John Gaston carries the American Sprint Car Series Southwest Region championship points lead into Saturday night’s action at Tucson’s USA Raceway.
But, it isn’t by much.
Saturday’s card atop the the 3/8-mile USA Raceway clay oval marks the Fourth Round of ASCS Southwest competition in 2009. And, with three nights already in the books, only two markers separate the top four drivers in points with 20 points separating the top eight.
Peoria, Arizona’s Gaston, who captured his first career Sprint Car feature win with a Southwest triumph at USA on May 2, holds a two-point advantage over a trio of drivers with Charles Davis, Jr. (Buckeye), defending series champion Rick Ziehl (Las Cruces, NM) and 2008 ASCS Rocky Mountain Region champion Derrik Ortega (Albuquerque, NM) all tied for second.
Another four drivers are within easy striking distance as well including Peoria’s Ben Gregg, who topped eight ASCS Southwest features last year, Tucson’s Ronnie Clark, Yuma’s Mike Martin and teen shoe Joshua Hodges of Tijeras, NM.
The balance of the current top ten in ASCS Southwest points also includes Phoenix shoe Steve Martin and Mesa’s Steve Stone.
Cody Cambensy, whose streak of 15 consecutive ASCS Southwest top-ten feature finishes was interrupted with May 2 issues, is just outside the top ten in eleventh.
The Gaston and Gregg teams stayed sharp by taking in this past weekend’s ASCS Red River Shootout featuring the ASCS Lone Star and Sooner Regions in Oklahoma and Texas. Gregg finished out the weekend with a top-ten run at Devil’s Bowl Speedway.
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