Lucas Oil ASCS – Shane Stewart Takes Two-Point Lead to I-30 Speedway

[rebelracewriter]

Lucas Oil ASCS – Shane Stewart Takes Two-Point Lead to I-30 Speedway

 

 

Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (April 8, 2009) – Oklahoma native Shane Stewart carries the narrowest of leads into the Saturday night, April 18, event at Little Rock's I-30 Speedway when the Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters fires back to life.

 

 

 

Stewart escaped the season-opening Devil's Bowl Spring Nationals in Texas on March 20-21 with the meager margin, with the series scheduled weekend double at Oklahoma City's State Fair Speedway the following weekend nixed by weather.

 

 

 

Piloting Paul Silva's Wesmar-powered Palmer Properties/ProBilt Construction No. 57 A.R.T. Chassis, Stewart snared his 16th career Lucas Oil ASCS feature win by topping a field of 65 entries on the opening night of the Devil's Bowl Speedway Spring Nationals.

 

 

 

Defending series champion Jason Johnson of Eunice, LA, bounced back the following night to take the $6,000 Devil's Bowl Spring Nationals crown after a hard-fought duel with defending Short Track Nationals champion Tony Bruce, Jr.

 

 

 

When Bruce was disqualified for failing to meet the minimum required weight, Stewart moved up to the runner-up position. And that was just the bump Stewart needed to escape a wild opening weekend of competition with just a two-point margin over Johnson. Four-time series champion Gary Wright of Hooks, TX, is just six points off the lead pace in third.

 

 

 

Stewart has enjoyed some past success at I-30 Speedway, including a Lucas Oil ASCS triumph in 2003 and then Short Track Nationals preliminary feature wins in both 2003 and 2007.

 

 

 

Johnson, gunning for a second consecutive Lucas Oil ASCS championship, has a pair of series victories at I-30 Speedway in addition to a Short Track Nationals triumph in 2006.

 

 

 

Of the 30 or so drivers that have announced pursuit of the Lucas Oil ASCS title in 2009, none have enjoyed as much success atop the high-banked, ¼-mile I-30 Speedway clay oval as Gary Wright. Wright has collected a dozen of his 124 career series wins at I-30 along with an unmatched four Short Track Nationals crowns.

 

 

 

New Mexico's Johnny Herrera escaped the opening weekend of competition ranked fourth, with Danny Wood and Nick Smith tied for fifth. The balance of the current top ten includes Paul McMahan, Brian Brown, Eric Baldaccini and Michael Dupuy.

 

 

 

The April 18 Lucas Oil ASCS event at I-30 Speedway offers up $6,000 to win and $500 to start the feature event.

 

 

 

The Series:

 

 

 

Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters

 

 

 

When & Where:

 

 

 

Saturday night, April 18 at 7:30 p.m. – I-30 Speedway

 

 

 

Track Information:

 

 

 

I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, AR) – ¼-mile high-banked clay oval located seven miles southwest of Little Rock off I-30 Exit 126 (Alexander Rd.), then south to frontage road, then east. For more information, contact the track at 501-455-4567.

 

 

 

Lucas Oil ASCS I-30 Speedway History:

 

 

 

A staple of the ASCS National Tour, I-30 Speedway hosted the first official ASCS National Tour event on May 15, 1993, with Memphis shoe Mike Ward dropping in on victory lane. Since that time, 16 different drivers have posted at least one ASCS National Tour feature win in the 41 events contested at I-30.

 

 

 

Gary Wright has enjoyed the most success at I-30 with a dozen triumphs, including a Speedweek and Short Track Nationals preliminary victory last year. Tim Crawley snapped a series victory drought with an STN prelim win, Tony Bruce, Jr., posted his first I-30 triumph with a $15,000 STN victory and Nick Smith topped last April's series stop at I-30 Speedway.

 

 

 

I-30 Speedway ASCS National winners include: Gary Wright 12, Tim Crawley 4, Garry Lee Maier 4, Terry Gray 3, Mike Ward 3, Jason Johnson 2, Wayne Johnson 2, Travis Rilat 2, Shane Stewart 2, Tony Bruce, Jr. 1, Pete Butler 1, Ricky Logan 1, Jason Meyers 1, Eric Sandage 1, Tim Shaffer 1, Nick Smith 1.

 

 

 

I-30 Speedway Lucas Oil ASCS Race-by-Race Winners: Mike Ward (5/15/93), Tim Crawley (6/24/93), Terry Gray (7/17/93), Garry Lee Maier (6/18/94), Garry Lee Maier (8/13/94), Terry Gray (5/20/95), Ricky Logan (6/24/95), Gary Wright (7/15/95), Mike Ward (5/18/96), Garry Lee Maier (6/15/96), Garry Lee Maier (8/3/96), Mike Ward (5/17/97), Gary Wright (6/14/97), Wayne Johnson (9/26/97), Wayne Johnson (9/27/97), Gary Wright (5/16/98), Terry Gray (6/13/98), Eric Sandage (8/25/01), Pete Butler (6/22/02), Gary Wright (7/13/02), Gary Wright (9/21/02), Gary Wright (6/21/03), Tim Crawley (7/12/03), Shane Stewart (9/6/03), Gary Wright (6/5/04), Travis Rilat (7/10/04), Gary Wright (8/28/04), Tim Crawley (6/11/05), Gary Wright (7/9/05), Travis Rilat (10/1/05), Jason Johnson (7/29/06), Jason Johnson (4/28/07), Gary Wright (7/14/07), Shane Stewart (10/25/07), Tim Shaffer (10/26/07), Jason Meyers (10/27/07), Nick Smith (4/26/08), Gary Wright (7/12/08), Gary Wright (10/23/08), Tim Crawley (10/24/08), Tony Bruce, Jr. (10/25/08).

 

 

 

Current Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters Points:

 

 

 

Top Twenty: 1. Shane Stewart (Bixby, OK) 296, 2. Jason Johnson (Eunice, LA) 294, 3. Gary Wright (Hooks, TX) 290, 4. Johnny Herrera (Albuquerque, NM) 282, 5. (tie) Nick Smith (Broken Arrow, OK) and Danny Wood (Norman, OK) 260, 7. Paul McMahan (Hendersonville, TX) 258, 8. (tie) Brian Brown (Grain Valley, MO) and Eric Baldaccini (Keller, TX) 248, 10. Michael Dupuy (Amite, LA) 240, 11. Tony Bruce, Jr. (Liberal, KS) 238, 12. Sean McClelland (Tulsa, OK) 232, 13. Mike Chadd (Lincoln, NE) 226, 14. Dustin Morgan (Collinsville, OK) 222, 15. Travis Rilat (Forney, TX) 215, 16. Joe Wood, Jr. (Oklahoma City, OK) 211, 17. (tie) Jack Dover (Springfield, NE) and Zach Chappell (Talala, OK) 209, 19. (tie) Tim Crawley (Benton, AR) and Trevor Lewis (Upper Black Eddy, PA) 205.

 

 

 

Brodix Rookie of the Year Points (Top Five): 1. Paul McMahan (Hendersonville, TN) 258, 2. Brian Brown (Grain Valley, MO) 248, 3. Dustin Morgan (Collinsville, OK) 222, 4. Jack Dover (Springfield, NE) 209, 5. Trevor Lewis (Upper Black Eddy, PA) 205.

 

 

 

2009 Lucas Oil ASCS Feature Winners:

 

 

 

Jason Johnson 1, Shane Stewart 1.

 

 

 

Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters – A Look Ahead:

 

 

 

May 1 – Tri-City Speedway (Granite City, IL)

 

May 8-9 – Volunteer Speedway (Bulls Gap, TN)

 

May 23-24 – Jetmore Motorplex (Jetmore, KS)

 

 

 

Lucas Oil ASCS on the Web:

 

 

 

Those unable to catch all the action in person can listen to every Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters live at www.racinboys.com.

 

 

 

Also, the Lucas Oil ASCS Show airs on www.racinboys.com each Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m. ET, recapping the previous week's events while also previewing upcoming action.

 

 

 

Official results, championship point updates, photos and race notes will be available at www.ascsracing.com.