By Lonnie Wheatley
BAYTOWN, Texas (April 16, 2011) – Michael Dupuy snared his first American Sprint Car Series Regional win in nearly three years by cracking Smiley’s Racing Products ASCS Gulf South victory lane Saturday night at Royal Purple Raceway.
Dupuy charged past Travis Rilat on the 16th round en route to the $3,000 victory in the 30-lapper at the same track at which he had claimed his most recent ASCS score in June of 2008, the 3/8-mile clay oval formerly known as Houston Raceway Park.
While Dupuy gridded the feature field fifth aboard Joe Zierolf’s Jaz-Tek No. 3x, it was pole starter Martin Edwards pacing the initial eight circuits before second row starter Rilat raced into the lead. Dupuy followed suit around Edwards soon after and then took command for keeps just past the midway point.
Dupuy raced on to his fifth career ASCS Gulf South win and 17th overall ASCS triumph ahead of Rilat, with Tommy Bryant claiming the show position. Brandon Corn charged from 19th to fourth, with Scottie McDonald rounding out the top five.
Chris Sweeney was sixth, with Chris Morgan, Jerry Bell, Michael McNeil and Brandon Berryman completing the top ten.
Bryant, Sweeney, Rilat and Berryman topped heat race action for the 34-car field, with Corn winning the “B” Main.
Friday night winner and defending series champion Ray Allen Kulhanek lost an engine in hot laps and was done for the night, as was Friday night third-place finisher Channin Tankersley.
Smiley’s Racing Products ASCS Gulf South Results from Royal Purple Raceway:
First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 14e-Tommy Bryant, 2. 51s-Beau Smith, 3. 85-Jerry Bell, 4. 15T-Travis Elliott, 5. 69-Larry Howery, 6. 30-Brandon Corn, 7. 11-Jeffrey Newell, 8. 8-Bruce Crockett, 9. 3-Gary Watson.
Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 93-Chris Sweeney, 2. 35-Greg Rilat, 3. 25m-Michael McNeil, 4. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 5. 54-Evan Pardo, 6. 5c-Chris Coker, 7. 76-John Ricketts, 8. 51-Jimmy Brooks. DNS: 71-Channin Tankersley.
Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 29-Travis Rilat, 2. 3x-Michael Dupuy, 3. 64j-Johnny Miller, 4. 19-Klint Angelette, 5. 5-Kyle McCutcheon, 6. 28-James Cooper, 7. 17-Bruce Griffith, Jr. DNS: 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek.
Fourth Heat (8 Laps): 1. 31-Brandon Berryman, 2. 45-Martin Edwards, 3. 88-Scottie McDonald, 4. 0-Zach Chappell, 5. 2-Wes Miller, 6. 52-Roger Oakes, 7. 17c-Greg Coleman, 8. 10-George White.
“B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 30-Brandon Corn, 2. 5-Kyle McCutcheon, 3. 69-Larry Howery, 4. 10-George White, 5. 11-Jeffrey Newell, 6. 5c-Chris Coker, 7. 28-James Cooper, 8. 76-John Ricketts, 9. 52-Roger Oakes, 10. 17c-Greg Coleman, 11. 17-Bruce Griffith, Jr., 12. 51-Jimmy Brooks. DNS: 8-Bruce Crockett, 3-Gary Watson, 71-Channin Tankersley, 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek.
“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 3x-Michael Dupuy, 2. 29-Travis Rilat, 3. 14e-Tommy Bryant, 4. 30-Brandon Corn, 5. 88-Scottie McDonald, 6. 93-Chris Sweeney, 7. 0-Chris Morgan, 8. 85-Jerry Bell, 9. 25m-Michael McNeil, 10. 31-Brandon Berryman, 11. 11-Jeffrey Newell, 12. 10-George White, 13. 19-Klint Angelette, 14. 64j-Johnny Miller, 15. 69-Larry Howery, 16. 51s-Beau Smith, 17. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 18. 15T-Travis Elliott, 19. 2-Wes Miller, 20. 45-Martin Edwards, 21. 5c-Chris Coker, 22. 35-Greg Rilat, 23. 5-Kyle McCutcheon, 24. 54-Evan Pardo.
Smiley’s Racing Products ASCS Gulf South Region Points (Top Ten): 1. George White 620, 2. Tommy Bryant 603, 3. Brandon Berryman 526, 4. Chris Sweeney 511, 5. Ray Allen Kulhanek 509, 6. Travis Elliott 494, 7. Chris Coker 470, 8. Channin Tankersley 467, 9. (tie) Michael McNeil and Greg Rilat 465.