By Lonnie Wheatley
TULSA, Okla. (April 19, 2010) – The chase for the $60,000 Lucas Oil ASCS National Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters championship resumes with this weekend’s Second Annual Rock ‘N Roll 50 atop the fabled Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, AR.
The Lucas Oil Sprint Cars take to the historic ¼-mile black gumbo clay oval for two full nights of competition on Friday and Saturday, culminating with the series’ only 50-lap feature event of the season on Saturday night.
With two dozen drivers pursuing their share of the $250,000 Lucas Oil Sprint Cars points fund, each of them taking aim at that $60,000 top prize, another large contingent of competitors is expected for this weekend’s action as the Riverside regulars try to defend their home turf versus the Lucas Oil invaders and others.
Both nights of action will be under the lights of television cameras, with both nights of competition taped for later broadcast on both VERSUS and MavTV.
Reigning series champion Shane Stewart of Bixby, OK, leads the way into the weekend with a meager three point lead over Warsaw, Missouri’s Jesse Hockett.
Pulling double duty as both event promoter and competitor, Tony Bruce, Jr., of Liberal, KS, enters the weekend just 13 points off of Stewart’s lead pace, with 20-year-old Brady Bacon of Broken Arrow, OK, and Louisiana’s Jason Johnson rounding out the current top five.
The balance of the current top ten includes Devil’s Bowl Spring Nationals champion Sammy Swindell, the Oklahoma trio of Zach Chappell, Danny Wood and Matt Covington and Nebraska’s Jack Dover.
Covington, who topped his first career Lucas Oil National feature event on April 9 at Lone Star Speedway, leads a strong Brodix Rookie of the Year crop that also includes California’s Kyle Hirst and Justyn Cox, Oklahoma’s Dustin Morgan, Texas’ Channin Tankersley, Washington’s Austen Wheatley, New Mexico’s Joshua Hodges and Memphis shoe Don Young.
Other Lucas Oil ASCS title contenders include defending Rock ‘N Roll 50 winner Tim Crawley, Travis Rilat, Ricky Logan, Sean McClelland, four-time series champion Gary Wright, Darren Long and Kenneth Walker.
The Lucas Oil Sprint Cars opened the season with Swindell besting a field of 62 entries at the Devil’s Bowl Spring Nationals in Mesquite, TX, on March 19. Since that time, Covington covered the 52-car field at Lone Star Speedway in Kilgore, TX, on April 9 with Chappell then besting 53 entries at Little Rock’s I-30 Speedway on April 10.
The Series:
Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters
When & Where:
Friday night, April 23 at 7:30 p.m. – Riverside International Speedway
Saturday night, April 24 at 7:30 p.m. – Riverside International Speedway
Track Information:
Riverside Speedway (West Memphis, AR) – 1/4-mile semi-banked gumbo clay oval located west of Memphis, TN, on I-55 to Exit 4 in Arkansas, then 0.3 miles south, then 0.2 miles east on Broadway, then south on Legion Road. Event information including advance ticket sales is available at www.tbjpromotions.com or by calling 541-778-8630.
Lucas Oil ASCS Riverside International Speedway History:
After taking to the ¼-mile gumbo clay oval on 24 occasions from 1995 to 2005, the Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series returned to West Memphis for the first time in nearly five years with Tim Crawley sweeping both nights of the Inaugural Rock ‘N Roll 50 last July.
Riverside International Speedway ASCS National winners include: Eddie Gallagher 6, Tim Crawley 3, Terry Gray 3, Gary Wright 3, A.G. Rains 2, Pete Braswell 1, Pete Butler 1, Kenny Coke 1, Chad Jones 1, Travis Rilat 1, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. 1, Darren Stewart 1, Brooke Tatnell 1, Mike Ward 1.
Riverside International Speedway Lucas Oil ASCS Race-by-Race Winners: Terry Gray (7/8/95), Eddie Gallagher (7/20/96), Pete Braswell (9/14/96), Gary Wright (6/21/97), Brooke Tatnell (9/13/97), Mike Ward (6/20/98), Terry Gray (9/19/98), Chad Jones (6/19/99), Pete Butler (7/24/99), Terry Gray (9/18/99), Kenny Coke (6/24/00), Travis Rilat (7/15/00), Gary Wright (9/16/00), Eddie Gallagher (6/9/01), A.G. Rains (7/14/01), Tim Crawley (9/15/01), Eddie Gallagher (6/1/02), Eddie Gallagher (9/14/02), Eddie Gallagher (5/31/03), Gary Wright (7/19/03), Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (7/17/04), Eddie Gallagher (9/11/04), Darren Stewart (6/4/05), A.G. Rains (9/10/05), Tim Crawley (7/3/09), Tim Crawley (7/4/09).
Current Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters Points:
Top Twenty: 1. Shane Stewart (Bixby, OK) 373, 2. Jesse Hockett (Warsaw, MO) 370, 3. Tony Bruce, Jr. (Liberal, KS) 360, 4. Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, OK) 342, 5. Jason Johnson (Eunice, LA) 340, 6. Sammy Swindell (Bartlett, TN) 331, 7. Zach Chappell (Talala, OK) 328, 8. Danny Wood (Norman, OK) 318, 9. Matt Covington (Glenpool, OK) 313, 10. Jack Dover (Springfield, NE) 309, 11. Tim Crawley (Benton, AR) 301, 12. Brian Brown (Grain Valley, MO) 300, 13. Kyle Hirst (Loomis, CA) 290, 14. Travis Rilat (Forney, TX) 286, 15. Ricky Logan (Little Rock, AR) 283, 16. Johnny Herrera (Albuquerque, NM) 263, 17. Sean McClelland (Tulsa, OK) 254, 18. Dustin Morgan (Tulsa, OK) 252, 19. Gary Wright (Hooks, TX) 249, 20. Channin Tankersley (Highlands, TX) 240.
Brodix Rookie of the Year Points: 1. Matt Covington (Glenpool, OK) 313, 2. Kyle Hirst (Loomis, CA) 290, 3. Dustin Morgan (Tulsa, OK) 252, 4. Channin Tankersley (Highlands, TX) 240, 5. Austen Wheatley (Lake Stevens, WA) 238, 6. (tie) Justyn Cox (Clarksburg, CA), Joshua Hodges (Tijeras, NM) and Don Young (Bartlett, TN) 195.
2010 Lucas Oil Sprint Car Feature Winners:
Zach Chappell 1, Matt Covington 1, Sammy Swindell 1.
Lucas Oil Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters – A Look Ahead:
May 29/30 – Jetmore Motorplex (Jetmore, KS)
June 4 – Outlaw Motor Speedway (Muskogee, OK)
June 5 – I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, AR)
June 11/12 – Eagle Raceway (Eagle, NE) – VERSUS/MavTV
June 26 – Lake Ozark Speedway (Eldon, MO)
Lucas Oil Sprint Cars on the Web:
Those unable to catch all the action in person can listen to every Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters live at www.racinboys.com.
Also, the Lucas Oil ASCS Show airs on www.racinboys.com each Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m. ET, recapping the previous week’s events while also previewing upcoming action.
Official results, championship point updates, photos and race notes will be available at www.ascsracing.com.
Lucas Oil Sprint Cars on TV:
The Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters will be featured in ten one-hour shows broadcast on a tape-delayed basis on the VERSUS Network and MavTV.
Events to be aired on VERSUS and MavTV include the following:
Event Date – Track (Location) – VERSUS Air Date & Time (All Times Eastern & Subject to Change):
March 19 – Devil’s Bowl Speedway (Mesquite, TX) – 6/6/10 @ 6:00 p.m.
March 20 – Devil’s Bowl Speedway (Mesquite, TX) – Rained Out
April 23 – Riverside Speedway (W. Memphis, AR) – 7/31/10 @ 5:00 p.m.
April 24 – Riverside Speedway (W. Memphis, AR) – 8/1/10 @ 4:00 p.m.
June 11 – Eagle Raceway (Eagle, NE) – 11/21/10 @ 4:00 p.m.
June 12 – Eagle Raceway (Eagle, NE) – 11/21/10 @ 5:00 p.m.
September 25 – Lucas Oil Speedway (Wheatland, MO) – 11/28/10 @ 6:00 p.m.
October 28 – I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, AR) – 12/5/10 @ 5:00 p.m.
October 29 – I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, AR) – 12/5/10 @ 6:00 p.m.
October 30 – I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, AR) – 12/19/10 @ 4:00 p.m.
The Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters is currently slated for 37 nights of racing action at 18 different tracks throughout the nation, with the country’s top Sprint Car drivers set to battle it out for their share of the $250,000 points fund.
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 Regions throughout the nation.
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.