ASCoT @ OKC State Fair Speedway results 6/23/06

[rebelracewriter]

Wright Wrangles First O'Reilly ASCoT Win in OKC's Summer Nationals

 

Lonnie Wheatley, OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (June 23, 2006) It's a rare sight

to see Gary Wright winless in O'Reilly Sprint Cars on Tour feature action with

the month of July right around the corner. Wright finally put a stop to that

winless streak in Friday night's Summer Nationals at State Fair Speedway,

wiring the field in the 25-lap main event to post his first series win of the

year over a stellar 50-car field.

Winless through the series opening ten feature events of 2006, Wright

wrestled the lead from George White at the outset then survived several cautions

before driving the Wesmar-powered Southwest Express/The Shop/Richwood

Construction No. 9 Maxim to his 105th career ASCS National Tour feature win, tossing a

daunting gorilla off his back in the process.

 

"We finally got one, it feels good to be back in victory lane," a relieved

winner commented in victory lane. "I think we've finally got all our ducks in

a row, we changed the torque tube after our Virginia trip and the car's

worked so much better since then."

 

After ranking sixth in passing points following heat race action, Wright

caught an early break by drawing the pole position for the Pole Dash. Wright

took quick advantage by winning the Dash and earning the pole position for the

main event.

On the initial attempt to start the race, it was outside front row starter

White gunning into the initial lead only to have the start waved off when

fourth-starter Dustin Daggett flipped wildly off the third corner. Daggett

walked away from his destroyed machine uninjured.

Wright and White raced wheel-to-wheel on the second start, only to have it

waved off as well when Jason Johnson slid to a stop in turn four with

front-end damage. Johnson was done for the night.

The third time proved to be the charm, with Wright getting the jump to take

the early lead and pacing the early rounds as White and Robert Sellers raced

wheel-to-wheel for the runner-up slot directly in front of ninth-starter

Darren Stewart.

 

Stewart battled past Sellers for third on a lap six restart, then overtook

White for second by the ninth circuit. Stewart then closed to Wright's

bumper following the race's final interruption with eleven laps in the books for

Natalie Sather's turn four stop.

Stewart tried to mount a challenge upon the two-time and defending ASCS

National champion, but Wright slipped away in lapped traffic over the final

handful of laps to secure the win with Stewart settling for second aboard the

Ostrich-powered Sparks Construction/RESM Transport No. 91 Eagle.

White drove the Swofford Electric No. 1s to a third-place showing, with

Sellers crossing the stripe fourth. Jamie Passmore climbed ten positions to

round out the top five aboard the GAP Roofing No. 4J.

Current series point leader Nick Smith started the feature 22nd and had

cracked the top ten in the opening handful of laps before cutting a tire while

dodging a turn two tangle. Smith rejoined the field at the tail and charged

back up to sixth to maintain a 15-point lead over Wright in the championship

points chase.

 

Mike Peters crossed the stripe seventh, while Travis Rilat rebounded from a

cut left front tire after six laps to snare eighth after starting 16th.

Kenneth Walker raced from 19th to ninth, with Tony Bruce, Jr., advancing seven

spot to complete the top ten.

White, Sellers, Koby Barksdale, Daggett, Johnson and Chappell were

victorious in heat race action. Bruce, Jr., wired the field in the First "B" Main,

while Whit Gastineau made a late move past Steven King to win the Second "B"

Main in his ASCS debut.

 

Abe Sherwood went for a wild ride in turn two on the opening lap of the

fifth heat race, while Sean McClelland smacked the wall and flipped at the start

of the sixth heat race. Sherwood returned for later action, while McClelland

was done for the night.

Jesse Hockett and Jan Howard both utilized provisional starting positions

for the "A" Main event. Hockett had climbed to tenth before running out of

tearoffs after eleven laps, while Howard was sidelined when he bounced off the

turn two embankment dodging a spinning Natalie Sather.

Fourteen-year-old Trey Robb held down the sixth position until a broken

spark plug ended his run after nine laps.

 

O'Reilly ASCoT State Fair Speedway Summer Nationals Results:

Heats Races (Top 16 in passing points to "A" Main Top 6 to Pole Dash;

balance to Twin "B" Mains)

Brodix Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 1s-George White, 2. 12-Trey Robb, 3. 2-Whit

Gastineau, 4. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 5. 15s-Nick Smith, 6. 22J-Jasiel Randolph,

7. 7c-Josh Close, 8. 81au-Gavin Punch, 9. 15b-Michael Brown.

Wesmar-Shaver Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 97-Robert Sellers, 2. 9-Gary Wright, 3.

91-Darren Stewart, 4. 25-Derek Cottrell, 5. 75-Jesse Hockett, 6. 15x-B.J.

Fay, 7. 61-Earnest Jennings, 8. 4-Mike Chadd, 9. 35c-Wendy Chapa.

Brodix Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 22-Koby Barksdale, 2. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 3.

88-Steven King, 4. 85s-Forrest Sutherland, 5. 59-Dex Eaton, 6. 36-Mitchell

Gosey, 7. 12a-Kent Buckley, 8. 10w-Cody Wampler.

Wesmar-Shaver Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 85-Dustin Daggett, 2. 26-Rafe Essary,

3. 4J-Jamie Passmore, 4. 46-Jan Howard, 5. 33-Gary Owens, 6. 45-J.P. Bailey,

7. 6-Terry Holland, 8. 44J-Abe Sherwood.

Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2. 29-Travis Rilat, 3.

94s-Natalie Sather, 4. 11F-Foster Landon, 5. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 6. 03-Joe Wood,

Jr., 7. d12-Doc Sloan. DNS: 10-Brian McClelland.

Heat Six (8 Laps): 1. 92-Zach Chappell, 2. 51-Mike Peters, 3. 64J-Johnny

Miller, 4. 2w-Kenneth Walker, 5. 94-Cody Branchcomb, 6. 61J-Danny Jennings, 7.

1-Sean McClelland. DNS: 23-Jimmy Taylor.

 

Pole Dash (Finishing Order Determines Front Three Rows of "A" Main):

Pole Dash (5 Laps): 1. 9-Gary Wright, 2. 1s-George White, 3. 97-Robert

Sellers, 4. 85-Dustin Daggett, 5. 22-Koby Barksdale, 6. 92-Zach Chappell.

"B" Mains â Top 3 Advance to "A" Main

First "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 2. 2w-Kenneth Walker,

3. 64J-Johnny Miller, 4. 85s-Forrest Sutherland, 5. 11F-Foster Landon, 6.

46-Jan Howard, 7. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 8. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 9. 45-J.P.

Bailey, 10. 81au-Gavin Punch, 11. 15x-B.J. Fay, 12. 15b-Michael Brown, 13. d12-Doc

Sloan, 14. 7c-Josh Close, 15. 12a-Kent Buckley, 16. 10w-Cody Wampler. DNS:

10-Brian McClelland.

Second "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 2-Whit Gastineau, 2. 88-Steven King, 3.

15s-Nick Smith, 4. 75-Jesse Hockett, 5. 59-Dex Eaton, 6. 44J-Abe Sherwood, 7.

61-Earnest Jennings, 8. 6-Terry Holland, 9. 36-Mitchell Gosey, 10. 22J-Jasiel

Randolph, 11. 94-Cody Branchcomb, 12. 33-Gary Owens, 13. 61J-Danny Jennings,

14. 35c-Wendy Chapa, 15. 4-Mike Chadd. DNS: 1-Sean McClelland, 23-Jimmy

Taylor.

 

O'Reilly ASCoT State Fair Speedway Summer Nationals "A" Main Event

"A" Feature (25 Laps): 1. 9-Gary Wright, 2. 91-Darren Stewart, 3.

1s-George White, 4. 97-Robert Sellers, 5. 4J-Jamie Passmore, 6. 15s-Nick Smith, 7.

51-Mike Peters, 8. 29-Travis Rilat, 9. 2w-Kenneth Walker, 10. 18-Tony Bruce,

Jr., 11. 64J-Johnny Miller, 12. 94s-Natalie Sather, 13. 25-Derek Cottrell, 14.

2-Whit Gastineau, 15. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 16. 88-Steven King, 17. 75-Jesse

Hockett, 18. 12-Trey Robb, 19. 26-Rafe Essary, 20. 46-Jan Howard, 21. 22-Koby

Barksdale, 22. 41-Jason Johnson, 23. 92-Zach Chappell, 24. 85-Dustin Daggett.

Lap Leaders: Gary Wright 1-25.

Note: Jesse Hockett and Jan Howard both utilized provisional starting

positions for the "A" Main.

 

O'Reilly ASCoT Points (Top Fifteen): 1. Nick Smith 1,324, 2. Gary Wright

1,309, 3. Jesse Hockett 1,232, 4. Travis Rilat 1,225, 5. Jason Johnson 1,189,

6. Darren Stewart 1,171, 7. Jan Howard 1,155, 7. Sean McClelland 1,107, 9.

Trey Robb 1,024, 10. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 991, 11. Dustin Daggett 990, 12. Tony

Bruce, Jr. 977, 13. Zach Chappell 953, 14. Abe Sherwood 845, 15. Jerrod Hull

806.