at Casa Grande. “Chargin” Charles Davis Jr. won the main event on March 23rd and Josh Pelkey claimed victory on June 22nd. Many talented drivers are expected at Central Arizona Raceway as they look for the $1,500 feature win at the popular clay oval.
After leading twenty-three laps at Queen Creek last Saturday, USAC SouthWest point leader R.J. Johnson of Phoenix had to settle for second. Racing the Bill Michaels owned #77M Kodiak Products / Beal’s Auto Body Sherman, Johnson has an 80 point advantage with eight feature wins, eight heat race victories, five Sunoco Fuels Passing Masters Dash wins, one hard charger award, seventeen top-10 finishes, and 262 feature laps led. On Saturday, the former Arizona Midget Champion will be looking to extend his point lead with a win at Casa Grande.
Fresh off recording his sixth win of 2013 last Saturday, Buckeye’s “Chargin” Charles Davis Jr. is second in the point chase. Driving the Massey Motorsports’ #50 RSS Industries / Rod End Supply RSS, Davis has eight heat race victories, three Sunoco Fuels Passing Masters Dash wins, two semi-main wins, three hard charger awards, twenty-one top-10 finishes, and 106 feature laps led. The five-time Arizona Sprint Car Champion will have his sights on gaining valuable points with another victory.
Sitting third in the championship points is “The Magic Man” Mike Martin of Yuma. Piloting his #16 PPG Pittsburg Paints / Ultimate Offroad Maxim, Martin was sixth in the Queen Creek main event. To date, the USAC National “Hall of Fame Classic” Champion has one feature win, one fast time award, six heat race victories, sixteen top-10 finishes, and 24 feature laps led. “The Magic Man” will be looking to celebrate a feature win at Central Arizona Raceway.
Tucson’s Ronnie Clark is fourth in the USAC SouthWest points. Driving the family owned #6 RCM / Ellis Race Cars machine, Clark scored fifth at Arizona Speedway. As this writing goes to press, the veteran driver has yet to claim a main event win, but has two heat race victories and twelve top-10 finishes on the season. At Casa Grande, Ronnie will have his sights on adding the main event trophy to his collection.
Shon Deskins of Phoenix is fifth in the point standings. Racing his #20 Performance Plus / Ellis Race Cars entry, Deskins raced to seventh after starting nineteenth at Queen Creek. Like Clark, the veteran driver has yet to win a USAC SouthWest feature, but has eight heat race victories, one semi-main win, one hard charger award, twelve top-10 finishes, and eight feature laps led in 2013. Shon will be looking to score a breakthrough victory at Casa Grande this Saturday night.
Among the other drivers expected to be in action are Andy Reinbold, Josh Pelkey, Chris Bonneau, Brian Hosford, “The Radio Flyer” Bruce St. James, Mike Bonneau, Bryan Swinehart, Stevie Sussex, James Aragon, Tom Ogle, Justin Quinn, Jody Wirth, “The Bullet” Bob Ream Jr. Michael Curtis, and more.
Central Arizona Raceway is located on the Pinal County Fairgrounds at 512 S. 11 Mile Corner Road in Casa Grande. To get to the track, take Exit 194 from Interstate 10, then head east five miles to 11 Mile Corner Road, then head south. Adult Tickets are $12, Senior and Military tickets are $10, and Kids (11 and under) are FREE. For more event and ticket information, visit www.centralazraceway.com or call (520) 574-8515.
The USAC SouthWest Sprint Car Series would like to thank Sunoco Race Fuels, Hoosier Tire, Racers Advantage Store, and the Hose Advantage Store for their support. For more information on the group, visit www.southwestsprintcars.com, www.usacracing.com, or follow the series on Facebook (www.facebook.com/
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USAC SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR POINT STANDINGS:
1-R.J. Johnson-943, 2-Charles Davis Jr.-863, 3-Mike Martin-769, 4-Ronnie Clark-686, 5-Shon Deskins-669, 6-Andy Reinbold-604, 7-Josh Pelkey-581, 8-Chris Bonneau-575, 9-Brian Hosford-498, 10-Bruce St. James-461, 11- Mike Bonneau-428, 12-Bryan Swinehart-373, 13-Steven Harms-351, 14-Stevie Sussex-331, 15-James Aragon-329, 16-Tom Ogle-325, 17-Justin Quinn-320, 18-Jody Wirth-268, 19-Bob Ream Jr.-257, 20-Michael Curtis-250.