Lonnie Wheatley, PEORIA, Ariz. (January 27, 2015) – With the initial three rounds of the E&K Winter Challenge in the books, the five race series shifts to Tucson’s USA Raceway for the final two legs this Friday and Saturday.
The USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast Sprint Cars will once again headline the action with a $2,000 winner’s share on Friday night and then $4,000 up for grabs on Saturday night.
The IMCA Modifieds and Stock Cars will once again be in action as well with X Mods and Dwarf Cars rounding out this weekend’s action.
Following an open practice session atop the 3/8-mile clay oval on Thursday evening from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Friday’s racing action goes green at 7:00 p.m. before Saturday’s E&K Winter Challenge finale fires off at 5:00 p.m.
The Winter Challenge kicked off this past weekend with three nights of action at Canyon Speedway Park near Phoenix. After Brady Bacon opened the weekend with a triumph in the wingless USAC Sprint Car ranks, Ryan Bernal edged Dave Darland at the line in Saturday’s main event before wiring the field for top honors in Sunday’s $4,000-to-win feature event.
With E&K posting a $5,000 Winter Challenge points fund including $2,000 for the champion along with $1,000, $750, $500 and $250, respectively, for the balance of the top five, Dave Darland holds a ten-point lead over Brady Bacon entering the final pair of events with R.J. Johnson, Charles Davis, Jr., and Bernal filling out the current top five.
Another $500 will be awarded to the E&K Winter Challenge “Most Valuable Player”, the lowest point earner that starts all five feature events.
In the IMCA Modified ranks, Ricky Thornton, Jr., has claimed two wins in a row after Tim Ward topped the Friday opener while Matt Martinez has topped two of three Pure Stock features as well with Jon Courchaine taking the middle round.
The remaining 2015 E&K Winter Challenge Schedule of Events is as follows:
Thursday, January 29 – Open Practice at USA Raceway from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Friday, January 30 – Round 4 at USA Raceway (Gates open at 5:00 p.m., Racing at 7:00 p.m.)
Saturday, January 31 – Round 5 at USA Raceway (Gates open at 3:00 p.m., Racing at 5:00 p.m.)
The current top ten in E&K Winter Challenge USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast Sprint Car points are as follows: 1. #16b-Dave Darland 197, 2. #73-Brady Bacon 187, 3. #51-R.J. Johnson 186, 4. #50-Charles Davis, Jr. 176, 5. #56-Ryan Bernal 174, 6. #77-Dalten Gabbard 152, 7. #16-Mike Martin 149, 8. #21az-Stevie Sussex 139, 9. #74-Rick Ziehl 121, 10. #55nm David Dykes 106.
USA Raceway is located in southeast Tucson just three miles from the airport and one mile off I-10 at 4300 East Los Reales Road.
Hotel Information can be found by calling the Courtyard by Marriott at 520-573-0000.
To keep up on all the latest news and happenings, sign up for Canyon Speedway E-News. The track update registration can be found at the top of the www.canyonspeedwaypark.com home page.
The entire 2015 Canyon Speedway Par schedule can be viewed online at http://www.canyonspeedwaypark.com/schedule/.
For tickets and more information, contact the track at 602-258-RACE(7223) or check online at www.canyonspeedwaypark.com. Additional information regarding USA Raceway is available at http://raceusaraceway.com/.