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Danny Lasoski strikes Lucas Oil ASCS Gold in Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals

Danny Lasoski added his name to the prestigious list of Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals champions by racing to victory lane in Saturday night’s 38th Annual edition of the event atop the ½-mile Devil’s Bowl Speedway.

“The Dude” slipped past Sam Hafertepe, Jr., just past the midway point en route to snaring the $10,000 winner’s share in the 30-lapper as he collected his first Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters National win of the year and just second of his career.

After taking command exiting turn four on the 16th round, the Show-Me Stater led rest of the way to take the win aboard Mark Burch’s Engler Machine No. 1m Wolfweld with a 1.155 second advantage over Hafertepe, Jr.

“I was in this position in the Spring with my own car, I was leading the race and rubber got down and Hafertepe got by me,” Lasoski explained. “I just tried to pace myself and stay with him. If he slipped up a little bit, we just wanted to be there to capitalize and that’s all it was.”

Which is precisely how the 38th Annual Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals finale played out, as Spring Nationals winner Hafertepe, Jr., gunned into the lead from the front row outside and paced the initial 15 circuits in front of Lasoski until one slight bobble in turn four opened the door for Lasoski to race into the lead.

But, before Lasoski took command, eighth-starter Jason Johnson made his way past Friday night winner Wayne Johnson for third by the sixth round and made it a three-car race for the lead for several laps before a lapped car fell into place between Lasoski and J. Johnson.

Once Lasoski got into the lead, he slipped away and appeared to be on his way to the checkered flag without challenge until a caution flew with just four laps to go when Koby Barksdale spun to a stop in turn four.

With Hafertepe, Jr., and J. Johnson in tow on the restart, Lasoski proved too much to handle and cruised to the stripe unabated with Hafertepe, Jr., taking runner-up honors in the Fisher-powered Lone Star Speedway No. 15h for the second night in a row.

Johnson claimed the show position in the Don Ott-powered Haynes/Mesilla Valley Transport No. 41 Maxim, with Brady Bacon making a move past Wayne Johnson in the final ten circuits to snare fourth in the Wesmar-powered Fatheadz Eyewear No. 99 Triple X.

Wayne Johnson held fifth until the final lap when he popped a right rear tire, ultimately limping across the stripe in 14th.

Current Lucas Oil Sprint Car points leader Shane Stewart took advantage by rounding out the top five in Paul Silva’s Wesmar-powered Rockstar Energy Drink/Makita No. 57 A.R.T., with Brian Brown, 2010 Winter Nationals champion Jack Dover, Terry McCarl, Gary Wright and Robert Sellers completing the top ten.

The early rounds of the race were interrupted by two cautions. The first appeared after one lap when Jeff Swindell limped to a stop off of turn three after a near-crash on the frontstretch. The next one flew after four circuits when Tony Bruce, Jr., spun to a stop in turn two. The next 22 circuits ran off in non-stop fashion until Barksdale stopped in turn four.

Brown, Stewart, Dover, Sellers, Lasoski and McCarl topped Saturday night’s heat race action, with Seth Bergman, Danny Wood and Travis Rilat winning the “B” Mains. A total of 56 different drivers competed in the Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters portion of the 38th Annual Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals.

Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters
38th Annual Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals Finale
Devil’s Bowl Speedway – Mesquite, TX

Heat Races (Top 12 in Passing Points, including the heat race winners, to “A” Main; Balance to Three “B” Main):

Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown, 2. 1j-Danny Jennings, 3. 30-Brandon Corn, 4. 48-Jake Martens, 5. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 6. 224-John Carney II, 7. 49-Mike Peters, 8. 10-George White. DNS: 3-Raven Culp.

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 57-Shane Stewart, 2. 9-Gary Wright, 3. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 4. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 5. 40-Clint Garner, 6. 11c-Matt Covington, 7. 54e-Claud Estes, 8. 88-Tim Crawley, 9. 15T-Travis Elliott.

Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 53-Jack Dover, 2. 81-Danny Wood, 3. 29-Travis Rilat, 4. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 5. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 6. 05-Brad Loyet, 7. 28-Jeff Swindell, 8. 110-Cameron Hagin.

Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 36-Robert Sellers, 2. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 3. 0-Zach Chappell, 4. 23-Seth Bergman, 5. 44w-Austen Wheatley, 6. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 7. 11g-Mike Goodman, 8. E85-Sean McClelland.

Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 1m-Danny Lasoski, 2. 45-Martin Edwards, 3. 41-Jason Johnson, 4. 71-Channin Tankersley, 5. 7s-Shane Sellers, 6. 81au-Gavin Punch, 7. 6-Justin Spoerl. DNS: 22a-Dan Adkins.

Heat Six (8 Laps): 1. 97-Terry McCarl, 2. 99-Brady Bacon, 3. 14-Michael Lang, 4. 5h-Mason Moore, 5. 94-Derek Hagar, 6. 54-Evan Pardo, 7. 12-Dale Wester. DNS: 2-Dustin Morgan.

“B” Mains (Top 2 from Each Advance to “A” Main):

First “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 23-Seth Bergman, 2. 45-Martin Edwards, 3. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 5. 48-Jake Martens, 6. 5h-Mason Moore, 7. 54e-Claud Estes, 8. 110-Cameron Hagin, 9. 0-Zach Chappell, 10. 81au-Gavin Punch, 11. 28-Jeff Swindell. DNS: 40-Clint Garner, 22a-Dan Adkins.

Second “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 81-Danny Wood, 2. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 3. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 4. 44w-Austen Wheatley, 5. 88-Mike Ward, 6. 224-John Carney II, 7. 71-Channin Tankersley, 8. 49-Mike Peters, 9. 54-Evan Pardo, 10. 6-Justin Spoerl, 11. 30-Brandon Corn. DNS: 15T-Travis Elliott, 2-Dustin Morgan.

Third “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 29-Travis Rilat, 2. 11c-Matt Covington, 3. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 4. 11g-Mike Goodman, 5. 05-Brad Loyet, 6. 94-Derek Hagar, 7. E85-Sean McClelland, 8. 7s-Shane Sellers, 9. 12-Dale Wester, 10. 10-George White, 11. 3-Raven Culp, 12. 14-Michael Lang.

38th Annual Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals “A” Main:

“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 1m-Danny Lasoski, 2. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 3. 41-Jason Johnson, 4. 99-Brady Bacon, 5. 57-Shane Stewart, 6. 21-Brian Brown, 7. 53-Jack Dover, 8. 97-Terry McCarl, 9. 9-Gary Wright, 10. 36-Robert Sellers, 11. 88-Tim Crawley, 12. 81-Danny Wood, 13. 29-Travis Rilat, 14. 77x-Wayne Johnson, 15. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 16. 1j-Danny Jennings, 17. 23-Seth Bergman, 18. 5-Koby Barksdale, 19. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 20. 11c-Matt Covington, 21. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 22. 2d-Bryan Dobesh, 23. 45-Martin Edwards, 24. 28-Jeff Swindell.

Lap Leaders: Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 1-15, Danny Lasoski 16-30.

Note: Jeff Swindell and Tim Crawley both utilized their mid-season bonus full-point provisional to start the main event. Swindell has two partial-point provisionals remaining while Crawley has one partial-point provisional remaining.

Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters Driver Points (Top 15): 1. Shane Stewart 2,711, 2. Johnny Herrera 2,574 3. Jeff Swindell 2,528, 4. Brady Bacon 2,461, 5. Tim Crawley 2,413, 6. Gary Wright 2,373, 7. Jason Johnson 2,294, 8. Seth Bergman 2,217, 9. Tony Bruce, Jr. 2,203, 10. Aaron Reutzel 2,142, 11. Zach Chappell 1,926, 12. Wayne Johnson 1,678, 13. (tie) Dustin Morgan and Jack Dover 1,371, 15. Danny Wood 1,175.

Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters Owner Points (Top 15): 1. Jason Johnson Racing #41 – 2,846, 2. Paul Silva #57 – 2,711, 3. Herrera/Main #45x – 2,574, 4. Swindell Group #28 – 2,528, 5. Bacon/Tel-Star #99 – 2,461, 6. Mike Ward #88 – 2,413, 7. Petersen Motorsports #23 2,217, 8. Bruce Racing #18 – 2,203, 9. Kenny Reutzel #87 – 2,142, 10. Randy Washburn #0 – 1,926, 11. Gary Wright #9 – 1,777, 12. M&M Motorsports #2 – 1,371, 13. Bryan Sundby #38 – 1,196, 14. Danny Wood #81 – 1,175, 15. Jack Dover #53 – 1,099

Story by Lonnie Wheatley
Photo by Tim Aylwin

Hafertepe takes Lucas Oil ASCS honors in Devil’s Bowl Spring Nationals

Sam Hafertepe, Jr., became the sixth different winner in as many nights of 2011 Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters National action by taking top honors in Saturday night’s 38th Annual Devil’s Bowl Spring Nationals 30-lap championship finale.

After pacing the initial pair of circuits, Hafertepe rallied past both Danny Lasoski and leader Brian Brown on a lap 17 restart en route to the $6,000 triumph, his second career ASCS National victory aboard the Fisher-powered Lone Star Speedway No. 15h Maxim.

Struggling with a faulty wing slider, the Sunnyvale, TX, shoe slipped back as far as fifth at the race’s midway point before rallying for the win in front of current Lucas Oil Sprint Car points leader Shane Stewart from eleventh and defending series champion Jason Johnson in third after winning Friday night’s preliminary feature.

“I’d written myself off, the wing was stuck all the way back and I couldn’t get going,” Hafertepe explained. “It finally got where I could keep my momentum up though and we were able to get back up front.”

Starting from the pole position, Hafertepe outgunned Brian Brown for the lead at the drop of the green flag and led just two laps before Brown and fifth-starter Lasoski raced by on the third circuit.

Brown kept the FVP No. 21 Maxim in front of Missouri relative Lasoski over the ensuing rounds, with sixth-starting Brady Bacon putting the top side of turns one and two to good use to race around Hafertepe for third on the ninth circuit and then take second from Lasoski by the midway point as Wayne Johnson relegated Hafertepe to fifth.

A seemingly innocuous caution for Eric Baldaccini’s race-ending excursion off turn three after 16 laps changed the complexion of the race though, as Wayne Johnson clipped an infield tire in turn two and slid to a stop with front end damage on the restart with Bacon falling victim to a failed fuel line on the next try.

Up to third behind Brown and Lasoski after the misfortune of Johnson and Bacon, Hafertepe hustled past them both for the lead and checked out in short order with 2009 series champion Shane Stewart taking over second by the 19th round.

After a final caution for Dustin Morgan in turn two on the 24th lap, Hafertepe checked out again only to reach traffic again before the white flag flew. Stewart tried to move in, but was unable to mount a challenge on the 25-year-old.

Stewart settled for runner-up honors in Paul Silva’s Wesmar-powered Rockstar Energy Drink No. 57 A.R.T., holding off the late charges of Friday night preliminary winner Jason Johnson in the Don Ott-powered Haynes No. 41 Maxim.

Lasoski crossed the stripe fourth, with Brown rounding out the top five after pacing 13 early rounds. In just his second National start since suffering severe burns last July, Travis Rilat charged from the 17th starting position to claim sixth with 15th-starter Danny Wood, 14th-starter Matt Covington, “Texan” Gary Wright and Missouri’s Kyle Bellm completing the top ten.

Covington, Wood, Johnny Herrera, Tim Crawley, Stewart and Brown won Saturday night’s heat races. Rilat made a lap 12 move around Zach Chappell to win the first “B” Main, while Channin Tankersley’s last corner pass of Dustin Morgan netted the win in an enthralling second “B” Main.

A total of 54 different drivers took part in the Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters portion of the 38th Annual Devil’s Bowl Spring Nationals without the red flag ever flying over the course of two full nights.

Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters
38th Annual Devil’s Bowl Spring Nationals Championship Finale
Devil’s Bowl Speedway – Mesquite, TX

Locked in from Friday Night’s Preliminary Feature:

41-Jason Johnson, 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 99-Brady Bacon, 33-Danny Lasoski.

Heat Races (Top 12 in Passing Points, including the six heat race winners, to “A” Main; Balance to Two “B” Main):

Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington, 2. 71-Channin Tankersley, 3. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 4. 12$-Michelle Decker, 5. 29-Travis Rilat, 6. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 7. 21v-Taylor Velasquez, 8. 28x-Mitch Runge.

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 81-Danny Wood, 2. 8-John Carney II, 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 4. 2-Dustin Morgan, 5. 1j-Danny Jennings, 6. 11-Jeffrey Newell, 7. 15T-Travis Elliott, 8. 51-Beau Smith.

Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 2. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 3. 38-Wayne Johnson, 4. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 5. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 6. 2x-Logan Payne, 7. 31-Brandon Berryman, 8. 53-Jack Dover.

Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 88-Tim Crawley, 2. 0-Zach Chappell, 3. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 4. 15d-Brady Demeree, 5. 74e-Claud Estes, 6. 31x-Mark Pace, 7. 35-Rick Wright, Jr., 8. 17-Bruce Griffith, Jr.

Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 57-Shane Stewart, 2. 10-George White, 3. 2L-Logan Forler, 4. 44w-Austen Wheatley, 5. 3x-Michael Dupuy, 6. 45-Martin Edwards, 7. 54-Evan Pardo, 8. 23-Seth Bergman.

Heat Six (8 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown, 2. 28-Jeff Swindell, 3. 01-Gary Wright, 4. 14-Michael Lang, 5. 23x-Darryl Wills, 6. 35g-Barry Gifford, 7. 1x-Garry Lee Maier, 8. 9-Brian Parker.

“B” Main (Top 3 from Each Advance to “A” Main):

First “B” Feature (15 Laps): 1. 29-Travis Rilat, 2. 8-John Carney II, 3. 0-Zach Chappell, 4. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 5. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 6. 12$-Michelle Decker, 7. 74e-Claud Estes, 8. 35g-Barry Gifford, 9. 31x-Mark Pace, 10. 15T-Travis Elliott, 11. 45-Martin Edwards, 12. 15d-Brady Demeree, 13. 17-Bruce Griffith, Jr., 14. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 15. 9-Brian Parker. DNS: 44w-Austen Wheatley, 31-Brandon Berryman, 53-Jack Dover.

Second “B” Feature (15 Laps): 1. 71-Channin Tankersley, 2. 2-Dustin Morgan, 3. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 4. 28-Jeff Swindell, 5. 1x-Garry Lee Maier, 6. 11-Jeffrey Newell, 7. 1j-Danny Jennings, 8. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 9. 3x-Michael Dupuy, 10. 54-Evan Pardo, 11. 35-Rick Wright, Jr., 12. 23x-Darryl Wills, 13. 21v-Taylor Velasquez, 14. 51-Beau Smith, 15. 28x-Mitch Runge, 16. 2x-Logan Payne. DNS: 14-Michael Lang, 23-Seth Bergman.

38th Annual Devil’s Bowl Spring Nationals Championship “A” Main:

“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 2. 57-Shane Stewart, 3. 41-Jason Johnson, 4. 33-Danny Lasoski, 5. 21-Brian Brown, 6. 29-Travis Rilat, 7. 81-Danny Wood, 8. 95-Matt Covington, 9. 01-Gary Wright, 10. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 11. 88-Tim Crawley, 12. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 13. 71-Channin Tankersley, 14. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 15. 28-Jeff Swindell, 16. 0-Zach Chappell, 17. 2L-Logan Forler, 18. 8-John Carney II, 19. 10-George White, 20. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 21. 2-Dustin Morgan, 22. 99-Brady Bacon, 23. 38-Wayne Johnson, 24. 4-Eric Baldaccini.

Lap Leaders: Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 1-2, Brian Brown 3-16, Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 17-30.

Note: Jeff Swindell and Aaron Reutzel both utilized their first provisionals of 2011 to start the main event.

Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters Driver Points (Top 15): 1. Shane Stewart 800, 2. Johnny Herrera 743, 3. Tim Crawley 665, 4. Jeff Swindell 664, 5. Brady Bacon 654, 6. Aaron Reutzel 627, 7. Tony Bruce, Jr. 604, 8. Seth Bergman 600, 9. Gary Wright 596, 10. Logan Forler 553, 11. Zach Chappell 543, 12. Dustin Morgan 501, 13. (tie) Mason Moore and Trey Starks 391, 15. Jack Dover 387.

Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters Owner Points (Top 15): 1. Jason Johnson Racing #41 – 837, 2. Paul Silva #57 - 800, 3. Herrera/Main #45x - 743, 4. Mike Ward #88 - 665, 5. Swindell Group #28 – 664, 6. Bacon/Tel-Star #99 - 654, 7. Kenny Reutzel #87 – 627, 8. Bruce Racing #18 – 604, 9. Petersen Motorsports #23 - 600, 10. Cooper/Sperry #01/51 - 596, 11. Steve Forler #2L – 553, 12. Randy Washburn #0 – 543, 13. M&M Motorsports #2 – 501, 14. (tie) Harley Van Dyke #5h and Terry Starks #55 – 391

by Lonnie Wheatley
Tim Aylwin photos

Sammy Swindell opens ASCS Season with Devil’s Bowl Spring Nationals win

Sammy Swindell kicked off his pursuit of the 2010 Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Sere presented by K&N Filters $60,000 championship by winning Friday night’s 37th Annual Devil’s Bowl Spring Nationals 30-lap main event.

The winningest driver in Devil’s Bowl Speedway history, Swindell stormed into the lead on the sixth round aboard the J&D Motorsports/Swindell Motorsports No. 10 Maxim and never looked back en route to the $6,000 triumph.

Originally slated as a two-day event, encroaching foul weather forced the early cancellation of the Saturday portion, ratcheting up Friday’s event to the standard Lucas Oil ASCS National one-day purse.

And when all the final checkered flag flew, the Lucas Oil Sprint Cars opened the 2010 season the same way 2009 finished out; with Tennessee’s Swindell in victory lane.

Swindell, who closed out the 2009 campaign with a Western World Championships score at USA Raceway, gridded Friday’s feature outside the second row as pole starter Sean McClelland outgunned Brodix Rookie of the Year contender Channin Tankersley for the early lead.

Swindell chased the lead duo for several rounds before racing by Tankersley for second on the fifth round and then disposing of McClelland for the lead on the low side of turns one and two on a lap six restart.

“I was searching around and finally found a good spot to get off the bottom of turn two,” Swindell explained after his fifth career ASCS National triumph.

While Swindell paced the field, fifth-starter Brady Bacon surged past both Tankersley and McClelland for second on the eighth round and set his sights on Swindell.

Bacon reeled in the veteran ace a time or two, only to have a caution slow the pace. Swindell proved much too strong on the restarts and raced to Will Hale’s checkered flag virtually unchallenged.

“I’m still learning these ASCS cars, I was actually getting a little too tight toward the end,” Swindell explained. “That might have been a problem if we’d got into a lot of traffic, but with the yellows we didn’t really run into that.”

Picking up a night in Joe Zierolf’s No. c41, Wayne Johnson rallied from the 18th starting position to fifth in the opening seven circuits. After trading some wild sliders with Danny Wood, Johnson ultimately battled past Bacon for the runner-up slot on the 21st lap and held the position to the line.

Bacon matched his career-best Lucas Oil Sprint Car finish by taking the show position aboard the Wesmar-powered Tel-Star Communications No. 99 Triple-X, with Wood fourth in the H&H Enterprises No. 94.

Tony Bruce, Jr., rounded out the top five in the Bruce Racing No. 18 Maxim, with defending series champion Shane Stewart charging from 23rd to sixth after utilizing a provisional to start the main event.

Jesse Hockett was seventh, with Ricky Logan, Zach Chappell and Travis Rilat completing the top ten. Austen Wheatley ran among the top ten most of the way until a right rear vibration that resulted from some frontstretch wall contact dropped him to eleventh.

Debuting with his own race team, 2008 series champion Jason Johnson finished 12th after a lap 12 spin in turn one.

Tankersley held down the third position in the main event until a lost muffler prompted the black flag and a race-ending trip to the pit area after seven laps.

Chappell, Bruce, Tankersley, McClelland, Swindell, Derek Hagar and Danny Jennings topped heat race action for the 62-car field, with Jason Johnson, Wayne Johnson and Jack Dover winning the “B” Mains.

The Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters return to action on Friday night, April 9, at Lone Star Speedway in Kilgore, TX, before moving on to Little Rock’s I-30 Speedway the following night, April 10.

Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters
37th Annual Devil’s Bowl Spring Nationals Results:

Heat Races (Top 16 in Passing Points to “A” Main; Balance to 3 “B” Mains):

Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 50z-Zach Chappell, 2. 65-Skip Wilson, 3. 14-Michael Lang, 4. 29-Travis Rilat, 5. 45-Martin Edwards, 6. 91x-Taylor Milton, 7. 15-Bud Goodwin, 8. 30-Brandon Corn, 9. 03-Joe Wood, Jr.

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 2. 10a-Ricky Logan, 3. 75-Jesse Hockett, 4. C41-Wayne Johnson, 5. 57-Shane Stewart, 6. 95-Matt Covington, 7. 5-Brent Swift, 8. 14e-Todd Evans, 9. 74x-Joshua Hodges.

Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 71-Channin Tankersley, 2. 21L-Trevor Lewis, 3. 5h-Justyn Cox, 4. 24-Justin Carver, 5. 6-Kyle Hirst, 6. 27-Andy Shouse, 7. 97b-Aaron Berryhill, 8. 6s-Justin Spoerl, 9. 3g-Darren Long.

Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 1-Sean McClelland, 2. 87a-Andrew Marshala, 3. 00-Michael Dupuy, 4. 75x-Don Young, 5. 35-Matt Sherrell, 6. 72-Sherman Davis, 7. 17b-Ryan Bickett, 8. 86-Josh Fisher. DNS: 5m-Glenn Martin.

Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 10-Sammy Swindell, 2. 22-Koby Barksdale, 3. 31-Matt Clevenger, 4. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 5. 93-Dustin Morgan, 6. 53-Jack Dover, 7. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 8. 9x-Gary Wright, 9. 88-Tim Crawley.

Heat Six (8 Laps): 1. 9h-Derek Hagar, 2. 2-Kenneth Walker, 3. 99-Brady Bacon, 4. 94-Danny Wood, 5. 98-Joe Ramaker, 6. 9-Brian Parker, 7. 8w-Jordan Whitehead, 8. 87x-Billy Melton. DNS: 22k-Kevin Barksdale.

Heat Seven (8 Laps): 1. 1J-Danny Jennings, 2. 44w-Austen Wheatley, 3. 41-Jason Johnson, 4. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 5. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 6. 2w-Whit Gastineau, 7. 21-Brian Brown, 8. 14x-Jody Rosenboom.

“B” Mains (Top 2 From Each Advance to “A” Main):

First “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 3. 57-Shane Stewart, 4. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 5. 2-Kenneth Walker, 6. 75x-Don Young, 7. 72-Sherman Davis, 8. 6-Kyle Hirst, 9. 30-Brandon Corn, 10. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 11. 8w-Jordan Whitehead, 12. 27-Andy Shouse, 13. 9-Brian Parker. DNS: 14x-Jody Rosenboom, 14e-Todd Evans, 5m-Glenn Martin.

Second “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. C41-Wayne Johnson, 2. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 3. 5h-Justyn Cox, 4. 93-Dustin Morgan, 5. 65-Skip Wilson, 6. 95-Matt Covington, 7. 97b-Aaron Berryhill, 8. 6s-Justin Spoerl, 9. 2k-Whit Gastineau, 10. 35-Matt Sherrell, 11. 17b-Ryan Bickett, 12. 15-Bud Goodwin, 13. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 14. 3g-Darren Long. DNS: 21-Brian Brown.

Third “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 53-Jack Dover, 2. 87a-Andrew Marshala, 3. 45-Martin Edwards, 4. 91x-Taylor Milton, 5. 98-Joe Ramaker, 6. 88-Tim Crawley, 7. 87x-Billy Melton, 8. 31-Matt Clevenger, 9. 24-Justin Carver, 10. 9x-Gary Wright, 11. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 12. 00-Michael Dupuy, 13. 5-Brent Swift, 14. 22k-Koby Barksdale. DNS: 86-Josh Fisher.

37th Annual Devil’s Bowl Spring Nationals “A” Main Event:

“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 10-Sammy Swindell, 2. C41-Wayne Johnson, 3. 99-Brady Bacon, 4. 94-Danny Wood, 5. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 6. 57-Shane Stewart, 7. 75-Jesse Hockett, 8. 10a-Ricky Logan, 9. 50z-Zach Chappell, 10. 29-Travis Rilat, 11. 44w-Austen Wheatley, 12. 41-Jason Johnson, 13. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 14. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 15. 1-Sean McClelland, 16. 53-Jack Dover, 17. 1J-Danny Jennings, 18. 9x-Gary Wright, 19. 9h-Derek Hagar, 20. 14-Michael Lang, 21. 71-Channin Tankersley, 22. 21L-Trevor Lewis, 23. 87a-Andrew Marshala, 24. 22-Koby Barksdale.

Lap Leaders: Sean McClelland 1-5, Sammy Swindell 6-30.

Note: Shane Stewart and Gary Wright utilized provisionals based on 2009 points to start the “A” Main.

Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters Points (Top 15): 1. Sammy Swindell 150, 2. Wayne Johnson 142, 3. Brady Bacon 135, 4. Danny Wood 130, 5. Tony Bruce, Jr. 125, 6. Shane Stewart 122, 7. Jesse Hockett 119, 8. Ricky Logan 116, 9. Zach Chappell 113, 10. Travis Rilat 110, 11. Austen Wheatley 108, 12. Jason Johnson 106, 13. Kevin Ramey 104, 14. Johnny Herrera 102, 15. Sean McClelland 100.

by Lonnie Wheatley
Photo Lonnie Wheatley

Kevin Ramey rules Devil’s Bowl ASCS Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series Winter Nationals for First Lucas Oil Sprint Car Win of 2009

Fort Worth’s Kevin Ramey has enjoyed a fair amount of success at Devil’s Bowl Speedway over the years, including several track championships along with Spring and Summer Nationals triumphs. But, one thing that was missing from the résumé was a Winter Nationals score.

The newly-crowned ASCS Lone Star Region champion took care of that on Sunday afternoon by reeling in his first Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters triumph of the season to put the caps on the 36th Annual Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals, picking up a hefty $6,000 winner’s share in the process.

“Even Regional guys can win these things!” an enthused Ramey exclaimed after besting a weekend field of 61 Lucas Oil Sprint Car Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals competitors and joining Fred Brownfield Memorial preliminary winner Roger Crockett as just the second Regional racer to top a Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series feature event thus far in 2009.

After starting on the front row outside and slipping back to third in the early going, Ramey drove the Williams Motorsports Wells-powered City Vending No. 7m Maxim into the lead on the fifth circuit and survived some tense final rounds in the 30-lapper to secure his ninth career ASCS National triumph in front of early leader Gary Wright, with series point leader Shane Stewart, Johnny Herrera and 22nd-starter Sammy Swindell rounding out the top five.

“We’ve won a few of these before but it’s been a while, this one is the sweetest,” Ramey commented in victory lane. “We’ve won a Spring Nationals and a Summer Nationals before, now we’ve got a Winter Nationals to go along with it!”

Ramey, who topped both a weather-delayed Devil’s Bowl Spring Nationals and then Summer Nationals on the same night in June of 2006, gridded Sunday’s feature outside the front row only to have Saturday night preliminary winner Gary Wright gun into the lead after the initial pair of starts were waved off for incidents, including a Darren Long flip in turn two.

With third-starter Eric Baldaccini the first to discover just how effective the high line was on the reworked ½-mile clay oval as the sun settled beyond the turn three tree-line, Ramey slipped to third momentarily as Baldaccini edged ahead of Wright to lead the fourth circuit.

The 2008 Brodix Rookie of the Year’s stint in the lead was a short-lived one however, as he slipped just a bit too high exiting turn two and fell back to sixth as Ramey took quick advantage of the slightest of hesitations by Wright to race into the lead.

Sticking primarily to the high line after the Baldaccini tip, Ramey led Wright and fourth-starter Sam Hafertepe, Jr., as Baldaccini worked his way back up to fourth by the eighth circuit.

With the leaders into traffic by the eleventh round, the man on the move was 12th-starter Jack Dover. The 19-year-old Nebraska shoe battled past Brian Brown and Shane Stewart to crack the top five by the 12th circuit and then took fourth away from Baldaccini on the 16th round.

Dover immediately moved in on Hafertepe for third, only to perilously spin to a seemingly harmless stop along the backstretch and into the turn three entry after contact with 18 laps in the books. Dover rejoined the fray at the tail, only to succumb to suspected rear end woes two laps later.

Back up to fourth after Dover’s slide down the backstretch, Baldaccini fell to the tail of the field when he slipped off turn two on the lap 19 restart and soon shredded a left rear tire to precipitate another caution on the 25th lap.

Ramey had to survive another pair of interruptions in the final pair of laps, with top-five runners Hafertepe and Brian Brown both coming to a stop on separate occasions.

Ramey was not to be deterred, adding his sixth overall ASCS feature win of the season and the first in National competition since July of 2006.

Wright settled for runner-up honors in Scott Brown’s ASI-powered Lubbock Wrecker Service/Richwood Construction No. 9x Maxim, with Shane Stewart making a late move into the show position aboard Paul Silva’s Wesmar-powered ProBilt Construction No. 57 A.R.T. to extend his lead in the $60,000 championship points chase to 24 markers over tenth-place finisher Jason Johnson, with Wright 40 points out of the lead entering the 22nd Annual Short Track Nationals at Little Rock’s I-30 Speedway on October 29-31.

New Mexico’s Johnny Herrera worked forward from 13th to snare fourth at the line in the No. 45x entry, with Sammy Swindell making a late burst to round out the top five in the Rolfe No. 10 after starting 22nd.

Paul McMahan crossed the stripe in sixth, with 19th-starter Wayne Johnson, 16th-starter Travis Rilat, Brady Bacon and 18th-starter Jason Johnson completing the top ten.

Danny Jennings, Dover, Bacon, McMahan, Kenneth Walker and John Carney II won Sunday afternoon’s heat races, with Dustin Morgan, Jason Johnson and Wayne Johnson winning the “B” Mains. Morgan was forced pitside with mechanical issues two laps into the feature, while Carney flipped without injury entering turn three on the ensuing restart.

Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters
36th Annual Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals Championship Finale Results
Devil’s Bowl Speedway – Mesquite, TX

Locked in from Saturday Night’s Preliminary Feature:

9x-Gary Wright, 57-Shane Stewart, 7m-Kevin Ramey, 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr.

Heat Races (Top 12 in Passing Points to “A” Main; Balance to 3 “B” Mains):

Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 1j-Danny Jennings, 2. 22j-John Gaston, 3. 91-Jonathan Allard, 4. 10-Sammy Swindell, 5. 22b-Ben Gregg, 6. 88-Tim Crawley, 7. 99d-Rickey Hood, 8. 45k-Kolt Walker, 9. 87x-Billy Melton.

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 53-Jack Dover, 2. 41-Jason Johnson, 3. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 4. 29-Travis Rilat, 5. 10a-Ricky Logan, 6. 29L-Larry Long, 7. 81au-Gavin Punch, 8. 76-John Ricketts, 9. 165-Haley Arnold.

Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 99-Brady Bacon, 2. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 3. 94-Danny Wood, 4. 6-Justin Spoerl, 5. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 6. 8m-Kyle McCutcheon, 7. 12w-Dale Wester, 8. 9-Brian Parker, 9. 87a-Andrew Marshala.

Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 3d-Paul McMahan, 2. 9T-Gary Taylor, 3. 7-Darren Long, 4. 1-Sean McClelland, 5. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 6. 24-David Gailley, 7. 11-Chad Corken, 8. 45-Martin Edwards. DNS: 69-Larry Howery.

Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 2-Kenneth Walker, 2. 23-Seth Bergman, 3. 14aj-Wayne Johnson, 4. 93-Dustin Morgan, 5. 97-Aaron Berryhill, 6. 4m-Randi Miller, 7. 99j-Jake Ossenfort, 8. 3-Mark Shirshekan. DNS: e85-Zach Chappell.

Heat Six (8 Laps): 1. 3s-John Carney II, 2. 21-Brian Brown, 3. 27-Andy Shouse, 4. 13-Jesse Hockett, 5. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 6. 65-Skip Wilson, 7. 35-Greg Rilat, 8. 22-Koby Barksdale, 9. 75-Don Young.

“B” Mains (Top 2 From Each Advance to “A” Main):

First “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 93-Dustin Morgan, 2. 91-Jonathan Allard, 3. 88-Tim Crawley, 4. 9T-Gary Taylor, 5. 10a-Ricky Logan, 6. 99d-Rickey Hood, 7. 29L-Larry Long, 8. 24-David Gailley, 9. 87a-Andrew Marshala, 10. 23-Seth Bergman, 11. 76-John Ricketts, 12. 03-Joe Wood, Jr. DNS: 45k-Kolt Walker, 75-Don Young.

Second “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 3. 13-Jesse Hockett, 4. 4m-Randi Miller, 5. 27-Andy Shouse, 6. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 7. 35-Greg Rilat, 8. 81au-Gavin Punch, 9. 22-Koby Barksdale, 10. 9-Brian Parker, 11. 99j-Jake Ossenfort, 12. 1-Sean McClelland, 13. 12w-Dale Wester. DNS: e85-Zach Chappell.

Third “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 14aj-Wayne Johnson, 2. 10-Sammy Swindell, 3. 97-Aaron Berryhill, 4. 22b-Ben Gregg, 5. 22j-John Gaston, 6. 11-Chad Corken, 7. 45-Martin Edwards, 8. 3-Mark Shirshekan, 9. 87x-Billy Melton, 10. 65-Skip Wilson, 11. 165-Haley Arnold. DNS: 6-Justin Spoerl, 8m-Kyle McCutcheon, 69-Larry Howery.

Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals Main Event:

“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 2. 9x-Gary Wright, 3. 57-Shane Stewart, 4. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 5. 10-Sammy Swindell, 6. 3d-Paul McMahan, 7. 14aj-Wayne Johnson, 8. 29-Travis Rilat, 9. 99-Brady Bacon, 10 41-Jason Johnson, 11. 13-Jesse Hockett, 12. 94-Danny Wood, 13. 1j-Danny Jennings, 14. 2-Kenneth Walker, 15. 21-Brian Brown, 16. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 17. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 18. 53-Jack Dover, 19. 91-Jonathan Allard, 20. 88-Tim Crawley, 21. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 22. 3s-John Carney II, 23. 93-Dustin Morgan, 24. 7-Darren Long.

Lap Leaders: Gary Wright 1-3, Eric Baldaccini 4, Kevin Ramey 5-30.

Note: Tim Crawley and Jesse Hockett utilized Lucas Oil Sprint Car provisionals to start the “A” Main.

Lucas Oil Sprint Car Presented by K&N Filters Points (Top Twenty): 1. Shane Stewart 2,278, 2. Jason Johnson 2,254, 3. Gary Wright 2,238, 4. Travis Rilat 2,117, 5. Paul McMahan 2,066, 6. Tim Crawley 2,043, 7. Danny Wood 2,020, 8. Tony Bruce, Jr. 1,982, 9. Jack Dover 1,963, 10. Jesse Hockett 1,961, 11. Sean McClelland 1,694, 12. Kenneth Walker 1,628, 13. Darren Long 1,519, 14. Chad Corken 1,487, 15. Gary Taylor 1,471, 16. Seth Bergman 1,397, 17. Gavin Punch 1,344, 18. Brady Bacon 1,215, 19. Wayne Johnson 1,118, 20. Ricky Logan 974.

by Lonnie Wheatley

Lucas Oil Sprint Cars on Deck: Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals

Race fans in and around the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex will have one last opportunity to catch the nation’s most intensely competitive Sprint Car series in action next weekend when the Lucas Oil Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters take to the famed Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, TX.

Revisiting the same venue that launched a new era of Sprint Car racing earlier this year in March, the Lucas Oil Sprint Cars tackle the famed half-mile clay oval just east of Dallas next Friday and Saturday, October 16-17, for the 36th Annual Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals.

The Lucas Oil Sprint Cars opened what has been a wildly competitive 2009 campaign with 67 competitors from 17 different states taking in the Devil’s Bowl Spring Nationals in March, with Jason Johnson ultimately making his car wide enough down the backstretch to fend off Tony Bruce, Jr., for top honors. To add insult to injury, Bruce’s No. 18 entry weighed in just below the required 1,475 lb. minimum afterwards and he was credited with 24th rather than second.

While reigning series champion Johnson won the Spring Nationals finale, it was Oklahoma native Shane Stewart winning the Spring Nationals prelim.

That weekend proved to be a harbinger of things to come, as “The Ragin’ Cajun” and “Sugar Shane” have locked horns for the $60,000 series championship, with defending Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals champion Gary Wright in the title mix much of the way as well.

Stewart matched Johnson in the win column with his third triumph of the year in the series most recent outing, a wild night of racing action at Wheatland, Missouri’s Lucas Oil Speedway on September 26, to whittle Johnson’s advantage to just 22 points with only I-30 Speedway’s Short Track Nationals and USA Raceway’s Western World Championships remaining after the Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals.

A Northwest journey gone awry dimmed Wright’s championship hopes, as “The Texan” has fallen 68 points off of Johnson’s lead pace in his bid for a fifth series title.

While Johnson, Stewart and Wright have risen to the top of the point charts, a stellar group of 17 teams have taken in the entire Lucas Oil Sprint Car slate or missed just one event, with another handful of teams taking in the vast majority of the events.

Just behind the lead trio in current points, which will award a total of $250,000 to the final top 15, is 2003 series champion Travis Rilat, with three-time series king Tim Crawley rounding out the current top five.

Leading Brodix Rookie of the Year contender Paul McMahan is currently sixth, with Tony Bruce, Jr., three-time series runner-up Danny Wood, 19-year-old rookie shoe Jack Dover and Jesse Hockett completing the current top ten.

Tulsa racer Sean McClelland is just outside the top ten in eleventh, one spot ahead of fellow Tulsa-area racer Kenneth Walker. Other top Lucas Oil rookie contenders include Ohio’s Darren Long, Colorado’s Chad Corken, Washington’s Seth Bergman and Gavin Punch.

Still ranked 13th after missing the series Lucas Oil Speedway event, Washington native Gary Taylor will reportedly team with Dallas-area contender Brian Parker for the Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals with California’s Jonathan Allard taking the wheel of the Bobby Sparks No. 91 entry.

The 36th Annual Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals weekend of activities kicks off with the Third Annual Steve King Foundation Golf Tournament at the Buffalo Creek Golf Club in Rockwall, TX, on Thursday, October 15. More information regarding the Golf Tournament is available at http://www.smileysracing.com/steve-king-golf.php.

The Series: Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters

When & Where: Thursday, October 15 at 12:00 p.m. noon – 3rd Annual Steve King Foundation Golf Tournament
Friday night, October 16 at 8:00 p.m. – 36th Annual Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals prelim
Saturday night, October 17 at 8:00 p.m. – 36th Annual Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals finale

Track Information:
Devil’s Bowl Speedway (Mesquite, TX) – ½-mile, high-banked clay oval located six miles east of Dallas’ I-635 on US 80, then three miles south on Lawson Road. Track phone: 972-222-2421.

Lucas Oil ASCS Devil’s Bowl History:
Devil’s Bowl Speedway has been hosting the Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series since 1994, with 20 different drivers scoring at least one victory in 58 feature events. Gary Wright has claimed 19 of his 125 career ASCS National wins at Devil’s Bowl, including Winter Nationals triumphs in 2003, 2005 and 2008.

Wright and Jason Johnson have had somewhat of a stranglehold on victory lane at Devil’s Bowl over the past couple of seasons, combining to win ten of the last twelve features atop the storied clay oval. Only Tony Bruce, Jr. (a Spring Nationals preliminary winner in 2008) and Shane Stewart (a Spring Nationals preliminary winner this year), have interrupted the Wright-Johnson reign of terror at Da’ Bowl.

While Wright topped last year’s Winter Nationals to go along with previous victories in 2005 and 2003, Jason Johnson gave car owner Lanny Row his first Winter Nationals triumph in 2007, Travis Rilat topped the event in 2006 and Shane Stewart won the event in 2004.

Devil’s Bowl Lucas Oil ASCS winners include: Gary Wright 19, Jason Johnson 7, Wayne Johnson 4, Danny Jennings 3, Kevin Ramey 3, Shane Carson 2, Terry Gray 2, Garry Lee Maier 2, Mike Peters 2, Travis Rilat 2, Shane Stewart 2, Sammy Swindell 2, Tony Bruce, Jr. 1, Tim Crawley 1, Edd French 1, Johnny Herrera 1, Larry Neighbors 1, Alan Payne 1, Jake Peters 1, Mike Ward 1.

Devil’s Bowl Lucas Oil ASCS Race-by-race Winners: Shane Carson (6/21/94), Alan Payne (5/12/95), Mike Ward (7/23/95), Mike Peters (9/1/95), Sammy Swindell (9/2/95), Sammy Swindell (9/3/95), Wayne Johnson (6/18/96), Terry Gray (7/6/96), Terry Gray (11/1/96), Johnny Herrera (11/2/96), Shane Carson (4/5/97), Wayne Johnson (6/18/97), Edd French (10/31/97), Mike Peters (11/1/97), Gary Wright (6/19/98), Gary Wright (10/3/98), Garry Lee Maier (10/4/98), Gary Wright (7/8/99), Garry Lee Maier (7/30/99), Gary Wright (10/1/99), Gary Wright (10/2/99), Gary Wright (7/21/00), Gary Wright (10/6/00), Larry Neighbors (4/20/01), Gary Wright (7/20/01), Gary Wright (10/6/01), Travis Rilat (4/19/02), Jason Johnson (6/7/02), Wayne Johnson (10/4/02), Gary Wright (10/5/02), Kevin Ramey (4/18/03), Tim Crawley (10/17/03), Gary Wright (10/18/03), Shane Stewart (10/23/04), Danny Jennings (3/18/05), Danny Jennings (3/19/05), Danny Jennings (6/9/05), Gary Wright (10/21/05), Gary Wright (10/22/05), Kevin Ramey (6/24/06 – Spring Nationals makeup feature), Kevin Ramey (6/24/06 – Summer Nationals), Gary Wright (7/13/06), Jason Johnson (10/13/06), Travis Rilat (10/14/06), Wayne Johnson (3/16/07), Jake Peters (3/17/07), Gary Wright (5/12/07), Gary Wright (7/19/07), Jason Johnson (10/12/07), Jason Johnson (10/13/07), Tony Bruce, Jr. (3/14/08), Gary Wright (3/15/08), Jason Johnson (5/10/08), Gary Wright (7/17/08), Jason Johnson (10/17/08), Gary Wright (10/18/08), Shane Stewart (3/20/09), Jason Johnson (3/21/09).

Current Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters Points:

Top Twenty: 1. Jason Johnson (Eunice, LA) 2,010, 2. Shane Stewart (Bixby, OK) 1,988, 3. Gary Wright (Hooks, TX) 1,942, 4. Travis Rilat (Forney, TX) 1,861, 5. Tim Crawley (Benton, AR) 1,823, 6. Paul McMahan (Hendersonville, TN) 1,812, 7. Tony Bruce, Jr. (Liberal, KS) 1,799, 8. Danny Wood (Norman, OK) 1,758, 9. Jack Dover (Springfield, NE) 1,747, 10. Jesse Hockett (Warsaw, MO) 1,693, 11. Sean McClelland (Tulsa, OK) 1,544, 12. Kenneth Walker (Sapulpa, OK) 1,382, 13. Gary Taylor (Snohomish, WA) 1,321, 14. Darren Long (Elida, OH) 1,311, 15. Chad Corken (Highlands Ranch, CO) 1,280, 16. Seth Bergman (Snohomish, WA) 1,247, 17. Gavin Punch (Collinsville, OK) 1,194, 18. Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, OK) 1,008, 19. Wayne Johnson (Oklahoma City, OK) 907, 20. Nick Smith (Broken Arrow, OK) 870.

Brodix Rookie of the Year Points (Top Five): 1. Paul McMahan (Hendersonville, TN) 1,812, 2. Jack Dover (Springfield, NE) 1,747, 3. Darren Long (Elida, OH) 1,311, 4. Chad Corken (Highlands Ranch, CO) 1,280, 5. Seth Bergman (Snohomish, WA) 1,247.

2009 Lucas Oil Sprint Car Feature Winners:

Jason Johnson 3, Shane Stewart 3, Tim Crawley 2, Terry McCarl 2, Travis Rilat 2, Roger Crockett 1, Jack Dover 1, Wayne Johnson 1, Gary Wright 1. Speedweek winners; Tony Bruce, Jr., Zach Chappell, Tim Crawley, Nick Smith and Gary Wright.

Lucas Oil Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters – A Look Ahead:

October 29-31 – 22nd Annual Short Track Nationals – I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, AR)
November 19-21 – 42nd Annual Western World Championships – USA Raceway (Tucson, AZ)
November 22 18th Annual ASCS Awards Banquet presented by Brodix – Old Tucson Studios

Lucas Oil Sprint Cars on the Web:

Those unable to catch all the action in person can listen to every Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters live at www.racinboys.com.

Also, the Lucas Oil ASCS Show airs on www.racinboys.com each Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m. ET, recapping the previous week’s events while also previewing upcoming action.

Official results, championship point updates, photos and race notes will be available at www.ascsracing.com.

Lucas Oil Sprint Cars on TV:

The Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters will be featured in ten one-hour shows broadcast on a tape-delayed basis on the VERSUS Network

Events to be aired on VERSUS include the following:

Event Date – Track (Location) – Air Date & Re-Air Date (All Times Eastern)
Mar. 20 – Devil’s Bowl Speedway (Mesquite, TX) – 5/2/09 @ 5:00 p.m. & 5/7/09 @ 5:00 p.m.
Mar. 21 – Devil’s Bowl Speedway (Mesquite, TX) – 5/23/09 @ 4:00 p.m. & 5/27/09 @ 5:00 p.m.
May 23 – Jetmore Motorplex (Jetmore, KS) – 8/8/09 @ 5:00 p.m. & 8/13/09 @ 5:00 p.m.
May 24 – Jetmore Motorplex (Jetmore, KS) – 8/15/09 @ 5:00 p.m. & 8/20/09 @ 5:00 p.m.
July 3 – Riverside Speedway (W. Memphis, AR) – 9/13/09 @ 4:00 p.m. & 9/17/09 @ 5:00 p.m.
July 4 – Riverside Speedway (W. Memphis, AR) – 9/20/09 @ 4:00 p.m. & 9/24/09 @ 5:00 p.m.
Aug. 6 – Knoxville Raceway (Knoxville, IA) – 10/18/09 @ 6:00 p.m. & 10/22/09 @ 5:00 p.m.
Aug. 7 – Knoxville Raceway (Knoxville, IA) – 11/1/09 @ 5:00 p.m. & 11/5/09 @ 6:00 p.m.
Aug. 8 – Knoxville Raceway (Knoxville, IA) – 11/22/09 @ 6:00 p.m. & 11/25/09 @ 6:00 p.m.
Sept. 26 – Lucas Oil Speedway (Wheatland, MO) – 11/29/09 @ 6:00 p.m. & 12/3/09 @ 5:00 p.m.

The Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters is currently slated for approximately 30 nights of racing action at 16 different tracks throughout the nation, with the country’s top Sprint Car drivers set to battle it out for their share of the $250,000 points fund.

The American Sprint Car Series, in its 18th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing events, brings the best of Sprint Car racing to nearly 100 different tracks throughout 25 states and Canada in 2009. Anchored by the Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters, ASCS also consists of a dozen different Regions throughout the nation.

Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.

Crockett a Rocket in ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series Brownfield Memorial Prelim

The Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters broke some new ground with its first event within the State of Washington on Friday night at Grays Harbor Raceway.

But, for the fans on hand, it was a familiar face in victory lane as Roger Crockett topped the 30-lap Fred Brownfield Memorial preliminary feature event atop the 3/8-mile clay oval, fending off a stellar field of 52 entries including a full contingent of Lucas Oil ASCS title contenders.

“You’re not going to find a tougher field of Sprint Cars anywhere in the country, this is a big win for us,” Crockett commented after the triumph aboard the Shaver-powered Omlid & Swinney Fire Protection & Security No. 11c KPC.

Taking the lead at the outset from his pole starting position, Crockett caught a break or two in traffic to keep Travis Rilat at bay, with Tim Crawley and Jason Johnson also locking into Saturday night’s $10,092-to-win Fred Brownfield Memorial championship feature event.

After a convincing triumph in the night’s first of six heat races, Crockett redrew the pole position with Snohomish, WA, native Seth Bergman gridding to his outside in his return to Washington.

Crockett gunned into the lead at the drop of the green flag, leaving Bergman to battle with third-starter Rilat for the runner-up slot. Crockett reached lapped traffic in just a handful of circuits, with Rilat disposing of Bergman and setting his sights on the leader.

The Forney, TX, shoe reeled in Crockett and momentarily surged into the lead exiting turn two on the eleventh round. A lapped car forced Rilat to check up though, with Crockett breezing through the open door to retain command.

“We had him there, but that lapped car got in the way,” Rilat commented after his runner-up finish aboard the Shark-powered F&J Construction No. 29 Triple-X. “Obviously we want to win every night out, but this locks us into the money night tomorrow so we’re happy with it.”

Shortly after that lapped traffic mixer, the red flag flew when Ohio’s Darren Long took a rough ride down the backstretch with 13 laps in the books.

When action resumed, Tim Crawley slid past Bergman for third, with Bergman slowing to a stop moments later with race-ending woes.

Crockett kept his rivals at a distance over the final circuits, taking his second career Lucas Oil ASCS National triumph with a ten car-length advantage over Rilat as Arkansas’ Crawley claimed the show position in Mike Ward’s McCarver-powered Boater Sports No. 88 Maxim.

“We were just a touch too tight,” Crawley commented afterward.

Defending series champion Jason Johnson of Eunice, LA, slid past Steven Tiner for the fourth and final lock-in position on a lap 25 restart, securing a position for Lanny Row’s Wesmar-powered The Shop Motorsports No. 41 Eagle among the first three rows of Saturday’s main event.

Rallying from 15th, Shane Stewart made a late move to round out the top five in Paul Silva’s Wesmar-powered ProBilt Construction No. 57 A.R.T., with Tiner the second ASCS Northwest rep (after Crockett) across the stripe in sixth.

Jesse Hockett picked off a handful of positions to finish seventh after sweeping three nights of ASCS Northwest Speedweek action in Oregon, with Tony Bruce, Jr., in eighth. Four-time series champion Gary Wright escaped the night with a slim four-point lead over Johnson by racing from 16th to ninth, with Paul McMahan completing the top ten.

Crockett, Crawley, Mitch Olson, Jason Solwold, Bruce and Danny Kirkpatrick topped heat race action, with Sean McClelland, Darren Long and Kenneth Walker winning the “B” Mains.

Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters
Third Annual Fred Brownfield Memorial Preliminary
Grays Harbor Raceway – Elma, WA

Heat Races (Top 16 in Passing Points to “A” Main; Balance to 3 “B” Mains):

Heat One (10 Laps): 1. 11c-Roger Crockett, 2. 13-Jesse Hockett, 3. 41-Jason Johnson, 4. 91-Gary Taylor, 5. 9j-J.J. Dishneau, 6. 21w-Vern Wheeler, 7. 15d-Dan Dunlap, 8. 7n-Chadd Noland, 9. 29v-Robbie Vaughn.

Heat Two (10 Laps): 1. 88-Tim Crawley, 2. 08-Steve Vague, 3. 3d-Paul McMahan, 4. 0j-Jay Cole, 5. 1-Sean McClelland, 6. 94z-Zach Zimmerly, 7. 6-Jayme Barnes, 8. 76-Shawn Rice, 9. 5h-Justyn Cox.

Heat Three (10 Laps): 1. 98m-Mitch Olson, 2. 94T-Steven Tiner, 3. 9p-Jared Peterson, 4. 2m-Mike Melwicks, 5. 44w-Austen Wheatley, 6. 4-Nick Engberg, 7. 6m-Phillip Del Rosa, 8. 15c-Cody Anderlini, 9. 26-Travis Rutz.

Heat Four (10 Laps): 1. 51-Jason Solwold, 2. 72-Glenn Borden, 3. 12-Jared Ridge, 4. 57-Shane Stewart, 5. 25c-Chad Groves, 6. 7a-J.J. Hickle, 7. 33v-Henry Van Dam, 8. 11-Chad Corken. DNS: 81au-Gavin Punch.

Heat Five (10 Laps): 1. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 2. 9x-Gary Wright, 3. 2-Kenneth Walker, 4. 35a-Wayne Johnson, 5. 7-Darren Long, 6. 23T-Colin Baker, 7. 18T-Travis Jacobson, 8. 96-Mack Brown.

Heat Six (10 Laps): 1. 7k-Danny Kirkpatrick, 2. 29-Travis Rilat, 3. 23-Seth Bergman, 4. 12p-Randy Pierce, 5. 15J-Jeff Dunlap, 6. 53-Jack Dover, 7. 94-Danny Wood, 8. F1-Rick Fauver.

“B” Mains (Top 2 From Each Advance to “A” Main):

First “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 1-Sean McClelland, 2. 0j-Jay Cole, 3. 7a-J.J. Hickle, 4. 08-Steve Vague, 5. 26-Travis Rutz, 6. 94-Danny Wood, 7. 44w-Austen Wheatley, 8. 2m-Mike Melwicks, 9. 18T-Travis Jacobson, 10. 15c-Cody Anderlini, 11. 6m-Phillip Del Rosa. DNS: 7n-Chadd Noland.

Second “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 7-Darren Long, 2. 53-Jack Dover, 3. 72-Glenn Borden, 4. 35a-Wayne Johnson, 5. 94z-Zach Zimmerly, 6. 76-Shawn Rice, 7. 12p-Randy Pierce, 8. 21w-Vern Wheeler, 9. 5h-Justyn Cox, 10. 4-Nick Engberg, 11. 96-Mack Brown, 12. 11-Chad Corken.

Third “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 2-Kenneth Walker, 2. 33v-Henry Van Dam, 3. 9p-Jared Peterson, 4. 6-Jayme Barnes, 5. 25c-Chad Groves, 6. 9j-J.J Dishneau, 7. 23T-Colin Baker, 8. 15d-Dan Dunlap, 9. 15j-Jeff Dunlap, 10. 29v-Robbie Vaughn. DNS: F1-Rick Fauver, 81au-Gavin Punch.

“A” Main Event:

“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 11c-Roger Crockett, 2. 29-Travis Rilat, 3. 88-Tim Crawley, 4. 41-Jason Johnson, 5. 57-Shane Stewart, 6. 94T-Steven Tiner, 7. 13-Jesse Hockett, 8. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 9. 9x-Gary Wright, 10. 3d-Paul McMahan, 11. 12-Jared Ridge, 12. 33v-Henry Van Dam, 13. 1-Sean McClelland, 14. 53-Jack Dover, 15. 94-Danny Wood, 16. 2-Kenneth Walker, 17. 11-Chad Corken, 18. 0j-Jay Cole, 19. 51-Jason Solwold, 20. 7k-Danny Kirkpatrick, 21. 23-Seth Bergman, 22. 7-Darren Long, 23. 98m-Mitch Olson, 24. 91-Gary Taylor.

Lap Leaders: Roger Crockett 1-30.

Note: Danny Wood and Chad Corken utilized Lucas Oil ASCS provisionals to start the “A” Main. It was the first of the year for both drivers.

Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters Points (Top 20): 1. Gary Wright 1,278, 2. Jason Johnson 1,274, 3. Shane Stewart 1,260, 4. Travis Rilat 1,189, 5. Tim Crawley 1,171, 6. Paul McMahan 1,148, 7. Tony Bruce, Jr. 1,141, 8. Danny Wood 1,126, 9. Jack Dover 1,097, 10. Jesse Hockett 1,053, 11. Sean McClelland 954, 12. Gary Taylor 888, 13. Nick Smith 870, 14. (tie) Darren Long and Kenneth Walker 837, 16. Chad Corken 817, 17. Gavin Punch 787, 18. Seth Bergman 757, 19. Brady Bacon 752, 20. Ricky Logan 639.

ASCS Northwest Region Points (Top Ten): 1. (tie) Jared Ridge and Steven Tiner 1,406, 3. Roger Crockett 1,398, 4. Mitch Olson 1,338, 5. Henry VanDam 1,309, 6. Chad Groves 1,259, 7. Randy Pierce 1,130, 8. Justyn Cox 1,093, 9. Chadd Noland 928, 10. Colin Baker 837.

ASCS Northwest Speedweek Points (Top Ten through Round Three of Five): 1. Jesse Hockett 586, 2. Roger Crockett 572, 3. Steven Tiner 544, 4. Jared Ridge 540, 5. Jay Cole 522, 6. Mitch Olson 502, 7. Wayne Johnson 493, 8. Henry Van Dam 461, 9. Chad Groves 455, 10. Mike Melwicks 441.

by Lonnie Wheatley

Texan Gary Wright finds Victory Lane in ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series

For the first time in 2009 championship points competition, Gary Wright reached Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters victory lane by topping Saturday night’s 30-lap feature event at I-90 Speedway.

Wright’s 125th National win didn’t come without a stiff challenge from local ace Chad Meyer though, with Tim Crawley then closing in on “The Texan’s” tailtank as the checkered flag flew on the fast-paced affair atop the high-banked, 3/8-mile dirt oval.

“For no bigger than this track is, this place is really fast,” Wright commented after the $6,000 triumph. “It was really good, both top and bottom and we had the right car for it.”

Meyer, who paced the opening ten rounds before surrendering the point to Wright, turned up the heat on the eventual winner after a lap 18 restart, briefly surging into the lead at one point as the final laps clicked off.

Wright edged back out front though, moved to the bottom and went on to secure the win aboard Scott Brown’s ASI-powered Lubbock Wrecker Service No. 9x Maxim. It was his sixth overall ASCS win of the year after four Regional scores and a Speedweek victory.

“I saw somebody down there and knew it was probably time to move to the bottom,” Wright explained. “Turned out the bottom was probably a little faster than the top had been.”

While Wright started the main event in sixth, it was polesitter Meyer outgunning Danny Wood for the lead at the drop of the green flag. Meyer set a strong pace up front, with Wright battling past fourth-starter Darren Long and then Wood by the fifth circuit to move into second.

As Meyer reached the tail of the 24-car feature field, Wright raced by on the high side of turns three and four to take command on the 11th circuit. But, Wright was never able to slip away, as Meyer kept pace while fending off seventh-starter Crawley at the same time for the runner-up slot.

Wright found clear track when the caution flew after 18 laps for Long’s turn two spin. The caution also offered new life to Meyer though, as he began pressuring Wright for the point when action resumed.

The pair battled for the lead in side-by-side fashion for several laps before Wright finally regained control of the lead on the 24th lap. As Meyer began to lose ground, Crawley moved in to try to make it three wins in a row after sweeping last weekend’s Riverside double.

But, as the checkered flag flew upon Wright, Crawley had to settle for runner-up honors aboard Mike Ward’s McCarver-powered Boater Sports No. 88 Maxim just a couple of car-lengths back.

Travis Rilat battled from eighth to take the show position aboard the Shark-powered F&J Construction No. 29 Triple-X, with defending series champion Jason Johnson also advancing a handful of positions to claim fourth in Lanny Row’s Wesmar-powered The Shop Motorsports No. 41 Eagle.

Meyer rounded out the top five in the Weseman-powered No. 1w, with Tony Bruce, Jr., racing from 15th to sixth. Paul McMahan climbed from 19th to seventh, with Wood slipping to eighth at the stripe.

After utilizing his first provisional of the year, Jesse Hockett charged from 23rd to ninth, while 18th-starter Shane Stewart rebounded from a cut right rear tire two laps into the main to complete the top ten.

Chad Corken, Crawley, Johnson, Meyer, Butch Hanssen and Randy Droescher topped heat race action for the 52-car field, with McMahan, Stewart and Gary Taylor winning the “B” Mains.

Johnn Cressman flipped in turn two in the night’s opening heat race. Cressman walked away uninjured but done for the night.

Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters
I-90 Speedway – Hartford, SD

Heat Races (Top 16 in Passing Points to “A” Main; Balance to 3 “B” Mains):

Heat One (10 Laps): 1. 11-Chad Corken, 2. 2d-Dusty Ballenger, 3. 81au-Gavin Punch, 4. 22-Matt Heinzerling, 5. 2k-Kevin Ingle, 6. 2-Kenneth Walker, 7. 19-John Lambertz, 8. 85-Justin Saathoff, 9. 56-Johnn Cressman.

Heat Two (10 Laps): 1. 88-Tim Crawley, 2. 82-Jason Danley, 3. 11m-Troy Meyer, 4. 3d-Paul McMahan, 5. 10a-Ricky Logan, 6. 5-Eric Lutz, 7. X-Chuck Swenson, 8. 28-Mitch Runge, 9. 91a-Aaron Wendt.

Heat Three (10 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2. 75c-Casey Heser, 3. 27-Jody Rosenboom, 4. 7-Darren Long, 5. 1a-Robby Wolfgang, 6. 25-Dylan Peterson, 7. 1x-Justin Glaser, 8. 32-Greg Valentine, 9. 5x-Dave Glennon.

Heat Four (10 Laps): 1. 1w-Chad Meyer, 2. 94-Danny Wood, 3. 29-Travis Rilat, 4. 57-Shane Stewart, 5. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 6. 53-Jack Dover, 7. 10-Justin Jacobsma, 8. 17b-Ryan Bickett, 9. 5w-Dusty Wasmund.

Heat Five (10 Laps): 1. 8k-Butch Hanssen, 2. 9x-Gary Wright, 3. 13-Jesse Hockett, 4. 1-Sean McClelland, 5. 44w-Austen Wheatley, 6. 101-Chuck McGillivray, 7. 23-Seth Bergman, 8. 8-Lane Brenden.

Heat Six (10 Laps): 1. 24-Randy Droescher, 2. 13jm-Jordan Martens, 3. 91-Gary Taylor, 4. 05-Bill Boles, 5. 71-R.J. Johnson, 6. 3-Donovan Peterson, 7. 15x-Joe Riedel, 8. 0x-Jess Beckett.

“B” Mains (Top 2 From Each Advance to “A” Main):

First “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 3d-Paul McMahan, 2. 11m-Troy Meyer, 3. 13-Jesse Hockett, 4. 10a-Ricky Logan, 5. X-Chuck Swenson, 6. 44w-Austen Wheatley, 7. 2-Kenneth Walker, 8. 8-Lane Brenden, 9. 25-Dylan Peterson, 10. 23-Seth Bergman, 11. 17b-Ryan Bickett. DNS: 56-Johnn Cressman.

Second “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 57-Shane Stewart, 2. 53-Jack Dover, 3. 1-Sean McClelland, 4. 1a-Robby Wolfgang, 5. 19-John Lambertz, 6. 28-Mitch Runge, 7. 1x-Justin Glaser, 8. 5x-Dave Glennon, 9. 2k-Kevin Ingle, 10. 91a-Aaron Wendt, 11. 85-Justin Saathoff, 12. 27-Jody Rosenboom.

Third “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 91-Gary Taylor, 2. 5-Eric Lutz, 3. 71-R.J. Johnson, 4. 3-Donovan Peterson, 5. 05-Bill Boles, 6. 101-Chuck McGillivray, 7. 22-Matt Heinzerling, 8. 0x-Jess Beckett, 9. 10-Justin Jacobsma, 10. 15x-Joe Riedel, 11. 32-Greg Valentine, 12. 5w-Dusty Wasmund.

“A” Main Event:

“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 9x-Gary Wright, 2. 88-Tim Crawley, 3. 29-Travis Rilat, 4. 41-Jason Johnson, 5. 1w-Chad Meyer, 6. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 7. 3d-Paul McMahan, 8. 94-Danny Wood, 9. 13-Jesse Hockett, 10. 57-Shane Stewart, 11. 81au-Gavin Punch, 12. 5-Eric Lutz, 13. 7-Darren Long, 14. 1-Sean McClelland, 15. 91-Gary Taylor, 16. 11m-Troy Meyer, 17. 11-Chad Corken, 18. 8k-Butch Hanssen, 19. 82-Jason Danley, 20. 2d-Dusty Ballenger, 21. 75c-Casey Heser, 22. 24-Randy Droescher, 23. 53-Jack Dover, 24. 13jm-Jordan Martens.

Lap Leaders: Chad Meyer 1-10, Gary Wright 11-21, Chad Meyer 22, Gary Wright 23-30.

Note: Jesse Hockett and Sean McClelland utilized Lucas Oil ASCS provisionals to start the “A” Main. It was the first of the year for Hockett and the second of the year for McClelland.

Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters Points (Top 20): 1. Gary Wright 1,146, 2. Jason Johnson 1,132, 3. Shane Stewart 1,120, 4. Travis Rilat 1,043, 5. Tim Crawley 1,027, 6. Paul McMahan 1,018, 7. Tony Bruce, Jr. 1,007, 8. Danny Wood 1,006, 9. Jack Dover 975, 10. Jesse Hockett 917, 11. Nick Smith 870, 12. Sean McClelland 830, 13. Gary Taylor 786, 14. Brady Bacon 752, 15. Darren Long 731, 16. Gavin Punch 727, 17. Kenneth Walker 719, 18. Chad Corken 701, 19. Seth Bergman 649, 20. Ricky Logan 639.

by Lonnie Wheatley

Lucas Oil ASCS on Deck: Lake Ozark Speedway’s Daniel McMillin Memorial

With the 17th Annual F&J Construction ASCS Speedweek successfully in the books, it’s back to business for the Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters.

The $250,000 points chase, including the $60,000 earmarked for the 2009 Lucas Oil Sprint Car champion, resumes with next Saturday night’s (June 27) Third Annual Daniel McMillin Memorial at the scenic Lake Ozark Speedway near Eldon, MO.

And with the opening four point events of the season completed, a mere four points separate the top three in championship points with Oklahoma native Shane Stewart just two markers ahead of four-time series champion Gary Wright of Hooks, TX. Defending series champion Jason Johnson of Eunice, LA, is just another two points back in third.

Norman, OK, shoe Danny Wood enters next Saturday’s action ranked fourth, with Travis Rilat of Forney, TX, ranked fifth.

Leading a stellar rookie crop, California native Paul McMahan is tied for sixth with Tulsa-area racer Nick Smith, with the balance of the current top ten including Nebraska teen Jack Dover, 2001 series champion Zach Chappell of Talala, OK, and three-time ASCS National champion Tim Crawley of Benton, AR.

Crawley just picked up a $2,000 bonus by earning the 17th Annual ASCS Speedweek championship by a mere eight point margin over McMahan. Johnson, Brady Bacon, Sean McClelland, Wright and Matt Clevenger also picked up bonus money by finishing among the top seven in Speedweek points.

Four different drivers have cracked victory lane in the opening four events of the season including Stewart, Johnson, Rilat and Dover. Add in another five winners during ASCS Speedweek (Crawley, Tony Bruce, Jr., Chappell, Wright and N. Smith) and the total is nine different winners in nine events held under the Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series banner thus far in 2009.

Current series points leader Shane Stewart, gunning for his first ASCS title with car owner Paul Silva, swept a two-night ASCS stand at Lake Ozark in 2004, while local hero Jesse Hockett swept a two-nighter in 2005. Next Saturday’s event is held in honor of Hockett’s departed cousin Daniel McMillin.

Reigning series champion Jason Johnson has topped both previous editions of the Daniel McMillin Memorial. “The Ragin’ Cajun” won the inaugural event at Double X Speedway in California, MO, in 2007, then pulled off the repeat last year when the event shifted to Lake Ozark Speedway. Last year’s McMillin triumph also avenged a last-lap Lake Ozark loss several weeks earlier to Aaron Berryhill, who captured his first career series win atop the 1/3-mile clay oval last May.

Sixty-seven drivers competed in the Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series season-opening two-night stand at Texas’ Devil’s Bowl Speedway in March. Then, after several rainouts, fifty drivers took part in the two-night Steve King Memorial at Kansas’ Jetmore Motorplex over the Memorial Day Weekend.

Next Saturday night’s Daniel McMillin Memorial at Lake Ozark Speedway kicks off the first of five consecutive weekends of competition for the Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters with ensuing events including the Rock & Roll 50 at Riverside Speedway in West Memphis, AR, on July 3-4, a journey to Hartford, South Dakota’s I-90 Speedway on July 11 and then the series first venture to the Northwest for doubles at Elma, Washington’s Grays Harbor Raceway Park (July 17-18) and Oregon’s Cottage Grove Speedway (July 24-25).

The Series:

Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters

When & Where:

Saturday night, June 27 at 7:00 p.m. – Lake Ozark Speedway

Track Information:

Lake Ozark Speedway (Eldon, MO) – 1/3-mile semi-banked dirt oval located south of Eldon on US 54 to SR 52, then 0.1 miles east on SR 52, then 0.5 miles north on Twiggy Lane (frontage road). For more information, contact the track at 573-392-9977 or check www.lakeozarkspeedway.com.

Lucas Oil ASCS Lake Ozark Speedway History:

The Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series returned to Lake Ozark Speedway last year after a two-year absence with Aaron Berryhill making a last-lap pass of Jason Johnson for his first career series win in May. Johnson got some Lake Ozark redemption by winning the Second Annual Daniel McMillin Memorial in July.

Lake Ozark Speedway ASCS National winners include: Jesse Hockett 2, Shane Stewart 2, Aaron Berryhill 1, Jason Johnson 1.

Lake Ozark Speedway Lucas Oil ASCS Race-by-Race Winners: Shane Stewart (9/4/04), Shane Stewart (9/5/04), Jesse Hockett (9/3/05), Jesse Hockett (9/4/05), Aaron Berryhill (5/3/08), Jason Johnson (7/5/08).

Current Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters Points:

Top Twenty: 1. Shane Stewart (Bixby, OK) 578, 2. Gary Wright (Hooks, TX) 576, 3. Jason Johnson (Eunice, LA) 574, 4. Danny Wood (Norman, OK) 520, 5. Travis Rilat (Forney, TX) 509, 6. (tie) Nick Smith (Broken Arrow, OK) and Paul McMahan (Hendersonville, TN) 506, 8. Jack Dover (Springfield, NE) 501, 9. Zach Chappell (Talala, OK) 469, 10. Tim Crawley (Benton, AR) 459, 11. Tony Bruce, Jr. (Liberal, KS) 447, 12. Eric Baldaccini (Keller, TX) 430, 13. Sean McClelland (Tulsa, OK) 427, 14. Joe Wood, Jr. (Oklahoma City, OK) 422, 15. Trey Robb (Newcastle, OK) 407, 16. Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, OK) 398, 17. Brian Brown (Grain Valley, MO) 370, 18. Kenneth Walker (Sapulpa, OK) 368, 19. Jesse Hockett (Warsaw, MO) 365, 20. Matt Covington (Glenpool, OK) 357.

Brodix Rookie of the Year Points (Top Five): 1. Paul McMahan (Hendersonville, TN) 506, 2. Jack Dover (Springfield, NE) 501, 3. Joe Wood, Jr. (Oklahoma City, OK) 422, 4. Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, OK) 398, 5. Matt Covington (Glenpool, OK) 357.

2009 Lucas Oil ASCS Feature Winners:

Jack Dover 1, Jason Johnson 1, Travis Rilat 1, Shane Stewart 1.

Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters – A Look Ahead:

July 3/4 – Riverside International Speedway (West Memphis, AR)
July 11 – I-90 Speedway (Hartford, SD)
July 17/18 – Grays Harbor Raceway Park (Elma, WA)
July 24/25 – Cottage Grove Speedway (Cottage Grove, OR)

Lucas Oil ASCS on the Web:

Those unable to catch all the action in person can listen to every Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters live at www.racinboys.com.

Also, the Lucas Oil ASCS Show airs on www.racinboys.com each Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m. ET, recapping the previous week’s events while also previewing upcoming action.

Official results, championship point updates, photos and race notes will be available at www.ascsracing.com.

Lucas Oil ASCS on TV:

The Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters will be featured in ten one-hour shows broadcast on a tape-delayed basis on the VERSUS Network

Events to be aired on VERSUS include the following:

The revised schedule of Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters events to be aired on VERSUS is as follows:

Event Date – Track (Location) – Air Date & Re-Air Date (All Times Eastern)
Mar. 20 – Devil’s Bowl Speedway (Mesquite, TX) – 5/2/09 @ 5:00 p.m. & 5/7/09 @ 5:00 p.m.
Mar. 21 – Devil’s Bowl Speedway (Mesquite, TX) – 5/23/09 @ 4:00 p.m. & 5/27/09 @ 5:00 p.m.
May 23 – Jetmore Motorplex (Jetmore, KS) – 8/1/09 @ 4:00 p.m. & 8/5/09 @ 5:00 p.m.
May 24 – Jetmore Motorplex (Jetmore, KS) – 8/1/09 @ 5:00 p.m. & 8/6/09 @ 5:00 p.m.
July 3 – Riverside Speedway (W. Memphis, AR) – 8/8/09 @ 5:00 p.m. & 8/13/09 @ 5:00 p.m.
July 4 – Riverside Speedway (W. Memphis, AR) – 9/20/09 @ 4:00 p.m. & 9/24/09 @ 5:00 p.m.
Aug. 6 – Knoxville Raceway (Knoxville, IA) – 10/1/09 @ 5:00 p.m. & 10/10/09 @ 3:00 p.m.
Aug. 7 – Knoxville Raceway (Knoxville, IA) – 10/18/09 @ 5:00 p.m. & 10/22/09 @ 5:00 p.m.
Aug. 8 – Knoxville Raceway (Knoxville, IA) – 11/15/09 @ 5:00 p.m. & 11/19/09 @ 5:00 p.m.
Sept. 26 – Lucas Oil Speedway (Wheatland, MO) – 11/29/09 @ 4:00 p.m. & 12/3/09 @ 4:00 p.m.

The Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters is currently slated for approximately 33 nights of racing action at 17 different tracks throughout the nation, with the country’s top Sprint Car drivers set to battle it out for their share of the $250,000 points fund.

The American Sprint Car Series, in its 18th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing events, brings the best of Sprint Car racing to nearly 100 different tracks throughout 25 states and Canada in 2009. Anchored by the Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters, ASCS also consists of a dozen different Regions throughout the nation.

Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.

by Lonnie Wheatley

ASCS Sprint Car “Sizzlin’ Summer Speedweek” right around the corner

For the past 16 years, some of the most memorable moments in American Sprint Car Series history, both on and off the track, have taken place during the series’ annual Speedweek.

That tradition continues when the 17th Annual ASCS Sizzlin’ Summer Speedweek featuring the Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters fires off next Friday night, June 5, with the first of six events at six different tracks throughout Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

For the second year in a row, ASCS Speedweek fires off atop the tight confines of Texarkana 67 Speedway on the Arkansas side of the state line. The following night, Saturday June 6, it’s up Interstate 30 to Little Rock’s I-30 Speedway for Round Two of ASCS Speedweek.

After two nights off, a third consecutive ¼-mile bullring is on tap with Creek County Speedway near Tulsa, OK, hosting Round Three on Tuesday night, June 9.

One more idle day precedes the final three-race stanza of the 17th Annual ASCS Speedweek, with Devil’s Bowl Speedway (June 11) in Mesquite, TX, Oklahoma City’s State Fair Speedway (June 12) and Lawton (OK) Speedway (June 13) hosting the final half of Speedweek.

While this year’s Speedweek events will not award points towards the Lucas Oil ASCS National championship, a $10,000 points fund has been established for the week. The week’s magnificent seven, the top seven point earners, will each walk away with some extra money at week’s end with the champion taking the lion’s share of $2,000. The balance of the ASCS Speedweek points fund is $1,600 (2nd), $1,500 (3rd), $1,400 (4th), $1,300 (5th), $1,200 (6th) and $1,000 (7th).

Eunice, Louisiana’s Jason Johnson enters as the reigning ASCS Speedweek champion after taking his second such title in three seasons with two Speedweek feature wins last year. Johnson climbed to third on the all-time ASCS Speedweek feature win list behind Gary Wright (29 wins) and Tim Crawley (12) with nine career wins.

While Johnson took two wins last year, he was matched by Gary Wright and Gary Taylor. The victories marked Taylor’s first pair of National triumphs while six-time ASCS Speedweek champion Wright has now snared at least one Speedweek win in 13 of the last 15 years, shut out in only 1996 and 2004.

All three of last year’s Speedweek feature winners are expected to vie for this year’s Speedweek title along with a host of top challengers including 2003 Speedweek champion Shane Stewart, 2004 Speedweek champion Tim Crawley, Danny Wood, Travis Rilat, Nick Smith, Jack Dover, Eric Baldaccini, Sean McClelland, Kenneth Walker, Seth Bergman, Matt Covington, Brady Bacon, Kathryne Minter and many more.

Each ASCS Speedweek event pays $3,000 to win and $300 to start.

17th Annual ASCS Speedweek Schedule:

Friday, June 5 – Texarkana 67 Speedway (Texarkana, AR) 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 6 – I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, AR) 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, June 9 – Creek County Speedway (Sapulpa, OK) 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, June 11 – Devil’s Bowl Speedway (Mesquite, TX) 8:00 p.m.
Friday, June 12- State Fair Speedway (Oklahoma City, OK) 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 13 – Lawton Speedway (Lawton, OK) 8:00 p.m.

ASCS Speedweek has been in place since 1993 with seven different drivers earning Speedweek titles and 31 different drivers posting at least one win in the 104 Speedweek features contested thus far.

Additional information regarding the 17th Annual ASCS Sizzlin’ Summer Speedweek is available at http://www.ascsracing.com/speedweek.asp.

by Lonnie Wheatley

Gary Wright right in ASCS Red River Shootout at Devil’s Bowl Speedway

Just when it looked as though Nebraska’s Jack Dover was going to pull off a spectacular win in Round Two of the ASCS Red River Shootout at Devil’s Bowl Speedway, Lady Luck intervened and gave a friendly nod to Gary Wright.

And, taking full advantage, “The Texan” came away with Saturday night’s $2,000 ASCS Lone Star Region vs. American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region 25-lap triumph atop the famed ½-mile clay oval.

While Wright found himself standing in a familiar place at night’s end, the Devil’s Bowl Speedway victory lane, the hard-earned win came after surviving the best efforts of a pair of salty 19-year-olds in the form of Brady Bacon and Jack Dover.

After Wright and Bacon diced for the point most of the way, Dover surged from third into the lead with a daring move in turns three and four on the 22nd lap only to have his engine sour one circuit later.

Wright, the four-time Lucas Oil ASCS National champion, then paced the final two rounds to collect his third ASCS Regional triumph of the season aboard Scott Brown’s ASI-powered Lubbock Wrecker Service/Richwood Construction No. 9x Maxim.

“I’m not sure what happened to Dover, but we got a little lucky on that one,” Wright commented in victory lane.

Taking command on the 13th round, Wright finally found a hint of breathing room after the caution flew for Matt Covington’s turn two spin with 15 laps in the books.

But, when Wright hit lapped traffic again with a handful of laps to go, Bacon and Dover quickly closed the gap to renew the battle that had been brewing at the midway point.

“That lapped car was killing me, I had to lock it up a couple of times just to keep from wrecking,” Wright explained.

It was all the opportunity that Dover needed, blitzing past both Bacon and Wright in one fell swoop for the lead at the completion of the 22nd lap. A lap later, one last caution flew when Sean McClelland slid off the top of turn four.

And, before action could resume, Dover pulled his mount pitside with terminal engine problems. “I felt it flatten out right before that caution, we wouldn’t have even made those last two laps,” the 2008 ASCS Midwest Region champion commented.

Under that same caution, Bacon’s strong run came to an early end as well when he retired to the pit area with a depleted fuel cell and a cut right rear tire. After starting on the front row to the outside of pole starter Wright, Bacon had officially held the lead on eleven of the hotly contested opening dozen circuits.

Wright, who had led lap seven and then laps 13-21, set sail on the final two-lap dash to the line and took the checkered flag in front of Danny Wood, who finished second to Wright’s son-in-law Nick Smith one night earlier in the opening leg of the ASCS Red River Shootout at State Fair Speedway.

Travis Rilat claimed the show position, while Kevin Ramey maintained his ASCS Lone Star points lead by advancing from the sixth row to finish fourth.

Originally slated to start tenth, Joe Wood, Jr., took advantage of a pair of opening lap cautions to rejoin the field and charged from 22nd to round out the top five.

Jason Johnson was in the thick of a five-car scramble for the lead at the midway point that also included Bacon, Wright, Dover and Wood when he locked it up and spun in turn two. The reigning Lucas Oil ASCS National champion restarted at the tail of the field and rallied to finish sixth.

Donnie Ray Crawford posted a seventh-place run, while Eric Baldaccini rebounded from a pair of early issues to claim eighth. Arizona’s Ben Gregg raced from 20th to ninth, with New Mexico’s Colt Treharn completing the top ten.

Claud Estes, Dale Wester, Crawford, Wood and Wright topped heat race action for the 44-car field, with J.P. Bailey and Matt Covington winning the twin “B” Mains.

After going for a wild ride down the frontstretch as the green flag flew upon the night’s third heat race, Brian Parker emerged relatively unscathed.

ASCS Red River Shootout Round Two
American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region vs. ASCS Lone Star Region
Results from Devil’s Bowl Speedway:

Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 74e-Claud Estes, 2. 26-Dalton Steed, 3. 87x-Billy Melton, 4. 29-Travis Rilat, 5. 45x-Martin Edwards, 6. 17w-Brad Welborn, 7. 24-David Gailley, 8. 22J-John Gaston, 9. 69h-Larry Howery.

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 12w-Dale Wester, 2. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 3. 1-Sean McClelland, 4. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 5. 31m-Matt Clevenger, 6. 5m-Glenn Martin, 7. 04-Brad Graham, 8. 88r-Andy Rea, 9. 25-Robert Sellers.

Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 55-Donnie Ray Crawford, 2. 53-Jack Dover, 3. 77-Colt Treharn, 4. 22b-Ben Gregg, 5. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 6. 14-Michael Lang, 7. 72-Sherman Davis, 8. 76-John Ricketts, 9. 9-Brian Parker.

Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 94-Danny Wood, 2. 41-Jason Johnson, 3. 45-J.P. Bailey, 4. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 5. 1r-Scott Reneau, 6. 95-Matt Covington, 7. 10-George White, 8. 11m-Brandon Moseley. DNS: 8-Shane Pace.

Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 9x-Gary Wright, 2. 99-Brady Bacon, 3. 45k-Kolt Walker, 4. 93-Dustin Morgan, 5. 14e-Justin Spoerl, 6. 13-Kathryne Minter, 7. 11-Justin Melton, 8. 87-Brian McClelland.

First “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 45-J.P. Bailey, 2. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 3. 72-Sherman Davis, 4. 11-Justin Melton, 5. 22J-John Gaston, 6. 69h-Larry Howery, 7. 11m-Brandon Moseley, 8. 10-George White, 9. 14-Michael Lang, 10. 1r-Scott Reneau, 11. 04-Brad Graham, 12. 93-Dustin Morgan, 13. 31m-Matt Clevenger. DNS: 9-Brian Parker.

Second “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington, 2. 22b-Ben Gregg, 3. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 4. 17w-Brad Welborn, 5. 14e-Justin Spoerl, 6. 5m-Glenn Martin, 7. 76-John Ricketts, 8. 25-Robert Sellers, 9. 87-Brian McClelland, 10. 24-David Gailley, 11. 13-Kathryne Minter, 12. 88r-Andy Rea, 13. 45x-Martin Edwards. DNS: 8-Shane Pace.

“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 9x-Gary Wright, 2. 94-Danny Wood, 3. 29-Travis Rilat, 4. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 5. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 6. 41-Jason Johnson, 7. 55-Donnie Ray Crawford, 8. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 9. 22b-Ben Gregg, 10. 77-Colt Treharn, 11. 95-Matt Covington, 12. 74e-Claud Estes, 13. 12w-Dale Wester, 14. 99-Brady Bacon, 15. 53-Jack Dover, 16. 1-Sean McClelland, 17. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 18. 45k-Kolt Walker, 19. 45-J.P. Bailey, 20. 87x-Billy Melton, 21. 26-Dalton Steed, 22. 72-Sherman Davis.

ASCS Lone Star Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Kevin Ramey 590, 2. Brad Welborn 522, 3. Brian McClelland 514, 4. Matt Clevenger 506, 5. J.P. Bailey 500, 6. Kolt Walker 488, 7. Justin Melton 486, 8. Eric Baldaccini 473, 9. Claud Estes 465, 10. Michael Lang 443.

American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Danny Wood 446, 2. Joe Wood, Jr. 418, 3. Sean McClelland 410, 4. Matt Covington 400, 5. Brady Bacon 394, 6. Dustin Morgan 390, 7. J.P. Bailey 380, 8. Sherman Davis 374, 9. Robert Sellers 366, 10. Kyle Bellm 332.

By Lonnie Wheatley
Photos courtesy of ASCS

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