I went to the Arizona Speedway west of Tempe this past week. Like Canyon, the track is on unimprovable property, but is closer to "town" and is pretty impressive. The track is a nice 3/8's pretty wide oval and was very racy. They could use a little more "mud" and a cushion, but it is a racy place. The only negative to me was the sun in your face as it goes down, but considering everything, it could be special. The grandstands were packed and even though it was "only" 360's, the 17 cars ran three heats and a 25 lap main event with only one stop. R J Johnson won his heat and the main as the Ford powered # 77 was fast. He chased down early leader Josh Pelkey and led most of the laps.

JOHNSON WINS QUEEN CREEK'S "SPRING FLING" April 12

Josh Pelkey remains atop the USAC Southwest Sprint Car standings, despite defending series champion R.J. Johnson's feature victory at Queen Creek, Ariz. last Saturday. Pelkey holds a two-point lead over Johnson going into an April 26 race at Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria, Ariz.

Johnson. of Phoenix, Ariz., led the last 25 laps to win Saturday night's 30-lap "Spring Fling" for USAC's Southwest Sprint Cars at Arizona Speedway. He grabbed the lead from Pelkey on lap six and led the rest of the way in his Bill Michaels entry. Pelkey finished second ahead of Shon Deskins, Charles Davis Jr. and Matt Rossi. Mike Martin led the opening lap.

Pelkey won the last Southwest event at Peoria, in March.

2014 USAC Southwest Sprint Car Standings: 1-Josh Pelkey-136, 2-R.J. Johnson-134, 3-Shon Deskins-131, 4-Tye Mihocko-93, 5-Charles Davis Jr.-92, 6-Bruce St. James-86, 7-Nick Aiuto-84, 8-Michael Curtis-81, 9-Josh Shipley-76, 10-Mike Martin-76.

The track looks fast

Some of the 19 cars that races

Some of the action

All photos © 2014 Mr. Wags Photos