By Dick Jordan
Matt Mitchell of Yorba Linda, Calif. leads the USAC West Coast Sprint Cars into Thursday night’s series finale at Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway, seeking his initial USAC driving title. He has a 28-point lead over Finnish driver Markus Niemela entering the opening event in this year’s 19th “Budweiser Oval Nationals” presented by All-Coast Construction.
Thursday night’s race also carries USAC Southwest Sprint sanction, although their points will not change as the race is listed as a “special” non-points race.
Mitchell’s only 2014 victory came in the recent outing at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif., but he has a half-dozen other “top-five” finishes this year. Niemela has a second, a pair of thirds and a fourth in a dozen starts this season and is seeking his first career win Thursday.
The 19th “Budweiser Oval Nationals” continues Friday and Saturday with AMSOIL USAC National and USAC/CRA Sprint competition at the PAS.
USAC Southwest Sprint Car point leader R.J. Johnson of Phoenix, Ariz. led the final 18 laps in his Michaels entry to win Saturday night’s 30-lap feature at Arizona Speedway. He passed Charles Davis Jr. on lap 13 and led the rest of the way to beat Aaron Reutzel, Josh Pelkey, Mike Martin and Matt Rossi. Nick Aiuto led the first two laps and Davis the next 10 before Johnson took over.
Johnson’s victory was his 18th in USAC competition in the Grand Canyon State, which leads the career list.
2014 USAC West Coast Sprint Car Standings:1-Matt Mitchell-659, 2-Markus Niemela-631, 3-Richard Vander Weerd-546, 4-Jace Vander Weerd-530, 5-Ryan Bernal-512, 6-Danny Faria Jr.-500, 7-Troy Rutherford-500, 8-Austin Liggett-490, 9-Nic Faas-465, 10-Dennis Howell-399.
2014 USAC Southwest Sprint Car Standings: 1-R.J. Johnson-1,259, 2-Josh Pelkey-1,143, 3-Charles Davis Jr.-1,117, 4-Matt Rossi-1,040, 5-Mike Martin-993, 6-Shon Deskins-977, 7-Tye Mihocko-893, 8-Michael Curtis-685, 9-Nick Aiuto-663, 10-Andy Reinbold-656.