Lonnie Wheatley
KILGORE, Texas (October 15, 2011) – Shane Stewart picked off his second five-figure dollar amount win of the 2011 Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters National campaign by topping Saturday night’s 40-lap Inaugural LoneStar Sprint Nationals finale atop the 3/8-mile Lone Star Speedway.
The current Lucas Oil Sprint Car points leader from Bixby, OK, battled past Gary Wright into the lead on the 22nd round and then fought off a bid from Jason Johnson en route to collecting the $12,000 winner’s share after his third ASCS National win of the year and 25th of his career.
“This is big for us to win a race that pays so well, it’s been a while since I’ve been in this position,” Stewart explained of the triumph aboard Paul Silva’s Rockstar Energy Drink/Makita No. 57 A.R.T.
While Stewart started the feature inside the third row, pole starter Wright outgunned Matt Covington for the lead at the drop of the green flag and paced the initial half of the race with Covington holding down second until the 12th round when Herrera slid by with Stewart following suit for third a lap later.
Stewart slid past Herrera for second on the 15th circuit and then battled past “The Texan” for the point on the 22nd lap with Jason Johnson hot on his heels just one round before the race’s only caution appeared for a Junior Jenkins spin.
Johnson slid past Stewart for the lead on the ensuing restart only to have the 2009 series champion return the favor and then set the pace the rest of the way. Johnson settled for runner-up honors in the Don Ott-powered Haynes No. 41 Maxim, with Friday night preliminary feature winner Daryn Pittman taking the show position in the T-Mac Motorsports No. 24.
Wright was fourth in his No. 9 Maxim, with Jack Dover climbing from 11th to round out the top five in the Shaver-powered Thorpe’s Auto Body No. 53 Eagle.
Herrera was sixth, with Seth Bergman, Travis Rilat, Brian Brown and Danny Wood completing the top ten.
Aaron Reutzel and Jeff Swindell won Saturday night’s B Mains.
Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters
Inaugural LoneStar Sprint Nationals
Lone Star Speedway (Kilgore, TX)
Locked in by Virtue of Top Four Finish on Preliminary Night (In order of Redraw):
1. 9-Gary Wright, 2. 11c-Matt Covington, 3. 88-Tim Crawley, 4. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 5. 57-Shane Stewart, 6. 41-Jason Johnson, 7. 24-Daryn Pittman, 8. 23-Seth Bergman.
Feature Starting Positions Based on Qualifying Night Point Totals:
9. 81-Danny Wood, 10. 29-Travis Rilat, 11. 53-Jack Dover, 12. 21-Brian Brown, 13. 99-Brady Bacon, 14. 11g-Mike Goodman.
“B” Mains (Top 4 From Each Advance to “A” Main):
First “B” Feature (15 Laps): 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 2. 2dm-Dustin Morgan, 3. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 4. 30-Brandon Corn, 5. 11-Justin Melton, 6. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 7. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 8. 51-Beau Smith, 9. 8-John Carney II, 10. 90-Lance Norick, 11. 5h-Mason Moore, 12. 76-John Ricketts, 13. 74e-Claud Estes, 14. 20-Chad Wilson, 15. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 16. 44w-Austen Wheatley (DNS), 17. 17w-Brad Welborn (DNS), 18. 17m-Josh Baughman (DNS), 19. 16-Koty Adams (DNS), 20. 0-Zach Chappell (DNS), 21. 79-Ryan Hall (DNS).
Second “B” Feature (15 Laps): 1. 28-Jeff Swindell, 2. 45k-Kolt Walker, 3. 21k-Lou Kennedy, Jr., 4. 71-Channin Tankersley, 5. 20k-Thomas Kennedy, 6. 5-Kyle McCutcheon, 7. 45-Martin Edwards, 8. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 9. 36-John Pate, 10. 23j-Junior Jenkins, 11. 69h-Larry Howery, 12. 58-Gary Floyd, 13. 14b-Robert Byrom, 14. 17-Bruce Griffith, Jr., 15. 15-Curtis Wayne Brown, 16. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 17. 31-Brandon Berryman, 18. 27-Andy Shouse, 19. 33-Mark Huddleston, 20. 2d-Bryan Dobesh.
LoneStar Nationals “A” Main:
“A” Feature (40 Laps): 1. 57-Shane Stewart, 2. 41-Jason Johnson, 3. 24-Daryn Pittman, 4. 9-Gary Wright, 5. 53-Jack Dover, 6. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 7. 23-Seth Bergman, 8. 29-Travis Rilat, 9. 21-Brian Brown, 10. 81-Danny Wood, 11. 99-Brady Bacon, 12. 88-Tim Crawley, 13. 11g-Mike Goodman, 14. 45k-Kolt Walker, 15. 2dm-Dustin Morgan, 16. 71-Channin Tankersley, 17. 28-Jeff Swindell, 18. 30-Brandon Corn, 19. 17-Bruce Griffith, Jr., 20. 11c-Matt Covington, 21. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 22. 21k-Lou Kennedy, Jr., 23. 23j-Junior Jenkins, 24. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 25. 15b-Curtis Wayne Brown.
Note: Junior Jenkins and Curtis Wayne Brown were added to the feature field via blind draw, while Bruce Griffith, Jr., bought his way into the feature event.
Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters Driver Points (Top 15): 1. Shane Stewart 2,467, 2. Johnny Herrera 2,370 3. Jeff Swindell 2,326, 4. Tim Crawley 2,240, 5. Brady Bacon 2,225, 6. Gary Wright 2,147, 7. Seth Bergman 2,056, 8. Jason Johnson 2,051, 9. Tony Bruce, Jr. 1,989, 10. Aaron Reutzel 1,952, 11. Zach Chappell 1,771, 12. Wayne Johnson 1,426, 13. Dustin Morgan 1,221, 14. Jack Dover 1,187, 15. Logan Forler 1,091.
Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters Owner Points (Top 15): 1. Jason Johnson Racing #41 – 2,603, 2. Paul Silva #57 – 2,467, 3. Herrera/Main #45x – 2,370, 4. Swindell Group #28 – 2,326, 5. Mike Ward #88 – 2,240, 6. Bacon/Tel-Star #99 – 2,225, 7. Petersen Motorsports #23 2,056, 8. Bruce Racing #18 – 1,989, 9. Kenny Reutzel #87 – 1,952, 10. Randy Washburn #0 – 1,771, 11. Gary Wright #9 – 1,551, 12. M&M Motorsports #2 – 1,221, 13. Bryan Sundby #38 – 1,196, 14. Steve Forler #2L – 1,091, 15. Danny Wood #81 – 1,004.