ASCS Double header weekend, Waco and Willis

[rebelracewriter]

ASCS Gulf South Region Ready for Waco & Willis

 

 

Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (September 12, 2006) With veteran shoes Greg Rilat and Gary Watson locked in a tight championship points battle, the American Sprint Car Series Gulf South Region stops off at a pair of Texas this weekend for the final time this season.

 

 

On Friday night, the series takes to the semi-banked, ¼-mile Heart O' Texas Speedway clay oval in Waco, TX, for the second time this season. Then on Saturday night, it's off to the high-banked, 3/8-mile Gator Motorplex red clay oval in Willis, TX.

 

 

Jason Johnson was victorious in the series July 21 stop at Heart O' Texas Speedway in a challenge race versus the ASCS Sooner Region, while Chris Sweeney posted his lone series win of the year during a May 27 stop at the Gator Motorplex.

 

 

With just a handful of events remaining on the 2006 slate, Beaumont, TX, shoe Gary Watson has claimed a mere two-point lead over Texas City, TX, racer Greg Rilat. Rilat is chasing his first ASCS Gulf South Region title after runner-up finishes in both 2003 and 2005 along with a third-place effort in 2004. Watson, enjoying his first full year on the ASCS Gulf South trail, scored his first series win at Motorama Speedway on June 23.

 

 

While Watson and Rilat are dueling for the series championship, defending ASCS Gulf South kingpin Ray Allen Kulhanek of Danbury, TX, continues to make up ground lost during a slow start to the season. Kulhanek enters the weekend 71 points off the lead pace, with a June 24 series triumph at Houston Raceway Park to his credit.

 

 

Denham Springs, LA, hotshoe Lane Whittington enters the weekend ranked fourth, with Pasadena, TX, racer Larry Hartwell rounding out the top five. The balance of the current top ten includes Richard Holt (McLeod, TX), Kent Lewis, Jr. (Willis, TX), Jason Johnson (Eunice, LA), Chris Sweeney (Channelview, TX) and Ty Johnson (Eunice, LA).

 

 

Friday's action at Waco's Heart O' Texas Speedway gets under way at 8:00 p.m., while Saturday's card at Willis' Gator Motorplex goes green at 7:00 p.m.

 

 

Heart O' Texas Speedway is located in Waco, TX, off I-35 Exit 343, then 0.6 miles north on east frontage road. For more information, contact the track at 254-829-2294 or 254-776-1576.

 

 

Gator Motorplex is located in Willis, TX, off I-45 Exit 98 (Shepherd Hill), then east, then 1.4 miles south on SR 75. For more information, contact the track at 936-588-6127.

 

 

The 2006 ASCS Gulf South Regional schedule consists of 22 events at ten different tracks throughout Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas.

 

 

In its 15th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing in the United States, the American Sprint Car Series will present approximately 180 nights of racing in 2006 including the National Tour and its Regional Tours (Gulf South, Mid-South, Midwest, Northern Plains, Patriot Sprint Group, Rocky Mountain, Sooner, Southern and Sprints on Dirt).

 

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