Andrew Kunas / Bryan Hulbert (July 26, 2014) SHEPHERD, Mont. - Joe Ramaker found his winning ways again Saturday night at Billings Motorsports Park, picking up his series leading fourth ASCS Frontier Regional victory of the season, and in doing took back regional points lead.
The Boise, Idaho driver led all but the first three laps of the 25-lap event.
Starting seventh, Ramaker took advantage of a shaky start and quickly moved into third place on the first lap. Blowing by Jerry Brey for second on Lap 3, Ramaker quickly went after leader Steve Nelson,making the pass on the fourth lap.
"We had some gremlins to work out (Friday). The front end was an inch lower than it had been. We fixed it today, and our car was back," a happy Ramaker said about the setup on his machine.
Getting that car back to the way he liked it, Ramaker left the track Saturday with a new 11-point lead over Lethbridge, Alberta's Kelly Miller. Ramaker isn't focusing on points though and that approach appears to be working for him.
"I try to drive (points) out of my head as much as possible. I let it get in my head one night last year and it cost me a championship I think. I want to focus on getting as much as I can out of my equipment and my talent, and not make it about beating people."
Billings driver David Hoiness had his best finish of the season, finishing second from eighth in the Hoiness Racing No. 27dd Wesmar-powered J&J. Hoiness inherited second place on Lap 18 when Jeremy McCune dropped off the pace with problems. With no lapped cars between them, Hoiness had an opportunity to get by Ramaker on a Lap 20 restart. His car, however, did not immediately take off when he hit the gas, allowing Ramaker to motor away.
Despite an apparent engine issue, Hoiness was pleased with his finish, saying he put to use some knowledge he gained when he raced in the ASCS Northwest Region's Speed Week in Oregon about a month ago.
"It was a good night. It was dusty and hard to see, but we made it work. You gotta do what you've gotta do. We've been feeling out some stuff. We learned a lot at Speed Week and brought some of it here," Hoiness said after the race. "I was really hoping to get a shot at Joe on the last restart but the car had a terrible stutter and it just wouldn't go right away."
Despite losing the points lead Saturday, Miller still had a solid night with a third place effort aboard the KDM Motorsports No. 44k AMS-powered Schnee. Just missing the re-draw that has the top eight drivers in heat race passing points draw for their main event starting positions, Miller started ninth and gradually moved up; eventually settling for his second podium finish of the weekend.
"It was another good night. We're being consistent," said Miller, who like Ramaker isn't worried about points at this time, noting that there are several races remaining.
Phil Dietz had moved up to second place before cutting down his left rear tire and coming to stop to bring out the caution on Lap 9. Dietz's replaced the tire and got him back out on the race track where he stormed from the back to finish fourth in the Prevost Racing No. 72 RFast-powered GF1. Jerry Brey, out of Billings, finished fifth in the Harvey Ostermiller No. 12 Wesmar-powerd GF1.
Pole starter Joe Perry fell back after a poor initial start, but still managed to finish sixth. Trever Kirkland, who won Friday's race at Gallatin Speedway, started at the tail end of the field after having problems in his heat race, but still passed several cars to finish seventh. Nelson, Skylar Gee and Ross Mathewson rounded out the Top 10.
The only red flag of the night came on Lap 20 when Washington visitor Darren Smith lost a wheel going down the back stretch of the three-eights mile clay oval and turned his car over on its side after a wild spin.
Brey, McCune and Dietz all won heat races earlier in the evening.
After a couple of weeks off, the ASCS Frontier Region will return to action on Friday and Saturday, August 15th and 16th. The series will race at Gallatin Speedway on Friday before returning to Billings Motorsports Park on Saturday. A three-night event at Electric City Speedway in Great Falls follows on Labor Day weekend, August 29th, 30th and 31st.
The Frontier Region of the American Sprint Car Series, presented in part by Speedmart Inc. is a winged 360 sprint car tour racing around the state of Montana and beyond. More information on the ASCS Frontier Region can be found online at frontier.ascsracing.com or you can also follow the series on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ascsfrontier. The national website of the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour presented by MAVTV American Real is www.ascsracing.com.
ASCS Frontier Region
Billings Motorsports Park - Billings, Mont
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Car Count: 21
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 12-Jerry Brey; 2. 99-Skylar Gee; 3. 44-Damon McCune; 4. 44K-Kelly Miller; 5. 56-Ross Mathewson; 6. 35-Charles (Chip) Roe; 7. 81-Darren Smith
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 0J-Jeremy McCune; 2. X-Steve Nelson; 3. 27DD-David Hoiness; 4. 77-Bob Shiplet; 5. 4-Cliff Nelson Jr.; 6. 38B-Bryan Brown; 7. 3-Jordan Milne
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 72-Phil Dietz; 2. 28-Joe Perry; 3. 98-Joe Ramaker; 4. 7X-Paxton Lambrecht; 5. 00-Roger Cummings; 6. 22-Chris Roberts; 7. 37-Trever Kirkland
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 98-Joe Ramaker[6]; 2. 27DD-David Hoiness[8]; 3. 44K-Kelly Miller[9]; 4. 72-Phil Dietz[3]; 5. 12-Jerry Brey[5]; 6. 28-Joe Perry[1]; 7. 37-Trever Kirkland[20]; 8. X-Steve Nelson[2]; 9. 99-Skylar Gee[7]; 10. 56-Ross Mathewson[13]; 11. 7X-Paxton Lambrecht[11]; 12. 35-Charles (Chip) Roe[18]; 13. 44-Damon McCune[10]; 14. 38B-Bryan Brown[15]; 15. 81-Darren Smith[19]; 16. 0J-Jeremy McCune[4]; 17. 77-Bob Shiplet[12]; 18. 22-Chris Roberts[17]; 19. 4-Cliff Nelson Jr.[14]; DNS 00-Roger Cummings; DNS 3-Jordan Milne
- Bryan Hulbert on Jul 27, 2014
- Article Date: 7/27/2014