Lonnie Wheatley, PHOENIX, Ariz. (March 21, 2009) – Charles Davis, Jr., charged to victory lane in Saturday night's 30-lap Discount Tire Co. ASCS Canyon Region feature at Manzanita Speedway, an event that marked the final wingless Sprint Car main event atop the track's 1/3-mile clay oval.
While Davis snared top honors in the wingless finale, the winged warriors of the ASCS Southwest Region will take to the 1/3-mile on April 4 before the non-winged ASCS Canyon Region brings the curtain down on more than a half century of Manzanita history with the Donnie Davis Memorial on the ½-mile oval.
After starting from the front row outside of Saturday night's feature, Davis spent a portion of the race chasing two-time series champion Jeremy Sherman. But when Sherman ran afoul of a lapped car, Davis took quick advantage by notching his 12th career ASCS Canyon win aboard the Massey Motorsports No. 50.
R.J. Johnson snared runner-up honors, while California ace Mike Spencer raced from 13th to claim the show position aboard Rex Foster's No. 32. Bob Ream, Jr., advanced a half dozen spots to finish fourth, with Nathan High racing from 12th to round out the top five.
Stevie Sussex, Johnathon Henry, 19th-starter Jeff Slinkard, Bryan Swinehart and Bernie Smith completed the top ten.
Bobby Taylor, Rex Calderwood, Henry and Sherman topped heat race action for the 31-car field, with rookie contender Zach Sawyers winning the "B" Main.
(Terry Shaw photos)
Discount Tire Co. ASCS Canyon Region Results from Manzanita Speedway:
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 26az-Bobby Taylor, 2. 6x-Bryan Swinehart, 3. 77m-R.J. Johnson, 4. 32-Mike Spencer, 5. 61-Jeff Slinkard, 6. 56-Steve Conrad, 7. 7k-Bruce St. James, 8. 8sk-Tim Beal.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 6c-Rex Calderwood, 2. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 3. 62-Stevie Sussex, 4. 9-Ryan Linder, 5. 71-Bernie Smith, 6. 26-John Brinkley, 7. 00-Ken Caskey. DNS: 11-Seainn Hendricsen.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 21-Johnathon Henry, 2. 7-Josh Pelkey, 3. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 4. 74-Derek Williams, 5. 6-Ronnie Clark, 6. 76a-Art Mankel, 7. 16-Mike Martin, 8. 99-Chuck Jackson.
Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 77-Jeremy Sherman, 2. 8-Bob Ream, Jr., 3. 12-Nathan High, 4. xxx-Zach Sawyers, 5. 48-Thomas Ogle, 6. 57-Jesse Stone, 7. 78-Larry Clark.
"B" Feature (10 Laps): 1. xxx-Zach Sawyers, 2. 56-Steve Conrad, 3. 61-Jeff Slinkard, 4. 8sk-Tim Beal, 5. 9-Ryan Linder, 6. 26-John Brinkley, 7. 00-Ken Caskey, 8. 74-Derek Williams, 9. 99-Chuck Jackson, 10. 57-Jesse Stone, 11. 7k-Bruce St. James, 12. 76a-Art Mankel. DNS: 78-Larry Clark, 16-Mike Martin, 11-Seainn Hendricsen.
“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 2. 77m-R.J. Johnson, 3. 32-Mike Spencer, 4. 8-Bob Ream, Jr., 5. 12-Nathan High, 6. 62-Stevie Sussex, 7. 21-Johnathon Henry, 8. 61-Jeff Slinkard, 9. 6x-Bryan Swinehart, 10. 71-Bernie Smith, 11. 6-Ronnie Clark, 12. 56-Steve Conrad, 13. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 14. 8sk-Tim Beal, 15. 26az-Bobby Taylor, 16. 48-Thomas Ogle, 17. 6c-Rex Calderwood, 18. 77-Jeremy Sherman, 19. xxx-Zach Sawyers, 20. 7-Josh Pelkey.
Discount Tire Co. ASCS Canyon Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Charles Davis, Jr. 294, 2. Johnathon Henry 282, 3. Nathan High 278, 4. (tie) Ronnie Clark and Andrew Reinbold 264, 6. R.J. Johnson 262, 7. Bryan Swinehart 260, 8. Jeff Slinkard 258, 9. Bernie Smith 256, 10. (tie) Josh Pelkey and Thomas Ogle 252.
