Lonnie Wheatley, TUCSON, Ariz. (April 3, 2010) – Johnny Herrera dropped in on the ASCS Southwest Region at USA Raceway on Saturday night with familiar results by racing to victory lane in the evening’s nightcap.
While two-time and defending series champion Rick Ziehl set the early pace, Herrera took command following a restart and charged to the checkered flag unabated for the sixth time in as many ASCS Southwest starts over the past two seasons.
The Albuquerque racer was chased to the line by Las Cruces shoe Ziehl, with El Paso’s John Carney II climbing from eighth to take the show position.
Fifteen-year-old Joshua Hodges was fourth, with Calvin Landis rounding out the top five. John Gaston crossed the stripe sixth, while R.J. Johnson turned in the night’s top passing performance by racing from 17th to seventh after winning the “B” Main.
Cole Boyd, Bud Goodwin and Mike Rux, Jr., completed the top ten.
Landis, Herrera, Hodges and J.T. Imperial topped heat race action for Saturday night’s 29-car field.
ASCS Southwest Region Results from USA Raceway:
First Heat: 1. 79-Calvin Landis, 2. 3s-John Carney II, 3. 20-Mike Martin, 4. 7w-William Riley, 5. 66c-Cole Boyd, 6. 7az-Bobby Collister, 7. 11T-Steve Lohn, 8. 55-Alex Pettas.
Second Heat: 1. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 2. 22-Mike Rux, Jr., 3. 57x-Steve Stone, 4. 01-Kaylene Verville, 5. 27-Perry McMillan, 6. 15x-Bud Goodwin, 7. 75-Rickey Hood.
Third Heat: 1. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 2. 20z-Rick Ziehl, 3. 22J-John Gaston, 4. 42-Rick Boughan, 5. 44k-Koty McGullam, 6. 5m-Brian O’Donnell, 7. 6-Ronnie Clark.
Fourth Heat: 1. 1x-J.T. Imperial, 2. 66-Jessica Van Dyke, 3. 20s-Kyle Sager, 4. 15-R.J. Johnson, 5. 41-Joshua Williams, 6. 45-Ron Kratz, 7. 5az-Josh Van Horn.
“B” Feature: 1. 15-R.J. Johnson, 2. 15x-Bud Goodwin, 3. 5m-Brian O’Donnell, 4. 44k-Koty McGullam, 5. 45-Ron Kratz, 6. 11T-Steve Lohn, 7. 41-Joshua Williams, 8. 27-Perry McMillan, 9. 7az-Bobby Collister, 10. 5az-Josh Van Horn. DNS: 75-Rickey Hood, 6-Ronnie Clark, 55-Alex Pettas.
"A" Feature: 1. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 2. 20z-Rick Ziehl, 3. 3s-John Carney II, 4. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 5. 79-Calvin Landis, 6. 22J-John Gaston, 7. 15-R.J. Johnson, 8. 66c-Cole Boyd, 9. 15x-Bud Goodwin, 10. 22-Mike Rux, Jr., 11. 44k-Koty McGullam, 12. 57x-Steve Stone, 13. 5m-Brian O’Donnell, 14. 1x-J.T. Imperial, 15. 7w-William Riley, 16. 20s-Kyle Sager, 17. 66-Jessica Van Dyke, 18. 20-Mike Martin, 19. 01-Kaylene Verville, 20. 42-Rick Boughan.
ASCS Southwest Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Rick Ziehl 292, 2. Calvin Landis 267, 3. R.J. Johnson 254, 4. John Gaston 252, 5. Cole Boyd 229, 6. Steve Stone 225, 7. Kaylene Verville 217, 8. Mike Martin 216, 9. Koty McGullam 214, 10. J.T. Imperial 210.
[i Albuquerque's Johnny Herrera picked off victory honors in Saturday night's ASCS Southwest Region main event at Tucson's USA Raceway.
Photo courtesy of IBRACN Photos]