Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (April 7, 2008) – The American Sprint Car Series Midwest and Northern Plains Regions are set to open up the 2008 season in intense fashion by squaring off for two nights of heated action atop Nebraska Raceway Park's I-80 Speedway this weekend.
The Third Annual ASCS Midwest vs. Northern Plains Shootout atop the 4/10-mile I-80 Speedway oval is set to go green at 7:00 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday night.
Missouri's Brian Brown has found I-80 Speedway to his liking over the past several years, winning two of the three ASCS Midwest vs. Northern Plains feature events contested over the past two seasons. Brown topped fields of over 50 entries on both occasions, with one of the 2006 events succumbing to weather.
Overall, Brown has topped four of nine ASCS features contested at I-80 Speedway over the past three years, with other ASCS winners at I-80 including Jack Dover, Chuck Swenson, Billy Alley, Jake Peters and Terry McCarl.
While Brown tries to add a tenth career ASCS Midwest Region win over the course of the weekend, a pair of North Dakota drivers are set to kick off title defenses.
Fargo's Natalie Sather enters the weekend as the reigning ASCS Midwest Region champion, while Harwood's Lee Grosz kicks off his defense of the ASCS Northern Plains Region title.
The 23-year-old Sather became the third different ASCS Midwest Region champion in as many years by outdistancing 2006 Midwest king Toby Chapman by 64 markers to claim last year's title with Hall-of-Famer Kenny Woodruff turning the wrenches.
Driving for his grandfather and legendary car owner Doug Howells, Grosz outlasted Dave Glennon and Eric Lutz for the Northern Plains title in 2007. Now 20 years old, Grosz ranked as the youngest ASCS champion last year by snaring the championship as a 19-year-old.
Nebraska Raceway Park's I-80 Speedway is located in Greenwood, NE, between Lincoln and Omaha off I-80 Exit 420, then 0.4 mile north on SR 63 then west. For more information, contact the track at 402-944-2233.
The ASCS Midwest Region is currently slated for 11 nights of action at eight different tracks throughout Nebraska and the immediate surrounding area stretching into Kansas, Missouri and Iowa.
The ASCS Northern Plains Region is set for 15 nights of racing action at nine different tracks throughout South Dakota, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Iowa in 2008.
The nation's most prominent Sprint Car sanctioning body with 14 different Regions throughout the United States in addition to the O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National series, the American Sprint Car Series' (ASCS) 17th year of activity will include approximately 250 nights of racing at more than 100 different race tracks throughout 28 different states and Canada.
Past ASCS Regional Winners at I-80 Speedway:
8/14/07 – Jack Dover (Midwest)
4/15/07 – Chuck Swenson (Midwest vs. Northern Plains)
4/14/07 – Brian Brown (Midwest vs. Northern Plains)
8/15/06 – Billy Alley (Midwest)
7/3/06 – Jake Peters (Midwest vs. Northern Plains)
4/8/06 – Brian Brown (Midwest vs. Northern Plains)
8/3/05 – Brian Brown (Midwest vs. National)
7/8/05 – Brian Brown (Midwest)
4/15/05 – Terry McCarl
Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (April 7, 2008) – Following a soggy Saturday night in Alabama, the American Sprint Car Series Rebel Region is ready for some sunshine in Florida with a pair of events this coming weekend.
On Friday night, the winged Sprint Cars of the ASCS Rebel Region re-christen the clay of Ocala Speedway's semi-banked, 3/8-mile, D-shaped oval. Then on Saturday night, it's on to East Bay Raceway Park's 1/3-mile clay oval near Tampa.
Friday marks the series first appearance at Ocala Speedway, which has undergone a transformation over the off-season. After operating as an asphalt oval for the past ten years, the dirt is back in place at the track that has been in operation since 1952.
Saturday's venue is East Bay Raceway Park, where the ASCS Rebel Region put the wraps on the 2007 season with a two-night stand that was swept by current series points leader Kenny Adams.
Adams opened up the 2008 season in much the same form that he finished off the 2007 season. Following an East Bay preliminary win and then a top-five finish in the "King of the 360's" finale for the ASCS National Tour, "The Malabar Missile" added his second win of the year when the ASCS Rebel Region kicked off the season on February 9 versus the Coastal Region at Loxley, AL.
Adams will be joined this weekend by a stout field of contenders expected to include defending series champion T.J. Winegardner, Matt Tiffany, Bryn Gohn, Tyler Godwin and 18-year-old Washington-state native Samantha Taylor among others.
Friday's card at Ocala Speedway goes green at 8:00 p.m., with Saturday's action at East Bay Raceway Park firing off at 6:30 p.m.
Ocala Speedway is located six miles north of Ocala, FL, off I-75 Exit 358, then east 0.7 miles on SR 326, then one mile north on CR 25-A. For more information, contact the track at 352-622-9400.
East Bay Raceway Park is located in Tampa, FL, off I-75 Exit 250, then two miles west, then 1.2 miles north on US 41, then right 1.3 miles on old US 41 and then right on Burts Road. For more information, contact the track at 813-677-7223.
The ASCS Rebel Region is currently slated for 18 nights of action at 15 different tracks throughout Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi in 2008.
The nation's most prominent Sprint Car sanctioning body with 14 different Regions throughout the United States in addition to the O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National series, the American Sprint Car Series' (ASCS) 17th year of activity will include approximately 250 nights of racing at more than 100 different race tracks throughout 28 different states and Canada.
Past ASCS Rebel Region Feature Winners at Ocala Speedway:
None – first event at Ocala Speedway
Past ASCS Rebel Region Feature Winners at East Bay Raceway Park:
11/10/07 – Kenny Adams
11/9/07 – Kenny Adams
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.
Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (April 7, 2008) – The American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region forces will be making tracks up and down the H.E. Bailey Turnpike this weekend as the series embarks upon the first of three Oklahoma City-Lawton weekend doubles.
On Friday night, the series takes to Oklahoma City's 3/8-mile State Fair Speedway clay oval. Then on Saturday night, it's a quick run down Interstate 44 to Lawton Speedway's ¼-mile clay oval.
The pair of tracks have combined to host approximately one-third of the ASCS Sooner Region events since the series inception in 2001, with 16 events at State Fair Speedway and 19 events at Lawton Speedway.
Last year, weather limited the ASCS Sooner Region to just one event at each track, with Danny Jennings picking up his first ASCS win at Oklahoma City and Kevin Ramey adding his fifth Sooner Region score at Lawton.
There have been seven different winners in as many ASCS Sooner Region events at State Fair Speedway dating back to 2005, while Ramey and Sean McClelland have split the six Sooner Region features contested at Lawton Speedway since the start of the 2005 season.
The American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region kicked off the 2008 season this past Saturday night, with National Tour contender Travis Rilat of Forney, TX, besting the 41-car field by beating defending ASCS Sooner Region champion Brian McClelland to the stripe.
While Tulsa's Brian McClelland fared the best of the 2008 Sooner Region title contenders in the season opener, others that started out in strong fashion included Graham, TX, shoe Kolt Walker (4th), Glenpool, OK, racer Matt Covington (7th) and Fort Worth's J.P. Bailey (8th).
Friday's action at Oklahoma City's State Fair Speedway fires off at 7:30 p.m., with Saturday's event at Lawton Speedway going green at 8:00 p.m.
Oklahoma City's semi-banked, 3/8-mile State Fair Speedway clay oval is located on the Oklahoma State Fair Grounds near the intersection of N.W. 10th and May Avenue. For more information, contact the track at 405-948-6796.
Lawton Speedway is located in Lawton, OK, off I-44 Exit 36, then 2.5 miles west on Lee Boulevard, then 1.4 miles south on Sheridan Road. For more information, contact the track at 580-355-6417.
The American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region is slated for 20 nights of racing action at ten different tracks throughout Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas in 2008.
The nation's most prominent Sprint Car sanctioning body with 14 different Regions throughout the United States in addition to the O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National series, the American Sprint Car Series' (ASCS) 17th year of activity will include approximately 250 nights of racing at more than 100 different race tracks throughout 28 different states and Canada.
Past ASCS Sooner Region Feature Winners at State Fair Speedway:
8/17/07 – Danny Jennings
8/18/06 – Nick Smith
4/21/06 – Sean McClelland
*7/29/05 – Gary Wright
*6/24/05 – Darren Stewart
*5/20/05 – Kevin Ramey
4/29/05 – Danny Wood
9/3/04 – Kevin Ramey
*7/30/04 – Gary Wright
*6/25/04 – Danny Wood
*8/1/03 – Gary Wright
*6/27/03 – Gary Wright
*5/9/03 – Travis Rilat
*8/23/02 – Gary Wright
*6/28/02 – Kevin Ramey
*5/17/02 – Wayne Pennington
Past ASCS Sooner Region Feature Winners at Lawton Speedway:
9/8/07 – Kevin Ramey
8/19/06 – Kevin Ramey
4/22/06 – Sean McClelland
9/17/05 – Kevin Ramey
7/2/05 – Sean McClelland
4/30/05 – Sean McClelland
9/11/04 – Danny Wood
7/3/04 – Danny Wood
5/1/04 – Travis Rilat
9/20/03 – Kevin Ramey
7/5/03 – Nick Smith
5/3/03 – Kevin Ramey
9/14/02 – Danny Jennings
8/3/02 – Zach Chappell
7/6/02 – Foster Landon
8/18/01 – Danny Jennings
8/4/01 – Danny Jennings
7/7/01 – Robert Sellers
6/2/01 – Travis Scott
* - Indicates events held in conjunction with ASCS National Tour.
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.