Bryan Hulbert - Las Cruces, NM (March 17, 2012) - After a less than stellar performance on the preliminary night El Paso, Texas racer John Carney II was the driver to beat in Saturday’s 30 lap feature event as the Steward Builders 224 raced to a $6,000 payday at the Southern New Mexico Speedway.
“I wasn’t sure if I had a real good lead or not but I felt pretty comfortable” commented Carney when asked about leading into slower traffic. “We were behind the eight-ball starting the night off and it’s great to walk out with this.”
Lining up eighth on the field, the 224 of Carney would bolt into the top five in the first three laps of the night’s $5,000 to win feature event; moving into fourth with the 47 of Dale Blaney and 45x of Johnny Herrera within reach as the field chased the 1x of Jeff Swindell to the caution with twenty-four laps to run as the 11p of Preston Peebles rolled to a stop with a hurt engine.
Back underway the El Paso Transmission 1x of Swindell again bolted into the race lead as Carney maneuvered his Momentum Suspension 224 into the runner up spot as the caution waved again for the 36 of Joe Alvarado who lost a drive-shaft on the top of turn four.
Moving under green flag conditions yet again after a false start, Carney would dive to the bottom groove only to have Swindell ready to block the charge. With just under twenty laps to run, the 1x of Jeff Swindell continued to lead as Blaney and Herrera continued to give chase along with Carney.
Another mid race caution would finally give Carney the jump he was looking for as the 224 dove to the bottom groove and proceeded to pull away from Swindell as Lorne Wofford, who started fifteenth on the field, move into the top three. Inching closer and closer lapped traffic would begin to come into play as Carney dove in and out of the slower traffic in an effort to keep Wofford at bay.
Holding off the charge of Wofford in traffic, a caution with less than six laps to run for the 45x of Johnny Herrera would see Carney now having to hold off the MTS 18 on clear race track. With the racing surface taking rubber from top to bottom, the worry about tires was amplified as crews towed the 45x into the infield with a shredded right rear tire. Taking the green for the final run to the checkered flag, Carney and Wofford would take off as Swindell was left to try and hold off Dave Blaney for third as thirteenth starting JR Patton came into the picture.
Working into the final two laps, Wofford would remain within striking distance but would not be able to get the run he needed as John Carney II raced to his second ASCS 305 Sprint Car Shootout win. Lorne Wofford crossed the stripe second with Dale Blaney getting by the 1x. Jeff Swindell would take fourth with JR Patton rounding out the top five.
With an A.S.I Engine under the hood, Caney was awarded an additional $1,000 from A.S.I to bring his total winnings to $6,000. Lorne Wofford as the Hard Charger of the Race, earning an additional $500 from Mesilla Valley Transportation and CSR Garage.
ASCS 305 Sprint Car Shootout
Southern New Mexico Speedway
Las Cruces, New Mexico
March 17, 2012 - Finale
Event Car Count: 35
Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. 1x-Jeff Swindell; 2. 11-Mike Stringfield; 3. 186-JR Patton; 4. 18-Lorne Wofford; 5. 2j-Zach Blurton; 6. 36-Joe Alvarado; 7. 52-Art Quijano; 8. 98-Jerry Gonzales
Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. 6u-Anton Salopek; 2. 224-John Carney II; 3. 36-Joe Alvarado; 4. 17-Josh Baughman; 5. 21x-Brandon Schure; 6. 43-Curt Barnett; 7. 20-Luke Cranston; 8. 4-Jeril Higginbotham (DNS)
Heat 3 (8 laps): 1. 1m-Dylan Harris; 2. 131-Royal Jones; 3. 41-Jason Johnson; 4. 5-Kyle McCutcheon; 5. 9-Robert Herrera; 6. 8t-Tadd Baughman; 7. 25c-Lamar Skarda; 8. 05 Bill Briley III
Heat 4 (8 laps): 1. 7c-John Carney Sr.; 2. 21-Wes Wofford; 3. 74b-Derek Drown; 4. 2x-Brandon Williams; 5. 2-Tyler Jackson (DNF); 6. 77 Colt Treharn (DNF); 7. 69 Glen Passmore (DNS)
B-Main (15 laps: top 4 to Feature): 1. 36-Joe Alvarado; 2. 21x-Bradon Schure; 3. 43-Curt Barnett; 4. 25c-Lamar Skarda; 5. 2j-Zach Blurton; 6. 77-Colt Treharn; 7. 20-Luke Cranston; 8. 98-Jerry Gonzales; 9. 8t-Tadd Baughman; 10. 52-Aaron Quijano; 11. 05-Bill Briley III; 12. 2-Tyler Jackson; 13; Jeril Higginbotham; 14. 2x-Brandon Williams; 15. 9-Robert Herrera; 16. 69-Glen Passmore
A-Main Finish (30 Laps): 1. 224-John Carney II; 2. 18-Lorne Wofford; 3. 47-Dale Blaney; 4. 1x-Jeff Swindell; 5. 186-JR Patton; 6. 9k-Kyle Sager; 7. 74b-Derek Drown; 8. 1m-Dylan Harris; 9. 41-Jason Johnson; 10. 5-Kyle McCutcheon; 11. 6u-Anton Salopek; 12. 30c-Barry Crane; 13. 21x-Brandon Schure; 14. 17-Josh Baughman; 15. 25c-Lamar Skarda; 16. 7c-John Carney Sr.; 17. 11-Mike Stringfield; 18. 131-Royal Jones; 19. 45x-Johnny Herrera; 20. 43-Curt Barnett; 21. 2j-Zach Blurton; 22. 21-Wes Wofford; 23. 36-Joe Alvarado; 24. 11p-Preston Peebles
MVT/CSR Hard Charger: Lorne Wofford
Longest Tow Award: Zach Blurton
The 2012 season marks the 21st year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing for the American Sprint Car Series, which brings the best of Sprint Car racing to dozens of different tracks throughout the nation and into Canada. Anchored by the Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series, ASCS also consists of ten different Regions throughout the nation.
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.
- Bryan Hulbert on Mar 18, 2012
- Article Date: 3/18/2012 by Bryan Hulbert