By Lonnie Wheatley
TULSA, Okla. (November 24, 2010) – Danny Wood and the Hammers’ H&H Enterprises No. 94 Sprint Car will be on hand for this weekend’s season-ending Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters event at the ½-mile, semi-banked Las Vegas Motor Speedway clay oval.
The question remains, however, whether Wood will take the wheel or not in the Inaugural Las Vegas Sprint Car Super Nationals on Friday and Saturday after suffering a back injury during last Friday night’s preliminary main event at USA Raceway’s Western World Championships in Tucson, AZ.
“Right now, I don’t know yet,” Wood commented on Wednesday evening of the prospect of racing this weekend. “I’ll be there and the car will be there, I’ll see how I’m feeling come race time and decide then I guess.”
Currently ranked ninth in Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters National points, the veteran shoe from Norman, OK, was injured when his car hit the retaining wall entering turn three at USA Raceway.
“I felt some pain in my sternum, which is a pretty common thing with that kind of crash,” Wood explained. “But I could also feel some pain in my back, so I knew we didn’t want to get in a hurry and maybe make things worse.”
Erring on the side of caution proved a wise move, as Wood had fractured his T-5 vertebra. With no surgery or additional procedures necessary, Wood has been fitted with a back brace that doctors say he’ll probably wear for approximately six weeks.
After some pain over the first couple of days subsided, “I felt like a new man,” Wood commented.
Which leads to the question, will Wood try to take the top spot this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a track at which he posted a legendary win from deep in the field back in 2001.
“A lot of the family will be in Las Vegas tomorrow for Thanksgiving, that’s something we’ve been looking forward to,” Wood commented. “I feel good right now, good enough to race for sure.”
“I might and I might not, that’s a racer’s answer for ya right there isn’t it,” Wood laughed.
Wood is one of 14 drivers to compete in every Lucas Oil ASCS event thus far in 2010, with another two teams just missing a random event or two.
Louisiana’s Jason Johnson enters this weekend’s double with a nearly insurmountable lead over Oklahoma’s Brady Bacon in the series $60,000 championship points chase.
Bolstering the field of Lucas Oil ASCS contenders will be a stout field of entries including a suspected stout contingent of West Coast competitors and a number of other notable names such as Swindell, Schatz and more.
The Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters National series has averaged 57.1 cars per event in 2010.
Tickets for this weekend’s action are available for $25 per night. The two-day package is just $35, a savings of $15, at http://www.lvms.com/strip/tickets/las_vegas_sprint_car_super_nationals/.
The Series:
Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters
When & Where – Inaugural Las Vegas Sprint Car Super Nationals:
Friday, November 26 at 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 27 at 6:00 p.m.
Track Information:
Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Las Vegas, NV) – ½-mile semi-banked clay oval located off I-15 Exit 54, the southeast on Speedway Boulevard. Track phone: 800-644-4444.
Lucas Oil ASCS Las Vegas Motor Speedway:
The first pages in Lucas Oil ASCS history at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will be composed this weekend as the series finishes off the 2010 season with the first events in the state of Nevada in ASCS history.
Current Points:
Top Twenty: 1. Jason Johnson (Eunice, LA) 3,509, 2. Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, OK) 3,375, 3. Shane Stewart (Bixby, OK) 3,335, 4. Jack Dover (Springfield, NE) 3,268, 5. Tim Crawley (Benton, AR) 3,154, 6. Tony Bruce, Jr. (Liberal, KS) 3,017, 7. Zach Chappell (Talala, OK) 2,948, 8. Kyle Hirst (Loomis, CA) 2,874, 9. Danny Wood (Norman, OK) 2,839, 10. Ricky Logan (Little Rock, AR) 2,789, 11. Matt Covington (Glenpool, OK) 2,739, 12. Darren Long (Elida, OH) 2,566, 13. Dustin Morgan (Tulsa, OK) 2,513, 14. Channin Tankersley (Highlands, TX) 2,481, 15. Gary Wright (Hooks, TX) 2,206, 16. Brian Brown (Grain Valley, MO) 1,756, 17. Justyn Cox (Clarksburg, CA) 1,674, 18. Johnny Herrera (Albuquerque, NM) 1,414, 19. Austen Wheatley (Lake Stevens, WA) 1,344, 20. Travis Rilat (Forney, TX) 1,152.
Brodix Rookie of the Year Points: 1. Kyle Hirst (Loomis, CA) 2,874, 2. Matt Covington (Glenpool, OK) 2,739, 3. Dustin Morgan (Tulsa, OK) 2,513, 4. Channin Tankersley (Highlands, TX) 2,481, 5. Justyn Cox (Clarksburg, CA) 1,674.
Owner Points (Top Twenty): 1. JJR 41 – 3,509, 2. Tel-Star 99 – 3,375, 3. Silva 57 – 3,335, 4. Dover 53 – 3,268, 5. Ward 88 – 3,154, 6. Bruce Racing 18 – 3,017, 7. Chappell 50z – 2,948, 8. Perkins 6 – 2,874, 9. Hammers 94 – 2,839, 10. Logan 10a – 2,789, 11. Covington 95 – 2,739, 12. Gaerte 3g – 2,566, 13. Morgan 93 – 2,513, 14. Tankersley 71 – 2,481, 15. Brown 9x – 2,206, 16. Van Dyke 5h – 2,094, 17. Brown 21 – 1,756, 18. Herrera 45x – 1,414, 19. Wheatley 44w – 1,344, 20. Rilat 29 – 1,252.
2010 Feature Winners:
Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Series: Jason Johnson 5, Brady Bacon 4, Shane Stewart 4, Tim Crawley 3, Zach Chappell 2, Jack Dover 2, Donny Schatz 2, Brad Sweet 2, Brian Brown 1, Tony Bruce, Jr. 1, Matt Covington 1, Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 1, Johnny Herrera 1, Jerrod Hull 1, Steve Kinser 1, Sammy Swindell 1, Danny Wood 1.
Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters – A Look Ahead:
19th Annual ASCS Awards Banquet Presented by Brodix – Sunday, December 12 at 2:00 p.m., Hard Rock Casino in Tulsa, OK.
Lucas Oil ASCS 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.
Live Internet Pay-Per-View this Weekend!
The “The Las Vegas Sprint Car Super Nationals” will be televised live via internet Pay-Per-View. Five cameras, instant replays, special video productions and announcers Toby Kruse and Chet Christner will keep you up to speed with all the action as it happens!
Go to www.SpeedwayChannel.com to order the two-day package for only $12.95 or a single day for just $9.95. It goes live at 6:00 p.m. on both nights, just before the start of the heat races.
Lucas Oil ASCS 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
June 11 – Eagle Raceway (Eagle, NE) – 9/4/10 @ 6:00 p.m.
June 12 – Eagle Raceway (Eagle, NE) – 10/3/10 @ 5:00 p.m.
September 25 – Lucas Oil Speedway (Wheatland, MO) – 11/21/10 @ 6:00 p.m.
October 1 – Riverside Speedway (W. Memphis, AR) – 11/28/10 @ 6:00 p.m.
October 2 – Riverside Speedway (W. Memphis, AR) – 12/5/10 @ 5:00 p.m.
October 28 – I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, AR) – 12/5/10 @ 6:00 p.m.
October 29 – I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, AR) – 12/11/10 @ 6:00 p.m.
October 30 – I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, AR) – 12/12/10 @ 6:00 p.m.
The Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters is currently slated for 35 nights of racing action at 17 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 ten different Regions throughout the nation.
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.