|
Lake Pleasant, AZ...June 12......Joining ASCA point leader Bob Ream Jr as a three feature winner in the 2004 point season, Marty Miller from Glendale drove the Buckley Racing entry to victory in the 25 lap ASCA unwinged 360 sprint car feature Saturday night as Canyon Raceway presented a rare all open wheel show. Miller had taken the lead on lap 8 and he paced double division racers Mike Leslie and Eric Wilkins at the checkered flag. The AMRA Midgets appeared 19 cars strong and Wilkins gained his second Canyon Raceway 20 lap feature win after trading the top spot with Adam Young over the opening rounds. Young ran second ahead of dash winner Cole Houser. The modified midgets and mini sprints had their biggest Canyon Raceway turnout ever as 20 Mini Sprint 600s and 10 Modified Midget 250s appeared. That allowed the two divisions to run completely separate shows and Joshua Shipley won the 600 main event ahead of Joey Strobel and Kenny Hilton. John Carioscia won the 250 feature in front of Ryan Copley and heat winner Steven Harms.
The unwinged 360 sprint cars checked in with 27 cars and they used four heats and a B Main to determine a 20 car lineup for their 25 lap feature. Young R J Johnson took dash honors over Wilkins and Chuck Buckman. Miller, the 2000 season champion for the club, won heat 1 over Yuma's Mike Martin and J T Imperial. Wilkins outraced R J Johnson and Michael Bryan in heat 2 while Josh Pelkey won heat 3 ahead of Ricky Johnson and Jeff Henry. Point leading Bob Ream Jr won heat 4 ahead of Leslie and Andrew Reinbold. When Buckman scratched from the feature, that left five transfer spots in the B Main that had 9 starters. Scott Passmore won the B Main ahead of Willy Grombach, Buddy Earle, Ben Gregg and Bernie Smith. The 25 lap feature was slowed just four times by yellow flags. The track was very dry, but took some rubber and got very quick midway through the main event. Pole starter Leslie led the first 7 laps. Grombach got into the fence underneath the flagstand and Chris Bonneau slipped into the infield. Miller took over on lap 9 and Ream suffered a rare spinout on lap 9. While Miller controlled the race, Leslie and Wilkins dueled for second. Pelkey spun for a lap 13 caution and the final yellow came on lap 18. Fourth starting Miller won ahead of pole starter Leslie, 7th starter Wilkins, 9th starting Imperial, R J Johnson, his father Ricky Johnson, Michael Bryan, Ream and Andy Reinbold. Twelve of the 20 starters were racing at the checkered flag.
The midget dash went to Cole Houser ahead of Darrin Fala and Dale Daly. The cars were split into three heat races. Wilkins won the first ahead of Young and Mike Courtney. Mike Welker outraced Houser and Blane Fett in heat 2 while Leslie won heat 3 ahead of Steve Sussex and Alex Herrera. Three of the 19 cars that checked in had female drivers. Sixteen cars survived to start their feature race and 11 of the starters saw the checkered flag. The 20 lapper was restarted twice. On the first try, Courtney spun and collected both House and Lyndsey Tilton. Finally, a lap was scored with Young leading Wilkins. On lap 4, Wilkins took the lead from Young. Young then led two more laps before Wilkins gained the top spot for good on lap 7. The red flag had fallen on lap 6 when Dean Daly flipped at the end of the backstretch. He was unhurt. A final yellow came on lap 19 for a stalled Courtney. Wilkins got the win ahead of Young, Houser, Amy Maris, Fett, Dustin Burkhardt, Herrera and Matt Triplett.
The mini sprint 600s were divided into three heat races. Chad Boat beat Ken Caskey in heat 1 while Mike Colegrove and Scott Shaffer were 1-2 in heat 2. Mark Stroh won heat 3 over Joey Strobel. Joshua Shipley had run third in his heat race. 11 of the 20 feature starters finished their 20 lap feature. Strobel led J Shipley on the first lap, but it was J Shipley in front for the remainder of the race. They moved into lapped traffic on lap 7, but J Shipley was flawless as he won. A great battle for second found Strobel hanging onto the spot ahead of Kenny Hilton and Caskey. Stroh ran fifth ahead of Boat, Kyle Norman and Shaffer. Kyle Shipley stalled in turn 3 for a lap 17 yellow flag. Harms won the lone modified midget 250 heat race over Kevin Simington and Ron Copley. The feature went 15 laps with 9 starters and 7 finished. Ryan Copley led a dozen laps before Carioscia gained the front for the final 3 laps. It was Carioscia's second win of 2004 at Canyon as Ryan Copley ran second ahead of Harms, Simington, Doug Welty, Patrick Riddle and Taylon Center.
Nine different divisions will run feature races at the 21st birthday race for the track on June 19.
Summary
Modified Midget 250s
Heat-Steven Harms, Kevin Simington, Ron Copley, John Carioscia, Ryan Copley.
Main-Carioscia, Ryan Copley, Harms, Simington, Doug Welty, Patrick Riddle, Taylon Center, Tyler Merrill, Brandon Young.
Mini Sprints 600s
Heat 1-Chad Boat, Ken Caskey, Bryan Arntz, Kyle Norman, Kyle Shipley.
Heat 2-Mike Colegrove, Scott Shaffer, Derek McCluskey, Kenny Warren, Chad Fife.
Heat 3-Mark Stroh, Joey Strobel, Joshua Shipley, Kenny Hilton, Adam Milsap.
Main-J Shipley, Strobel, Hilton, Caskey, Stroh, Boat, Norman, Shaffer, K Shipley, McCluskey, Warren, Arntz, Colegrove, C J Sarna, Fife, John Saunders, Mike Bisser, Milsap, Jacob Hawkins, Ken Perry.
Midgets
Dash-Cole Houser, Darrin Fala, Dale Daly.
Heat 1-Eric Wilkins, Adam Young, Mike Courtney, Amy Maris, Matt Triplett.
Heat 2-Mike Welker, Houser, Blane Fett, Dean Daly, Dale Daly.
Heat 3-Mike Leslie, Steve Sussex, Alex Herrera, Dustin Burkhardt, Fala.
Main-Wilkins, Young, Houser, Maris, Fett, Burkhardt, Herrera, Triplett, Steve Harback, Courtney, Dale Daly, Candice Schrum, Fala, Dean Daly, Leslie, Lindsey Tilton.
Unwinged 360 Sprint Cars
Dash-R J Johnson, Eric Wilkins, Chuck Buckman.
Heat 1-Marty Miller, Mike Martin, J T Imperial, Jesse Dunham, Scott Passmore.
Heat 2-Wilkins, R J Johnson, Michael Bryan, Chris Bonneau, Buddy Earle.
Heat 3-Josh Pelkey, Ricky Johnson, Jeff Henry, Buckman, Bernie Smith.
Heat 4-Bob Ream Jr, Mike Leslie, Andrew Reinbold, Bugs Norbury, Ben Gregg.
B Main-Passmore, Willy Grombach, Earle, Gregg, Smith, Mike Kuemper, Mike Boat, Nathan High, Paul Norbury.
A Main-Miller, Leslie, Wilkins, Imperial, R J Johnson, Ricky Johnson, Bryan, Ream Jr, Reinbold, Henry, Dunham, Gregg, Passmore, Martin, Pelkey, Smith, Grombach, Bonneau, Earle,
Norbury.
|
