SOMERTON, Ariz. — Daison Pursley kept his breakthrough season of sprint car racing going with a victory on the opening night of the 56th Western World Championships Friday at Cocopah Speedway.
Driving the No. 21az entry, Pursley started fourth in the 30-lap USAC-CRA Sprint Car Series main event and grabbed the lead from polesitter Matt Westfall on the second lap.
Pursley, the USAC national sprint car rookie of the year, led the rest of the distance for his first triumph with the West Coast based series.
Westfall finished second, with Kevin Thomas Jr., Chase Johnson and C.J. Leary rounding out the top five.
Ricky Lewis was the fast qualifier for the 33-car field with a 16.393-second lap of the three-eighths-mile dirt track.
The event and Saturday’s finale of the Western World Championships will be broadcast live by SPEEDSPORT.tv.
The finish:
Feature (30 laps, With Starting Positions): 1. Daison Pursley (4), 2. Matt Westfall (1), 3. Kevin Thomas Jr. (2), 4. Chase Johnson (7), 5. C.J. Leary (5), 6. Jake Swanson (3), 7. Charles Davis Jr. (11), 8. Logan Williams (10), 9. Tye Mihocko (13), 10. Austin Grabowski (17), 11. Austin Williams (14), 12. Tommy Malcolm (15), 13. Mitchel Moles (22), 14. A.J. Bender (23), 15. Brody Roa (9), 16. Josh Pelkey (21), 17. Verne Sweeney (18), 18. Max Adams (8), 19. R.J. Johnson (19), 20. Justin Grant (12), 21. James Turnbull II (16), 22. Grant Sexton (20), 23. Ricky Lewis (6).
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