JOHNSON TAKES “COPPER ON DIRT” MIDGET OPENER

Peoria, AZ……..R.J. Johnson of Phoenix, Ariz. led all 20 laps to win Friday night’s Honda USAC Western Midget opener of the 7th “Copper on Dirt” at Canyon Speedway Park. Driving the Weiler Farms/Pecon Builders Spike/Fontana, he was trailed at the checkered flag by Alex Schutte, Trey Marcham, Terry Goodwin and Jake Swanson. Defending series champion Ronnie Gardner’s car was plagued by mechanical ills all night. Chad Nichols flipped during the feature.

HONDA USAC WESTERN MIDGET DIRT RACE RESULTS: February 28, 2014 – Peoria, Arizona – Canyon Speedway Park – 7th “Copper on Dirt”

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Trey Marcham, 73, Ford-14.250; 2. Alex Schutte, 28, Schutte/McElwee14.256; 3. Jake Swanson, 5, VanDyne/Swanson-14.367; 4. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-14.425; 5. Jarid Blondel, 98, Blondel-14.534; 6. Chad Nichols, 17, Nichols-14.988; 7. Terry Goodwin, 2G, Goodwin-15.173; 8. Ronnie Gardner, 68, Six8-NT; 9. Jeffrey Perry, 28x, Perry-NT.

HEAT RACE: (8 laps) 1. Johnson, 2. J.Swanson, 3. Marcham, 4. Schutte, 5. Blondel, 6. Nichols, 7. Goodwin. NT

FEATURE: (20 laps) 1. R.J. Johnson, 2. Alex Schutte, 3. Trey Marcham, 4. Terry Goodwin, 5. Jake Swanson, 6. Jarid Blondel, 7. Chad Nichols, 8. Ronnie Gardner. NT

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**Nichols flipped during the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-20 Johnson.

NEW HONDA USAC WESTERN MIDGET DIRT POINTS: 1-Johnson-71, 2-Schutte-67, 3-Marcham-66, 4-Swanson-59, 5-Goodwin-53, 6-Blondel-51, 7-Nichols-46, 8-Gardner-39.

NEXT HONDA USAC WESTERN MIDGET DIRT RACE: March 1, 2014 – Peoria, AZ – Canyon Speedway Park – 7th “Copper on Dirt”