ASCS Gulf South Gears Up for Battleground!

Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (April 25, 2011) – The 2011 Smiley’s Racing Products ASCS Gulf South championship points chase continues this weekend as the series takes to the high-banked, 3/8-mile Battleground Speedway clay oval in Highlands, TX, on Saturday night.

 

Saturday’s card marks the first Gulf South stop of the season at Battleground after the event scheduled for March 5 was rained out.

 

A handful of events into the tenth year of ASCS Gulf South action, five different drivers have reached victory lane in as many features including Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 2009 champion Aaron Reutzel, four-time ASCS National champion Gary Wright, two-time and defending Gulf South champion Ray Allen Kulhanek and Michael Dupuy.

 

While not yet among the feature winners, Fort Worth’s George White is out to the early lead in the championship points race with third-place finishes at Waco and Lufkin on April 1 and 2 the best of four top-ten feature runs.

 

White is out to the early lead by 17 points over Tommy Bryant, who has ranked among the top five in Gulf South points over each of the past four years including third in both 2009 and 2010.

 

Two-time ASCS Gulf South champion Brandon Berryman of Missouri City, TX, is 94 points out of the lead in third, with veteran Gulf South contenders Chris Sweeney (Channelview, TX) and Kulhanek (Montgomery, TX) rounding out the current top five.

 

The balance of the current top ten in points includes Travis Elliott (Alvin, TX), Chris Coker (New Braunfels, TX), Channin Tankersley (Highlands, TX), Michael McNeil (Alvin, TX) and Greg Rilat (Texas City, TX), with Jeffrey Newell (Tulsa, OK) and Wes Miller (Santa Fe, TX) among those just outside the top ten.

 

A total of 19 different drivers have competed in each of the five ASCS Gulf South events contested thus far in 2011, with 58 drivers competing in at least one event.

 

Saturday’s green flag at Battleground Speedway flies at 7:00 p.m.

 

Highlands’ high-banked, 3/8-mile Battleground Speedway dirt oval is located east of Houston off I-10 exit 787, then four miles north.  For more information, contact the track at 832-421-7223.

 

The Smiley’s Racing Products ASCS Gulf South Region is slated for 26 nights of racing action at ten different tracks throughout Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi in 2011.

 

Past ASCS Gulf South Region Feature Winners at Battleground Speedway:

8/21/10 – Jason Johnson

3/6/10 – Brian Brown

 

 

The 2011 season marks the 20^th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing for the American Sprint Car Series, with approximately 200 nights of competition at tracks throughout the nation and into Canada.  Anchored by the Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters, ASCS also consists of ten different Regions throughout the nation. 

Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.

ASCS Canyon Region Set for Canyon Clash!

Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (April 25, 2011) – The wingless wonders of the Sunoco Fuel ASCS Canyon Region are set for two full nights of racing action this weekend as they take to the 3/8-mile Canyon Speedway Park clay oval for the inaugural Canyon Clash presented by Ellis Racing.

 

The Clash gets under way on Friday night with a full card of heats and feature action, then concludes with another full, separate card of heats and feature events on Saturday night.  The Friday portion of the Canyon Clash was added as a makeup date for the April 9 rainout, while the Saturday date was included on the original schedule.

 

While the Sunoco Fuel ASCS Canyon Region has offered up three different feature winners in as many events thus far in 2011, two-time series champion Jeremy Sherman is out to the early lead in the championship points chase by virtue of finishing no worse than second so far.

 

Hailing from Surprise, AZ, Sherman posted his first win under the ASCS Canyon banner at Canyon Speedway Park on March 26 and has recorded runner-up finishes in the two feature events completed at Tucson’s USA Raceway.

 

While Sherman beat Ronnie Clark and Bob Ream, Jr., to the stripe in the only series event at CSP thus far in 2011 for his 29^th career ASCS Canyon win, R.J. Johnson picked off his ninth career series win in the season opener at USA on March 12 and then Josh Pelkey picked off his first career ASCS triumph in the most recent series action at USA on April 16.

 

Sherman carries a 43-point advantage over Phoenix contender Johnson into the weekend double, with two-time and reigning series champion Charles Davis, Jr., of Buckeye, AZ, another dozen points back in third as he looks for his first win of the season.  Davis topped two of five ASCS Canyon events at CSP in 2010, with Johnson winning the other three.

 

Perennial ASCS Canyon contender Andrew Reinbold enters the weekend just 13 points behind Davis in fourth, with Tucson’s Ronnie Clark rounding out the current top five.  The balance of the current top ten in points includes Peoria’s Pelkey, Glendale’s Bob Ream, Jr., Matt Rossi, Waddell’s Thomas Ogle and Peoria’s Dalten Gabberd.

 

Twenty different drives have taken in each of the initial three events of the season with another half-dozen taking in at least two of the three events. 

 

Racing action goes green at Canyon Speedway Park on both Friday and Saturday night.

 

Peoria’s Canyon Speedway Park is located 25 miles north of Phoenix on I-17 to Exit 223, then 6.3 miles west.  For more information, contact the track at 602-258-7223.

 

The Sunoco Fuel ASCS Canyon Region brings the best of wingless Sprint Car racing action to fans in Arizona with 19 scheduled nights of competition at Tucson’s USA Raceway and Peoria’s Canyon Speedway Park.

 

The 2011 season marks the 20^th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing for the American Sprint Car Series, with approximately 200 nights of competition at tracks throughout the nation and into Canada.  Anchored by the Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters, ASCS also consists of ten different Regions throughout the nation. 

Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.

All Stars set to invade PA Posse Land

CAMARGO, IL. (4-24-11) By Brian Liskai– The new regionalization of the O’Reilly Auto Parts All Star Circuit of Champions is already creating quite the buzz in the sprint car world. And, with the All Stars set to invade Pennsylvania Posse territory, it could get even more interesting.

The All Stars will travel to the famed Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa. on Friday, April 29 and the tough Port Royal Speedway on Saturday, April 30.

Currently, hall-of-fame driver Sammy Swindell leads the All Star’s Eastern Region points following the February events in Florida where he picked up a pair of wins. PA Posse member Daryn Pittman sits second in the points with three-time All Star champion Dale Blaney in third, Pennsylvania native Stevie Smith fourth and Connecticut hot shoe David Gravel in fifth. The region points champion will earn $20,000 at the end of the season. Blaney leads the series’ national point standings over two-time and defending All Star champion Tim Shaffer from Aliquippa, Pa., with Gravel, two-time series’ champ Greg Wilson and Swindell rounding out the top five. Following his win in the Ohio region opener at Attica Raceway Park, Blaney leads those points over Shaffer, Pittsburg, Pa. native Danny Holtgraver, and Ohio’s Kyle Sauder and Kevin Lee.

So far in 2011 at “The Grove, Brian Leppo scored a victory on April 15 over Steve Buckwalter, Danny Dietrich, Lance Dewease and Chad Layton. Stevie Smith opened the season with a win on March 18 over Tyler Walker, Doug Esh, Dewease and Cory Haas.

Last June’s All Star event at Williams Grove saw one of the closest finishes in the storied history of the track as Stevie Smith edged his brother-in-law Brian Leppo by .002 seconds for his 16th career victory with the series. In April of 2010, Dewease would take the All Star win at “The Grove.”

Then throw in the likes of Todd Shaffer, Brian Montieth and Fred Rahmer and you have a recipe for exciting racing.

Fans will see a “blast from the past” when they venture to Port Royal Speedway for the Bob Weikert Memorial on April 30.

As part of a conjoined effort between Weikert’s Livestock, the Weikert family and current car owner Jesse Keen, fans will get to see the legendary Weikert’s Livestock #29 circle the track just one more time.

“When Todd Weikert called and asked me to prepare and race a sprint car to look just like the Weikert’s Livestock No. 29, I said ‘yes’ without any hesitation,” said Keen. “I hope we can be as fast as Bob Weikert’s cars.”

Keen’s customary #17 driven by Tyler Walker will carry the Weikert colors and number for the event as a way of paying homage to the always powerful and proud car owner Bob Weikert and his iconic #29 red, white and blue sprint cars.

“Bob Weikert loved racing and fielded the most competitive sprint cars and drivers in the United States for over 40 years and I was very fortunate to race against Bob’s cars in the 1970s and ‘80s,” Keen recalls. “Bob Weikert was ‘Mr. Beef’ and ‘Mr. Sprint Car’ and in the winner’s circle he let us all know it! He was great for the sport.”

Keen’s Weikert car will be schemed after perhaps one of the most identifiable versions of the machine through the years – that of the historic seasons when hall-of-fame driver Doug Wolfgang dominated sprint car racing across the nation in the mid-1980s aboard the terrorizing Weikert #29.

And, the Bob Weikert Memorial carries some pretty good cash as well as it could turn into an $8,500 payday for one lucky driver.

The 30-lap race will not only pay $5,000 to win, but thanks to Weikert’s Livestock and a conglomeration of nationwide sponsors, each of the first 29 circuits will be worth $100 to whoever leads them. And, on top of that, Weikert’s and their family of supporters has posted another $500 for the leader of the most important and final lap. That means at the very least, the winner is guaranteed $5,500 for 30-laps of work. But, if he or she can manage to lead more than the final lap, there’s up to an additional $2,900 up for grabs.

So far at Port Royal, there have been three races and three different winners. Blane Heimbach won his first career victory at the track to open the 2011 season on March 19 over Stevie Smith, Mark Smith, Walker and Dewease. Ryan Taylor picked up his second career victory at the track on April 2 over Mark Smith, Dewease, Rick Lafferty and Buckwalter. On April 9, Buckwalter scored his first career Port Royal win over Taylor, Mike Erdley, Lafferty and Lynton Jeffrey.

The 2010 Weikert Memorial was lost to weather. In 2009, Stevie Smith captured the All Star win.

Gates for the Weikert Memorial will open at 5 p.m. with Kistler Engines Qualifying at 7 p.m. Adult general admission will be $20 with students ages 12-17 admitted for just $10 and kids under 12 are free.

For more information visit www.allstarsprint.com; www.portroyalspeedway.com or www.williamsgrove.com.

Tarlton is Tops in Inaugural ASCS Southern California Feature!

Lonnie Wheatley, HANFORD, Cal. (April 23, 2011) – Fresno’s Tommy Tarlton made his ASCS presence known when he rallied from 22^nd to claim third in the Lucas Oil ASCS National debut at Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway in February.

 

So, when the ASCS Southern California Region contested its inaugural event on Saturday night atop the 3/8-mile Kings clay oval, it seemed only fitting that Tarlton tally the win in the 25-lapper.

 

While Tarlton gridded the feature field outside the third row, it was pole starter Steven Tiner outgunning fellow front row starter Trey Starks to lead the initial handful of circuits.  But when traffic came into play, Tarlton was there to take quick advantage by racing into a lead he would never relinquish.

 

Tarlton drove the Tarlton & Sons Inc., No. 21 to the checkered flag in front of 15-year-old Washington shoe Starks, with Cory Eliason, Ronnie Day and Mike Faria rounding out the top five.

 

Nick Green was sixth, Steven Kent was seventh and Tiner slipped to eighth on the final circuit with fuel line issues.  Eric Humphries and Jarrod Little completed the top ten.

 

Faria and Tarlton topped Saturday night’s heat race action.

 

ASCS Southern California Region Results from Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway:

 

Heat One (10 Laps):  1. 4F-Mike Faria, 2. 22-Ronnie Day, 3. 00-Cory Eliason, 4. 94-Steven Tiner, 5. 7-Steven Kent, 6. 25-Jarrod Little, 7. 88k-Koen Shaw, 8. 17-Nick McColloch.

 

Heat Two (10 Laps):  1. 21-Tommy Tarlton, 2. 15-Eric Humphries, 3. 55-Trey Starks, 4. 14-Nick Green, 5. 4j-Andy Ferris, 6. 35-Albert Pombo, 7. 29-Austin Stone.

 

 “A” Feature (25 Laps):  1. 21-Tommy Tarlton, 2. 55-Trey Starks, 3. 00-Cory Eliason, 4. 22-Ronnie Day, 5. 4F-Mike Faria, 6. 14-Nick Green, 7. 7-Steven Kent, 8. 94-Steven Tiner, 9. 15-Eric Humphries, 10. 25-Jarrod Little, 11. 17-Nick McColloch, 12. 4j-Andy Ferris, 13. 88k-Koen Shaw, 14. 29-Austin Stone, 15. 35-Albert Pombo.

 

ASCS Southern California Points (Top 10):  1. Tommy Tarlton 150, 2. Trey Starks 142, 3. Cory Eliason 135, 4. Ronnie Day 130, 5. Mike Faria 125, 6. Nick Green 122, 7. Steven Kent 119, 8. Steven Tiner 116, 9. Eric Humphries 113, 10. Jarrod Little 110.

Herrera Eggcelent in ASCS Southwest Go at USA!

Lonnie Wheatley, TUCSON, Ariz. (April 23, 2011) – Johnny Herrera notched another Sunoco Fuel ASCS Southwest feature win by racing to victory lane in Saturday night’s Third Annual Winged Sprint Eggstravaganza atop the 3/8-mile USA Raceway clay oval.

 

The Lucas Oil Sprint Car National title contender advanced from the sixth starting position to take the lead away from Calvin Landis after 15 laps en route to capturing his 22^nd career ASCS Regional win in the 25-lapper.

 

Herrera took the checkered flag aboard the Wesmar-powered Champion Oil/Butler Built No. 45x Maxim ahead of three-time and reigning series champion Rick Ziehl, who claimed a meager two-point lead in the 2011 title chase over third-place finisher Joshua Hodges.

 

Kyle McCutcheon advanced a half-dozen positions to claim fourth, with John Carney II rounding out the top five.  Joshua Williams was sixth, with Dalten Gabbard, Landis, Steve Stone and Perry McMillan completing the top ten.

 

Wes Wofford and Herrera topped heat race action.

 

Sunoco Fuel ASCS Southwest Region Results from USA Raceway:

 

Heat One (8 Laps):  1. 19-Wes Wofford, 2. 20z-Rick Ziehl, 3. 5az-John Van Horn, 4. 41-Joshua Williams, 5. 44k-Koty McGullam, 6. 57x-Steve Stone, 7. 5-Kyle McCutcheon, 8. 27-Perry McMillan, 9. 78-Jody Williams.

 

Heat Two (8 Laps):  1. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 2. 79-Calvin Landis, 3. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 4. 8-John Carney II, 5. 90-Lance Norick, 6. 74b-Colby Copeland, 7. 77-Dalten Gabbard, 8. 15c-Joey Chester, 9. 55T-Brent McKee.

 

 “A” Feature (25 Laps):  1. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 2. 20z-Rick Ziehl, 3. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 4. 5-Kyle McCutcheon, 5. 8-John Carney II, 6. 41-Joshua Williams, 7. 77-Dalten Gabbard, 8. 79-Calvin Landis, 9. 57x-Steve Stone, 10. 27-Perry McMillan, 11. 44k-Koty McGullam, 12. 78-Jody Williams, 13. 15c-Joey Chester, 14. 90-Lance Norick, 15. 5az-John Van Horn, 16. 74b-Colby Copeland, 17. 55T-Brent McKee, 18. 19-Wes Wofford.

 

Sunoco Fuel ASCS Southwest Points (Top 10):  1. Rick Ziehl 564, 2. Joshua Hodges 562, 3. John Carney II 532, 4. Calvin Landis 503, 5. Joshua Williams 485, 6. Kyle McCutcheon 472, 7. Dalten Gabbard 471, 8. Lance Norick 462, 9. Joey Chester 388, 10. John Van Horn 381.

USA Raceway Ready for ASCS Southwest on Saturday!

Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (April 18, 2011) – Tucson’s USA Raceway shifts back to the winged Sprint Car ranks this weekend as the Sunoco Fuel ASCS Southwest Region resumes action atop the 3/8-mile clay oval this Saturday night.

 

Saturday’s card marks the second winged ASCS Southwest event of the season at USA Raceway after kicking off the 2011 campaign in tandem with the Lucas Oil ASCS National series during February’s Copper on Dirt.

 

While Knoxville, Iowa resident Calvin Landis by way of Arizona won the most recent ASCS Southwest outing at USA on April 2, it’s Tijeras teen Joshua Hodges out to the early lead in the championship points chase.

 

After posting a pair of 14^th place runs versus the National forces in February, the 16-year-old from Tijeras, NM, finished third in the April 2 event behind Landis and three-time series champion Rick Ziehl of Las Cruces, NM.

 

Hodges carries a slim 5-point lead over Ziehl into Saturday’s tilt, with El Paso’s John Carney II, Landis and Joshua Williams of Glendale, AZ, rounding out the current top five in points.  The balance of the current top ten includes Lance Norick (Scottsdale, AZ), Dalten Gabbard (Peoria, AZ), Kyle McCutcheon (Alamogordo, NM), Joey Chester (Phoenix, AZ) and John Van Horn (Tucson, AZ).

 

Eighth-ranked McCutcheon ventured nearly 1,000 miles from his New Mexico home this past weekend to take on the ASCS Gulf South ranks in southeast Texas, finishing 19^th and 23^rd in features at Beaumont and Baytown.

 

Saturday's ASCS Southwest Region action at USA Raceway is slated to go green at 6:45 p.m.

 

The 3/8-mile USA Raceway clay oval is located east of Tucson off I-10 Exit 268, then 1.6 mile south on Craycroft Road, which turns into Los Reales.  For more information, contact the track at 520-574-8515.

 

The ASCS Southwest Region is currently slated for 20 overall nights of competition in 2011.

 

The 2011 season marks the 20^th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing for the American Sprint Car Series, with approximately 200 nights of competition at tracks throughout the nation and into Canada.  Anchored by the Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters, ASCS also consists of ten different Regions throughout the nation.

Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.

ASCS SoCal Season Opener – Take Two!

Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (April 18, 2011) – The newly-formed American Sprint Car Series Southern California Region was slated to kick off its inaugural season of competition a couple of weekends ago, but Mother Nature had other ideas by nixing the April 9 card with excessive rain.

 

Now, the ASCS Southern California Region will try it again this Saturday night atop the 3/8-mile, high-banked Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway clay oval in Hanford, CA, with racing action set to go green at 6:30 p.m.

 

The inaugural slate of ASCS Southern California action includes a dozen nights of winged Sprint Car competition at four tracks including Kings Speedway, Tulare’s Thunderbowl Raceway, Santa Maria Speedway and Bakersfield Speedway.

 

Saturday’s card at Giant Chevrolet King Speedway, which will be the first step in crowning the first ASCS champion in California, marks the first of three consecutive Saturday nights of ASCS Southern Cal action with the series moving on to Thunderbowl Raceway on April 30 and then to Santa Maria Speedway on May 7.

 

While the American Sprint Car Series broke California ground with a pair of wingless Canyon Region events last year, the Lucas Oil ASCS National winged ranks kicked off the 2011 season with debut appearances at Thunderbowl and Kings Speedway in February.

 

The California shoes defended their turf quite nicely from the invading National forces in February, with Tim Kaeding tops at Tulare and then Kyle Larson winning at Kings.

 

Saturday’s card marks the first of five remaining scheduled ASCS Southern California events at Hanford’s Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway.

 

The high-banked, 3/8-mile Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway clay oval is located in Hanford, CA, south of SR 198 on 10^th Avenue to the Fairgrounds.  For more information, contact the track at 559-584-7223.

 

The 2011 season marks the 20^th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing for the American Sprint Car Series, with approximately 200 nights of competition at tracks throughout the nation and into Canada.  Anchored by the Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters, ASCS also consists of ten different Regions throughout the nation. 

Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.