Tucson, Arizona………..Brody Roa came into the night as the highest point-earner in Southwest/West Coast Sprint Car competition at the 48th “Western World Championships” at USA Raceway, and from there he won the dash before leading all 30 laps and holding back a star-studded field to take the victory.
Roa led from the pole, but C.J. Leary was looking low on him right away for the lead. Brady Bacon stuck right with the top-three as R.J. Johnson and Bryan Clauson raced for fourth. The race’s lone caution flew on lap ten, as Chris Bonneau was spun around in turn-two.
Things picked up after the restart, with Bacon moving past Leary for the second spot and Clauson sliding into the fourth spot. Behind them, Justin Grant was on the move and took sixth before halfway.
By lap 18, Bacon was all over Roa for the lead as they worked through traffic. Leary re-entered the fray and Clauson was starting to gain ground. It became a two-lane race all the way around, as Leary re-took second on lap 19. Bacon immediately took it back, however, and again went after Roa.
Grant moved into the top-five on lap 22 and was running down the lead pack, which was racing nearly two-by-two. On lap 23, Grant executed a turn-one slider past Clauson for fourth and was right on the lead trio.
Roa repelled Bacon again and again, though the lead was completely gone with four laps to go as Grant finally cleared Leary for the third spot.
Bacon tried the bottom in the closing laps but was unable to get a run on Roa, who held on by .308-seconds in the BR Performance #91R.
“When you’re racing with guys of that caliber, it’s pretty satisfying to be able to hold on and take a big win. We’ve really been strong with this 360 car all weekend, and it showed again in the feature. The lapped cars were really thick and racing hard, so we had to be good top and bottom to clear them. Bacon is a national champ and one of the best out there, so you can’t make a mistake. It’s definitely a great way to end the season,” Roa said.
Behind Bacon, Grant completed the podium ahead of Leary and R.J. Johnson, who took the Southwest Series championship.
“This is really all about Bill Michael and his family giving us a great ride out here that is capable of winning every race, and the championship too. We came into this weekend having to use our back-up car after hurting an engine two weeks ago, but it shows how strong our team is with both cars,” Johnson said.
Danny Faria, Jr., who finished tenth, was crowned the 2015 USAC West Coast Sprint Car champion.
“I’m really just grateful to have a strong team with great sponsors that allows me to come and race all these shows. This year has been a really special one, with winning the Faria Memorial race at Tulare with all my family there and then capping the season with our second series championship. This year is one I will remember forever,” Faria said.
USAC SOUTHWEST & WEST COAST SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: November 21, 2015 – Tucson,
Arizona – USA Raceway - 48th “Western World Championships”
FIRST QUALIFYING RACE: (8 laps) 1. Andy Reinbold (#19 Underwood), 2. Nick Aiuto (#27 Aiuto), 3. Matt Rossi (#02 Rossi), 4. Dennis Gile (#13 Gile), 5. Terry Schank, Jr. (#1 Gleeson), 6. Tristan Guardino (#80 Watt), 7. Jordan Stetson (#8AZ Stetson), 8. Jeff Sibley (#42N Sibley). NT
SECOND QUALIFYING RACE: (8 laps) 1. Chris Windom (#22B Weber), 2. Gary Taylor (#14 Burkhart/White), 3. Danny Faria, Jr. (#17v Bowman), 4. Ronnie Clark (#6 Clark), 5. Brian Hosford (#32B Weber), 6. Jace Vander Weerd (#88 Vander Weerd), 7. Kyle Smith (#55 Smith). NT
THIRD QUALIFYING RACE: (8 laps) 1. Trey Marcham (#73 Ford), 2. Chris Bonneau (#78 Bonneau), 3. Stevie Sussex (#21AZ Burkhart), 4. Rick Ziehl (#20Z Ziehl), 5. Mike Martin (#16 Martin), 6. Tye Mihocko (#5x Mihocko), 7. Larry Gibson (#2x Gibson). NT
DASH: (6 laps) 1. Brody Roa (#91R BR), 2. C.J. Leary (#30 Leary), 3. Brady Bacon (#73x Ford), 4. R.J. Johnson (#77m Michael), 5. Bryan Clauson (#16B Martin), 6. Charles Davis, Jr. (#50 Massey), 7. Justin Grant (#5 Baldwin), 8. Josh Hodges (#74x Hodges).
ALSO AT THE TRACK: Ryan Bernal (#56 Phulps)
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Clark, 2. Ziehl, 3. Schank, 4. Martin, 5. Vander Weerd, 6. Hosford, 7. Mihocko, 8. Guardino, 9. Smith, 10. Gile, 11. Sibley, 12. Gibson, 13. Stetson. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Brody Roa, 2. Brady Bacon, 3. Justin Grant, 4. C.J. Leary, 5. R.J. Johnson, 6. Bryan Clauson, 7. Josh Hodges, 8. Stevie Sussex, 9. Chris Windom, 10. Danny Faria, Jr., 11. Nick Aiuto, 12. Charles Davis, Jr., 13. Trey Marcham, 14. Matt Rossi, 15. Jace Vander Weerd, 16. Mike Martin, 17. Ronnie Clark, 18. Chris Bonneau, 19. Andy Reinbold, 20. Rick Ziehl, 21. Gary Taylor, 22. Terry Schank, Jr. NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Roa.
FINAL USAC SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-R.J. Johnson-1196, 2-Davis-1121, 3-Rossi-978, 4-Sussex-973, 5-Martin-907, 6-Josh Pelkey-844, 7-Hosford-725, 8-Reinbold-704, 9-Aiuto-690, 10-Gile-544.
FINAL USAC WEST COAST SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Faria-961, 2-Marcham-794, 3-Richard Vander Weerd-775, 4-J. Vander Weerd-767, 5-D.J. Johnson-733, 6-Guardino-597, 7-Roa-536, 8-Ryan Bernal-533, 9-Bud Kaeding-507, 10-Landon Hurst-442.
FINAL GRUDGE SERIES POINTS: 1-Davis-236, 2-Sussex-225, 3-R.J. Johnson-221, 4-Roa-192, 5-Bacon-174, 6-Reinbold-164, 7-Grant-164, 8-Aiuto-157, 9-Windom-157, 10-Clauson-154.