Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (October 10, 2007) – Race fans making the journey to Mesquite, TX, for this weekend's 34th Annual Devil's Bowl Speedway Winter Nationals are in store for a special treat, as they'll enjoy some bonus racing action over both nights.
In addition to two full nights of action for the O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National series, and a critical two nights in the $50,000 series championship points race, fans will also get to watch the ASCS / Wesmar Challenge unfold.
Twenty-six drivers, including the top National Tour contenders and two drivers from each ASCS Region, will square off for a new Wesmar Racing Engine.
Throw a couple dozen or so of the nation's top racers, all of whom are habitual frontrunners, on the track at the same time for such an attractive carrot and the action is sure to be electric.
The ASCS / Wesmar Challenge will be a 40-lap race contested over three segments. The first two segments will be run on Friday night, with the final segment contested at the conclusion of Saturday night's racing action.
The first 12-lap segment on Friday night will be lined up according to draw, with the second 12-lap segment lined-up fully-inverted from the first lineup. Total points, including finishing and passing points, will determine the alignment of Saturday night's 16-lap segment, with Saturday's finishing points added to Friday's points to determine exactly who wins what.
The twenty-six drivers eligible for the ASCS / Wesmar Challenge include the following:
2m Dustin Daggett (Portland, MI - Sprints on Dirt) – "Double D" was simply dominant when in SOD action this year by winning nine times in 13 starts. Daggett plans a return to Devil's Bowl, where his 2006 ASCoT Rookie campaign was cut short following a grinding fronstretch crash.
3g Tim Norman (Warsaw, IN – Sprints on Dirt) – Consistency, including one win, 12 top-fives and 17 top-tens netted Norman his third career ASCS SOD title.
4a Kenny Adams (Malabar, FL – Rebel/Southern) – The Florida ace racked up a total of six wins in a mixture of Southern Tour and Rebel Region action.
4J Lee Grosz (Harwood, ND – Northern Plains) – The 19-year-old makes the trip to Texas with car owner/grandfather Doug Howells after winning the Northern Plains championship, picking up his first ASCS win in the Mighty Axe Nationals at North Central Speedway in Brainerd, MN.
5 Eric Lutz (Sioux Falls, SD – Northern Plains) – Third in final Northern Plains points, Lutz tied with Dave Glennon for the second NP invite.
5x Dave Glennon (Casselton, ND – Northern Plains) – Glennon claimed second in Northern Plains points.
7 Michael Herrington (Gonzales, LA – Coastal) – Thirteen top-tens in 16 Coastal Region features earned a solid runner-up ranking in Coastal points.
7m Kevin Ramey (Fort Worth, TX – Sooner) – Ten top-fives and a dozen top-tens in 14 events, including four wins, left Ramey second in Sooner points for the second year in a row. Ramey topped two National features on the same day at Devil's Bowl last year, making him the only driver in series history to win two features on the same day.
07 Johnny Bridges (Cherryville, NC – Southern) – Missing one event along the way proved costly, forcing Bridges to settle for second in Southern Tour points. But two wins along the way gave Bridges the nod for the second invite.
9 Gary Wright (Hooks, TX – National) – Thirteen National wins this year has "The Texan" in the driver's seat for a fourth consecutive O'Reilly ASCoT National title. It's unlikely that anybody has matched Wright's success at "Da Bowl" over the years.
11F Foster Landon (Collinsville, OK – National) – With Brodix Rookie of the Year honors virtually locked up, Landon is fifth in National points.
11T T.J. Winegardner (Pierson, FL – Rebel) – Just two nights away from the inaugural Rebel Region championship, Winegardner has flirted with victory lane all year and would have at least one win if it weren't for forgetting to report to the scales.
12 Michael Dupuy (Amite, LA – Coastal) – The 2002 National runner-up went Coastal on 'em this year, racking up six wins in 16 events to take Coastal title honors.
21 Brian Brown (Grain Valley, MO – Midwest) – The Knoxville Raceway champ, "Blackjack" picked off three Midwest wins in eight starts and added a $3,000 Sooner score at Mid-America this past weekend for good measure.
29 Travis Rilat (Forney, TX – National) – With National wins in New York and Virginia to go along with a couple of Regional scores, Rilat is ranked fourth in National points and is the reigning Devil's Bowl Winter Nationals champion. Rilat has made 46 overall ASCS starts this year.
31 Brandon Berryman (Missouri City, TX – Gulf South) – Claimed a hard-fought Gulf South title on the strength of four feature wins, including one in Sooner vs. Gulf South Shootout action at Waco's Heart O' Texas.
32 Justin Barger (Montrose, NY – Mid-Atlantic) – Earning a Mid-Atlantic invite, Barger posted a pair of Patriot wins along the way as well.
35 Jared Zimbardi (Salamanca, NY – Patriots) – After breaking through for his first win, Zimbardi ultimately picked off three Patriot wins and was second only to "The Cobra".
41 Jason Johnson (Eunice, LA – National) – Last year's National Driver of the Year, "The Ragin' Cajun" is third in National points with seven wins. Another eight wins have come in Regional action, running his total to 15 and prompting Regional racers to beg for more National dates. Like Rilat, Johnson has made 46 overall ASCS starts this year, tops on the list.
45 Chuck Hebing (Ontario, NY – Patriots/Mid-Atlantic) – All Hebing did en route to a second consecutive Patriot title was win a dozen features, including one in National competition at Black Rock. Hebing teams up with Zimbardi as the pair makes a first-time trek to the Lone Star State, which is still in mourning following yet another loss to the almighty Sooners.
45x C.J. Johnson (Quinter, KS - Rocky Mountain) – One of three Johnson's in the field, none of which are related, C.J. is the only Johnson to take an ASCS title thus far in 2007. The Kansas racer picked off wins in Wyoming, Colorado and Kansas to win the Rocky Mountain Region title with 13 top-tens in 16 starts.
53 Jack Dover (Springfield, NE – Midwest) – The youngest invitee to the ASCS / Wesmar Challenge at just 17 years of age, Dover picked off his first ASCS win at I-80 in August.
64J Johnny Miller (Burleson, TX – Gulf South) – "Baja" picked off the second Gulf South invite with an early-season win at Houston Raceway Proving ultimately proving to be the deciding factor.
71 Keith Rauch (Thornton, CO – Rocky Mountain) – The former Rocky Mountain champ picked off a pair of wins to finish second in this year's points.
87 Brian McClelland (Tulsa, OK – Sooner) – The younger McClelland emerged from a wicked Sooner battle to become the second McClelland to win the Sooner title in three years. A dozen top-tens, including wins at Cowtown, Creek County and Mid-America, put him over the top.
94 Wayne Johnson (Oklahoma City, OK – National) – Seeking a second National title in 2007, 22 top-fives in 30 main events, including three wins, has Wayne just 68 points out of the lead.
There is some pretty good booty up for grabs in the ASCS / Wesmar Challenge. The prizes up for grabs include the following:
1st – Wesmar Racing Engine
2nd – Maxim Chassis
3rd – Eagle frame
4th through 8th – Set of cylinder heads from Brodix
9th – Simpson Voodoo Helmet
10th – Set of Pro Shocks
11th – MPD right rear wheel
12th – MPD left rear wheel
13th – two MPD front wheels
14th on back – Hoosier tires and Weld certificates
The 2007 season marks the 16th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing for the American Sprint Car Series. With 13 different Regions in addition to the O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National series, ASCS will sanction approximately 240 nights of racing at more than 100 different race tracks throughout at least 30 different states and Canada.
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.
In addition to two full nights of action for the O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National series, and a critical two nights in the $50,000 series championship points race, fans will also get to watch the ASCS / Wesmar Challenge unfold.
Twenty-six drivers, including the top National Tour contenders and two drivers from each ASCS Region, will square off for a new Wesmar Racing Engine.
Throw a couple dozen or so of the nation's top racers, all of whom are habitual frontrunners, on the track at the same time for such an attractive carrot and the action is sure to be electric.
The ASCS / Wesmar Challenge will be a 40-lap race contested over three segments. The first two segments will be run on Friday night, with the final segment contested at the conclusion of Saturday night's racing action.
The first 12-lap segment on Friday night will be lined up according to draw, with the second 12-lap segment lined-up fully-inverted from the first lineup. Total points, including finishing and passing points, will determine the alignment of Saturday night's 16-lap segment, with Saturday's finishing points added to Friday's points to determine exactly who wins what.
The twenty-six drivers eligible for the ASCS / Wesmar Challenge include the following:
2m Dustin Daggett (Portland, MI - Sprints on Dirt) – "Double D" was simply dominant when in SOD action this year by winning nine times in 13 starts. Daggett plans a return to Devil's Bowl, where his 2006 ASCoT Rookie campaign was cut short following a grinding fronstretch crash.
3g Tim Norman (Warsaw, IN – Sprints on Dirt) – Consistency, including one win, 12 top-fives and 17 top-tens netted Norman his third career ASCS SOD title.
4a Kenny Adams (Malabar, FL – Rebel/Southern) – The Florida ace racked up a total of six wins in a mixture of Southern Tour and Rebel Region action.
4J Lee Grosz (Harwood, ND – Northern Plains) – The 19-year-old makes the trip to Texas with car owner/grandfather Doug Howells after winning the Northern Plains championship, picking up his first ASCS win in the Mighty Axe Nationals at North Central Speedway in Brainerd, MN.
5 Eric Lutz (Sioux Falls, SD – Northern Plains) – Third in final Northern Plains points, Lutz tied with Dave Glennon for the second NP invite.
5x Dave Glennon (Casselton, ND – Northern Plains) – Glennon claimed second in Northern Plains points.
7 Michael Herrington (Gonzales, LA – Coastal) – Thirteen top-tens in 16 Coastal Region features earned a solid runner-up ranking in Coastal points.
7m Kevin Ramey (Fort Worth, TX – Sooner) – Ten top-fives and a dozen top-tens in 14 events, including four wins, left Ramey second in Sooner points for the second year in a row. Ramey topped two National features on the same day at Devil's Bowl last year, making him the only driver in series history to win two features on the same day.
07 Johnny Bridges (Cherryville, NC – Southern) – Missing one event along the way proved costly, forcing Bridges to settle for second in Southern Tour points. But two wins along the way gave Bridges the nod for the second invite.
9 Gary Wright (Hooks, TX – National) – Thirteen National wins this year has "The Texan" in the driver's seat for a fourth consecutive O'Reilly ASCoT National title. It's unlikely that anybody has matched Wright's success at "Da Bowl" over the years.
11F Foster Landon (Collinsville, OK – National) – With Brodix Rookie of the Year honors virtually locked up, Landon is fifth in National points.
11T T.J. Winegardner (Pierson, FL – Rebel) – Just two nights away from the inaugural Rebel Region championship, Winegardner has flirted with victory lane all year and would have at least one win if it weren't for forgetting to report to the scales.
12 Michael Dupuy (Amite, LA – Coastal) – The 2002 National runner-up went Coastal on 'em this year, racking up six wins in 16 events to take Coastal title honors.
21 Brian Brown (Grain Valley, MO – Midwest) – The Knoxville Raceway champ, "Blackjack" picked off three Midwest wins in eight starts and added a $3,000 Sooner score at Mid-America this past weekend for good measure.
29 Travis Rilat (Forney, TX – National) – With National wins in New York and Virginia to go along with a couple of Regional scores, Rilat is ranked fourth in National points and is the reigning Devil's Bowl Winter Nationals champion. Rilat has made 46 overall ASCS starts this year.
31 Brandon Berryman (Missouri City, TX – Gulf South) – Claimed a hard-fought Gulf South title on the strength of four feature wins, including one in Sooner vs. Gulf South Shootout action at Waco's Heart O' Texas.
32 Justin Barger (Montrose, NY – Mid-Atlantic) – Earning a Mid-Atlantic invite, Barger posted a pair of Patriot wins along the way as well.
35 Jared Zimbardi (Salamanca, NY – Patriots) – After breaking through for his first win, Zimbardi ultimately picked off three Patriot wins and was second only to "The Cobra".
41 Jason Johnson (Eunice, LA – National) – Last year's National Driver of the Year, "The Ragin' Cajun" is third in National points with seven wins. Another eight wins have come in Regional action, running his total to 15 and prompting Regional racers to beg for more National dates. Like Rilat, Johnson has made 46 overall ASCS starts this year, tops on the list.
45 Chuck Hebing (Ontario, NY – Patriots/Mid-Atlantic) – All Hebing did en route to a second consecutive Patriot title was win a dozen features, including one in National competition at Black Rock. Hebing teams up with Zimbardi as the pair makes a first-time trek to the Lone Star State, which is still in mourning following yet another loss to the almighty Sooners.
45x C.J. Johnson (Quinter, KS - Rocky Mountain) – One of three Johnson's in the field, none of which are related, C.J. is the only Johnson to take an ASCS title thus far in 2007. The Kansas racer picked off wins in Wyoming, Colorado and Kansas to win the Rocky Mountain Region title with 13 top-tens in 16 starts.
53 Jack Dover (Springfield, NE – Midwest) – The youngest invitee to the ASCS / Wesmar Challenge at just 17 years of age, Dover picked off his first ASCS win at I-80 in August.
64J Johnny Miller (Burleson, TX – Gulf South) – "Baja" picked off the second Gulf South invite with an early-season win at Houston Raceway Proving ultimately proving to be the deciding factor.
71 Keith Rauch (Thornton, CO – Rocky Mountain) – The former Rocky Mountain champ picked off a pair of wins to finish second in this year's points.
87 Brian McClelland (Tulsa, OK – Sooner) – The younger McClelland emerged from a wicked Sooner battle to become the second McClelland to win the Sooner title in three years. A dozen top-tens, including wins at Cowtown, Creek County and Mid-America, put him over the top.
94 Wayne Johnson (Oklahoma City, OK – National) – Seeking a second National title in 2007, 22 top-fives in 30 main events, including three wins, has Wayne just 68 points out of the lead.
There is some pretty good booty up for grabs in the ASCS / Wesmar Challenge. The prizes up for grabs include the following:
1st – Wesmar Racing Engine
2nd – Maxim Chassis
3rd – Eagle frame
4th through 8th – Set of cylinder heads from Brodix
9th – Simpson Voodoo Helmet
10th – Set of Pro Shocks
11th – MPD right rear wheel
12th – MPD left rear wheel
13th – two MPD front wheels
14th on back – Hoosier tires and Weld certificates
The 2007 season marks the 16th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing for the American Sprint Car Series. With 13 different Regions in addition to the O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National series, ASCS will sanction approximately 240 nights of racing at more than 100 different race tracks throughout at least 30 different states and Canada.
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.
