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Travis Rilat rules Sprint Bandits TNT at Devil’s Bowl

Travis Rilat didn’t have to travel too far for his first career Lucas Oil Sprint Bandits Tour ‘N Topless feature win, as he topped the first wingless, 410-ci Sprint Car feature contested atop the storied ½-mile Devil’s Bowl Speedway clay oval in nearly 22 years on Friday night.

Just 15 minutes away from his Forney, TX, home, Rilat led all 30 laps to take the $3,000 triumph in the www.ShopTheBoss.com No. 50off entry, the first wingless triumph for the past ASCS National Champion since an Ultimate Challenge victory in 2002.

It didn’t come without a stiff challenge however, as reigning Sprint Bandits TNT champion Brady Bacon pressured for the lead throughout, even surging ahead down the backstretch at one point in the final circuits.

“I knew someone was there, I couldn’t tell who it was though,” Rilat explained. “I was able to hit traffic right and work it the way I needed to keep ‘em behind me.”

After outdueling Ray Allen Kulhanek in his qualifying race to earn the pole starting position for the feature, Rilat outgunned fellow front row starter J.C. Bland for the lead at the drop of the green flag. Bland slipped off the backstretch on the opening round and fell to eighth, with the race’s only caution flying when Robert Ballou came to a stop in turn four with a cut tire.

Third-starter Jesse Hockett and fifth-starter Bacon were on Rilat’s tailtank on the lap two restart, with Bacon taking over second soon after.

Bacon kept Rilat in his sights all along, turning up the heat at the midway point as traffic factored into the equation.

Racing off the bottom of turn two, Bacon actually drove Mike and Megan Eubanks’ Wesmar-powered Tel-Star Communications No. 99 Triple X ahead of Rilat down the backstretch on the 26th lap. But Rilat had the preferred line getting into turn three to retain the lead and held steady to take the checkered flag with a two car-length advantage.

Hockett claimed the show position in the VKCC Motorsports No. 75, with Casey Shuman fourth in the R&B/Barnhill No. 10x.

Wayne Johnson rounded out the top five in Jack Yeley’s No. 2, with Matt Sherrell advancing seven positions from 13th to sixth. Justin Melton picked up a $500 bonus as the top finishing 360-ci powered entry by crossing the stripe as the final car on the lead lap in seventh. Ray Allen Kulhanek, Ballou and Bland completed the top ten.

Billy Melton utilized 360-ci power to win the first heat race, with Hockett stealing heat two away from Zach Chappell at the line and then Ballou holding off Bland in heat three. Bland bested the first qualifier, Wayne Johnson denied Hockett a second-consecutive last gasp victory in the second qualifier and Rilat got the best of Kulhanek in the third qualifier.

The Lucas Oil Sprint Bandits Tour ‘N Topless series moves on to Little Rock’s I-30 Speedway on Saturday night, with the TNT Front Row Challenge in effect potentially doubling the winner’s share should a front row starter accept the challenge and win from the tail of the field.

Lucas Oil Sprint Bandits Tour ‘N Topless Results
Devil’s Bowl Speedway:

Heat Races:

Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 87-Billy Melton, 2. 10x-Casey Shuman, 3. 99-Brady Bacon, 4. 2-Wayne Johnson, 5. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 6. 45-Martin Edwards, 7. 21-Russell Shoulders.

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 75-Jesse Hockett, 2. 50z-Zach Chappell, 3. 50-Travis Rilat, 4. 5*-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 5. 35-Matt Sherrell, 6. 16-Anthony Nicholson, 7. 7s-Tim Simmons.

Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 81-Robert Ballou, 2. 98-J.C. Bland, 3. 65-Skip Wilson, 4. 11-Justin Melton, 5. 22-Koby Barksdale, 6. 74e-Claud Estes, 7. 5m-Glenn Martin.

Qualifying Races:

Qualifier One (8 Laps): 1. 98-J.C. Bland, 2. 65-Skip Wilson, 3. 10x-Casey Shuman, 4. 87-Billy Melton, 5. 35-Matt Sherrell, 6. 16-Anthony Nicholson, 7. 5m-Glenn Martin.

Qualifier Two (8 Laps): 1. 2-Wayne Johnson, 2. 75-Jesse Hockett, 3. 99-Brady Bacon, 4. 11-Justin Melton, 5. 45-Martin Edwards, 6. 21-Russell Shoulders, 7. 22-Koby Barksdale.

Qualifier Three (8 Laps): 1. 50-Travis Rilat, 2. 5*-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 3. 50z-Zach Chappell, 4. 81-Robert Ballou, 5. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 6. 74e-Claud Estes, 7. 7s-Tim Simmons.

Devil’s Bowl Speedway Sprint Bandits TNT Main Event:

“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 50-Travis Rilat, 2. 99-Brady Bacon, 3. 75-Jesse Hockett, 4. 10x-Casey Shuman, 5. 2-Wayne Johnson, 6. 35-Matt Sherrell, 7. 11-Justin Melton, 8. 5*-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 9. 81-Robert Ballou, 10. 98-J.C. Bland, 11. 22-Koby Barksdale, 12. 87-Billy Melton, 13. 16-Anthony Nicholson, 14. 45-Martin Edwards, 15. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 16. 65-Skip Wilson, 17. 50z-Zach Chappell, 18. 74e-Claud Estes, 19. 5m-Glenn Martin, 20. 21-Russell Shoulders, 21. 7s-Tim Simmons.

Lap Leaders: Travis Rilat 1-30.

Lucas Oil Sprint Bandits TNT Points (Top 10): 1. Travis Rilat 280, 2. (tie) Jesse Hockett and Brady Bacon 277, 4. Robert Ballou 263, 5. Matt Sherrell 247, 6. Casey Shuman 236, 7. Ray Allen Kulhanek 235, 8. J.C. Bland 226, 9. Wayne Johnson 225, 10. Justin Melton 223.

Photos and story by Lonnie Wheatley

Robert Ballou bags ASCS Wingless Sprint Car win at Houston Raceway Park

Race fans in the Lone Star State hadn’t been exposed to the thrills of traditional Sprint Cars in over two decades.

They won’t forget what they witnessed in the return of 410-ci wingless Sprint Cars to Texas any time soon, as Robert Ballou edged Jesse Hockett and Brady Bacon in a thrilling three-wide charge to the checkered flag in Saturday night’s season-opening 30-lap Lucas Oil Sprint Bandits Tour ‘N Topless main event at Houston Raceway Park after Friday’s scheduled opener at Beaumont was rained out.

Ballou’s seventh career Sprint Bandits TNT triumph aboard Dallas Mulvaney’s MPHG Promotions No. 81 Triple-X seemed a longshot at best after getting upside down in a wild heat race incident.

“It bent the front end over a good inch-and-a-half or so, we just got it back together as good as we could,” Ballou explained. “I really don’t know how it worked so well in the feature.”

After heat race and qualifying race action, the Rocklin, CA, native that now calls Indiana home found himself seven rows deep in the 13th starting position with Travis Rilat and reigning TNT champion Brady Bacon leading the way to the green flag.

Ballou was joined deep in the field early on by Hockett, who spun in turn four while running third on the third lap, thus setting the stage for what ultimately proved to be a three-wide scramble off the final corner for the checkered flag and $3,000 winner’s share that went with it.

Rilat, who first won his heat race and then made a last corner pass of Justin Melton to win his qualifier to earn the pole aboard the www.shoptheboss.com No. 50off entry, gunned into the early lead and paced the early laps in front of Bacon.

Casey Shuman moved past Ray Allen Kulhanek for third by the fifth round but surrendered the position under a lap eight stoppage with a broken fuel line. Shuman rejoined the field at the tail, only to have a similar problem end his race after 19 laps.

The feature’s initial red flag appeared for Jimmy Brooks, who jumped the cushion and went for a wild ride in turn two with eight laps in the books. On the restart, fourth-running Justin Melton did the same in turn three to bring out another red flag. Both drivers were uninjured.

Ballou was up to fourth after the pair of red flags and disposed of Kulhanek for third soon after action resumed, with Hockett steadily working his way through the field as well with Rilat and Bacon leading the way.

Bacon began pressuring Rilat for the lead at the midway point and never eased up, with Ballou joining in on the lead battle after the race’s final caution flew for Shuman on the 19th lap.

The battle soon became a four-way joust for the point, as Hockett charged past Matt Sherrell for fourth on the lap 19 restart and set his sights on the lead.

Rilat fended off his trio of challengers as long as he could until Bacon finally battled in front on the 23rd lap with Ballou and Hockett following suit over the next pair of rounds. “We made some changes on that red flag to try to loosen the car up and we just weren’t as good after that,” Rilat explained afterward.

With Bacon sticking to the low side in Mike and Megan Eubanks’ Wesmar-powered Tel-Star Communications No. 99 Triple-X, Ballou pounded the cushion in an effort to edge ahead as Hockett stuck the VKCC Motorsports No. 75 in the middle of the battle.

“I went for a tearoff with about five to go and there weren’t any left, so I just used my hand to clear my shield as much as I could, I just had to go for it up there,” Ballou explained.

Ballou finally edged ahead exiting turn four to take the white flag, setting up an epic final-lap duel. The trio diced for the top position over the final 3/8 of a mile, racing in formation off the final corner with Ballou mere inches ahead of Hockett, who was in turn perhaps a foot ahead of Bacon.

Hockett narrowly missed out on the spin-and-win, while Bacon fell one win off Ballou’s TNT total after the pair entered with six wins each.

“I was thinking it was about time to go to the top, I was about to go up there and then it was too late,” Bacon explained afterward.

Rilat slipped to fourth at the stripe, while Matt Sherrell rounded out the top five in just his second career wingless 410-ci Sprint Car outing.

Zach Chappell was sixth, with Ray Allen Kulhanek in seventh after racing among the top five much of the way.

Illinois shoe J.C. Bland edged Anthony Nicholson at the stripe for eighth, with Nicholson’s trip from Memphis netting a $500 bonus as the top-finishing 360-ci powerplant to bring his night’s take to more than $1,000.

Jake Simmons completed the top ten.

Nicholson and Rilat won the heat races, with Shuman and Rilat topping the qualifying races.

The Lucas Oil Sprint Bandits Tour ‘N Topless series returns to action next Friday night, May 7, at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, TX, before moving on to Little Rock’s I-30 Speedway for the TNT Front Row Challenge on Saturday night, May 8.

Lucas Oil Sprint Bandits Tour ‘N Topless Results
Houston Raceway Park:

Heat Races:

Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 16-Anthony Nicholson, 2. 99-Brady Bacon, 3. 5*-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 4. 50z-Zach Chappell, 5. 11-Justin Melton, 6. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 7. 7s-Jake Simmons, 8. 17-Channin Tankersley, 9. 51-Jimmy Brooks.

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 50-Travis Rilat, 2. 98-J.C Bland, 3. 75-Jesse Hockett, 4. 10x-Casey Shuman, 5. 2-Wayne Johnson, 6. 35-Matt Sherrell, 7. 81-Robert Ballou, 8. 99x-Leon Bacon. DNS: 8tw-Kent Lewis, Jr.

Qualifying Races:

Qualifier One (8 Laps): 1. 10x-Casey Shuman, 2. 75-Jesse Hockett, 3. 99-Brady Bacon, 4. 35-Matt Sherrell, 5. 50z-Zach Chappell, 6. 98-J.C. Bland, 7. 81-Robert Ballou, 8. 99x-Leon Bacon, 9. 17-Channin Tankersley.

Qualifier Two (8 Laps): 1. 50-Travis Rilat, 2. 11-Justin Melton, 3. 5*-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 4. 16-Anthony Nicholson, 5. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 6. 7s-Jake Simmons, 7. 51-Jimmy Brooks, 8. 2-Wayne Johnson. DNS: 8tw-Kent Lewis, Jr.

Houston Raceway Park Sprint Bandits TNT Main Event:

“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 81-Robert Ballou, 2. 75-Jesse Hockett, 3. 99-Brady Bacon, 4. 50-Travis Rilat, 5. 35-Matt Sherrell, 6. 50z-Zach Chappell, 7. 5*-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 8. 98-J.C. Bland, 9. 16-Anthony Nicholson, 10. 7s-Jake Simmons, 11. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 12. 10x-Casey Shuman, 13. 11-Justin Melton, 14. 51-Jimmy Brooks, 15. 2-Wayne Johnson, 16. 99x-Leon Bacon, 17. 17-Channin Tankersley, 18. 8tw-Kent Lewis, Jr.

Lap Leaders: Travis Rilat 1-22, Brady Bacon 23-28, Robert Ballou 29-30.

Lucas Oil Sprint Bandits TNT Points (Top 10): 1. Robert Ballou 150, 2. Jesse Hockett 142, 3. Brady Bacon 135, 4. Travis Rilat 130, 5. Matt Sherrell 125, 6. Zach Chappell 122, 7. Ray Allen Kulhanek 119, 8. J.C. Bland 116, 9. Anthony Nicholson 113, 10. Jake Simmons 110.

By Lonnie Wheatley, ASCS

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

Gary “The Texan” Wright nails ASCS Gulf South win at Golden Triangle Raceway Park

The American Sprint Car Series Gulf South Region opened up the 2010 season in much the same way as 2009, with Gary Wright standing in victory lane at Golden Triangle Raceway Park.

For the second year in a row, “The Texan” topped the $3,000-to-win, 25-lap Prelude to the Gulf Coast Nationals to launch the season for the ASCS Gulf South Region atop the Golden Triangle clay.

However, rather than wait for the last lap to make the winning move like last year, Wright gunned into the lead at the outset aboard Scott Brown’s ASI-powered Lubbock Wrecker Service/The Shop No. 9x Maxim and never looked back en route to a third ASCS Gulf South season opening win.

“As heavy as the track was tonight, it was real easy to get in trouble in traffic or really anywhere,” Wright explained. “We got lucky tonight and stayed out of trouble, we’ll get cleaned up and try to get another one tomorrow.”

A move past Tommy Bryant and Bruce Crockett in the final two laps of his heat race landed Wright in the redraw. And when he drew the number one pill, that may have been all the luck the four-time Lucas Oil National Sprint Car champion needed.

Weathering three red flag periods over the initial four circuits, including a pair on the initial two starts, Wright paced the early circuits in front of fellow front row starter Klint Angelette before Travis Rilat, Ricky Logan and Jesse Hockett freight trained the 16-year-old on a lap five restart.

After one final caution after nine circuits for Dustin Morgan’s turn four spin, the final 16 rounds ran off in non-stop fashion with Wright distancing himself from the field while lapping well into the top ten.

Rilat held off several challenges from Logan over the latter portion of the race for runner-up honors, with Logan settling for the show position. Hockett advanced from ninth in the early rounds to snare fourth, with Tony Bruce, Jr., rounding out the top five.

Brady Bacon crossed the stripe sixth, making it a sweep of the top six positions by prospective Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters championship contenders.

Brian Brown crossed the stripe in seventh, with two-time ASCS Gulf South champ Brandon Berryman the final car on the lead lap in eighth, just ahead of fellow Gulf South shoes Wes Miller and Scottie McDonald.

The initial attempt to start the main event was waved off for a Jimmy Brooks tumble in turn one, with the second start going red as well when reigning ASCS Gulf South champ Aaron Reutzel launched out of the park in turn two. Four laps later, Tommy Bryant tumbled in turn two as well. There were no injuries.

Brown, Angelette, Brooks, Wright and Morgan topped heat race action for the 37-car field, with Berryman and Reutzel winning the twin “B” Mains.

American Sprint Car Series Gulf South Region Results from Golden Triangle Raceway Park:

Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown, 2. 61-Travis Knighton, 3. 93-Chris Sweeney, 4. 31-Brandon Berryman, 5. 12b-Logan Bledsoe, 6. 3-Gary Watson, 7. 28-James Cooper, 8. 3T-Tyler King.

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 19-Klint Angelette, 2. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 3. 75-Jesse Hockett, 4. 15T-Travis Elliott, 5. 74-Brandon Corn, 6. C41-Wayne Johnson, 7. 14-Michael Lang, 8. 35-Greg Rilat.

Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 51-Jimmy Brooks, 2. 51w-Wes Miller, 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 4. 99-Brady Bacon, 5. 00-Michael Dupuy, 6. 4m-Michael Miller, 7. 52-Roger Oakes.

Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 9x-Gary Wright, 2. 8-Bruce Crockett, 3. 10-Ricky Logan, 4. 85-Tommy Bryant, 5. 87x-Billy Melton, 6. 17-Bruce Griffith, Jr., 7. 51s-Beau Smith.

Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 93x-Dustin Morgan, 2. 29-Travis Rilat, 3. 71-Channin Tankersley, 4. 88-Scottie McDonald, 5. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 6. 76-John Ricketts, 7. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek.

First “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 31-Brandon Berryman, 2. 93-Chris Sweeney, 3. C41-Wayne Johnson, 4. 12b-Logan Bledsoe, 5. 87x-Billy Melton, 6. 3-Gary Watson, 7. 35-Greg Rilat, 8. 28-James Cooper, 9. 51s-Beau Smith, 10. 4m-Michael Miller, 11. 15T-Travis Elliott. DNS: 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek.

Second “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 2. 85-Tommy Bryant, 3. 74-Brandon Corn, 4. 00-Michael Dupuy, 5. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 6. 76-John Ricketts, 7. 14-Michael Lang, 8. 52-Roger Oakes, 9. 3T-Tyler King, 10. 71-Channin Tankersley, 11. 17-Bruce Griffith, Jr.

“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 9x-Gary Wright, 2. 29-Travis Rilat, 3. 10-Ricky Logan, 4. 75-Jesse Hockett, 5. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 6. 99-Brady Bacon, 7. 21-Brian Brown, 8. 31-Brandon Berryman, 9. 51w-Wes Miller, 10. 88-Scottie McDonald, 11. 93x-Dustin Morgan, 12. 19-Klint Angelette, 13. 61-Travis Knighton, 14. 74-Brandon Corn, 15. 93-Chris Sweeney, 16. 85-Tommy Bryant, 17. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 18. C41-Wayne Johnson, 19. 51-Jimmy Brooks, 20. 8-Bruce Crockett (DNS).

ASCS Gulf South Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Gary Wright 150, 2. Travis Rilat 142, 3. Ricky Logan 135, 4. Jesse Hockett 130, 5. Tony Bruce, Jr. 125, 6. Brady Bacon 122, 7. Brian Brown 119, 8. Brandon Berryman 116, 9. Wes Miller 113, 10. Scottie McDonald 110.

By Lonnie Wheatley
Photos courtesy ASCS

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.

Texan Travis Rilat pockets $10,092 in ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series “Brownfield Memorial”

The inaugural weekend of competition for the Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters within the State of Washington concluded with Forney, TX, shoe Travis Rilat collecting the $10,092 winner’s share in Saturday night’s 35-lap Third Annual Fred Brownfield Memorial at Grays Harbor Raceway.

But, after setting the pace for the initial 32 laps, it looked as if it would be a night of heartbreak for Rilat when Friday night winner Roger Crockett rocketed into the lead and sailed to the checkered flag.

“I just messed up there, I knew better and I still missed my line getting into one on that last restart and Roger was there to take advantage,” Rilat explained afterward.

The explanation came from victory lane though with the past ASCS National champion taking the victory after Crockett rolled across the scales seven pounds shy of the 1,475 pound minimum weight requirement.

“This isn’t the way we wanted to win, but we’ll definitely take the ten-thousand and ninety-two dollars,” Rilat smiled after his second Lucas Oil win of the year and 24th National score of his career.

“It’s great to win up here in front of the Shark Engine and Triple-X Chassis guys, they make sure we have good stuff to work with and I’m glad we got to show ‘em what we can do,” Rilat commented.

After chasing Crockett to the stripe in Friday night’s preliminary feature, Rilat started Saturday night’s main event from the pole position with Crockett alongside. And, while Rilat gunned into the lead at the outset, he had his hands full with Crockett throughout.

The duo battled for the lead virtually the entire distance, racing through traffic much of the way. But, after a pair of cautions in the final half of the race, Rilat appeared to have Crockett cleared.

One final caution with just three laps to go gave Oregon’s Crockett one last shot. And, when Rilat drifted high into one, Crockett took quick advantage and raced into the lead for keeps. It proved to be all for naught, however, when Crockett’s mount proved too light at the scales.

Not only did the disqualification cost Crockett the prestigious victory, it also negated a second consecutive ASCS Northwest Speedweek championship. Missouri’s Jesse Hockett, who won the opening three legs of ASCS Northwest Speedweek, claimed the crown despite a 20th-place finish in Saturday’s finale after turn two trouble on the 16th round while running seventh.

Chasing Rilat’s F&J Construction No. 29 across the line was defending series champion Jason Johnson, who battled past Travis Rutz in the final rounds to snare runner-up honors in Lanny Row’s Wesmar-powered The Shop Motorsports No. 41 Eagle.

“I just wish we could of got up there to contend for the win, we just couldn’t quite get there,” Johnson explained.

Rutz earned the show position in the Rudeen Racing No. 26 entry, commenting that, “Trading sliders back and forth with guys like Jason Johnson and Travis Rilat, that was a blast.”

Racing forward from 15th, Gary Wright snuck by Tim Crawley in the final corner to snare fourth in Scott Brown’s ASI-powered Lubbock Wrecker Service No. 9x Maxim.

Crawley rounded out the top five in Mike Ward’s McCarver-powered Boater Sports No. 88 Maxim, with Tony Bruce, Jr., crossing the stripe in sixth.

After utilizing a provisional to start the main event, Washington native Gary Taylor charged from 23rd to seventh, with 19th-starter Shane Stewart, 17th-starter Wayne Johnson and 20th-starter Paul McMahan completing the top ten.

Jason Solwold was battling for third throughout with Rutz and Johnson before tangling with a lapped car just seven laps shy of the checkered flag.

Hockett, Jared Peterson, Mike Melwicks, Sean McClelland and Danny Wood topped Saturday night’s heat race action, with W. Johnson, Jay Cole and Stewart winning the “B” Mains.

J.J. Hickle’s night came to an end after flipping in the opening corner of the night’s fifth and final heat race. Chad Groves got upside down in turn two in the night’s third “B” Main. There were no injuries.

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

Locked in from Friday Night’s Preliminary Feature:

11c-Roger Crockett, 29-Travis Rilat, 88-Tim Crawley, 41-Jason Johnson.

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

Heat One (10 Laps): 1. 13-Jesse Hockett, 2. 9j-J.J. Dishneau, 3. 26-Travis Rutz, 4. 08-Steve Vague, 5. 12-Jared Ridge, 6. 23-Seth Bergman, 7. 6-Jayme Barnes, 8. 11-Chad Corken, 9. 72-Glenn Borden, 10. 2-Kenneth Walker.

Heat Two (10 Laps): 1. 9p-Jared Peterson, 2. 9x-Gary Wright, 3. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 4. 33v-Henry Van Dam, 5. 0j-Jay Cole, 6. 15c-Cody Anderlini, 7. 53-Jack Dover, 8. 7k-Danny Kirkpatrick, 9. 15j-Jeff Dunlap. DNS: 81au-Gavin Punch.

Heat Three (10 Laps): 1. 2m-Mike Melwicks, 2. 94T-Steven Tiner, 3. 3d-Paul McMahan, 4. 25c-Chad Groves, 5. 76-Shawn Rice, 6. 12p-Randy Pierce, 7. 44w-Austen Wheatley, 8. 4-Nick Engberg, 9. 96-Mack Brown.

Heat Four (10 Laps): 1. 1-Sean McClelland, 2. 57-Shane Stewart, 3. 35a-Wayne Johnson, 4. 18T-Travis Jacobson, 5. 98m-Mitch Olson, 6. 23T-Colin Baker, 7. 5h-Justyn Cox, 8. 21w-Vern Wheeler, 9. 15d-Dan Dunlap.

Heat Five (10 Laps): 1. 94-Danny Wood, 2. 51-Jason Solwold, 3. 91-Gary Taylor, 4. 29v-Robbie Vaughn, 5. 94z-Zach Zimmerly, 6. 7-Darren Long, 7. 33-Nate Morelock, 8. 6m-Phillip Del Rosa, 9. 7a-J.J. Hickle.

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

First “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 35a-Wayne Johnson, 2. 3d-Paul McMahan, 3. 29v-Robbie Vaughn, 4. 08-Steve Vague, 5. 7-Darren Long, 6. 2-Kenneth Walker, 7. 7k-Danny Kirkpatrick, 8. 23T-Colin Baker, 9. 15c-Cody Anderlini, 10. 72-Glenn Borden, 11. 96-Mack Brown, 12. 33-Nate Morelock.

Second “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 0j-Jay Cole, 2. 33v-Henry Van Dam, 3. 94T-Steven Tiner, 4. 91-Gary Taylor, 5. 6-Jayme Barnes, 6. 98m-Mitch Olson, 7. 4-Nick Engberg, 8. 12p-Randy Pierce, 9. 5h-Justyn Cox, 10. 6m-Phillip Del Rosa, 11. 15j-Jeff Dunlap. DNS: 81au-Gavin Punch.

Third “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 57-Shane Stewart, 2. 53-Jack Dover, 3. 11-Chad Corken, 4. 76-Shawn Rice, 5. 44w-Austen Wheatley, 6. 21w-Vern Wheeler, 7. 23-Seth Bergman, 8. 94z-Zach Zimmerly, 9. 25c-Chad Groves, 10. 15d-Dan Dunlap. DNS: 7a-J.J. Hickle.

Third Annual Fred Brownfield Memorial “A” Main Event:

“A” Feature (35 Laps): 1. 29-Travis Rilat, 2. 41-Jason Johnson, 3. 26-Travis Rutz, 4. 9x-Gary Wright, 5. 88-Tim Crawley, 6. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 7. 91-Gary Taylor, 8. 57-Shane Stewart, 9. 35a-Wayne Johnson, 10. 3d-Paul McMahan, 11. 18T-Travis Jacobson, 12. 0j-Jay Cole, 13. 2m-Mike Melwicks, 14. 9p-Jared Peterson, 15. 33v-Henry Van Dam, 16. 12-Jared Ridge, 17. 9j-J.J. Dishneau, 18. 51-Jason Solwold, 19. 94-Danny Wood, 20. 13-Jesse Hockett, 21. 53-Jack Dover, 22. 7-Darren Long, 23. 1-Sean McClelland, 24. 11c-Roger Crockett (Disqualified; weighed in below required minimum).

Lap Leaders: Travis Rilat 1-32, Roger Crockett 33-35.

Note: Gary Taylor and Darren Long utilized Lucas Oil ASCS provisionals to start the “A” Main.

Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters Points (Top 20): 1. (tie) Jason Johnson and Gary Wright 1,420, 3. Shane Stewart 1,394, 4. Travis Rilat 1,339, 5. Tim Crawley 1,311, 6. Tony Bruce, Jr. 1,279, 7. Paul McMahan 1,278, 8. Danny Wood 1,238, 9. Jack Dover 1,205, 10. Jesse Hockett 1,163, 11. Sean McClelland 1,058, 12. Gary Taylor 1,024, 13. Darren Long 943, 14. Kenneth Walker 912, 15. Chad Corken 892, 16. Nick Smith 870, 17. Gavin Punch 847, 18. Seth Bergman 832, 19. Brady Bacon 752, 20. Ricky Logan 639.

ASCS Northwest Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Jared Ridge 1,544, 2. Steven Tiner 1,536, 3. Roger Crockett 1,530, 4. Mitch Olson 1,458, 5. Henry VanDam 1,449, 6. Chad Groves 1,369, 7. Randy Pierce 1,246, 8. Justyn Cox 1,203, 9. Jay Cole 954, 10. Colin Baker 953.

ASCS Northwest Speedweek Points (Top Ten through Round Five of Five): 1. Jesse Hockett 696, 2. Roger Crockett 674, 3. Jared Ridge 658, 4. Jay Cole 648, 5. Wayne Johnson 625, 6. Steven Tiner 619, 7. Henry Van Dam 581, 8. Mitch Olson 577, 9. Mike Melwicks 565, 10. Chad Groves 530.

by Lonnie Wheatley

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

Tim Crawley conquers ASCS in Rock ‘N Roll 50 to sweep series return to Riverside

Arkansas ace Tim Crawley completed a weekend sweep of the Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters much-anticipated return to Riverside Speedway by winning Saturday night’s Rock ‘N Roll 50 championship feature event atop the storied ¼-mile gumbo clay oval.

The three-time Lucas Oil ASCS National champion wrestled the lead away from Justin Sturch on the 31st round en route to topping the first 50-lapper in series history, collecting the $6,000 winner’s share and a nifty Gibson Les Paul guitar event trophy with the VERSUS cameras catching all the action.

“What a great weekend!” Crawley exclaimed in victory lane. “Last night it was pretty much wide open, but tonight was more about being patient and waiting for the right time to make that move.”

After racing from eleventh to win Friday night’s preliminary feature, Crawley drew the pole position for Saturday night’s 50-lap finale. But, it was Justin Sturch gunning into the lead at the outset from the front row outside after racing his way into the six-car redraw by ranking among the night’s top two earners in passing points.

Sturch paced 30 rounds before Crawley snuck underneath entering turn one on the 31st circuit and never looked back, ultimately taking the checkered flag aboard Mike Ward’s McCarver-powered Boater Sports No. 88 Maxim with a comfortable straightaway advantage.

“Justin (Sturch) drove a strong race, but he left one hole open and I was there to plug it,” Crawley explained. “We owe David McCarver a lot of credit on this one, he busted his tail to have an engine ready for tonight.”

While Crawley cruised out front in the waning laps, event promoter Tony Bruce, Jr., slipped around Sturch in the closing circuits to snare runner-up honors in the Rider-powered Sundial Tee Shirts/AMC Plumbing No. 18 Maxim.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been this worn out in my life,” the Kansas shoe commented upon climbing out of his mount on a muggy night next to the Mississippi River after piling 50 laps upon double duty as racer and promoter. “It’s worth it though, it was a great race and we look forward to doing this every year.”

Sturch, the reigning track champion at Little Rock’s I-30 Speedway, settled for his best career Lucas Oil ASCS finish by taking third in his No. 9 entry, commenting that, “We were just getting way too loose there at the end, we’re satisfied with what we got. I was a little concerned that we were about to get freight-trained, but I think a lot of the other guys had the same problem.”

Gary Wright battled forward from 11th to earn fourth in Scott Brown’s ASI-powered Lubbock Wrecker Service/Richwood Construction No. 9x Maxim to take over the series points lead by six markers over Jason Johnson and Shane Stewart, who are now tied for second.

Jesse Hockett battled amongst the lead handful of cars throughout, ultimately rounding out the top five in the RMS-powered VKCC Motorsports/Tom Buch No. 13 JEI.

Gary Taylor advanced a half dozen positions to finish sixth, with Jan Howard, Nick Smith, Shane Stewart and 23rd-starter Jason Johnson completing the top ten.

The feature event ran off with four yellow flags and two reds. The first yellow flew after two laps when third-starter Darren Long looped it in turn one. Two laps later, Paul McMahan came to a stop in turn three with engine woes.

Chad Corken tumbled in turn two on the ninth lap to bring out the first red flag, with Brady Bacon spinning to a stop in turn two with 16 laps in the books. After Dustin Morgan coasted to a stop with mechanical issues after 36 laps, Travis Rilat got upside down in turn two three laps later after running among the top five throughout. Terry Gray and Danny Wood were collected in the melee, with Gray forced pitside along with Rilat.

A pair of drivers used provisionals to start the main event, including reigning series champion Jason Johnson and Nebraska’s Jack Dover.

After tangling with Ricky Logan and flipping in turn four on the opening lap of the night’s sixth and final heat race, Johnson used his first provisional of the year after being unable to transfer from his “B” Main.

Struggling in his heat and “B” Main, Dover regrouped to race from 24th to eleventh to garner the R.E. Technologies Young Gun of the Race award, presented to the night’s top finisher under 21 years of age. Don Young claimed Friday night’s Young Gun award.

With 50 cars on hand for Saturday night’s Rock ‘N Roll 50, Wright, Marshall Skinner, Taylor, Jan Howard, Smith and Stewart topped heat race action. Matt Covington, Danny Wood and Paul McMahan won the “B” Mains.

Gavin Punch slipped too high exiting turn two in the second “B” Main and flipped after tagging the wall. Punch walked away uninjured, as did the night’s other flip victims.

Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters
Riverside Speedway – West Memphis, AR
Rock ‘N Roll 50 Preliminary Event Results

Heat Races (Top 16 in Passing Points to “A” Main; Balance to 2 “B” Mains):

Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 29-Travis Rilat, 2. 81au-Gavin Punch, 3. 88-Tim Crawley, 4. 12d-Jeff Swindell, 5. 75-Don Young, 6. 53-Jack Dover, 7. 7-Darren Long, 8. 15s-Nick Smith, 9. 85-Jerry Bell.

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 40-Ernie Ainsworth, 2. 13-Jesse Hockett, 3. 6-Raymond Stull, 4. 23-Seth Bergman, 5. 4x-Jan Howard, 6. 7n-Philip Faulkner, 7. 13k-Kathryne Minter, 8. 93-Dustin Morgan, 9. 51-Lee Sowell.

Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 99-Brady Bacon, 2. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 3. 41-Jason Johnson, 4. 9x-Gary Wright, 5. 8z-Zach Pringle, 6. 11-Chad Corken, 7. 3d-Paul McMahan, 8. 91-Gary Taylor, 9. 22-Kevin Kilpatrick.

Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 1e-Eddie Gallagher, 2. 39-Brad Bowden, 3. 2-Kenneth Walker, 4. 8x-Chris Williams, 5. 17-Tim Sites, 6. 58-Wade Oliver, 7. 1-Sean McClelland, 8. 97-Aaron Berryhill. DNS: 44-Ronny Howard.

Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 45-Dale Howard, 2. 9-Justin Sturch, 3. 94-Danny Wood, 4. 57-Shane Stewart, 5. 3-A.G. Rains, 6. 95-Matt Covington, 7. 10a-Ricky Logan, 8. 12-Trey Robb.

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

First “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 12d-Jeff Swindell, 2. 94-Danny Wood, 3. 3-A.G. Rains, 4. 95-Matt Covington, 5. 3d-Paul McMahan, 6. 7-Darren Long, 7. 11-Chad Corken, 8. 15s-Nick Smith, 9. 17-Tim Sites, 10. 51-Lee Sowell, 11. 7n-Philip Faulkner, 12. 22-Kevin Kilpatrick. DNS: 4x-Jan Howard, 93-Dustin Morgan.

Second “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 53-Jack Dover, 2. 8z-Zach Pringle, 3. 57-Shane Stewart, 4. 8x-Chris Williams, 5. 1-Sean McClelland, 6. 23-Seth Bergman, 7. 10a-Ricky Logan, 8. 91-Gary Taylor, 9. 44-Ronny Howard, 10. 13k-Kathryne Minter, 11. 12-Trey Robb, 12. 85-Jerry Bell, 13. 58-Wade Oliver. DNS: 97-Aaron Berryhill.

Rock N’ Roll 50 Preliminary “A” Main Event:

“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 88-Tim Crawley, 2. 29-Travis Rilat, 3. 13-Jesse Hockett, 4. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 5. 9x-Gary Wright, 6. 45-Dale Howard, 7. 41-Jason Johnson, 8. 57-Shane Stewart, 9. 3d-Paul McMahan, 10. 40-Ernie Ainsworth, 11. 3-A.G. Rains, 12. 2-Kenneth Walker, 13. 12d-Jeff Swindell, 14. 9-Justin Sturch, 15. 39-Brad Bowden, 16. 75-Don Young, 17. 15s-Nick Smith, 18. 6-Raymond Stull, 19. 94-Danny Wood, 20. 1e-Eddie Gallagher, 21. 8z-Zach Pringle, 22. 81au-Gavin Punch, 23. 99-Brady Bacon, 24. 53-Jack Dover.

Lap Leaders: Tony Bruce, Jr. 1-17, Tim Crawley 18-30.

Note: Paul McMahan and Nick Smith utilized Lucas Oil ASCS provisionals to start the “A” Main. It was McMahan’s first of the year and Smith’s second of the year.

Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters
Riverside Speedway – West Memphis, AR
Rock ‘N Roll 50 Results

Locked in From Friday Night’s Preliminary Feature:

88-Tim Crawley, 29-Travis Rilat, 13-Jesse Hockett, 18-Tony Bruce, Jr.

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

Heat One (10 Laps): 1. 9x-Gary Wright, 2. 12-Trey Robb, 3. 95-Matt Covington, 4. 39-Brad Bowden, 5. 12d-Jeff Swindell, 6. 6-Raymond Stull, 7. 53-Jack Dover, 8. 75-Don Young.

Heat Two (10 Laps): 1. 26-Marshall Skinner, 2. 40r-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 3. 1-Sean McClelland, 4. 10-Terry Gray, 5. 16-Anthony Nicholson, 6. 2-Kenneth Walker, 7. 51-Lee Sowell, 8. 3-A.G. Rains.

Heat Three (10 Laps): 1. 91-Gary Taylor, 2. 7-Darren Long, 3. 94-Danny Wood, 4. 7n-Philip Faulkner, 5. 23-Seth Bergman, 6. 45-Dale Howard, 7. 8x-Chris Williams, 8. 17-Tim Sites.

Heat Four (10 Laps): 1. 4x-Jan Howard, 2. 58-Wade Oliver, 3. 99-Brady Bacon, 4. 40-Ernie Ainsworth, 5. 78-Henry Gustavus, 6. 97-Aaron Berryhill, 7. 16p-Dewayne Prince, 8. 44-Ronny Howard.

Heat Five (10 Laps): 1. 15s-Nick Smith, 2. 3d-Paul McMahan, 3. 1e-Eddie Gallagher, 4. 8z-Zach Pringle, 5. 2T-Todd Fayard, 6. 22-Kevin Kilpatrick, 7. 85-Jerry Bell.

Heat Six (10 Laps): 1. 57-Shane Stewart, 2. 9-Justin Sturch, 3. 11-Chad Corken, 4. 93-Dustin Morgan, 5. 81au-Gavin Punch, 6. 10a-Ricky Logan, 7. 41-Jason Johnson.

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

First “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington, 2. 11-Chad Corken, 3. 10a-Ricky Logan, 4. 12-Trey Robb, 5. 22-Kevin Kilpatrick, 6. 97-Aaron Berryhill, 7. 41-Jason Johnson, 8. 39-Brad Bowden, 9. 16-Anthony Nicholson, 9. 7n-Philip Faulkner, 10. 17-Tim Sites, 11. 44-Ronny Howard.

Second “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 94-Danny Wood, 2. 40r-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 3. 40-Ernie Ainsworth, 4. 8z-Zach Pringle, 5. 6-Raymond Stull, 6. 53-Jack Dover, 7. 75-Don Young, 8. 8x-Chris Williams, 9. 85-Jerry Bell, 10. 2T-Todd Fayard, 11. 81au-Gavin Punch.

Third “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 3d-Paul McMahan, 2. 1-Sean McClelland, 3. 12d-Jeff Swindell, 4. 1e-Eddie Gallagher, 5. 2-Kenneth Walker, 6. 51-Lee Sowell, 7. 16p-Dewayne Prince, 8. 45-Dale Howard, 9. 23-Seth Bergman, 10. 78-Henry Gustavus, 11. 3-A.G. Rains.

Rock N’ Roll 50 “A” Main Event:

“A” Feature (50 Laps): 1. 88-Tim Crawley, 2. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 3. 9-Justin Sturch, 4. 9x-Gary Wright, 5. 13-Jesse Hockett, 6. 91-Gary Taylor, 7. 4x-Jan Howard, 8. 15s-Nick Smith, 9. 57-Shane Stewart, 10. 41-Jason Johnson, 11. 53-Jack Dover, 12. 40r-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 13. 7-Darren Long, 14. 1-Sean McClelland, 15. 94-Danny Wood, 16. 95-Matt Covington, 17. 29-Travis Rilat, 18. 10-Terry Gray, 19. 93-Dustin Morgan, 20. 26-Marshall Skinner, 21. 58-Wade Oliver, 22. 99-Brady Bacon, 23. 11-Chad Corken, 24. 3d-Paul McMahan.

Lap Leaders: Justin Sturch 1-30, Tim Crawley 31-50.

Note: Jason Johnson and Jack Dover 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 996, 2. (tie) Jason Johnson and Shane Stewart 990, 4. Travis Rilat 899, 5. Paul McMahan 882, 6. Tim Crawley 881, 7. Danny Wood 872, 8. Jack Dover 871, 9. Nick Smith 870, 10. Tony Bruce, Jr. 869, 11. Jesse Hockett 785, 12. Brady Bacon 752, 13. Sean McClelland 728, 14. Gary Taylor 666, 15. Kenneth Walker 644, 16. Trey Robb 632, 17. (tie) Aaron Berryhill and Matt Covington 625, 19. Darren Long 607, 20. Gavin Punch 599.

by Lonnie Wheatley

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