SOUTHWEST AT PEORIA, WEST COAST AT HANFORD SATURDAY;

MITCHELL WINS “PETER MURPHY CLASSIC”

USAC’s Southwest and West Coast Sprint cars are both in action this week. Danny Faria Jr. leads the West Coast series to Saturday night’s race at Keller Auto Speedway at the Kings Fairgrounds in Hanford, Calif. while R.J. Johnson leads the Southwest Sprints to Saturday night’s race at Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria.

Matt Mitchell of Yorba Linda, CA won Saturday night’s shortened 23-lap “Peter Murphy Classic” USAC West Coast Sprint race at Thunderbowl Raceway in his Campbell Brothers Storage/Pit Boss Jacks Maxim/Priestley. Mitchell passed Ryan Bernal on lap 16 and led the rest of the way to beat Richard Vander Weerd, Danny Faria Jr., Austin Liggett and Bud Kaeding.

Eight flips slowed the night’s racing process and eventually led to a curfew issue, forcing a checkered flag at lap 23.

Richard Vander Weerd and Ryan Bernal have each scored Hanford victories this season. Vander Weerd ranks second in the West Coast points, 109 behind Faria, while Bernal is sixth in the standings.

Johnson has won three of this year’s five Peoria point races and has a 56-point Southwest lead over Charles Davis Jr. in the latest standings.