By Lonnie Wheatley
LUFKIN, Texas (April 2, 2011) – Gary Wright picked up his second overall American Sprint Car Series Regional feature win of the year by limping to the checkered flag in Saturday night’s 25-lap Smiley’s Racing Products ASCS Gulf South Region main event at the Speedarama Raceway.
Working forward from the ninth starting position in his familiar No. 9, Wright raced into the lead on the 15th circuit and then slipped across the finish line in command moments after a piston failure in his powerplant.
Wright claimed the victory just in front of eleventh-starter Jason Johnson, who charged past George White in the final corner for runner-up honors. With a broken steering box, White tagged the wall and flipped across the finish line to claim the show position and assume the ASCS Gulf South points lead.
With the red flag flying with checkered as White flipped, the balance of the field was scored on the previous lap with Scottie McDonald in fourth and Jeffrey Newell posting his first career top-five ASCS finish by rounding out the top five.
Tommy Bryant was sixth, with defending series champion Ray Allen Kulhanek, 15th-starter Travis Rilat, Brandon Berryman and pole starter Chris Sweeney completing the top ten.
Aaron Reutzel, Bryant, McDonald and Newell topped heat race action, with Travis Rilat winning the “B” Main.
Smiley’s Racing Products ASCS Gulf South Results from Speedarama Raceway:
First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 2. 12b-Logan Bledsoe, 3. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 4. 41-Jason Johnson, 5. 3-Gary Watson, 6. 51s-Beau Smith, 7. 17-Channin Tankersley, 8. 7w-Dustin Welch.
Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 14e-Tommy Bryant, 2. 35-Greg Rilat, 3. 9-Gary Wright, 4. 31-Brandon Berryman, 5. 51-Jimmy Brooks, 6. 19-Klint Angelette, 7. 69-Larry Howery. DNS: 64j-Johnny Miller.
Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 88-Scottie McDonald, 2. 5c-Chris Coker, 3. 10-George White, 4. 93-Chris Sweeney, 5. 54-Evan Pardo, 6. 28-James Cooper, 7. 25h-Trey Schmidt, 8. 17c-Greg Coleman.
Fourth Heat (8 Laps): 1. 11-Jeffrey Newell, 2. 15T-Travis Elliott, 3. 25m-Michael McNeil, 4. 29-Travis Rilat, 5. 40-Junior Jenkins, 6. 2-Wes Miller, 7. 2s-Steve Hubbard.
“B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 29-Travis Rilat, 2. 54-Evan Pardo, 3. 51s-Beau Smith, 4. 31-Brandon Berryman, 5. 17-Channin Tankersley, 6. 3-Gary Watson, 7. 40-Junior Jenkins, 8. 51-Jimmy Brooks, 9. 19-Klint Angelette, 10. 28-James Cooper, 11. 69-Larry Howery, 12. 2-Wes Miller, 13. 17c-Greg Coleman, 14. 25h-Trey Schmidt, 15. 2s-Steve Hubbard, 16. 7w-Dustin Welch. DNS: 64j-Johnny Miller.
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 9-Gary Wright, 2. 41-Jason Johnson, 3. 10-George White, 4. 88-Scottie McDonald, 5. 11-Jeffrey Newell, 6. 14e-Tommy Bryant, 7. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 8. 29-Travis Rilat, 9. 31-Brandon Berryman, 10. 93-Chris Sweeney, 11. 15T-Travis Elliott, 12. 25m-Michael McNeil, 13. 35-Greg Rilat, 14. 12b-Logan Bledsoe, 15. 54-Evan Pardo, 16. 51s-Beau Smith, 17. 17-Channin Tankersley, 18. 5c-Chris Coker, 19. 3-Gary Watson, 20. 87-Aaron Reutzel.
Smiley’s Racing Products ASCS Gulf South Region Points (Top Ten): 1. George White 389, 2. Aaron Reutzel 353, 3. Brandon Berryman 351, 4. Tommy Bryant 338, 5. Greg Rilat 312, 6. Ray Allen Kulhanek 309, 7. Jeffrey Newell 290, 8. Michael McNeil 287, 9. Chris Sweeney 285, 10. Channin Tankersley 282.