rebelracewriter Posted October 4, 2007 Report Share Posted October 4, 2007 ASCS Sooner Region Battle Goes Down to the Wire at Mid-America Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (October 1, 2007) – The tension in the air will be thick as the American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region slings clay for the final time this season with a two-night stand at Mid-America Speedway in South Coffeyville, OK, this Friday and Saturday night. While Saturday night's $3,000 winner's share is sure to attract a host of top contenders, all eyes will be on the trio of Kevin Ramey, Brian McClelland and Cody Branchcomb, who are set to battle it out for ASCS Sooner Region championship honors. With a dozen nights of ASCS Sooner Region competition in the books, a mere nine points separate the top three title contenders entering this weekend's finale that includes two full nights of racing action. Ramey holds a seven-point edge over McClelland, with Branchcomb just two more points back in third. Hailing from Fort Worth, TX, Ramey is gunning for a third ASCS Sooner Region crown after claiming the title in 2003 and then tying for the championship in 2004 with Andy Shouse. Ramey ended up in a tie for second in Sooner points last year when a similar three-driver duel came down to the season finale at Mid-America. Ramey has picked off four Sooner Region wins this year at four different tracks (Cowtown, Mid-America, Lawton and Heart O' Texas) to extend his career Sooner Region win total to 18 victories, tops in series history. After consecutive Sooner rankings of fourth in both 2005 and 2006, Tulsa's Brian McClelland has stepped up the pace this year and been in title contention throughout. After settling for second to Ramey in a hard-fought duel at Mid-America on June 9, McClelland captured his first career Sooner win in Ramey's backyard, Cowtown Speedway in Kennedale, TX, the next time out. McClelland added his second win with a Creek County Speedway triumph in the series last outing on September 22. Out of Sapulpa, OK, Branchcomb's consistency through the year has kept him at or near the top of the point charts with seven top-fives and ten top-tens in a dozen events. A third-place finisher in 2005 ASCS Sooner Region points, Branchcomb claimed O'Reilly ASCoT National Rookie of the Year honors in 2002 as a 16-year-old. That '02 season marked the first of three consecutive top-ten years in ASCS National Tour action for Branchcomb, including seventh, fifth and ninth, before scaling back to primarily Sooner Region action in 2005. While Ramey, McClelland and Branchcomb vie for victory honors as well as the series championship this weekend, a number of other top shoes will try to finish out the season on a strong note as well. Other top ASCS Sooner Region shoes include Lawton's Michael Brown, who will try to hold on to a career-best ranking of fourth in Sooner action. Brown enters the weekend just eight markers ahead of Collinsville, OK, racer Gavin Punch. J.P. Bailey, the 2001 ASCS Sooner Region champion hailing from Fort Worth by way of Collinsville, enters the weekend ranked sixth, with seventh-ranked Derek Cottrell of Fletcher, OK, trying to put the clamps on a third-consecutive top-ten season. Broken Arrow's Nick Smith, a September 15 winner at Cowtown, enters the weekend ranked eighth despite missing three events along the way. Smith topped last year's $3,000-to-win Sooner Region finale at Mid-America Speedway. Nineteen-year-old Eric Baldaccini of Keller, TX, enters the weekend ranked ninth, with Sherman Davis of Sand Springs, OK, rounding out the current top ten. Both night of racing action atop the semi-banked, 3/10-mile Mid-America Speedway clay oval are slated to go green at 7:00 p.m. Mid-America Speedway is located one mile south of the Oklahoma-Kansas state line on US 169, then 0.7 miles west. For more information, contact the track at 918-255-6698. Following eight early-season rainouts, the 2007 schedule for the American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region is composed of 14 events at seven different tracks throughout Oklahoma and Texas. The 2007 season marks the 16th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing for the American Sprint Car Series. With a dozen 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. Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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