QUEEN CREEK, Ariz. — Taking the first checkered flag of the season with the San Tan Ford ASCS Desert Non-Wing Series, Joshua Shipley punched his ticket for victory lane Saturday night at Arizona Speedway.
Shipley’s seventh triumph with the series, the Surprise, Ariz., driver was undefeated all night with his heat win coming from sixth before leading start to finish in the feature.
Not without challenge, the finish came down to 0.112 seconds as 14th-starting Stevie Sussex nearly stole the win on the closing lap. Randy Nelson slipped back two to complete the podium with Shon Deskins staying close to home and earning a fourth-place finish.
Bryan Ledbetter Jr. completed the top five.
The finish:
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 2-Joshua Shipley[2]; 2. 12-Stevie Sussex[14]; 3. 9X-Randy Nelson[1]; 4. 20-Shon Deskins[3]; 5. 7OH-Bryan Ledbetter Jr[4]; 6. 0-Jonas Reynolds[5]; 7. 39T-Troy Degaton[7]; 8. 3K-Patrick Krob[10]; 9. 72-AJ Hernandez[8]; 10. 88-Philip Deeney[12]; 11. 42-Danny Mathus[13]; 12. 7-Mason Keefer[9]; 13. 3-Pete Yerkovich[6]; 14. 22G-Aaron Jones[11]; 15. (DNS) 10-Eugene Thomas; 16. (DNS) 22AZ-Dustin Burkhart