Lonnie Wheatley, PEORIA, Ariz. (January 23, 2016) – Bryan Clauson and Hunter Marriott took center stage by posting Saturday night feature wins as 101 cars filled the pit area at Canyon Speedway Park for the second of five Winter Challenge rounds of competition.
While Indiana’s Clauson bested the USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast non-wing Sprint Car ranks for the second night in a row, Missouri’s Marriott bested Friday night winner Ricky Thornton, Jr., for IMCA Modified honors.
Along with Clauson and Marriott, other Saturday night winners included George Fronsman in IMCA Stock Car vs. Pure Stock action, Colton Hardy in Micro Sprints and Josh Rivera in Mod Lites.
After winning Friday night’s USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast Sprint Car Winter Challenge opener, Clauson and the Mike Martin-owned team found themselves in scramble mode when mechanical woes surfaced.
“We had a little trouble with the Cancer Treatment Centers of America No. 16b, we were able to jump into Mike’s backup car,” Clauson explained. “I can’t say enough about how hard those guys work, we didn’t have any laps in that car when we went out for the heat race and we were able to get it working well enough.”
While Clauson gridded the feature field outside the second row, Brian Hosford set the early pace before spinning to a stop in turn three after getting together with a lapped car after eight laps.
Charles Davis, Jr., assumed the point with R.J. Johnson, Josh Hodges and Clauson dicing for position in his wake. Clauson made his way up to second by the time a red flag flew after 17 laps for Guy Weedman, who got on his side in turn one, and then charged by Davis, Jr., on the high side of turns one and two on the restart to take command.
“I screwed up on the restart, I went to the bottom and that wasn’t the right thing to do,” Davis, Jr., commented afterward.
Johnson followed Clauson around Davis, Jr., and tried to mount a late charge, but to no avail. “I tried a couple of Hail Mary’s, it just wasn’t enough.”
Clauson’s second win in as many nights came atop the 1/3-mile clay oval that has been friendly to home over the years. “This is kind of like a home away from home, I don’t really know what it is but we always seem to get around here pretty good.”
Clauson took the checkered flag ahead of Johnson and Davis, Jr., with Hodges crossing the stripe fourth and commenting that, “I don’t think the driver got it done tonight, the car was good enough but I didn’t put it in the right places a few times.”
After his early spin, Hosford rallied back through the field to round out the top five.
In the 25-lap IMCA Modified main event, Brookfield, Missouri’s Hunter Marriott denied a Ricky Thornton, Jr., effort at going two-for-two by battling into the lead on the 18th round en route to victory lane.
While Thornton, Jr., led from the front row at the drop of the green flag, Marriott worked into second and pressured Thornton, Jr., much of the way before sliding into the lead with just seven laps to go.
Thornton, Jr., tried to slide back into the lead with the white flag in sight, only to slide too far sideways and nearly loop it. Marriott escaped to take the win while Thornton, Jr., recovered and held on to the runner-up position ahead of Ethan Dotson, Jason Noll and 13th-starter Paul Stone.
George Fronsman charged from eighth to capture IMCA Stock Car vs. Pure Stock honors ahead of Lonnie Foss and Steve Bitting.
Colton Hardy raced to Micro Sprint victory lane ahead of Jarrett Martin and Dustin Cormany while Josh Rivera ruled the Mod Lite ranks by taking the checkered flag ahead of Chaz Baca, Jr., and Shane Hinsley.
Winter Challenge 2016 continues with Round Three action going green at 5:00 p.m. Sunday night at Canyon Speedway Park with another full slate of USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast Sprint Cars, IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars vs. Pure Stocks, Micro Sprints and Mod Lites.
Canyon Speedway Park
January 23, 2016 – Winter Challenge 2016 Night Two of Five Results
USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast Sprint Cars:
Heat One: 1. 74x-Josh Hodges, 2. 13-Dennis Gile, 3. 27w-Guy Weedman, 4. 45-Bob Strait, 5. 4-David Dykes, 6. 16-Mike Martin.
Heat Two: 1. 16b-Bryan Clauson, 2. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 3. 0k-Kenny Perkins, 4. 48T-Thomas Ogle, 5. 34-Tanner Grau, 6. 50x-Will Perkins.
Heat Three: 1. 51-R.J. Johnson, 2. 22b-Brian Hosford, 3. 11c-Michael Curtis, 4. 12k-Mason Keefer, 5. 58-Connor Strait, 6. 5x-Matt McCarthy.
“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 16b-Bryan Clauson, 2. 51-R.J. Johnson, 3. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 4. 74x-Josh Hodges, 5. 22b-Brian Hosford, 6. 13-Dennis Gile, 7. 48T-Thomas Ogle, 8. 0k-Kenny Perkins, 9. 16-Mike Martin, 10. 11c-Michael Curtis, 11. 34-Tanner Grau, 12. 4-David Dykes, 13. 45-Bob Strait, 14. 58-Connor Strait, 15. 50x-Will Perkins, 16. 12k-Mason Keefer, 17. 27w-Guy Weedman, 18. 5x-Matt McCarthy.
IMCA Modifieds:
Heat One: 1. 44-Jason Noll, 2. 174-Ethan Dotson, 3. 5L-Cody Laney, 4. 75jr-Chaz Baca, Jr., 5. 24s-Steve Simpson, Jr., 6. 56d-Garth Dushanek, 7. 15s-William Slocum, 8. 14a-Chase Alvez.
Heat Two: 1. 60-Anthony Roth, 2. 62-Hunter Marriott, 3. 5z-Zack Madrid, 4. L8-Brian Schultz, 5. 00-Nate Warren, 6. 77x-Austin Kuehl, 7. X04-Mike Strobl, 8. 4r-Ross Statham.
Heat Three: 1. S-Collen Winebarger, 2. 45-R.C. Whitwell, 3. 7r-Ryan Gaylord, 4. 92p-John Parmeley, 5. X-Josh Rogotzke, 6. 71-Brent Schlafmann, 7. 45T-Trent Gaust, 8. 40jr-Bubba Stafford.
Heat Four: 1. 101bc-Bryson Curry, 2. 20rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 3. 7-Marlyn Seidler, 4. 66p-Paul Stone, 5. 66k-Kyle Strickler, 6. 12-Guy Norton, 7. 40-Jeff Stafford, 8. 87-Curt Lund.
Heat Five: 1. 19sb-Lance Mari, 2. XXX-Jessie Rogotzke, 3. 4tw-Tim Ward, 4. 78-Steve Stultz, 5. 59-Mark Stewart, 6. 17-Justin Miller, 7. 7g-Bryan Gabbard, 8. 25-Paul Nelson.
First “B” Main: 1. 7-Marlyn Seidler, 2. 12-Guy Norton, 3. 77x-Austin Kuehl, 4. 78-Steve Stultz, 5. X-Josh Rogotzke, 6. 15s-William Slocum, 7. 45T-Trent Gaust, 8. 56d-Garth Dushanek, 9. 25-Paul Nelson, 10. 14a-Chase Alvez, 11. 00-Nate Warren, 12. 4r-Ross Statham.
Second “B” Main: 1. 5L-Cody Laney, 2. 66k-Kyle Strickler, 3. 87-Curt Lund, 4. 5z-Zack Madrid, 5. X04-Mike Strobl, 6. 59-Mark Stewart, 7. 40-Jeff Stafford, 8. 24s-Steve Simpson, Jr., 9. 17-Justin Miller, 10. 7g-Bryan Gabbard, 11. 71-Brent Schlafmann, 12. 40jr-Bubba Stafford.
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 62-Hunter Marriott, 2. 20rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 3. 174-Ethan Dotson, 4. 44-Jason Noll, 5. 66p-Paul Stone, 6. 60-Anthony Roth, 7. 5L-Cody Laney, 8. 19sb-Lance Mari, 9. 4tw-Tim Ward, 10. 45-R.C. Whitwell, 11. 66k-Kyle Strickler, 12. L8-Brian Schultz, 13. S-Collen Winebarger, 14. 75jr-Chaz Baca, Jr., 15. 87-Curt Lund, 16. 92p-John Parmeley, 17. 7r-Ryan Gaylord, 18. 12-Guy Norton, 19. 5z-Zack Madrid, 20. 101bc-Bryson Curry, 21. 77x-Austin Kuehl, 22. 78-Steve Stultz, 23. XXX-Jessie Rogotzke, 24. 7-Marlyn Seidler.
IMCA Stock Cars vs. Pure Stocks:
Heat One: 1. 41-George Fronsman, 2. 7-Steve Bitting, 3. 53-Justin Thornton, 4. 00-Lonnie Foss, 5. 73-Harland Morehart, 6. 06az-Kenny Wiman, Jr., 7. 15-Mark Madrid.
Heat Two: 1. 98-Vincent Depalma, 2. $-Cody Center, 3. 2m-Robert McClelland, 4. 11-Richard Veralrud, 5. 6-Michael Wrightsman, 6. 41r-Robert Linn, 7. 23jr-Matt Martinez.
“A” Feature: 1. 41-George Fronsman, 2. 00-Lonnie Foss, 3. 7-Steve Bitting, 4. 15-Mark Madrid, 5. 6-Michael Wrightsman, 6. 2m-Robert McClelland, 7. 11-Richard Veralrud, 8. $-Cody Center, 9. 98-Vincent Depalma, 10. 73-Harland Morehart, 11. 23jr-Matt Martinez, 12. 53-Justin Thornton, 13. 06az-Kenny Wiman, Jr., 14. 41r-Robert Linn.
Micro Sprints:
Heat One: 1. 20az-Jarrett Martin, 2. 99x-Jake Branum, 3. 12-Nick Aiuto, 4. 14L-Logan Heath, 5. 04J-Dale Eliason, 6. 28-Mark Morin.
Heat Two: 1. 41h-Colton Hardy, 2. 37j-Dustin Cormany, 3. 16-Pat Wing, 4. 50-Ray Herrera, 5. 7k-David Tardiff, 6. 21-Brandon Sutton, 7. 52-Cameron La Rose, 8. 91T-James La Rose.
“A” Feature: 1. 41h-Colton Hardy, 2. 20az-Jarrett Martin, 3. 37j-Dustin Cormany, 4. 21-Brandon Sutton, 5. 04J-Dale Eliason, 6. 14L-Logan Heath, 7. 16-Pat Wing, 8. 50-Ray Herrera, 9. 7k-David Tardiff, 10. 52-Cameron La Rose, 11. 28-Mark Morin, 12. 91T-James La Rose, 13. 99x-Jake Branum, 14. 12-Nick Aiuto.
Mod Lites:
Heat One: 1. 1-Brenden Priest, 2. 75-Chaz Baca, Jr., 3. 333-Shane Hinsley, 4. 26-Jake Boyle, 5. 91-Sarah Houston, 6. 98-Jeff Lowe, 7. 55-Mike Opoka.
Heat Two: 1. 96-Hayden Bender, 2. 17x-Ryan Gilleland, 3. 51-John Priest, 4. 14-Josh Rivera, 5. 95-Collin Bender, 6. 114-Sean Conyers, 7. X-Tony Martin, 8. 34-Robert Beebe.
“A” Feature: 1. 14-Josh Rivera, 2. 75-Chaz Baca, Jr., 3. 333-Shane Hinsley, 4. X-Tony Martin, 5. 96-Hayden Bender, 6. 95-Collin Bender, 7. 34-Robert Beebe, 8. 17x-Ryan Gilleland, 9. 98-Jeff Lowe, 10. 55-Mike Opoka, 11. 26-Jake Boyle, 12. 91-Sarah Houston, 13. 1-Brenden Priest, 14. 51-John Priest.