– Las Cruces, NM (March 16, 2012) – Using a borrowed
car, the low line, and lapped traffic Albuquerque, New Mexico’s Johnny
Herrera charged to the preliminary night win at the ASCS 305 Sprint
Car Shootout at the Southern New Mexico Speedway in Las Cruces, New
Mexico.
“I planned to run the bottom the entire race and it started coming to
me. When I saw them start to pressure me I started running a little
harder” commented Herrera in victory lane. “I thought I might have to
run the top of the track in lapped traffic but since I had committed I
was just going to wait from them to make a mistake.”
After missing the re-draw by one spot, Herrera would have to work his
way from ninth; taking a pair of positions before the caution waved on
lap three for the spun 224 of John Carney II. Back to green the fight
on the racetrack would be for the top spot as early race leader Kyle
McCutcheon would be staked by the 9k of Kyle Sager.
Pursuing each other all over the racing surface, the pair of drivers
ran every inch of the track with Sager finally catching the advantage
with seventeen laps to run. As Sager cleared the 5 of McCutcheon the
next battle on the track would be for the top five as Dylan Harris
looked to hold off the 41 of Jason Johnson and the 47 of Dale Blaney
as the caution waved for the 21 of Wes Wofford who spun trying to make
the battle for fifth a four car affair.
Back to green with sixteen laps to run Herrera was on the move as the
45x moved into the top five; quickly working into a battle for the
runner up spot before the caution waved for a four car pileup that saw
Lorne Wofford, Wes Wofford, and Luke Cranston sidelined of the
remainder of the night. Curt Barnett was involved but was able to roll
away.
Underway with just under fourteen laps to run the 45x of Herrera would
use the restart to perfection to take the lead for the 9k; leaving
Sager to contend with the 47 of Dave Blaney as the caution waved for
the 77 of Colt Treharn who came to a stop on the top of turn two.
Restarting with less than a dozen laps to run, several drivers would
bunch together with the 1x of Jeff Swindell getting the short end of
the stick with a broken front axle after fighting into the top five
from the twenty-third starting position. Able to make his way into the
infield the race continued green with the battle for the lead taking
off in a big way between Herrera and Blaney.
For nearly a half dozen laps, the 45x of Herrera and the 47 of Blaney
would swap the race lead. With Herrera taking the low line, Blaney
would have to motor by on the high line if he wanted to take the lead.
Bringing the fans to the their feet Blaney would gain the advantage
only to have Herrera charge back to the lead. Over and over the pair
of drivers swapped the top spot before Herrera was finally able to
gain the advantage.
As Herrera began to pull away, the fight to be in the top four was
between the 11p of Preston Peebles and the 41 of Jason Johnson.
Charging into a transfer spot for Saturday’s A-Main from his
twenty-fourth starting position, the bottom grove would prove
effective in holding off the 41 of Johnson as the checkered flag waved
for the 45x of Johnny Herrera. Kyle Sager would work back by the 47 of
Blaney in the closing laps to claim second with Blaney holding onto
third. Preston Peebles would get the final transfer into Saturday’s
A-Main with Jason Johnson rounding out the top five.
ASCS 305 Sprint Car Shootout
Southern New Mexico Speedway
Las Cruces, New Mexico
March 16, 2012 – Preliminary Night
Car Count: 34
Sprint Car Heat 1- John Carney Sr., Luke Cranston, Kyle Sager, Brandon
Williams, Bill Briley III, Anton Salopek, Tyler Jackson, Preston
Peebles
Sprint Car Heat 2- Finish: Kyle McCutcheon, Dylan Harris, Derek Drown,
John Carney II, Wes Wofford, Zach Blurton, Royal Jones, Glen Passmore,
Aaron Quijano
Sprint Car Heat 3 – Finish: Johnny Herrera, JR Patton, Dale Blaney,
Mike Stringfield, Jason Johnson, Josh Baughman, Joe Alvarado, Jerry
Gonzales
Sprint Car Heat 4 – Finish: Curt Barnett, Lorne Wofford, Colt Treharn,
Lamar Skarda, Brandon Schure, Jeff Swindell, Barry Crane, Robert
Herrera
B-Main (top 8 to A-Main): John Carney II, Mike Stringfield, Brandon
Williams, Tyler Jackson, Royal Jones, Brandon Schure, Jeff Swindell,
Preston Peebles….Anton Salopek, Josh Baughman, Joe Alvarado, Glen
Passmore, Zach Blurton, Aaron Quijano, Jerry Gonzales, Jeril
Higginbotham(DNS), Robert Herrera(DNS), Barry Crane(DNS)
Sprint Car A-Feature (top 4 to Saturday’s A-Feature): Johnny Herrera,
Kyle Sager, Dale Blaney, Preston Peebles, Jason Johnson, John Carney
II, Kyle McCutcheon, John Carney Sr., Mike Stringfield, Brandon
Schure, Colt Treharn, Tyler Jackson, Dylan Harris, Royal Jones, Bill
Briley III, Lamar Skarda, JR Patton, Curt Barnett(DNF), Brandon
Williams(DNF), Jeff Swindell(DNF), Luke Cranston(DNF), Wes
Wofford(DNF), Lorne Wofford(DNF), Derek Drown(DNF)
Night two of the ASCS 305 Sprint Car Shootout at the Southern New
Mexico Speedway gets underway on Saturday March 17th at 6:30pm MST.
Admission is $12 with kids 10 years and younger getting in free. More
information can be found at www.snmspeedway.com.
The 2012 season marks the 21st year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing
for the American Sprint Car Series, which brings the best of Sprint
Car racing to dozens of different tracks throughout the nation and
into Canada. Anchored by the Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series, ASCS also
consists of ten different Regions throughout the nation.
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is
available at www.ascsracing.com.