Lonnie Wheatley, PEORIA, Ariz. (January 29, 2016) – Bryan Clauson and Ricky Thornton, Jr., maintained the hottest of Winter Challenge 2016 hands on Friday night as both drivers posted their third triumphs in the fourth round of competition atop the 1/3-mile Canyon Speedway Park clay oval.

While Clauson captured another USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast non-wing Sprint Car feature victory and Thornton, Jr., topped the IMCA Modifieds for a third time as well, other Friday night winners included Matt Martinez in IMCA Stock Car vs. Pure Stock action, Jason Crowe in IMCA Hobby Stocks vs. Renegades and John Isabella in Dwarf Cars.

Noblesville, Indiana’s Bryan Clauson continued his mastery of the 1/3-mile CSP clay oval by racing into the lead on the fourth round and then checking out on the field in the 30-lapper to make it three-for-four in USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast Sprint Car action at Winter Challenge 2016.

Gridding the field fifth in Mike Martin’s Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Jonathan Byrd’s Racing No. 16, Clauson was up to second within two laps and then slipped underneath Brian Hosford to take command in turns one and two on the fourth round.

With just one caution after ten laps slowing the pace, Clauson cruised to a comfortable victory and his fourth overall win in the 10^th race of his “Circular Insanity” pursuit of 200 races in 2016.

“We let the one Sunday get away, the guys worked hard all week to make sure that didn’t happen again,” Clauson commented in victory lane after the $2,000 triumph.  “We threw some different things at it and what we tried tonight really brought this thing to life.”

In Clauson’s wake, Stevie Sussex rallied on the high side from 11^th all the way to second by the midway point and then fought off R.J. Johnson over the closing circuits to secure runner-up honors.  Johnson crossed the stripe third for his fourth top-four run in as many Winter Challenge events with Charles Davis, Jr., and Josh Hodges rounding out the top five.

Racing from the front row, Ricky Thornton, Jr., set the pace all the way for the second race in a row to make it three-for-four in Winter Challenge action aboard the No. 20rt.

Round Two winner Hunter Marriott tried to chase down Thornton, Jr., to match up the score at two apiece but had to settle for second with Joey Moriarty, 16^th-starter Tim Ward and 18^th-starter Brian Schultz rounding out the top five.

Matt Martinez emerged atop a rough and tumble Pure Stock feature to even the score at two wins each along with George Fronsman.  After outdueling Vincent Depalma in the early going, Martinez held off Fronsman over the closing rounds to secure the win with Cody Center, Lonnie Foss and Richard Veralrud among the top five.

John Isabella rallied from the tail of the Dwarf Car “B” Main for the win and then raced from 13^th to win the “A” Main ahead of 14^th-starter Keith Welch and Darren Brown while Jason Crowe raced from four rows deep to take Renegade honors ahead of pole starter Paul O’Connor and Dave Barnes.

Winter Challenge 2016 at Canyon Speedway Park concludes Saturday night with a full slate of USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast Sprint Cars, IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars vs. Pure Stocks, IMCA Hobby Stocks vs. Renegades and Dwarf Cars firing off at 5:00 p.m.

Canyon Speedway Park

January 29, 2016 – Winter Challenge 2016 Night Four of Five Results

USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast Sprint Cars:

Heat One:  1. 0k-Kenny Perkins, 2. 51-R.J. Johnson, 3. 5-Tye Mihocko, 4. 45-Bob Strait, 5. 5x-Matt McCarthy, 6. 54-Landon Cling, 7. 48T-Thomas Ogle.

Heat Two:  1. 22b-Brian Hosford, 2. 13-Dennis Gile, 3. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 4. 21az-Stevie Sussex, 5. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 6. 98-Matt Lundy, 7. 50x-Will Perkins.

Heat Three:  1. 16-Mike Martin, 2. 16b-Bryan Clauson, 3. 74x-Josh Hodges, 4. 2x-Larry Gibson, 5. 27w-Guy Weedman, 6. 17k-Kyle Danielson.

“A” Feature (30 Laps):  1. 16b-Bryan Clauson, 2. 21az-Stevie Sussex, 3. 51-R.J. Johnson, 4. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 5. 74x-Josh Hodges, 6. 16-Mike Martin, 7. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 8. 22b-Brian Hosford, 9. 5-Tye Mihocko, 10. 13-Dennis Gile, 11. 98-Matt Lundy, 12. 54-Brandon Cling, 13. 45-Bob Strait, 14. 27w-Guy Weedman, 15. 0k-Kenny Perkins, 16. 50x-Will Perkins, 17. 2x-Larry Gibson, 18. 5x-Matt McCarthy, 19. 48T-Thomas Ogle, 20. 17k-Kyle Danielson.

IMCA Modifieds:

Heat One:  1. 40jr-Bubba Stanford, 2. 198-Robert Sawyer II, 3. 60-Anthony Roth, 4. 25-Paul Nelson, 5. 12-Guy Norton, 6. XXX-Jessie Rogotzke, 7. 78-Steve Stultz, 8. 14-Bryan Ledbetter, Jr.

Heat Two:  1. 62-Hunter Marriott, 2. X-Josh Rogotzke, 3. 5z-Zack Madrid, 4. 66p-Paul Stone, 5. 71-Brent Schlafmann, 6. 7r-Ryan Gaylord, 7. 97-Josh Sneed, 8. 15s-William Slocum.

Heat Three:  1. 19sb-Lance Mari, 2. 44-Jason Noll, 3. 75jr-Chaz Baca, Jr., 4. 87-Curt Lund, 5. 4tw-Tim Ward, 6. 17-Justin Miller, 7. 24-Mike Martin, 8. 14a-Chase Alvez.

Heat Four:  1. 20rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 2. 51-Joey Moriarty, 3. 56d-Garth Dushanek, 4. L8-Brian Schultz, 5. 59-Mark Stewart, 6. 00-Nate Warren, 7. 75c-Bo Partain.

“B” Main:  1. 59-Mark Stewart, 2. L8-Brian Schultz, 3. 7r-Ryan Gaylord, 4. XXX-Jessie Rogotzke, 5. 12-Guy Norton, 6. 24-Mike Martin, 7. 78-Steve Stultz, 8. 17-Justin Miller, 9. 00-Nate Warren, 10. 25-Paul Nelson, 11. 97-Josh Sneed, 12. 14-Bryan Ledbetter, Jr., 13. 14a-Chase Alvez, 14. 75c-Bo Partain, 15. 15s-William Slocum.

“A” Feature (25 Laps):  1. 20rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 2. 62-Hunter Marriott, 3. 51-Joey Moriarty, 4. 4tw-Tim Ward, 5. L8-Brian Schultz, 6. 66p-Paul Stone, 7. 44-Jason Noll, 8. 7r-Ryan Gaylord, 9. 87-Curt Lund, 10. 5z-Zack Madrid, 11. X-Josh Rogotzke, 12. 12-Guy Norton, 13. XXX-Jessie Rogotzke, 14. 75jr-Chaz Baca, Jr., 15. 78-Steve Stultz, 16. 24-Mike Martin, 17. 71-Brent Schlafmann, 18. 56d-Garth Dushanek, 19. 17-Justin Miller, 20. 19sb-Lance Mari, 21. 198-Robert Sawyer II, 22. 60-Anthony Roth, 23. 40jr-Bubba Stafford, 24. 59-Mark Stewart.

IMCA Stock Cars vs. Pure Stocks:

Heat One:  1. 23jr-Matt Martinez, 2. $-Cody Center, 3. 53-Justin Thornton, 4. 7-Vance Honea, 5. 41-George Fronsman, 6. 15-Mark Madrid, 7. 11-Richard Veralrud.

Heat Two:  1. 98-Vincent Depalma, 2. 0-Brian Hatlestad, 3. 00-Lonnie Foss, 4. 06az-Kenny Wyman, Jr., 5. 17-Harland Morehart, 6. 41r-Robert Linn.

“A” Feature:  1. 23jr-Matt Martinez, 2. 41-George Fronsman, 3. $-Cody Center, 4. 00-Lonnie Foss, 5. 11-Richard Veralrud, 6. 41r-Robert Linn, 7. 98-Vincent Depalma, 8. 06az-Kenny Wyman, Jr., 9. 15-Mark Madrid, 10. 7-Vance Honea, 11. 0-Brian Hatlestad, 12. 17-Harland Morehart, 13. 53-Justin Thornton.

IMCA Hobby Stocks vs. Renegades:

Heat One:  1. 9-Paul O’Connor, 2. 23-Dave Barnes, 3. 4h-Brian Hyatt, 4. 16b-Richard Bennett, 5. 5z-Merle Zachrison, 6. 45k-Mark Kilian, 7. 54-James Turensky, 8. 13-Jason Crowe, 9. 101-Troy Barnes, 10. 15-Wayne Dunsworth.

“A” Feature:  1. 13-Jason Crowe, 2. 9-Paul O’Connor, 3. 23-Dave Barnes, 4. 16b-Richard Bennett, 5. 5z-Merle Zachrison, 6. 4h-Brian Hyatt, 7. 54-James Turensky, 8. 45k-Mark Kilian, 9. 15-Wayne Dunsworth, 10. 101-Troy Barnes.

Dwarf Cars:

Heat One:  1. 00x-Grant William, 2. 41-Tony Martin, 3. 46-Mike Moyer, 4. 14x-Bill Strobal, 5. 66-Frank Rhodes, 6. 86c-Jenn Lessig, 7. 17y-Tim Berner, 8. 12v-John Isabella.

Heat Two:  1. 76-Glenn Sciarani, 2. 7-Eric Muse, 3. 78c-Jason Woods, 4. 11r-Charlie Drager, 5. 26-Justin Fletcher, 6. 53-David Siness, 7. 17x-Kevin Terrell, 8. 16r-Jerry Hunter.

Heat Three:  1. 11-Darren Brown, 2. 11d-Dennis Wagner, 3. 18h-Jerry Hislop, 4. 88r-Keith Welch, 5. 19-John Foster, 6. 27-Rusty Degroat, 7. 08-Chris Trimino.

Heat Four:  1. 2-Mike Williams, 2. 33h-Jim Slaugh, 3. 75c-Bill Tracey, 4. 4x-Cecilia Dillie, 5. 47-Steve Kapaun, 6. 55-John Levitt, 7. 75r-Don Morrison.

“B” Feature:  1. 12v-John Isabella, 2. 88r-Keith Welch, 3. 19-John Foster, 4. 11r-Charlie Drager, 5. 47-Steve Kapaun, 6. 27-Rusty Degroat, 7. 4x-Cecilia Dillie, 8. 66-Frank Rhodes, 9. 86c-Jenn Lessig, 10. 17x-Kevin Terrell, 11. 53-David Siness, 12. 17y-Tim Berner, 13. 14x-Bill Strobal, 14. 55-John Levitt, 15. 16r-John Hunter, 16. 08-Chris Trimino, 17. 26-Justin Fletcher.

“A” Feature:  1. 12v-John Isabella, 2. 88r-Keith Welch, 3. 11-Darren Brown, 4. 18h-Jerry Hislop, 5. 4x-Cecilia Dillia, 6. 33h-Jim Slaugh, 7. 41-Tony Martin, 8. 76-Glenn Sciarani, 9. 27-Rusty Degroat, 10. 2-Mike Williams, 11. 86c-Jenn Lessig, 12. 46-Mike Moyer, 13. 75c-Bill Tracey, 14. 11r-Charlie Drager, 15. 19-John Foster, 16. 17x-Kevin Terrell, 17. 17y-Tim Berner, 18. 66-Frank Rhodes, 19. 11d-Danny Wagner, 20. 78c-Jason Woods, 21. 7-Eric Muse, 22. 00x-Grant William, 23. 47-Steve Kapaun, 24. 53-David Siness.