Ramey takes ASCoT Speedweek finale

[rebelracewriter]

Ramey Emerges Atop Wild & Woolly ASCS Speedweek Finale at Lawton

 

 

Lonnie Wheatley, LAWTON, Okla. (July 15, 2006)“ In an appropriately unpredictable conclusion to the 14th Annual COMP Cams American Sprint Car Series Sizzlin' Summer Speedweek, Kevin Ramey ultimately claimed the victory in a 30-lap feature for the O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour at Lawton Speedway that included more twists and turns than a classic Hitchcock thriller.

 

 

In the closing laps, the lead battle boiled down to a three-way joust among a leader with a nose wing somehow wedged within its frame (Ramey), an entry that was hobbled on just seven cylinders from the outset (Smith) and a driver looking to put an exclamation point on his first ASCS Speedweek title after charging from 16th (Jason Johnson).

 

 

 

Smith motored by a struggling Ramey on the 28th round and saw the checkered flag first. But the victory lane celebration proved to be for naught when the Ostrich-powered MPHG Promotions No. 15s Eagle weighed in 27 pounds under the minimum 1,475 lb. weight limit afterwards.

 

 

As a result, Ramey, who led from lap 18 through lap 27, picked up his third O'Reilly ASCoT feature win of the season and second career ASCS Speedweek triumph, even after somehow surviving a lap 25 tangle with a lapped car that left his mangled nose wing wedged inside the frame rails of Tom Willis' Wells-powered Commercial Music/Urban Nissan No. 7m Eagle.

 

 

"I had a car that was working really good before that deal, then after that it was kinda like a rookie was driving the car, it was a handful," Ramey explained afterward. "It was an unfortunate deal with Natalie (Sather), I thought she was gonna go low then she went high and we got together. Unfortunately, it knocked her out of the race and it messed up our car too, but luck was on our side tonight I guess."

 

 

Meanwhile, it was Louisiana's Jason Johnson putting the finishing touches on a truly Sizzlin' Summer Speedweek by charging from 16th to second and claiming the title by a commanding 66-point margin aboard Lanny Row's Wesmar-powered The Shop Diesel Service No. 41 Eagle.

 

 

"It was a great week for us, the car was really strong every night and a lot of good breaks fell our way. To get four wins and two second place finishes against this competition is an accomplishment," Johnson commented. "I really have to thank my car owner Lanny Row, he gives us everything we need to come out here and do this and I can't tell you how much I appreciate it."

 

 

Smith earned the pole position for the feature, but dropped a valve in the process of winning the Pole Dash. Despite being down one cylinder from the outset, Smith gunned into the lead at the drop of the green flag with third-starter Foster Landon and fifth-starter Ramey relegating outside front row starter Sam Hafertepe, Jr., to fourth by the time the caution flew after three rounds for the synchronized unassisted spins of Abe Sherwood and Landon in Brown in turn two.

 

 

Back under way, Smith slipped away to a six car-length advantage as Landon fought off Ramey's challenges for the runner-up slot. But it was after Sherwood's lap 16 spin, one lap after a quick red flag for Shelly Ward's turn one tumble, that Ramey turned up the heat on the lead pair.

 

 

Ramey slid underneath Landon entering turn three on the 16th round, then duplicated the move two laps later to wrestle the lead away from Smith. Ramey then proceeded to race away from the field and appeared to be en route to an easy win until lapped traffic nearly spelled disaster for the two-time ASCS Sooner Region champion.

 

 

Entering turn three on the 25th lap, the right rear corner of Natalie Sather's lapped machine climbed over Ramey's front end. Sather spun to a stop in the corner, with Ramey somehow keeping his mount under power.

 

 

Under the ensuing caution, Ramey tried to dislodge the wedged nose wing but to no avail as he continued on with the wing grinding noisily inside the frame rails.

 

 

 

All the while, Johnson had been on the march from his eighth row starting position, cracking the top ten by the tenth circuit then surging to fifth by the 20th round. Johnson battled past Robert Sellers for fourth soon after, then took third from Landon by the time the caution flew for Ramey's close call with Sather on the 25th lap.

 

 

After a turn two tangle that eliminated Hafertepe, Zach Chappell and Sean McClelland a lap later, Landon was relegated to the rear of the field for racing past Johnson for third before reaching the cone.

 

 

Then after a turn four tangle involving Sellers and Preston Peebles II with 27 laps in the books, a three-lap dash to the checkered flag was set.

 

 

Fighting his ill-handling mount, Ramey slid high and turns three and four and opened the door for Smith, who took quick advantage by racing into the lead on the low side. Smith held the point to the stripe, only to find that his heavily smoking mount would weigh in too light at the scales. Car owner Kip Smith and crew chief Jimmy Jones have protested the track scales. The scales, which have been recently re-certified, will be tested by technicians on Monday for accuracy. No other cars weighed in below the minimum over the course of the night.

 

 

 

Johnson settled for a close-runner finish after Smith's disqualification, with Travis Rilat taking the show position aboard the Motor Mike-powered F&J Construction/Hard Eight Racing No. 29 Maxim after starting ninth. Current O'Reilly ASCoT point leader Gary Wright was fourth, with Tony Bruce, Jr., rounding out the top five.

 

 

Skip Wilson posted his fourth consecutive ASCS Sizzlin' Summer Speedweek top-ten finish by claiming sixth, with 17th-starter Jesse Hockett, Peebles, Landon and 23rd-starter Trey Robb completing the top ten.

 

 

Landon, Sherman Davis, Sellers, Hafertepe and Smith topped heat race action for the 35-car field, with Hockett wiring the field in the 12-lap "B" Main. Robb flipped in the third heat race before returning to post a top-ten finish after utilizing a Speedweek provisional

 

 

O'Reilly ASCoT COMP Cams Sizzlin' Summer Speedweek Round Six Results:

 

 

Heat Races (Top 16 in passing points to "A" Main Top 6 to Pole Dash; balance to "B" Main)

 

 

Brodix Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 11F-Foster Landon, 2. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 3. 92-Zach Chappell, 4. 41-Jason Johnson, 5. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 6. 1-Sean McClelland, 7. 22-Koby Barksdale.

 

 

Wesmar-Shaver Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 72-Sherman Davis, 2. 65-Skip Wilson, 3. 75-Jesse Hockett, 4. 94s-Natalie Sather, 5. 10-Brian McClelland, 6. 59-Dex Eaton, 7. 15x-B.J. Fay.

 

 

Brodix Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 97x-Robert Sellers, 2. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 3. 9-Gary Wright, 4. L23-Landon Brown, 5. 16$-Eddie Ramsey, 6. 44J-Abe Sherwood, 7. 12-Trey Robb.

 

 

Wesmar-Shaver Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 2. 64J-Johnny Miller, 3. 29-Travis Rilat, 4. 15b-Michael Brown, 5. 61J-Danny Jennings, 6. 26-Rafe Essary, 7. 10R-David Wheeler.

 

 

Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 15s-Nick Smith, 2. 26m-Shelly Ward, 3. 11p-Preston Peebles II, 4. 94-Cody Branchcomb, 5. 14b-Robert Byrom, 6. 61-Earnest Jennings, 7. 25-Derek Cottrell.

 

 

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

 

 

Pole Dash (5 Laps): 1. 15s-Nick Smith, 2. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 3. 11F-Foster Landon, 4. 97x-Robert Sellers, 5. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 6. 72-Sherman Davis.

 

 

"B" Main Top 6 Advance to "A" Main

 

 

"B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 75-Jesse Hockett, 2. 94-Cody Branchcomb, 3. 1-Sean McClelland, 4. 10-Brian McClelland, 5. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 6. L23-Landon Brown, 7. 15b-Michael Brown, 8. 61J-Danny Jennings, 9. 16$-Eddie Ramsey, 10. 12-Trey Robb, 11. 59-Dex Eaton, 12. 22-Koby Barksdale, 13. 15x-B.J. Fay, 14. 44J-Abe Sherwood, 15. 25-Derek Cottrell, 16. 61-Earnest Jennings, 17. 26-Rafe Essary, 18. 14b-Robert Byrom. DNS: 10R-David Wheeler.

 

 

O'Reilly ASCoT COMP Cams Sizzlin' Summer Speedweek Round Six "A" Main Event:

 

 

 

"A" Feature (30 Laps): 1. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 2. 41-Jason Johnson, 3. 29-Travis Rilat, 4. 9-Gary Wright, 5. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 6. 65-Skip Wilson, 7. 75-Jesse Hockett, 8. 11p-Preston Peebles II, 9. 11F-Foster Landon, 10. 12-Trey Robb, 11. L23-Landon Brown, 12. 97x-Robert Sellers, 13. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 14. 92-Zach Chappell, 15. 1-Sean McClelland, 16. 94s-Natalie Sather, 17. 94-Cody Branchcomb, 18. 44J-Abe Sherwood, 19. 26m-Shelly Ward, 20. 64J-Johnny Miller, 21. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 22. 72-Sherman Davis, 23. 10-Brian McClelland, 24. 15s-Nick Smith (disqualified for weighing in below the minimum required weight of 1,475 lbs. after finishing first).

 

 

Lap Leaders: Nick Smith 1-17, Kevin Ramey 18-27, Nick Smith 28-30.

 

 

Note: Abe Sherwood utilized an O'Reilly ASCoT provisional for the "A' Main, with Trey Robb using an ASCS Speedweek provisional.

 

 

O'Reilly ASCoT Points (Top Fifteen): 1. Gary Wright 2,608, 2. Jason Johnson 2,564, 3. Jesse Hockett 2,525, 4. Nick Smith 2,517, 5. Travis Rilat 2,508, 6. Sean McClelland 2,322, 7. Darren Stewart 2,204, 8. Trey Robb 2,157, 9. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 2,148, 10. Tony Bruce, Jr. 2,100, 11. Jan Howard 1,940, 12. Abe Sherwood 1,748, 13. Zach Chappell 1,740, 14. Kevin Ramey 1,263, 15. Cody Branchcomb 1,217.

 

 

Final ASCS COMP Cams Sizzlin' Summer Speedweek Points (Top Fifteen): 1. Jason Johnson 892, 2. Travis Rilat 826, 3. Gary Wright 824, 4. Jesse Hockett 814, 5. Sean McClelland 776, 6. Tony Bruce, Jr. 774, 7. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 754, 8. Trey Robb 734, 9. Nick Smith 732, 10. Foster Landon 648, 11. Zach Chappell 638, 12. Roger Crockett 632, 13. Darren Stewart 564, 14. Abe Sherwood 557, 15. Skip Wilson 542.