Gardner Scores in Hall of Fame Opener
PEORIA, Ariz. (October 23, 2015) – Damion Gardner kicked off the 15th Annual Sands Chevrolet Hall of Fame Classic by racing to USAC/CRA Sprint Car victory lane in Friday night’s 30-lap feature atop the 1/3-mile Canyon Speedway Park clay oval.
While Gardner topped the opening leg of the two night event in the Sprint Car ranks, Matt Martinez continued his winning ways in the Arizona Differential Pure Stocks while Kyle Huttenhow bested the Micro Sprints for the first time this season.
In the USAC/CRA Sprint Car ranks, Gardner wrestled the lead away from Brody Roa 20 rounds into the 30-lapper to secure his eighth win of the season in his bid for a fourth consecutive series championship.
Gardner raced to the stripe ahead of Roa with pole starter Jake Swanson, current USAC Southwest points leader R.J. Johnson and New Mexico shoe Joshua Hodges rounding out the top five.
With the triumph, Gardner moved past 17th-place finisher Mike Spencer for the series points lead with just a three-point advantage.
In Arizona Differential Pure Stock action, Matt Martinez rallied from the eighth starting position to capture his third consecutive win ahead of Marlowe Wrightsman, Chris McCurdy, Jr., Jeff Carter and Zack Madrid.
Kyle Huttenhow raced from the front row outside to add his name to the list of Micro Sprint winners at CSP in front of Colton Hardy, Jarrett Martin, Cody Batten and Mason Keefer.
The 15th Annual Sands Chevrolet Hall of Fame Classic wraps up with Saturday night action firing off at 7:00 p.m. with another full card of USAC/CRA Sprint Cars, Arizona Differential Pure Stocks, Micro Sprints and Vintage Cars.
Canyon Speedway Park
October 23, 2015 – 15th Annual Sands Chevrolet Hall of Fame Classic Results
USAC/CRA Sprint Cars:
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Mike Martin, 16, Martin-13.525; 2. Richard Vander Weerd, 10, Vander Weerd-13.708; 3. Josh Hodges, 74X, Hodges-13.722; 4. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-13.728; 5. Damion Gardner, 4, Alexander-13.903; 6. Brody Roa, 48, Leonard-14.022; 7. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-14.034; 8. Josh Pelkey, 12, Allen-14.105; 9. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-14.121; 10. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-14.204; 11. Logan Williams, 5, Jory-14.228; 12. Shon Deskins, 20, Deskins-14.277; 13. Charles Davis Jr., 50AZ, Massey-14.327; 14. Parker Colston, 64, Gore-14.439; 15. Dustin Cormany, 21AZ, Burkhart-14.503; 16. Matt Rossi, 02, Rossi-14.556; 17. Matt Lundy, 1, Lundy-14.590; 18. Tye Mihocko, 5M, Mihocko-14.666; 19. Jeremy Ellertson, 98, Ellertson-14.812; 20. Michael Curtis, 45C, Turner/Wheeler-14.863; 21. Austin Williams, 2. Jory-15.714; 22. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-16.322.
FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Davis, 2. Rossi, 3. Swanson, 4. Johnson, 5. Martin, 6. Bender, 7. Ellertson, 8. C.Williams. NT
SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Gardner, 2. Pelkey, 3. Vander Weerd, 4. Colston, 5. L.Williams, 6. Lundy, 7. Curtis. NT
THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Spencer, 2. Hodges, 3. Roa, 4. Mihocko, 5. Deskins, 6. Cormany, 7. A.Williams. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Damion Gardner, 2. Brody Roa, 3. Jake Swanson, 4. R.J. Johnson, 5. Josh Hodges, 6. Mike Martin, 7. Josh Pelkey, 8. Shon Deskins, 9. Richard Vander Weerd, 10. Cody Williams, 11. Jeremy Ellertson, 12. Tye Mihocko, 13. A.J. Bender, 14. Michael Curtis, 15. Charles Davis Jr., 16. Matt Lundy, 17. Mike Spencer, 18. Matt Rossi, 19. Parker Colston, 20. Dustin Cormany, 21. Logan Williams, 22. Austin Williams. NT
Arizona Differential Pure Stocks:
Heat One: 1. 21m-Matt Martinez, 2. 23jr-Chris McCurdy, Jr., 3. 22a-Aaron Hernandez, 4. 06-Marlowe Wrightsman, 5. 6-Michael Wrightsman, 7. 27T-John Todd.
Heat Two: 1. 6i-Dale Irby, 2. 68v-Joe Vlasity, 3. 51-Jeff Carter, 4. 04b-Justin Bishop, 5. 15-Steve Sussex, 6. 5z-Zack Madrid.
“A” Feature: 1. 21m-Matt Martinez, 2. 06-Marlowe Wrightsman, 3. 23jr-Chris McCurdy, Jr., 4. 51-Jeff Carter, 5. 5z-Zack Madrid, 6. 15-Steve Sussex, 7. 04b-Justin Bishop, 8. 22a-Aaron Hernandez, 9. 6i-Dale Irby, 10. 6-Michael Wrightsman, 11. 27T-John Todd, 12. 68v-Joe Vlasity.
Micro Sprints:
Heat One: 1. 9-Marty Morin, 2. 41-Colton Hardy, 3. 57-Kyle Huttenhow, 4. 42-Kenny Hilton, 5. 20s-Dustin Cormany, 6. 101-Jim Branum.
Heat Two: 1. 41h-Tyler Merrill, 2. 71-Cody Batten, 3. 20az-Jarrett Martin, 4. 99x-Jake Branum, 5. 28-Mark Morin, 6. 50-Roy Herrera.
Heat Three: 1. 7m-Mason Keefer, 2. 37j-Dave Ferneau, 3. 29-Paul Martin, 4. 10-Ryan Hennessey, 5. 77-Aaron Miller, 6. 11k-Tyler Congleton.
“A” Feature: 1. 57-Kyle Huttenhow, 2. 41-Colton Hardy, 3. 20az-Jarrett Martin, 4. 71-Cody Batten, 5. 7m-Mason Keefer, 6. 37j-Dave Ferneau, 7. 42-Kenny Hilton, 8. 29-Paul Martin, 9. 41h-Tyler Merrill, 10. 10-Ryan Hennessey, 11. 77-Aaron Miller, 12. 11k-Tyler Congleton, 13. 99x-Jake Branum, 14. 9-Marty Morin, 15. 20s-Dustin Cormany, 16. 28-Mark Morin, 17. 101-Jim Branum.
Sources: Lonnie Wheatley/Canyon Speedway Park PR