Southwest Sprints at Queen Creek Saturday; Vander Weerd Tops at Santa Maria; Johnson Gets #20 at YUMA

R.J. Johnson leads the USAC Southwest Sprint Cars to Arizona Speedway in Queen Creek, Ariz. Saturday night for the 3rd Annual “Spring Fling.” He has a nine-point lead over Stevie Sussex after winning last Saturday night’s 30-lap race at Yuma, Ariz.

Johnson, of Phoenix, Ariz., recorded a record 20th USAC feature victory in Arizona withSaturday night’s 30-lap USAC Southwest Sprint Car victory at Cocopah Speedway in Yuma. Wheeling the Michaels entry, he passed Shon Deskins on lap five and led the rest of the way to beat Matt Rossi, Deskins, Mike Colegrove and Josh Pelkey.

Richard Vander Weerd of Visalia, Calif. won Saturday night’s 30-lap USAC West Coast Sprint race at Santa Maria (Calif.) Raceway. Vander Weerd led the final 12 laps in his Vander Weerd Construction/Battery Worx Maxim/Shark after passing D.J. Johnson on lap 19. Johnson led the first 18 laps and finished second ahead of Danny Faria Jr., Landon Hurst and Trey Marcham. Faria emerged as the new series point leader entering a May 16 race at Tulare, Calif.

The USAC West Coast Sprint cars resume May 16 at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif.

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 USAC SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: April 11, 2015 – Yuma, AZ – Cocopah Speedway

FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Mike Martin (#16 Martin), 2. Mike Colegrove (#17M Colegrove), 3. R.J. Johnson (#77M Michaels), 4. Dennis Gile (#13 Gile), 5. Matt Rossi (#02 Rossi), 6. Dustin Burkhart (#22AZ Burkhart), 7. Katherine Aragon (#42 Aragon), 8. Tom Lee (#53 Lee). NT

SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Charles Davis Jr. (#50 Massey), 2. Stevie Sussex (#21AZ Burkhart), 3. Brian Hosford (#22B Weber), 4. Andy Reinbold (#19 Underwood), 5. Shon Deskins (#20 Deskins), 6. Josh Pelkey (#12 Allen), 7. Bruce St. James (#7K St. James), 8. Nick Aiuto (#27 Aiuto), 9. George Morris (#3K Kruseman). NT

ALSO AT TRACK: Tony Everhart (#55 Everhart).

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. R.J. Johnson, 2. Matt Rossi, 3. Shon Deskins, 4. Mike Colegrove, 5. Josh Pelkey, 6. Brian Hosford, 7. Nick Aiuto, 8. Charles Davis Jr., 9. Mike Martin, 10. Andy Reinbold, 11. Bruce St. James, 12. Dennis Gile, 13. Dustin Burkhart, 14. George Morris, 15. Katherine Aragon, 16. Stevie Sussex, 17. Tom Lee. NT

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**Sussex flipped during the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-4 Deskins, Laps 5-30 Johnson.

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 USAC WEST COAST SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: April 11, 2015 – Santa Maria, California – Santa Maria Raceway

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Richard Vander Weerd, 10, Vander Weerd-14.367; 2. Danny Faria Jr., 17V, Bowman-14.566; 3. Kevin Barnes, 36B, Barnes-14.680; 4. Trey Marcham, 73, Ford-14.851; 5. Tristan Guardino, 81, Watt-14.983; 6. D.J. Johnson, 33, Johnson-15.005; 7. Jace Vander Weerd, 88, Vander Weerd-15.069; 8. Landon Hurst, 179, Hurst-15.205; 9. Tye Mihocko, 5, Mihocko-15.223; 10. Shannon McQueen, 87, Van Meter-15.230; 11. Luke Boles, 56, Boles-15.289; 12. Jeff Sibley, 42N, Sibley-15.381; 13. Bill Jones, 91, Jones-15.631; 14. Jordan Linson, 10J, Linson-17.445; 15. James Herrera, 16J, Herrera-19.156.

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. R.Vander Weerd, 2. Mihocko, 3. Boles, 4. Guardino, 5. J. Vander Weerd, 6. Barnes, 7. Jones, 8. Herrera. NT

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Johnson, 2. Faria, 3. Marcham, 4. McQueen, 5. Hurst, 6. Sibley, 7. Linson. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Richard Vander Weerd, 2. D.J. Johnson, 3. Danny Faria Jr., 4. Landon Hurst, 5. Trey Marcham, 6. Tristan Guardino, 7. Jace Vander Weerd, 8. Jeff Sibley, 9. Luke Boles, 10. Kevin Barnes, 11. Bill Jones, 12. James Herrera, 13. Jordan Linson, 14. Shannon McQueen, 15. Tye Mihocko. NT

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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-18 Johnson, Laps 19-30 R. Vander Weerd.

**Races noted with ** are non-points special events.

**Races noted with ** are non-points special events.