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Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (March 3, 2008) – A new season means it's a fresh start for everyone, and that will be exactly the case this Saturday night when the Discount Tire Co. ASCS Canyon Region kicks off a dynamic 2008 season with the Tribute to Jimmy Blanton atop Manzanita Speedway's 1/3-mile clay oval.
Reigning series champion Jeremy Sherman of Surprise, AZ, and Buckeye's Charles Davis, Jr., held a virtual stranglehold on ASCS Canyon Region victory lane in 2007, combining to capture victory honors in 18 of 20 feature events.
But with the slate wiped clean to open a new season, a talented cast of characters sets out to change the look of victory lane in 2008.
Among those top contenders will be past Arizona state champs Bob Ream, Jr., and Josh Pelkey along with Mike Leslie (third-place finisher in 2007 Canyon Region points), Seainn Hendricsen, Shon Deskins, Andrew Reinbold, Mike Martin, Jeremy Reagles, Nathan High and many more.
Throw Tucson's Jerry Coons, Jr., a winner of 20 or more Sprint Car and Midget features over each of the past two years, and Missouri's Jesse Hockett into Saturday night's mix and the duo of Sherman and Davis will certainly have their hands full.
Of course, Sherman will be aiming to open the 2008 season in similar fashion to 2007, a year in which he topped the opening four ASCS Canyon Region feature events and seven of the initial eight en route to capturing the title by 159 points.
Teaming with the Massey Motorsports team midway through the 2007 campaign, Davis came on strong with five of six wins coming over the latter half of the season. While missing an early 2007 event cost Davis any real chance to chase down Sherman in the points race, he still managed to climb back up to second by season's end. Starting out even, Davis is set to battle it out with Sherman for the full distance.
Certificates will be awarded to each of the heat race winners, with Racing Optics sponsoring heat race one, MPD Race Products sponsoring heat race two, Winters Performance sponsoring heat race three and Sunoco sponsoring heat race four. Arizona Race Mart sponsors the Trophy Dash, while Sunoco will also award a certificate to each "B" Main winner in ASCS Canyon Region action this year. Parker Store sponsors the Roll for Inversion.
The pit gates for Saturday's season-opening Discount Tire Co. ASCS Canyon Region event open at 2:00 p.m. All cars must be teched prior to competition, so any cars unable to make this past weekend's Tech Day at the Phoenix Parker Store are encouraged to arrive early in order to complete the Tech procedure.
Saturday's Discount Tire Co. ASCS Canyon Region action at Manzanita Speedway is set to go green at 7:00 p.m.
Manzanita Speedway is located in Phoenix, AZ, off I-10 Exit 141, then four miles south on 35th Avenue to West Broadway. For more information, contact the track at 602-276-7575.
The Discount Tire Co. ASCS Canyon Region brings the best in non-wing Sprint Car racing to Arizona with a full slate of 29 nights of racing in 2008. In addition to events atop both the ½-mile and 1/3-mile ovals at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix, the series will also be in action at Tucson's USA Race Park and Casa Grande's Central Arizona Raceway over the course of the season.
The nation's most prominent Sprint Car sanctioning body with 14 different Regions throughout the United States in addition to the O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National series, the American Sprint Car Series' (ASCS) 17th year of activity will include approximately 250 nights of racing at more than 100 different race tracks throughout 28 different states and Canada.
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.
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