By Richie Murray
Casa Grande, Arizona (March 28, 2026)………R.J. Johnson, the winningest driver in USAC Avanti Southwest Sprint Car series history, did it again on Saturday night at Casa Grande’s Central Arizona Raceway.
Johnson (Laveen, Arizona) snuck under Dayton Shelton on the lap nine restart and led the remaining 17 circuits of the 25-lap feature to capture his 51st career series win in his Petty Performance Racing No. 33p.
Early on, the dominating driver was Stevie Sussex as he charged from fourth to first on the opening lap, then pulled out to pretty healthy lead. However, on lap six, as he was working traffic, a lapped car made contact with Sussex, sending Sussex flipping several times in between turns one and two.
Charles Davis Jr. became the new leader on the lap six restart and led a single lap when seventh running A.J. Hernandez flipped upside down in turn four to bring out the red flag.
Davis led the first lap on the ensuing restart, then was overtaken by both Shelton and sixth starting Johnson on the back straightaway. A caution for a two-car tangle in turn two halted the race on lap nine.
Entering turn one on the ensuing restart, Shelton slid high, opening the door for Johnson to race on by. From there, Johnson dominated, pulling away to a 2.751 second margin of victory over Shelton (Prescott, Arizona), new point leader Bruce St. James (Phoenix, Arizona), Davis (Buckeye, Arizona) and Daylin Perreira (Hilo, Hawaii).
Heat race victories went to Sussex, Shelton and Johnson.
USAC AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: March 28, 2026 – Central Arizona Raceway – Casa Grande, Arizona
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Stevie Sussex (#2y Yeley) (2), 2. Bruce St. James (#1AZ St. James) (3), 3. Charles Davis Jr. (#11c Turner-Wheeler) (6), 4. Connor Lundy (#97 Lundy) (5), 5. Lonnie Hochstetler (#31H Hochstetler) (7), 6. Bryan Ledbetter Jr. (#7OH Ledbetter) (4), 7. Koen Crawford (#48 Crawford) (8), 8. George Zills (#10x Powers) (1). NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Dayton Shelton (#4D Shelton) (2), 2. Daylin Perreira (#21p Perreira) (5), 3. Rickey Kinney Jr. (#81K Kinney) (4), 4. Jordan Stetson (#8AZ Stetson) (3), 5. Chloe High (#01 High) (6), 6. Mickey Gile (#23AZ Gile) (7), 7. Mike Waddle (#25w Waddle) (1), 8. Leland Fuller (#3 Fuller). NT
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. R.J. Johnson (#33p Petty) (4), 2. Chris Bonneau (#78 Bonneau) (2), 3. A.J. Hernandez (#72 Hernandez) (6), 4. Troy DeGaton (#39T DeGaton) (1), 5. Justin Kierce (#43 Kierce) (5), 6. Jake Austin (#15 Austin) (7), 7. Dan Klinder (#30K Klinder) (3). NT
FEATURE: (25 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. R.J. Johnson (6), 2. Dayton Shelton (3), 3. Bruce St James (7), 4. Charles Davis Jr. (2), 5. Daylin Perreira (5), 6. Chris Bonneau (8), 7. Rickey Kinney Jr (9), 8. Koen Crawford (19), 9. Jordan Stetson (12), 10. Connor Lundy (10), 11. Bryan Ledbetter Jr. (18), 12. Troy DeGaton (13), 13. Leland Fuller (23), 14. Dan Klinder (20), 15. Chloe High (14), 16. Jake Austin (17), 17. George Zills (22), 18. Mike Waddle (21), 19. Justin Kierce (15), 20. A.J. Hernandez (1), 21. Lonnie Hochstetler (11), 22. Stevie Sussex (4), 23. Mickey Gile (16). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-5 Stevie Sussex, Laps 6-7 Charles Davis Jr., Lap 8 Dayton Shelton, Laps 9-25 R.J. Johnson.
USAC AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Bruce St. James-261, 2-Charles Davis Jr.-256, 3-R.J. Johnson-234, 4-Stevie Sussex-227, 5-Dayton Shelton-213, 6-Connor Lundy-208, 7-Daylin Perreira-207, 8-Jordan Stetson-196, 9-A.J. Hernandez-183, 10-Koen Crawford-171.
NEXT USAC AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR RACE: April 18, 2026 – Central Arizona Raceway – Casa Grande, Arizona