By Richie Murray
Show Low, Arizona (June 13, 2026)………R.J. Johnson led all 30 laps to win Saturday night’s USAC Avanti Southwest Sprint Car feature at Deuce of Clubs Thunder Raceway in Show Low, Arizona.
Starting third on the grid, Johnson (Laveen, Arizona) catapulted past both front row occupants Koen Crawford and Brody Wake on the bottom of turns one and two, then checked out from the field to win his second series feature of the year.
The win was the 52nd of Johnson’s USAC Southwest Sprint Car career in his Petty Performance Racing No. 33p. Furthermore, he upped his series point lead to 32.
Johnson was followed to the stripe by PPR teammate Elijah Gile in second. Stevie Sussex took third ahead of Daylin Perreira in fourth, while Nathan High rounded out the top-five.
Dayton Shelton was the fastest qualifier with a time of 13.148 seconds. Heat races were won by Crawford, Wake, and Johnson.
USAC AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: June 13, 2026 – Deuce of Clubs Thunder Raceway – Show Low, Arizona
FIRST QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Koen Crawford, 48, Crawford-14.789; 2. Dylan Schaadt, 88G, Schaadt-14.976; 3. A.J. Hernandez, 72, Hernandez-15.072; 4. Chloe High, 01AZ, Wichter-15.135; 5. Mike Waddle, 25w, Waddle-15.165; 6. Elijah Gile, 13p, Petty-15.257; 7. J.W. Henderson, 57, Henderson-15.554.
SECOND QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Bruce St. James, 1AZ, St. James-13.947; 2. Daylin Perreira, 21p, Perreira-14.232; 3. Wayne Siddle, 007, Siddle-14.279; 4. Brody Wake, 78, Wake-14.401; 5. Dan Klinder, 30K, Klinder-15.283; 6. Jordan Stetson, 8AZ, Stetson-15.959; 7. Rickey Kinney Jr., 81K, Kinney-16.305.
THIRD QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Dayton Shelton, 4D, Shelton-13.148; 2. Stevie Sussex, 2y, Yeley-13.329; 3. R.J. Johnson, 33p, Petty-13.354; 4. Connor Lundy, 97, Lundy-13.542; 5. Leland Fuller, 3, Fuller-14.341; 6. Mickey Gile, 23AZ, Gile-14.341; 7. Nathan High, 01, Wichter-14.341.
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Koen Crawford (4), 2. Elijah Gile (6), 3. A.J. Hernandez (2), 4. Chloe High (1), 5. Dylan Schaadt (3), 6. J.W. Henderson (7), 7. Mike Waddle (5). NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Brody Wake (1), 2. Daylin Perreira (3), 3. Wayne Siddle (2), 4. Bruce St. James (4), 5. Jordan Stetson (6), 6. Rickey Kinney Jr. (7), 7. Dan Klinder (5). NT
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. R.J. Johnson (2), 2. Dayton Shelton (4), 3. Stevie Sussex (3), 4. Nathan High (7), 5. Connor Lundy (1), 6. Leland Fuller (5), 7. Mickey Gile (6). NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. R.J. Johnson (3), 2. Elijah Gile (4), 3. Stevie Sussex (9), 4. Daylin Perreira (5), 5. Nathan High (12), 6. Brody Wake (2), 7. Koen Crawford (1), 8. Bruce St. James (11), 9. Connor Lundy (15), 10. Dayton Shelton (6), 11. Dylan Schaadt (13), 12. A.J. Hernandez (7), 13. Jordan Stetson (14), 14. Rickey Kinney Jr (17), 15. Leland Fuller (18), 16. Dan Klinder (20), 17. J.W. Henderson (16), 18. Wayne Siddle (8), 19. Chloe High (10), 20. Mike Waddle (19). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 R.J. Johnson.
USAC AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-R.J. Johnson-525, 2-Stevie Sussex-493, 3-Bruce St. James-480, 4-Daylin Perreira-455, 5-Koen Crawford-406, 6-Dayton Shelton-404, 7-A.J. Hernandez-381, 8-Jordan Stetson-378, 9-Connor Lundy-359, 10-Charles Davis Jr.-340.
NEXT USAC AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR RACES: July 17-18, 2026 – Deuce of Clubs Thunder Raceway – Show Low, Arizona