Clauson & Marriott Headline Winter Challenge Round Two!
Story and Photo By:Lonnie Wheatley/USAC Series Media
PEORIA, Ariz. ….Bryan Clauson and Hunter Marriott took center stage by posting Saturday night feature wins as 101 cars filled the pit area at Canyon Speedway Park for the second of five Winter Challenge rounds of competition.
While Indiana’s Clauson bested the USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast non-wing Sprint Car ranks for the second night in a row, Missouri’s Marriott bested Friday night winner Ricky Thornton, Jr., for IMCA Modified honors.
Along with Clauson and Marriott, other Saturday night winners included George Fronsman in IMCA Stock Car vs. Pure Stock action, Colton Hardy in Micro Sprints and Josh Rivera in Mod Lites.
After winning Friday night’s USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast Sprint Car Winter Challenge opener, Clauson and the Mike Martin-owned team found themselves in scramble mode when mechanical woes surfaced.
“We had a little trouble with the Cancer Treatment Centers of America No. 16b, we were able to jump into Mike’s backup car,” Clauson explained. “I can’t say enough about how hard those guys work, we didn’t have any laps in that car when we went out for the heat race and we were able to get it working well enough.”
While Clauson gridded the feature field outside the second row, Brian Hosford set the early pace before spinning to a stop in turn three after getting together with a lapped car after eight laps.
Charles Davis, Jr., assumed the point with R.J. Johnson, Josh Hodges and Clauson dicing for position in his wake. Clauson made his way up to second by the time a red flag flew after 17 laps for Guy Weedman, who got on his side in turn one, and then charged by Davis, Jr., on the high side of turns one and two on the restart to take command.
“I screwed up on the restart, I went to the bottom and that wasn’t the right thing to do,” Davis, Jr., commented afterward.
Johnson followed Clauson around Davis, Jr., and tried to mount a late charge, but to no avail. “I tried a couple of Hail Mary’s, it just wasn’t enough.”
Clauson’s second win in as many nights came atop the 1/3-mile clay oval that has been friendly to home over the years. “This is kind of like a home away from home, I don’t really know what it is but we always seem to get around here pretty good.”
Clauson took the checkered flag ahead of Johnson and Davis, Jr., with Hodges crossing the stripe fourth and commenting that, “I don’t think the driver got it done tonight, the car was good enough but I didn’t put it in the right places a few times.”
After his early spin, Hosford rallied back through the field to round out the top five.
Hunter Marriott IMCA Mod Win CSP 012316 750In the 25-lap IMCA Modified main event, Brookfield, Missouri’s Hunter Marriott denied a Ricky Thornton, Jr., effort at going two-for-two by battling into the lead on the 18th round en route to victory lane.
While Thornton, Jr., led from the front row at the drop of the green flag, Marriott worked into second and pressured Thornton, Jr., much of the way before sliding into the lead with just seven laps to go.
Thornton, Jr., tried to slide back into the lead with the white flag in sight, only to slide too far sideways and nearly loop it. Marriott escaped to take the win while Thornton, Jr., recovered and held on to the runner-up position ahead of Ethan Dotson, Jason Noll and 13th-starter Paul Stone.
George Fronsman charged from eighth to capture IMCA Stock Car vs. Pure Stock honors ahead of Lonnie Foss and Steve Bitting.
Colton Hardy raced to Micro Sprint victory lane ahead of Jarrett Martin and Dustin Cormany while Josh Rivera ruled the Mod Lite ranks by taking the checkered flag ahead of Chaz Baca, Jr., and Shane Hinsley.
Winter Challenge 2016 continues with Round Three action going green at 5:00 p.m. Sunday night at Canyon Speedway Park with another full slate of USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast Sprint Cars, IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars vs. Pure Stocks, Micro Sprints and Mod Lites.
Canyon Speedway Park
January 23, 2016 – Winter Challenge 2016 Night Two of Five Results
USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast Sprint Cars:
Heat One: 1. 74x-Josh Hodges, 2. 13-Dennis Gile, 3. 27w-Guy Weedman, 4. 45-Bob Strait, 5. 4-David Dykes, 6. 16-Mike Martin.
Heat Two: 1. 16b-Bryan Clauson, 2. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 3. 0k-Kenny Perkins, 4. 48T-Thomas Ogle, 5. 34-Tanner Grau, 6. 50x-Will Perkins.
Heat Three: 1. 51-R.J. Johnson, 2. 22b-Brian Hosford, 3. 11c-Michael Curtis, 4. 12k-Mason Keefer, 5. 58-Connor Strait, 6. 5x-Matt McCarthy.
“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 16b-Bryan Clauson, 2. 51-R.J. Johnson, 3. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 4. 74x-Josh Hodges, 5. 22b-Brian Hosford, 6. 13-Dennis Gile, 7. 48T-Thomas Ogle, 8. 0k-Kenny Perkins, 9. 16-Mike Martin, 10. 11c-Michael Curtis, 11. 34-Tanner Grau, 12. 4-David Dykes, 13. 45-Bob Strait, 14. 58-Connor Strait, 15. 50x-Will Perkins, 16. 12k-Mason Keefer, 17. 27w-Guy Weedman, 18. 5x-Matt McCarthy.
