From Inside Line Promotions
JETMORE, Kan. (May 28, 2011) – However, Derek Drown, who crossed the finish line first, was disqualified for a nose wing violation. That handed the opener of the two-day American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region/NCRA event to Dover.
“It’s not the way I wanted to win, but I’ll take it,” he said with a big grin. “We showed out there that we were the fastest car over the race.”
Dover, who started seventh, worked his way into second place within the first handful of laps. Meanwhile, Drown took the lead from polesitter Jason Martin as Dover climbed into the top three.
The duo had a spirited battle for several laps before Dover eventually got positioning on the bottom of the track entering turn one a third of the way through the 30-lap race. The drivers had a drag race down the backstretch before Dover cleared him entering turn three and gradually created a sizable lead.
A pair of cautions in the final 10 laps allowed Drown to close the gap, but it wasn’t until Dover said he heard a voice over the RACEceiver that there was a challenge for the top spot.
“I thought he said something so I slowed down,” Dover said. “I was clear out of the throttle.”
Drown powered into the lead on the backstretch and held on the final three circuits for the apparent win. However, post-race inspection found his nose wing was too far forward and he was disqualified.
“It’s unreal,” Drown said. “It’s one of them deals.”
Officially, Mike Peters finished second. He was also the runner-up to Dover in the fifth and final heat race.
“There was a little bit of everything,” Peters said of the main event. “Good close racing and some excitement.”
C.J. Johnson placed third, Jeremy Campbell was fourth and Danny Wood rounded out the top five.
Brian Brown was sixth, followed by Joe Wood Jr., Garry Lee Maier, Justyn Cox and Miranda Arnold, respectively. Arnold drove from 10th to finish fourth in her B Main and then rallied from last place – 22nd – to record the top 10.
Bruce Jr. and Colton Treharn each claimed a B Main victory.
In an unusual moment, current ASCS Sooner Region points leader Matt Covington was leading the second B Main when his right front tire came off the car in turn two. Covington, whose tire flew off the track, raced another lap and a half in the lead before his car failed to turn and went straight into the wall in turn four.
Brady Bacon, Drown, Brown, Campbell and Dover topped the heat races.
Racing resumes on Sunday with the finale of the 3rd annual Steve King Memorial presented by The Oil Medics. The front gate opens at 5:30 p.m. with racing set for 7:30 p.m.
American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region Results from “The Great American Dirt Track” @ Jetmore Motorplex – Third Annual Steve King Memorial Night One:
First Heat (10 Laps): 1. 99-Brady Bacon, 2. 81-Danny Wood, 3. 1x-Garry Lee Maier, 4. 76J-Justin Schwien, 5. 7-Michelle Decker, 6. 33-Kris Miller, 7. 91-Jeff Stasa, 8. 35g-Barry Gifford, 9. 74-Zach Merritt.
Second Heat (10 Laps): 1. 74b-Derek Drown, 2. 21T-Taylor Velasquez, 3. 45x-C.J. Johnson, 4. 19-Patrick Stasa, 5. 81x-Jon Freeman, 6. 110-Cameron Hagin, 7. 85-Forest Sutherland, 8. 18r-Ryan Roberts. DNS: 21tx-Brandon Schure.
Third Heat (10 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown, 2. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 3. 36x-Jason Martin, 4. 22-Koby Barksdale, 5. 81au-Gavin Punch, 6. 8w-Jordan Whitehead, 7. 0c-Preston Peebles II, 8. 165-Haley Arnold, 9. 11-Jeffrey Newell.
Fourth Heat (10 Laps): 1. E85-Jeremy Campbell, 2. 100-Zach Chappell, 3. 21c-Justyn Cox, 4. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 5. 1-Ty Williams, 6. 0-Steven Richardson, 7. 31L-Lee Little. DNS: 22k-Kevin Barksdale.
Fifth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 53-Jack Dover, 2. 51-Mike Peters, 3. 77-Colt Treharn, 4. 11c-Matt Covington, 5. 20-Luke Cranston, 6. 36-Andy Shouse, 7. 5m-Miranda Arnold, 8. 77y-Russ Yeager.
First “B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 2. 1x-Garry Lee Maier, 3. 81au-Gavin Punch, 4. 20-Luke Cranston, 5. 22-Koby Barksdale, 6. 81x-Jon Freeman, 7. 36-Andy Shouse, 8. 0c-Preston Peebles II, 9. 18r-Ryan Roberts, 10. 0-Steven Richardson, 11. 165-Haley Arnold, 12. 74-Zach Merritt, 13. 110-Cameron Hagin. DNS: 11-Jeffrey Newell, 22k-Kevin Barksdale.
Second “B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 77-Colt Treharn, 2. 19-Patrick Stasa, 3. 7-Michelle Decker, 4. 5m-Miranda Arnold, 5. 33-Kris Miller, 6. 85-Forest Sutherland, 7. 77y-Russ Yeager, 8. 91-Jeff Stasa, 9. 31L-Lee Little, 10. 11c-Matt Covington, 11. 1-Ty Williams, 12. 8w-Jordan Whitehead. DNS: 35g-Barry Gifford, 21tx-Brandon Schure.
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 53-Jack Dover, 2. 51-Mike Peters, 3. 45x-C.J. Johnson, 4. E85-Jeremy Campbell, 5. 81-Danny Wood, 6. 21-Brian Brown, 7. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 8. 1x-Garry Lee Maier, 9. 21c-Justyn Cox, 10. 5m-Miranda Arnold, 11. 7-Michelle Decker, 12. 21t-Taylor Velasquez, 13. 81au-Gavin Punch, 14. 20-Luke Cranston, 15. 19-Patrick Stasa, 16. 36x-Jason Martin, 17. 77-Colt Treharn, 18. 99-Brady Bacon, 19. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 20. 76j-Justin Schwien, 21. 100-Zach Chappell, 22. 74b-Derek Drown (Disqualified; nose wing too far forward after finishing first).
American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Matt Covington 402, 2. Joe Wood, Jr. 394, 3. Michelle Decker 376, 4. Andy Shouse 363, 5. Koby Barksdale 334, 6. Cameron Hagin 286, 7. Danny Wood 285, 8. Lee Little 273, 9. Claud Estes 260, 10. (tie) Brady Demeree and Tony Bruce, Jr. 229.
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