By Lonnie Wheatley
TULSA, Okla. (June 14, 2010) – The ½-mile Devil’s Bowl Speedway clay oval in Mesquite, TX, has hosted plenty of classic Sprint Car events during its storied history.
This weekend will likely just add to Devil’s Bowl lore, as the American Sprint Car Series Lone Star and Sooner Regions clash in Mesquite, TX, for two full nights of action on Friday and Saturday.
Both nights of ASCS Lone Star vs. Sooner competition will offer up a $2,000 winner’s share and a minimum of $300 to start the feature each night.
Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Sean McClelland and Keller, Texas’ Eric Baldaccini lead their respective Regions into the weekend tussle.
McClelland, the 2005 American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region champion, leads the Sooner forces south of the Red River into Lone Star territory with a mere four-point edge over Broken Arrow’s Nick Smith.
Broken Arrow’s Donnie Ray Crawford is third in ASCS Sooner points entering the weekend, with reigning series champion Joe Wood, Jr., of Oklahoma City and Sapulpa’s Kenneth Walker rounding out the current top five.
Winning his first ASCS Lone Star feature of the year this past Friday night at Boyd Raceway, Baldaccini has stretched his Lone Star points advantage to 71 markers over Godley’s Claud Estes.
Lubbock’s Preston Peebles II is currently third in ASCS Lone Star points, with Burleson’s John Ricketts and Flower Mound’s Justin Melton rounding out the current top five.
The ASCS Lone Star Region has featured five different winners in as many events thus far in 2010, including Matt Covington, Wayne Johnson, Gary Wright, Baldaccini and Brian McClelland.
The American Bank of Oklahoma has yet to have a repeat winner in 2010 either, with Wood, Jr., Jason Johnson, Nick Smith and Robert Sellers each claiming wins through the opening four nights of the year.
Gary Wright topped last year’s ASCS Lone Star vs. Sooner Shootout at the Devil’s Bowl Speedway, an event that has expanded to two nights in 2010.
Action fires off at 8:00 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday night at Devil’s Bowl Speedway.
Mesquite, Texas’ high-banked, ½-mile Devil’s Bowl Speedway clay oval is located six miles east of Dallas’ I-635 on I-20, then three miles north on Lawson Road. Lawson Road north of the track (and south off of US 80) has been closed for repair, so fans and racers are urged to use I-20 and then go north on Lawson. For more information, contact the track at 972-222-2421.
The 2010 slate of ASCS Lone Star Region competition consists of 17 nights of action at seven different tracks throughout North Texas and one to the north of the Red River in southwest Oklahoma.
The American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region is slated for 15 nights of racing action at nine different tracks throughout Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri in 2010.
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.
Past ASCS Regional Feature Winners at Devil’s Bowl Speedway:
9/5/09 – Gary Wright (Gulf South vs. Lone Star)
5/9/09 – Gary Wright (Lone Star vs. Sooner)
9/27/08 – Justin Spoerl (Sooner)
9/1/07 – Jason Johnson (Gulf South vs. Sooner)
7/22/06 – Larry Neighbors (Gulf South vs. Sooner)
7/16/05 – Kevin Ramey (Gulf South vs. Sooner)
10/16/04 – Kevin Ramey (Gulf South vs. Sooner)
7/12/03 – Kevin Ramey (Gulf South vs. Sooner)
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.