ASCS Tuesday's Top Ten – Fat Tuesday

[rebelracewriter]

ASCS Tuesday's Top Ten - Fat Tuesday

 

by Lonnie Wheatley

 

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (February 5, 2008) – Fat Tuesday can only mean it's time for a phat rendition of TTT, encapsulating the latest happenings of varying degrees of significance or lack thereof pertaining to the American Sprint Car Series.

 

Have those Mardi Gras beads ready, you just never know when you'll need 'em.

 

1. The Crown – It took full three nights of racing for the O'Reilly ASCoT National Tour, encompassing a total of 30 races (19 heats, 8 "B" Mains and three "A" Mains) and 338 total laps atop a well-prepared East Bay Raceway Park 1/3-mile clay oval, before the score was finally settled. And in the end, it was Louisiana's Jason Johnson coming away with the $10,000 victory and the crown before a record "King of the 360's" Nationals crowd, becoming the eighth different winner of the event after Gary Wright became the first repeat winner last year.

 

After spotting Gary Wright 110 points in 2006 and then 60 points in 2007, Johnson has Tampa in his rear view mirror and is just one point behind "The Texan" as he chases the $50,000 championship after settling for runner-up honors over each of the past two seasons.

 

Johnson also rides a streak of 22 consecutive top-ten feature finishes into the Devil's Bowl Spring Nationals on March 14-15. Seven wins have come during that span, including a sweep of the Devil's Bowl Winter Nationals last October.

 

2. Oh' Fer – Someone is gonna have to dig deep to figure out the last time Gary Wright started on the pole of three consecutive feature events, yet came away without a single feature win to show for it.

 

The four-time and reigning ASCS National champion was strong each night, posting three podium finishes. "We were real good in the heat races both nights, but then we've been just a little bit off in the feature," Wright commented prior to Saturday night's main event. Victory lane eluded him once again, as he chased Jason Johnson after Kenny Adams and Terry McCarl took top honors on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

 

"The Texan" still escaped East Bay with a one-point advantage over "The Ragin' Cajun" and carries a streak of 16 consecutive top-five feature finishes (tying a series record) to the Devil's Bowl, where he has posted 16 of his 119 career ASCS National Tour feature wins.

 

3. The Strawberries – Strawberry Dashes have been a long-standing tradition at East Bay Raceway Park's Winter Nationals, and this year was no exception. The Strawberry Dash traditionally pits up to ten drivers that missed that particular night's feature cut into a Dash in which they can earn some extra cash and tasty treats, with this year's case of Strawberries on each night courtesy of Prevatt Farms.

 

Picking up the Strawberry Dash wins this year were Memphis shoe Don Young, local ace Sport Allen and South Dakota's Ryan Bickett. Allen, a past "King of the 360's" winner, made the feature cut on two nights, while Bickett was among Friday's feature field. Young made the grade for Saturday's finale and posted a strong eleventh place finish.

 

4. Cruisin' – Jason Johnson, Terry McCarl and Kenny Adams will each be sailing the high seas at some point in the future, or at least have the opportunity to do so. Another added incentive at this year's Winter Nationals, East Bay Raceway Park offered up a three-day, two-night cruise in the Caribbean courtesy of BizPros for each feature winner.

 

5. Race of Champions, Anybody? – A Race of Champions featuring the past ASCS National champs would have been an option over the weekend, as seven of them were in competition. Past champs included Gary Wright (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007), Terry Gray (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998), Tim Crawley (1994, 1999, 2002), Travis Rilat (2003), Zach Chappell (2001), Wayne Johnson (2000) and Garry Lee Maier (1992).

 

Five of those (Wright, Rilat, Chappell, Johnson and Maier) will try to add another title in 2008.

 

The only past ASCS National champion not in action was 1993 king John Hunt. The possibility of getting Hunt in the action with the other seven does exist, possibly at some point during July's Sizzlin' Summer Speedweek?

 

6. So, Where You From? - The competitors came from far and wide for the O'Reilly ASCoT National series season opener at Tampa's East Bay Raceway Park, with 56 different drivers aboard 55 different cars (Doug Day and Thomas Selhorst paired up aboard the No. 00T entry) representing 23 different states and Canada.

 

Thirteen hailed from the host state of Florida, with Oklahoma next on the list with five reps. Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Texas sent four each, with New York and Wisconsin each sporting three representatives.

 

Indiana, Ohio and South Dakota each sent a pair, with lone competitors from Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Vermont and Washington.

 

Quebec's Michael Parent was the lone Canadian in the field.

 

7. 3-For-3 – Fifteen drivers made the cut for the feature event on all three nights, including Gary Wright, Jason Johnson, Terry McCarl, Travis Rilat, Kenny Adams, Wayne Johnson, Daryn Pittman, Tim Crawley, Don Droud, Jr., Garry Lee Maier, Jason Sides, Tim Shaffer, Greg Leonard, Matt Tiffany and Chuck Swenson.

 

Overall, 32 of the 55 entered cars made into at least one "A" Main event over the course of the weekend.

 

8. Tough Times – Several drivers should avoid casinos for a while if their racing luck over the past weekend is any indication.

 

Four-time ASCS National champion Terry Gray found turn one trouble early in both Thursday and Friday features. "I never even saw turn two or anything beyond that in the features." Gray made the late decision to scratch from Saturday's finale, opting instead to save his equipment for this Saturday's $3,000-to-win ASCS Rebel vs. Coastal Region Showdown at Deep South Speedway in Loxley, AL.

 

Pennsylvania's Josh Weller was main event caliber on both Thursday and Friday, but mechanical gremlins and then a skirmish with Doc Sloan left him as a spectator when Saturday's 40-lap finale went green.

 

New York's Adam Gordon ran afoul of a Brian Smith right rear as the green flag flew on a Thursday "B" Main, then lost a muffler while racing for the final transfer in a Saturday "B" Main.

 

Joey and Joey battled for turf in a Thursday "B" Main with Biasi spinning to a stop after contact with Saldana. Front-end damage and a sliced right hand were the result. Hailing from the former coal-mining town of Mary D in Pennsylvania, Joey Biasi got no love at the draw either, pulling a 60 (out of 75) on Thursday with bigger numbers to ensue on following nights.

 

9. First Time – Several drivers cracked the starting grid for an ASCS National Tour feature event for the first time over the weekend, including Oklahoma teen Dustin Morgan, Pennsylvania's Dave Calaman, "The Brownsburg Bullet" Joey Saldana (who put Red Stauffer's entry in Friday and Saturday features after borrowing an engine from Kenny Adams), Brian Maddox and Samantha Taylor (easily the best looking of the bunch).

 

10. Ladies – If the numbers are any indication, Sprint Car racing is still a guy's domain. But the ladies are starting to make some inroads.

 

Out of Bonney Lake, WA, about as far from Tampa as one can get within the continental United States, 18-year-old Samantha Taylor made the cut for Saturday night's feature and put her No. 17 entry in the 17th finishing position.

 

With a total of 985 different drivers making at least one ASCS National Tour "A" Feature start since the series inception in 1992, Samantha became just the eleventh lady racer among those ranks.

 

Stephanie Chappell (45 starts) and Natalie Sather (41 starts) have been the most frequent ASCS National feature starters in series history. Stephanie, younger sister to title-contending Zach, now hustles sponsors for another series while North Dakota's Natalie reigns as conqueror of the ASCS Midwest Region.

 

Other ladies to start ASCS feature events include Christi Passmore (14), Tina Creswell (10), Mary Anne Williams (4), Eric Crocker (2), Michelle Decker (1), Paige Lee (1), Kaylene Verville (1) and Jessica Zemken (1).

 

Look for 17-year-old Kathryne Minter of Bedford, TX, to add her name to that list soon, as she vies for Brodix Rookie of the Year honors against several fellows including Eric Baldaccini, Gary Taylor and one to be announced within the next 48 hours. Stay tuned…

 

Life's a beach, at least for a couple of days.

 

Until next week, any information you may desire regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at http://www.ascsracing.com/.