Seth Bergman stands tall on night 2 of Dirt Cup

Seth Bergman led nearly every lap for his third Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour victory of 2015, winning Night 2 of Dirt Cup at the Skagit Speedway. (ASCS / Lisa Dynes Photography)

Seth Bergman led nearly every lap for his third Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour victory of 2015, winning Night 2 of Dirt Cup at the Skagit Speedway. (ASCS / Lisa Dynes Photography)
Seth Bergman led nearly every lap for his third Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour victory of 2015, winning Night 2 of Dirt Cup at the Skagit Speedway. (ASCS / Lisa Dynes Photography)
From Bryan Hulbert

Alger, WA — (June 26, 2015) — Winning at your home track is about as sweet as it gets, and Seth Bergman did exactly that as the Snohomish, Wash. native led all by one lap en-route to victory on night two of the 44th Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup presented by Jack in the Box and his third Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network A-Feature win of the 2015 season.

A rebound from the previous night that saw Seth pit-side on Lap 23, the Washington native spoke about what happened, “It was just a mistake on my part last night trying to get too much too late in the race there and it cost me by breaking the steering box…We were irritated, we knew we had a fast racecar but the draw on nights like tonight is really crucial so we were able to do something with that in our Heat Race and get into the redraw.”

Jumping to the point on the start, Seth had to battle the first few laps with Jordan Weaver. Relinquishing the lead on Lap 2 to the Widow Wax No. 92, who slid Bergman through the third and fourth turns, the Corridor Electric No. 23 dove low to the return the slide in turn one.

From there, it was on to slower traffic. Meticulously picking through the back markers, the caution threatened several times, but would stay furrowed in the flagstand as the race for second ended up going to Thursday night’s winner, Jason Solwold.

“We were okay. I kind of got to racing in point mode there and didn’t want to force a lot of issues,” commented Jason on his runner-up finish. “We didn’t have to win tonight since we came in doing good on points and just tried to keep that going for tomorrow night to start up front.”

Working the cushion, Jordan Weaver looked to be on her way he first podium finish ever with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour. Battling in the closing laps with defending Dirt Cup Champion, Brock Lemley, the No. 92 fell to fourth off the final turn as Lemley pulled off the slide in slower traffic.

“I didn’t know how much room I had, and honestly I didn’t know it was for third. I was screwing around there for so long, I fell back there, and didn’t know we were running for third at that point,” said Lemley. “I was just hoping to get the best I could, and it got pretty close racing with those lappers the lap before, and it looked like they were going to go low but they ended up sliding right in front of her and left me a hole, so it worked out good.”

Jordan Weaver held on for her first top-five finish against the National Tour with Travis Rilat crossing in fifth.

California’s Willie Croft was sixth after starting 10th with Reece Goetz seventh from 12th. Johnny Herrera advanced to eighth from 11th with Tayler Malsam coming home ninth. Eric Fisher completed the top-ten.

Combined event points puts Jason Solwold as the top dog, placing the Scottie’s Plumbing No. 18 on the pole for Saturday’s $15,000 to win, $1,000 to start feature event. Tyler Malsam will take the outside of the front row. Taking the Top 16 into Saturday’s A-Feature, Trever Kirkland earned the final spot.

With all 51 entrants returning for the second night of Dirt Cup, seven Heat Races went to Travis Rilat, Luke Didiuk, Eric Fisher, Jordan Weaver, Aaron Reutzel, Willie Croft, and Brock Lemley. B-Feature wins went to Derek Roberts and Colton Heath.

The 44th Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup presented by Jack in the Box concludes on Saturday, June 27 with races slated to begin at 7:00 P.M. (PT). Continued updates on Dirt Cup can be found at http://www.skagitspeedway.com.

For more information on the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com.

Race Results:

Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour
Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup – Night 2
Skagit Speedway – Alger, Wash.
Friday, June 26, 2015

Car Count: 51

Heat Races: 8 Laps, taking the winner plus the next the next 9 highest in passing points to the A-Feature.

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 39C-Travis Rilat[2]; 2. 77X-Wayne Johnson[1]; 3. 23-Seth Bergman[6]; 4. 5R-Steve Reeves[3]; 5. 52-Blake Hahn[7]; 6. 51-Jared Peterson[5]; 7. 95-Matt Covington[8]; 8. 14K-Kyle Bellm[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 9A-Luke Didiuk[1]; 2. N8-Nate Vaughn[4]; 3. 45X-Johnny Herrera[5]; 4. 56-Justin Youngquist[6]; 5. 22-Sean Macdonell[3]; 6. 57-Bud Ashe[8]; 7. 62-Lawrance Kirkham[7]; 8. 4B-Cale Brooke[2]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 59-Eric Fisher[2]; 2. 11-Marc Duperron[1]; 3. 79K-Kelsey Carpenter[3]; 4. 72-Phil Dietz[4]; 5. 1NZ-Jamie Duff[6]; 6. 37-Trever Kirkland[7]; 7. 22C-Trevor Cook[5]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 92-Jordan Weaver[1]; 2. 2-Kelly Miller[2]; 3. 33-Kris Miller[3]; 4. 23N-J.J. Hickle[5]; 5. 44H-Travis Jacobson[6]; 6. 99-Skylar Gee[7]; 7. 44NZ-Daniel Anderson[4]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel[1]; 2. 96-Greg Hamilton[2]; 3. 33X-Colton Heath[4]; 4. 17-Cameron (Cam) Smith[7]; 5. 5-Michael Bollinger[3]; 6. 51X-Kyle Miller[5]; 7. 14-Kyle Vanulden[6]

Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 29-Willie Croft[1]; 2. 18-Jason Solwold[4]; 3. 9R-Reece Goetz[7]; 4. 15-Dan Dunlap[2]; 5. 16-David Miller[6]; 6. (DNF) 91-Chase Goetz[5]; DNS 81-Darren Smith

Heat 7 (8 Laps): 1. 22B-Brock Lemley[2]; 2. 42-Derek Roberts[1]; 3. 26-Tayler Malsam[5]; 4. 38-Trevor Turnbull[4]; 5. 55-Trey Starks[7]; 6. 0J-Jay Cole[6]; 7. (DNF) 94-Robbie Price[3]

B-Feature(s): 15 laps, taking the top 3 to the tail of the A-Feature.

B Feature (15 Laps): 1. 42-Derek Roberts[2]; 2. 56-Justin Youngquist[3]; 3. 44H-Travis Jacobson[8]; 4. 72-Phil Dietz[6]; 5. 37-Trever Kirkland[10]; 6. 77X-Wayne Johnson[1]; 7. 22-Sean Macdonell[11]; 8. 91-Chase Goetz[14]; 9. 0J-Jay Cole[12]; 10. 15-Dan Dunlap[9]; 11. 33-Kris Miller[4]; 12. (DNF) 52-Blake Hahn[5]; 13. (DNF) 14-Kyle Vanulden[15]; 14. (DNF) 44NZ-Daniel Anderson[16]; 15. (DNF) 5R-Steve Reeves[7]; 16. (DNF) 51X-Kyle Miller[13]; 17. (DNF) 14K-Kyle Bellm[17]; 18. 81-Darren Smith[18]

B Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 33X-Colton Heath[2]; 2. 79K-Kelsey Carpenter[3]; 3. 55-Trey Starks[5]; 4. 11-Marc Duperron[1]; 5. 51-Jared Peterson[12]; 6. 23N-J.J. Hickle[4]; 7. 95-Matt Covington[13]; 8. 99-Skylar Gee[10]; 9. 94-Robbie Price[16]; 10. 5-Michael Bollinger[11]; 11. 16-David Miller[8]; 12. 57-Bud Ashe[9]; 13. 62-Lawrance Kirkham[14]; 14. 4B-Cale Brooke[17]; 15. 22C-Trevor Cook[15]; 16. (DNF) 38-Trevor Turnbull[6]; 17. (DNF) 1NZ-Jamie Duff[7]

A-Feature: 25 Laps

A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 23-Seth Bergman[2]; 2. 18-Jason Solwold[4]; 3. 22B-Brock Lemley[5]; 4. 92-Jordan Weaver[1]; 5. 39C-Travis Rilat[6]; 6. 29-Willie Croft[10]; 7. 9R-Reece Goetz[12]; 8. 45X-Johnny Herrera[11]; 9. 26-Tayler Malsam[13]; 10. 59-Eric Fisher[8]; 11. 55-Trey Starks[22]; 12. 9A-Luke Didiuk[7]; 13. 79K-Kelsey Carpenter[20]; 14. 56-Justin Youngquist[19]; 15. 17-Cameron (Cam) Smith[14]; 16. 96-Greg Hamilton[16]; 17. 2-Kelly Miller[15]; 18. 42-Derek Roberts[17]; 19. (DNF) 44H-Travis Jacobson[21]; 20. (DNF) 33X-Colton Heath[18]; 21. (DNF) 87-Aaron Reutzel[9]; 22. (DNF) N8-Nate Vaughn[3]

Lap Leader(s): Seth Bergman 1, 3-25; Jordan Weaver 2;
KSE Hard Charger: Trey Starks +11
FSR High Point: Travis Rilat
Provisional(s): N/A

Dirt Cup Points (After 2 Nights)

All ties broken by combined Heat Race Passing Point totals.

Pos. – Car # – Driver – Points

18-Jason Solwold-539
26-Tayler Malsam-489
22B -Brock Lemley-489
29-Willie Croft-488
23-Seth Bergman-484
39C -Travis Rilat-479
33X -Colton Heath-476
92-Jordan Weaver-473
77X -Wayne Johnson-462
87-Aaron Reutzel-458
59-Eric Fisher-455
55-Trey Starks-444
51-Jared Peterson-443
9R -Reece Goetz-441
45X -Johnny Herrera-434
37-Trever Kirkland-434
11-Marc Duperron-431
9A -Luke Didiuk-431
17-Cameron (Cam) Smith-429
99-Skylar Gee-421
79K -Kelsey Carpenter-421
94-Robbie Price-419
96-Greg Hamilton-415
95-Matt Covington-412
56-Justin Youngquist-410
22-Sean Macdonell-408
2JR -Kelly Miller-405
44H -Travis Jacobson-404
42-Derek Roberts-403
91-Chase Goetz-400
33-Kris Miller-399
23N -J.J. Hickle-397
N8 -Nate Vaughn-396
5R -Steve Reeves-395
72-Phil Dietz-393
14K -Kyle Bellm-392
52-Blake Hahn-386
16-David Miller-384
5-Michael Bollinger-383
0J -Jay Cole-383
14-Kyle Vanulden-379
51X -Kyle Miller-378
15-Dan Dunlap-378
57-Bud Ashe-377
38-Trevor Turnbull-377
44NZ -Daniel Anderson-373
62-Lawrance Kirkham-369
22C -Trevor Cook-369
1NZ -Jamie Duff-365
4B -Cale Brooke-364
81-Darren Smith-362

Northwest Focus Midget Series

Heat 1 – Tristin Thomas, Dougie James, Jeremiah Franklin, Todd Hartman, Nik Larson, Renee Angel, Doug Davison

Heat 2 – Lance Sargent, Ryan Cully, Mike Vollbrecht, Nick Evans, Doug Anderson, Garrett Thomas, Thomas Walker, Ray Stebbins, Hannah Lindquist

Main – Tristin Thomas, Cully, Sargent, James, Evans, Lindquist, Larson, Hartman, Angel, Davison, Vollbrecht, Walker, Franklin, Stebbins, G Thomas, Anderson
Lap Leaders – T Thomas 1-20