Lonnie Wheatley, PEORIA, Ariz. (January 30, 2014) – Colby Copeland nabbed his first Winter Challenge score by topping the fourth round of USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast Sprint Car action atop the 1/3-mile Canyon Speedway Park clay oval on Thursday night.
While Copeland became the third different winner in four rounds of Winter Challenge action, Ricky Thornton, Jr., reeled off his third consecutive win in IMCA Modified competition.
After winning his heat race, Copeland started the 30-lap feature from the pole position and led all the way to take the $2,000 winner’s share aboard the Bandit Racing No. 74. The Roseville, CA, shoe had to fight off some sliders from Charles Davis, Jr., though in the latter stages to secure the win.
Davis, Jr., settled for runner-up honors from the sixth starting position with Richard Vander Weerd, Shon Deskins and Casey Shuman rounding out the top five. Jace Vander Weerd was sixth just ahead of seventh row starters Brady Bacon (14th to seventh) and Dave Darland (13h to eighth) with 19th-starter Josh Pelkey and Michael Colegrove completing the top ten.
Ricky Thornton, Jr., raced from the sixth starting position to claim his third consecutive IMCA Modified score ahead of front row starters Tim Ward and Jason Noll. Jesse Sobbing and Chris Olexicwiez rounded out the top five.
Canyon Speedway Park’s Winter Challenge resumes with Round Five on Friday night at 7:00 p.m.
Canyon Speedway Park
Winter Challenge Round Four Results:
USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast Sprint Cars:
First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 74-Colby Copeland, 2. 21x-Casey Shuman, 3. 21a-Aaron Reutzel, 4. 99-Brady Bacon, 5. 11c-Michael Curtis, 6. 1x-Dave Darland, 7. 55-Tony Everhart, 8. 55nm-David Dykes, 9. 111-Ryan Bernal.
Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 2. 10-Richard Vander Weerd, 3. 92-Mitch Mack, 4. 17m-Michael Colegrove, 5. 83-Michael Woodruff, 6. 45-Jason Grady, 7. 77x-Taylor Walton, 8. 12-Josh Pelkey, 9. 0-Will Perkins.
Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 88-Jace Vander Weerd, 2. 73-Nic Faas, 3. 4-Stevie Sussex, 4. 20-Shon Deskins, 5. 5-Tye Mihocko, 6. 16-Mike Martin, 7. 51x-Jimmy Crawford, 8. 0k-Kenny Perkins, 9. 12j-Josh Grady.
“B” Feature (10 Laps): 1. 16-Mike Martin, 2. 51x-Jimmy Crawford, 3. 12-Josh Pelkey, 4. 77x-Taylor Walton, 5. 83-Michael Woodruff, 6. 0k-Kenny Perkins, 7. 12j-Josh Grady, 8. 55-Tony Everhart, 9. 55nm-David Dykes, 10. 0-Will Perkins, 11. 111-Ryan Bernal.
“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 74-Colby Copeland, 2. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 3. 10-Richard Vander Weerd, 4. 20-Shon Deskins, 5. 21x-Casey Shuman, 6. 88-Jace Vander Weerd, 7. 99-Brady Bacon, 8. 1x-Dave Darland, 9. 12-Josh Pelkey, 10. 17m-Michael Colegrove, 11. 73-Nic Faas, 12. 4-Stevie Sussex, 13. 5-Tye Mihocko, 14. 16-Mike Martin, 15. 11c-Michael Curtis, 16. 0k-Kenny Perkins, 17. 77x-Taylor Walton, 18. 83-Michael Woodruff, 19. 21a-Aaron Reutzel, 20. 51x-Jimmy Crawford, 21. 45-Jason Grady, 22. 92-Mitch Mack.
Lap Leaders: Colby Copeland 1-30.
IMCA Modifieds:
First Heat: 1. 222-Larry Hood, 2. 4tw-Tim Ward, 3. 44-Jason Noll, 4. 8-Nate Warren, 5. 14r-Donald Robinson, 6. 100-Stacy Mills, 7. 59m-Mark Stewart, 8. L8-Bryan Schultz.
Second Heat: 1. 88c-Chris Olexicwiez, 2. 5m-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 3. 37-Mike Jergens, 4. 10m-Jeremy Mills, 5. 3x-Jason Briese, 6. 8c-Chad Anderson, 7. 198-Cody Miller, 8. 90.5-Tommy Fain.
Third Heat: 1. 99c-Jesse Sobbing, 2. 6x-Jason Schoenberger, 3. W5-Jesse Williamson, 4. 21r-Riley Simmons, 5. 45-Ryan Roath, 6. 39-Scott Eaton, 7. 75jr-Chaz Baca, Jr.
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 5m-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 2. 4tw-Tim Ward, 3. 44-Jason Noll, 4. 99c-Jesse Sobbing, 5. 88c-Chris Olexicwiez, 6. 222-Larry Hood, 7. 37-Mike Jergens, 8. 45-Ryan Roath, 9. 59-Mark Stewart, 10. 100-Stacy Mills, 11. 21r-Riley Simmons, 12. 8c-Chad Anderson, 13. 75jr-Chaz Baca, Jr., 14. 10m-Jeremy Mills, 15. 39-Scott Eaton, 16. 8-Nate Warren, 17. W5-Jesse Williamson, 18. 6x-Jason Schoenberger, 19. 90.5-Tommy Fain, 20. 198-Cody Miller, 21. L8-Bryan Schultz, 22. 3x-Jason Briese, 23. 14r-Donald Robinson.