Canyon Region Manzanita preview

HIGH STAKES FOR ASCS CANYON REGION'S SATURDAY NIGHT WAYNE WEILER SALUTE TO INDY

TULSA, Okla. (May 21, 2007) -- The wingless warriors of the American Sprint Car Series Canyon Region will battle it out for 50 laps in Saturday night's traditional Wayne Weiler Salute to Indy atop Manzanita Speedway's 1/3-mile clay oval in Phoenix, AZ.

As the ASCS Canyon Region and Manzanita Speedway salute the Indy 500, they also pay great tribute to the memory of Wayne Weiler. Weiler has long been considered one of Manzanita's greatest drivers and, more importantly, was a man of great character whose home was always open to racers that made the journey to Phoenix.

And there will be plenty up for grabs for the racers on this special occasion, with the total purse bumped up to a total of $16,500, with $1,500 earmarked for the winner, $300 just to start the feature and $200 for any car completing a green flag lap during the night's competition.

Additional money is available in special awards as well, with $600 to be distributed among the eight drivers that qualify for the Pole Dash, the night's Hard Charger and the Hard Luck driver of the night.

Jeremy Sherman leads the way into Saturday's special card with a 46-point advantage in the series championship points chase. Sherman captured victory honors in the opening four events of the season before 15-year-old Chad Boat derailed his victory streak at Casa Grande on May 12.

Chasing Sherman in the points race is fellow former state champ Josh Pelkey, with Mike Leslie, Bernie Smith and Mike Martin rounding out the current top five. The balance of the current top ten includes 16-year-old Michael Colegrove, Bob Ream, Jr., Seainn Hendricsen, Boat and Andrew Reinbold.

This Saturday night's Arizona Racemart Salute to Indy/Tribute to Wayne Weiler for the ASCS Canyon Region goes green at 8:00 p.m.

Once again, $50 certificates will be awarded to each of the heat race winners, with Racing Optics sponsoring heat race one, Parker Store sponsoring heat race two, Kenz & Leslie/BG Chemicals sponsoring heat race three and Sunoco sponsoring heat race four. Arizona Race Mart sponsors the Pole Dash, while Sunoco will also award a $50 certificate to each "B" Main winner in ASCS Canyon Region action this year.

Other sponsors of Saturday's event include Arizona Race Mart, Inc., Shumway Brothers, MRM Investments, AME Electrical Contracting, Inc., Jake's Granite Supplies, Canyon Contracting, Bandit Racing, Arizona Sport Shirts, East Valley RV Specialists, B&R Automotive, Massey Motorsports, The Parker Store, B&B Manufacturing, Total Seal and Campbell's Towing.

Manzanita Speedway is located in Phoenix, AZ, off I-10 Exit 141, then four miles south on 35th Avenue to West Broadway. For more information, contact the track at 602-276-7575.

The ASCS Canyon Region brings the best in wingless Sprint Car racing to Arizona in 2007 with a slate of 24 events. In addition to Manzanita Speedway, the series will also be in action at Tucson's USA Race Park and Casa Grande's Central Arizona Raceway over the course of the season.

The 2007 season marks the 16th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing for the American Sprint Car Series, with the series set to sanction approximately 240 nights of racing at more than 100 different race tracks throughout at least 30 different states and Canada.

Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.

-credit: ascs