BAKER CITY, Ore. (June 22, 2015) While Mother Nature did shorten Speedweek to more of a “Speedweekend”, so to speak, there was still plenty of action with the American Sprint Car Series as the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour, Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior, and ASCS Frontier Regions all saw competition.
Call the weekend “Billed” as four of the scheduled 10 events were swallowed up by the Tropical Storm, leaving the Gulf South Region without a place to race. For the National Tour, as well as the Red River Region, events at Lawton and Creek fell victim.
Nevertheless, six events saw only one repeat winner with 81 drivers from 64 cities, 17 states, and two countries taking part in at least one night of racing. While race count has hit 44 ASCS sanctioned events in 2015, the “R” count stands at 28.
Those Who Won:
Friday, June 19, 2015
• Phil Dietz (ASCS Frontier) Night one of action at the Electric City Speedway ended up in the hands of Phil Dietz. Somewhat crazy how it happened, but a win is a win and we Phil’s first of the season.
• Aaron Reutzel (ASCS National) Win No. 3 against the National Tour, and a first at the Salina Speedway in Salina, Kan. for the Texas native, it was a big night for the whole team.
• Austin Alumbaugh (ASCS Warrior) Riding the high-side of the U.S. 36 Raceway in Cameron, Mo. the driver known as the “Man of Steel” captured his first victory of the season.
Saturday, June 20, 2015:
• Garen Linder (ASCS Frontier) The first ASCS victory for the Oregon driver, the No. 22L had to work past some tough company to get the job done at the Electric City Speedway.
• Tony Bruce, Jr. (ASCS National) Oh how sweet to end out Speedweek with a win as Bruce picked up his second career victory at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. but was just seven points shy of winning the Speedweek title.
Sunday, June 21, 2015:
• Austin Alumbaugh (ASCS Warrior) Two out of three is not bad at all as the ASCS Warriors hit the clay at the Double X Speedway in California, Mo. for the ‘Tribute to Jesse’. Alumbaugh led non-stop for the night’s $2,000 score.
Other News and Notes:
• “This one’s for Bob.”: Aaron Reutzel’s win on Friday night was a very important one. In Aaron’s first night back with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour since the passing of his friend and mentor, Bob Miller, the Clute, Texas hotshot was in tears during his post-race interview. Needless to say, everyone gave a hand to the driver of the B.C. Funds No. 87 for putting an exclamation point on a great friendship. Aaron also reclaimed the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour points lead in the process.
• Wayne Wins Again: He did it in 2012, and he did it again in 2015. We speak of course of Wayne Johnson who was able to pick up the 2015 ASCS Sizzlin’ Summer Speedweek title by seven markers over Tony Bruce, Jr. While rain did take two nights away, Wayne’s record included a win at Devil’s Bowl, followed by a tenth at Salina after starting 19th with no brakes, and a third at Lucas Oil Speedway.
• New Leader: Putting together a weekend with two wins was enough to put Austin Alumbaugh into the points lead with the Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior Region. Jonathan Cornell slipped to second, 23 points back.
• The Streaks Continue: J.J Hickle continues to impress as the Washington shoe has put together eight straight podium finishes with the ASCS Frontier Region, posting a runner-up on Friday night and a third on Saturday. Even with podiums every night, Phil Dietz isn’t about to let Hickle run away as the No. 72 has gone eight-for-eight with top-five finishes. Third running, Kelly Miller, has also posted impressive numbers with eight top-ten runs.
• Charging Hard: Friday night if was C.J. Johnson who brought the Kansas crowd to their feet with a run from 18th to fourth at the Salina Speedway. On Saturday, it was Seth Bergman who came from 20th to finish fourth.
• DQ: We’re not talking Dairy Queen either as Friday night was a rough one for Joe Ramaker. A left-rear wheel too wide in his Heat Race, and a wing that didn’t pass inspection in the A-Feature stripped the Idaho driver of two wins in one night.
• Cornell was Close: The Hockett Challenge grew to $4,100 with Jonathan Cornell taking the challenge to come from the back and win on Sunday at the Double X Speedway. Unfortunately, the No. 28 only made it to fifth, but Jonathan did win an extra $500 in the night’s Dash.
Coming Up:
Going into the final weekend of June, the ASCS Nation will be busy with three nights of action at the Skagit Speedway for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV American Real. The first time the National Tour has sanctioned the Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup presented by Jack in the Box, races are schedule for June 25-27.
ASCS Gulf South will try again with races at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway in Waco on Friday, June 26 and Lone Star Speedway in Kilgore on Saturday, June 27.
ASCS Red River joins forces with NCRA for pair of nights in Kansas. Saturday, June 27 will take place at the Dodge City Raceway Park with the Steve King Memorial. Sunday, June 28 moves to 81-Speedway in Park City.
Finally, the ASCS Southwest Region takes on tracks in Texas and New Mexico with the El Paso Speedway Park on Friday, June 26 and Southern New Mexico Speedway on Saturday, June 27.
For continued updates on the American Sprint Car Series, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com.
The 2015 season will mark the 24th 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 in both National and Regional competition.
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.
ASCS Online:
American Sprint Car Series - http://www.ascsracing.com
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/lucasoilascs
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/lucasoilascs (@lucasoilascs)
Audio Broadcast - http://www.racinboys.com
Live Scoring (Where Applicable) - http://www.ascsracing.com/live and the Race Monitor App
ASCS National Drivers Online:
Kyle Bellm - http://www.kylebellm.com
Seth Bergman - http://www.sethbergmanracing.com
Tony Bruce, Jr. - http://www.tonybrucejr.com
Matt Covington - http://www.mattcovingtonracing.com
Blake Hahn - http://www.blakehahnracing.com
Sam Hafertepe, Jr. - http://www.sam15.com
Johnny Herrera - http://www.johnnyherreraracing.com
Wayne Johnson - https://www.facebook.com/WayneJohnsonRacing?fref=ts
Aaron Reutzel - http://www.aaronreutzelracing.com
Jeff Swindell - http://www.jeffswindell.com
Jordan Weaver - https://www.facebook.com/JordanWeaverRacing92
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.
Communications for the American Sprint Car Series is provided by Racing Electronics. All events are broadcast online at http://www.racinboys.com.
Product and Contingency Sponsorship provided by: K&N Filters, KSE Racing Products, Fuel Safe, DMI Rear Ends, BMRS, SpeedMart, Competition Suspension, Engler Machine and Tool, FSR Radiator and Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, Driverwebsites.com, Weld Wheels, 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
- Bryan Hulbert on Jun 23, 2015
- Article Date: 6/23/2015