Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (August 15, 2011) – With a rookie contender leading the championship points chase, the Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior Region is set to take to a pair of Missouri dirt ovals this weekend.
On Friday night, the series makes the first of two scheduled stops at the 1/3-mile Valley Speedway in Grain Valley, MO. Then, on Sunday evening, it’s off to Sedalia for the series annual Missouri State Fair event atop the storied Missouri State Fair Speedway ½-mile oval.
Friday’s card is in place of the previously scheduled Lakeside Speedway double in Kansas City that was cancelled due to Lakeside flooding. The series will make an encore performance at Valley Speedway on September 9. Sunday’s event at Sedalia offers up a $2,000 winner’s share.
Leading the way into the weekend is Sunset Hills, MO, shoe Brad Loyet, who has made a successful transition from the Midget ranks to the ASCS scene. The only driver to post multiple ASCS Warrior wins through the initial nine events of the season, Loyet has established an 89-point advantage over four-time Warrior champion Randy Martin in the series title chase.
With Loyet leading California, MO, native Martin into the weekend, Kyle Bellm (Nixa), Jonathan Cornell (Sedalia) and Mark Shirshekan (Farmington) round out the current top five in Warrior points with the balance of the top ten including Cody Baker (Lone Jack), Josh Stephens (Buckner), Tyler Blank (California), Austin Alumbaugh (Higginsville) and Evan Martin (Lohman).
While Loyet has posted two series wins this year, other Warrior winners have included Randy Martin, Bellm, Shirshekan, Danny Lasoski, Brian Brown, Wayne Johnson and Brian McClelland.
Friday’s action at Valley Speedway fires off at 7:00 p.m., with Sunday’s card at the Missouri State Fair Speedway going green at 6:00 p.m.
The semi-banked, 1/3-mile Valley Speedway clay oval is located in Grain Valley, MO, just east of Kansas City off of I-70 Exit 24, then 0.9 miles south on Main Street, then 0.4 miles east on Old US 40. For more information, contact the track at 816-229-2222.
The ½-mile Missouri State Fair Speedway dirt oval is located in Sedalia, MO, 0.5 miles south of US 50 on US 65 then west. For more information, contact the track at 660-221-0275.
The inaugural season of Speedway Motors Warrior Region action under the ASCS banner currently consists of 17 nights of competition at eight different tracks throughout Missouri and into Kansas.
The 2011 season marks the 20th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing for the American Sprint Car Series, with approximately 200 nights of competition at tracks throughout the nation and into Canada. Anchored by the Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters, ASCS also consists of ten different Regions throughout the nation.
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.