By Lonnie Wheatley
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (October 29, 2011) – The stage is set in Arkansas’ capitol city, as 100 of the top Sprint Car teams from throughout the country have battled it out over the past two nights atop I-30 Speedway’s high-banked, ¼-mile clay oval to determine the alignment of Saturday’s STN championship feature slate of events.
Only six drivers have secured starting positions in the 24th Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires $15,000-to-win and $2,400-to-start finale, but another 14 of the remaining 94 will have the opportunity to land starting berths in the Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters National event.
Among those already in the STN finale are preliminary feature winners Brady Bacon of Broken Arrow, OK, and Danny Lasoski of Dover, MO. Bacon won the feature delayed by weather from Thursday to Friday, while Lasoski topped the scheduled Friday feature.
Also earning starting spots are prelim runner-ups Shane Stewart (Bixby, OK) and Jason Sides (Bartlett, TN) along with third-place finishers Travis Rilat (Forney, TX) and Sammy Swindell (Bartlett, TN).
All six locked-in drivers have previous STN finale experience, with Swindell and Sides both reigning as past winners in 1990 and 2001, respectively.
Saturday will mark Swindell’s ninth STN championship feature start, with Sides, Stewart and Rilat each making their eight career STN finale. Bacon will start his third STN finale, while Lasoski starts just his second.
Those six drivers will battle it out the Dash for Cash to determine the alignment of the front three rows of the $77,700 main event. The Dash lineup will be determined by a Cheater’s Day style draw.
The balance of the 20-car feature field will be filled by the top seven finishers from the Twin “B” Mains. A 21st starting position is reserved for I-30 Speedway track champion A.G. Rains should he not race his way into the feature field. Rains is slated to start tenth in the First “B” Main.
Saturday’s racing action fires off at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for Saturday’s card are just $25. For more information, contact the track at 501-455-4567.
The lineups…
Locked into “A” Main:
99-Brady Bacon, 1mx-Danny Lasoski, 57-Shane Stewart, 91s-Jason Sides, 29-Travis Rilat, 1s-Sammy Swindell.
First “B” Main (Top 7 Make Up Inside Rows 4-10 of “A” Main):
23b Seth Bergman – 88 Tim Crawley
M1 Tim Shaffer – 01x Paul McMahan
77x Wayne Johnson – 22h Randy Hannagan
87a Aaron Reutzel – 28s Jeff Swindell
41 Jason Johnson – 3a A.G. Rains
18b Tony Bruce, Jr. – 81 Danny Wood
C Main 1 Transfer 1 – C Main 1 Transfer 2
C Main 1 Transfer 3 – C Main 1 Transfer 4
Second “B” Main (Top 7 Make Up Outside Rows 4-10 of “A” Main):
11c Matt Covington – 15h Sam Hafertepe, Jr.
187 Kyle Larson – 36m Jason Martin
3g Stevie Smith – 21T Ray Allen Kulhanek
45x Johnny Herrera – 9 Joey Saldana
91d Cody Darrah – 49 Brad Sweet
94 Derek Hagar – 14m Jordon Mallett
C Main 2 Transfer 1 – C Main 2 Transfer 2
C Main 2 Transfer 3 – C Main 2 Transfer 4
First “C” Main (Top 4 Advance to First “B” Main):
21b Brian Brown – 14k Kyle Bellm
03 Joe Wood, Jr. – 74e Claud Estes
5h Mason Moore – 05 Brad Loyet
89g David Gravel – x1m Jack Dover
66 Tommy Worley – 51h Mike Hess
47 Dale Howard – 21k Ryan Kitchen
D Main 1 Transfer 1 – D Main 1 Transfer 2
D Main 1 Transfer 3 – D Main 1 Transfer 4
Second “C” Main (Top 4 Advance to Second “B” Main):
9x Gary Wright – 71 Channin Tankersley
27 Andy Shouse – 1g Cody Gardner
16 Anthony Nicholson – 6b Ryan Beechler
4s Danny Smith – 1x Gary Taylor
87j Justin Carver – 39 Brad Bowden
11g Mike Goodman – 21x Jimmy Hurley
D Main 2 Transfer 1 – D Main 2 Transfer 2
D Main 2 Transfer 3 – D Main 2 Transfer 4
First “D” Main (Top 4 Advance to First “C” Main):
9s Justin Sturch – 93 Chris Sweeney
26 Marshall Skinner – 01n Jeremy Newkirk
3h Nate Van Haaften – 36b Jonathan Beason
C4 Casey Rowland – 31b Brandon Berryman
0m Andy McElhannon – 76 John Ricketts
1m Jim Moughan – 44c Henry Gustavus
E Main 1 Transfer 1 – E Main 1 Transfer 2
E Main 1 Transfer 3 – E Main 1 Transfer 4
Second “D” Main (Top 4 Advance to Second “C” Main):
40 Ernie Ainsworth – 15b Sean McClelland
17b Ryan Bickett – 44w Austen Wheatley
4b Eric Baldaccini – 0c Zach Chappell
52 Frank Sudduth – 87m Brian McClelland
9k Kyle Sager – 28c Jonathan Cornell
64 Scotty Thiel – 19k Klint Angelette
E Main 2 Transfer 1 – E Main 2 Transfer 2
E Main 2 Transfer 3 – E Main 2 Transfer 4
First “E” Main (Top 4 Advance to First “D” Main):
8z Zach Pringle – 33a Austin Alumbaugh
32 Charles Tankersley – 38m Ryan Moore
4bx Kevin Baugh – 58 Wade Oliver
23j Junior Jenkins – 14T Tyler Brown
31 Justin Webb – 5m Miranda Arnold
33h Mark Huddleston
Second “E” Main (Top 4 Advance to Second “D” Main):
38p Rick Pringle – 5k Jerry Kamer
44 Ronny Howard – 51b Jimmy Brooks
X Charlie Louden – 51s Lee Sowell
12 Steven Schaberg – 4j John James
51x Beau Smith – 4T Tommy Snellgrove
19 Jay Snellgrove
Lineups subject to change. For more information, contact the track at 501-455-4567.