R.J. Johnson tops Sunday’s Canyon Speedway Park Salute to Indy

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R.J. Johnson Tops Sunday’s CSP Salute to Indy

 

by Lonnie Wheatley

 

PEORIA, Ariz. (May 24, 2015) – R.J. Johnson racked up another Salute to Indy triumph by racing to victory lane in Sunday night’s 30-lap USAC Southwest Sprint Car feature atop the 1/3-mile Canyon Speedway Park clay oval.

 

While Johnson took wingless Sprint Car honors, other Sunday night victors included Matt Martinez in Arizona Differential Pure Stocks, Chuck Thornton in Scottsdale Muffler & Automotive Renegades, Spencer Hill in Micro Sprints and Tyler Merrill in AMA Mod Lites.

 

After Stevie Sussex topped Saturday night’s CSP Salute to Indy opener, reigning USAC Southwest champ Johnson renewed his Memorial Day Weekend success by knocking off his fifth series win of the year and third at CSP aboard Bill Michaels’ Kodiak Products No. 77m Sherman-chassis.

 

Johnson fought off ninth-starter Sussex to capture his fourth Salute to Indy triumph in six tries over the past three years with Michael Colegrove, Matt Rossi and Charles Davis, Jr., rounding out the top five.

Matt Martinez snapped a two-race Arizona Differential Pure Stock victory drought by racing from ninth to take his fifth CSP win of the year ahead of Chris McCurdy, Jr., with Anthony Madrid, Zack Madrid and Steve Bitting also in the top five.

 

Chuck Thornton worked forward from sixth to win his first Scottsdale Muffler & Automotive Renegade feature of the year ahead of Mark Kilian and Nick Langer.

 

Spencer Hill beat Derrick Ortega and 13th-starter Colton Hardy to the line in Micro Sprint action while Tyler Merrill topped Brenden Priest and Adam Etcher in the AMA Mod Lite main event

 

Action resumes at Canyon Speedway Park with the Summer Sizzle on Saturday night, June 6, featuring the 9th World Vapor IMCA Modifieds along with the Arizona Differential Pure Stocks, Scottsdale Muffler & Automotive Renegades, Micro Sprints, Dwarf Cars and Mini Stocks.

 

Canyon Speedway Park - Fourth Annual Salute to Indy – May 24, 2015 - USAC Southwest Sprint Cars:

 

First Heat: 1. 11c-Michael Curtis, 2. 77m-R.J. Johnson, 3. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 4. 29-Michael Bonneau, 5. 7k-Bruce St. James, 6. 2-Joshua Shipley, 7. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 8. 20az-Ray Bishop, 9. 28-Mark Morin.

 

Second Heat: 1. 48T-Thomas Ogle, 2. 17-Michael Colegrove, 3. 02-Matt Rossi, 4. 5-Tye Mihocko, 5. 27-Nick Aiuto, 6. 85-Bobby Marcum, 7. 22-Dustin Burkhart, 8. 44k-Koty McGullam.

 

Third Heat: 1. 22b-Brian Hosford, 2. 13s-Stevie Sussex, 3. 78-Chris Bonneau, 4. 12-Josh Pelkey, 5. 16-Mike Martin, 6. 77-Dalten Gabbard, 7. 13-Dennis Giles, 8. 42-Katherine Aragon.

 

“B” Feature: 1. 77-Dalten Gabbard, 2. 13-Dennis Giles, 3. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 4. 85-Bobby Marcum, 5. 22-Dustin Burkhart, 6. 42-Katherine Aragon, 7. 28-Mark Morin, 8. 44k-Koty McGullam.

 

“A” Feature: 1. 77m-R.J. Johnson, 2. 13s-Stevie Sussex, 3. 17-Michael Colegrove, 4. 02-Matt Rossi, 5. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 6. 27-Nick Aiuto, 7. 12-Josh Pelkey, 8. 77-Dalten Gabbard, 9. 2-Joshua Shipley, 10. 22b-Brian Hosford, 11. 78-Chris Bonneau, 12. 16-Mike Martin, 13. 5-Tye Mihocko, 14. 13-Dennis Giles, 15. 48T-Thomas Ogle, 16. 85-Bobby Marcum, 17. 22-Dustin Burkhart, 18. 29-Michael Bonneau, 19. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 20. 7k-Bruce St. James, 21. 42-Katherine Aragon, 22. 11c-Michel Curtis.

 

 

Arizona Differential Pure Stocks:

 

First Heat: 1. 5z-Zack Madrid, 2. 15-Anthony Madrid, 3. 97-Larry Gordon, 4. 13m-Johnny Madrid, 5. 51-Josh Carter, 6. 28-Mike Herrera, 7. 51J-Gary Everett.

 

Second Heat: 1. 21m-Matt Martinez, 2. 68v-Joe Vlasity, 3. 22-Jesse Johnson, 4. 06-Marlowe Wrightsman, 5. 6-Michael Wrightsman, 6. 90-Lee Morrell, 7. 27T-John Todd.

 

Third Heat: 1. 7-Steve Bitting, 2. 23jr-Chris McCurdy, Jr., 3. 31w-Kyle Williams, 4. 5j-Jacob Madrid, 5. 40sr-Jeff Stafford, 6. 96-Richard Shelly.

 

“A” Feature: 1. 21m-Matt Martinez, 2. 23jr-Chris McCurdy, Jr., 3. 15-Anthony Madrid, 4. 5z-Zack Madrid, 5. 7-Steve Bitting, 6. 22-Jesse Johnson, 7. 68v-Joe Vlasity, 8. 06-Marlowe Wrightsman, 9. 6-Michael Wrightsman, 10. 28-Mike Herrera, 11. 5j-Jacob Madrid, 12. 13m-Johnny Madrid, 13. 40sr-Jeff Stafford, 14. 90-Lee Morrell, 15. 51j-Gary Everett, 16. 27T-John Todd, 17. 96-Richard Shelly, 18. 97-Larry Gordon, 19. 31w-Kyle Williams, 20. 51-Josh Carter

 

Scottsdale Muffler & Automotive Renegades:

 

First Heat: 1. XX-Chuck Thornton, 2. 45k-Mark Kilian, 3. 3-Greg Gillum, 4. 51d-Dustin Way, 5. 9-Paul O’Connor, 6. 13d-Daniel Madrid, 7. 24L-Ross Langer.

 

Second Heat: 1. 14x-Brandon Gschweng, 2. 85-Joe Peterson, 3. 3d-David Harrington, 4. 18bm-Chris McCurdy, Sr., 5. 16b-Richard Bennett, 6. 68v-Nick Langer, 7. 4h-Brian Hyatt.

 

“A” Feature: 1. XX-Chuck Thornton, 2. 45k-Mark Kilian, 3. 68v-Nick Langer, 4. 51d-Dustin Way, 5. 14x-Brandon Gschweng, 6. 16b-Richard Bennett, 7. 85-Joe Peterson, 8. 4h-Brian Hyatt, 9. 24L-Ross Langer, 10. 9-Paul O’Connor, 11. 18bm-Chris McCurdy, Sr., 12. 3-Greg Gillum, 13. 3d-David Harrington, 14. 13d-Daniel Madrid.

 

Micro Sprints:

 

First Heat: 1. 91T-Chad Fife, 2. 20az-Jarrett Martin, 3. 74-Derrick Ortega, 4. 71-Cody Batten, 5. 41-Colton Hardy, 6. 50-Cliff Cormany.

 

Second Heat: 1. 42-Kenny Hilton, 2. 99-Kyle Shipley, 3. 7-Mason Keefer, 4. 77-Aaron Miller, 5. 10-Ryan Hennessey, 6. 9-Marty Morin.

 

Third Heat: 1. 41h-Tyler Merrill, 2. 29-Paul Martin, 3. 4s-Spencer Hill, 4. 57-Kyle Huttenhow, 5. 94-Cassie Klenkie, 6. 28-Mark Morin.

 

“A” Feature: 1. 4s-Spencer Hill, 2. 74-Derrick Ortega, 3. 41-Colton Hardy, 4. 99-Kyle Shipley, 5. 71-Cody Batten, 6. 42-Kenny Hilton, 7. 57-Kyle Huttenhow, 8. 91f-Chad Fife, 9. 50-Cliff Cormany, 10. 10-Ryan Hennessey, 11. 28-Mark Morin, 12. 29-Paul Martin, 13. 77-Aaron Miller, 14. 41h-Tyler Merrill, 15. 94-Cassie Klenkie, 16. 7-Mason Keefer, 17. 20az-Jarrett Martin.

 

AMA Mod Lites:

 

First Heat: 1. 14-Josh Rivera, 2. 63-Matt Sotomayor, 3. 69-Chris Attel, 4. 80az-Ryan Sundblom, 5. 76-Josh Sneed, 6. 421-Bryan Klein, 7. 95-Collin Bender, 8. 54-Brian Weaver, 9. 15-Ken Young.

 

Second Heat: 1. 1-Brenden Priest, 2. 99-Adam Etcher, 3. 77x-Austin Kuehl, 4. 116-Jim Hock, 5. 96-Hayden Bender, 6. 114-Sean Conyers, 7. 91-Sarah Houton, 8. 333-Shane Hinsley, 9. 23-Joeleen Storck.

 

Third Heat: 1. 51-John Priest, 2. 88-Tyler Merrill, 3. 97-Steve Bender, 4. 34-Robert Beebe, 5. 86-Kyle Klein, 6. 2k-Taylor Kuehl, 7. 33-Mike Schmidt, 8. 26-Jake Boyle.

 

“A” Feature: 1. 88-Tyler Merrill, 2. 1-Brenden Priest, 3. 99-Adam Etcher, 4. 77x-Austin Kuehl, 5. 14-Josh Rivera, 6. 116-Jim Hock, 7. 51-John Priest, 8. 63-Matt Sotomayor, 9. 86-Kyle Klein, 10. 80az-Ryan Sundblom, 11. 96-Hayden Bender, 12. 114-Sean Conyers, 13. 91-Sarah Houton, 14. 333-Shane Hinsley, 15. 97-Steve Bender, 16. 69-Chris Attel, 17. 95-Collin Bender, 18. 54-Brian Weaver, 19. 33-Mike Schmidt, 20. 2k-Taylor Kuehl, 21. 23-Joeleen Storck, 22. 34-Robert Beebe, 23. 76-Josh Sneed, 24. 421-Bryan Klein, 25. 26-Jake Boyle.