SOMERTON, Ariz. — The prestigious Western World Championships have found a new home in 2022 at Cocopah Speedway.
The 55th annual edition of Western World brings the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship, in conjunction with the AMSOIL USAC-CRA Sprint Cars, to the three-eighths-mile dirt oval for two consecutive evenings Oct. 28-29.
For USAC’s National Sprint Car division, the dates mark the series’ debut at Cocopah, which will pay $6,000 to winFriday night’s feature winner and $10,000 to the victor of Saturday night’s finale.
The Western World Championships were held at San Tan Valley’s Arizona Speedway between 2016 and 2021, until the permanent closure of the track at the conclusion of last season.
“The Western World has always been a great tradition in Arizona,” Cocopah Speedway Brad Whitfield stated. “We are looking forward to hosting this long-standing Southwest tradition.”
“Our facility produced great two and three-wide racing for the USAC CRA season openers in January. After talking to the racers that weekend, they asked how to get the Western World to Cocopah Speedway,” added Jerry Vansickel, special events coordinator for the track.
Nine USAC sanctioned events have taken place at Cocopah Speedway dating back to the 1980s. The only USAC national event at Cocopah took place in 1989 when Robby Flock scored a victory in midget competition.
Arizonians R.J. Johnson and Stevie Sussex collected USAC Southwest Sprint Car feature wins at Cocopah in 2015 and ’16, respectively.
Six USAC CRA Sprint Car races have been held at Cocopah with Brody Roa capturing the debut in 2012, while Damion Gardner has been victorious in each of the last five, starting with back-to-back wins in 2013 and three consecutive in January of 2022.
Bob Cleberg was victorious in the inaugural Western World Championships held in 1968 at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix, Ariz.
Other venues to host the Western World include Manzanita Speedway from its inception in 1968 through the 2008 season, when the track was shuttered. USA Raceway in Tucson, Ariz. welcomed the event from 2009-’11 and once again in 2015. Peoria, Arizona’s Canyon Speedway Park was the home of Western World between 2012-’14.
In the most recent installment of the Western World Championships in November of 2021, Brady Bacon triumphed on opening night while Logan Seavey basked in the glory of victory lane on the final night of the weekend.
Keyword: Cocopah Set To Host Western World Championships