ASCS – Thursday's Top Ten

[rebelracewriter]

ASCS – Thursday's Top Ten

 

 

 

Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (May 29, 2008) – As they occasionally will do without warning, the indefinable forces of the cosmos have aligned perfectly in a manner that has morphed the latest edition of the ASCS Notebook into a Thursday version of Top Ten, encapsulating the latest happenings from recent American Sprint Car Series festivities.

 

 

 

The impending duration of Thursday's Top Ten is not immediately known, so enjoy for now.

 

 

 

1. 34 – The number of different drivers to win at least one ASCS feature event thus far in 2008, with 54 features in the books after a dozen shows took the checkered flag on Memorial Day weekend. Think about it. Fifty-four events completed already. ASCS has completed more events before the month of June than most series will do all year.

 

 

 

Half of the weekend's winners enjoyed a first career ASCS triumph, including Jayme Barnes (Northwest), Michael Miller (Rebel) and Bob Schaeffer (Rocky Mountain) on Saturday and then Ryan Hall (Gulf South), Seth Bergman (Northwest) and John Schuyler (Patriots) on Sunday.

 

 

 

Jason Johnson sits atop the overall win list with seven triumphs, including four National wins and three Regional victories. Next is Arizona's Ben Gregg, who snared his first career ASCS win in Southwest action on May 3, kicking off a four-race victory spree of winged Arizona racing action in May.

 

 

 

Gary Taylor has topped the Sooner Region ranks on three occasions, with Jeremy Sherman and Charles Davis, Jr., each taking three topless Canyon Region wins. Another five drivers have taken two wins each, including Jack Dover (National and Gulf South), Nick Smith (National and Sooner), Channin Tankersley (both in Gulf South), Kenny Adams (National and Coastal vs. Rebel) and Casey Shuman (both in Canyon).

 

 

 

Twenty-four drivers have posted single wins, including Jayme Barnes, Seth Bergman, Aaron Berryhill, Brandon Berryman, Brad Bowden, Tony Bruce, Jr., Bryn Gohn, Don Grable, Ryan Hall, Chuck Hebing, R.J. Johnson, Danny Lasoski, Danny Martin, Jr., Terry McCarl, Brian McClelland, Michael Miller, Keith Rauch, Travis Rilat, Ben Rutan, Bob Schaeffer, John Schuyler, Chris Sweeney, Skip Wilson and Gary Wright.

 

 

 

2. The Thrill is Gone – Or maybe not. Aaron Berryhill had reached the point where he was ready to split time behind the wheel of his No. 97 Sprint Car with former Sooner Region champ Sean McClelland, who drove the car at Lucas Oil Speedway on April 19.

 

 

 

Agreeing that Berryhill would drive the car at the tracks he liked and McClelland would get the nod at the tracks he preferred, Aaron took to the track at Lake Ozark Speedway on May 3 with McClelland spinning the wrenches. McClelland may have worked himself right out of a driving gig, as Berryhill worked the low side of the track from row four and eventually wrestled the lead away from the rim-riding Jason Johnson with the white flag in sight before taking his first career O'Reilly ASCoT National win.

 

 

 

"It's gonna' be tough to give that seat up now," Berryhill commented afterward.

 

 

 

McClelland was originally slated to drive at Oklahoma City's State Fair Speedway the following Friday. But there's nothing like a win to rekindle that spark, so it was no surprise that Berryhill chose to race rather than spectate. Reality set in during the feature when the driveline exploded, prompting premature speculation of a broken ankle over the radio. Berryhill returned bruised but otherwise none the worse for the wear and raced forward into the redraw the following night at Devil's Bowl Speedway only to scratch from the feature with rear end problems.

 

 

 

Sean McClelland surfaced a week later for American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region action in North Texas at Boyd Raceway and Cowtown Speedway in his own, black No. 1 entry. McClelland started both features from tenth, working up to fifth at Boyd and then making his way to third at Cowtown.

 

 

 

3. The Century Mark – Texas City, TX, veteran shoe Greg Rilat reached a mark over the Memorial Day weekend that nobody else can boast of. After running seventh in Saturday's feature at the Gator Motorplex in Willis, TX, Rilat became the first driver in ASCS history to start 100 feature events within a single Region when he took the green flag in Sunday night's main event at Waco's Heart O' Texas Speedway.

 

 

 

Rilat wanted the win in the Gordon Woolley Classic, but was no match this time out for Ryan Hall and settled for second. In 100 career ASCS Gulf South feature starts, Rilat has now posted 33 top-fives and 68 top-tens.

 

 

 

Motor Mike relays that the three-time series runner-up has used just two engines, equipped with the two sets of Brodix heads that Rilat started with, over the duration of 100 feature events that stretches back to 2002.

 

 

 

The 52-year-old Rilat, father of Travis, makes his way to Knoxville, IA, this weekend for the Master's Classic, an event in which he finished fifth last year.

 

 

 

4. Red River Shootout – The O'Reilly ASCoT National series contested events on both sides of the Red River on May 9 and 10, with Oklahoma City's State Fair Speedway hosting the series on Friday night and then Devil's Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, TX, serving as Saturday night's playground. But, no Oklahoma or Texas drivers came away with bragging rights, as the lion's share of the purse money went to Nebraska and Louisiana.

 

 

 

Springfield, Nebraska's Jack Dover wired the field at Oklahoma City on May 9 to become the season's tenth different winner and the fifth driver to post a first-career ASCoT National win in 2008 along with Tony Bruce, Jr., Skip Wilson, Danny Lasoski and Aaron Berryhill. And, just three months past his 18th birthday, Dover also became the youngest driver to win an ASCS National Tour feature event since Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., captured the final round of ASCS Speedweek at West Memphis in 2004 at the age of 16.

 

 

 

Dover had a shot at back-to-back wins with a front-row starting position the next night but slid back to sixth, a spot he has claimed three times in his last six ASCoT outings.

 

 

 

At Devil's Bowl, Louisiana's Jason Johnson finally eased the pain inflicted a week before. After surrendering the Lake Ozark lead to Aaron Berryhill in the final moments, "The Ragin' Cajun" and The Shop Motorsports crew made the last minute decision to drop in on the WOW forces at Sedalia. "We've got to get a little faster," Johnson explained.

 

 

 

Johnson was plenty fast at Sedalia, holding a half-lap lead on the big half-mile before a caution with four laps to go erased his huge advantage and removed lapped cars, allowing for a last-lap slider from Brian Brown and another tough pill to swallow for Johnson.

 

 

 

After a third-place run at Oklahoma City, Johnson chased down a red-hot Gary Taylor (three out of four Sooner Region wins since April 12 along with a couple of SMRS Midget scores) and went on to take top honors at Devil's Bowl. The only driver to post more than one ASCoT National win this year, the Devil's Bowl win also marked Johnson's 100th career ASCS National Tour top-five feature finish, placing him in some exclusive company that includes only Gary Wright (276), Terry Gray (174), Tim Crawley (151), Garry Lee Maier (146), Travis Rilat (122), Wayne Johnson (118) and Zach Chappell (107).

 

 

 

5. Big Ball's in Cowtown – Good ol' Bob Wills and his infamous Texas Playboys sang of it, and as the American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region made its second appearance of the season at Cowtown Speedway on Saturday night, May 17, with 41 cars in the pit area, the "Big Balls in Cowtown" award would have to go to rookie shoe Aaron Reutzel.

 

 

 

Reutzel, the baby-faced Clute, TX, teen in just his second weekend of Sprint Car action, had won a heat race in convincing fashion and then finished sixth in his Sooner Region debut the night before at Boyd Raceway.

 

 

 

At Cowtown, he simply stunned the crowd by prevailing in a wheel-to-wheel duel for fourth position in the "B" Main with Cowtown ace Kevin Ramey, making several seemingly impossible saves on the top of turns one and two, before making a last-lap slide around Justin Melton for the final transfer to the "A" Main. Ramey missed the main event, likely the first time that has ever happened to the two-time Sooner Region champ at the Cowtown oval that lies just several miles from home.

 

 

 

6. Little Shu' – Arizona Race Mart, Jimmy Blanton, Manzanita Speedway and several others stepped up to inflate the Discount Tire Co. ASCS Canyon Region's Wayne Weiler Salute to Indy total purse to more than $19,000.

 

 

 

And Arizona native Casey Shuman was the biggest recipient. After crewing for Jesse Hockett at Terre Haute on Thursday night and then finishing third in Friday night's feature at Gas City, Shuman hopped a plane for Phoenix to pilot Rex Foster's No. 32 from the eighth row to take command midway through the 51-lapper.

 

 

 

Shuman pocketed the $2,000 winner's share along with the $100 Mid-Way Leader bonus and $100 Hard Charger bonus. The top five finishers all earned in excess of $1,000 with sixth-place runner R.J. Johnson collecting an even $1,000. Derek Sell picked up the $100 Hard Luck Award, while Jimmy Blanton distributed another $500 among several drivers to cover the Long Tow award.

 

 

 

7. What a Difference a Year Makes – On May 25, 2007, Henry Van Dam's racing days looked bleak, to say the least. After all, that was the night he broke his neck at Lebanon, Oregon's Willamette Speedway.

 

 

 

Fast forward to exactly one year later. The all-new ASCS Northwest Region was wrapping up its inaugural two-night stand at Grays Harbor Raceway Park in Elma, WA, on Sunday night, May 25, 2008.

 

 

 

And there was Henry Van Dam, right in the mix for the win after charging through the pack from his ninth row starting position following a "B" Feature win. The night before, HVD had chased Jayme Barnes to the line in the ASCS Northwest opener. This time, Van Dam battled up to second at one point before settling for a strong fourth place finish.

 

 

 

Back in top form, the 26-year-old from Enumclaw, WA, left the opening weekend of ASCS Northwest action ranked second in points and just four points off Sunday night winner Seth Bergman's lead pace.

 

 

 

The ASCS Northwest Region's next action is at Willamette Speedway on June 6, with Oregon's Cottage Grove Speedway on tap the next night.

 

 

 

8. Initiated – A half dozen drivers made their first career ASCS National Tour feature start at Lake Ozark Speedway on May 3, including J. Kinder, front row starter Jonathan Cornell, Austin Alumbaugh, Brad Greer, Mark Shirshekan and Eric Todd. Todd exited on the opening lap, with Shirshekan retiring to the infield after spinning and then tagging a valve. Cornell fared the best of the first-timers by finishing tenth. Kinder was on his tailtank in eleventh, while Alumbaugh, who opened the season wrenching Danny Lasoski to ASCoT victory lane in Oklahoma City, was twelfth.

 

 

 

Six nights later, 20-year-old Donnie Ray Crawford of Tulsa, OK, became the 998th driver in ASCS history to start a feature when he ran 15th at Oklahoma City's State Fair Speedway in his debut aboard the Sparks Racing No. 91. A night later, the third-generation shoe held third in the early stages before the car came "undialed" on the slickening surface.

 

 

 

"The first weekend wasn't as good as it could have been, but it sure wasn't as bad as it could have been either," Crawford surmised.

 

 

 

At Devil's Bowl, Texas racers Billy Melton (Longview) and Todd Evans (Georgetown) ran the total of drivers to start at least one ASCS National Tour feature to an even 1,000 in the 526th National feature event in series history.

 

 

 

9. New Venues – The American Sprint Car Series is set to sanction races at 103 different tracks throughout 29 different states and Canada over the course of 2008. Among the 23 tracks to host at least one of 28 ASCS events contested over the past four weeks, Washington's Grays Harbor Raceway Park, Texas' Boyd Raceway and Arizona's Thunder Raceway each hosted the ASCS for the first time.

 

 

 

Jayme Barnes and Seth Bergman split ASCS Northwest victory honors at Grays Harbor, defending Sooner Region champ Brian McClelland posted his first win of the year in the series debut at Boyd Raceway and current ASCS Southwest Region point leader Ben Gregg kept up his winning ways in the series lone stop of 2008 at Show Low's Thunder Raceway.

 

 

 

10. Randomness – Jason Johnson has posted 32 consecutive top-ten feature finishes in ASCS National Tour competition, just eight races short of Terry Gray's record mark of 40 in a row. Johnson could tie and/or break the mark during the 16th Annual ASCS Speedweek, which runs from July 11-19…Weather permitting, the 100th Speedweek event in ASCS history will take place at Little Rock's I-30 Speedway on July 12….Travis Rilat is just two top-ten ASCS National Tour feature finishes away from the 200 mark, a level that only Gary Wright (313), Terry Gray (244), Tim Crawley (216) and Garry Lee Maier (216) have achieved….Gary Wright, Wayne Johnson and Jason Johnson are the only three drivers to start all 13 ASCS National Tour feature thus far in 2008….Gary Wright and Jason Johnson have finished among the top ten in all 13 National features….The O'Reilly ASCoT National series is averaging 43.2 cars per night through the opening 13 events of the season….Twenty-year-old Eric Baldaccini of Keller, TX, holds the lead in the ASCS National Tour Rookie of the Year chase with an 86-point advantage over Oklahoma's Kenneth Walker entering the series next event at Iowa's Knoxville Raceway on June 20….Since making an early exit in the March 8 ASCS Canyon Region season opener, Charles Davis, Jr., has reeled off eight consecutive top-five feature finishes to chip away at Jeremy Sherman's point lead….Winning just once in the last six Canyon Region events, Sherman holds a 28-point lead as he has yet to finish outside the top ten….After recording top-five finishes in five of the opening six events of the season, Nathan High has finished outside the top ten in the three most recent Canyon Region events. High still clings to fourth in points…Rookie Sprint Car shoe Stevie Sussex notched his first Canyon Region top-ten feature finish by running tenth in Saturday's Wayne Weiler Salute to Indy….The ASCS Canyon Region has added a September 20 event on Manzanita Speedway's half-mile, making for a slate of 30 nights of racing in 2008….Following the ASCS Coastal Region's first visit to Mississippi's Jackson Motor Speedway on May 17, 19-year-old Memphis racer Don Young retains the series points lead after finishing sixth in the feature event won by fellow Memphis-area shoe Brad Bowden….Bowden took on the ASCS Rebel Region at Alabama's Green Valley Speedway seven nights later, earning another podium finish by chasing first-time winner Michael Miller and Georgia's Matt Linder to the checkered flag….Kenny Adams holds a 40-point lead over stepson Bryn Gohn in the ASCS Rebel Region points race, with Daytona Beach hotshoe Matt Tiffany just two more points back in third and Washington native Samantha Taylor another six points back in fourth….Until this past Saturday night, Chris Sweeney's last ASCS Gulf South win had taken place at the Gator Motorplex in Willis, TX, on May 27, 2006. Just three nights shy of the second anniversary of that win, Sweeney added his third career Gulf South win with another Gator triumph, extending his Gulf South points lead in the process….Gulf South rookie shoe Travis Elliott has finished outside the top ten after reeling off four consecutive top-five runs…Travis' brother Bean (yes, Bean) Elliott has joined in on the Gulf South action over the past four events, running tenth at both Houston Raceway Park and Heart O' Texas Speedway…Three Barksdale's rank among the top twenty in Sooner Region points, with Koby in eleventh, his cousin Sheldon twelfth and Sheldon's father, Rick, tied for 20th….Koby Barksdale posted his best career ASCS finish by running third in Gulf South action at Waco's Heart O' Texas Speedway on Sunday….After another rainout, the ASCS Midwest Region will now open the season by joining forces with the National Tour at Knoxville Raceway on June 20….The Northern Plains Region opens the season one night earlier on June 19 at Fargo's Red River Valley Speedway….California's Jonathan Allard was on the move in Sunday night's Northwest Region feature at Grays Harbor before a tangle in lapped traffic sent him pitside. Allard spent the weekend aboard the Doyle's Harley Davidson No. 1 that Shane Stewart drove to victory in last year's ASCS Knoxville Nationals….While California racers aren't that unexpected in the Northwest, it came as a surprise when Tracy, Californ= ia's Jason Botsford took on the ASCS Coastal Region at Mississippi's Jackson Speedway on May 17….As per the norm, Chuck Hebing topped the season-opening ASCS Patriot event by winning Saturday's feature at Woodhull Raceway…When Hebing was absent the following night at Pennsylvania's Eriez Speedway, John Schuyler logged his first series win while past Patriot champ Bryan Howland vaulted to the top of the point charts…Chris Muhleisen and Don Adamczyk, who has never missed a Patriot event, are tied for second in points while Jared Zimbardi and Ray Preston are tied for fourth….Rookie shoe Bubba Broderick is sixth in Patriot points after a fourth-place run at Erie….Matt Tiffany led much of the way at Green Valley on Saturday night but landed in the fence after giving up the to spots to Michael Miller and Kenny Adams….Fifty-five year old Bob Schaeffer and 38-year-old Keith Rauch split victory honors as the Rocky Mountain Region opened the season at Thunder Mountain Speedway, but it was 17-year-old Derrik Ortega escaping the weekend with the points lead on the strength of finishes of third and second….Rauch was the first to exit from Saturday's feature before rebounding to win Sunday's afternoon's main event….Jeff Heffner scratched from Saturday's Rocky Mountain Region feature and returned to finish third on Sunday….Ortega leads a solid Rocky Mountain rookie crop of seven….After consecutive third-place finishes at Mid-America and Boyd, Kolt Walker retains the ASCS Sooner Region point lead after a rough Cowtown outing that resulted in a 16th-place finish…While Walker leads Sooner points with a Maxim, Triple-X has combined to win five of six Sooner features with Gary Taylor winning three and single wins from Brian McClelland and Travis Rilat….After posting a career-best ASCS finish of second in the May 17 Sooner event at Cowtown, Oklahoma City's Joe Wood, Jr., has climbed to sixth in points….Not to be confused with Arizona's Sherman-Davis battles, Oklahoma racer Sherman Davis has climbed to third in Sooner Region points with a fifth-place Cowtown run on May 17 easing the bruises incurred from a rough Cowtown opener five weeks earlier….The Number "22" swept Saturday night's Southwest Region heat races at Tucson's USA Race Park, as Ben Gregg (22b), Mike Rux, Jr. (22) and John Gaston (22J) won the 8-lap prelims....Tucson's Jessica Van Dyke very nearly joined the ranks of female ASCS feature winners that includes only New York's Jessica Zemken by leading most of the way Saturday night at Tucson's USA Race Park. Late lapped traffic relegated Van Dyke to third behind Gregg and Shawn Sander….Sander tried to put a stop to Gregg's win streak a night later at Show Low but surrendered the point midway through as Gregg rolled to a fourth consecutive win….Ben Rutan, who flipped across the finish line for an ASCS Sprints on Dirt win at Winston Motor Speedway last year, is out to the early series points lead with a ho-hum, all-four-wheels-on-the-ground at the finish line win at Thunderbird Race Park on May 10….Mike Galajda finished third in the ASCS Sprints on Dirt opener at T-Bird, his best series finish since a runner-up showing at Fife Lake's Cherry Speedway nearly five years ago on July 25, 2003….After rain interrupted the SOD guys across the border in South Buxton following heat race action on May 17, the series takes to Crystal Motor Speedway for the 100th time this Saturday night.

 

 

 

 

 

Off the Beaten Path – If growing weary of the mind-numbing drive from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex back to Tulsa, one could meander through the town of Wetumka after veering off course. Wetumka lays claim as "Home of the World Famous Sucker Day", a festival born of the town's folks being taken in by a 1950's flim-flam man by the name of F. Bam Morrison that would have made charlatans of Paul Kruger's ilk quite proud.

 

 

 

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