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

March 20, 2010

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.

Living Legend Sammy Swindell with yet another feature win

Living Legend Sammy Swindell with yet another feature win

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

October 18, 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.

Kevin Ramey celebrates his first Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series victory of 2009 by winning Sunday's 36th Annual Devil's Bowl Winter Nationals

Kevin Ramey celebrates his first Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series victory of 2009 by winning Sunday's 36th Annual Devil's Bowl Winter Nationals

“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

World of Outlaws $12k-to-win event coming to Lone Star Speedway on October 24th

October 15, 2009

In what is shaping up to be the biggest event of the season at Lone Star Speedway in Kilgore, Texas, the inaugural WoO Fest for the World of Outlaws has gotten even bigger, as track owners Sam and Lisa Hafertepe have increased the purse for the event on Saturday, October 24 with $12,000 now awaiting the winner of the 30-lap A-Feature.

WoO stars Donny Schatz (15) and Jason Meyers getting it on earlier this season at LSS - Photo by Boyd Adams

WoO stars Donny Schatz (15) and Jason Meyers getting it on earlier this season at LSS - Photo by Boyd Adams

The World of Outlaws returned to Lone Star Speedway earlier this season for the first time since 2004 and played to the largest crowd in the history of the blazing fast half-mile. Since that visit, the track has been resurfaced with new clay making it even faster, along with the completion of numerous other ongoing projects to the grounds and facility at Lone Star Speedway.

“We’re really looking forward to WoO Fest,” said Sam Hafertepe. “It should be a great night of racing and we have all kinds of games and prizes for the kids as well. We have gained so much knowledge this season and learned so much back in the spring with our first World of Outlaws race. It’s going to be a big night and we are very excited for it.”

Joey Saldana was victorious at Lone Star Speedway back on April 10 to put his name in the record books as just the third driver to win with the World of Outlaws at the track, joining 20-time series champion Steve Kinser and three-time title winner Sammy Swindell. He was victorious the following night at Houston Raceway Park and looks to remain undefeated in the Lone Star State this season with the World of Outlaws. The native of Brownsburg, Indiana leads the series with 18 A-Feature wins in 2009 and 19 overall triumphs.

“I’m so happy to be racing in Texas, especially Kilgore,” Saldana said after his win in April. “This is a beautiful facility. I’m glad all the fans came out and supported this. We need to be back in this state racing. The Outlaws belong in Texas.”

Heading into the inaugural WoO Fest at Lone Star Speedway on Saturday, October 24, Jason Meyers and three-time and defending series champion Donny Schatz are locked in a tight battle for the 2009 World of Outlaws championship, with just 18 markers separating the pair with three events remaining in 2009.

Schatz, who is the current point leader, was fastest in time trials at Lone Star Speedway back in April and finished second in the A-Feature event, while Meyers turned in a fourth-place performance. Meyers, who leads the series with 52 Top-10 finishes has finished eighth or better in 14 consecutive World of Outlaws events as he chases his first career title.

“That’s a pretty cool place, it’s pretty wide open,” stated Meyers recently when asked about Lone Star Speedway. “It depends on what the weather is like as well. Usually it gets pretty slick there, but this time of year, who knows what you could get down there. We’ll just to have wait and see.”

The inaugural WoO Fest will feature games for kids, drawings for Halloween costumes and other prizes. Also, a special event T-shirt will be for sale at the track on the day of the race.

On Saturday, October 24 at Lone Star Speedway, general admission tickets for adults will be $25, with general admission tickets for Seniors/Military $20, with children ages 6-12 $15 and kids ages five-under admitted free of charge in the general admission seats. All reserved tickets will be $30. For tickets visit http://www.lonestarspeedway.com or call the track at 903-986-9731.

by Tony Veneziano, WOO PR

Tony Bruce, Jr., tops ASCS Cowtown Speedway Sprint Nationals prelim

October 11, 2009

Tony Bruce, Jr., snared his third overall American Sprint Car Series feature win of the year by topping Saturday night’s Second Annual Cowtown Sprint Nationals 30-lap preliminary feature event atop the high-banked, ¼-mile Cowtown Speedway dirt oval.

Tony Bruce celebrates at Cowtown - ASCS Photo

Tony Bruce celebrates at Cowtown - ASCS Photo

The Liberal, KS, shoe took the top spot away from race-long leader Tim Crawley on the 19th round en route to taking the $2,000 winner’s share aboard the Rider-powered No. 18 Maxim.

Bruce took the checkered flag in front of fellow Lucas Oil Sprint Car title contender Crawley, with ASCS Gulf South rep Scottie McDonald and Lucas Oil Sprint Car shoe Jesse Hockett also locking into Sunday’s $8,000-to-win Cowtown Sprint Nationals finale by finishing third and fourth, respectively.

Tony Bruce in his #18 ASCS Sprint Car

Tony Bruce in his #18 ASCS Sprint Car

After cutting a front tire eleven laps into the main event, Travis Rilat rallied from the tail of the field to round out the top five, with two-time ASCS Sooner king Brian McClelland in sixth.

Kevin Ramey locked up the inaugural ASCS Lone Star championship by finishing seventh, with Johnny Herrera, 17th-starter Sammy Swindell and 22nd-starter Donnie Ray Crawford completing the top ten.

Bruce, Ryan Hall, McClelland, Gulf South points leader Aaron Reutzel, Terry McCarl, Crawley, Wayne Johnson and Rilat topped heat race action for Saturday night’s 71-car field, with Swindell, Danny Wood, Eric Baldaccini and Jason Johnson winning the “B” Mains.

ASCS Gulf South / Lone Star / Sooner Preliminary Results from the Second Annual Cowtown Sprint Nationals:

Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 2. 87x-Billy Melton, 3. 45-J.P. Bailey, 4. 9T-Gary Taylor, 5. 93-Dustin Morgan, 6. 74e-Claud Estes, 7. 30x-Bean Elliott, 8. 95-Matt Covington, 9. 1b-Kent Lewis, Jr.

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 79-Ryan Hall, 2. 65-Skip Wilson, 3. 71-Channin Tankersley, 4. 10k-Sammy Swindell, 5. 67-Rodney Henderson, 6. 22L-Kent Lewis, Sr., 7. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 8. 87a-Andrew Marshala, 9. 19-Klint Angelette.

Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 25-Brian McClelland, 2. 13-Jesse Hockett, 3. 1m-Jim Moughan, 4. 14-Michael Lang, 5. 53-Jack Dover, 6. 15T-Travis Elliott, 7. 94-Danny Wood, 8. 45k-Kolt Walker, 9. 77-Colt Treharn.

Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 2. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 3. 20-Chad Wilson, 4. 9x-Gary Wright, 5. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 6. 88j-Forrest Sutherland, 7. 11m-Brandon Moseley, 8. 88r-Andy Rea, 9. 28-Chris Lloyd.

Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 24-Terry McCarl, 2. 97-Aaron Berryhill, 3. 88-Scottie McDonald, 4. 27-Andy Shouse, 5. 76-John Ricketts, 6. 35-Greg Rilat, 7. 56-Jarrett Lucito, 8. 99-Brady Bacon, 9. 5m-Glenn Martin.

Heat Six (8 Laps): 1. 88c-Tim Crawley, 2. 41-Jason Johnson, 3. 55-Donnie Ray Crawford, 4. 11-Justin Melton, 5. 23-Seth Bergman, 6. 22b-Ben Gregg, 7. 12-Logan Bledsoe, 8. 55d-David Doyle, 9. 03-Joe Wood, Jr.

Heat Seven (8 Laps): 1. 14aj-Wayne Johnson, 2. 21-Brian Brown, 3. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 4. 21T-Tommy Bryant, 5. 17w-Brad Welborn, 6. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 7. 0-Chris Morgan, 8. 3-Gary Watson.

Heat Eight (8 Laps): 1. 50-Travis Rilat, 2. 1r-Scott Reneau, 3. 10-George White, 4. 31-Brandon Berryman, 5. 9-Brian Parker, 6. 69-Larry Howery, 7. 58-Gary Floyd, 8. 5c-Chris Coker, 9. 0x-Ross Mills.

First “B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 10k-Sammy Swindell, 2. 1r-Scott Reneau, 3. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 4. 23-Seth Bergman, 5. 20-Chad Wilson, 6. 74e-Claud Estes, 7. 45-J.P. Bailey, 8. 30x-Bean Elliott, 9. 88j-Forrest Sutherland, 10. 3-Gary Watson, 11. 58-Gary Floyd, 12. 0x-Ross Mills, 13. 97-Aaron Berryhill. DNS: 19-Klint Angelette.

Second “B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 94-Danny Wood, 2. 55-Donnie Ray Crawford, 3. 53-Jack Dover, 4. 21-Brian Brown, 5. 95-Matt Covington, 6. 35-Greg Rilat, 7. 22b-Ben Gregg, 8. 0-Chris Morgan, 9. 5m-Glenn Martin, 10. 67-Rodney Henderson, 11. 88r-Andy Rea, 12. 03-Joe Wood, Jr. DNS: 9x-Gary Wright, 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr.

Third “B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 2. 27-Andy Shouse, 3. 99-Brady Bacon, 4. 10-George White, 5. 45k-Kolt Walker, 6. 21T-Tommy Bryant, 7. 17w-Brad Welborn, 8. 69-Larry Howery, 9. 76-John Ricketts, 10. 87a-Andrew Marshala, 11. 12-Logan Bledsoe, 12. 11m-Brandon Moseley, 13. 56-Jarrett Lucito. DNS: 28-Chris Lloyd.

Fourth “B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2. 1m-Jim Moughan, 3. 9T-Gary Taylor, 4. 11-Justin Melton, 5. 15T-Travis Elliott, 6. 5c-Chris Coker, 7. 14-Michael Lang, 8. 1b-Kent Lewis, Jr., 9. 77-Colt Treharn, 10. 55d-David Doyle, 11. 93-Dustin Morgan, 12. 9-Brian Parker. DNS: 22L-Kent Lewis, Sr.

“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 2. 88c-Tim Crawley, 3. 88-Scottie McDonald, 4. 13-Jesse Hockett, 5. 50-Travis Rilat, 6. 25-Brian McClelland, 7. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 8. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 9. 10k-Sammy Swindell, 10. 55-Donnie Ray Crawford, 11. 31-Brandon Berryman, 12. 27-Andy Shouse, 13. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 14. 41-Jason Johnson, 15. 87x-Billy Melton, 16. 24-Terry McCarl, 17. 1r-Scott Reneau, 18. 1m-Jim Moughan, 19. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 20. 65-Skip Wilson, 21. 71-Channin Tankersley, 22. 94-Danny Wood, 23. 79-Ryan Hall, 24. 14aj-Wayne Johnson.

ASCS Regional Points Distributed as Follows (Must have run 40% of a Region’s events prior to this weekend to earn points):

Gulf South: 1. Scottie McDonald, 2. Travis Rilat, 3. Brandon Berryman, 4. Eric Baldaccini, 5. Jason Johnson, 6. Aaron Reutzel, 7. Channin Tankersley, 8. Travis Elliott, 9. Greg Rilat and Tommy Bryant, 11. Bean Elliott, Larry Howery and Kent Lewis, Jr., 14. Glenn Martin, 15. Gary Watson. DNS: Klint Angelette and Kent Lewis, Sr.

Lone Star: 1. Brian McClelland, 2. Kevin Ramey, 3. Eric Baldaccini, 4. Billy Melton, 5. Scott Reneau, 6. Skip Wilson, 7. Channin Tankersley, 8. Justin Melton, 9. Chad Wilson and Kolt Walker, 11. Claud Estes and Chris Coker, 13. J.P. Bailey, Brad Welborn and Michael Lang, 16. Larry Howery, 17. Glenn Martin and John Ricketts, 19. Andy Rea, 20. Brian Parker.

Sooner: 1. Brian McClelland, 2. Donnie Ray Crawford, 3. Andy Shouse, 4. Eric Baldaccini, 5. Danny Wood, 6. Kyle Bellm and Brady Bacon, 8. Justin Melton, 9. Matt Covington and Kolt Walker, 11. J.P. Bailey and Ben Gregg, 13. Forrest Sutherland, 14. Andrew Marshala, 15. Dustin Morgan, 16. Joe Wood, Jr. DNS: Chris Lloyd.

ASCS Gulf South Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Aaron Reutzel 3,308, 2. Channin Tankersley 3,172, 3. Tommy Bryant 3,136, 4. Scottie McDonald 3,094, 5. Brandon Berryman 3,045, 6. Kent Lewis, Jr. 3,005, 7. Greg Rilat 2,969, 8. Gary Watson 2,796, 9. Ray Allen Kulhanek 2,699, 10. Eric Baldaccini 2,532.

ASCS Lone Star Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Kevin Ramey 2,116, 2. Brad Welborn 1,927, 3. Justin Melton 1,906, 4. Eric Baldaccini 1,895, 5. Claud Estes 1,865, 6. Michael Lang 1,828, 7. Scott Reneau 1,746, 8. Brian McClelland 1,744, 9. Matt Clevenger 1,626, 10. John Ricketts 1,624.

American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Joe Wood, Jr. 1,498, 2. Matt Covington 1,482, 3. Donnie Ray Crawford 1,383, 4. Kyle Bellm 1,280, 5. Brady Bacon 1,096, 6. Brian McClelland 1,086, 7. Forrest Sutherland 1,082, 8. Brad Graham 1,071, 9. Chris Lloyd 1,013, 10. Andy Shouse 1,005.