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Canyon Raceway in Peoria, AZ is the destination of this weekend's ASCS Southwest Series race. We just started heading west from Albuquerque at about 10:30. We are looking to keep the momentum going after a good run at Heart O' Texas Speedway in Waco, TX last weekend with the Gulf South bunch. I have ran at Canyon several times in a mini sprint and once non-wing last year but never with the wing, so it will be another new experience. I'd like to say thanks to Chuck Jackson for the encouraging words and good luck to him as well down in Tularosa. Out next stop looks to be Jetmore, KS with the ASCS National Series again. We should have an update tomorrow morning on how we did so don't forget to check in.

Last night was a very good night in Waco, Texas at Heart O' Texas Speedway for the Hodges Motorsports team. There were 37 cars in the pits for the ASCS Gulf South show, also bringing in the best of the Lonestar region after their rainout about 120 miles away. I took advantage of good pill draws all night, and drew number 5 at the beginning of the night to start on the pole of the 3rd heat. After banging wheels on the start of the 8 lap heat, I fell back to about 3rd down the front strech but drove it hard into turn 1 getting the 2nd place starter back entering in the corner, and beat Jason Johnson off of turn 2 around the outside. From there, the McClintic/Wesmar under the hood showed its muscle as we took the heat race win in front of Johnson in second on the tacky fast track. We made the top 8 re-draw for A Feature starting position and drew the number 2, outside of pole starter Jason Johnson. During a couple of hot laps before the feature, Johnson biked and turned over and created a red along with one or two others who spun on other parts of the track. After all the pre-race confusion, I ended up starting from the pole with Brandon Berryman on the outside. I took off on the start and couldn't get enough to stay in front of Berryman, so I fell into second. I created a straightaway gap between me and third before a mid-race red. With lap cars between me and the leader, I got one or two on the restart and held my ground there until we crossed the checkers in 2nd. The car was pretty good all night with some minor adjustments that could have been made along with some things I could have changed driving it. It is good to get back going again after a bit of a rough start to the season. We would like to thank Mark Rosborough, who again made the drive to help us out. Tonight looks like it is going to be rained out in Highlands, TX at Battleground Speedway, so we are heding home today. We are going to try and run with the ASCS Southwest Series next weekend at Canyon Raceway in Phoenix, AZ, and plan on doing quite a bit of racing Memorial weekend.

After a couple good runs last weekend with the ASCS Sooner Series, Hodges Motorsports has headed east again. We are currently undecided if we will run Heart O' Texas Speedway in Waco, TX tonight or RPM Speedway in Crandall, TX. The weather looks bad for both so we are going to play it by ear before we have to make a decision on which way to go. We were planning on running in Abilene, TX tomorrow night but that show is already rained out so we are thinking about heading to Battleground Speedway in Highlands, TX in the Houston area. Check in tomorrow to see what went on.

Lonnie Wheatley, WACO, Texas (May 14, 2010) – Two-time American Sprint Car Series Gulf South Region champion Brandon Berryman snared his first series win of the year by racing to victory lane in Friday night’s 25-lap main event at Heart O’ Texas Speedway.

The Missouri City, TX, shoe gunned into the lead from the front row outside starting position and led all the way aboard the Shark-powered Baytown Ford/Sport Performance No. 31 Maxim for his eighth career ASCS Gulf South triumph.

Berryman, who topped a Gulf South vs. Sooner Shootout at Heart O’ Texas en route to the first of back-to-back series titles in 2007, beat Lucas Oil ASCS National rookie contender Joshua Hodges of Tijeras, NM, to the line, with siblings Travis Elliott and Bean Elliott in third and fourth, respectively.

Ray Allen Kulhanek rounded out the top five, with Jason Johnson, Greg Rilat, Gary Watson, 16th-starter Scottie McDonald and Claud Estes completing the top ten.

Gunning for a third ASCS Gulf South feature win in a row, Jason Johnson was slated to start the main event from the pole position until flipping in turn two as the field buzzed the track prior to aligning for the main event. At the same time, fellow front row starter Kolt Walker spun in turn four to create the new front row of Hodges and Berryman.

While Johnson raced from the tail of the field to sixth, Walker flipped on the frontstretch after eleven laps to bring out a red flag.

Walker, Travis Elliott, Hodges, Chad Wilson and Klint Angelette topped heat race action for the 37-car field, with Brandon Corn and Logan Bledsoe topping the twin 12-lap “B” Mains. Originally slated to start the feature from third, Wilson was unable to make the call with engine woes.

ASCS Gulf South Region Results from Heart O’ Texas Speedway:

Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 45k-Kolt Walker, 2. 35-Greg Rilat, 3. 67-Rodney Henderson, 4. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 5. 5c-Chris Coker, 6. 85-Tommy Bryant, 7. 51w-Wes Miller, 8. 17-Bruce Griffith, Jr.

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 15T-Travis Elliott, 2. 30x-Bean Elliott, 3. 0c-Preston Peebles II, 4. 88-Scottie McDonald, 5. 76-John Ricketts, 6. 87a-Andrew Marshala, 7. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 8. 69-Larry Howery.

Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 2. 41-Jason Johnson, 3. 74e-Claud Estes, 4. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 5. 51s-Beau Smith, 6. 93-Chris Sweeney, 7. 28-James Cooper.

Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 20-Chad Wilson, 2. 3-Gary Watson, 3. 30-Brandon Corn, 4. 31-Brandon Berryman, 5. 11-Justin Melton, 6. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 7. 14-Michael Lang.

Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 19-Klint Angelette, 2. 5m-Glenn Martin, 3. 12b-Logan Bledsoe, 4. 79-Ryan Hall, 5. 71-Channin Tankersley, 6. 22-Koby Barksdale, 7. 61-Travis Knighton.

First "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 30-Brandon Corn, 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 3. 88-Scottie McDonald, 4. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 5. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 6. 61-Travis Knighton, 7. 17-Bruce Griffith, Jr., 8. 67-Rodney Henderson, 9. 28-James Cooper, 10. 5c-Chris Coker, 11. 71-Channin Tankersley, 12. 85-Tommy Bryant.

Second “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 12b-Logan Bledsoe, 2. 51s-Beau Smith, 3. 76-John Ricketts, 4. 11-Justin Melton, 5. 79-Ryan Hall, 6. 14-Michael Lang, 7. 87a-Andrew Marshala, 8. 51w-Wes Miller, 9. 69-Larry Howery, 10. 93-Chris Sweeney, 11. 22-Koby Barksdale.

"A" Feature (25 Laps): 1. 31-Brandon Berryman, 2. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 3. 15T-Travis Elliott, 4. 30x-Bean Elliott, 5. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 6. 41-Jason Johnson, 7. 35-Greg Rilat, 8. 3-Gary Watson, 9. 88-Scottie McDonald, 10. 74e-Claud Estes, 11. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 12. 76-John Ricketts, 13. 30-Brandon Corn, 14. 19-Klint Angelette, 15. 0c-Preston Peebles II, 16. 12b-Logan Bledsoe, 17. 51s-Beau Smith, 18. 45k-Kolt Walker, 19. 5m-Glenn Martin, 20. 20-Chad Wilson.

ASCS Gulf South Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Brandon Berryman 584, 2. Aaron Reutzel 560, 3. Scottie McDonald 537, 4. Ray Allen Kulhanek 532, 5. Tommy Bryant 514, 6. Gary Wright 499, 7. Channin Tankersley 463, 8. Greg Rilat 443, 9. Wes Miller 436, 10. Chris Sweeney 432.

It was another pretty good night for Hodges Motorsports and the Napa Auto Parts, Benic Enterprises, Cabinet Door Store, K & N Filters, Wilwood Brakes, Wesmar powered number 74x Maxim. Springfield Speedway is a fast, round 1/4 mile that races more like a 3/8, and it showed it tonight. I pulled number 22 in pill draw to start 4th in the 3rd heat race. After the initial start was waived off after a wreck, I took the green and lost 1 spot, later regaining it and 1 more to finish 3rd. The track was starting to get slick top to bottom. I ended up starting 12th in the A- Feature and after 10 laps or so, was in 8th spot with the car really coming in. Not to long later, I pushed the cusion a little too far and went over the edge but got my spot back from a yellow on the same lap. I kept trying the top and found that it would not work after I slipped off the edge a couple more times. When I hit it, we were fast but it got to be too hard to run. I fell in behind 3rd place and the track took rubber with 8 - 10 laps to go and actually was as fast or maybe faster than some of the leaders. We have really improved after switching to our old car and look to get even better this year. Happy Mothers' Day to the moms out there.

Last night in Muskogee, OK was a pretty decent night for the Hodges Motorsports team. After pulling pill number 33, I started 6th in the 2nd heat. After getting one car on the start and a couple others mid-race, I finished 3rd, which put me in the top 8 re-draw for starting position in the main. I pulled pill 2 in that, so I started on the outside of the front row. The track got slick top to bottom with a little bit of a cusion and a small lane on the bottom for the main. On the intial start, I made a bad decision and fell back a long ways. There were several restarts and on one of them, I caught myself in the black slick and spun by myself. I struggled to find out how to run the car until some faster people passed me and I started following them. The last 5 laps, I got to where I was as fast as about 5th or 6th but it was just too late. I would like to give a big thanks to Gary Taylor, who came out and helped us along with Mark Rosborough and Manny and Annette Ortega. Johnny Herrera was also a big help even though he stayed at home. All in all, it was a big learning night but definitely something to improve on. Tonight we will be running here in Springfield, MO at the round, fast 1/4 mile.

We're off to Muskogee, Oklahoma today for some Friday night action, the first of the two ASCS Sooner events this weekend, on the fast 1/2 mile. The second show will be in Springfield, MO, it being a 1/4 mile. We are trying to make it to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma tonight so we can get up early and pick up a fresh bullet at Wesmar in Bixby, OK. After having a week off, we decided to change cars to the one we had more success with last year, to see if it will fix some of our struggles this year. After sitting in this car again, it felt like home to me so I'm hoping that is what I need. We will update Saturday morning so check in to see how we did.

It was about the first time I have ever seen a track like this before. We have a good amount of experience here in Tucson, AZ but all of that was thrown out the window under these conditions. It was lightning fast one lane on the bottom until you got to the exit where it got black slick, no cushion and bumpy up top, and rough and rutty through the middle; so much that a car could turn over. We were fast in hot laps and I was placed 3rd in the 4th heat for my starting position. On the start the motor stumbbled a hair and I fell back to 4th. I stayed there and finished 4th as nobody could make any moves on the one groove track. Now I started 15th in the A-Main event and about 4 or 5 flips, a couple blown tires, and 7 laps later I was running about 9th or 10th due to all the wrecked cars. After trying the top groove on a restart about 10 laps in, a mud clod hit my visor and helmet and took off all my tear-offs. Now, the remainder of the race, I was driving almost blind just trying to ride around the tires and follow the person in front of me. We ended up crossing the line 6th but after a disqualification, we were scored 5th. As I said before, it was a wild experience but now we might be better prepared for similar situations. We are a little unsure of where we are heading next but it will most likely be somewhere in Oklahoma here in the next few weeks. Check in to see what we are doing in the near future.