rebelracewriter Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 Johnson and Sather Lead ASCS to Lakeside Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (July 6, 2007) – A pair of cars carrying the number 94 lead the American Sprint Car Series to Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, KS, for the series debut atop the ½-mile clay oval on Saturday night. Saturday's card, the final leg of the series' "Show-Me Showdown", pits the O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National series against both the ASCS Midwest Region and the Missouri-based O'Reilly Winged Outlaw Warriors. Leading the National forces into the event is Oklahoma native Wayne Johnson, pilot of the H&H Enterprises No. 94. And leading the ASCS Midwest Ranks is Fargo, North Dakota's Natalie Sather, driver of the Gateway Chevrolet No. 94s. Johnson, the 2000 ASCS National champion, took over the point lead in Wednesday night's Daniel McMillin Memorial event at Double X Speedway with his seventh runner-up finish of the season. With three feature wins to his credit this year, Johnson holds a tenuous 19-point lead over Louisiana's Jason Johnson, with Wright just one more point back in third as only 20 points separate the torrid trio in the $50,000 championship points chase. With Wayne Johnson atop the point charts, it marks the first time since the season opener at Tampa, Florida's East Bay Raceway Park on January 25 that someone other than Wright has held the top spot. Wright amassed a lead of 101 points by the time the series completed the 13th event of the season on May 18. But a Pennsylvania tumble at Susquehanna Speedway Park on May 24 put a severe dent in Wright's lead. And then Wednesday night's "DNF" at Double X proved costly for Wright, dropping him to third in points as he pursues his fourth consecutive ASCS National title. After the opening leg of the "Show-Me Showdown" was rained out at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, MO, last Saturday night, Wright topped the next round on Tuesday night at Sedalia's Missouri State Fair Speedway for his seventh win of the season and 113th series win of his career. Jason Johnson countered the next night, matching Wright's seven O'Reilly ASCoT wins this year with a triumph in the Daniel McMillin memorial. While the unrelated duo of Johnson & Johnson along with Wright are engaged in a tense championship battle, 2003 ASCS kingpin Travis Rilat of Forney, TX, is keeping the lead trio within striking distance, just 115 points behind the leader. Battling the nation's top Sprint Car drivers ranging from Florida to Texas and Oklahoma, to New York and Pennsylvania, to South Dakota and Minnesota, and most recently to Missouri, the lead quartet of Wayne Johnson, Jason Johnson, Gary Wright and Travis Rilat have combined to win 19 of 22 feature events this year. Only Terry McCarl, Jake Peters and Chuck Hebing have been able to break the foursome's stranglehold on victory lane. Iowa's McCarl won an East Bay preliminary event on January 26, South Dakota's Peters topped the Devil's Bowl Spring Nationals finale on March 17 in Mesquite, TX, and most recently New York's Chuck Hebing won the Bully Hill Vineyards Nationals prelim at Black Rock Speedway in Dundee, NY, on May 18. Hailing from Collinsville, OK, Foster Landon ranks fifth in points entering Saturday's card and leads the Brodix Rookie of the Year race. On the Regional front, 22-year-old Natalie Sather is trying to carve out her own piece of history by becoming the first female champion in American Sprint Car Series history. With six of the ASCS Midwest Region's eleven events already in the books, the attractive racer from North Dakota holds a 13-point lead over South Dakota's Chuck Swenson. Wrenched by legendary crew chief Kenny Woodruff, Sather's other top pursuers in the ASCS Midwest Regional championship points race include the Lincoln, NE, duo of Jason Danley and defending series champion Toby Chapman. Danley is 64 points behind Sather, with Chapman 74 points off the lead pace. Leading the way for the Winged Outlaw Warriors is two-time and defending champion Randy Martin of California, MO. Martin moved atop the points following the events on Tuesday and Wednesday night, with other WOW frontrunners including Gabe Maycock, rookie phenom Josh Fisher, Rusty Potter and Curtis Boyer. The Series: O’Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour (ASCoT) vs. ASCS Midwest Region and O'Reilly Winged Outlaw Warriors When & Where: O'Reilly ASCoT Show-Me Showdown: Round 4 - Saturday night, July 7 at 7:30 p.m. – Lakeside Speedway (Kansas City, KS) Track Information: Lakeside Speedway (Kansas City, KS) – ½-mile semi-banked dirt oval located off I-435 Exit 18, then one mile northwest on SR 5. Track phone: 913-299-2040. O’Reilly ASCoT Lakeside Speedway History: Track promoter Marc Olson brings in the O'Reilly ASCoT National series for the first winged Sprint Car event at Lakeside Speedway in more than five years, which will put all the competitors on relatively equal footing as the night begins. Travis Rilat is one of a few drivers that has had a look at Lakeside, although he toured the oval in the track's annual Sprint Bandits TNT wingless event held each August. Saturday's feature event will be the 499th in ASCS National Tour history. O'Reilly ASCoT Winners at Lakeside Speedway: None; first series event. Current O’Reilly ASCoT Points (After 22 of 41 Nights): Top Fifteen: 1. Wayne Johnson (Oklahoma City, OK) 2,814, 2. Jason Johnson (Eunice, LA) 2,795, 3. Gary Wright (Hooks, TX) 2,794, 4. Travis Rilat (Forney, TX) 2,699, 5. Foster Landon (Collinsville, OK) 2,386, 6. Darren Stewart (Bixby, OK) 1,781, 7. Andy Shouse (Oklahoma City, OK) 1,559, 8. Chris Schmelzle (Victoria, BC) 1,318, 9. Chuck Swenson (Watertown, SD) 1,152, 10. Johnny Miller (Burleson, TX) 1,047, 11. Nick Smith (Broken Arrow, OK) 982, 12. Eric Baldaccini (Keller, TX) 906, 13. Natalie Sather (Fargo, ND) 825, 14. Garry Lee Maier (Cimarron, KS) 766, 15. Kenneth Walker (Sapulpa, OK) 758. Current ASCS Midwest Region Points (After 6 of 11 Nights): Top Ten: 1. Natalie Sather (Fargo, ND) 792, 2. Chuck Swenson (Watertown, SD) 779, 3. Jason Danley (Lincoln, NE) 728, 4. Toby Chapman (Lincoln, NE) 718, 5. Brian Brown (Grain Valley, MO) 678, 6. Don Droud, Jr. (Lincoln, NE) 668, 7. Rick Ideus (Silver City, IA) 599, 8. Ryan Anderson (Charter Oak, IA) 550, 9. Mike Boston (Lincoln, NE) 534, 10. Seth Brahmer (Wisner, NE) 502. 2007 O’Reilly ASCoT Feature Winners: Jason Johnson 7, Gary Wright 7, Wayne Johnson 3, Travis Rilat 2, Chuck Hebing 1, Terry McCarl 1, Jake Peters 1. ASCoT – A Look Ahead: *July 14 I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, AR) *July 16 Creek County Speedway (Sapulpa, OK) *July 19 Devil's Bowl Speedway (Mesquite, TX) *July 20 State Fair Speedway (Oklahoma City, OK) *July 21 Lawton Speedway (Lawton, OK) * - Denotes 15th Annual ASCS Sizzlin' Summer Speedweek events The O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National series is currently slated for 41 nights of racing action at 22 different tracks throughout 15 different states, with more than $1,000,000 in purse money and point fund to be distributed during the 2007 season. The 2007 season marks the 16th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing for the American Sprint Car Series. With 13 different Regions in addition to the O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National series, ASCS will sanction approximately 240 nights of racing at more than 100 different race tracks throughout at least 30 different states and Canada. 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