Kevin Ramey prevails for ASCS Lone Star Region Win at Cowtown
April 5, 2009
Kevin Ramey broke back into American Sprint Car Series victory lane in grand fashion with some last lap heroics to win Saturday night’s 25-lap ASCS Lone Star feature event atop Cowtown Speedway’s high-banked, ¼-mile clay oval.
Ramey took command at the midway point after surging from the 15th starting position and then survived a slugfest for the top spot with Sam Hafertepe, Jr., over the final rounds to post the win aboard the Williams Motorsports Wells-powered City Vending No. 7m Maxim.
Kevin Ramey celebrates a last-lap triumph in Saturday night's ASCS Lone Star main event at Cowtown Speedway
After Ramey won the night’s first “B” Main with a last lap pass of Rodney Henderson, he wasted little time moving forward in the night’s finale as pole starter Ryan Hall and Marvin Lough swapped the point over the first half of the race. Hall paced the opening two circuits and then regained the lead on the eighth round after Lough led the way for a handful of laps.
By the time Hall had regained the lead, Ramey had battled his way up to fourth. A lap later, the two-time ASCS Sooner Region champion shot around both Matt Covington and Lough to capture second.
Ramey then raced into the lead on the 13th round and appeared briefly to have the field covered. But Sam Hafertepe, Jr., had other ideas.
Hafertepe had been up to second and pressuring the leader when he bicycled and nearly flipped on the eighth lap, slipping back to fifth in the process. Hafertepe worked back towards the front though and took second away from Covington with just five laps to go.
As Ramey had his hands full with traffic, Hafertepe closed the gap and began challenging for the lead with just two laps to go. After racing down the backstretch in wheel-to-wheel fashion, Hafertepe edged into the lead as the white flag flew.
Ramey fought back through turns one and two and then held off one last Hafertepe bid in the final corner to capture his 33rd career overall ASCS feature win and first since a Sooner Region score at Waco in September 2007.
Hafertepe settled for second, with Covington in the show position. Lough took the checkered flag in fourth, while Brady Bacon raced from 16th to round out the top five.
Brad Welborn climbed from 20th to sixth, with Dustin Morgan, Matt Clevenger, Chad Wilson and Justin Melton completing the top ten.
Kevin Ramey and crew in ASCS Lone Star victory lane at Cowtown
Covington, Hafertepe, Hall, Eric Baldaccini and Kolt Walker topped heat race action for the 39-car field, with both Ramey and Bacon making last-lap moves to win the twin “B” Mains. After leading during the early portion of the feature, Hall fell to twelfth in the final rundown with a stuck bleeder valve in the right rear.
Baldaccini’s night ended with a turn one flip nine laps into the main event. Baldaccini was just one of several flip victims on the night, with others including J.P. Bailey on the opening lap of the feature, Michael Lang, Colt Treharn, Jerry Bell and Bruce Griffith, Jr., in “B” Main action and Nick Clinkenbeard in heat race competition. There were no injuries.
ASCS Lone Star Region Results from Cowtown Speedway:
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington, 2. 71-Channin Tankersley, 3. 85-Jerry Bell, 4. 1r-Scott Reneau, 5. 69h-Larry Howery, 6. 74-Brandon Corn, 7. 74e-Claud Estes, 8. 88r-Andy Rea.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 2. 31m-Matt Clevenger, 3. 11-Justin Melton, 4. 20x-Chad Wilson, 5. 81au-Gavin Punch, 6. 66-Nick Clinkenbeard, 7. 87x-Billy Melton, 8. 25-Robert Sellers (Disqualified; failed to report directly to scales after finishing first).
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 79-Ryan Hall, 2. 20-Terry Monroe, 3. 87-Brian McClelland, 4. 14-Michael Lang, 5. 26-Dalton Steed, 6. 11m-Brandon Moseley, 7. 11F-Darrell Fletcher, 8. 65-Skip Wilson.
Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 2. 39-Marvin Lough, 3. 45-J.P. Bailey, 4. 93-Dustin Morgan, 5. 17w-Brad Welborn, 6. 17-Bruce Griffith, Jr., 7. 14b-Robert Byrom, 8. 9-Brian Parker.
Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 45k-Kolt Walker, 2. 5m-Glenn Martin, 3. 67-Rodney Henderson, 4. 99-Brady Bacon, 5. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 6. 76-John Ricketts, 7. 77-Colt Treharn.
First “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 2. 67-Rodney Henderson, 3. 87-Brian McClelland, 4. 65-Skip Wilson, 5. 81au-Gavin Punch, 6. 11m-Brandon Moseley, 7. 9-Brian Parker, 8. 69h-Larry Howery, 9. 77-Colt Treharn, 10. 87x-Billy Melton, 11. 88r-Andy Rea, 12. 14-Michael Lang. DNS: 66-Nick Clinkenbeard.
Second “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 99-Brady Bacon, 2. 20x-Chad Wilson, 3. 17w-Brad Welborn, 4. 74-Brandon Corn, 5. 76-John Ricketts, 6. 74e-Claud Estes, 7. 25-Robert Sellers, 8. 14b-Robert Byrom, 9. 11F-Darrell Fletcher, 10. 26-Dalton Steed, 11. 85-Jerry Bell, 12. 17-Bruce Griffith, Jr.
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 2. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 3. 95-Matt Covington, 4. 39-Marvin Lough, 5. 99-Brady Bacon, 6. 17w-Brad Welborn, 7. 93-Dustin Morgan, 8. 31m-Matt Clevenger, 9. 20x-Chad Wilson, 10. 11-Justin Melton, 11. 87-Brian McClelland, 12. 79-Ryan Hall, 13. 5m-Glenn Martin, 14. 1r-Scott Reneau, 15. 67-Rodney Henderson, 16. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 17. 71-Channin Tankersley, 18. 45k-Kolt Walker, 19. 45-J.P. Bailey, 20. 20-Terry Monroe.
ASCS Lone Star Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Kevin Ramey 296, 2. Brad Welborn 276, 3. Matt Clevenger 274, 4. Brian McClelland 272, 5. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 256, 6. Eric Baldaccini 252, 7. Channin Tankersley 248, 8. Justin Melton 244, 9. J.P. Bailey 238, 10. Kolt Walker 230.
by Lonnie Wheatley
Photos courtesy of ASCS
Kerrville’s Greg Dinsmore upgrades after championship year in 2008
March 6, 2009
Despite winning the 2008 IMCA Modified track championship at I-37 Raceway in Pleasanton, Texas, Kerrville’s Greg Dinsmore isn’t going to rest on the laurels of his 2008 championship.
Greg Dinsmore's new ride
Dinsmore began 2009 by making a trip north to shop of Bob Harris to pick up the newest in line of chassis’ from Harris Racing. After dropping the power plant and other assorted goodies in the car, the body was hung and off it went to Big Worm Motorsports for the new decal wrap.
Not wanting to fall behind on new technology, Dinsmore then attended the racetechinfo.com chassis seminar presented by Harris. The class, hosted by his wife Candace, had a record number of attendees, all of whom were looking to bolster their knowledge on chassis set-up tips that included on-track and classroom training.
“What worked in 2008 may be out dated in 2009,” replied Dinsmore. “This is also a new chassis design, that has new front end configuration and ‘un-clamped’ rear suspension, so the more I can learn about it now, the farther ahead I’ll be at the track. The testing we did went extremely well and this car is much faster than last years. This looks to be another great year.”
Dinsmore, who will not be defending his title, looks to do more traveling during the 2009 season after I-37 Raceway dropped the IMCA sanction for the Modifieds class.
“We plan to race more big shows this season in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, possibly Arizona and of course, our yearly trip to Boone, Iowa for the IMCA Super Nationals. We’ll probably do our weekly racing at Kennedale Speedway Park when we’re not on the road.”
The first foray into the 2009 season was a “good news, bad news” scenario at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track’s, Texas World Dirt Track Championship. Motor woes plagued Dinsmore on Friday putting him way behind for Saturday’s ‘Last Chance’ race. The car was a rocket on Saturday night as Dinsmore came from the 21st starting position up to ninth using both the bottom and top grooves. His efforts fell short of making the championship main, but Dinsmore looks to rebound at Kennedale Speedway Park’s Spring Kick-off this weekend.
Last year’s championship-winning car now sits unceremoniously behind the race shop, minus numerous parts and pieces. Plans are to repair and replace some parts bent in a late-season crash at Cowtown Speedway (Kennedale, TX), and have the car race ready for Candace to drive once the new motor is ready.
“I’m probably going to be a little nervous at first,” added Candace. “Though I’m anxious to start getting some seat time and apply the knowledge I picked up from Bob Harris’ racetech class. It’s definitely going to be a lot different than my Mini-Sprint.”
During the off season, the Dinsmore family added a new member to the husband and wife team that already includes their sons (Cameron and Logan), daughter (Shelby), father (Jerry Dinsmore), Charles Hopper and team mascot (Chance). This year, look for Chance to have a new running buddy, ‘Chevy,’ a scrappy Chocolate Lab pup.
By J M Hallas
Photo courtesy of Dinsmore Racing
Cowtown Speedway’s February Fast 50 to Feature $60K weekend purse
February 2, 2009
What’s sure to go down as sweetheart of a 2009 racing season, Cowtown Speedway’s first date with the dirt in ’09 is with a major racing event Valentine’s Day weekend.
The first annual ‘King of the Hills’ Midget Championship joins the traditional February Fast 50 line up on February 13-14, 2009. The event also marks the season point’s opener for the Southern Midget Racing Series. The full-blown midgets will compete for $1,000 to win on Friday and $3,000 to win on Saturday. Each of their feature events will start 24 cars.
And Cupid’s arrow doesn’t just land there on Valentine’s weekend at Cowtown. The first ever visit of
the ASCS2 Series will be on hand with the Winged Outlaw ‘Multi’ and Non-Winged ‘A’ classes (of what Cowtown fans know as the Winged 600’s, just without wings). With $1500 earmarked to win for each ASCS2 division, there’s sure to be full fields of top quality cars from throughout the region.
The always exciting Cowtown Modifieds will race 50 laps for $2,000 to win and the Limited Modifieds will be vying for the $1,500 winner’s share. Both features will start 24 cars.
With a staggering $60,000 weekend purse posted, another huge field of 200+ cars are expected. Drivers are urged to pre-register for this event at the track website on or before 2/7/09 to receive pre-entry discounts. Pre-entry also allows you to receive a reserved parking space for your hauler in the pits. And it allows the track to publicize drivers that will be attending.
Wrapping up the weekend racing card will be a special Young Guns Shootout on Saturday night. Visit www.YoungGunsShootout.com for all of the details.
Race fans, you can enjoy the entire weekend’s action by purchasing your 2-day tickets in advance at the track website by 2/11/09. 2-day adult grandstand passes are just $25, a savings of $5 off of race night pricing. This also would make a perfect Valentine’s gift for that special person in your life.
Just click www.CowtownSpeedway.com for the event flyer, driver pre-entry, advance 2-day passes,
track information and more.
The new ’09 season schedule can also be viewed at the track website. 30 additional race dates are set beginning with the March 14th opener featuring the first of two visits for the Sprint Series of Texas and the first of eight visits for the LSDCC.com Dwarf Cars.
A huge fireworks display will be a part of the racing action on July 4, with Cowtown’s annual 9/11
Memorial event on September 12.
Other highlights include the popular ASCS Sprint Cars on April 4, May 16, June 27, August 22 and
September 5.
This all builds up to the 2nd annual Cowtown Sprint Nationals October 9-10, which will be point’s races for the ASCS Sooner, Gulf South and Lone Star regions. Last year’s event had a whopping 49 sprint cars taking to the Cowtown high-banks. Further event details will be published when the racing season begins, but you can expect another huge purse and field of cars.
The ’09 season wraps up with the wildly successful and exciting 3rd annual November Sprint Shootout on November 13-14. Last year’s NSS saw 46 sprint teams from several sanctioning bodies and series invade Cowtown, and over 200 cars total competing throughout the weekend.
Make your first date in 2009 on Valentine’s weekend, and you’re sure to become a ‘steady’ with the
Fastest Li’l Dirt Track in Texas, Cowtown Speedway!
by Darin Short Marketing
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