The 42nd Annual Kronik Energy Western World Championships got underway in Tucson Thursday night. (ASCS)
The 42nd Annual Kronik Energy Western World Championships presented by Old Tucson Studios kicked off with Sammy Swindell and Jerry Coons, Jr., racing to victory lane in Thursday night's 25-lap qualifying features atop the 3/8-mile USA Raceway clay oval.
Sprint Car legend Swindell bested the Lucas Oil Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters ranks in the 25-lap winged main event to earn the pole position for Saturday night's $15,000-to-win championship finale, with Coons decimating the Discount Tire Co. ASCS Canyon Region ranks for the pole in Saturday's $5,000-to-win main event.
With 64 drivers taking part in Thursday night's Old Tucson Studios preliminary action, including 39 winged competitors and 25 wingless racers, the second half of the Western World field will take to the track in Friday's Kronik Energy Qualifying event.
Lucas Oil Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters (Winged)
After making a last-lap pass of Sam Hafertepe, Jr., to win the night's third winged Sprint Car heat race, Swindell drew the pole position for the main event with 15-year-old northern California shoe Justyn Cox alongside.
With Swindell jumping the first start, the field stacked up on the second start with fourth-row starter Cale Conley getting turned around to bring out the caution. It got worse for Conley on the next try when he got into a flipping Sean McClelland on the backstretch, with both McClelland and Conley done before a lap was in the books.
With the green flag finally flying, Swindell gunned into the lead with fifth-starter and current Lucas Oil Sprint Car points leader Shane Stewart racing into second past Johnny Herrera upon the completion of the second round.
Swindell and Stewart reached the tail of the field after just six laps and raced through traffic until the caution flew after eleven laps when Herrera clipped an infield tire and spun to a stop in turn two.
Stewart kept pace with Swindell over the next ten-lap stretch of green flag action with the lapped car of Brady Bacon in between the pair until a final caution flew after 21 laps for Seth Bergman, who came to a stop in turn three.
Stewart disposed of Bacon on the final restart and while he kept pace with the fleet Swindell on the top side of the track, was unable to mount a charge. Swindell flashed underneath the checkered flag aboard Tom Rolfe's Parker-powered No. 10 for his third career Lucas Oil Sprint Car feature win.
Runner-up honors aboard Paul Silva's Wesmar-powered ProBilt Construction/Palmero Properties No. 57 A.R.T. proved good enough for Stewart to put a virtual lock on the $60,000 Lucas Oil Sprint Car championship.
Moving into fifth when Herrera spun on the eleventh round, Wayne Johnson charged up to third on the ensuing restart and kept the Fisher-powered FattFro Motorsports No. 14aj Maxim in the show position the rest of the way, with Gary Wright working up to fourth in the final rounds aboard Scott Brown's ASI-powered Lubbock Wrecker Service No. 9x Maxim.
Ricky Logan rounded out the top five in the Lucas Oil No. 10a, with Jack Dover, 13th-starter Sam Hafertepe, Jr., and 19th-starter Paul McMahan earning starting positions in Saturday's main event by finishing sixth through eighth, respectively.
Jesse Hockett raced from 20th to ninth, with Lucas Wolfe completing the top ten.
Conley, W. Johnson, Swindell, Wright and Herrera topped heat race action for Thursday night's 39 winged competitors, with Bergman and Bacon winning the "B" Mains.
Discount Tire Co. ASCS Canyon Region (Non-Wing)
Tucson, AZ, native Jerry Coons, Jr., left little doubt about his first career American Sprint Car Series feature win by unleashing a dominant performance in Thursday night's 25-lap Discount Tire Co. ASCS Canyon Region main event at USA Raceway.
Coons took the checkered flag aboard Rex Foster's No. 32 entry with more than a half-lap advantage, lapping all the way up to seventh in the process. And, if not for a red flag eleven laps into the race, Coons likely would have lapped the entire field.
While he probably didn't need it, Coons caught a break before the green flag even flew on the feature field when scheduled pole starter Travis Rilat pulled to the infield when a leaking fuel valve ignited. The fire burned through Rilat's safety belts, forcing him pitside and moving Coons to the pole position.
Moving alongside outside front row starter and current ASCS Canyon Region points leader Charles Davis, Jr., Coons gunned into the lead and opened up half-lap advantage in just a handful of laps as Daniel Hutto, R.J. Johnson and Rick Ziehl moved past Davis.
Slicing through traffic, Coons lapped up to eleventh by the time the red flag flew after eleven laps when Dalten Gabbard went yard in turn four. Gabbard walked away uninjured.
With several lapped cars between Coons and Hutto, it was more of the same over the final 14 circuits as Coons circled the oval at an unmatched pace.
While Coons ultimately took the checkered flag on the heels of the trio battling for positions fifth through seventh, the battle for position well behind him was wild with Robert Ballou wasting little time racing from fifth into second after the lap 12 restart.
Ballou held the runner-up spot to the line, with Arkansas shoe Tim Crawley charging from the 19th starting position to claim the show position.
After exiting a heat race when his Yeley-owned mount ignited, Jon Stanbrough transferred through "B" Main action along with Crawley and then raced from 18th to fourth in the feature with Ziehl rounding out the top five.
Davis was sixth, while R.J. Johnson took the seventh and final lock-in position to Saturday night's main event as the final car on the lead lap.
Stevie Sussex was eighth, with Casey Shuman and Joshua Hodges competing the top ten.
Rilat, Ballou and Joshua Hodges won Thursday night's non-wing heat races, with Thomas Ogle victorious in the "B" Main.
