Zoom Zoom Tucson » Western World

Western World Sprint Car Championship November 17-19

Keith Ames — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 04:04:36 +0000

The 44th Annual Western World Wing and Non-Wing Sprint Car Championships features 3 nights of Action Packed Racing by the best in the sport at USA Raceway. Thursday, Friday and Saturday Night both divisions will race each night.

Details listed below.

Herrera & Ballou Take Top Honors in Friday’s Western World Qualifiers!

Keith Ames — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 20:11:02 +0000

Johnny Herrera and Robert Ballou both reached victory lane as qualifying action for the 43rd Annual Kronik Energy Drink Western World Championships atop the racy 3/8-mile USA Raceway clay oval concluded on Friday night.

“Hollywood” Herrera escaped a torrid mid-race duel with Jason Johnson and Danny Lasoski to win the 25-lap Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters National feature event, earning a front row outside starting slot for Saturday night’s $15,000-to-win winged WWC main event.

Ballou, “The Rocklin Rocket”, blasted by Chris Bonneau on the eleventh lap en route to winning the 25-lap ASCS Canyon Region main event for a front row starting berth in Saturday night’s $5,000-to-win wingless WWC finale.

A total of 119 competitors tackled the USA Raceway oval over the course of the two qualifying nights, including 64 winged Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars and 55 wingless ASCS Canyon Region campaigners.

Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters (Winged)

Albuquerque’s Johnny Herrera has enjoyed a stranglehold on ASCS Regional racing throughout the west and southwest in recent times, racking up 21 feature wins in 29 Regional starts over the past six seasons.

But, it had been since November of 1996 since “Hollywood” had graced victory lane in the ASCS National spotlight.

Herrera changed that on Friday night, prevailing in a hotly-contested 25-lapper at the 43rd Annual Kronik Energy Drink Western World Championships for his second career Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters National triumph and first since a Devil’s Bowl Speedway win over 14 years ago.

Following a red flag stoppage after two laps for Danny Wood’s turn three tangle with the retaining wall, Herrera continued chasing Lucas Oil ASCS points leader Jason Johnson and Danny Lasoski, with traffic coming into play in short order.

The trio of Johnson, Lasoski and Herrera began dicing for the point as they slid through traffic, with Lasoski surging ahead to lead the ninth round before Herrera made a big slide into the lead a lap later as Joey Saldana briefly joined in the lead chase.

“It was crazy there for a few laps, we were all sliding each other back and forth,” Herrera explained afterward. “I thought Johnson would be the one to beat, but then it was like a switch flipped and he just backed up.”

Some slick moves through traffic in the JHR No. 45x Maxim soon gave Herrera some breathing room, leaving Lasoski to fend off Johnson and Saldana until a caution flew just three laps shy of the checkered flag for Wayne Johnson, who turned on his side in turn two while running among the top ten.

After Kyle Hirst slipped too high exiting turn two and flipped on the ensuing restart, Herrera broke free and raced to the checkered flag with a 0.732-second advantage over Lasoski’s Kistler-powered Michael Ross Foundation No. 33 Eagle.

Saldana claimed the show position in the Kasey Kahne Racing Budweiser No. 9, with Johnson settling for fourth in the Don Ott-powered Haynes No. 41 Maxim.

Saldana explained of just his fifth career Lucas Oil ASCS National feature start, “I feel like I’m runnin’ the Chili Bowl, I’m out of my element. I kinda figured it out in the feature, I felt like I was good as those guys, just lapped traffic.”

Defending Lucas Oil ASCS National champion Shane Stewart rounded out the top five in Paul Silva’s Wesmar-powered Rock Star Energy Drink No. 57 A.R.T., with 12th-starter Tim Kaeding, “King of California” Kyle Larson and ASCS Northwest ace Roger Crockett earning lock-in positions to Saturday night’s Western World Championships finale by finishing sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively.

Brian Brown missed a lock-in by one position by crossing the stripe in ninth, with Lucas Wolfe completing the top ten.

Lasoski, Herrera, Stewart and Larson topped Friday night’s heat race action, with Brown winning the 12-lap “B” Main.

Ricky Logan flipped in the night’s first winged heat race, but was able to return for “B” Main action. Joshua Williams flipped early in the “B” Main, escaping injury as well.

ASCS Canyon Region (Wingless)

Two-time Sprint Bandits TNT champion Robert Ballou captured his first career win under the ASCS banner by racing to victory lane in Friday night’s 25-lap ASCS Canyon Region main event to put the caps on wingless qualifying action at the 43rd Annual Kronik Energy Drink Western World Championships at USA Raceway.

Working forward from the eighth starting position, Ballou slid past Chris Bonneau to take the lead on the 11th round and then weathered a pair of red flag stoppages over the final ten circuits to secure the win aboard a mount that just came together in recent days.

“Wednesday night was the first night this racecar has ever hit a racetrack, Ryan Linder built it himself in his garage and John Dewell gave us the motor for the weekend and bought all the tires,” Ballou explained. “I was about over it today, but Jimmy Jones and me aint quitters.”

While Ballou started outside the fourth row, pole starter Brandon Lane paced the initial half-dozen circuits before Bonneau took command on the seventh round with Stevie Sussex and Jeremy Sherman in tow.

Up to fifth by the seventh lap, Ballou picked off one position per lap on successive laps to take over by the eleventh circuit. Lane fell first, Sherman was next, Sussex gave up second on the tenth lap and then Bonneau was forced to surrender the point.

Ballou’s work wasn’t done yet though, as past WWC champion Sherman climbed to second by the midway point and offered up several challenges for the top spot before a red flag flew after 17 laps when both Josh Pelkey and Mike Colegrove flipped exiting turn two.

Sherman tried to continue pressuring for the point, but the next red flag flew for him when he caught the turn three wall and flipped on the 22nd lap.

Set for a four-lap dash to the stripe, Ballou broke free and took the checkered flag with a comfy 2.524-second advantage over Oval Nationals champion Chris Windom, who had worked up to third by the 15th lap and then assumed the runner-up slot when Sherman ran out of real estate.

“After I got rolling, we got a lot better and I had to slide a few guys to get back up front,” Windom explained after slipping back a few positions in the early going. “I don’t think we had enough gear to catch Robert, he was throwing some iffy slide jobs at everybody but he won the race.”

Sussex claimed a solid show position behind Ballou and Windom, with Jerry Coons, Jr., fending off a last-lap slider from Levi Jones for fourth.

After missing his heat race, Jones rallied from the scratch position to win the “B” Main and then charged from 17th to round out the top five in the main event.

Borrowing an engine from the Joe Zierolf team, defending wingless Western World champ Brady Bacon was sixth, while Bonneau held on for the seventh and final lock-in to Saturday night’s $5,000-to-win wingless WWC finale.

Bryan Swinehart was eighth, with 16th-starter Casey Shuman and 18th-starter Thomas Ogle completing the top ten.

Sussex, Sherman, Coons and Lane won Friday’s wingless heat races before Jones won the “B” Main.

The night got off to an inauspicious start when Brandon Schure and Bob Ream, Jr., tangled and flipped entering turn one on the second lap of the first heat, with Kurt Stults taking unsuccessful evasive action to make it a triple-flip.

Running second in the fourth heat race, David Cardey biked it and flipped over the turn two barrier and was done for the night. Johnny Shelton added to the turnover club with a spectacular tumble in turn three a handful of laps into the “B” Main.

43rd Annual Kronik Energy Drink Western World Championships :

Friday Qualifying Results

USA Raceway – Tucson, AZ

Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters (Winged Cars)

Heat Races (Top 16 in Passing Points to “A” Main; Balance to “B” Main):

Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 33-Danny Lasoski, 2. 77x-Wayne Johnson, 3. 41-Jason Johnson, 4. 83-Tim Kaeding, 5. 21-Brian Brown, 6. 41w-Joshua Williams, 7. 3g-Darren Long, 8. 77T-Colt Treharn, 9. 10a-Ricky Logan.

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 2. 9-Joey Saldana, 3. 20z-Rick Ziehl, 4. 45-Martin Edwards, 5. 94-Danny Wood, 6. 20s-Kyle Sager, 7. 88-Tim Crawley, 8. 2b-Ben Gregg, 9. 11x-Chad Corken.

Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 57-Shane Stewart, 2. 11-Roger Crockett, 3. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 4. 6-Kyle Hirst, 5. 3s-John Carney II, 6. 1s-Sean McClelland, 7. 20az-George Suprick, 8. 90-Lance Norick.

Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 75-Kyle Larson, 2. 57w-Lucas Wolfe, 3. 93-Dustin Morgan, 4. 94T-Steven Tiner, 5. 35g-Shane Golobic, 6. 35-Paul McMahan, 7. 78-Jody Williams, 8. 44k-Koty McGullam.

“B” Main (Top 6 Advance to “A” Main):

“B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown, 2. 93-Dustin Morgan, 3. 2b-Ben Gregg, 4. 35-Paul McMahan, 5. 3g-Darren Long, 6. 94T-Steven Tiner, 7. 88-Tim Crawley, 8. 10a-Ricky Logan, 9. 90-Lance Norick, 10. 78-Jody Williams, 11. 1s-Sean McClelland, 12. 41w-Joshua Williams, 13. 45-Martin Edwards, 14. 11c-Chad Corken, 15. 44k-Koty McGullam, 16. 20s-Kyle Sager. DNS: 20az-George Suprick, 77t-Colt Treharn.

Lucas Oil ASCS Western World Friday Preliminary Feature (Top 8 Lock into Saturday’s “A” Main):

“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 2. 33-Danny Lasoski, 3. 9-Joey Saldana, 4. 41-Jason Johnson, 5. 57-Shane Stewart, 6. 83-Tim Kaeding, 7. 75-Kyle Larson, 8. 11-Roger Crockett, 9. 21-Brian Brown, 10. 57w-Lucas Wolfe, 11. 35-Paul McMahan, 12. 3s-John Carney II, 13. 2b-Ben Gregg, 14. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 15. 88-Tim Crawley, 16. 35g-Shane Golobic, 17. 93-Dustin Morgan, 18. 94T-Steven Tiner, 19. 3g-Darren Long, 20. 20z-Rick Ziehl, 21. 77x-Wayne Johnson, 22. 6-Kyle Hirst, 23. 94-Danny Wood.

Lap Leaders: Jason Johnson 1-8, Danny Lasoski 9, Johnny Herrera 10-25.

Note: Tim Crawley utilized his mid-season bonus full-point provisional to start the main event. Crawley has two partial-point provisionals remaining.

ASCS Canyon Region (Non-Wing Cars):

Heat Races (Top 16 in Passing Points to “A” Main; Balance to “B” Main):

Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 62-Stevie Sussex, 2. 11x-Chris Windom, 3. 78-Chris Bonneau, 4. 77-Dalten Gabbard, 5. 5x-Jody Wirth, 6. 21tx-Brandon Schure, 7. 8-Bob Ream, Jr., 8. 79-Kurt Stults.

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 21-Jeremy Sherman, 2. 77mx-Bryan Swinehart, 3. 9b-Robert Ballou, 4. 11w-Tim West, 5. 16-Mike Martin, 6. 7k-Bruce St. James, 7. 96-Carson Ditsch, 8. 38z-Fritz Croy.

Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 66-Jerry Coons, Jr., 2. 99-Brady Bacon, 3. 12-Josh Pelkey, 4. 48T-Thomas Ogle, 5. 20s-Casey Shuman, 6. 6s-Tim Beal, 7. 9x-Johnny Shelton. DNS: 20-Levi Jones.

Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 9-Brandon Lane, 2. 21az-Jon Stanbrough, 3. 21p-Mike Colegrove, 4. 44-Kevin Swindell, 5. 7b-Nathan High, 6. 2-David Cardey. DNS: 55-Trey Starks.

“B” Main (Top 4 Advance to “A” Main):

“B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 20-Levi Jones, 2. 48T-Thomas Ogle, 3. 7k-Bruce St. James, 4. 96-Carson Ditsch, 5. 6s-Tim Beal, 6. 38z-Fritz Croy, 7. 11w-Tim West, 8. 5x-Jody Wirth, 9. 9x-Johnny Shelton. DNS: 7b-Nathan High, 2-David Cardey, 21tx-Brandon Schure, 8-Bob Ream, Jr., 79-Kurt Stults, 55-Trey Starks.

ASCS Canyon Region Western World Friday Preliminary Feature (Top 7 Lock into Saturday’s “A” Main):

“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 9b-Robert Ballou, 2. 11x-Chris Windom, 3. 62-Stevie Sussex, 4. 66-Jerry Coons, Jr., 5. 20-Levi Jones, 6. 99-Brady Bacon, 7. 78-Chris Bonneau, 8. 77mx-Bryan Swinehart, 9. 20s-Casey Shuman, 10. 48T-Thomas Ogle, 11. 16-Mike Martin, 12. 21az-Jon Stanbrough, 13. 77-Dalten Gabbard, 14. 9-Brandon Lane, 15. 7k-Bruce St. James, 16. 96-Carson Ditsch, 17. 21-Jeremy Sherman, 18. 12-Josh Pelkey, 19. 21p-Mike Colegrove, 20. 44-Kevin Swindell.

Lap Leaders: Brandon Lane 1-6, Chris Bonneau 7-10, Robert Ballou 11-25.

Current Points:

Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters Points (Top 20): 1. Jason Johnson 3,379, 2. Brady Bacon 3,265, 3. Shane Stewart 3,222, 4. Jack Dover 3,149, 5. Tim Crawley 3,074, 6. Tony Bruce, Jr. 2,919, 7. Zach Chappell 2,883, 8. Kyle Hirst 2,804, 9. Danny Wood 2,789, 10. Ricky Logan 2,724, 11. Matt Covington 2,674, 12. Darren Long 2,501, 13. Dustin Morgan 2,448, 14. Channin Tankersley 2,416, 15. Gary Wright 2,102, 16. Brian Brown 1,656, 17. Justyn Cox 1,609, 18. Austen Wheatley 1,344, 19. Johnny Herrera 1,275, 20. Travis Rilat 1,152.

ASCS Southwest Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Rick Ziehl 1,977, 2. Calvin Landis 1,925, 3. John Gaston 1,834, 4. Joshua Hodges 1,735, 5. Joshua Williams 1,671, 6. Steve Stone 1,634, 7. Koty McGullam 1,529, 8. Lance Norick 1,309, 9. J.T. Imperial 1,213, 10. Johnny Herrera 1,158.

ASCS Canyon Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Charles Davis, Jr. 2,230, 2. R.J. Johnson 2,054, 3. Mike Martin 1,945, 4. Josh Pelkey 1,934, 5. Andrew Reinbold 1,855, 6. Jeremy Sherman 1,782, 7. Ronnie Clark 1,756, 8. Dalten Gabbard 1,599, 9. Stevie Sussex 1,568, 10. Brian Hosford 1,536. Submitted by Lonnie Wheatley, TUCSON, Ariz.

Brady Bacon Set to Defend Non Wing Western World Title

Keith Ames — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 15:56:06 +0000

Kevin Montgomery, TUCSON, Ariz. (October 21^st, 2010) – Oklahoma’s Brady Bacon was one of 12 drivers to do double duty in last years edition of the KRONIK Energy Western World Championships and topped the charts by sweeping the non wing portion of the event and posting a 14^th place finish in National Wing competition.

Bacon, who currently sits second in the ASCS National point standings, will make his way to Tucson to defend his Western World title but will also have his sights set on the $15,000 winner share of the ASCS National wing portion of the event adding to his chance of catching current point leader “The Ragin’ Cajun”, Jason Johnson.

Both Bacon and Johnson will continue the hard fought battle as they lead the ASCS National Dirt Sprint Car Series to the battle grounds of Tucson’s USA Raceway. Close to one hundred and fifty top Sprint Car teams from around the country are expected to migrate to warmer climates for their final chance at a big payday and another opportunity to add their name to prestigious list of winners.

Both the winged and wingless forces will tackle USA Raceway’s 3/8-mile clay oval for three nights on November 18^th, 19^th and 20^th, with more than $100,000 in “A” Feature money alone distributed over the course of the blockbuster event. A $15,000 share awaits the winner of the KRONIK Energy Western World Champion, while the ASCS Canyon Region conqueror will pocket $5,000.

Sammy Swindell Set to Defend KRONIK Energy Western World Title

Keith Ames — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 13:11:34 +0000

Sammy Swindell photo by Dennis Brownfield

Kevin Montgomery, TUCSON, Ariz. (October 5^th, 2010) – After nearly a decade absence from the Western World Championships, Sammy Swindell returned and swept the 2009 edition as he picked up a $15,000 check and again added his name to the long list of prestigious event winners. One of only two drivers to ever win the event in both winged and non winged action, Swindell will return to Tucson and defend his title aboard the Big Game Tree Stands/Parker Performance/Maxim as he looks to take home the $15k and a fourth Western World title.

Sammy’s unrivaled career includes World of Outlaws titles, stints in the upper ranks of both Indy Car and NASCAR racing, more than 600 career feature wins, victories in virtually anything worth winning and most recently winning the Williams Grove National Open.

With 32 WWC preliminary and final night features under his belt, Swindell has finished in the top five 24 times with a total of 9 feature wins. Fresh off the National Open victory and an unforgettable performance at the Knoxville Nations, Swindell continues to build momentum for the 43^rd Annual KRONIK Energy Western World repeat.

Brady Bacon joined Sammy Swindell as they topped more than 130 drivers in 2009 as they became Champions of the Western World’s 42^nd edition. Bacon, one of 12 to compete in both Wing and Wingless competition, picked up $5000 by winning the Non Wing portion and joined Sammy Swindell as he collected the $15,000 check and etched his name onto the winners list for a third time by winning the ASCS National Western World Championship.

As we approach the fall and most of the country succumbs to the cold and snow, racing action will again heat up with the much anticipated 43^rd running of the Western World Championships. Close to one hundred and fifty top Sprint Car teams from around the country are expected to migrate to warmer climates for their final chance at a big payday and another opportunity to add their name to prestigious list of winners.

Both the winged and wingless forces will tackle USA Raceway’s 3/8-mile clay oval for three nights on November 18^th, 19^th and 20^th, with more than $100,000 in “A” Feature money alone distributed over the course of the blockbuster event. A $15,000 share awaits the winner of the Lucas Oil ASCS Western World Champion, while the ASCS Canyon Region conqueror will pocket $5,000.

Entry forms can be found online at http://www.usaraceway.net/Uploads/WesternWorldEntryForm.pdf

Ticket pricing, seating charts and purchasing information can be found online at http://www.usaraceway.net/Uploads/WesternWorldTicketForm.pdf or by calling the USA Raceway office at 520-574-8515

Western World Ticket purchasers will also have the opportunity to purchase discounted tickets to one of the most anticipated dirt Modified races in the country. In appreciation of your Western World visit, USA Raceway is offering a Wes Hurst Memorial three day pass for only $25!

The Wes Hurst Memorial which takes place on the weekend following Thanksgiving, just days after the Western World, enters it 6^th year and continues to grow gaining the attention of the entire racing community including NASCAR stars and NFL Pro Bowlers.

Wes Hurst Memorial Ticket pricing, seating charts and purchasing information can be found online at

http://www.usaraceway.net/Uploads/WesHurstTicketForm.pdf

Hotel Information can be found at www.usaraceway.net/lodging.php or by calling the Tucson Airport Courtyard by Marriott at 520-573-0000

USA Raceway is located east of Tucson off I-10 exit 268, then 1.6 miles south on Craycroft Road, which turns into Los Reales. For more information please, contact the track at 520-574-8515 or additional information regarding USA Raceway can be found at http://www.usaraceway.net

Tennessee’s Sammy Swindell became the 26th different winner of the Western World by topping the 2009 edition of the event last November marking his third triumph while Oklahoma’s Brady Bacon etched his name in the record books by winning the wingless portion of the event.
Steve Kinser has claimed the most Western World titles with seven triumphs including wingless wins in 1982 and 1983 followed by winged wins in 1985, 1987, 1990, 1992 and 1996.

Ron Shuman is next on the list with five Western World triumphs, all of the wingless variety, with other drivers posting multiple Western World wins including Lealand McSpadden (3), Sammy Swindell (3), Bud Kaeding (2), Mark Kinser (2) and Jan Opperman (2).

Past Western World Championship Winners (Wing / Non-Wing)
2009 – Sammy Swindell (w)

Brady Bacon (nw)

2008 – Kevin Swindell (nw)
2007 – Jerry Coons, Jr. (nw)
2006 – Josh Wise (nw)
2005 – Dave Darland (nw)
2004 – Bud Kaeding (nw)
2003 – Tony Elliott (nw)
2002 – Bud Kaeding (nw)
2001 – Jeremy Sherman (nw)
2000 – Jay Drake (nw)
1999 – Donny Schatz (w)
1998 – Tyler Walker (w)
1997 – Mark Kinser (w)
1996 – Steve Kinser (w)
1995 – Lealand McSpadden (nw)
1994 – Ron Shuman (nw)
1993 – Lealand McSpadden (nw)
1992 – Steve Kinser (w)
1991 – Danny Lasoski (w)
1990 – Steve Kinser (w)
1989 – Sammy Swindell (w)
1988 – Mark Kinser (w)
1987 – Steve Kinser (w)
1986 – Bobby Davis, Jr. (w)
1985 – Steve Kinser (w)
1984 – Ron Shuman (nw)
1983 – Steve Kinser (nw)
1982 – Steve Kinser (nw)
1981 – Ron Shuman (nw)
1980 – Jeff Swindell (nw)
1979 – Tim Green (nw)
1978 – Lealand McSpadden (nw)
1977 – Ron Shuman (nw)
1976 – Bubby Jones (nw)
1975 – Ron Shuman (nw)
1974 – Rick Ferkel (nw)
1973 – Earl Wagner (nw)
1972 – Jan Opperman (nw)
1971 – Jan Opperman (nw)
1970 – Jerry McClung (nw)
1969 – Bob Huebner (nw)
1968 – Bob Cleberg (nw)

Sammy Swindell and Brady Bacon are Best of the Western World!

Keith Ames — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:39:08 +0000

Lonnie Wheatley, TUCSON, Ariz. (November 21, 2009) – It was a salty veteran and one of the sport’s young guns that rose to the top at USA Raceway on Saturday night, as Tennessee’s Sammy Swindell and Oklahoma’s Brady Bacon reigned supreme over the 133 competitors that flocked to Arizona for the 42nd Annual Kronik Energy Western World Championships presented by Old Tucson Studios.

Both drivers backed up qualifying night triumphs, with Sprint Car racing legend Swindell outdueling Tim Kaeding to take Saturday night’s $15,000 winner’s share in the season ending 30-lapper for the Lucas Oil Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters after posting his first series win in Thursday night action.

After earning just his second career ASCS Regional win on Friday night, the 19-year-old Bacon paced the Discount Tire Co. ASCS Canyon Region field all 30 laps to pick up the $5,000 non-wing winner’s share.

With the title already tucked securely away before Saturday’s finale, Shane Stewart officially inked his name into the record books as the 2009 Lucas Oil Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters champion, a title worth $60,000.

Also securing titles on Saturday night were Rick Ziehl, who claimed his second consecutive ASCS Southwest winged title, and Charles Davis, Jr., who earned the ASCS Canyon Region championship.

Fourteen different drivers pulled double duty over the course of the weekend by competing in both the winged and non-winged ranks, with Brady Bacon, Jesse Hockett and Tim Crawley the only three drivers to make the cut for both championship “A” Main events. Bacon was presented a special award after the event as the top overall finisher of both divisions.

Joey Saldana Looks for #23 at The Western World Championships

Keith Ames — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:06:19 +0000

Joey Saldana Racing at the KRONIK Energy Western World Championships Presented by Old Tucson Studios

Tucson, Arizona (November 9th, 2009) -After a stellar year and more than 20 victories, Joey Saldana will head west to take part in the 42nd Running of The KRONIK Energy Western World Championships Presented by Old Tucson Studios. After adding himself to the record books at the World Finals, Saldana will again look to make history by adding his name to the prestigious list of former WWC winners.

Saldana will pilot Herald Main’s Ham Construction-ART Enterprises-Ostrich powered Maxim in his quest to capture the illustrious title and the $15k. “The Brownsburg Bullet” has racked up more than 160 wins through out his career and ranks in the top 10 of all time World of Outlaws feature winners. One of only five drivers to win more than 20 WoO features in a single season, Saldana has been a dominate force in the sprint car world for some time and his at the top of his game coming into the American Sprint Car Series season finale.

“We are thrilled to have Joey at this event” commented USA Raceway. “He is a great racer and definitely adds to an already stout field! We have some of the best racers in the country coming to Tucson and this will be a show like no other.”

Saldana comes into the middle of a very heated battle for the Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Series Championship. Shane Stewart and Jason Johnson will go head to head with only 24 points separating the two drivers as the ASCS title will be decided when the checkered flag drops November 21st. Charles Davis and Rick Ziehl head up the Discount Tire Canyon Region and Southwest Region respectively. Davis leads RJ Johnson in the non wing region while Ziehl holds a narrow margin over Ben Gregg in Southwest Region points. All three Championships will be decided on the final night of the Kronik Energy Western World and the champions will be honored at the Brodix ASCS Banquet November 22nd at Old Tucson Studios.

More than one hundred sprint cars will be expected to take part in what will be one of the biggest sprint car events in the country as drivers from all walks will look to add their name to prestigious list of winners.

Both the winged and wingless forces will tackle USA Raceway’s 3/8-mile clay oval for three nights on November 19th, 20th and 21st, with more than $100,000 in “A” Feature money alone distributed over the course of the blockbuster event. A $15,000 share awaits the winner of the Lucas Oil ASCS season-ender on November 21st, with the Discount Tire Co. ASCS Canyon Region conqueror on November 21 pocketing $5,000.

Ticket pricing, seating charts and purchasing information can be found online at www.usaraceway.net/Uploads/WesternWorldTickets.pdf or by calling the USA Raceway office at 520-574-8515

42nd Annual Western World Championships Worth Even More!

Keith Ames — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:04:46 +0000

It is reported by Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (September 3, 2009) – The American Sprint Car Series was already set to close out the 2009 season on a high note, with both the Lucas Oil Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters and the Discount Tire Co. ASCS Canyon Region taking to Tucson’s USA Raceway on November 19-21 for the 42nd Annual Western World Championships.

Now, the stakes for that season-ending twinbill featuring the best of both winged and wingless Sprint Car racing are even higher.

It was revealed today that the winner of the Lucas Oil Sprint Car portion of the Western World Championships will pocket a hefty $15,000, while the victor in the wingless Canyon Region ranks will collect $5,000.

That is up from the previously announced amounts of $10,000 and $3,000, respectively.

With the purse increases, the 42nd edition of the Western World Championships will now pay out nearly $100,000 in “A” Main events alone over the three-day event.

After already completing three $10,000-to-win events this season, it will mark the second consecutive $15,000-to-win event to close out the season for the Lucas Oil Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters.

The $250,000 point fund for the top 15 in final Lucas Oil Sprint Car points will be distributed on Sunday, November 22, at the series’ banquet in Tucson, with details to be announced soon.

The Western World Championships will also put the wraps on the ASCS Southwest Region season. Ben Gregg is currently just six points ahead of defending series champion Rick Ziehl in the ASCS Southwest title chase.

The wingless forces get a healthy slice of the Western World pie as well, with the $5,000 winner’s share the biggest in the history of the Discount Tire Co. ASCS Canyon Region.

Charles Davis, Jr., is trying to put the finishing touches on his first ASCS title with just this weekend’s Hank Arnold Memorial and then an October 10 event at USA Raceway remaining prior to the Western World Championships.

Ticket pricing, seating charts and purchasing information can be found online at www.usaraceway.net/Uploads/WesternWorldTickets.pdf or by calling the USA Raceway office at 520-574-8515.

Hotel Information can be found at www.usaraceway.net/lodging.php or by calling the Tucson Airport Courtyard by Marriott at 520-573-0000.

The American Sprint Car Series, in its 18th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing events, brings the best of Sprint Car racing to nearly 100 different tracks throughout 25 states and Canada in 2009. Anchored by the Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters, ASCS also consists of a dozen different Regions throughout the nation.

Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.