Josh Hodges Sprints to Victory at Canyon Speedway Park
Saturday, 9 March 2019
Peoria, Arizona… Taking the lead from Brody Roa on the second lap, Josh Hodges (Tijeras, NM) led the rest of the way to win the opening night of the “Spring Showcase” at Canyon Speedway Park. Driving the family owned #74X Jackson Compaction / Parts Plus Maxim, Hodges earned the $3,000 USAC/CRA and USAC SouthWest Sprint Car triumph. Roa, Isaac Chapple, R.J. Johnson, and Jake Swanson rounded out the top-five drivers. Before the main event, several cars were penalized for reporting late to staging and Hodges was the night’s hard charger.
Hunter Schuerenberg posted his second career Woodland Auto Display Fast Time Award over the 26-car field. The Sikeston, Missouri driver clocked in with a time of 13.575 on the 1/3-mile oval.
5-time USAC SouthWest Champion Johnson raced to victory in the Extreme Mufflers Heat Race #1. 2018 Champions “The Demon” Damion Gardner (USAC/CRA) and “Chargin” Charles Davis Jr. (USAC SouthWest) claimed their 10-lap heats, while Swanson topped the 12-lap semi-main.
AMSOIL USAC/CRA & SANDS CHEVROLET USAC SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: March 8, 2019 – Canyon Speedway Park – Peoria, Arizona – “2nd Annual Spring Showcase”
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY / BEAVER STRIPES QUALIFYING: 1. Hunter Schuerenberg, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-13,575; 2. Jake Swanson, 34AZ, Grau/Burkhart-13.729; 3. Isaac Chapple, 52, Chapple-13.913; 4. Dennis Gile, 13, Gile-13.945; 5. Matt Rossi, 02, Rossi-13.969; 6. Jason McDougal, 42, Cheney-13.980; 7. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-13.988; 8. Stevie Sussex, 12, Allen-14.023; 9. Tommy Malcolm, 5X, Napier-14.034; 10. Austin Williams, 92, Sertich-14.053; 11. Josh Hodges, 74X. Hodges-14.080; 12. Mike Martin, 16, Martin-14.116; 13. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-14.142; 14. Tye Mihocko, 5, Mihocko-14.170; 15. Charles Davis Jr., 50, Davis-14.176; 16. Landon Cling, 34C, Cling-14.268; 17. Damion Gardner, 4, Alexander-14.271; 18. Matt McCarthy, 28M, McCarthy-14.282; 19. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-14.436; 20. Kyle Shipley, 34, Grau-14.661; 21. Matt Lundy, 98, Lundy- 14.692; 22. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 51T, Tafoya-14.857; 23. Cal Smith, 39, Cal-Sun-15.042; 24. Ryan Cully, 21J, Cully-15.128; 25. Stephen Sanchez, 7, Sanchez-15.540; 26. Michael Curtis, 11C, Turner/Wheeler-16.074.
EXTREME MUFFLERS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, Top 4 finishers transfer) 1. Johnson, 2. Schuerenberg, 3. Williams, 4. Roa, 5. Gile, 6. Cling, 7. Gansen, 8. Tafoya, 9. Sanchez. NT
SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, Top 4 finishers transfer) 1. Gardner, 2. Hodges, 3. Sussex, 4. Rossi, 5. Mihocko, 6. Curtis, 7. Shipley, 8. Swanson, 9. Smith. NT
THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, Top 4 finishers transfer) 1. Davis, 2. Malcolm, 3. Martin, 4. Chapple, 5. McDougal, 6. McCarthy, 7. Lundy, 8. Cully. NT
SEMI: (12 laps, Top 10 finishers transfer) 1. Swanson, 2. McDougal, 3. Mihocko, 4. McCarthy, 5. Gile, 6. Gansen, 7. Cling, 8. Shipley, 9. Lundy, 10. Curtis, 11. Tafoya, 12. Cully, 13. Sanchez. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parenthesis) 1. Josh Hodges (11), 2. Brody Roa (3), 3. Isaac Chapple (5), 4. R.J. Johnson (13), 5. Jake Swanson (7), 6. Jason McDougal (9), 7. Damion Gardner (17), 8. Austin Williams (10), 9. Matt Rossi (4), 10. Stevie Sussex (2), 11. Mike Martin (12), 12. Landon Cling (16), 13. Charles Davis Jr. (15), 14. Michael Curtis (22), 15. Matt McCarthy (18), 16. Matt Lundy (21), 17. Kyle Shipley (20), 18. Chris Gansen (19), 19. Hunter Schuerenberg (6), 20. Tye Mihocko (14), 21. Dennis Gile (8), 22. Tommy Malcolm (1). NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Roa, Laps 2-30 Hodges.
HARD CHARGER: Josh Hodges (11th to 1st)
NEW AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Hodges-77, 2-Chapple-73, 3-Roa-72, 4-Johnson-69, 5-Swanson-67, 6-Gardner-60, 7-McDougal-59, 8-Williams-55, 9-Rossi-54, 10-Sussex-49.
NEW SANDS CHEVROLET USAC SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Hodges-148, 2-Chapple-147, 3-Roa-144, 4-Swanson-134, 5-Martin-110, 6-Davis-108, 7-Johnson-107, 8-Sussex-95, 9-Rossi-89, 10-Curtis-85.
NEXT USAC/CRA & SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR RACE: March 9 – Canyon Speedway Park – Peoria, Arizona – “2nd Annual Spring Showcase”
Sources: USAC PR
Josh Hodges wins at Canyon Josh Hodges wins at Canyon
Photo by Ben Thrasher