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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

Jason Johnson Cashes in with ASCS Gulf South win at Houston Raceway Park

Jason Johnson got a much-needed win by wiring the field in Saturday night’s 25-lap American Sprint Car Series Gulf South Region main event to top the Inaugural Lone Star Shootout at Houston Raceway Park.

The Ragin’ Cajun’s 23rd career ASCS Gulf South triumph and 73rd overall ASCS victory was the first for the newly-formed Jason Johnson Racing team in just its second night of competition after debuting in the recent Lucas Oil ASCS National opener.

While Johnson paced the field all the way aboard the Don Ott-powered Haynes/Pope Transportation No. 41 Maxim, he withstood mid-race pressure from Travis Rilat and then a late charge from Gary Wright to secure the $3,000 triumph.

“The first win, this is huge,” an ecstatic Johnson relayed from victory lane.

While Rilat led the feature field to the green flag, it was Johnson gunning into the lead at the outset from the front row outside.

Reeling in the tail of the field in just a handful of laps, a pair of cautions in the opening ten circuits gave Johnson clear track just as traffic was about to factor into the proceedings on a pair of occasions.

But after California’s Kyle Hirst coasted to a stop on the ninth lap, Rilat had an opportunity when Johnson began working through traffic at the midway point.

Rilat closed to Johnson’s tailtank on the 15th round, only to have Johnson make a timely move around a lapped car to slip away by several car lengths. Very soon after, Rilat coasted to a stop on the frontstretch with terminal engine woes, setting up a seven-lap dash to the checkered flag with “The Texan” now in the role of chaser.

A pair of lapped cars between the leader and Wright was just the cushion Johnson needed though. Reaching traffic once again with two rounds to go, Wright rapidly closed the gap on Johnson. But when Johnson made a nimble move through a pair of cars entering turn one on the final circuit, the race was all but over.

Johnson flashed under the checkered flag to take the win and become the third different winner in as many 2010 ASCS Gulf South feature events, with Wright settling for runner-up honors.

After starting eighth, Missouri’s Brian Brown was on the move following the lap nine caution and climbed to third by race’s end with defending ASCS Gulf South champion Aaron Reutzel and 14th-starter Michael Dupuy rounding out the top five.

Brady Bacon charged from 19th to sixth, with Tony Bruce, Jr., 15th-starter Tommy Bryant, Eric Baldaccini and Channin Tankersley completing the top ten.

Kyle Hirst, Bruce, Jr., Baldaccini and Johnson topped heat race action for Saturday night’s 36-car field, with Bacon making a lap 10 move around Chris Sweeney to win the 12-lap “B” Main.

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

Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 6-Kyle Hirst, 2. 35-Greg Rilat, 3. 71-Channin Tankersley, 4. 51w-Wes Miller, 5. 93-Chris Sweeney, 6. 12b-Logan Bledsoe, 7. 17-Bruce Griffith, Jr., 8. 51-Jimmy Brooks, 9. 70-Anthony Reaves.

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 2. 29-Travis Rilat, 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 4. 10-Ricky Logan, 5. 00-Michael Dupuy, 6. 52-Roger Oakes, 7. 51s-Beau Smith, 8. 99-Brady Bacon, 9. 1g-Cody Gardner.

Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 2. 21-Brian Brown, 3. 85-Tommy Bryant, 4. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 5. 61-Travis Knighton, 6. 30x-Bean Elliott, 7. 8z-Zach Pringle, 8. 3T-Tyler King, 9. 19-Klint Angelette.

Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2. 9x-Gary Wright, 3. 87a-Andrew Marshala, 4. 31-Brandon Berryman, 5. 88-Scottie McDonald, 6. 87x-Billy Melton, 7. 28-James Cooper, 8. 3-Gary Watson, 9. 5-Jack Spencer.

“B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 99-Brady Bacon, 2. 93-Chris Sweeney, 3. 12b-Logan Bledsoe, 4. 87x-Billy Melton, 5. 61-Travis Knighton, 6. 30x-Bean Elliott, 7. 51s-Beau Smith, 8. 19-Klint Angelette, 9. 51-Jimmy Brooks, 10. 17-Bruce Griffith, Jr., 11. 52-Roger Oakes, 12. 5-Jack Spencer, 13. 28-James Cooper, 14. 3T-Tyler King, 15. 8z-Zach Pringle, 16. 3-Gary Watson, 17. 70-Anthony Reaves. DNS: 1g-Cody Gardner.

“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2. 9x-Gary Wright, 3. 21-Brian Brown, 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 5. 00-Michael Dupuy, 6. 99-Brady Bacon, 7. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 8. 85-Tommy Bryant, 9. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 10. 71-Channin Tankersley, 11. 31-Brandon Berryman, 12. 51w-Wes Miller, 13. 88-Scottie McDonald, 14. 87x-Billy Melton, 15. 93-Chris Sweeney, 16. 12b-Logan Bledsoe, 17. 61-Travis Knighton, 18. 30x-Bean Elliott, 19. 29-Travis Rilat, 20. 10-Ricky Logan, 21. 6-Kyle Hirst, 22. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 23. 87a-Andrew Marshala, 24. 35-Greg Rilat.

ASCS Gulf South Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Brian Brown 404, 2. Brady Bacon 379, 3. Tony Bruce, Jr. 374, 4. Travis Rilat 359, 5. Gary Wright 357, 6. Ricky Logan 341, 7. (tie) Tommy Bryant and Aaron Reutzel 336, 9. Brandon Berryman 324, 10. Wes Miller 321.

By Lonnie Wheatley

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

Jason Sides Wins World of Outlaw thriller over Tim Kaeding at Houston Raceway Park

Jason Sides drives as hard as he can anytime he takes to the race track, whether it’s for hot laps, time trials, a heat race, a dash or a main event. On Saturday night at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas, he drove 40 of the hardest and best laps he has ever turned as he and Tim Kaeding put on a phenomenal show at the ¼-mile bullring trading slide jobs lap after lap as they worked their way through traffic. In the end, Sides came out on top in the thrilling battle to win The Texas Showdown which was his first victory of 2010 and the fifth of his World of Outlaws career.

While there were only two official lead changes at the line, Sides and Kaeding swapped the top spot countless times over the course of the 40-lapper, sometimes multiple times on the same lap as they weaved in and out of traffic in an event that had just one caution on the third lap and went the remaining 37 circuits green-to-checkers. Sides took the checkered flag just 0.160 seconds ahead of Kaeding.

“It was a great race,” said Sides. “Tim (Kaeding) was there the whole time and the track really got good and wide where you could run the bottom and the top made for a great race as well running up there. I felt like it was our race to lose and we kept plugging away and plugging away and came out on top. I am so proud of this team and everything that helps us.”

Sides led at the start from the pole in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim with Kaeding, who started third quickly jumping into second and challenging him in the early going. The only caution of the night flew on the third lap setting up a double file restart with Sides choosing the low line. He used a strong restart to jump to a lead, though Kaeding was able to track him down just a couple of laps later as the pair entered lapped traffic.

In traffic is where they began their battle that raged for the remainder of the 40-lap contest. A couple of times they split a lapped car and ran side-by-side a number of times as the jockeyed for the top spot. Kaeding officially took the lead on the 10th lap in traffic, with Sides keeping pace with him for the next nine circuit and charging around him on the high side of the track on the 20th lap to take the lead officially for the final time.

“You try not to give it away and hope that you can get back by or get back in traffic,” noted Sides. “You watch for opportunities where he isn’t. If he goes to the top, then you got the bottom and vice versa. It was good we got in lapped traffic and that got us bottled up a little bit. We were able to get back by him.”

Sides is one of just three drivers that has finished in the Top-10 in all seven World of Outlaws events this season, joining current series point leader Joey Saldana and Jason Meyers in that category. Sides has finished in the Top-Five in five of those events as well and is currently fourth in the series championship standings.

“It shows that our team is capable of running up front with these guys,” he said after his win. “Hopefully we can keep plugging away and stay up there. It’s been a great start to the season. I’m proud of everyone on the team and very thankful to everyone that helps us out.”

Kaeding wound up second in the DTR Transport KPC to earn his third Top-Five finish of the season. After getting caught up in a couple of accidents last weekend in his home state of California, he was glad to finish and be in contention for the win at Houston Raceway Park, a track he had not competed at for a number of years.

“We have struggled the last few races and it was more racing incidents than anything, so to get a solid second place run tonight is great for the team,” explained Kaeding. “Jason (Sides) raced me clean and I raced him clean and we battled hard and we put on a great show for the fans in my eyes.”

Kaeding was a little surprised that there was only one caution in the 40-lapper, though he used lapped traffic to his advantage to track down Jason Sides a couple of times, after the latter jumped out to a lead in open track.

“As slick as it started getting toward the end of the race, I thought there would be a yellow or two,” stated Kaeding. “There were a lot of good cars out there and I didn’t have any problems with that. We made it through the night and had a good night. Everybody had fun and it’s exciting. I have a great team behind me and now it’s my job to keep the thing going straight and have some fun.”

After getting caught up in an early accident on Friday night at Lone Star Speedway which relegated him to a 14th-place finish, four-time and defending World of Outlaws champion, Donny Schatz turned in a very solid third-place effort on Saturday night in the Armor All J&J. It was his fifth Top-Five finish of the season.

“We’ve just been in the wrong spot at the wrong times lately,” Schatz said. “It’s good to have a strong run like this tonight and it’s fun to get in the car every night when it’s fast and rolling around like we had it here. We’ll just keep working at it and see if we can pick up a win next weekend.”

Joey Saldana finished fourth in the Budweiser Maxim to earn his seventh Top-10 of the season and extended his lead in the series standings to 23 markers over Jason Meyers as he chases his first series title.

Paul McMahan came home fifth in the Great Clips Maxim for Kasey Kahne Racing to wrap up a very strong Texas Two-Step Weekend. Lance Dewease was sixth in his debut at Houston Raceway Park aboard the Advanced Developments J&J. Terry McCarl was seventh piloting the Big Game Treestands Maxim. Lucas Wolfe, who began the night by setting a new track record in qualifying, was eighth in the Allebach Racing Maxim. Danny Lasoski was ninth in the Casey’s General Store JEI. Jason Meyers rounded out the Top-10 in the GLR Investments KPC and moved into second in the series standings in the process.

The World of Outlaws return to action on Friday, March 19 and Saturday, March 20 at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tennessee for Kasey’s King of Bulls Gap Presented by Budweiser.

HOUSTON RACEWAY PARK NOTES

•FAST QUALIFIER: Lucas Wolfe paced the 29 cars that took time with a record setting AMB i.t. timed lap around the semi-banked 1/4-mile oval at 11.561 seconds at 77.848 mph. For his qualifying effort, Wolfe earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Kraig Kinser (4), Bill Rose (3), Joey Saldana (2) and Jason Sides (1).

•LONE STAR SPEEDWAY QUALIFYING WINNERS: Sam Hafertepe Jr., Lance Dewease and Tim Kaeding won heat races. Jason Sides won the dash. Terry McCarl won the B-Main.

• FEATURE WINNERS: There have been seven World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature events held in 2010. The winners include: Jason Meyers (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Thunderbowl Raceway), Craig Dollansky (Lone Star Speedway), Steve Kinser (Volusia Speedway Park), Joey Saldana (Thunderbowl Raceway), Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park) and Jason Sides (Houston Raceway Park).

•1/4–MILE WINNERS: Houston Raceway Park is a semi-banked 1/4-mile oval. The World of Outlaws have raced once this season on a track that size. The winner was Jason Sides (Houston Raceway Park).

World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Houston Raceway Park; Baytown, TX; March 13, 2010

Qualifying

1) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 11.561

2) 11K-Kraig Kinser 11.732

3) 6R-Bill Rose 11.791

4) 9-Joey Saldana 11.796

5) 7S-Jason Sides 11.853

6) 83-Tim Kaeding 11.868

7) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 11.869

8. 15-Donny Schatz 11.890

9) 24-Terry McCarl 11.897

10) 4X-Toni Lutar 11.908

11) 30C-Lance Dewease 11.914

12) 1-Bronson Maeschen 11.980

13) 44W-Austen Wheatley 11.985

14) 6-Danny Lasoski 12.002

15) 14-Jason Meyers 12.004

16) 10A-Ricky Logan 12.023

17) R19-Jac Haudenschild 12.041

18) 91-Paul McMahan 12.044

19) 51-Fred Rahmer 12.066

20) 11-Steve Kinser 12.070

21) 17-Daryn Pittman 12.082

22) 7-Craig Dollansky 12.161

23) 63-Chad Kemenah 12.162

24) 18-Tony Bruce Jr. 12.163

25) 45X-Johnny Herrera 12.222

26) 22-Brian Ellenberger 12.348

27) 2B-Ben Gregg 12.356

28) 51W-Wes Miller 12.479

29) 5-Ray Allen Kulhanek 12.654

Heat 1 (10 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature) - Starting Position [#]

1) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[2]

2) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[4]

3) 4X-Toni Lutar[1]

4) 9-Joey Saldana[3]

5) 10A-Ricky Logan[6]

6) 7-Craig Dollansky[8]

7) 44W-Austen Wheatley[5]

8. 45X-Johnny Herrera[9]

9) 51-Fred Rahmer[7]

10) 51W-Wes Miller[10]

Heat 2 (10 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature) - Starting Position [#]

1) 30C-Lance Dewease[1]

2) 15-Donny Schatz[2]

3) 11K-Kraig Kinser[4]

4) 7S-Jason Sides[3]

5) R19-Jac Haudenschild[6]

6) 11-Steve Kinser[7]

7) 6-Danny Lasoski[5]

8. 63-Chad Kemenah[8]

9) 22-Brian Ellenberger[9]

10) 5-Ray Allen Kulhanek[10]

Heat 3 (10 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature) - Starting Position [#]

1) 83-Tim Kaeding[3]

2) 91-Paul McMahan[6]

3) 14-Jason Meyers[5]

4) 18-Tony Bruce Jr[8]

5) 6R-Bill Rose[4]

6) 17-Daryn Pittman[7]

7) 2B-Ben Gregg[9]

8.1-Bronson Maeshen[1]

9) 24-Terry McCarl[2]

Dash (8 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature) - Starting Position [#]

1) 7S-Jason Sides[2]

2) 9-Joey Saldana[3]

3) 83-Tim Kaeding[1]

4) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[6]

5) 15-Donny Schatz[8]

6) 30C-Lance Dewease[9]

7) 11K-Kraig Kinser[5]

8. 91-Paul McMahan[10]

9) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[7]

10) 6R-Bill Rose[4]

B-main (12 laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature) - Starting Position [#]

1) 24-Terry McCarl[1]

2) 6-Danny Lasoski[4]

3) 63-Chad Kemenah[6]

4) 45X-Johnny Herrera[7]

5) 22-Brian Ellenberger[8]

6) 2B-Ben Gregg[9]

7) 51-Fred Rahmer[5] [$200]

8. 5-Ray Allen Kulhanek[11] [$180]

9) 44W-Austen Wheatley[3] [$175]

10) 51W-Wes Miller[10] [$160]

11) 1-Bronson Maeshen[2] [$150]

A-main (40 laps) - Starting Position [#]

1) 7S-Jason Sides[1] [$10,000]

2) 83-Tim Kaeding[3] [$5,500]

3) 15-Donny Schatz[5] [$3,200]

4) 9-Joey Saldana[2] [$2,800]

5) 91-Paul McMahan[8] [$2,500]

6) 30C-Lance Dewease[6] [$2,300]

7) 24-Terry McCarl[11] [$2,200]

8. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[4] [$2,100]

9) 6-Danny Lasoski[13] [$2,050]

10) 14-Jason Meyers[14] [$2,000]

11) 17-Daryn Pittman[18] [$1,500]

12) 11-Steve Kinser[17] [$1,200]

13) 11K-Kraig Kinser[7] [$1,100]

14) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[9] [$1,050]

15) 45X-Johnny Herrera[22] [$1,000]

16) 7-Craig Dollansky[19] [$900]

17) 18-Tony Bruce Jr.[21] [$800]

18) 6R-Bill Rose[10] [$800]

19) 10A-Ricky Logan[15] [$800]

20) R19-Jac Haudenschild[16] [$800]

21) 2B-Ben Gregg[24] [$800]

22) 22-Brian Ellenberger[23] [$800]

23) 4X-Toni Lutar[12] [$800]

24) 63-Chad Kemenah[20] [$800]

Lap Leaders: Jason Sides 1-9, 20-40; Tim Kaeding 10-19

KSE Hard Charger Award: Daryn Pittman

Penske Power Position Award: Lance Dewease

World of Outlaws Championship Standings through March 13

1. Joey Saldana 1021
2. Jason Meyers 998 -23
3. Steve Kinser 996 -25
4. Jason Sides 983 -38
5. Donny Schatz 968 -53
6. Kraig Kinser 924 -97
7. Danny Lasoski 910 -111
8. Tim Kaeding 903 -118
9. Jac Haudenschild 886 -135
10. Lucas Wolfe 884 -137

by Tony Veneziano, World of Outlaws PR Director
Photos by Joey Millard, thesportswire.net

Craig Dollansky takes World of Outlaws win at Lone Star Speedway

Craig Dollansky had been fast right out of the box in 2010, but had been plagued with bad luck in nearly every one of the first five World of Outlaws events of the season. He put all of that behind him on Friday night at Lone Star Speedway in Kilgore, Texas, turning in a very strong performance from start to finish en route to picking up his first World of Outlaws victory of the season.

For Dollansky, the $10,000 win over 20-time World of Outlaws champion Steve Kinser and current series point leader Joey Saldana, was the 32nd of his World of Outlaws career. It was his second career victory in Texas and his first in the state since 2001.

“This is a great way to get this monkey that has been on our back off it,” said Dollansky. “This is a great team effort and we had to work for it. We started in the fourth row of the dash and when you can win races that way, it shows you have a strong team.”

Dollansky used a strong restart on the 19th lap in the Big Game Treestands Maxim to dive under Jac Haudenschild in turns one and two as Haudenschild bounced through a couple of holes and nearly got upside down, somehow keeping the car going and getting it back on all fours, though he lost six spots in the process.

Dollansky then opened up a comfortable lead in open track before a yellow flag bunched the field up. He withstood two double file restarts in the late going, which he chose the low line each time with Kinser lined up to his outside. A single file restart with five laps to go gave Kinser one final shot at Dollansky, but the native of Elk River, Minnesota was too strong and wound up winning by about a second and a half.

“Obviously those are great race cars and we had to deal with strong cars all night long,”
Dollansky said. “Steve (Kinser) has definitely been strong and Joey (Saldana) coming from 17th to third, that’s a great run for his team. Thanks to everyone that supports us and digs deep to make this happen, especially my wife Julie who is back home in Minnesota.”

Dollansky began Friday night by turning in the second quickest lap in time trials. He followed that up with a solid third-place finish in the second heat race to pick up a spot in the dash, where he charged from seventh to third to earn a second row starting spot in the 30-lap main event.

“I’m fortunate to have some great people behind me, starting with Tod Quiring,” said Dollansky. “I’m so happy to join with him as our car owner and Big Game Treestands, along with the great sponsors we have in Karavan Trailers and Aggressive Hydraulics. It’s always a team effort when you win races and hopefully the fans enjoyed the race tonight. There was a lot going on there, and I’m just glad to bring home a win.”

Kinser ended up second in the Bass Pro Shops Maxim to earn his fifth Top-Five and sixth Top-10 finish of 2010 and also move up to second in the championship standings, just seven markers behind Joey Saldana as he chases his record 21st title. Kinser tried everything he could on the late restarts, but could not quite get a run on Dollansky.

“I had to hang on and not hit those holes coming off (turn) four,” shared Kinser. “Craig (Dollansky) was able to pick it back up pretty good. I might have tried to get a run on him, but he blocked the bottom and he was a little faster than us in the front. To come home second after starting way back in the dash isn’t too bad. We missed a couple of wrecks and have been running pretty good. We just need to move up a spot or two.”

Joey Saldana, the current World of Outlaws point leader, who was victorious last weekend in California, powered his way through the field to come from the 17th starting spot to finish third in the Budweiser Maxim.

“It was a great night,” Saldana said. “That is definitely the kind of night that you have to have when you start out having a bad night. We had a really good car, we just started really far back. We’ll go to Houston and try to get two spots more.”

The race began with Paul McMahan jumping to an early lead from the pole, with Jac Haudenschild in second, though the first caution of the night flew on the opening lap for an incident involving Donny Schatz and Terry McCarl. On the complete restart, McMahan again led with Dollansky battling Haudenschild for second.

Haudenschild moved into the lead on the ninth lap diving under McMahan in turn one and quickly put some distance between the pair, with Dollansky moving into the runner-up spot on the next circuit. Haudenschild was strong in lapped traffic, though a caution on the 19th lap set up a double file restart with him choosing the outside line and Dollansky lining up down low.

Jason Meyers had a consistent night finishing fourth in the GLR Investments KPC to earn his fifth Top-Five finish of the season. He has finished sixth or better in all six races in 2010 and is just nine points behind Joey Saldana as he chases his first World of Outlaws title.

Jason Sides picked up his third Top-Five finish of the season coming home fifth in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim, which moved him up to fourth in the series championship standings after Donny Schatz finished 14th.

Paul McMahan ended up sixth in the Great Clips Maxim after leading the first eight laps, to score his best finish of the season and his best since joining Kasey Kahne Racing filling in for the injured Cody Darrah.

Jac Haudenschild finished seventh in the Owens-Corning Fiberglass XXX. Haudenschild, who led 10 laps crossed the line in fifth, but was docked two positions at the finish by way of World of Outlaws rules for passing a car before the restart cone on the front straightaway on the final restart of the night, which was a single file restart due to consecutive yellow flags flying before a lap was completed on the double file restart. Kraig Kinser was eighth in the Quaker State Maxim, with Tim Kaeding ninth piloting the DTR Transport KPC. Danny Lasoski rounded out the Top-10 in the Casey’s General Stores JEI.

The World of Outlaws return to action on Saturday, March 13 at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown for The Texas Shootout to wrap up the Texas Two-Step Weekend.

LONE STAR SPEEDWAY NOTES

•FAST QUALIFIER: Donny Schatz paced the 29 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the high-banked half-mile oval at 14.411 seconds at 124.905 mph. For his qualifying effort, Schatz earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Craig Dollansky (4), Jason Sides (3), Sam Hafertepe Jr. (2) and Kraig Kinser (1).

•LONE STAR SPEEDWAY QUALIFYING WINNERS: Jac Haudenschild, Terry McCarl and Steve Kinser won heat races. Paul McMahan won the dash. Brian Ellenberger won the B-Main.
• FEATURE WINNERS: There have been six World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature events held in 2010. The winners include: Jason Meyers (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Thunderbowl Raceway), Craig Dollansky (Lone Star Speedway), Steve Kinser (Volusia Speedway Park), Joey Saldana (Thunderbowl Raceway) and Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park).
• HALF-MILE WINNERS: Lone Star Speedway is a high-banked half-mile oval. The World of Outlaws have raced four times at a track that size in 2010. The winners include: Craig Dollansky (Lone Star Speedway), Steve Kinser (Volusia Speedway Park), Jason Meyers (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway) and Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park).

World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Lone Star Speedway; Kilgore, TX; March 12, 2010

Qualifying

1) 15-Donny Schatz 14.411

2) 7-Craig Dollansky 14.549

3) 7S-Jason Sides 14.617

4) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 14.670

5) 11K-Kraig Kinser 14.689

6) 6-Danny Lasoski 14.703

7) R19-Jac Haudenschild 14.725

91-Paul McMahan 14.750

9) 14-Jason Meyers 14.760

10) 21-Brian Brown 14.769

11) 24-Terry McCarl 14.773

12) 11-Steve Kinser 14.774

13) 51-Fred Rahmer 14.815

14) 83-Tim Kaeding 14.816

15) 2B-Ben Gregg 14.824

16) 6R-Bill Rose 14.881

17) 9-Joey Saldana 14.881

18) 18-Tony Bruce Jr. 14.887

19) 22-Brian Ellenberger 14.897

20) 4X-Toni Lutar 14.904

21) 17-Daryn Pittman 14.940

22) 30C-Lance Dewease 15.010

23) 45X-Johnny Herrera 15.144

24) 44W-Austen Wheatley 15.167

25) 10A-Ricky Logan 15.294

26) 1-Bronson Maeschen 15.369

27) 63-Chad Kemenah 15.467

28) 4-Eric Baldaccini 15.811

29) 85-Josh Hawkins 16.447

30) 5W-Lucas Wolfe -.—

Heat 1 (8 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature) - Starting Position [#]

1) R19-Jac Haudenschild[2]

2) 21-Brian Brown[1]

3) 15-Donny Schatz[4]

4) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[3]

5) 51-Fred Rahmer[5]

6) 6R-Bill Rose[6]

7) 10A-Ricky Logan[9]

22-Brian Ellenberger[7]

9) 30C-Lance Dewease[8]

10) 4-Eric Baldaccini[10]

Heat 2 (8 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature) - Starting Position [#]

1) 24-Terry McCarl[1]

2) 91-Paul McMahan[2]

3) 7-Craig Dollansky[4]

4) 11K-Kraig Kinser[3]

5) 9-Joey Saldana[6]

6) 83-Tim Kaeding[5]

7) 4X-Toni Lutar[7]

45X-Johnny Herrera[8]

9) 1-Bronson Maeschen[9]

10) 85-Josh Hawkins[10]

Heat 3 (8 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature) - Starting Position [#]

1) 11-Steve Kinser[1]

2) 14-Jason Meyers[2]

3) 6-Danny Lasoski[3]

4) 7S-Jason Sides[4]

5) 18-Tony Bruce Jr.[6]

6) 2B-Ben Gregg[5]

7) 63-Chad Kemenah[9]

17-Daryn Pittman[7]

9) 44W-Austen Wheatley[8]

10) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[10]

Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature) - Starting Position [#]

1) 91-Paul McMahan[3]

2) R19-Jac Haudenschild[4]

3) 7-Craig Dollansky[7]

4) 14-Jason Meyers[2]

5) 7S-Jason Sides[6]

6) 15-Donny Schatz[8]

7) 11-Steve Kinser[10]

24-Terry McCarl[9]

9) 21-Brian Brown[1]

10) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[5]

B-main (12 laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature) - Starting Position [#]

1) 22-Brian Ellenberger[1]

2) 4X-Toni Lutar[2]

3) 30C-Lance Dewease[4]

4) 17-Daryn Pittman[3]

5) 44W-Austen Wheatley[6]

6) 10A-Ricky Logan[7]

7) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[12] [$200]

63-Chad Kemenah[9] [$180]

9) 45X-Johnny Herrera[5] [$175]

10) 4-Eric Baldaccini[10] [$160]

11) 1-Bronson Maeschen[8] [$150]

12) 85-Josh Hawkins[11] [$150]

A-main (30 laps) - Starting Position [#]

1) 7-Craig Dollansky[3] [$10,000]

2) 11-Steve Kinser[7] [$5,500]

3) 9-Joey Saldana[17] [$3,200]

4) 14-Jason Meyers[4] [$2,800]

5) 7S-Jason Sides[5] [$2,500]

6) 91-Paul McMahan[1] [$2,300]

7) R19-Jac Haudenschild[2] [$2,200]

11K-Kraig Kinser[11] [$2,100]

9) 83-Tim Kaeding[14] [$2,050]

10) 6-Danny Lasoski[12] [$2,000]

11) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[25] [$700]

12) 51-Fred Rahmer[13] [$1,200]

13) 24-Terry McCarl[8] [$1,100]

14) 15-Donny Schatz[6] [$1,050]

15) 63-Chad Kemenah[26] [$200]

16) 2B-Ben Gregg[15] [$900]

17) 4X-Toni Lutar[20] [$800]

18) 17-Daryn Pittman[21] [$800]

19) 6R-Bill Rose[16] [$800]

20) 22-Brian Ellenberger[19] [$800]

21) 44W-Austen Wheatley[23] [$800]

22) 30C-Lance Dewease[22] [$800]

23) 10A-Ricky Logan[24] [$800]

24) 18-Tony Bruce Jr[18] [$800]

25) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[10] [$800]

26) 21-Brian Brown[9] [$800]

Lap Leaders: Paul McMahan 1-8, Jac Haudenschild 9-18, Craig Dollansky 19-30

KSE Hard Charger Award: Lucas Wolfe

Penske Power Position Award: Ben Gregg

Note- Lucas Wolfe and Chad Kemenah used World of Outlaws Provisionals to start the A-Feature.

World of Outlaws Championship Standings through March 12

1. Joey Saldana 877
2. Steve Kinser 870 -7
3. Jason Meyers 868 -9
4. Jason Sides 830 -47
5. Donny Schatz 824 -53
6. Kraig Kinser 796 -81
7. Jac Haudenschild 780 -97
8. Danny Lasoski 778 -99
9. Tim Kaeding 757 -120
10. Craig Dollansky 753 -124

by Tony Veneziano

Joey Saldana wins World of Outlaws WoOFest at Lone Star Speedway

Not that Joey Saldana really needed a good luck charm with how strong he has been running this season, but just in case, he had one for the inaugural WoO Fest at Lone Star Speedway as his son Reece, who was on fall break from school, made the trip south from Indiana. Saldana won earlier this season at the half-mile located in Kilgore, Texas and also was victorious in Texas at Houston Raceway Park, both of which races his son was his in attendance for.

Saldana made it three-for-three in the state of Texas after wiring the field on Saturday night at Lone Star Speedway to score his series leading 19th A-Feature win of the season with the World of Outlaws and his career-high 20th overall victory with the series.

Saldana earned $12,000 for the win, which was the 58th of his World of Outlaw career as he continues to close in on Stevie Smith who is eighth on the all-time win list with 67 triumphs. For the native of Brownsburg, Indiana it was his fourth win of the season on a half-mile track aboard the Budweiser Maxim.

“This is another great win,” said Saldana. “I can’t thank Willie (Kahne), Kolten (Gouse) and Kale (Kahne) enough. They work really hard. Our shop is based out of Charlotte and they have to do a lot of extra driving to get this car to the race track. It was a great effort by this whole Budweiser team. We qualified in the Top-Five as well, so thanks to Speedway Engines.”

Saldana won the Crane Cams Dash to start on the pole for the 30-lapper with Sam Hafertepe Jr. getting the jump at the start and leading the field into turn one with Saldana moving in front in turn two. Hafertepe kept pace with him throughout the race in lapped traffic and closed to within a few cars lengths a couple of times when Saldana was not able to get around a lapped car. The only caution of the night flew on the 23rd lap, putting the leaders back in open track.

“The clear track definitely helped with how the track was, but my car was really good,” noted Saldana in Victory Lane. “The lapped cars were tough and the track was really fast and I didn’t want to do anything stupid. A couple of times I had to lift and just let the lap car go and get him back in the next corner. It was a great race and our car was great all night.”

The victory was Saldana’s third consecutive in the state of Texas and was the fifth win of his career in the Lone Star State. He has finished ninth or better in 10 of his last 11 starts in Texas and was quick to credit the vast number of starts he has in the state over the years to his success there the last few seasons.

“It’s a lot of time behind the wheels of one of these cars,” explained Saldana when asked what makes his so good in Texas as of late. “The pill draw definitely helped tonight, but you have to be fast all 30 laps. We just made the right adjustments on our car It was another great effort by my team.”

Hafertepe wound up second for the second time this season with the World of Outlaws as he continues to close in on his first career win with the series. He used a strong start to keep pace with Saldana early in the contest and then after Saldana opened a big lead, he was able to reel him back in in lapped traffic aboard the G. H. Plumbing J&J.

“Once we changed our program up around the middle of the year, we’ve been one of the cars to beat every night,” said Hafertepe. “I definitely wanted to win tonight, but Joey (Saldana) is a class act and there is nobody I would rather see beat me than him. He’s doing a lot for the sport and has already had 19 wins this year, so to finish second behind him, I’m not too mad about it. We made some nice moves in lapped traffic and made it interesting for the fans.”

Hafertepe was hoping that the race would go green to checker without any cautions and that nearly was the case, with just the single yellow flag with seven laps remaining. He tried everything he could to keep up with Saldana on the restart, but in open track was just not able to get close enough to him to make a move.

“I knew we had a good car and behind Joey, though he was so good in clean air that we really couldn’t do anything with him,” shared Hafertepe, whose parents Sam Sr. and Lisa own and operate Lone Star Speedway. “I didn’t like to see the caution because he got back in clean air, but that’s the way racing goes. We’ll take our second here tonight and go to Lowe’s (Motor Speedway) and see if we can’t win up there.”

Steve Kinser got around Jason Sides on the opening lap and then recovered after getting completely sideways in turn two on the lap-23 restart to finish third in the Quaker State Maxim.

Jason Meyers worked his way up to finish fourth in the GLR Investments KPC after winning the first heat to earn a spot in the Crane Cams Dash, with Jason Sides fifth in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim.

Donny Schatz, the current series point leader, came home sixth in the Armor All J&J, and was able to gain one point on Meyers in the championship standings, after earning five bonus points for setting fast time in qualifying. The difference between the two is now 19 markers with just the two feature events at the third annual World Finals remaining, as they continue the closest title fight in the 30-plus year history of the World of Outlaws.

Terry McCarl came home seventh on Saturday night in the Big Game Treestands Maxim, with Jac Haudenschild eighth piloting the Owens-Corning Fiberglass Maxim. Lucas Wolfe was ninth in the Allebach Racing Maxim, with Kraig Kinser rounding out the Top-10 in the Bass Pro Shops Maxim.

The World of Outlaws return to action on Thursday, November 5 with qualifying for the third annual World Finals at The Dirt Track at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, which runs November 5-7.

WOO FEST AT LONE STAR SPEEDWAY NOTES

•FAST QUALIFIER: Donny Schatz paced the 18 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the high-banked half-mile oval at 14.191 seconds at 126.841 mph. For his qualifying effort, Schatz earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Joey Saldana (4), Kraig Kinser (3), Terry McCarl (2) and Jac Haudenschild (1).
• LONE STAR SPEEDWAY QUALIFYING WINNERS: Jason Meyers, Brad Sweet and Steve Kinser won heat races. Joey Saldana won the Crane Cams Dash.
• FEATURE WINNERS: There has been 63 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature event held in 2009. The winners include: Joey Saldana (Volusia Speedway Park, Silver Dollar Speedway-twice, Thunderbowl Raceway, Lone Star Speedway–twice, Houston Raceway Park, The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Virginia Motor Speedway, Lawrenceburg Speedway, Dodge City Raceway Park-twice, U.S. 36 Raceway, 34 Raceway, I-55 Raceway, Castrol Raceway-twice, Skagit Speedway and Deer Creek Speedway), Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park-twice, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Knoxville Raceway, Eldora Speedway, Canandaigua Speedway, Lawrenceburg Speedway, River Cities Speedway, Cedar Lake Speedway, Eldora Speedway, K-C Raceway and Dacotah Speedway), Jason Meyers (Silver Dollar Speedway, Paducah International Raceway, I-96 Speedway, Red River Valley Speedway, Ohsweken Speedway, Skagit Speedway, Cottage Grove Speedway and Clay County Fair Speedway), Danny Lasoski (Delaware International Speedway, Nodak Speedway, Eagle Raceway, Charter Raceway Park and Lernerville Speedway), Craig Dollansky (Lebanon Valley Speedway, I-55 Raceway and River Cities Speedway), Greg Hodnett (Williams Grove Speedway-three times), Steve Kinser (Tri-State Speedway and Limaland Motorsports Park), Terry McCarl (Knoxville Raceway and Eldora Speedway), Jason Sides (Ohsweken Speedway and Eldora Speedway), Dale Blaney (Attica Raceway Park), Cody Darrah (Williams Grove Speedway), Randy Hannagan (Thunderbowl Raceway), Tim Kaeding (Riverside International Speedway),Chad Kemenah (Manzanita Speedway), Tim Shaffer (Rolling Wheels Raceway Park) and Stevie Smith (Lernerville Speedway).
• PRELIMINARY FEATURE WINNERS: There has been two World of Outlaws preliminary features this season. The winners include: Jason Meyers (Silver Dollar Speedway) and Joey Saldana (Silver Dollar Speedway).
• HALF-MILE WINNERS: Lone Star Speedway is a high-banked half-mile oval. The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series has raced 21 times this season on a track that size. The winners include: Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park-twice, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Knoxville Raceway and Eldora Speedway), Joey Saldana (Volusia Speedway Park, Lone Star Speedway- twice and Virginia Motor Speedway), Greg Hodnett (Williams Grove Speedway-three times), Terry McCarl (Knoxville Raceway and Eldora Speedway), Jason Meyers (I-96 Speedway and Red River Valley Speedway), Cody Darrah (Williams Grove Speedway), Craig Dollansky (Lebanon Valley Speedway), Chad Kemenah (Manzanita Speedway),Danny Lasoski (Delaware International Speedway) and Jason Sides (Eldora Speedway).
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; WoO Fest at Lone Star Speedway; Kilgore, TX; October 24, 2009

Qualifying
1) 15-Donny Schatz 14.191
2) 9-Joey Saldana 14.208
3) 20-Kraig Kinser 14.271
4) 24-Terry McCarl 14.350
5) R19-Jac Haudenschild 14.387
6) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 14.417
7) 14-Jason Meyers 14.447
19-Brad Sweet 14.465
9) 7S-Jason Sides 14.486
10) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 14.494
11) 6-Danny Lasoski 14.590
12) 11-Steve Kinser 14.648
13) 41-Jason Johnson 14.650
14) 22-Brian Ellenberger 14.685
15) 18-Tony Bruce Jr. 14.755
16) 51-Fred Rahmer 14.757
17) 51W-Wes Miller 15.018
18) 4-Eric Baldaccini 15.136
Heat 1 (8 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 14-Jason Meyers
2) 15-Donny Schatz
3) 5W-Lucas Wolfe
4) 41-Jason Johnson
5) 51-Fred Rahmer
6) 24-Terry McCarl
Heat 2 (8 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 19-Brad Sweet
2) 9-Joey Saldana
3) 6-Danny Lasoski
4) R19-Jac Haudenschild
5) 22-Brian Ellenberger
6) 51W-Wes Miller
Heat 3 (8 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 11-Steve Kinser
2) 7S-Jason Sides
3) 20-Kraig Kinser
4) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
5) 18-Tony Bruce Jr.
6) 4-Eric Baldaccini
Crane Cams Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature)
1) 9-Joey Saldana
2) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
3) 7S-Jason Sides
4) 11-Steve Kinser
5) R19-Jac Haudenschild
6) 15-Donny Schatz
7) 14-Jason Meyers
20-Kraig Kinser
9) 24-Terry McCarl
10) 19-Brad Sweet
A-main (30 laps) - Starting Position [#]
1) 9-Joey Saldana[1] [$12,000]
2) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[2] [$5,700]
3) 11-Steve Kinser[4] [$3,500]
4) 14-Jason Meyers[7] [$3,000]
5) 7S-Jason Sides[3] [$2,600]
6) 15-Donny Schatz[6] [$2,400]
7) 24-Terry McCarl[9] [$2,300]
R19-Jac Haudenschild[5] [$2,200]
9) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[11] [$2,150]
10) 20-Kraig Kinser[8] [$2,100]
11) 19-Brad Sweet[10] [$1,600]
12) 41-Jason Johnson[13] [$1,350]
13) 6-Danny Lasoski[12] [$1,300]
14) 51-Fred Rahmer[16] [$1,200]
15) 18-Tony Bruce Jr.[15] [$1,100]
16) 22-Brian Ellenberger[14] [$1,000]
17) 4-Eric Baldaccini[18] [$900]
18) 51W-Wes Miller[17] [$850]

Lap Leaders: Joey Saldana 1-30
SuperClean Start of the Night Award: Jason Meyers
Penske Power Position Award: Steve Kinser
KSE Hard Charger Award: Jason Meyers

by Tony Veneziano, World of Outlaws PR Director

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 Pushed Back One Day at Devil’s Bowl

Too much rain and not enough shine has interfered with the Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters once again, as this weekend’s 36th Annual Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals has been pushed back one day.

Originally slated for Friday night and Saturday night, saturated grounds with virtually no sunshine this week has forced the postponement of Friday night’s card.

The full event will still take place with Saturday night’s 8:00 p.m. card to be followed by the Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals championship finale on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. Gates will open at noon on Sunday.

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

by Lonnie Wheatley

ASCS Lucas Oil Sprint Cars on for Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals this weekend

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 this 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 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.

by Lonnie Wheatley

Channin Tankersley wins ASCS Gulf South feature at Golden Triangle after Tommy Bryant’s DQ

The American Sprint Car Series Gulf South Region made its seventh and final stop of the 2009 season at the Golden Triangle Raceway Park on Friday night, and well after all the dust had settled it was Channin Tankersley taking his first series win of the year.

While the 18-year-old from Highlands, TX, was awarded his fourth career ASCS Gulf South victory, it only came after apparent victor Tommy Bryant was disqualified after the use of illegal fuel additives was detected in post-race inspection.

While Bryant’s wire-to-wire drive from the pole position proved to be all for naught in post-race inspection, Tankersley’s battle past Kent Lewis, Jr., on the 15th round proved to be the race-winning move aboard the Tim’s Engines Griffith Truck & Equipment/Highlands Kawasaki No. 71 Maxim.

Lewis, Jr., settled for runner-up honors, with Ray Allen Kulhanek taking the show position. Eric Baldaccini raced from 11th to fourth, with Klint Angelette rounding out the top five for his first career ASCS top-five finish.

Combined with Bryant’s disqualification, Aaron Reutzel virtually locked up the ASCS Gulf South championship with an eighth place finish.

Bryant and Travis Elliott won Friday night’s heat races.

ASCS Gulf South Results from Golden Triangle Raceway Park:

Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 21T-Tommy Bryant, 2. 1b-Kent Lewis, Jr., 3. 31-Brandon Berryman, 4. 30x-Bean Elliott, 5. 88-Scottie McDonald, 6. 17c-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 7. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 8. 3-Gary Watson.

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 15T-Travis Elliott, 2. 71-Channin Tankersley, 3. 35-Greg Rilat, 4. 19-Klint Angelette, 5. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 6. 17-Bruce Griffith, Jr., 7. 25g-Steve Hubbard.

“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 71-Channin Tankersley, 2. 1b-Kent Lewis, Jr., 3. 17c-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 4. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 5. 19-Klint Angelette, 6. 31-Brandon Berryman, 7. 35-Greg Rilat, 8. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 9. 88-Scottie McDonald, 10. 3-Gary Watson, 11. 17-Bruce Griffith, Jr., 12. 25b-Steve Hubbard, 13. 15T-Travis Elliott, 14. 30x-Bean Elliott (DNS). Disqualified: 21T-Tommy Bryant.

ASCS Gulf South Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Aaron Reutzel 3,170, 2. Channin Tankersley 3,036, 3. Tommy Bryant 3,004, 4. Scottie McDonald 2,944, 5. Brandon Berryman 2,901, 6. Kent Lewis, Jr. 2,877, 7. Greg Rilat 2,837, 8. Ray Allen Kulhanek 2,699, 9. Gary Watson 2,676, 10. Jimmy Brooks 2,517.

by Lonnie Wheatley

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