Ben Gregg of Phoenix is atop the current point standings for the group that has raced seven times this year with one rain out. Gregg, the defending champion, has won five of the seven events with the other features going to Don Grable and Shawn Sander. The winged sprints have raced at USA in Tucson six times with one visit to Thunder Speedway in Show Low.

A total of 30 different have raced with the Southwest Regional of the ASCS this year and they are expected to field over 20 cars for their first visit to Manzanita. While most of the drivers are from Tucson there are a number of Phoenix drivers that will be in the field including the points leader. Others include Davey Johnson (Mesa), Steve Martin, (Phoenix), Billy Chester III (Phoenix), John Gaston (Peoria), Mike Rux, Jr. (Mesa), Steve Cushman (Phoenix), Josh Pelkey (Peoria), Joshua Williams (Glendale) and Steve Stone (Mesa)

Rick Ziehl who races out of Las Cruces, NM will be at the wheel of the Tucson based J.R. Tuttle sprinter and is ranked third in points. Second ranked Shawn Sander is expected to make the trip from El Paso, TX for the show as he tries to add another win. Those drivers ranked in, or near, the top ten cannot afford to skip this race with only three races remaining after this week’s event. That list now includes Cody Cambensy, Martin, Ronnie Clark, Rux, Williams, Jessica VanDyke and Gaston. Jessica is a former Kart champion and the 21 year old is doing well in the winged sprints. She is ninth in points but is only six points behind Williams. Her best finish has been a good run to third.

The winged sprinters will be running about a second and a half faster that the Discount Tire ASCS Regional Division non winged sprints that call Manzanita their home track. Pelkey will be taking the green flag for the first time in competitive racing but with only a few laps of practice he turned a 13.63 lap last Saturday night in hot laps at Manzy. The official non wing record is 14.76 that was turned in by Pelkey in one of the two races in which the Arizona sprints qualified. However Charles Davis, Jr. averaged 14.46 when he set an eight lap record in 2003.

Kiley Fellers got his sixth mini sprint car win of the year last Saturday night and holds a 425 point lead over Josh Castro. Fellers will be trying for a third straight win but Castro and third ranked Josh Shipley have run very strong in the past races and could well score an upset. Three former champions rest behind the top three. Brandon George took the title in 2001, Kyle Shipley is the defending champion and Dennis Parks won the championship in 2002.

Fellers started off his try for his first driving title by winning the first three races. He then put together two seconds and a third before he had his first DNF of the year. He made up for it the next race with his fourth win and then notched a fifth .He has since then put together a streak with wins in three of the past four main events

In addition to Castro who has four wins Dennis Carrier has scored twice.

The gates will open at 5:30 Saturday night with competitive racing scheduled for an 8:00 P.M. green flag.