• Home
• About LSS
• Dirt Calendar
• Paved Calendar
• Touring Series

Subscribe

• Login
• Forums
• Audio
• Live Blogs
• Video

Joe Wood, Jr, whips ASCS Foes in Devil’s Bowl Summer Nationals

Joe Wood, Jr., padded his American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region points lead by topping Saturday’s main event at the Devil’s Bowl Summer Nationals that pitted the ASCS Sooner forces versus The Oil Medics ASCS Lone Star Region contenders.

The ASCS Sooner champion in 2009, Wood, Jr., assumed the point on lap 18 and went on to post his first win of the year and fifth of his career aboard the familiar No. 03 machine.

While Wood, Jr., started Saturday’s Summer Nationals finale inside the second row, it was front row outside starter Kevin Ramey gunning into the lead at the outset and pacing the initial 17 circuits until spinning exiting turn four with a broken left front shock tower.

Wood, Jr., still had to earn the win though, as ninth-starter Brady Bacon pulled alongside to challenge for the top spot in the final corner, only to have Wood, Jr., beat the Broken Arrow, OK, racer to the line for the $2,000 triumph.

Bacon settled for runner-up honors for the second night in a row, with New Mexico’s Joshua Hodges claiming the show position. Dustin Morgan climbed ten spots from 14th to fourth, with Andy Shouse rounding out the top five.

Defending ASCS Lone Star champion Eric Baldaccini was sixth, with Dale Wester, Brandon Corn, 19th-starter Justin Melton and Friday night winner Tony Bruce, Jr., completing the top ten.

Wood, Jr., Hodges and Wester won Saturday night’s heat races, with Melton winning the “B” Main.

The Oil Medics ASCS Lone Star Region versus American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region Results from Devil’s Bowl Speedway:

First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 2. 27-Andy Shouse, 3. 14-Michael Lang, 4. 11c-Matt Covington, 5. 99-Brady Bacon, 6. 2L-Logan Payne, 7. 74e-Claud Estes, 8. 45-Martin Edwards, 9. 77-Colt Treharn.

Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 2. 7-Michelle Decker, 3. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 4. 30-Brandon Corn, 5. 2-Dustin Morgan, 6. 54-Evan Pardo, 7. 110-Cameron Hagin, 8. 11-Justin Melton, 9. 76-John Ricketts.

Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 12-Dale Wester, 2. 61-Danny Jennings, 3. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 4. 5-Kyle McCutcheon, 5. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 6. 14b-Robert Byrom, 7. 45x-J.P. Bailey, 8. 35-Rick Wright, Jr.

“B” Feature (10 Laps): 1. 11-Justin Melton, 2. 77-Colt Treharn, 3. 74e-Claud Estes, 4. 45-Martin Edwards, 5. 110-Cameron Hagin, 6. 35-Rick Wright, Jr., 7. 45x-J.P. Bailey, 8. 76-John Ricketts.

“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 2. 99-Brady Bacon, 3. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 4. 2-Dustin Morgan, 5. 27-Andy Shouse, 6. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 7. 12-Dale Wester, 8. 30-Brandon Corn, 9. 11-Justin Melton, 10. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 11. 74e-Claud Estes, 12. 54-Evan Pardo, 13. 45-Martin Edwards, 14. 5-Kyle McCutcheon, 15. 11c-Matt Covington, 16. 110-Cameron Hagin, 17. 35-Rick Wright, Jr., 18. 2L-Logan Payne, 19. 61-Danny Jennings, 20. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 21. 14-Michael Lang, 22. 7-Michelle Decker, 23. 77-Colt Treharn, 24. 14b-Robert Byrom.

The Oil Medics ASCS Lone Star Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Matt Covington 1,011, 2. Eric Baldaccini 971, 3. Claud Estes 962, 4. Justin Melton 925, 5. Martin Edwards 919, 6. Michael Lang 917, 7. Evan Pardo 877, 8. John Ricketts 808, 9. Robert Byrom 806, 10. Dale Wester 638.

American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Joe Wood, Jr. 915, 2. Michelle Decker 840, 3. Andy Shouse 839, 4. Matt Covington 833, 5. Claud Estes 614, 6. Tony Bruce, Jr. 566, 7. Brady Bacon 556, 8. Cameron Hagin 550, 9. Rick Wright, Jr. 545, 10. Koby Barksdale 541.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Locked in from Friday Night’s Preliminary Feature:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

by Lonnie Wheatley
Tim Aylwin photos

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

By Lonnie Wheatley
Photos courtesy ASCS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Locked in from Saturday Night’s Preliminary Feature:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

by Lonnie Wheatley

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2009 Lucas Oil Sprint Car Feature Winners:

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

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

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

Lucas Oil Sprint Cars on the Web:

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

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

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

Lucas Oil Sprint Cars on TV:

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

Events to be aired on VERSUS include the following:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Locked in from Friday Night’s Preliminary Feature:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Third Annual Fred Brownfield Memorial “A” Main Event:

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

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

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

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

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

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

by Lonnie Wheatley

Next Page »

Copyright © 2005-2009 Lone Star Speedzone · 139 E. Hopkins, Suite 200-E, San Marcos, TX 78666 · Log in