rebelracewriter Posted July 18, 2007 Report Share Posted July 18, 2007 Stewart Snares ASCS Speedweek Redemption at Creek County Lonnie Wheatley, SAPULPA, Okla. (July 16, 2007) – Darren Stewart had been overdue. Way overdue. Stewart finally flung the monkey that has been haunting him for the past year and a half off his back by topping the second round of the 15th Annual ASCS Sizzlin' Summer Speedweek for the O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National series in Monday night's 30-lap feature at Creek County Speedway. After a pair of earlier leaders ran afoul of lapped traffic in separate incidents, Stewart battled past Sean McClelland in lapped traffic on the 26th lap and then beat Gary Wright to the checkered flag for his eleventh career ASCS National Tour win and the first since June 24, 2005. "We finally had one fall our way," an enthused Stewart commented in victory lane. "After a few laps, I could tell we had a good car, I thought then we just might have something." It was redemption of sorts for Stewart, who led all but the final few feet of last year's ASCS stop at Creek County Speedway. While Stewart gridded the feature field seventh aboard the Ostrich-powered Sparks Racing/RESM Transport No. 91 Eagle, it was Kenneth Walker and Wayne Johnson leading the way to the green flag. After the initial start was waved off for a turn four tangle that eliminated John Hunt and Danny Smith, Johnson outgunned Walker for the early lead and set the pace in front of Walker, Tim Crawley, McClelland and Stewart. Johnson reached the tail of the field in just five rounds atop the ¼-mile bullring and found himself with no place to go when Travis Rilat and Cody Branchcomb got together entering turn three on the seventh lap. Branchcomb's flipping mount collected both the leader and second-running Walker, handing the lead to Crawley. Branchcomb and Johnson were done for the night, while Walker rejoined the chase at the tail. Crawley paced the field over the ensuing rounds with McClelland, Stewart, Wright and Jasiel Randolph in tow. But as Crawley worked lapped traffic at the midway point, he suffered a fate similar to that of Wayne Johnson when Forrest Sutherland looped his mount directly in front of the leaders in turn two. Crawley was unable to avoid Sutherland and came to a stop after light contact. Crawley was able to restart at the rear. Back under way, it was McClelland leading the way as he set his sights on a second career ASCS National Tour victory with Stewart and Wright both within striking distance. Action was halted a pair of times with 19 laps in the books, the first for Aaron Berryhill's turn four tip over and then once again when Mike Goodman flipped in wild fashion down the frontstretch. There were no injuries. Back under way, McClelland stuck to the high side while Stewart and Wright both worked the bottom. Stewart pulled alongside McClelland and edged ahead as the pair raced down the backstretch on the 23rd lap, but McClelland fought off the bid to hang on to the lead. Lapped traffic played a significant role once again on the 26th lap when McClelland was briefly hung behind a lapped car exiting turn two. Stewart wasted little time pouncing on the opportunity to race into the lead, with Wright following suit a lap later. It wasn't in the record books yet though for Stewart, as another caution flew a half lap after he took the white flag when Kyle Bellm came to a stop in turn four with front end damage. Set for a green-white-checkered run, one last yellow appeared for Cody Gardner's turn two spin. With the green and white flags displayed simultaneously on the restart, the 2005 ASCS Speedweek champion drove one more perfect lap to secure his fourth career ASCS Speedweek feature win. Wright settled for second aboard the Wesmar-powered Richwood Construction/Whiteco Commercial Funding No. 9 Maxim, with McClelland taking the show position in the Wesmar-powered Hefley Motorsports/Maxwell Oil No. 1. While Wayne Johnson fell 38 points off Wright's lead pace in the $50,000 series championship battle, Louisiana's Jason Johnson did his part to keep the battle close by charging from 16th to fourth aboard Lanny Row's Wesmar-powered The Shop Motorsports No. 41 Eagle. Jason Johnson exited the night just 15 points behind Wright. Jamie Passmore turned in a strong run to round out the top five aboard the Wesmar-powered G.A.P. Roofing No. 4J. Brian McClelland raced from 14th to finish sixth, with 13-year-old New Yorker Coleman Gulick claiming seventh. Crawley recovered to claim eighth, while Jasiel Randolph posted his top ASCS National Tour finish by crossing the stripe ninth in just his tenth Sprint Car start. Walker recovered from the early incident as well to complete the top ten. Walker, Randolph, Stewart, Sean McClelland and Wright topped heat race action for the 39-car field, with Cody Gardner and 1993 ASCS National champion John Hunt winning the Twin "B" Mains. Travis Rilat flipped on the opening lap of the First "B" Main and utilized a provisional starting position for the "A" Main. O’Reilly ASCoT 15th Annual ASCS Sizzlin' Summer Speedweek Round Two Results from Creek County Speedway: Heat Races (Top 16 in Passing Points to "A" Main; Balance to Twin "B" Mains): Brodix Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 2-Kenneth Walker, 2. 4-Jamie Passmore, 3. 94-Wayne Johnson, 4. 59d-Dustin Morgan, 5. 94x-Cody Branchcomb, 6. 85s-Forrest Sutherland, 7. 20s-Sheldon Barksdale. Disqualified: 12T-Joe Young (nose wing too far forward after taking the checkered flag in first). Wesmar-Shaver Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 22J-Jasiel Randolph, 2. 14-Coleman Gulick, 3. 87-Brian McClelland, 4. 29-Travis Rilat, 5. 26m-Shelly Ward, 6. 11F-Foster Landon, 7. 52-Roy Larkin, 8. 81-Danny Caldwell. Brodix Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 91-Darren Stewart, 2. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 3. 41-Jason Johnson, 4. 85-John Hunt, 5. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 6. 74e-Claud Estes, 7. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 8. 23-Jimmy Taylor. Wesmar-Shaver Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 1-Sean McClelland, 2. 92-Mike Goodman, 3. 15s-Nick Smith, 4. 5$-Danny Smith, 5. 20-Rick Barksdale, 6. 72-Sherman Davis, 7. 11c-Dave Speer, 8. 95-Matt Covington. Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 9-Gary Wright, 2. 88-Tim Crawley, 3. 97-Aaron Berryhill, 4. 1g-Cody Gardner, 5. 4am-Travis Jenkins, 6. 7h-Rob Hartman, 7. 22-Koby Barksdale. Pole Dash (Finishing Order Determines Front Three Rows of “A†Main): Pole Dash (5 Laps): 1. 2-Kenneth Walker, 2. 94-Wayne Johnson, 3. 88-Tim Crawley, 4. 1-Sean McClelland, 5. 22J-Jasiel Randolph, 6. 9-Gary Wright. "B" Mains (Top 3 From Each Transfer to "A" Main): First "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 1g-Cody Gardner, 2. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 3. 85s-Forrest Sutherland, 4. 11F-Foster Landon, 5. 52-Roy Larkin, 6. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 7. 22-Koby Barksdale, 8. 23-Jimmy Taylor, 9. 12T-Joe Young, 10. 59d-Dustin Morgan, 11. 29-Travis Rilat, 12. 72-Sherman Davis. Second "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 85-John Hunt, 2. 94x-Cody Branchcomb, 3. 26m-Shelly Ward, 4. 4am-Travis Jenkins, 5. 95-Matt Covington, 6. 74e-Claud Estes, 7. 7h-Rob Hartman, 8. 20-Rick Barksdale, 9. 11c-Dave Speer, 10. 20s-Sheldon Barksdale, 11. 81-Danny Caldwell. O’Reilly ASCoT 15th Annual ASCS Sizzlin' Summer Speedweek Round Two "A" Main Results from I-30 Speedway: “A†Feature (30 Laps): 1. 91-Darren Stewart, 2. 9-Gary Wright, 3. 1-Sean McClelland, 4. 41-Jason Johnson, 5. 4-Jamie Passmore, 6. 87-Brian McClelland, 7. 14-Coleman Gulick, 8. 88-Tim Crawley, 9. 22J-Jasiel Randolph, 10. 2-Kenneth Walker, 11. 1g-Cody Gardner, 12. 85s-Forrest Sutherland, 13. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 14. 15s-Nick Smith, 15. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 16. 97-Aaron Berryhill, 17. 92-Mike Goodman, 18. 29-Travis Rilat, 19. 95-Matt Covington, 20. 26m-Shelly Ward, 21. 94-Wayne Johnson, 22. 94x-Cody Branchcomb, 23. 5$-Danny Smith, 24. 85-John Hunt. Lap Leaders: Wayne Johnson 1-6, Tim Crawley 7-14, Sean McClelland 15-25, Darren Stewart 26-30. Note: Travis Rilat utilized an O'Reilly ASCoT provisional for the main event and Matt Covington utilized an ASCS Speedweek provisional for the main event. O’Reilly ASCoT Points (Top Fifteen): 1. Gary Wright 3,240, 2. Jason Johnson 3,225, 3. Wayne Johnson 3,202, 4. Travis Rilat 3,030, 5. Foster Landon 2,707, 6. Darren Stewart 2,053, 7. Andy Shouse 1,559, 8. Nick Smith 1,346, 9. Chris Schmelzle 1,318, 10. Eric Baldaccini 1,272, 11. Chuck Swenson 1,152, 12. Johnny Miller 1,047, 13. Kenneth Walker 1,018, 14. Natalie Sather 933, 15. Aaron Berryhill 892. 15th Annual ASCS Sizzlin' Summer Speedweek Points (Top Ten after Round One of Five): 1. Gary Wright 296, 2. Jason Johnson 284, 3. Brian McClelland 278, 4. Darren Stewart 272, 5. Tim Crawley 266, 6. (tie) Kenneth Walker and Coleman Gulick 260, 8. Wayne Johnson 258, 9. Cody Gardner 242, 10. Eric Baldaccini 240 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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