(Photo Credit: Alan Herrig)
BILLINGS, Mont. (July 12, 2014) - An engine change put Jeff Swindell starting fifteenth on Friday night after drawing second in the A-Feature, but luck was on the side of the Tennessee veteran, drawing the pole at the Billings Motorsports Park to lead start to finish for his second Protect the Harvest A-Feature victory of the year in front of a capacity crowd.
Masterful in slower traffic, Swindell didn't back off going three and at times four wide with the back markers to keep Jason Johnson at bay.
"It's about time isn't it?" was the first thing said as Jeff worked around the car after his wing dance.
Asked about having to make some hair-raising moves through traffic, Swindell replied, "It just got to where some of those guys were running side-by-side and were all running about the same speed and had the bottom blocked, they had the top blocked, then one would slip out and another would get under him so all I could do is drive through the middle there that one shot and it really surprised me; the car stuck pretty nice."
Able to open his advantage considerably at times, Swindell commented on being able to run in clean air, "When you're running a cushion like that, being out in the open air really makes a world of difference. The cushion's really hard to see when you get behind somebody because there's just blowing up so much dust off the tires, so you have to just feel your way to the cushion by the car in front of you so it makes it really good to be sitting out front."
Assisted by cautions to keep the Heartland Catfish No. 94 out of heavy slower traffic in the early goings, the mid-point on was not the case, which allowed Jason Johnson to close the gap on Swindell, but never enough to challenge for the lead.
"I really needed lapped traffic because in clean air, he definitely was just as fast as us, a little bit faster to be quite honest so our only chance was to get him in lapped traffic and a couple times it got pretty hairy there and was definitely a challenge," said Johnson after crossing second at the BMP Speedway.
A nearly constant battle for third took place between Aaron Reutzel and Seth Bergman. Swapping the show position over and over during the night's 30 laps run, Reutzel was able to fend off the Washington shoe for the podium step.
Overcoming several outings with engine problems, Reutzel was all smiles on the front straight-a-way, "Man that car was awesome. I can't thank Ryan [Beechler] enough. Man, he got me dialed in and we were definitely coming through there. We started seventh and got to third. We were in striking distance of second at one time but once those lapped cars got to racing it really messed us up but man I'll tell you what; what a great race track this is."
Reutzel addressed the crowd about the race and was met with roaring approval.
Seth Bergman crossed fourth with Brad Loyet coming from ninth to complete the top-five.
Johnny Herrera raced across sixth with Sam Hafertepe, Jr seventh. Tony Bruce, Jr. came from eleventh to eighth with Kelly Miller slipping from the front row to ninth. David Hoiness completed the top ten.
The night saw 30 drivers drawing in. Split into four Heat Races, Trever Kirkland, Tony Bruce, Jr., Jason Johnson, and Aaron Reutzel each earned wins. The night's B-Feature was dominated by Randi Miller.
Again paired with the ASCS Frontier Region, Kelly Miller was the night's regional high point earner. In doing so, the Alberta driver took over the Regional points lead by 11 over Joe Ramaker whose night ended early with a broken rear-end assembly. David Hoiness, Phil Dietz, Jeremy McCune, and Randi Miller completed the top-five point earners.
The Lucas Oil ASCS presented by MAVTV American Real races next on Friday, July 18 at the AtoZ Promotions backed night at the Black Hills Speedway in Rapid City, S.D. For continued updates on the American Sprint Car Series, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com.
Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV American Real
Billings Motorsports Park - Billings, Mont.
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Car Count: 30
SpeedMart Heat Races - 8 Laps in distance, taking the winners plus the next 12 highest in passing points to the A-Feature.
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 37-Trever Kirkland[1]; 2. 95-Matt Covington[3]; 3. 27DD-David Hoiness[8]; 4. 15-James Sires[2]; 5. 14-Ben Holmberg[4]; 6. (DNF) 98-Joe Ramaker[6]; 7. (DNF) 77-Bob Shiplet[5]; DNS 12-Jerry Brey
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[1]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[5]; 3. 23-Seth Bergman[7]; 4. 90-Randi Miller[2]; 5. 0J-Jeremy McCune[8]; 6. 44-Damon McCune[4]; 7. 2-Shad Peterson[3]; 8. 4-Adam Speckman[6]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson[2]; 2. 94-Jeff Swindell[4]; 3. 45X-Johnny Herrera[6]; 4. 72-Phil Dietz[5]; 5. 17-Blake Hahn[7]; 6. 21-Ryder Olson[1]; 7. (DNF) X-Steve Nelson[3]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel[2]; 2. 44K-Kelly Miller[4]; 3. 05-Brad Loyet[6]; 4. 28-Joe Perry[7]; 5. 7X-Paxton Lambrecht[1]; 6. 38B-Bryan Brown[3]; 7. 7-Mike Sires[5]
Smiley's Racing Products B-Feature - 12 laps, taking the top 6 to the A-Feature.
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 90-Randi Miller[2]; 2. 7X-Paxton Lambrecht[4]; 3. 21-Ryder Olson[8]; 4. 44-Damon McCune[6]; 5. 38B-Bryan Brown[7]; 6. 2-Shad Peterson[11]; 7. 14-Ben Holmberg[3]; 8. 15-James Sires[1]; 9. 7-Mike Sires[10]; 10. X-Steve Nelson[12]; 11. (DNF) 77-Bob Shiplet[9]; 12. (DNF) 4-Adam Speckman[13]; DNS 12-Jerry Brey; DNS 98-Joe Ramaker
Protect the Harvest A-Feature.
A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 94-Jeff Swindell[1]; 2. 41-Jason Johnson[3]; 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel[7]; 4. 23-Seth Bergman[5]; 5. 05-Brad Loyet[9]; 6. 45X-Johnny Herrera[4]; 7. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[8]; 8. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[11]; 9. 44K-Kelly Miller[2]; 10. 27DD-David Hoiness[6]; 11. 72-Phil Dietz[15]; 12. 0J-Jeremy McCune[14]; 13. 95-Matt Covington[12]; 14. 90-Randi Miller[17]; 15. 17-Blake Hahn[16]; 16. 28-Joe Perry[13]; 17. 21-Ryder Olson[19]; 18. 7X-Paxton Lambrecht[18]; 19. (DNF) 44-Damon McCune[20]; 20. (DNF) 37-Trever Kirkland[10]; 21. (DNF) 38B-Bryan Brown[21]; 22. (DNF) 2-Shad Peterson[22]
Lap Leader(s): Jeff Swindell 1-30
KSE Hard Charger: Aaron Reutzel +4
FSR High Point: Sam Hafertepe, Jr.
Hawk Performance Fastest Lap: Seth Bergman 15.240 seconds
CSI Rebound: Bryan Brown
Provisional(s): N/A
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2014 A-Feature Winner(s): Aaron Reutzel -2, Rico Abreu - 2, Tony Bruce, Jr. - 2, Christopher Bell - 2, Brad Loyet - 2, Jeff Swindell - 2, Patrick Stasa - 1, Derek Hagar - 1, Seth Bergman - 1, Sam Hafertepe, Jr. - 1
2014 Lucas Oil ASCS Driver Standings (Top 10): 1. Brad Loyet 2,026; 2. Jason Johnson 1,975; 3. Jeff Swindell 1,925; 4. Johnny Herrera 1,893; 5. Aaron Reutzel 1,876; 6. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 1,864; 7. Seth Bergman 1,811; 8. Blake Hahn 1,773; 9. Matt Covington 1,765; 10. Tony Bruce, Jr. 1,759;
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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 Jul 13, 2014
- Article Date: 7/13/2014