TULSA, Okla. (June 23, 2014) - A very long weekend for some, the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series finished off the 22nd edition of Speedweek and 2nd annual Bob Westphal Memorial Cup. Along with the National Tour's four straight nights of racing, the Griffith Truck and Equipment Gulf South Region and ASCS Frontier Region also saw action this past weekend.
Starting on Wednesday, June 18 and going through Saturday, June 21 the whole of ASCS saw eight races with 11 of 12 sanctioned events completed with an average car count of 34 per event.
Since January, 70 race nights have been contested with the American Sprint Car Series with 399 drivers taking part in at least one event so far.
The Winners:
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
• Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (National) - Building up to Speedweek, Sam Hafertepe, Jr. had finally got things rolling and Wednesday night at the Lawton Speedway, it all paid off as the Sunnyvale, Texas driver snapped a three year winless streak with the Lucas Oil ASCS presented by MAVTV American Real. The $3,000 score is Sam's third against the National Tour.
Thursday, June 19, 2014
• Christopher Bell (National) - After a failed steering gear the night before forced Christopher Bell through the B-Feature, the Norman, Okla. shoe was the man to beat at Creek County Speedway. Utilizing his years of Micro experience at the quarter-mile, Bell put all by three drivers a lap down when the checkered flag dropped for his first ASCS National Tour victory of 2014.
Friday, June 20, 2014
• Tony Bruce, Jr. (National) - What is the cost of victory? For Tony Bruce, Jr. it was a blown engine at the Devil's Bowl, a flip at Lawton, and a overall bad night at Creek before the No. 18 pulled off the drive of the year to win at the Outlaw Motorsports Park; passing for the lead with three to go after starting thirteenth. The win is Bruce's second of the season with the ASCS National Tour.
• Travis Rilat (Gulf South) - Taking on the one-third mile Golden Triangle Raceway Park, fourth starting Travis Rilat was the third leader of the night. The win is Rilat's second of the year with the Gulf South Region
Saturday, June 21, 2014
• Christopher Bell (National) - Ring the Bell at the Lucas Oil Speedway as the track was in near perfect shape for Christopher Bell to add a second victory of Speedweek to his resume', passing Matt Covington on Lap 16. Bell was challenged on restarts, but would not be denied his first Lucas Oil ASCS victory at the "Diamond of Dirt Tracks".
• Channin Tankersley (Gulf South) - You don't need to win races to win championships, but it doesn't hurt your cause as Channin Tankersley finally broke into Victory Lane with the Gulf South Region at the Royal Purple Raceway.
• Joe Ramaker (Frontier) - Joe is still smokin' the competition with his third win in four starts with the ASCS Frontier Region coming at the Electric City Speedway. According to the report submitted by Andrew Kunas, the Idaho veteran was lucky to finish after the Bleeder snapped out of the Left Rear Wheel.
A look at everything else:
• Speedweek Leaders - Oh so many in only 5 races. Starting with Seth Bergman after his win on Saturday, June 14 at the Devil's Bowl, the lead transferred to Blake Hahn after Lawton, then Jason Johnson after Creek. Johnson held the lead in the Bob Westphal Memorial Cup standings after Friday night at Outlaw, but it would be current Tour points leader, Brad Loyet, on top by two points with a third place finish at Lucas Oil to Jason's seventh place showing to garner Loyet his first ASCS Speedweek title.
• Up and Down - It's has been a rollercoaster year for Sam Hafertepe, Jr. Finally getting the win at the Lawton Speedway, Hafertepe made a huge jump from sixth to third in tour standings. A DNF at Creek County, a flip at Outlaw, and a snapped front axle while running second at Lucas Oil and the driver of the No. 15h is right back where he started.
• High Car Count - The 2014 Bob Westphal Memorial ASCS Speedweek was not short on cars with 98 drivers taking part in at least one event, with an average of 41.6 for the week. Lucas Oil Speedway had the most drivers show up for fun with 53 drawing in.
• Perfect Attendance - Fifteen drivers had perfect attendance for the 2014 ASCS Sizzlin' Summer Speedweek. Of the 15, 13 started in every Protect the Harvest A-Feature. Twenty-one drivers ran at least four nights, 32 competed in three events, and 41 saw action in at least two nights of Speedweek.
• The Difference is - Neither Johnson or Loyet grabbed wins during Speedweek and in fact, Jason was one up on Loyet in top-ten finishes, but the difference is where both drivers earned their three top-five finishes with Johnson finishing fifth at the Devil's Bowl, Second at Creek County, and third at Outlaw. All of Loyet's top fives were podium finishes with a second at Lawton, second at Outlaw, and third at Lucas Oil.
• Cody Baker - During his Heat Race on Saturday night, Cody Baker suffered burns from his ankles to his knees after the U-Joint in the car exploded, cutting a fuel line on Baker's No. 38. According to posts to the team's Facebook page, Cody was taken to Grossman Burn Center at Research Medical Center and is being treated for third-degree burns to his right ankle and leg. For continued updates, you can like the team's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/CBakerRacing/111862975517349?ref=br_tf
• Crawling Through the Field - Tim Crawley posted the biggest run of Speedweek on Saturday night after having to race though a B-Feature, where the three-time National Champion gridded the John James owned No. 4j nineteenth, and charged to second.
• Rain in Montana - Friday night saw two Heat Races contested before the rains set in at the Electric City Speedway. Drivers who drew in each received show up points for Friday night.
• All Online - Racinboys.com covered all five nights of the ASCS Speedweek with video posted to the Premium Section of the website.
Coming Up:
The American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region takes to the state of Kansas for an ASCS / NCRA showdown at the Dodge City Raceway Park on Saturday, June 28 for the Steve King Memorial. Sunday, the show moves to the 81 Speedway in Park City, Kan.
ASCS Southwest headlines events at the Tucson International Raceway on Saturday, June 28. A little futher east, the West Texas ASCS 305 Region lights up in El Paso on Friday, June 27 and Las Cruces on Saturday, June 28.
This weekend also marks the start of the ASCS Northwest Speedweek starting Sunday, June 29 at the Siskiyou Motor Speedway in Yreka, Cali.
For a complete listing of ASCS events in 2014, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com.
The 2014 season marks the twenty-third 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. Anchored by the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series, ASCS also consists of ten different Regions throughout the nation.
Lucas Oil Products is the title sponsor of the American Sprint Car Series. More information can be found on Lucas Oil Products at www.lucasoil.com. MAVTV is the presenting sponsor of the American Sprint Car Series. Log onto www.mavtv.com for information regarding availability and listings in your area.
Associate sponsors for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV include: Hoosier Racing Tire and Brodix.
Team Lucas Sponsors for the American Sprint Car Series consist of Protect the Harvest, iON Camera, Smokey Mountain Moonshine, C&R Radiator, Hawk Performance Products, Geico, E3 Spark Plugs, and General Tire.
Product and Contingency Sponsorship provided by: K&N Filters, KSE Racing Products, SpeedMart, Competition Suspension, Engler Machine and Tool, FSR Radiator and Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, Driverwebsites.com, Weld Wheels, Saldana Racing Products, Maxwell Industries, Print Place, Simpson, The Joie of Seating, Wesmar Racing Engines, Hinchman Indy Racewear, Rod End Supply, Smiley's Racing Products, Speedway Motors, and Hilborn Injection Systems.
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com as well as Twitter (@LucasOilASCS) and Facebook. News and information can also be sent to you with the ASCS E-News by texting ASCS to 22828 with any mobile device.
- Bryan Hulbert on Jun 23, 2014
- Article Date: 6/23/2014