Lonnie Wheatley, TUCSON, Ariz. (April 24, 2010) – John Gaston overcame the prevailing mayhem in Saturday night’s 25-lap American Sprint Car Series Southwest Region main event to take top honors at USA Raceway.
Gaston took command in the final handful of circuits when J.T. Imperial cut a left rear tire and went on to post his second career ASCS Southwest feature win aboard the Gaerte-powered Kronik Energy No. 22j Maxim, vaulting from fourth to first in the championship points race in the process.
Working forward from eleventh, Gaston steered clear of the several crashes that took place over the course of the 25-lapper and took over after both Johnny Herrera and Imperial surrendered the lead with cut tires.
Gaston flashed underneath the checkered flag in front of Mike Martin, who was disqualified when he failed to meet the minimum weight at the scales.
Veteran shoe Rickey Hood assumed runner-up honors behind Gaston, with Thomas Ogle’s debut in winged Sprint Car competition netting a third-place finish.
Rick Boughan and Joshua Hodges advanced ten positions each to round out the top five, with the balance of the top ten including Kaylene Verville, Joshua Williams, Imperial, Bud Goodwin and Perry McMillan.
Goodwin, Imperial, Hood and Jessica Van Dyke each claimed heat race wins over the 28-car field, with California teen Justyn Cox winning the “B” Main.
ASCS Southwest Region Results from USA Raceway:
First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 15x-Bud Goodwin, 2. 3s-John Carney II, 3. 22j-John Gaston, 4. 42-Rick Boughan, 5. 15-R.J. Johnson, 6. 57x-Steve Stone, 7. 90-Lance Norick.
Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 1x-J.T. Imperial, 2. 16-Mike Martin, 3. 20z-Rick Ziehl, 4. 79-Calvin Landis, 5. 55-Jesse Stone, 6. 44k-Koty McGullam, 7. 41-Joshua Williams.
Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 75-Rickey Hood, 2. 5a-Thomas Ogle, 3. 45-Ron Kratz, 4. 7az-Bobby Collister, 5. 7w-William Riley, 6. 11T-Steve Lohn, 7. 22-Mike Rux, Jr.
Fourth Heat (8 Laps): 1. 66-Jessica Van Dyke, 2. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 3. 01-Kaylene Verville, 4. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 5. 5h-Justyn Cox, 6. 27-Perry McMillan, 7. 66c-Corey Hosler, Jr.
“B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 5h-Justyn Cox, 2. 57x-Steve Stone, 3. 41-Joshua Williams, 4. 27-Perry McMillan, 5. 66c-Corey Hosler, Jr., 6. 90-Lance Norick, 7. 7az-Bobby Collister, 8. 55-Jesse Stone, 9. 44k-Koty McGullam, 10. 7w-William Riley, 11. 11T-Steve Lohn, 12. 22-Mike Rux, Jr.
"A" Feature (25 Laps): 1. 22j-John Gaston, 2. 75-Rickey Hood, 3. 5a-Thomas Ogle, 4. 42-Rick Boughan, 5. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 6. 01-Kaylene Verville, 7. 41-Joshua Williams, 8. 1x-J.T. Imperial, 9. 15x-Bud Goodwin, 10. 27-Perry McMillan, 11. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 12. 15-R.J. Johnson, 13. 79-Calvin Landis, 14. 66-Jessica Van Dyke, 15. 20z-Rick Ziehl, 16. 45-Ron Kratz, 17. 5h-Justyn Cox, 18. 57x-Steve Stone, 19. 16-Mike Martin, 20. 3s-John Carney II (DNS).
ASCS Southwest Region Points (Top Ten): 1. John Gaston 402, 2. Rick Ziehl 392, 3. Calvin Landis 371, 4. R.J. Johnson 360, 5. Kaylene Verville 339, 6. J.T. Imperial 326, 7. Rick Boughan 322, 8. Steve Stone 319, 9. Mike Martin 308, 10. Jessica Van Dyke 298.