By Lonnie Wheatley
TULSA, Okla. (September 13, 2010) – The American Sprint Car Series Gulf South Region puts the wraps on the 2010 season with Saturday night’s $3,000-to-win championship season finale at Baytown’s Houston Raceway Park.
The ASCS Gulf South event originally scheduled for Friday night at Beaumont’s Golden Triangle Raceway Park has been cancelled and will not be rescheduled after the track took the Friday night portion of the recent Labor Day weekend triple on late notice.
While Ray Allen Kulhanek carries a 67-point advantage into Saturday night’s season ender, Aaron Reutzel and Tommy Bryant both have slim title hopes to cling too. Those title hopes will be erased if Kulhanek can just make the feature cut on Saturday night.
However, if Kulhanek misses the feature, as was the case at the Gator Motorplex on September 4, either Reutzel or Bryant could slip away from HRP with the ASCS Gulf South crown.
If Kulhanek misses Saturday’s feature cut, 2009 series champion Aaron Reutzel could overtake Kulhanek with a third place finish and assure himself of a second consecutive championship with a finish of second or better.
Bryant would have to win Saturday’s feature in combination with a Reutzel finish of fourth or worse and Kulhanek missing the show. A Bryant win and finish of third for Reutzel with Kulhankek watching from the stands would result in a Reutzel-Byant deadlock for the title.
Montgomery’s Kulhanek, the 2005 ASCS Gulf South champion, has built his 67-point lead on the strength of series’ best marks of 10 top-fives and 14 top-tens in 18 events aboard David Miller’s Smiley’s Racing Products No. 21T J&J, including a July 23 win at Waco’s Heart O’ Texas Speedway.
After winning the 2009 series championship, Clute’s Reutzel was the top-performing ASCS Gulf South regular over the recent Labor Day weekend triple, gaining 112 points on Kulhanek with three top-five runs in a row to jump from fourth to second in points and at least keep title hopes alive.
For Conroe’s Bryant, a winner of back-to-back events at Lufkin and Beaumont in late May-early June, a pair of Beaumont crashes along with a pair of Labor Day weekend DNF’s have hindered what could have otherwise been a possible title run.
Two-time series champion Brandon Berryman of Missouri City, TX, is nearly another 100 points back in fourth in what has been a roller-coaster 2010 season, with Alvin’s Travis Elliott rounding out the current top five in points.
The balance of the current top ten in ASCS Gulf South points includes Chris Sweeney (Channelview), Wes Miller (Santa Fe), Beau Smith (Texas City), Scottie McDonald (New Caney) and 17-year-old Logan Bledsoe (Richmond).
While the series most recent event at Houston Raceway Park on July 17 was rained out, Jason Johnson has topped the other two events at HRP in April and June.
Ten different drivers have posted ASCS Gulf South wins thus far in 2010. Johnson leads the way with seven wins, Bryant and Gary Wright have each posted a pair of wins, with the likes of Kulhanek, Berryman, Kent Lewis, Jr., Brian Brown, Kolt Walker, Andy Shouse and Chris Morgan all snaring single triumphs.
Saturday’s action at Houston Raceway Park is set to go green at 7:00 p.m.
Houston Raceway Park is located east of Houston on I-10 to Exit 799, then three miles south on State Highway 99, then west on FM 565. For more information, contact the track at 281-383-7223.
The ASCS Gulf South Region has completed 18 nights of racing action at seven different tracks throughout Texas in 2010. Another seven nights have been lost to rain.
Past ASCS Gulf South Region Feature Winners at Houston Raceway Park:
6/19/10 – Jason Johnson
4/3/10 – Jason Johnson
9/19/09 – Gary Wright
7/18/09 – Kevin Ramey
6/20/09 – Ray Allen Kulhanek
5/16/09 – Eric Baldaccini
9/27/08 – Jason Johnson
6/21/08 – Michael Dupuy
5/10/08 – Brandon Berryman
3/1/08 – Jack Dover
9/29/07 – Brandon Berryman
8/18/07 – Travis Rilat
5/19/07 – Johnny Miller
9/30/06 – Ray Allen Kulhanek
8/19/06 – Brad Best
6/24/06 – Ray Allen Kulhanek
4/8/06 – Travis Rilat
8/20/05 – Lane Whittington
6/18/05 – Ray Allen Kulhanek
7/10/04 – Kevin Ramey
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.