Smith Shoots 'Em Down in ASCS Red River Shootout Opener at OKC!

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Lonnie Wheatley, OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (May 8, 2009) – With 56 Sprint Cars jammed into State Fair Speedway’s pit area for the opening leg of the ASCS Red River Shootout, Friday night’s 25-lap main event pitting the American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region versus the ASCS Lone Star Region boiled down to a dogfight for the lead between Sooner State shoes Nick Smith and Danny Wood.

And when the checkered flag flew, it was Broken Arrow's Nick Smith escaping with the $2,000 win aboard the Wesmar-powered Sooner Network Solutions No. 15s J&J after swapping the point at least a handful of times with Norman's Wood.

Smith finally got a secure hold on the lead when Wood briefly slipped off the top of turns one and two on the 20th round, leaving the veteran shoe to fend off Oklahoma City's Joe Wood, Jr., no relation, for the runner-up slot. Wood, Jr., had raced from 18th to claim the show position after winning the second of three "B" Mains.

Nebraska's Jack Dover, the defending event winner, crossed the stripe fourth with Kansas shoe Tony Bruce, Jr., climbing a half dozen positions to round out the top five.

Smith gunned into the lead from the pole position at the drop of the green flag, with Wood quickly moving into second from his second row outside starting position. And, when Smith reached lapped traffic after a half dozen circuits, Wood quickly pounced by taking the lead on the eighth round.

Smith battled right back, recapturing the point on the tenth round. The pair traded the lead another pair of times on the next circuit before the race's only caution flew for Kerry McAlister's stalled mount in turn four, with Wood narrowly averting disaster when he clipped Danny Smith's front end as the field scrambled.

Meanwhile, seventh-starter Dover had reeled in the lead duo, with Joe Wood, Jr., already slicing through the field up to sixth behind Matt Covington and Kevin Ramey, who was mixing it up despite suffering a broken leg two weeks ago.

Smith took off again on the restart and was cruising along until lapped traffic again came into play on the 18th lap. Wood quickly closed the gap and the pair began dicing for the point, with Wood's slip in turn two enough to allow Smith to escape for his 11th career ASCS Sooner Region win.

Perhaps the fastest car on the track, Joe Wood, Jr., had battled past Dover for third moments for Danny Wood's miscue. Wood and Wood battled over the final laps with the veteran getting the nod for runner-up honors at the stripe.

Dover and Bruce rounded out the top five, giving Lucas Oil ASCS National title contenders at least four of the top five positions, pending the plans of Joe Wood, Jr. Another pair of Lucas Oil teen title contenders, Matt Covington and 14th-starter Trey Robb, crossed the stripe sixth and seventh, with current ASCS Lone Star point leader Ramey in eighth. Jamie Passmore raced from 21st to ninth, with Sean McClelland completing the top ten.

Smith, Covington, Chappell, Bud Johnson, Wood, Dale Wester and Dover topped heat race action, with Dustin Morgan, Joe Wood, Jr., and Foster Landon winning the "B" Mains.

The Red River Shootout featuring the ASCS Lone Star Region vs. the ASCS Sooner Region moves south of the Red River on Saturday night to Devil's Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, TX.

ASCS Red River Shootout Round One
American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region vs. ASCS Lone Star Region
Results from State Fair Speedway:

Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 15s-Nick Smith, 2. 5$-Danny Smith, 3. 1-Sean McClelland, 4. 31m-Matt Clevenger, 5. 1r-Scott Reneau, 6. 74e-Claud Estes, 7. 87a-Andrew Marshala, 8. 04-Brad Graham.

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington, 2. 22-Koby Barksdale, 3. 11F-Foster Landon, 4. 85s-Forrest Sutherland, 5. 87-Brian McClelland, 6. 9-Brian Parker, 7. 61-Earnest Jennings, 8. 1J-Danny Jennings.

Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 50-Zach Chappell, 2. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 3. 93-Dustin Morgan, 4. 23-Seth Bergman, 5. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 6. 22b-Ben Gregg, 7. 45x-Martin Edwards, 8. 45k-Kolt Walker.

Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 27w-Bud Johnson, 2. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 3. 15k-Kerry McAlister, 4. 45-J.P. Bailey, 5. 5m-Glenn Martin, 6. 76-John Ricketts, 7. 17w-Brad Welborn, 8. 25-Robert Sellers.

Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 94-Danny Wood, 2. 28-Chris Lloyd, 3. 11-Justin Melton, 4. 77-Colt Treharn, 5. 72-Sherman Davis, 6. 21$-Michelle Decker, 7. 27m-Kyle Merriman, 8. 14b-Robert Byrom.

Heat Six (8 Laps): 1. 12w-Dale Wester, 2. 2w-Whit Gastineau, 3. 4J-Jamie Passmore, 4. 27-Andy Shouse, 5. 85-Jerry Bell, 6. 22J-John Gaston, 7. 55-Donnie Ray Crawford, 8. 8-Shane Pace.

Heat Seven (8 Laps): 1. 53-Jack Dover, 2. 99-Brady Bacon, 3. 12-Trey Robb, 4. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 5. 14-Michael Lang, 6. 81au-Gavin Punch, 7. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 8. 010-Brian Roberts.

First "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 93-Dustin Morgan, 2. 99-Brady Bacon, 3. 85s-Forrest Sutherland, 4. 81au-Gavin Punch, 5. 14-Michael Lang, 6. 77-Colt Treharn, 7. 27m-Kyle Merriman, 8. 76-John Ricketts, 9. 1J-Danny Jennings, 10. 11-Justin Melton, 11. 8-Shane Pace, 12. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 13. 87a-Andrew Marshala. DNS: 4-Eric Baldaccini.

Second "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 2. 4J-Jamie Passmore, 3. 27-Andy Shouse, 4. 87-Brian McClelland, 5. 72-Sherman Davis, 6. 21$-Michelle Decker, 7. 45k-Kolt Walker, 8. 55-Donnie Ray Crawford, 9. 010-Brian Roberts, 10. 9-Brian Parker, 11. 45x-Martin Edwards, 12. 1r-Scott Reneau, 13. 5m-Glenn Martin.

Third "B" Feature (12 Laps: 1. 11F-Foster Landon, 2. 23-Seth Bergman, 3. 31m-Matt Clevenger, 4. 22b-Ben Gregg, 5. 45-J.P. Bailey, 6. 22J-John Gaston, 7. 25-Robert Sellers, 8. 17w-Brad Welborn, 9. 04-Brad Graham, 10. 14b-Robert Byrom, 11. 61-Earnest Jennings, 12. 74e-Claud Estes. DNS: 85-Jerry Bell.

"A" Feature (25 Laps): 1. 15s-Nick Smith, 2. 94-Danny Wood, 3. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 4. 53-Jack Dover, 5. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 6. 95-Matt Covington, 7. 12-Trey Robb, 8. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 9. 4J-Jamie Passmore, 10. 1-Sean McClelland, 11. 50-Zach Chappell, 12. 23-Seth Bergman, 13. 11F-Foster Landon, 14. 2w-Whit Gastineau, 15. 27w-Bud Johnson, 16. 15k-Kerry McAlister, 17. 28-Chris Lloyd, 18. 12w-Dale Wester, 19. 93-Dustin Morgan, 20. 99-Brady Bacon, 21. 5$-Danny Smith, 22. 22-Koby Barksdale.

ASCS Lone Star Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Kevin Ramey 440, 2. Matt Clevenger 410, 3. Brian McClelland 406, 4. Brad Welborn 396, 5. J.P. Bailey 368, 6. Justin Melton 360, 7. Kolt Walker 354, 8. Gavin Punch 345, 9. Michael Lang 335, 10. (tie) Robert Sellers and Eric Baldaccini 327.

American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Danny Wood 296, 2. Jamie Passmore 286, 3. Nick Smith 280, 4. (tie) Sean McClelland and Joe Wood, Jr. 272, 6. Dustin Morgan 268, 7. (tie) Matt Covington and Andy Shouse 258, 9. Brady Bacon 254, 10. (tie) Danny Smith, Foster Landon and J.P. Bailey 246.
 

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