By Dick Jordan
The USAC Southwest Sprint cars make their debut appearance at the one-third mile dirt Prescott Valley Speedway in Prescott Valley, Ariz. Saturday.
R.J. Johnson enters the race 16 points ahead of Josh Pelkey in the standings but he’ll keep an eye on fourth-ranking Charles Davis Jr. as they battle for the all-time lead in USAC Arizona victories.
Davis, of Buckeye, Ariz. tied Johnson and Bryan Clauson as the winningest USAC drivers in Arizona history all-time with his 12th career Arizona USAC win Saturday night at Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria. Davis passed Johnson on the 26th lap and led the last five circuits in his RSS Industries/Rod End Supply RSS/Don Ott to win the 4th Annual “Canyon Clash.” Johnson took second ahead of Matt Rossi, Andy Reinbold and Stevie Sussex. Johnson led 19 of the feature laps and Davis the other 11.
Shon Deskins sits third in the current Southwest standings, 28 points behind Johnson.
2014 USAC Southwest Sprint Car Standings: 1-R.J. Johnson-196, 2-Josh Pelkey-180, 3-Shon Deskins-168, 4-Charles Davis Jr.-160, 5-Josh Shipley-124, 6-Nick Aiuto-121, 7-Bruce St. James-119, 8-Matt Rossi-118, 9-Mike Martin-116, 10-Andy Reinbold-112.