West Coast Sprints at Bakersfield Saturday; Bernal Johnson Score West Coast, Southwest Sprint Wins

A pair of 2014 USAC Western Sprint Car Champs scored victories last weekend. Western Classic Champ Ryan Bernal won Saturday’s West Coast Sprint race at Hanford, Calif. and defending Southwest Sprint champ R.J. Johnson triumphed in Saturday’s “Hank Arnold Memorial” at Peoria, Ariz.

Bernal, of Hollister, Calif., will lead the West Coast series to this Saturday night’s race at Bakersfield (Calif.) Speedway. He’s 14 points ahead of Danny Faria, Jr., who took second at Hanford.

Bernal won Saturday night’s 30-lap race at Keller Auto Speedway at the Kings Fairgrounds in Hanford, passing Faria on the white-flag lap and leading the last two laps in his Tri-L Mandarin Ranch/Core Power ART/S & S. Faria took second ahead of Jace Vander Weerd, D.J. Johnson and Jake Swanson. Faria led the first two laps, Bernal led 14 and Faria the next 12 before Bernal’s winning pass.

Johnson, of Phoenix, Ariz., scored a last-lap victory in Saturday night’s Southwest race at Canyon Speedway Park. Wheeling the Michaels machine, Johnson caught Stevie Sussex on the 30th lap to grab the win, followed by Sussex, Josh Pelkey, Matt Rossi and Mike Colegrove. The win vaulted Johnson to second in the standings behind Sussex.

The Southwest series resumes April 11 at Cocopah Speedway in Yuma, Ariz.

Troy Rutherford won last year’s West Coast outing at Bakersfield, while Bernal and Faria both captured 2013 races at Bakersfield.

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USAC SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: March 28, 2015 – Peoria, AZ – Canyon Speedway Park – “Hank Arnold Memorial”

FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Charles Davis Jr. (#50 Massey), 2. Josh Pelkey (#12 Allen), 3. Mike Colegrove (#17 Colegrove), 4. Matt Rossi (#02 Rossi), 5. Mike Martin (#16 Martin), 6. Bruce St. James (#7K St. James), 7. Michael Curtis (#11C Turner/Wheeler), 8. Mike Bonneau (#29 Bonneau). NT

SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. R.J. Johnson (#77M Michaels), 2. Stevie Sussex (#21AZ Burkhart), 3. Andy Reinbold (#19 Underwood), 4. Brian Hosford (#22B Weber), 5. Dennis Gile (#13 Gile), 6. Vince Perez (#40 Perez), 7. Tom Ogle (#48 Ogle). NT

THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Josh Shipley (#2 Bishop), 2. Shon Deskins (#20 Deskins), 3. Dalten Gabbard (#77 Gabbard), 4. Tye Mihocko (#5 Mihocko), 5. Larry Gibson (#2X Gibson), 6. Jonas Reynolds (#4 Reynolds), 7. Koty McGullam (#44K McGullam). NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. R.J. Johnson, 2. Stevie Sussex, 3. Josh Pelkey, 4. Matt Rossi, 5. Mike Colegrove, 6. Shon Deskins, 7. Mike Martin, 8. Andy Reinbold, 9. Brian Hosford, 10. Charles Davis Jr., 11. Josh Shipley, 12. Tye Mihocko, 13. Bruce St. James, 14. Dennis Gile, 15. Larry Gibson, 16. Michael Curtis, 17. Vince Perez, 18. Koty McGullam, 19. Dalten Gabbard, 20. Mike Bonneau, 21. Jonas Reynolds, 22. Tom Ogle. NT

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-16 Gabbard, Laps 17-29 Sussex, Lap 30 Johnson.

USAC WEST COAST SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: March 28, 2015 – Hanford, California – Keller Auto Speedway at Kings Fairgrounds 

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Slack, 2. Guardino, 3. J.Vander Weerd, 4. Adams, 5. Swanson, 6. McQueen, 7. Bothelo. NT

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Faria, 2. Bernal, 3. Hurst, 4. R.Vander Weerd, 5. Carter, 6. Barnes, 7. Marcum. NT

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Roa, 2. Marcham, 3. Sibley, 4. Johnson, 5. Henry, 6. Day, 7. Liggett. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Ryan Bernal, 2. Danny Faria Jr., 3. Jace Vander Weerd, 4. D.J. Johnson, 5. Jake Swanson, 6. Landon Hurst, 7. Trey Marcham, 8. Max Adams, 9. Austin Liggett, 10. Johnathon Henry, 11. Tristan Guardino, 12. Jeff Sibley, 13. Colton Slack, 14. Kevin Barnes, 15. Trent Carter, 16. Brody Roa, 17. Shannon McQueen, 18. Richard Vander Weerd, 19. Matt Day, 20. Dwayne Marcum, 21. Jeff Bothelo. NT

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

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