From Lonnie Wheatley
Peoria, AZ — (January 25, 2015) — After winning by mere inches the previous night, Ryan Bernal left little doubt about Sunday’s outcome by wiring the USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast Sprint Car field in Sunday night’s 30-lap feature at Canyon Speedway.
Bernal gunned into the lead at the outset of the E&K Winter Challenge Round Three feature and led all the way aboard the Tri-L Mandarin Ranch entry to take the $4,000 winner’s share.
Bernal was one of four drivers to pick up two wins over the three-race weekend along with Ricky Thornton, Jr., in IMCA Modified action, Matt Martinez in the Pure Stock ranks and Joel Huggins in Mod Lites while Spencer Hill denied Gary Winter a weekend sweep in Micro Sprints.
After racing from tenth to take Saturday’s wingless USAC Sprint Car feature at the line, Bernal gunned into the lead from the front row outside and led throughout for the fourth triumph in his last six CSP starts.
“The car was great, that’s all there was to it,” the Hollister, CA, driver summed up in victory lane.
While Bernal paced the field throughout in the non-stop affair, Charles Davis, Jr., gave chase the entire way and was closing in to challenge in the final rounds only to get a piece of the turn four wall with the white flag in sight. Dave Darland took quick advantage of the Davis, Jr., miscue to snare runner-up honors on the final round.
Davis, Jr., settled for the show position behind Bernal and Darland with Brady Bacon battling past R.J. Johnson in the final rounds for fourth.
Ricky Thornton, Jr., picked up his second win in a row as well in the IMCA Modified ranks, taking advantage of a slight bobble by Zane Devilbiss to race into the lead in the final handful of laps.
Thornton, Jr., took the checkered flag ahead of Devilbiss with Tim Ward charging from 21st to claim the show position. Hunter Marriott advanced from 17th to fourth with Brian Schultz racing from 19th to round out the top five.
Matt Martinez took his second Pure Stock win of the weekend by racing to the checkered flag ahead of Steve Bitting with Zack Madrid, Lonnie Foss and Jesse Johnson rounding out the top five.
Joel Huggins took his second Mod Lite win in a row ahead of Jim Hock and Brenden Priest while Spencer Hill beat Nick Aiuto to the line in the Micro Sprint main event as Gary Winter settled for third after topping the previous two events.
The E&K Winter Challenge resumes with Round Four at Tucson’s USA Raceway on Friday night with racing action going green at 7:00 p.m.
Canyon Speedway Park
E&K Winter Challenge Round Three Results:
USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast Sprint Cars:
First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 16d-Dave Darland, 2. 20-Dustin Cormany, 3. 56-Ryan Bernal, 4. 98-Matt Lundy, 5. 55nm-David Dykes, 6. 28-Mark Morin. DNS: 21az-Stevie Sussex.
Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 77-Dalten Gabbard, 2. 51-R.J. Johnson, 3. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 4. 73-Brady Bacon, 5. 16-Mike Martin, 6. 74-Rick Ziehl.
“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 56-Ryan Bernal, 2. 16d-Dave Darland, 3. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 4. 73-Brady Bacon, 5. 51-R.J. Johnson, 6. 77-Dalten Gabbard, 7. 16-Mike Martin, 8. 21az-Stevie Sussex, 9. 98-Matt Lundy, 10. 74-Rick Ziehl, 11. 20-Dustin Cormany, 12. 55nm-David Dykes, 13. 28-Mark Morin.
IMCA Modifieds:
First Heat: 1. 18z-Zane Devilbiss, 2. 44-Jason Noll, 3. W5-Jesse Williamson, 4. 101-Derrall Bradford, 5. 6c-Caleb Stone, 6. 21-Phil Penney, 7. 4tw-Tim Ward, 8. 18-Paul Jones, Jr., 9. 78-Steve Stultz.
Second Heat: 1. 74-Garrett Funk, 2. 82-John Parmeley, 3. 41-George Fronsman, 4. L8-Brian Schultz, 5. 8-Nate Warren, 6. 45h-Jason Hickingbottom, 7. 4c-Cale Carder, 8. 44L-Steve Lunderby, 9. 7k-Lance Salo.
Third Heat: 1. 13-Jeff Sheppard, Jr., 2. 16s-Jerry Schran, 3. 19sb-Lance Mari, 4. 77-Jason Haug, 5. 45T-Trent Gaust, 6. 393-Scott Eaton, 7. 15s-William Slocum, 8. 23-Terry Haven.
Fourth Heat: 1. 7-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 2. 57p-Jim Perkins, 3. 97-Jay Marks, 4. 4r-Ross Statham, 5. 66p-Paul Stone, 6. 16-Aaron Spangler, 7. 32-Rob Krull, 8. 102-Pat Castel.
Fifth Heat: 1. 75c-Bo Partain, 2. 55ak-Scott Sluka, 3. S-Collen Winebarger, 4. 62-Hunter Marriott, 5. 40jr-Bubba Stafford, 6. 59-Mark Stewart, 7. 6-Eric Center, 8. 37-Mike Jergens.
First “B” Feature: 1. 62-Hunter Marriott, 2. L8-Brian Schultz, 3. 4tw-Tim Ward, 4. 16-Aaron Spangler, 5. 101-Derrall Bradford, 6. 18-Paul Jones, Jr., 7. 4r-Ross Statham, 8. 78-Steve Stultz, 9. 40jr-Bubba Stafford, 10. 15s-William Slocum, 11. 21-Phil Penney, 12. 393-Scott Eaton, 13. 102-Pat Castel.
Second “B” Feature: 1. 66p-Paul Stone, 2. 45T-Trent Gaust, 3. 59-Mark Stewart, 4. 37-Mike Jergens, 5. 8-Nate Warren, 6. 6-Eric Center, 7. 41-George Fronsman, 8. 23-Terry Haven, 9. 45h-Jason Hickingbottom, 10. 4c-Cale Carder, 11. 32-Rob Krull, 12. 44L-Steve Lunderby, 13. 7k-Lance Salo.
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 7-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 2. 18z-Zane Devilbiss, 3. 4tw-Tim Ward, 4. 62-Hunter Marriott, 5. L8-Brian Schultz, 6. 13-Jeff Sheppard, Jr., 7. 37-Mike Jergens, 8. 97-Jay Marks, 9. 45T-Trent Gaust, 10. S-Collen Winebarger, 11. 6c-Caleb Stone, 12. W5-Jesse Williamson, 13. 77-Jason Haug, 14. 57p-Jim Perkins, 15. 74-Garrett Funk, 16. 82-John Parmeley, 17. 75c-Bo Partain, 18. 16-Aaron Spangler, 19. 59-Mark Stewart, 20. 19sb-Lance Mari, 21. 16s-Jerry Schran, 22. 44-Jason Noll, 23. 55ak-Scott Sluka, 24. 66p-Paul Stone.
Pure Stocks:
First Heat: 1. 5z-Zack Madrid, 2. 15-Speedy Madrid, 3. 15r-Race Fisher, 4. 24-Ty Warner, 5. 27J-Jessica McGullam, 6. 5J-Jacob Madrid, 7. 13m-Johnny Madrid, 8. 14k-Ryan Campbell, 9. 97-Larry Gordon.
Second Heat: 1. 22a-Jesse Johnson, 2. 90-Steve Bitting, 3. 3-Jeff Stafford, 4. 2jr-Joshua McClelland, 5. 51-Jeff Carter, 6. 22-Kim Hansen, 7. 28-Vincent Depalma, 8. 84-Clifton Maggard.
Third Heat: 1. 21m-Matt Martinez, 2. 51J-Mike Goodwin, 3. 40a-Ashley Stafford, 4. 03-Kevin Risachaer, 5. 00-Lonnie Foss, 6. 195-Jon Courchaine, 7. 22x-Richard Veralrud, 8. 007-Tony Hill.
“B” Feature: 1. 00-Lonnie Foss, 2. 51-Jeff Carter, 3. 14k-Ryan Campbell, 4. 28-Vincent Depalma, 5. 84-Clifton Maggard, 6. 27J-Jessica McGullam, 7. 13m-Johnny Madrid, 8. 5J-Jacob Madrid, 9. 22x-Richard Veralrud, 10. 22-Kim Hansen, 11. 007-Tony Hill, 12. 97-Larry Gordon, 13. 195-Jon Courchaine.
“A” Feature: 1. 21m-Matt Martinez, 2. 90-Steve Bitting, 3. 5z-Zack Madrid, 4. 00-Lonnie Foss, 5. 22a-Jesse Johnson, 6. 15-Speedy Madrid, 7. 24-Ty Warner, 8. 28-Vincent Depalma, 9. 40a-Ashley Stafford, 10. 51J-Mike Goodwin, 11. 27J-Jessica McGullam, 12. 84-Clifton Maggard, 13. 03-Kevin Risachaer, 14. 2jr-Joshua McClelland, 15. 13m-Johnny Madrid, 16. 5J-Jacob Madrid, 17. 14k-Ryan Campbell, 18. 3-Jeff Stafford, 19. 51-Jeff Carter, 20. 15r-Race Fisher.
Mod Lites:
First Heat: 1. 14-Josh Rivera, 2. 116-Jim Hock, 3. 51-Brenden Priest, 4. X50-Joel Huggins, 5. 30-Nick Gann, 6. 3-Eric Muse, 7. 58-Jeff Perry, 8. 26-Jake Boyle, 9. 2k-Taylor Kuehl, 10. 677-Austin Kuehl, 11. 91-Sarah Houton.
“A” Feature: 1. X50-Joel Huggins, 2. 116-Jim Hock, 3. 51-Brenden Priest, 4. 14-Josh Rivera, 5. 26-Jake Boyle, 6. 58-Jeff Perry, 7. 677-Austin Kuehl, 8. 3-Eric Muse, 9. 91-Sarah Houton, 10. 30-Nick Gann, 11. 2k-Taylor Kuehl.
Micro Sprints:
First Heat: 1. 94-Cassie Klenkie, 2. 44-Dave Ferneau, 3. 7-Josh Pelkey, 4. 7m-Mason Keefer, 5. 77-Ryan Hennessy, 6. 41-Colton Hardy.
Second Heat: 1. 6-Nick Aiuto, 2. 4s-Spencer Hill, 3. 91-Aaron Miller, 4. 6az-Gary Winter, 5. 9-Marty Morin, 6. 20az-Jarrett Martin.
“A” Feature: 1. 4s-Spencer Hill, 2. 6-Nick Aiuto, 3. 6az-Gary Winter, 4. 44-Dave Ferneau, 5. 20az-Jarrett Martin, 6. 91-Aaron Miller, 7. 94-Cassie Klenkie, 8. 7m-Mason Keefer, 9. 9-Marty Morin, 10. 77-Ryan Hennessey, 11. 41-Colton Hardy, 12. 7-Josh Pelkey.