R.J. Johnson Wins Hank Arnold Memorial!
PEORIA, Ariz. (March 28, 2015) – R.J. Johnson broke into USAC Southwest Sprint Car victory lane for the first time this year by winning Saturday night’s 30-lap Hank Arnold Memorial main event atop the 1/3-mile Canyon Speedway Park clay oval.
While Johnson bested the wingless Sprint Cars ranks, other Hank Arnold Memorial feature winners included Chris McCurdy, Jr., in Arizona Differential Pure Stocks, Colton Hardy in Micro Sprints, Adam Etcher in Mod Lites and Brian Stehr in Dwarf Cars.
Racing forward from the fifth starting position, two-time and reigning USAC Southwest Sprint Car champion Johnson outlasted defending Hank Arnold Memorial winner Stevie Sussex to take top honors in Saturday night’s feature with pole starter Josh Pelkey on the podium as well after finishing third. Matt Rossi raced from 12th fourth with Michael Colegrove rounding out the top five.
Chris McCurdy, Jr., and Brian Stehr both made it two wins in a row at Canyon Speedway Park during the night.
McCurdy took Arizona Differential Pure Stock honors ahead of Zack Madrid and Bo Partain while Stehr raced from ninth to take Dwarf Car accolades in front of Tony Martin and Ed Schuhlke.
Colton Hardy charged from the ninth position as well to top the Micro Sprint feature ahead of Dave Ferneau and Gary Winter while Adam Etcher bested the Mod Lites with Brenden Priest and John Priest next across the line.
Canyon Speedway Park is back in action next Saturday night, April 4, with the East Eggstravaganza featuring the winged ASCS Southwest Sprint Cars along with Ninth World Vapor IMCA Modifieds, Arizona Differential Pure Stocks, Scottsdale Muffler & Automotive Renegades, and AMA Mod Lites.
Canyon Speedway Park
Hank Arnold Memorial Results
USAC Southwest Sprint Cars:
First Heat: 1. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 2. 12-Josh Pelkey, 3. 17-Michael Colegrove, 4. 02-Matt Rossi, 5. 16-Mike Martin, 6. 7k-Bruce St. James, 7. 11c-Michael Curtis, 8. 29-Michael Bonneau.
Second Heat: 1. 77m-R.J. Johnson, 2. 21az-Stevie Sussex, 3. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 4. 22b-Brian Hosford, 5. 13-Dennis Giles, 6. 40-Vince Perez, 7. 48T-Thomas Ogle.
Third Heat: 1. 2-Joshua Shipley, 2. 20-Shon Deskins, 3. 77-Dalten Gabbard, 4. 5-Tye Mihocko, 5. 2x-Larry Gibson, 6. 4-Jonas Reynolds, 7. 44k-Koty McGullam.
“A” Feature: 1. 77m-R.J. Johnson, 2. 21az-Stevie Sussex, 3. 12-Josh Pelkey, 4. 02-Matt Rossi, 5. 17-Michael Colegrove, 6. 20-Shon Deskins, 7. 16-Mike Martin, 8. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 9. 22b-Brian Hosford, 10. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 11. 2-Joshua Shipley, 12. 5-Tye Mihocko, 13. 7k-Bruce St. James, 14. 13-Dennis Giles, 15. 2x-Larry Gibson, 16. 11c-Michael Curtis, 17. 40-Vince Perez, 18. 44k-Koty McGullam, 19. 77-Dalten Gabbard, 20. 29-Michael Bonneau, 21. 4-Jonas Reynolds, 22. 48T-Thomas Ogle.
Arizona Differential Pure Stocks:
First Heat: 1. 04b-Justin Bishop, 2. 57-Bear Taylor, 3. ACE-Doug Porter, 4. 97-Larry Gordon, 5. 3p-Johnathan Parker, 6. 5J-Jacob Madrid, 7. 21m-Matt Martinez.
Second Heat: 1. 7-Steve Bitting, 2. 23jr-Chris McCurdy, Jr., 3. 13m-Johnny Madrid, 4. 6-Michael Wrightsman, 5. 28-Vincent Depalma, 6. 06-Marlowe Wrightsman, 7. 97L-Stephen Lumpkin.
Third Heat: 1. 90-Bo Partain, 2. 68v-Joe Vlasity, 3. 5z-Zack Madrid, 4. 55-Jason Schwader, 5. 3-Ashley Stafford, 6. 51J-Gary Everett, 7. 57c-Collin Phipps, 8. 27T-John Todd.
“A” Feature: 1. 23jr-Chris McCurdy, Jr., 2. 5z-Zack Madrid, 3. 90-Bo Partain, 4. 21m-Matt Martinez, 5. 7-Steve Bitting, 6. 68v-Joe Vlasity, 7. ACE-Doug Porter, 8. 3-Ashley Stafford, 9. 13m-Johnny Madrid, 10. 06-Marlowe Wrightsman, 11. 97-Larry Gordon, 12. 57-Bear Taylor, 13. 04b-Justin Bishop, 14. 51J-Gary Everett, 15. 6-Michael Wrightsman, 16. 97L-Stephen Lumpkin, 17. 57c-Collin Phipps, 18. 3p-Johnathan Parker, 19. 28-Vincent Depalma, 20. 55-Jason Schwader, 21. 27T-John Todd, 22. 5J-Jacob Madrid.
Micro Sprints:
First Heat: 1. 77-Aaron Miller, 2. 94-Cassie Klenkie, 3. 41h-Tyler Merrill, 4. 11d-Drake Hacker, 5. 10-Ryan Hennessey, 6. 21-Brandon Harper, 7. 81-Tyler Dean, 8. 44-Chuck Dowty, 9. 86k-Kyle Klein.
Second Heat: 1. 6az-Gary Winter, 2. 37J-Dave Ferneau, 3. 7m-Mason Keefer, 4. 71-Cody Batten, 5. 42-Kenny Hilton, 6. 12-David Tardiff, 7. 86-Brian Klein, 8. 29-Paul Martin.
Third Heat: 1. 57-Kyle Huttenhow, 2. 91T-Chad Fife, 3. 41-Colton Hardy, 4. 27-Doug Tallent, 5. 28-Mark Morin, 6. 9-Marty Morin, 7. 50-Cliff Cormany, 8. 20az-Jarrett Martin.
“A” Feature: 1. 41-Colton Hardy, 2. 37J-Dave Ferneau, 3. 6az-Gary Winter, 4. 91T-Chad Fife, 5. 57-Kyle Huttenhow, 6. 41h-Tyler Merrill, 7. 77-Aaron Miller, 8. 42-Kenny Hilton, 9. 27-Doug Tallent, 10. 20az-Jarrett Martin, 11. 86-Brian Klein, 12. 50-Cliff Cormany, 13. 28-Mark Morin, 14. 71-Cody Batten, 15. 29-Paul Martin, 16. 7m-Mason Keefer, 17. 81-Tyler Dean, 18. 86k-Kyle Klein, 19. 94-Cassie Klenkie, 20. 11d-Drake Hacker, 21. 10-Ryan Hennessey, 22. 12-David Tardiff, 23. 21-Brandon Harper, 24. 44-Chuck Dowty, 25. 9-Marty Morin.
Mod Lites:
First Heat: 1. 88-Tyler Merrill, 2. 99-Adam Etcher, 3. 77x-Austin Kuehl, 4. 57-Kyler Repella, 5. 95-Collin Bender, 6. 116-Jim Hock, 7. 2k-Taylor Kuehl, 8. 54-Brian Weaver, 9. 27-Mike Evans.
Second Heat: 1. 14-Josh Rivera, 2. 15-Ken Young, 3. 8-Jeff Eckart, 4. 97-Steve Bender, 5. 333-Shane Hinsley, 6. 117-J.C. Gilleland, 7. 114-Sean Conyers, 8. 53az-Karl Ackley, 9. 677-Chuck Kuehl.
Third Heat: 1. 51-John Priest, 2. 1-Brenden Priest, 3. 17-Steve Moriarty, 4. 26-Jake Boyle, 5. 96-Hayden Bender, 6. 17x-Ryan Gilleland, 7. 91-Sarah Houton, 8. 76-Josh Martin, 9. 63-Matt Sotomayor.
“B” Feature: 1. 333-Shane Hinsley, 2. 96-Hayden Bender, 3. 116-Jim Hock, 4. 117-J.C. Gilleland, 5. 76-Josh Martin, 6. 27-Mike Evans, 7. 677-Chuck Kuehl, 8. 114-Sean Conyers, 9. 54-Brian Weaver, 10. 91-Sarah Houton, 11. 53az-Karl Ackley, 12. 17x-Ryan Gilleland, 13. 2k-Taylor Kuehl.
“A” Feature: 1. 99-Adam Etcher, 2. 1-Brenden Priest, 3. 51-John Priest, 4. 88-Tyler Merrill, 5. 17-Steve Moriarty, 6. 77x-Austin Kuehl, 7. 14-Josh Rivera, 8. 116-Jim Hock, 9. 15-Ken Young, 10. 95-Collin Bender, 11. 26-Jake Boyle, 12. 8-Jeff Eckart, 13. 117-J.C. Gilleland, 14. 96-Hayden Bender, 15. 97-Steve Bender, 16. 57-Kyler Repella, 17. 27-Mike Evans, 18. 114-Sean Conyers, 19. 677-Chuck Kuehl, 20. 333-Shane Hinsley, 21. 54-Brian Weaver, 22. 53az-Karl Ackley, 23. 76-Josh Martin, 24. 91-Sarah Houton.
Dwarf Cars:
First Heat: 1. 41-Tony Martin, 2. 88-Ed Schuhlke, 3. 93-A.J. Breau, 4. 47-Steve Kapaun, 5. 22-David Brodeur, 6. 53-David Siness, 7. 44-Daniel Lamm, 8. 58-Doug Bellissimo, 9. 24-Joe Racer, 10. 99-Rob Dienes.
Second Heat: 1. 00-Tim Cotherman, 2. 29-Cory Brown, 3. 11-Heather Hennessey, 4. 12-Pat Hennessey, 5. 61-John Ogden, 6. 05-Chad Stewart, 7. 5n-Storm Phillips, 8. 19-John Foster, 9. 18-Dennis Klein, 10. 24x-Joe Racer, Jr.
Third Heat: 1. 76-Brian Stehr, 2. 9-Glen Branham, 3. 2n-Cale Rudy, 4. 55-John Levitt, 5. 10-Helen Hennessey, 6. 23r-Logan Belasimo, 7. 14-Dillon Miller, 8. 33x-Joe Racer III, 9. 42-Brian Klein.
“B” Feature: 1. 61-John Ogden, 2. 5n-Storm Phillips, 3. 05-Chad Stewart, 4. 22-David Brodeur, 5. 19-John Foster, 6. 23r-Logan Belasimo, 7. 44-Daniel Lamm, 8. 58-Doug Bellissimo, 9. 53-David Siness, 10. 24-Joe Racer, 11. 10-Helen Hennessey, 12. 99-Rob Dienes, 13. 42-Brian Klein, 14. 18-Dennis Klein, 15. 14-Dillon Miller, 16. 33x-Joe Racer III.
“A” Feature: 1. 76-Brian Stehr, 2. 41-Tony Martin, 3. 88-Ed Schuhlke, 4. 2n-Cale Rudy, 5. 11-Heather Hennessey, 6. 00-Tim Cotherman, 7. 44-Daniel Lamm, 8. 05-Chad Stewart, 9. 12-Pat Hennessey, 10. 24-Joe Racer, 11. 47-Steve Kapaun, 12. 9-Glen Branham, 13. 29-Cory Brown, 14. 5n-Storm Phillips, 15. 19-John Foster, 16. 10-Helen Hennessey, 17. 61-John Ogden, 18. 22-David Brodeur, 19. 93-A.J. Breau, 20. 99-Rob Dienes, 21. 55-John Levitt, 22. 58-Doug Bellissimo, 23. 53-David Siness, 24. 23r-Logan Belasimo.
Sources: Lonnie Wheatley/Canyon Speedway Park PR