By Lonnie Wheatley
PEORIA, Ariz. (March 29, 2014) – Josh Pelkey carried his early-season momentum into Saturday night’s Canyon Speedway Park Season Opener by racing to victory lane in the 30-lap feature event that also kicked off the 2014 USAC Southwest Sprint Car campaign.
While Pelkey bested the wingless Sprint Car ranks, other CSP Season Opener winners included Ty Weidner in Pure Stocks, Colton Hardy in Micro Sprints and Brenden Priest in AMA Mod Lites.
After finishing among the top five in five of six Winter Challenge feature events at CSP, sixth-starter Pelkey took command when early leader Mike Bonneau crashed out after two laps and led the rest of the way to take the season-opening win aboard the ABC Body Shop No. 12 entry.
Pelkey took the checkered flag ahead of defending USAC Southwest Sprint Car champion R.J. Johnson, who claimed runner-up honors from the 11th starting position, with Shon Deskins, Thomas Ogle and Andrew Reinbold rounding out the top five.
Mike Martin turned in the top passing performance by racing from 18th to sixth with Lonnie Oliver, Michael Curtis, Tye Mihocko and Nick Aiuto completing the top ten.
In Pure Stock action, Ty Weidner raced from the sixth starting position as well to top a stout field of 26 entries with Chris McCurdy, Jr., 11th-starter Joe Vlasity and front row starters Ty Warner and Chuck Thornton rounding out the top five.
Colton Hardy clamed Micro Sprint honors from the pole position ahead of Dustin Cormany and Garrett Guilkey, with Brenden Priest carrying over his Winter Challenge success by taking AMA Mod Lite honors ahead of Adam Etcher and John Priest.
Following an Open Practice on Wednesday, April 9, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., action at Canyon Speedway Park continues on April 12 with the Spring Speed Event featuring IMCA Modified along with Challenge Cup Sprint Cars, Pure Stocks, Renegades and Dwarf Cars.
Canyon Speedway Park Season Opener
March 29, 2014 Results:
USAC Southwest Sprint Cars:
First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 2. 29-Mike Bonneau, 3. 28-Mike Morin, 4. 32b-Brian Hosford, 5. 7T-Lonnie Oliver, 6. 7k-Bruce St. James, 7. 83-Michael Woodruff.
Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 20-Shon Deskins, 2. 11c-Michael Curtis, 3. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 4. 77m-R.J. Johnson, 5. 27-Nick Aiuto, 6. 53-Tom Lee, 7. 17m-Michael Colegrove.
Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 5-Tye Mihocko, 2. 12-Josh Pelkey, 3. 48T-Thomas Ogle, 4. 02-Matt Rossi, 5. 2x-Joshua Shipley, 6. 16-Mike Martin.
“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 12-Josh Pelkey, 2. 77m-R.J. Johnson, 3. 20-Shon Deskins, 4. 48T-Thomas Ogle, 5. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 6. 16-Mike Martin, 7. 7T-Lonnie Oliver, 8. 11c-Michael Curtis, 9. 5-Tye Mihocko, 10. 27-Nick Aiuto, 11. 53-Tom Lee, 12. 2x-Joshua Shipley, 13. 83-Michael Woodruff, 14. 7k-Bruce St. James, 15. 32b-Brian Hosford, 16. 29-Mike Bonneau, 17. 28-Mike Morin, 18. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 19. 02-Matt Rossi, 20. 17-Michael Colegrove.
Pure Stocks:
First Heat: 1. 90-Ty Warner, 2. 68v-Joe Vlasity, 3. 23jr-Chris McCurdy, Jr., 4. Z28-Ty Weidner, 5. 04b-Michael Humphreys, 6. 27T-John Todd, 7. 21m-Matt Martinez, 8. 40sr-Jeff Stafford, 9. 91-Chris Boulware, Jr.
Second Heat: 1. 5m-Zack Madrid, 2. 6-Michael Wrightsman, 3. 54F-Guy Fite, 4. 07-Terry Hill, 5. 28-Mike Herrera, 6. 97-Stephen Lumpkin, 7. 4-Justin Bishop, 8. 6s-Kyle Salo, 9. 3-Ashley Stafford.
Third Heat: 1. 92p-John Parmeley, 2. 22x-Richard Veralrud, 3. XX-Chuck Thornton, 4. 01bc-Bryson Curry, 5. 58-Russ Amsler, 6. 55-Jason Schwader, 7. 77-Danny James, 8. 64x-Vance Honea.
“B” Feature: 1. 21m-Matt Martinez, 2. 64x-Vance Honea, 3. 04b-Michael Humphreys, 4. 55-Jason Schwader, 5. 27T-John Todd, 6. 77-Danny James, 7. 4-Justin Bishop, 8. 6s-Kyle Salo, 9. 40sr-Jeff Stafford, 10. 91-Chris Boulware, Jr., 11. 3-Ashley Stafford, 12. 28-Mike Herrera, 13. 58-Russ Amsler, 14. 97-Stephen Lumpkin.
“A” Feature: 1. Z28-Ty Weidner, 2. 23jr-Chris McCurdy, Jr., 3. 68v-Joe Vlasity, 4. 90-Ty Warner, 5. XX-Chuck Thornton, 6. 22x-Richard Veralrud, 7. 6-Michael Wrightsman, 8. 4-Justin Bishop, 9. 5m-Zack Madrid, 10. 64x-Vance Honea, 11. 07-Terry Hill, 12. 54F-Guy Fite, 13. 01bc-Bryson Curry, 14. 6s-Kyle Salo, 15. 77-Danny James, 16. 04b-Michael Humphreys, 17. 92p-John Parmeley, 18. 21m-Matt Martinez, 19. 27T-John Todd, 20. 55-Jason Schwader.
Micro Sprints:
First Heat: 1. 9-Garrett Guilkey, 2. 41-Colton Hardy, 3. 2-Dennis Carrier, 4. 101-Jim Branum, 5. 37j-Dave Ferneau, 6. 42-Kenny Hilton, 7. 20az-Jarrett Martin, 8. 50-Cliff Cormany.
Second Heat: 1. 77-Aaron Miller, 2. 4-Ryan Walter, 3. 12-David Tardiff, 4. 53-Joe Pritts, 5. 57-Kyle Huttenhow, 6. 7-Mason Keefer, 7. 18-Travis Sellers, 8. 45-Brandon Selph.
Third Heat: 1. 14-Dustin Cormany, 2. 24-Pat Wing, 3. 6-Dave Van Ess, 4. 55-Greg Pritts, 5. 94-Cassie Klenkie, 6. 4s-Spencer Hill, 7. 15T-Tracey Simmons.
“B” Feature: 1. 20az-Jarrett Martin, 2. 15T-Tracey Simmons, 3. 57-Kyle Huttenhow, 4. 18-Travis Sellers, 5. 50-Cliff Cormany, 6. 4-Ryan Walter, 7. 45-Brandon Selph.
“A” Feature: 1. 41-Colton Hardy, 2. 14-Dustin Cormany, 3. 9-Garrett Guilkey, 4. 6-Dave Van Ess, 5. 77-Aaron Miller, 6. 12-David Tardiff, 7. 24-Pat Wing, 8. 20az-Jarrett Martin, 9. 18-Travis Sellers, 10. 42-Kenny Hilton, 11. 15T-Tracey Simmons, 12. 94-Cassie Klenkie, 13. 7-Mason Keefer, 14. 2-Dennis Carrier, 15. 4-Ryan Walter, 16. 101-Jim Branum, 17. 37j-Dave Ferneau, 18. 53-Joe Pritts, 19. 55-Greg Pritts, 20. 57-Kyle Huttenhow.
AMA Mod Lites:
First Heat: 1. 51-John Priest, 2. 99-Adam Etcher, 3. 88-Tyler Merrill, 4. 96-Hayden Bender, 5. 15-Ken Young, 6. 97-Steve Bender, 7. 14-Josh Rivera, 8. 26-Eric Muse, 9. 30-Erin Harrison.
Second Heat: 1. 52-Brenden Priest, 2. 55-Lexus Gann, 3. 19-Anthony Platt, 4. 95-Collin Bender, 5. 17-Steve Moriarty, 6. 9-Mark Hammill, 7. 69-Tom Kuncis, 8. 36-Mike Smith.
“A” Feature: 1. 52-Brenden Priest, 2. 99-Adam Etcher, 3. 51-John Priest, 4. 88-Tyler Merrill, 5. 17-Steve Moriarty, 6. 19-Anthony Platt, 7. 15-Ken Young, 8. 14-Josh Rivera, 9. 95-Collin Bender, 10. 96-Hayden Bender, 11. 97-Steve Bender, 12. 55-Lexus Gann, 13. 26-Eric Muse, 14. 69-Tom Kuncis, 15. 9-Mark Hammill, 16. 36-Mike Smith, 17. 30-Erin Harrison.