USAC .25 SERIES KICKS OF 2017 SEASON IN PHOENIX
(Phoenix, AZ) - The USAC .25 Youth program headed to Phoenix Raceway, for Round #1 of the pavement National Championship Series. Quarter Midgets hadn’t run at Phoenix Raceway for quite some time. Families moved haulers into the DC Solar Power Pavilion on Thursday and were greeted with a fantastic Bar-B-Que dinner to kick off the 2017 Season.
The temporary walls were delivered early in the week to construct the 1/20th of a mile track that sat just beyond the historic Bobby Allison stands, that encompass turns 1 and 2 on the Phoenix mile. Drivers and Handlers lined up for 1 round of practice on Friday morning before heat races and lower mains. The heat and winds made it a challenge for all the drivers in the ‘Valley of the Sun.’ Families could take in some USAC Silver Crown and Verizon IndyCar Qualifying when they weren’t racing. Saturday morning, the ‘Mini Copper Cup” main events began. By 1:30 in the afternoon, 14 mains had been run and tech was about to begin. By 3:00, participants were sitting in the stands ready to watch their director, Jerry Coons, Jr take the #20 Silver Crown car to a 5th place finish in the 2017 Copper Cup.
The best was yet to come as the USAC .25 top 3 finishers walked the same stage as the Indy Car drivers to receive recognition for their accomplishments. First, second and third place finishers received gold, silver and bronze medallions. First place winners received customized plaques by Grants Designs and Phoenix Raceway hats. Families proceeded back to the mile to watch Simon Pagenaud take the win in the Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix Indy Car event.
Both Connor Gross (Hvy Honda, Hvy 160 Honda, Briggs Hvy World Formula, Hvy Formula Mod) and Colby Sokol (Briggs Sr Animal, Briggs Lt World Formula, Briggs Lt Formula Mod, Sr Honda) take 4 wins for the weekend. Young Jackson White, attending his first USAC National Show, tripled up grabbing the checkers in his Jr Honda, Lt 160 Honda and Briggs Jr Animal races. Chase Spicola took home 1st place honors in the Mod class. Red Rookie Winners were Kane Sherman and Logan Wood and Eliot Brannon won Blue Rookie.
With over 135 cars in the USAC .25 paddock and a great showing of 14 Rookies, the season opener was very cool for every family. “This was a great weekend! I had a lot of compliments about our program here at Phoenix. I’m so proud of all the staff and the participants that made this such a great weekend,” said Jerry Coons, Jr, USAC .25 Director.
The series moves to the dirt on May 19-21 at Tri-Cities Raceway in Granite City, IL. For more information about USAC .25, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or check out the website at http://www.USAC25.com.
RESULTS:
Sr. Animal
1. Colby Sokol
2. Nick Loden
3. Elvis Rankin
4. Sam Butler
5. Preston Lattomus
6. Joe Valento
7. Holly Clark
8. Justis Sokol
9. Aidan Salisbury
10. Colby Stottlemyer
11. James Andrichuk
12. Gage Bowers
Light 160
1. Jackson White
2. Bradley Erickson
3. Elvis Rankin
4. Chase Spicola
5. Christian Bruno
6. Nick Loden
7. Bryce Lucius
8. Collin Mitchell
9. Justis Sokol
10. Gage Bowers
11. Colby Sokol
12. Preston Lattomus
13. Aidan Salisbury
14. Preston Norbury
15. Holly Clark
16. Jesse Johnson Jr
17. Owen Carlson
18. Caleb Johnson
19. Dalton Wayne
20. Adrian Imperial
21. Sam Butler
22. Kayla Martin
Light World Formula
1. Colby Sokol
2. Nick Loden
3. Elvis Rankin
4. Christian Bruno
5. Bryce Lucius
6. Preston Lattomus
7. Chase Spicola
8. Colby Stottlemyer
9. Owen Carlson
10. Joe Valento
11. Preston Norbury
12. Gage Bowers
13. Sam Butler
Heavy 160
1. Connor Gross
2. James "JJ" Horstman
3. A.J. Imperial
4. Daytona Spicola
5. Samuel Tyler
Jr. Honda
1. Jackson White
2. Collin Mitchell
3. Caleb Johnson
4. Quinn Thurein
5. Drew Sherman
6. Kayla Martin
7. Quinn Davis
8. Cale Coons
9. Tyler Johnson
10. Ayden Brandon
11. Jeffrey Erickson
12. Emory Johnson
13. Xander Dundon
14. Dalton Wayne
15. Colton Kartisek
16. Memarie Ashcraft
Blue Rookie
1. Eliot Brannon
2. Corbin Rueschenberg
3. Michael Kirchoff
4. Sloan Lowther
5. Jace Thurein
6. Kaleb Clark
Jr. Animal
1. Jackson White
2. Collin Mitchell
3. Caleb Johnson
4. Drew Sherman
5. Dalton Wayne
6. Quinn Thurein
7. Jeffrey Erickson
8. Kayla Martin
9. Cale Coons
10. Tyler Johnson
11. Quinn Davis
12. Colton Kartisek
13. Memarie Ashcraft
Sr. Honda
1. Colby Sokol
2. Justis Sokol
3. Colby Stottlemyer
4. Chase Spicola
5. Aidan Salisbury
6. Bradley Erickson
7. Preston Norbury
8. James Andrichuk
9. JesseJohnson Jr
10. Adrian Imperial
11. Holly Clark
12. Bobby Tanner
13. Kelsey Edwards
14. Jacob Kirchoff
15. Taelon Morris
16. TJ Wyman
17. Preston Lattomus
Light Mod
1. Chase Spicola
2. Justis Sokol
3. Elvis Rankin
4. Kayla Martin
Light Formula Mod
1. Colby Sokol
2. Nick Loden
3. Christian Bruno
4. Joe Valento
5. Chase Spicola
6. Owen Carlson
7. Bryce Lucius
Heavy World Formula
1. Connor Gross
2. James "JJ" Horstman
3. Daytona Spicola
4. A.J. Imperial II
Red Rookie
1. Kane Sherman
2. Connor Jacobs
3. Jonathan Andrichuk
4. Ryker Burkhart
Heavy Honda
1. Connor Gross
2. Daytona Spicola
3. A.J. Imperial II
4. Damian Norbury
5. Coltin Travis
6. Annelise Wood
Hvy Formula Mod
1. Connor Gross
2. Daytona Spicola
3. Aidan Salisbury
Red Rookie II
1. Logan Wood
2. Daniel Garibaldi
3. Benji Brooks
4. Tyler Wirth