[b One More Turnpike Weekend Double for ASCS Sooner Region]
[i Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (August 17, 2009)]
A critical weekend of racing action is on tap for the American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region, as the series makes its final stops of the season at a pair of Oklahoma tracks.
On Friday night, the Sooner Region takes to Oklahoma City's 3/8-mile State Fair Speedway clay oval. Then, on Saturday night, it's down the H.E. Bailey turnpike for one last time in 2009 to the ¼-mile Lawton Speedway red clay oval.
The weekend double is the final half of four big nights of Sprint Car racing for Sooner State racing fans, who also have the opportunity to take in two legs of the Sprint Bandits Tour 'N Topless series at Oklahoma City on Wednesday night and then Sapulpa's Creek County Speedway on Thursday night.
With just three events remaining after this weekend's Oklahoma City-Lawton double, Oklahoma City's Joe Wood, Jr., is closing in on his first ASCS championship with a 42-point advantage over Glenpool's Matt Covington.
While shut out of victory lane thus far in 2009, Wood has amassed his advantage on the strength of four top-five runs in the opening seven events of the season. Covington, with four top-tens in Sooner action this year, was less than a handful of laps away from his first ASCS triumph in the series most recent visit to State Fair Speedway on July 17.
Third-generation Tulsa racer Donnie Ray Crawford has climbed to third in points, with Broken Arrow's Brady Bacon just ahead of the Missouri duo of Kyle Bellm and Brad Graham. Sherman Davis (Sand Springs), Andy Shouse (Oklahoma City), Chris Lloyd (Moore) and Robert Sellers (Mustang) round out the current top ten in ASCS Sooner points.
Broken Arrow's Nick Smith will be shooting for a sweep of State Fair Speedway's three ASCS Sooner Region events after topping both the May 8 and July 17 events. Smith topped two of three Sooner events in Oklahoma City last year.
While Smith has topped four of the last five Sooner events at State Fair Speedway, parity has prevailed in recent Lawton competition with five different winners in the last five Sooner events contested at Lawton Speedway dating back to 2007. Among those five winners, Gary Taylor, Joe Wood, Jr., and most recently, Brady Bacon, each posted first career ASCS Sooner triumphs.
Friday's action at Oklahoma City's State Fair Speedway fires off at 7:30 p.m., with Saturday's event at Lawton Speedway going green at 8:00 p.m.
Oklahoma City's semi-banked, 3/8-mile State Fair Speedway clay oval is located on the Oklahoma State Fair Grounds near the intersection of N.W. 10th and May Avenue. For more information, contact the track at 405-948-6796.
Lawton Speedway is located in Lawton, OK, off I-44 Exit 36, then 2.5 miles west on Lee Boulevard, then 1.4 miles south on Sheridan Road. For more information, contact the track at 580-355-6417.
The American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region is slated for a dozen nights of racing action at six different tracks throughout Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri in 2009.
Past ASCS Sooner Region Feature Winners at State Fair Speedway:
7/17/09 – Nick Smith
5/8/09 – Nick Smith (Sooner vs. Lone Star)
8/15/08 – Nick Smith
8/15/08 – Sean McClelland (Makeup feature from 6/13/08)
4/11/08 – Nick Smith
8/17/07 – Danny Jennings
8/18/06 – Nick Smith
4/21/06 – Sean McClelland
*7/29/05 – Gary Wright
*6/24/05 – Darren Stewart
*5/20/05 – Kevin Ramey
4/29/05 – Danny Wood
9/3/04 – Kevin Ramey
*7/30/04 – Gary Wright
*6/25/04 – Danny Wood
*8/1/03 – Gary Wright
*6/27/03 – Gary Wright
*5/9/03 – Travis Rilat
*8/23/02 – Gary Wright
*6/28/02 – Kevin Ramey
*5/17/02 – Wayne Pennington
Past ASCS Sooner Region Feature Winners at Lawton Speedway:
7/18/09 – Brady Bacon
8/16/08 – Robert Sellers
6/14/08 – Joe Wood, Jr.
4/12/08 – Gary Taylor
9/8/07 – Kevin Ramey
8/19/06 – Kevin Ramey
4/22/06 – Sean McClelland
9/17/05 – Kevin Ramey
7/2/05 – Sean McClelland
4/30/05 – Sean McClelland
9/11/04 – Danny Wood
7/3/04 – Danny Wood
5/1/04 – Travis Rilat
9/20/03 – Kevin Ramey
7/5/03 – Nick Smith
5/3/03 – Kevin Ramey
9/14/02 – Danny Jennings
8/3/02 – Zach Chappell
7/6/02 – Foster Landon
8/18/01 – Danny Jennings
8/4/01 – Danny Jennings
7/7/01 – Robert Sellers
6/2/01 – Travis Scott
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- Indicates events held in conjunction with ASCS National Tour.
The American Sprint Car Series, in its 18th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing events, brings the best of Sprint Car racing to nearly 100 different tracks throughout 25 states and Canada in 2009. Anchored by the Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters, ASCS also consists of a dozen different Regions throughout the nation.
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.
- Lonnie Wheatley on Aug 17, 2009
- Article Date: 8/17/2009