By Lonnie Wheatley
TULSA, Okla. (October 3, 2011) – Eleven winners in 11 races, that’s the number with the American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region where parity has prevailed in 2011.
So, the question is, can anyone repeat when the ASCS Sooner Region finishes off the 2011 season this Saturday night at Muskogee’s Thunderbird Speedway.
While first-place feature money has been distributed among 11 different drivers over the course of the year, the season-long consistency of Joe Wood, Jr., has enabled him to slip away in the points race as he tries to finish off his second series championship.
The Oklahoma City racer can add this year’s title to his 2009 crown by simply showing up Saturday night at Thunderbird, which hosts the Sooner season finale for the second year in a row.
Wood, Jr., who posted his lone series win of the year on June 18 during Summer Nationals action versus the Lone Star Region at Devil’s Bowl Speedway, has posted five top-fives and nine top-tens in eleven events including a runner-up finish this past weekend at Creek County.
Wood, Jr., has stretched his advantage out to 108 points over Glenpool’s Matt Covington, who has already earned this year’s The Oil Medics ASCS Lone Star championship. Covington is 57 points ahead of Guthrie’s Michelle Decker in the battle for second, with Oklahoma City’s Andy Shouse and Claud Estes of Godley, TX, rounding out the current top five in Sooner points.
While Wood, Jr., has one feature win, the other ten Sooner winners this year include Covington, Danny Wood, Tony Bruce, Jr., Brady Bacon, Brian McClelland, Sean McClelland, Brandon Corn, Jason Johnson, Jack Dover and Seth Bergman, who added his first career Sooner win this past weekend at Creek County.
The ASCS Sooner Region made its first stop at Thunderbird Speedway last year with Sean McClelland finishing off his championship campaign with a trip to victory lane.
Before last year’s Sooner return to the historic Muskogee ½-mile oval, Thunderbird Speedway hosted four ASCS National events from 1998 to 2000 with Gary Wright winning the first three events before Wayne Johnson reached victory lane on June 9, 2000.
Saturday’s action at Thunderbird Speedway fires off at 7:30 p.m.
Thunderbird Speedway is located in Muskogee, OK, 2.1 miles east of US 69 on Okmulgee Street to B Street, then 0.9 miles south. For more information, contact the track at 918-869-6955 or 918-682-7977.
The American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region is slated for 14 nights of racing action at seven different tracks throughout Oklahoma and neighboring areas of Kansas, Texas, Missouri and Arkansas in 2011.
Past ASCS Sooner Region Feature Winners at Thunderbird Speedway:
11/6/10 – Sean McClelland
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.