From Andrew Kunas
COEUR d’ALENE, Idaho (July 5, 2017) – After a month off, the Brodix Frontier Region of the American Sprint Car Series is back in action this Friday and Saturday when it meets up with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour presented by MAVTV Motorsports Network at the 2nd Annual Grizzly Nationals at Gallatin Speedway in Belgrade, Montana.
Sapulpa, Oklahoma’s Blake Hahn, winner of both nights in 2016, looks to defend his Grizzly Nationals title and is coming off an astounding run from 22nd (last starting position) to finish fifth in last Saturday’s Fred Brownfield Classic at Grays Harbor Raceway in Washington. Matt Covington of Glenpool, Okla. won the Friday main event, and it was his first ASCS National victory in almost three years. He looks build off that victory and perhaps find the winners circle again in Montana this weekend.
Welcoming them will be the Frontier Region of ASCS, the drivers of which are anxious to get back on the race track. Their last scheduled event, June 9th at Gallatin Speedway, was rained out before cars could get on the track.
Eric Lutz of Sioux Falls, South Dakota visited Rod End Supply Victory Lane in both Brodix ASCS Frontier Region main events run this year and is the points leader, but is not running the full season as the ground Frontier Region covers is far from his home. D.J. Brink of Sturgis, South Dakota leads the Frontier Region full timers, sitting second in points after he posted a pair of podium finishes that opening weekend in early June at Black Hills Speedway in Rapid City, S. Dakota and Gillette Thunder Speedway in Wyoming. The last time he raced at Gallatin, Brink found victory lane at the Big Sky Supernationals in September.
New Powers of Belle Fourche, South Dakota sits third in the Frontier Region point standings and Rich Martin of Cheyenne, Wyoming is fourth. Billings, Montana driver David Hoiness, who last year came out of the B-Feature for a Top 10 finish at the Grizzly Nationals, sits fifth in the points. All three of those drivers posted a pair of Top 10’s and a single Top 5 on opening weekend in June.
One ASCS National Tour driver returning to familiar ground with high hopes is Leduc, Alberta’s Skylar Gee, who won the Brodix ASCS Frontier Region championship in 2016. In three Frontier Region only events at Gallatin Speedway last year he won the first two and later finished third in the Big Sky Supernationals. Currently sitting eighth in National Tour points, Gee is chasing ASCS National Tour Rookie of the Year honors and had a finishes of fifth (his best National Tour finish of the season) and tenth at the Fred Brownfield Classic last weekend. Returning to the track where he was so successful in the past, Gee is hoping to score his first ASCS National victory.
Racing is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. local time on both nights. Admission for adults is $20 (per day) and kids 12 and under get into the grandstands for free. Grandstands open at 5:00 p.m. Street stocks will support Friday’s event and super stocks will also be in action on Saturday.
Gallatin Speedway is located at 2290 Tubb Rd in Belgrade, Mont. For more information on Gallatin Speedway, call (406) 388-9666, find the track on Facebook, or go online to gallatinspeedway.com.
This weekend is the first of five straight weekends of action for the Brodix ASCS Frontier Region. Between July 7th and August 4th, the series is scheduled to race nine times at tracks in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and South Dakota.
More information on the ASCS Frontier Region, National Tour and other ASCS regional tours, including schedules and results, can be found onine at ascsracing.com. You can also find the series on Facebook.