By Lonnie Wheatley
Hockett Set to Defend Ronald Laney Memorial Win
TULSA, Okla. (February 23, 2010) – The American Sprint Car Series lifts the lid on an action-packed 2010 season of approximately 200 events with this weekend’s ASCS Rebel action at East Bay Raceway Park’s 34th Annual Winter Nationals. The three-night stand in Tampa, FL, concludes with Saturday’s $10,000-to-win Ninth Annual Ronald Laney Memorial on Saturday night.
And, set to defend his crown in the season opener, is Warsaw, Missouri’s Jesse Hockett, who became the ninth different winner of East Bay’s “Kings” portion of the Winter Nationals by storming to victory lane last year.
Fresh off a Mexico honeymoon, Hockett enters this season with a new, yet familiar look. Back to the familiar No. 75, this year’s VKCC Motorsports entry will sport a black and blue scheme reminiscent of earlier renditions of the popular team.
While Hockett returns to the familiar No. 75 in his bid for the 2010 Lucas Oil Sprint Car crown, he hopes to ride a new engine/chassis combination to victory lane this weekend with a Don Ott powerplant bolted into an A.R.T. chassis.
Hockett will face a sturdy field of challengers that includes Hooks, TX, ace Gary Wright, the only driver to top the East Bay event on more than one occasion. Wright, a four-time Lucas Oil Sprint Car National champion, topped the inaugural Kings event in 1999 before adding a second win in 2007.
Other past event winners include 2008 Lucas Oil Sprint Car champion Jason Johnson (2008), Terry McCarl (2006), Chad Kemenah (2005), Sport Allen (2003), Jason Sides (2002), Jeff Shepard (2001) and Ronald Laney (2000).
After last year’s East Bay opening night was rained out, Sarasota, Florida’s Danny Martin, Jr., topped the Friday night preliminary before chasing Hockett, Jason Sides and Gene Lasker to the stripe in the Saturday night finale.
That strong opening weekend performance launched a championship drive by “The Hammer”, as Martin, Jr., went on to become the third ASCS Rebel Region champion in as many years, outdistancing Jacksonville, Florida’s Matt Kurtz for the crown by 68 markers.
All three nights of competition at East Bay Raceway Park are slated to go green at approximately 7:15 p.m. A Wednesday night practice session will precede the weekend triple.
Tampa’s East Bay Raceway Park is located off I-75 Exit 250, then two miles west, then 1.2 miles north on US 41, then right 1.3 miles on Old US 41 to Burts Road. For more information, contact the track at 813-677-7223.
In its 19th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing, the American Sprint Car Series brings the best of Sprint Car racing to approximately 100 different tracks throughout 30 states and Canada. Anchored by the Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters, ASCS also consists of eleven different Regional Tours throughout the nation.
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.