By Lonnie Wheatley: , TUCSON, Ariz. (March 14, 2009) – Johnny Herrera tacked on another American Sprint Car Series feature win by racing to victory lane in Saturday night's season-opening ASCS Southwest Region 25-lap main event at USA Raceway.
The triumph marked the Albuquerque hotshoe's 15th consecutive win in as many ASCS Regional starts dating back to 2005 and his third career Southwest Region victory. Herrera reeled off nine ASCS wins in as many Regional tries last year.
Herrera started the familiar family-owned No. 45x inside the third row of Saturday night's main event and spent the early portion of the race chasing front row starters John Carney II and Charles Davis, Jr.
Herrera surged into the lead at the midway point and led the rest of the way to post the win with El Paso shoe Carney taking runner-up honors. Defending series champion Rick Ziehl claimed the show position, with reigning ASCS Rocky Mountain Region champion Derrik Ortega snaring fourth.
Two-time wingless ASCS Canyon Region points runner-up Charles Davis, Jr., rounded out the top five in his first winged Sprint Car start since 2000, with 14th-starter Daniel Hutto, Steve Martin, John Gaston, Cody Cambensy and Ronnie Clark completing the top ten.
Ziehl, Gaston, Ortega and Ron Kratz topped heat race action for the 33-car field, with Jessica Van Dyke winning the 12-lap "B" Main.
ASCS Southwest Region Results from USA Raceway:
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 20z-Rick Ziehl, 2. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 3. 8-Daniel Hutto, 4. 51-Cody Cambensy, 5. 20-Mike Martin, 6. 93-Jon Taylor, 7. 41-Joshua Williams, 8. 5h-Dennis Krob. DNS: 22-Mike Rux, Jr.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 22J-John Gaston, 2. 3s-John Carney II, 3. 20az-Steve Martin, 4. 2L-Logan Forler, 5. 55-T.K. Lindahl, 6. 57-Steve Stone, 7. 5az-John Van Horn, 8. 8az-Jordan Stetson.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 35-Derrik Ortega, 2. 94az-Charles Davis, Jr., 3. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 4. 78-Jody Williams, 5. 11T-Steve Lohn, 6. 7az-Bobby Collister, 7. 22x-Jesse Baker. DNS: 66x-Cole Boyd.
Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 45-Ron Kratz, 2. 6-Ronnie Clark, 3. 22b-Ben Gregg, 4. 66-Jessica Van Dyke, 5. 7d-Dennis Riley, 6. 33-John Yates, 7. 44k-Koty McGullam, 8. 6x-Bud Rowe.
"B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 66-Jessica Van Dyke, 2. 57-Steve Stone, 3. 11T-Steve Lohn, 4. 20-Mike Martin, 5. 41-Joshua Williams, 6. 44k-Koty McGullam, 7. 6x-Bud Rowe, 8. 55-T.K. Lindahl, 9. 5h-Dennis Krob, 10. 5az-John Van Horn, 11. 7az-Bobby Collister. DNS: 33-John Yates, 93-Jon Taylor, 22x-Jesse Baker, 8az-Jordan Stetson, 22-Mike Rux, Jr., 66x-Cole Boyd.
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 2. 3s-John Carney II, 3. 20z-Rick Ziehl, 4. 35-Derrik Ortega, 5. 94az-Charles Davis, Jr., 6. 8-Daniel Hutto, 7. 20az-Steve Martin, 8. 22J-John Gaston, 9. 51-Cody Cambensy, 10. 6-Ronnie Clark, 11. 2L-Logan Forler, 12. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 13. 20-Mike Martin, 14. 45-Ron Kratz, 15. 11T-Steve Lohn, 16. 66-Jessica Van Dyke, 17. 7d-Dennis Riley, 18. 22b-Ben Gregg, 19. 78-Jody Williams, 20. 57-Steve Stone