Lonnie Wheatley, PEORIA, Ariz. (January 23, 2015) – This year’s edition of the E&K Winter Challenge opened in much the same fashion as last year’s Winter Challenge with Broken Arrow, OK, native Brady Bacon parked in USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast Sprint Car victory lane at Canyon Speedway Park at the end of the night.
This time, the reigning USAC Sprint Car champion picked up Friday’s $2,000 winner’s share in the 30-lap main event aboard the Josh Ford Motorsports No. 73 entry.
While Bacon took traditional Sprint Car honors, Tim Ward bested the IMCA Modifieds with Matt Martinez victorious in Pure Stocks, Brenden Priest topping the Mod Lites and Gary Winter taking Micro Sprint honors.
After starting third in the USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast Sprint Car feature, Bacon took command from early pace setter Mike Martin but soon found himself under heavy pressure from Ryan Bernal. Bernal surged ahead briefly only to get too deep into the cushion and into the wall after 17 laps.
Back out front, Bacon kept reigning USAC Southwest Sprint Car champion R.J. Johnson at bay the rest of the way with Dave Darland advancing from ninth to claim the show position. Charles Davis, Jr., was fourth with Stevie Sussex rallying from 14th to round out the top five.
Josh Pelkey battled Johnson for second until a crash forced him pitside.
Tim Ward raced forward from the seventh starting position to take IMCA Modified honors over a stout field of 41 competitors, taking the checkered flag ahead of reigning track champion Ricky Thornton, Jr., as Missouri’s Hunter Marriott rallied from 18th to take the show position. Brian Schultz raced from 15th to fourth with Zane Devilbiss rounding out the top five.
Matt Martinez raced from the 20th starting position to take Pure Stock honors ahead of Tony Hill, Steve Bitting, 22nd starter Jon Courchaine and Zack Madrid.
Brenden Priest took Mod Lite honors ahead of Josh Rivera and Mike Gilleland while Gary Winter beat Jarrett Martin and Aaron Miller to the line for Micro Sprint honors.
The E&K Winter Challenge resumes with Round Two at Canyon Speedway Park on Saturday firing off at 5:00 p.m.
Canyon Speedway Park
E&K Winter Challenge Round One Results:
USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast Sprint Cars:
First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 51-R.J. Johnson, 2. 12-Josh Pelkey, 3. 16b-Dave Darland, 4. 73-Brady Bacon, 5. 16-Mike Martin, 6. 55nm-David Dykes, 7. 21az-Stevie Sussex.
Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 56-Ryan Bernal, 2. 77-Dalten Gabbard, 3. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 4. 74-Rick Ziehl, 5. 13-Dennis Giles, 6. 20x-Shon Deskins, 7. 19-Andrew Reinbold.
“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 73-Brady Bacon, 2. 51-R.J. Johnson, 3. 16b-Dave Darland, 4. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 5. 21az-Stevie Sussex, 6. 16-Mike Martin, 7. 74-Rick Ziehl, 8. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 9. 55nm-David Dykes, 10. 77-Dalten Gabbard, 11. 12-Josh Pelkey, 12. 56-Ryan Bernal, 13. 20x-Shon Deskins, 14. 13-Dennis Giles.
IMCA Modifieds:
First Heat: 1. 59-Mark Stewart, 2. X04-Mike Strobl, 3. 6c-Caleb Stone, 4. 97-Jay Marks, 5. 55ak-Scott Slukak, 6. 44-Jason Noll, 7. 1-Ronnie Gould, 8. 44L-Steve Lunderby, 9. 7k-Lance Salo.
Second Heat: 1. 4tw-Tim Ward, 2. 16-Aaron Spangler, 3. L8-Brian Schultz, 4. 82-John Parmeley, 5. 62-Hunter Marriott, 6. 15s-William Slocum, 7. 77-Jason Haug, 8. 32-Rob Krull.
Third Heat: 1. 7-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 2. 8-Nate Warren, 3. 41-George Fronsman, 4. W5-Jesse Williamson, 5. 74-Garrett Funk, 6. 45h-Jason Hickingbottom, 7. 102-Pat Castel, 8. 19sb-Lance Mari.
Fourth Heat: 1. 37-Mike Jergens, 2. 75c-Bo Partain, 3. 78-Steve Stultz, 4. 45T-Trent Gaust, 5. 12-Guy Norton, 6. 16s-Jerry Schran, 7. 39-Derek Huggins, 8. 39x-Scott Eaton.
Fifth Heat: 1. 13-Jeff Sheppard, Jr., 2. 18z-Zane Devilbiss, 3. 101-Darrell Bradford, 4. 40jr-Bubba Stafford, 5. 66p-Paul Stone, 6. 18-Paul Jones, Jr., 7. 21-Phil Penney, 8. 4r-Ross Statham.
First “B” Feature: 1. 97-Jay Marks, 2. 66p-Paul Stone, 3. 45T-Trent Gaust, 4. 55ak-Scott Slukak, 5. 40jr-Bubba Stafford, 6. 77-Jason Haug, 7. 39-Derek Huggins, 8. 32-Rob Krull, 9. 45h-Jason Hickingbottom, 10. 7k-Lance Salo, 11. 102-Pat Castel, 12. 15s-William Slocum, 13. 44L-Steve Lunderby.
Second “B” Feature: 1. 62-Hunter Marriott, 2. 44-Jason Noll, 3. 82-John Parmeley, 4. 74-Garrett Funk, 5. 19sb-Lance Mari, 6. 21-Phil Penney, 7. 16s-Jerry Schran, 8. 39x-Scott Eaton, 9. 1-Ronnie Gould, 10. 18-Paul Jones, Jr., 11. 4r-Ross Statham, 12. 12-Guy Norton.
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 4tw-Tim Ward, 2. 7-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 3. 62-Hunter Marriott, 4. L8-Brian Schultz, 5. 18z-Zane Devilbiss, 6. 101-Darrell Bradford, 7. 16-Aaron Spangler, 8. 13-Jeff Sheppard, Jr., 9. 97-Jay Marks, 10. 66p-Paul Stone, 11. 41-George Fronsman, 12. 8-Nate Warren, 13. X04-Mike Strobl, 14. 78-Steve Stultz, 15. 75c-Bo Partain, 16. 45T-Trent Gaust, 17. 55ak-Scott Slukak, 18. 82-John Parmeley, 19. 44-Jason Noll, 20. 74-Garrett Funk, 21. 59-Mark Stewart, 22. 6c-Caleb Stone, 23. W5-Jesse Williamson, 24. 37-Mike Jergens.
Pure Stocks:
First Heat: 1. 7-Steve Bitting, 2. 22x-Richard Veralrud, 3. 13m-Johnny Madrid, 4. ACE-Doug Porter, 5. 007-Tony Hill, 6. 51J-Gary Everett, 7. 6-Michael Wrightsman, 8. 195-Jon Courchaine.
Second Heat: 1. 5z-Zack Madrid, 2. 14k-Bryan Campbell, 3. 27J-Jessica McGullam, 4. 57-Bear Taylor, 5. 2jr-Robert McClelland, 6. 22-Kim Hansen, 7. 21m-Matt Martinez.
Third Heat: 1. 15-Speedy Madrid, 2. 28-Vincent Depalma, 3. 00-Lonnie Foss, 4. 15r-Race Fisher, 5. 06-Marlowe Wrightsman, 6. 03-Kevin Risachaer, 7. 40a-Ashley Stafford.
“A” Feature: 1. 21m-Matt Martinez, 2. 007-Tony Hill, 3. 7-Steve Bitting, 4. 195-Jon Courchaine, 5. 5z-Zack Madrid, 6. 15r-Race Fisher, 7. 00-Lonnie Foss, 8. 2jr-Robert McClelland, 9. ACE-Doug Porter, 10. 15-Speedy Madrid, 11. 27J-Jessica McGullam, 12. 22x-Richard Veralrud, 13. 06-Marlowe Wrightsman, 14. 03-Kevin Risachaer, 15. 6-Michael Wrightsman, 16. 28-Vincent Depalma, 17. 22-Kim Hansen, 18. 40a-Ashley Stafford, 19. 51J-Gary Everett, 20. 14k-Bryan Campbell, 21. 13m-Johnny Madrid, 22. 57-Bear Taylor.
Mod Lites:
First Heat: 1. 99-Adam Etcher, 2. 17-Steve Moriarty, 3. 14-Josh Rivera, 4. 51-Brenden Priest, 5. 2k-Taylor Kuehl, 6. 117-J.C. Gilleland, 7. 26-Jake Boyle, 8. 116-Jim Hock, 9. 114-Sean Conyers.
Second Heat: 1. 69-Michael Humphreys, 2. X50-Joel Huggins, 3. 17x-Ryan Gilleland, 4. 5J-P.J. Jinzo, 5. 77x-Austin Kuehl, 6. 30-Lexus Gann, 7. 91-Sarah Houton, 8. 53az-Karl Ackley.
“A” Feature: 1. 51-Brenden Priest, 2. 14-Josh Rivera, 3. 17x-Ryan Gilleland, 4. 117-J.C. Gilleland, 5. 99-Adam Etcher, 6. 116-Jim Hock, 7. X50-Joel Huggins, 8. 2k-Taylor Kuehl, 9. 5J-P.J. Jinzo, 10. 26-Jake Boyle, 11. 77x-Austin Kuehl, 12. 91-Sarah Houton, 13. 17-Steve Moriarty, 14. 114-Sean Conyers, 15. 53az-Karl Ackley, 16. 30-Lexus Gann, 17. 69-Michael Humphreys.
Micro Sprints:
First Heat: 1. 44-Dave Ferneau, 2. 4s-Spencer Hill, 3. 20az-Jarrett Martin, 4. 41-Colton Hardy, 5. 55-Greg Pritts, 6. 7-Kevin Keefer, 7. 94-Cassie Klenkie.
Second Heat: 1. 9-Marty Morin, 2. 6az-Gary Winter, 3. 91-Aaron Miller, 4. 7m-Mason Keefer, 5. 6-Dave Van Ess, 6. 10x-Christine Root, 7. 53-Joe Pritts.
“A” Feature: 1. 6az-Gary Winter, 2. 20az-Jarrett Martin, 3. 91-Aaron Miller, 4. 4s-Spencer Hill, 5. 44-Dave Ferneau, 6. 41-Colton Hardy, 7. 6-Dave Van Ess, 8. 9-Marty Morin, 9. 94-Cassie Klenkie, 10. 7m-Mason Keefer, 11. 7-Kevin Keefer, 12. 53-Joe Pritts, 13. 10x-Christine Root, 14. 55-Greg Pritts.