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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

Young Jack Dover takes $10K ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series win at Steve King Memorial

Nineteen-year-old Jack Dover of Springfield, NE, captured the biggest victory of his young career with a $10,000 Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters score in Sunday’s Steve King Memorial presented by Coors Light at the Jetmore Motorplex.

Dover took the lead away from Wayne Johnson on the 17th round and then held off a late bid from Gary Wright in the 35-lapper to secure his second career ASCS National win aboard the Eckley-powered 3D Auto Transport/Home Pride Co. No. 53 Eagle, all in front of the VERSUS Network cameras.

“The competition here is unreal, this is the biggest win I’ve had by far,” Dover commented from victory lane. “With everything that Lucas Oil and K&N Filters are doing with this series, it’s the best thing going.”

Dover locked himself into Sunday night’s main event via a late move around Gary Wright for the fourth and final transfer position in Saturday night’s preliminary feature event. And, when it all boiled down to the critical final circuits on Sunday night, it was once again Dover denying Wright. Only this time, it was for the $10,000 winner’s share.

Starting from the third position, Dover chased pole starter Wayne Johnson in the early rounds. But when Johnson struggled with the turn two cushion on consecutive laps near the midway point, Dover took quick advantage by racing into the lead on the 17th round.

Dover checked out in the ensuing rounds, leaving Johnson to battle with the likes of Shane Stewart, Travis Rilat and Gary Wright. By the time the race’s first caution flew with 29 laps in the books for Brian Brown’s stalled mount off the backstretch, Dover’s straightaway advantage was erased and it was Wright who had battled from the fifth position on the 23rd lap into the runner-up slot by the 25th lap.

Dover had the luxury of a pair of lapped cars between himself and Wright on the lap 30 restart. That luxury was gone when the caution flew again for a stalled Tim Crawley with just three laps remaining.

With the four-time ASCS National champion on his tailtank, Dover admitted that, “I was nervous, I just kept telling myself ‘Stay calm, stay calm’.”

Wright wasted no time, challenging for the lead as soon as action resumed. But, with Wright working the low side and Dover up top, the red lights flickered on when Zach Chappell missed the turn three cushion and tumbled down the embankment. Chappell, who held down third for the initial eleven laps before slipping back, walked away uninjured.

Under the ensuing open red flag, Dover and crew made the right calls. “I told them to put a couple of rounds in it and they told me where to run.”

It worked, as Dover dashed away from Wright and company over the final three-lap charge to the stripe to secure the win. Wright settled for runner-up honors in Scott Brown’s ASI-powered Lubbock Wrecker Service No. 9x Maxim, with Rilat taking the show position in the Shark-powered F&J Construction No. 29 Triple-X.

Mired in ninth as late as the 23rd lap, defending Lucas Oil ASCS National champion Jason Johnson made a late charge to claim fourth in Lanny Row’s Wesmar-powered The Shop Motorsports No. 41 Eagle.

After cracking the Lucas Oil ASCS feature lineup for the first time in four 2009 tries, Jesse Hockett earned Hard Charger honors by racing from 22nd to round out the top five aboard the RMS-powered VKCC Motorsports/Tom Buch No. 13 JEI.

Wayne Johnson slipped to sixth at the stripe in Donnie Cooper’s No. 01 entry, with Shane Stewart clinging to a two-point lead over Wright in the $60,000 championship points chase by crossing the line in seventh.

Utilizing a promoter’s option to start the main event, Tony Bruce, Jr., blasted from 25th to eighth, picking up some extra cash but no extra points.

Danny Wood raced from 18th to ninth, while Brady Bacon gained a handful of positions to finish as the final car on the lead lap in tenth.

Wayne Johnson, Paul McMahan, Jason Johnson, Gary Taylor and Brian Brown topped Sunday night’s heat race action, with W. Johnson and Seth Bergman joining in on the redraw as the night’s top passing points earners. Saturday’s top four finishers left the front row open for Johnson and Bergman.

Nick Smith won the first 15-lap “B” Main, with Danny Wood topping the second “B” Main.

Kenneth Walker got upside down in turn two on the 11th lap of the first “B”, collecting Darren Long and Eric Baldaccini. On the restart, Matt Covington went for a wild ride in turn two after contact while battling for the third and final transfer position. There were no injuries, with Walker and Baldaccini both using provisionals for the main event.

Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters
Jetmore Motorplex – Jetmore, KS
Steve King Memorial Results:

Locked in From Saturday’s Preliminary Feature:

29-Travis Rilat, 57-Shane Stewart, e85-Zach Chappell, 53-Jack Dover.

Heat Races (Top 12 in Passing Points to “A” Main; Balance to 2 “B” Mains):

Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 01-Wayne Johnson, 2. 19-Joe McCarthy, 3. 12-Trey Robb, 4. 97h-Brian Herbert, 5. 97-Aaron Berryhill, 6. 87-Brian McClelland, 7. 13k-Kathryne Minter, 8. 72x-Steven Richardson. DNS: 11-Chad Corken.

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 3d-Paul McMahan, 2. 10a-Ricky Logan, 3. 15s-Nick Smith, 4. 94-Danny Wood, 5. 13-Jesse Hockett, 6. 0T-Jake Martens, 7. 0c-Derek Drown, 8. 85-Jerry Bell, 9. 4J-Lee Grosz.

Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2. 9x-Gary Wright, 3. 45x-C.J. Johnson, 4. 2-Kenneth Walker, 5. 51-Mike Peters, 6. 51x-Dave Hall, 7. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 8. 04-Brad Graham, 9. 27-Patrick Bourke.

Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 91-Gary Taylor, 2. 99-Brady Bacon, 3. 1x-Garry Lee Maier, 4. 72-Sherman Davis, 5. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 6. 81-Jon Freeman, 7. 1-Sean McClelland, 8. 33-Kris Miller, 9. 46-Dusty Murray.

Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown, 2. 88-Tim Crawley, 3. 23-Seth Bergman, 4. 55-Donnie Ray Crawford, 5. 81au-Gavin Punch, 6. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 7. 7-Darren Long, 8. 95-Matt Covington.

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

First “B” Feature (15 Laps): 1. 15s-Nick Smith, 2. 51-Mike Peters, 3. 19-Joe McCarthy, 4. 0c-Derek Drown, 5. 7-Darren Long, 6. 4J-Lee Grosz, 7. 04-Brad Graham, 8. 27-Patrick Bourke, 9. 95-Matt Covington, 10. 2-Kenneth Walker, 11. 81-Jon Freeman, 12. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 13. 0T-Jake Martens, 14. 51x-Dave Hall, 15. 72-Sherman Davis, 16. 45x-C.J. Johnson.

Second “B” Feature (15 Laps): 1. 94-Danny Wood, 2. 1x-Garry Lee Maier, 3. 13-Jesse Hockett, 4. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 5. 97-Aaron Berryhill, 6. 1-Sean McClelland, 7. 81au-Gavin Punch, 8. 55-Donnie Ray Crawford, 9. 11-Chad Corken, 10. 87-Brian McClelland, 11. 13k-Kathryne Minter, 12. 72x-Steven Richardson, 13. 33-Kris Miller, 14. 46-Dusty Murray, 15. 03-Joe Wood, Jr. DNS: 85-Jerry Bell.

Steve King Memorial “A” Main Event:

“A” Feature (35 Laps): 1. 53-Jack Dover, 2. 9x-Gary Wright, 3. 29-Travis Rilat, 4. 41-Jason Johnson, 5. 13-Jesse Hockett, 6. 01-Wayne Johnson, 7. 57-Shane Stewart, 8. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 9. 94-Danny Wood, 10. 99-Brady Bacon, 11. 15s-Nick Smith, 12. 91-Gary Taylor, 13. 23-Seth Bergman, 14. 88-Tim Crawley, 15. 21-Brian Brown, 16. 2-Kenneth Walker, 17. 3d-Paul McMahan, 18. e85-Zach Chappell, 19. 10a-Ricky Logan, 20. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 21. 97h-Brian Herbert, 22. 19-Joe McCarthy, 23. 1x-Garry Lee Maier, 24. 51-Mike Peters, 25. 12-Trey Robb.

Lap Leaders: Wayne Johnson 1-16, Jack Dover 17-35.

Note: Eric Baldaccini and Kenneth Walker utilized provisionals based on 2008 owner’s points to start the “A” Main. Tony Bruce, Jr., utilized a promoter’s provisional.

Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters Points (Top 20): 1. Shane Stewart 578, 2. Gary Wright 576, 3. Jason Johnson 574, 4. Danny Wood 520, 5. Travis Rilat 509, 6. Nick Smith 508, 7. Paul McMahan 506, 8. Jack Dover 501, 9. Zach Chappell 469, 10. Tim Crawley 453, 11. Tony Bruce, Jr. 447, 12. Eric Baldaccini 430, 13. Sean McClelland 427, 14. Joe Wood, Jr. 422, 15. Trey Robb 407, 16. Brady Bacon 398, 17. Brian Brown 370, 18. Kenneth Walker 368, 19. Jesse Hockett 365, 20. Matt Covington 357.

By Lonnie Wheatley

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