By Lonnie Wheatley
TULSA, Okla. (June 13, 2011) – The Engine Pro ASCS Sprints on Dirt presented by ARP are set to fire back to action with a pair of events in Michigan this coming weekend.
On Friday night, the series takes to the high-banked, 3/8-mile Cherry Raceway clay oval in Fife Lake, MI. Then, on Saturday night, it’s off to I-96 Speedway’s semi-banked, 3/8-mile dirt oval in Lake Odessa, MI.
Friday’s card at Cherry Raceway marks the second round of the MAHLE/Clevite Short Track Challenge. Dustin Daggett topped round one at Crystal Motor Speedway on April 30. It is also the first of two SOD stops at Cherry Raceway in 2011.
After being rained out on the I-96 half-mile on May 14, Saturday’s event marks the first of three SOD outings on I-96 Speedway’s 3/8-mile oval.
There have been five different winners in the last five ASCS Sprints on Dirt events at Cherry Raceway, with Dustin Daggett the most recent last August after Darren Long won the June event. Previous to that, the 2009 scheduled event was rained out, Gregg Dalman and Ben Rutan claimed Cherry wins in 2008 and Brett Mann won the July event in 2007 after Daggett scored in June.
The series has only tackled the 3/8-mile at I-96 once, with Daggett taking the victory in last September’s SOD season finale.
After winning the initial pair of events this season and then running among the top-ten in the only event completed over the scheduled Memorial Day triple, Daggett is out to a 40-point lead over defending series champion Ryan Grubaugh.
Daggett and Grubaugh are chased into the weekend by Jared Horstman, with Shawn Dancer and Gregg Dalman rounding out the current top five. The rest of the current top ten includes Robert Huisken, Aaron Shaffer, Matt Lumbert, Brett Mann and Ryan Ruhl.
After Friday’s event at Cherry Raceway, Saturday’s card at I-96 Speedway fires off at 7:00 p.m.
Fife Lake, Michigan’s Cherry Raceway is located 3.1 miles northwest of US 131 on SR 113. For more information, contact the track at 231-468-1477.
Lake Odessa, Michigan’s I-96 Speedway is located off I-96 Exit 64, then 0.5 miles south, then 0.7 miles west. For more information, contact the track at 616-642-0555.
The 32nd year of competition for the Engine Pro ASCS Sprints on Dirt presented by ARP consists of 27 scheduled nights of action at 13 different tracks throughout Michigan, Ohio and Ontario.
The 2011 season marks the 20th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing for the American Sprint Car Series, with approximately 200 nights of competition at tracks throughout the nation and into 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.