Justin Sanders Unstoppable At Arizona Speedway ASCS Southwest Copper Classic

Story By: BRYAN HULBERT / ASCS – QUEEN CREEK, AZ – Bettering his third-place finish from Saturday by two, Justin Sanders captured a long-awaited victory at the 4th annual Copper Classic. His first career victory with the ASCS Southwest Region, the Arizona Speedway win was worth $5,000 to the Aromas, California driver.

Taking several tries to get the A-Feature rolling, the green lights finally stayed on long enough for Hunter Schuerenberg to jump into the lead with Colton Hardy and Christopher Bell duking it out for second. Advantage to Bell, the red lights would come on for Mark Dobmeier, who had already gone over once, with 23 laps to go. Mark was ok.

Caution a lap later for James Aragon, the race for the lead was on as Bell shot low but couldn’t secure the spot; giving 10th starting Justin Sanders the run for the runner-up spot. Going back and forth for the spot, Sanders was able to fend off the No. 21 as the caution flew for the spun No. 75 of J.T. Imperial.

Restarting with five laps complete, Sanders went for the lead with no success, opening the door for Bell to go after the No. 17 again. Trading second around, Sanders once more held off Bell as Hunter Schuerenberg steadily pulled away.

Slowed again on Lap 14 as Alex Pettas rolled to a stop on the front straightaway, the battle for the lead took off with Sanders sliding Schuerenberg off the second turn. Diving under Sanders to retake the spot into the third turn, Sanders took the line even lower to take the point on Lap 15. Battling with Bell for second, mechanical issues struck the No. 19az for the second night in a row.

Back to green, Sanders was unchallenged and kept it that way for the $5,000 top prize. Christopher Bell crossed 2.002 seconds behind the No. 17 with Craig Stidham completing the podium. Taking fourth, Colton Hardy locked up the 2019 ASCS Southwest Region Championship. The top five rounded out with 14th starting. Billy Chester.

Jesse Baker in sixth was followed by J.T. Imperial who rebounded to seventh. Lonnie Cox, Bud Rowe, and James Aragon completed the top-ten.

Stevie Sussex Hustles To Victory At ASCS Desert Non-Wing Copper Classic

Grabbing his first career victory with the San Tan Ford ASCS Desert Non-Wing Sprint Cars, Stevie Sussex picked up the $2,000 top prize Sunday night in the 4th annual Copper Classic.

Not the first time Sussex has won in ASCS competition, Sunday’s score marked the fifth time the Arizona driver has topped an ASCS Region with three in the former Canyon Region as well as on with the ASCS Southwest Region.

Leading the first four laps of action Sussex would end up falling the silver step of the podium on Lap 5 as California’s Jake Swanson shot to the top spot. Hustling after the No. 34az with vigor, Sussex recaptured the point on Lap 17 through traffic and from there, worked to a 1.451-second advantage at the drop of the checkered flag.

Swanson settled for second with Dennis Gile posting his second podium appearance of the weekend in third. Capturing the 2019 San Tan Ford ASCS Desert Non-Wing Sprint Cars, Joshua Shipley crossed fourth with Danny Mathus in fifth.

Randy Nelson in sixth was trailed by Ryan Oerter who made up seven positions. Jesse Stonecipher, Colton Maroney, and Ryan Murphy made up the top ten.

With the 2019 season in the books, work is already being done to layout the 2020 lineup of events. Updates will be released as they are ready. The American Sprint Car Series would like to thank everyone who took part in the 2019 schedule of events and look forward to seeing you again next season.

Race Results:
Arizona Speedway (Queen Creek, Ariz.)
4th annual Copper Classic – Night 2
Sunday, December 1, 2019

ASCS Southwest Region

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson, [1]; 2. 9-Dustin Freitas, [3]; 3. 01-Thomas Kennedy, [2]; 4. 22B-Jesse Baker, [5]; 5. 13-Mark Dobmeier, [4]; 6. 2-Alex Pettas, [6]; 7. 18J-Paul Jones, [7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 74-Colton Hardy, [2]; 2. 17-Justin Sanders, [4]; 3. 3-Craig Stidham, [1]; 4. 7B-Bill Balog, [3]; 5. 75X-J.T. Imperial, [5]; 6. 45-Lonnie Cox, [6]; 7. 6-Bud Rowe, [7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 19AZ-Hunter Schuerenberg, [2]; 2. 21-Christopher Bell, [1]; 3. 25-Geoff Ensign, [3]; 4. 99-James Aragon, [5]; 5. (DNF) 2B-Billy Chester III, [4]; 6. (DNF) 50S-Rocky Silva, [6]

A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 17-Justin Sanders, [10]; 2. 21-Christopher Bell, [4]; 3. 3-Craig Stidham, [5]; 4. 74-Colton Hardy, [2]; 5. 2B-Billy Chester III, [14]; 6. 22B-Jesse Baker, [11]; 7. 75X-J.T. Imperial, [15]; 8. 45-Lonnie Cox, [17]; 9. 50S-Rocky Silva, [18]; 10. 6-Bud Rowe, [20]; 11. (DNF) 99-James Aragon, [12]; 12. (DNF) 19AZ-Hunter Schuerenberg, [1]; 13. (DNF) 2-Alex Pettas, [16]; 14. (DNF) 13-Mark Dobmeier, [13]; 15. (DNF) 01-Thomas Kennedy, [3]; 16. (DNF) 57-Kyle Larson, [6]; 17. (DNF) 9-Dustin Freitas, [7]; 18. (DNF) 7B-Bill Balog, [8]; 19. (DNF) 25-Geoff Ensign, [9]; 20. (DNF) 18J-Paul Jones, [19]

ASCS Desert Non-Wing

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7K-Bruce St. James, [5]; 2. 12-Stevie Sussex, [2]; 3. 25W-Ronald Webster, [3]; 4. 43-Ryan Oerter, [1]; 5. 66-Colton Maroney, [6]; 6. (DNF) 3-Pete Yerkovich, [7]; 7. (DNF) 7-Wayne Siddle, [4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 34-Sterling Cling, [2]; 2. 9X-Randy Nelson, [4]; 3. 22-Braidon Moniz, [6]; 4. 42-Danny Mathus, [3]; 5. 9-John Shelton, [7]; 6. 49Z-Karl Ackley, [5]; 7. 43T-Tanner Wolverton, [1]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 34AZ-Jake Swanson, [4]; 2. 4T-Dennis Gile, [1]; 3. 2-Joshua Shipley, [3]; 4. 76-Jesse Stonecipher, [2]; 5. 7X-Ryan Murphy, [5]; 6. 25AZ-Rick Shuman, [6]; 7. (DNF) 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold, [7]

A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 12-Stevie Sussex, [1]; 2. 34AZ-Jake Swanson, [5]; 3. 4T-Dennis Gile, [7]; 4. 2-Joshua Shipley, [9]; 5. 42-Danny Mathus, [11]; 6. 9X-Randy Nelson, [3]; 7. 43-Ryan Oerter, [14]; 8. 76-Jesse Stonecipher, [13]; 9. 66-Colton Maroney, [12]; 10. 7X-Ryan Murphy, [15]; 11. 25AZ-Rick Shuman, [16]; 12. 25W-Ronald Webster, [8]; 13. 7-Wayne Siddle, [21]; 14. (DNF) 43T-Tanner Wolverton, [18]; 15. (DNF) 7K-Bruce St. James, [6]; 16. (DNF) 34-Sterling Cling, [4]; 17. (DNF) 22-Braidon Moniz, [2]; 18. (DNF) 9-John Shelton, [10]; 19. (DNF) 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold, [20]; (DNS) 49Z-Karl Ackley, ; (DNS) 3-Pete Yerkovich,