From Lonnie Wheatley
WHEATLAND, Mo. (September 23, 2011) – Tim Crawley of Benton, AR, has taken an apparent liking to Lucas Oil Speedway as he broke into Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters National victory lane for the first time this season in Friday night’s 25-lap Jesse Hockett / Daniel McMillin Memorial preliminary feature event.
Crawley battled past race-long leader Jack Dover on the 19th circuit and then held off a fast-closing Brian Brown to become the 13th different series winner of the year aboard Mike Ward’s Lucas Oil/Boater Sports No. 88 GF1 after also winning last year at the “Diamond of Dirt Tracks”.
Crawley beat 18th-starter Brown to the stripe, with Jason Johnson and Dover also locking into Saturday night’s $6,000-to-win Hockett / McMillin Memorial championship main event.
“I’m really glad to get this trophy, we all miss Jesse, he was a good guy and a hard racer,” Crawley commented of the special Memorial trophy. “I hope it’s not greedy, but I hope I get the one tomorrow night too.”
While Crawley started front row outside, it was pole starter Dover battling into the lead on the opening round and then slipping away in the initial handful of laps as Crawley and third-starter Jeff Swindell raced in side-by-side fashion for second.
As traffic came into play on the eighth round, Crawley and Swindell began to close the gap on Dover with Crawley edging into second by the time the race’s only caution flew after 11 laps when fourth-runner Brady Bacon slid too high entering turn one and tagged the wall. Bacon was able to rejoin the field at the tail.
Crawley kept Dover’s Shaver-powered Thorpe’s Body Shop/Homepride Roofing No. 53 Eagle in his sights, with Dover working the top side as Crawley searched the lower and middle portions of the track.
When Crawley stuck his nose under Dover on the 18th lap, the 21-year-old Nebraska shoe dove to the bottom only to have Crawley power by while exiting in the middle of turn four on the 19th circuit.
“He’d (Dover) been running a different line, and I’d been searching around the middle there so I knew where I could make it work, I was able to take advantage,” Crawley explained.
While Crawley was out front with just five laps to go, Brian Brown was trying to duplicate his 18th to first run in Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior action from June 18. Up to seventh by the lap 11 caution, Brown cracked the top five in the FVP No. 21 Maxim by the 15th round and moved past Jason Johnson for fourth on the 20th circuit.
Brown surged past both Swindell and Dover and was within two car-lengths of Crawley as the white flag flew. But, a lapped car worked to Crawley’s advantage, preventing a serious last-lap bid from the Grain Valley, MO, contender.
“I’ll give Tim that trophy if I can have it tomorrow,” Brown commented afterward. “This race means a lot to all of us here, two special guys, there’s nothing more I’d like to look at on my mantel Sunday and see that trophy. I can guarantee we’re gonna go our hardest just as Jesse would and hopefully come up one spot better tomorrow.
Johnson rallied around the top side to take the show position in the final rounds aboard the Don Ott-powered Haynes/Mesilla Valley Transport No. 41 Maxim, explaining that, “We got pretty close, we’ve just got to get a little bit better tomorrow night.”
Dover held on for the fourth and final lock-in position, with Swindell missing out by just one spot in fifth.
Dustin Morgan charged from 20th to sixth, with current Lucas Oil Sprint Car points leader Shane Stewart fending off Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior contender Cody Baker for seventh. Baker’s eighth-place run was his best yet in ASCS National action, with fellow Warrior shoes Jonathan Cornell and Kyle Bellm completing the top ten.
Current ASCS Warrior points leader Brad Loyet climbed from 21st to eleventh in Lucas Oil ASCS National debut, with Johnny Herrera keeping Lucas Oil title hopes alive by racing from 23rd to 12th after using his first provisional of the year.
Swindell, Gavin Punch, Crawley, Austin Alumbaugh, Josh Fisher, Dover, Baker and Bellm topped heat race action for the stacked 66-car field, with Tony Bruce, Jr., Brown and Aaron Reutzel winning the “B” Mains.
Jeff Osborn got upside down in turn two in the fifth heat race, with Miranda Arnold flipping in turn four in the second “B” Main. Dakota Carroll’s night ended before it started after a meeting with the turn two wall in hot laps.
Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters
Jesse Hockett / Daniel McMillin Memorial Preliminary
Lucas Oil Speedway (Wheatland, MO)
Heat Races (Top 16 in Passing Points to “A” Main; Balance to Three “B” Mains):
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 28-Jeff Swindell, 2. 3-Mark Shirshekan, 3. 05-Brad Loyet, 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 5. 81-Danny Wood, 6. 22-Dustin Barks, 7. 775-Nick Smith, 8. 7j-J.D. Black, 9. 32-Charles Tankersley.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 81au-Gavin Punch, 2. 4-Evan Martin, 3. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 4. 77x-Wayne Johnson, 5. 9-Gary Wright, 6. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 7. 2d-Bryan Dobesh, 8. 71-Channin Tankersley, 9. 1-Ty Williams.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 88-Tim Crawley, 2. 21-Brian Brown, 3. 41-Jason Johnson, 4. 2-Dustin Morgan, 5. 6-Bryan Grimes, 6. 54-Evan Pardo, 7. 11xc-Matt Covington, 8. 1a-Adam Jones.
Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 33-Austin Alumbaugh, 2. 57-Shane Stewart, 3. 0m-Steven Richardson, 4. 0-Zach Chappell, 5. 3p-Rusty Potter, 6. 23j-Junior Jenkins, 7. 5m-Miranda Arnold, 8. 2a-Randy Hibbs.
Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 9m-Josh Fisher, 2. 8w-Jordan Whitehead, 3. 09-Josh Stephens, 4. 17k-Kyle Carpenter, 5. 29-Rusty Quick, 6. 11-Chad Corken, 7. 0x-Jeff Osborn, 8. 27-Jesse Frazier.
Heat Six (8 Laps): 1. 53-Jack Dover, 2. 99-Brady Bacon, 3. 11g-Mike Goodman, 4. 14-Randy Martin, 5. 11s-Patrick Stasa, 6. 14T-Andrew Turley, 7. 24-Lanny Carpenter, 8. 04-Brad Graham.
Heat Seven (8 Laps): 1. 38-Cody Baker, 2. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 3. 4b-Jordan Boston, 4. 10-Mike Trent, 5. 5$-Danny Smith, 6. 17-Bruce Griffith, Jr., 7. 23-Seth Bergman. DNS: 11c-Dakota Carroll.
Heat Eight (8 Laps): 1. 86-Kyle Bellm, 2. 12-Tyler Drueke, 3. 28a-Jonathan Cornell, 4. 71x-R.J. Johnson, 5. 7c-Chris Morgan, 6. 81a-Tony Crank, 7. 35g-Barry Gifford, 8. 612-Isaac Schreurs.
“B” Mains (Top 2 from Each Advance to “A” Main):
First “B” Feature (15 Laps): 1. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 2. 2-Dustin Morgan, 3. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 4. 81-Danny Wood, 5. 6-Bryan Grimes, 6. 71-Channin Tankersley, 7. 775-Nick Smith, 8. 11-Chad Corken, 9. 09-Josh Stephens, 10. 1-Ty Williams, 11. 04-Brad Graham, 12. 0x-Jeff Osborn, 13. 35g-Barry Gifford, 14. 12-Tyler Drueke, 15. 27-Jesse Frazier, 16. 3p-Rusty Potter. DNS: 7c-Chris Morgan.
Second “B” Feature (15 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown, 2. 05-Brad Loyet, 3. 77x-Wayne Johnson, 4. 9-Gary Wright, 5. 11xc-Matt Covington, 6. 54-Evan Pardo, 7. 0-Zach Chappell, 8. 2a-Randy Hibbs, 9. 5$-Danny Smith, 10. 17-Bruce Griffith, Jr., 11. 24-Lanny Carpenter, 12. 29-Rusty Quick, 13. 4b-Jordan Boston, 14. 612-Isaac Schreurs, 15. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 16. 5m-Miranda Arnold. DNS: 11c-Dakota Carroll.
Third “B” Feature (15 Laps): 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 2. 10-Mike Trent, 3. 71x-R.J. Johnson, 4. 11s-Patrick Stasa, 5. 23-Seth Bergman, 6. 1a-Adam Jones, 7. 8w-Jordan Whitehead, 8. 2d-Bryan Dobesh, 9. 81a-Tony Crank, 10. 0m-Steven Richardson, 11. 7j-J.D. Black, 12. 22-Dustin Barks, 13. 23j-Junior Jenkins, 14. 14T-Andrew Turley, 15. 11g-Mike Goodman. DNS: 32-Charles Tankersley.
Jesse Hockett / Daniel McMillin Memorial Preliminary “A” Main:
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 88-Tim Crawley, 2. 21-Brian Brown, 3. 41-Jason Johnson, 4. 53-Jack Dover, 5. 28-Jeff Swindell, 6. 2-Dustin Morgan, 7. 57-Shane Stewart, 8. 38-Cody Baker, 9. 28a-Jonathan Cornell, 10. 86-Josh Fisher, 11. 05-Brad Loyet, 12. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 13. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 14. 33-Austin Alumbaugh, 15. 14-Randy Martin, 16. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 17. 3-Mark Shirshekan, 18. 23-Seth Bergman, 19. 99-Brady Bacon, 20. 9m-Josh Fisher, 21. 10-Mike Trent, 22. 81au-Gavin Punch, 23. 4-Evan Martin, 24. 17k-Kyle Carpenter.
Lap Leaders: Jack Dover 1-18, Tim Crawley 19-25.
Note: Johnny Herrera and Seth Bergman both utilized provisionals to start the main event. It was Herrera’s first of the year, while it was Bergman’s mid-season bonus full-point provisional.
Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters Driver Points (Top 15): 1. Shane Stewart 2,251, 2. Johnny Herrera 2,160 3. Jeff Swindell 2,101 4. Brady Bacon 2,027, 5. Tim Crawley 1,998, 6. Gary Wright 1,928, 7. Seth Bergman 1,850, 8. Jason Johnson 1,801, 9. Aaron Reutzel 1,787, 10. Tony Bruce, Jr. 1,776, 11. Zach Chappell 1,575, 12. Wayne Johnson 1,261, 13. Logan Forler 1,091, 14. Dustin Morgan 999, 15. Jack Dover 957.
Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters Owner Points (Top 15): 1. Jason Johnson Racing #41 – 2,353, 2. Paul Silva #57 – 2,251, 3. Herrera/Main #45x – 2,160, 4. Swindell Group #28 – 2,101, 5. Bacon/Tel-Star #99 – 2,027, 6. Mike Ward #88 – 1,998, 7. Petersen Motorsports #23 1,850, 8. Kenny Reutzel #87 – 1,787, 9. Bruce Racing #18 – 1,776, 10. Randy Washburn #0 – 1,575, 11. Gary Wright #9 – 1,332, 12. Bryan Sundby #38 – 1,196, 13. Steve Forler #2L – 1,091, 14. M&M Motorsports #2 – 999, 15. Cooper/Sperry #01/51 – 872.
Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Brad Loyet 2,022, 2. Jonathan Cornell 1,792, 3. Randy Martin 1,789, 4. Kyle Bellm 1,756, 5. Mark Shirshekan 1,687, 6. Cody Baker 1,651, 7. Josh Stephens 1,482, 8. Tyler Blank 1,229, 9. Austin Alumbaugh 1,185, 10. Miranda Arnold 1,104.