Lonnie Wheatley, WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. (October 2, 2010) – When Tim Crawley missed the cut in Friday night’s Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters preliminary feature at Riverside International Speedway, the likelihood of repeating his inaugural Rock ‘N Roll 50 triumph of 2009 seemed remote.
But, the three-time ASCS National champion from Benton, AR, bounced back in top form and led all 50 laps atop the storied ¼-mile, gumbo clay Riverside clay oval on Saturday night to take his second customized Gibson Guitar trophy along with the $6,000 winner’s share in the TBJ Promotions Second Annual Rock ‘N Roll 50.
After racing his way into the feature redraw by climbing from third to win the night’s opening heat race, Crawley drew the pole position for the main event and was in command throughout after outgunning Friday night preliminary feature winner Tony Bruce, Jr., for the lead at the drop of the green flag.
Following a pair of quick cautions in the initial four circuits, Crawley began working traffic on the ninth round and quickly put a healthy contingent of lapped cars between himself and pursuers Brian Brown, Danny Wood and Bruce, Jr.
“The lapped cars were tough, I was getting a little impatient with ‘em a few times along the way,” Crawley explained after his 42nd career ASCS National triumph. There was little need though, as at least a handful of cars and a straightaway separated Crawley from Brown and company over the bulk of the distance.
Crawley ultimately took his third checkered flag in the last four events aboard Mike Ward’s McCarver-powered Boater Sports/Southern Renovations No. 88 Maxim with a full straightaway advantage over Missouri’s Brown, who made his debut at the fabled Ditch.
“Tim Crawley, he’s the man,” Brown commented after his runner-up showing aboard the FVP No. 21 Maxim. “You put six, seven lapped cars in between and it’s just game, set and match.”
Brown was busy throughout fending off event promoter Bruce, Jr., who claimed the show position aboard the Bruce Racing No. 18 Maxim after Wood spun from contention on a lap 20 restart and ultimately fell a lap off the lead pace.
Leading Brodix Rookie of the Year contender Kyle Hirst of Loomis, CA, rebounded from a rough Friday night as well to claim fourth in Saturday’s finale aboard Gary Perkins’ Shark-powered GP Development No. 6 A.R.T., with Ohio’s Darren Long climbing from 13th to round out the top five in the Joe Gaerte Racing XYZ Machining No. 3g machine.
Riverside ace Jeff Swindell advanced from 14th to sixth, with Ricky Logan and 17th-starter Brady Bacon the final cars on the lead lap in seventh and eighth, respectively. After looping it into the infield in turn four following contact with Long to bring out the race’s final caution with 36 laps in the books, defending series champion Shane Stewart was the first of a dozen cars at least one lap off the pace in ninth with Justin Sturch completing the top ten.
Current Lucas Oil ASCS National points leader Jason Johnson lost a lap to the leader in the early going and struggled to a 17th-place finish, escaping the night with a 45 point margin over Bacon and a 77-point edge over Stewart in the series $60,000 championship points race.
Crawley, Dale Howard, Hirst, Logan, Matt Covington and Long topped Saturday night’s heat race action, with Bacon and Zach Chappell winning the “B” Mains.
Wes Shepard and Jeremy Newkirk tangled and flipped in turn one on the second lap of the night’s fifth heat race, while Casey Rowland jumped a tire and flipped exiting turn two in the early rounds of the second “B” Main. There were no injuries.
A total of 52 different drivers competed in the Second Annual Rock ‘N Roll 50.
Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters
Second Annual Rock ‘N Roll 50 Finale
Riverside Speedway Results:
Locked in from Friday Night’s Preliminary Feature:
18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 94-Danny Wood, 57-Shane Stewart, 9h-Derek Hagar.
Heat Races (Top 12 in Passing Points to "A" Main; Balance to 2 "B" Mains):
Heat One (10 Laps): 1. 88-Tim Crawley, 2. 3x-Michael Dupuy, 3. 26-Marshall Skinner, 4. 99-Brady Bacon, 5. 51s-Lee Sowell, 6. 40-Ernie Ainsworth, 7. 7w-Wade Human, 8. 44-Ronny Howard.
Heat Two (10 Laps): 1. 47-Dale Howard, 2. 0-Andy McElhannon, 3. 24-Justin Carver, 4. 1x-Gary Taylor, 5. 46-Jan Howard, 6. 38-Rick Pringle, 7. 16p-Dewayne Prince, 8. 3xp-Steve Hall.
Heat Three (10 Laps): 1. 6-Kyle Hirst, 2. 16-Anthony Nicholson, 3. 9-Justin Sturch, 4. 90-Jeff Swindell, 5. 35-Rick Wright, Jr., 6. 14-Jordon Mallett, 7. 5-Jerod Roller, 8. 11-Carl Zaniboni.
Heat Four (10 Laps): 1. 10a-Ricky Logan, 2. 5h-Josh Fisher, 3. 17-Brad Bowden, 4. 41-Jason Johnson, 5. 9x-Gary Wright, 6. C4-Casey Rowland, 7. 91-Darren Stewart, 8. 22-Kevin Kilpatrick.
Heat Five (10 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington, 2. 21-Brian Brown, 3. 50z-Zach Chappell, 4. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 5. 17x-Jeff Leach, 6. 58-Wade Oliver, 7. 44c-Wes Shepard, 8. 01-Jeremy Newkirk.
Heat Six (10 Laps): 1. 3g-Darren Long, 2. 53-Jack Dover, 3. 93-Dustin Morgan, 4. 71-Channin Tankersley, 5. 8x-Chris Williams, 6. 3-A.G. Rains, 7. 28-Jeff Willingham.
"B" Mains (Top 3 From Each Advance to "A" Main):
First "B" Feature (15 Laps): 1. 99-Brady Bacon, 2. 24-Justin Carver, 3. 1x-Gary Taylor, 4. 9x-Gary Wright, 5. 71-Channin Tankersley, 6. 58-Wade Oliver, 7. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 8. 35-Rick Wright, Jr., 9. 14-Jordon Mallett, 10. 7w-Wade Human, 11. 44-Ronny Howard, 12. 22-Kevin Kilpatrick, 13. 38-Rick Pringle, 14. 16-Anthony Nicholson, 15. 3x-Michael Dupuy, 16. 28-Jeff Willingham. DNS: 91-Darren Stewart, 44c-Wes Shepard.
Second "B" Feature (15 Laps): 1. 50z-Zach Chappell, 2. 46-Jan Howard, 3. 41-Jason Johnson, 4. 93-Dustin Morgan, 5. 51s-Lee Sowell, 6. 8x-Chris Williams, 7. 40-Ernie Ainsworth, 8. 3-A.G. Rains, 9. 5h-Josh Fisher, 10. 17x-Jeff Leach, 11. 5-Jerod Roller, 12. 16p-Dewayne Prince, 13. 11-Carl Zaniboni, 14. 3xp-Steve Hall, 15. 0-Andy McElhannon, 16. C4-Casey Rowland. DNS: 01-Jeremy Newkirk.
Riverside Speedway Rock ‘N Roll 50 “A” Main:
“A” Feature (50 Laps): 1. 88-Tim Crawley, 2. 21-Brian Brown, 3. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 4. 6-Kyle Hirst, 5. 3g-Darren Long, 6. 90-Jeff Swindell, 7. 10a-Ricky Logan, 8. 99-Brady Bacon, 9. 57-Shane Stewart, 10. 9-Justin Sturch, 11. 9h-Derek Hagar, 12. 26-Marshall Skinner, 13. 53-Jack Dover, 14. 94-Danny Wood, 15. 93-Dustin Morgan, 16. 95-Matt Covington, 17. 41-Jason Johnson, 18. 50z-Zach Chappell, 19. 17-Brad Bowden, 20. 1x-Gary Taylor, 21. 71-Channin Tankersley, 22. 47-Dale Howard, 23. 46-Jan Howard, 24. 24-Justin Carver.
Lap Leaders: Tim Crawley 1-50.
Note: Dustin Morgan and Channin Tankersley both utilized provisionals to start the main event. It was Morgan’s first provisional of the year, he has a mid-season bonus full point provisional and two partial-point provisionals remaining. Tankersley’s was his mid-season bonus full point provisional, he has both partial-point provisionals remaining.
Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters Points (Top 15): 1. Jason Johnson 2,627, 2. Brady Bacon 2,582, 3. Shane Stewart 2,550, 4. Tim Crawley 2,414, 5. Tony Bruce, Jr. 2,406, 6. Jack Dover 2,337, 7. Zach Chappell 2,332, 8. Danny Wood 2,235, 9. Ricky Logan 2,190, 10. Kyle Hirst 2,184, 11. Matt Covington 2,087, 12. Dustin Morgan 1,965, 13. Darren Long 1,942, 14. Channin Tankersley 1,828, 15. Gary Wright 1,517.
- Lonnie Wheatley on Oct 04, 2010
- Article Date: 10/4/2010