Contact: World Racing Group
Tony Veneziano, World of Outlaws PR Director
405-623-1442 • tveneziano@dirtcar.com
Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series News & Notes
Concord, NC— March 24, 2008--By: Tony Veneziano, World of Outlaws PR Director
It was a busy weekend for a number of Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series drivers, highlighted by wins for Craig Dollansky, Danny Lasoski and Shane Stewart. The holiday weekend wrapped up with the announcement that the series would be televised exclusively on SPEED in 2008, beginning with a live three-hour event at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Friday, May 23.
Pennsylvania Invasion: Dollansky, the current Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series championship point leader was victorious at the famed Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania on Friday night, over fellow series driver Joey Saldana. Also in action at the half-mile was: Lucas Wolfe, Tony Bruce Jr., Chad Kemenah, Tim Shaffer and also Saldana’s car owner, Kasey Kahne. Dollansky led all 25 laps to pick up his third career win at the Williams Grove, where the World of Outlaws will compete a total of six nights this season.
Dollansky followed that up with a fourth-place finish at Lincoln Speedway in Pennsylvania on Saturday night. He started 12th in just his third career start at the track, earning his seventh overall Top-Five finish of the season. He turned in one of the most impressive drives all night, coming from the ninth starting spot in the first heat to finish second.
Also in action at Lincoln Speedway was current Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year contender Lucas Wolfe who finished 10th, along with Joey Saldana, Chad Kemenah, and Tony Bruce Jr.
OK in Oklahoma: Danny Lasoski won on Friday during the opening night of the Spring Nationals at State Fair Speedway in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. For the 2001 World of Outlaws champions, it was his third win at the track in his career. He won a thrilling battle with Garry Lee Maier to earn his first career American Sprint Car Series on Tour National victory. The native of Dover, Missouri followed that up with a runner-up finish in the finale on Saturday night.
Also in action at the Spring Nationals was Daryn Pittman who finished third on Friday night. In the finale, he led a few laps and was battling eventual winner Jason Johnson for the lead, when he clipped an infield tire, damaging his machine. The native of Owasso, Oklahoma finished ninth on Saturday night.
Jason Sides, the 2003 Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year finished fifth on Saturday night, after an 11th –place run in the opener.
Sam Hafertepe Jr., who is in his second full season competing with the World of Outlaws rebounded from an accident on Friday night to charge to a fourth-place finish on Saturday night at State Fair Speedway.
Terry McCarl, who is currently fifth in World of Outlaws championship points, also competed in the Spring Nationals.
Winning Out West: Shane Stewart, the 2005 World of Outlaws Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year, was victorious on Friday night at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, California in the Silver Cup Race of Champions for 360-sprint cars. He battled former World of Outlaws winner Paul McMahan for the win at the ¼-mile. The native of Bixby, Oklahoma also competed at Placerville Speedway in California on Saturday night with the Golden State Challenge Series.
Consistency Continues: Jason Meyers earned another podium finish on Saturday night, as he was third at Bakersfield Speedway in his home state of California, behind the wheel of a midget for Cruz Pedregon Racing. Meyers won the first heat race, after turning in the seventh quickest time in time trials. It was the second time in his career that he ran a midget at the high-banked 1/3-mile with the United States Auto Club (USAC). Meyers currently is second in World of Outlaws championship points, just two markers out of the lead and has two A-Feature wins to lead the series.
Clean Sweep Bonus: Officials at Limaland Motorsports Park in Lima, Ohio announced on Monday that there will be a $10,000 Clean Sweep Bonus from the University of Northwestern Ohio offered during the 20th edition of the Brad Doty Classic at the track on July 9. To earn the bonus, a driver must set fast time, win a heat race, win the Crane Cams Dash and win the 40-lap A-Feature event. The event has been held for the last two seasons at the always racy ¼-mile with Jac Haudenschild winning in 2007 and Joey Saldana claiming the top prize in 2006.
Bonus Bounty: A bounty of $1,000 was recently placed on Donny Schatz for the event at Heartland Park Topeka in Kansas during the 2nd Annual Thunder in the Heartland Shootout on Saturday, September 13. Schatz, the two-time defending Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion, won at the track last season and also was the first driver to win at Heartland Park Topeka in the series inaugural visit in 2001. If any driver other than Schatz wins at the track, they will receive the $1,000 bounty. Schatz, in his first season driving for Tony Stewart Racing opened the 2008 campaign with two wins at Volusia Speedway Park during the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals with the All Star Circuit of Champions. He also has finished eighth or better in all four World of Outlaws events this season, including three runner-up finishes.
Headquartered in Roanoke, Va., Advance Auto Parts is the second-largest retailer of automotive aftermarket parts, accessories, batteries, and maintenance items in the United States, based on store count and sales. As of October 6, 2007, the company operated 3,228 stores in 40 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The company serves both the do-it-yourself and professional installer markets.
Josh Lofton Memorial on Tap for ASCS Gulf South this Saturday
Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (March 24, 2008) – The American Sprint Car Series Gulf South Region invades Champion Park Speedway in Haughton, LA, this Saturday night for the Inaugural Josh Lofton Memorial.
It marks the series first event at Champion Park Speedway since June of 2005 after last year's scheduled attempt of the Lofton Memorial was rained out. Saturday's winner will pocket $2,000.
After coming close to winning the ASCS Gulf South title on several occasions with a pair of top-five rankings, Chris Sweeney of Channelview, TX, holds the early points lead with the opening two events of the season in the books.
Sweeney posted a pair of top-five finishes in the ASCS Gulf South Region's opening weekend of racing action on February 29 and March 1 to establish a four-point lead over O'Reilly ASCoT National contender Travis Rilat of Forney, TX.
Defending series champion Brandon Berryman of Missouri City, TX, and three-time series runner-up Greg Rilat of Texas City, TX, enter Saturday's event tied for third in points, just six points off the lead pace. Greg Rilat picked off an ASCS Gulf South feature win at Champion Park in 2004.
ASCoT National ace Jason Johnson enters the event ranked fifth. A winner of this past weekend's State Fair Speedway Spring Nationals in Oklahoma City and East Bay Raceway Park's $10,000-to-win "King of the 360's" on February 2, "The Ragin' Cajun" won the ASCS Gulf South season opener before flipping the next night. Johnson will be aboard Marvin Pearson's No. 11 machine this Saturday night.
The balance of the current top ten in ASCS Gulf South points includes Don Grable (El Paso, TX), Garry Lee Maier (Cimarron, KS), 2006 series champion Gary Watson (Beaumont, TX), Kathryne Minter (Bedford, TX) and Wayne Johnson (Oklahoma City, OK).
Saturday's event is run in the memory of Josh Lofton, an up-and-coming young racer that lost his life in a 2006 drowning accident. Lofton was ranked second in ASCS Mid-South points at the time.
Saturday's racing action is slated to get under way at 6:00 p.m.
Champion Park Speedway is located east of Shreveport, LA, off I-20 Exit 38, then 0.2 mile north, then east 0.7 miles. For more information, contact the track at 318-371-0077.
The ASCS Gulf South Region is set for 26 nights of racing action at eleven different tracks throughout Texas and Louisiana 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 Gulf South Region Feature Winners at Champion Park Speedway:
7/30/05 Ray Allen Kulhanek
*5/7/05 Gary Wright
3/12/05 Ray Allen Kulhanek
6/12/04 Greg Rilat
*8/30/03 Gary Wright
*5/3/03 Travis Rilat
*8/31/02 Tim Crawley
* - Indicates events held in conjunction with ASCS National Tour.
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.
Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (March 24, 2008) – With the opening two nights of competition in the books for the Discount Tire Co. American Sprint Car Series Canyon Region, the series is ready for its first outing of the season atop Manzanita Speeedway's ½-mile clay oval in Phoenix, AZ, with this Saturday night's Donny Davis Memorial.
Saturday's card, which marks the first of a handful of events on the big Manzanita oval, will be followed by a free a barbeque after the races for all on hand.
Defending series champion Jeremy Sherman of Surprise, AZ, won the series season opener on March 8. But, unlike last year when he reeled off four consecutive wins to start the season, Sherman only managed a sixth place finish this past Saturday night as Casey Shuman posted his first career series win with a late move around young gun Jeremy Reagles.
Sherman and Shuman will be in action Saturday night to try for a second series win on the 2008 season, while a host of challengers will vie to make it three winners in as many events.
Goodyear, Arizona's Nathan High enters Saturday's event just four points off of Sherman's lead pace after posting consecutive fourth-place finishes in the series' opening two events, with R.J. Johnson of Phoenix, AZ, just six more points back in third. Shon Deskins and the 19-year-old Reagles are currently tied for fourth.
The balance of the current top ten entering Saturday's Donny Davis Memorial includes Bob Ream, Jr., Bernie Smith, Thomas Ogle, Josh Pelkey, Justin Fisher and Chris Bonneau.
Certificates will be awarded to each of the heat race winners, with Racing Optics sponsoring heat race one, MPD Race Products sponsoring heat race two, Winters Performance sponsoring heat race three and Sunoco sponsoring heat race four. Arizona Race Mart sponsors the Trophy Dash, while Sunoco will also award a certificate to each "B" Main winner in ASCS Canyon Region action this year. Parker Store sponsors the Roll for Inversion.
Saturday's Discount Tire Co. ASCS Canyon Region action at Manzanita Speedway is set to go green at 7:00 p.m., with a free barbeque for everybody on hand after the night's action is completed.
Manzanita Speedway is located in Phoenix, AZ, off I-10 Exit 141, then four miles south on 35th Avenue to West Broadway. For more information, contact the track at 602-276-7575.
The Discount Tire Co. ASCS Canyon Region brings the best in non-wing Sprint Car racing to Arizona with a full slate of 29 nights of racing in 2008. In addition to events atop both the ½-mile and 1/3-mile ovals at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix, the series will also be in action at Tucson's USA Race Park and Casa Grande's Central Arizona Raceway over the course of the season.
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.
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.