By Bryan Hulbert
Las Cruces, NM (March 17, 2012) – After a less than
stellar performance on the preliminary night El Paso, Texas racer John
Carney II was the driver to beat in Saturday’s 30 lap feature event as
the Steward Builders 224 raced to a $6,000 payday at the Southern New
Mexico Speedway.
“I wasn’t sure if I had a real good lead or not but I felt pretty
comfortable” commented Carney when asked about leading into slower
traffic. “We were behind the eight-ball starting the night off and
it’s great to walk out with this.”
Lining up eighth on the field, the 224 of Carney would bolt into the
top five in the first three laps of the night’s $5,000 to win feature
event; moving into fourth with the 47 of Dale Blaney and 45x of Johnny
Herrera within reach as the field chased the 1x of Jeff Swindell to
the caution with twenty-four laps to run as the 11p of Preston Peebles
rolled to a stop with a hurt engine.
Back underway the El Paso Transmission 1x of Swindell again bolted
into the race lead as Carney maneuvered his Momentum Suspension 224
into the runner up spot as the caution waved again for the 36 of Joe
Alvarado who lost a drive-shaft on the top of turn four.
Moving under green flag conditions yet again after a false start,
Carney would dive to the bottom groove only to have Swindell ready to
block the charge. With just under twenty laps to run, the 1x of Jeff
Swindell continued to lead as Blaney and Herrera continued to give
chase along with Carney.
Another mid race caution would finally give Carney the jump he was
looking for as the 224 dove to the bottom groove and proceeded to pull
away from Swindell as Lorne Wofford, who started fifteenth on the
field, move into the top three. Inching closer and closer lapped
traffic would begin to come into play as Carney dove in and out of the
slower traffic in an effort to keep Wofford at bay.
Holding off the charge of Wofford in traffic, a caution with less than
six laps to run for the 45x of Johnny Herrera would see Carney now
having to hold off the MTS 18 on clear race track. With the racing
surface taking rubber from top to bottom, the worry about tires was
amplified as crews towed the 45x into the infield with a shredded
right rear tire. Taking the green for the final run to the checkered
flag, Carney and Wofford would take off as Swindell was left to try
and hold off Dave Blaney for third as thirteenth starting JR Patton
came into the picture.
Working into the final two laps, Wofford would remain within striking
distance but would not be able to get the run he needed as John Carney
II raced to his second ASCS 305 Sprint Car Shootout win. Lorne Wofford
crossed the stripe second with Dale Blaney getting by the 1x. Jeff
Swindell would take fourth with JR Patton rounding out the top five.
With an A.S.I Engine under the hood, Caney was awarded an additional
$1,000 from A.S.I to bring his total winnings to $6,000. Lorne Wofford
as the Hard Charger of the Race, earning an additional $500 from
Mesilla Valley Transportation and CSR Garage.
ASCS 305 Sprint Car Shootout
Southern New Mexico Speedway
Las Cruces, New Mexico
March 17, 2012 – Finale
Event Car Count: 35
Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. 1x-Jeff Swindell; 2. 11-Mike Stringfield; 3.
186-JR Patton; 4. 18-Lorne Wofford; 5. 2j-Zach Blurton; 6. 36-Joe
Alvarado; 7. 52-Art Quijano; 8. 98-Jerry Gonzales
Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. 6u-Anton Salopek; 2. 224-John Carney II; 3. 36-Joe
Alvarado; 4. 17-Josh Baughman; 5. 21x-Brandon Schure; 6. 43-Curt
Barnett; 7. 20-Luke Cranston; 8. 4-Jeril Higginbotham (DNS)
Heat 3 (8 laps): 1. 1m-Dylan Harris; 2. 131-Royal Jones; 3. 41-Jason
Johnson; 4. 5-Kyle McCutcheon; 5. 9-Robert Herrera; 6. 8t-Tadd
Baughman; 7. 25c-Lamar Skarda; 8. 05 Bill Briley III
Heat 4 (8 laps): 1. 7c-John Carney Sr.; 2. 21-Wes Wofford; 3.
74b-Derek Drown; 4. 2x-Brandon Williams; 5. 2-Tyler Jackson (DNF); 6.
77 Colt Treharn (DNF); 7. 69 Glen Passmore (DNS)
B-Main (15 laps: top 4 to Feature): 1. 36-Joe Alvarado; 2. 21x-Bradon
Schure; 3. 43-Curt Barnett; 4. 25c-Lamar Skarda; 5. 2j-Zach Blurton;
6. 77-Colt Treharn; 7. 20-Luke Cranston; 8. 98-Jerry Gonzales; 9.
8t-Tadd Baughman; 10. 52-Aaron Quijano; 11. 05-Bill Briley III; 12.
2-Tyler Jackson; 13; Jeril Higginbotham; 14. 2x-Brandon Williams; 15.
9-Robert Herrera; 16. 69-Glen Passmore
A-Main Finish (30 Laps): 1. 224-John Carney II; 2. 18-Lorne Wofford;
3. 47-Dale Blaney; 4. 1x-Jeff Swindell; 5. 186-JR Patton; 6. 9k-Kyle
Sager; 7. 74b-Derek Drown; 8. 1m-Dylan Harris; 9. 41-Jason Johnson;
10. 5-Kyle McCutcheon; 11. 6u-Anton Salopek; 12. 30c-Barry Crane; 13.
21x-Brandon Schure; 14. 17-Josh Baughman; 15. 25c-Lamar Skarda; 16.
7c-John Carney Sr.; 17. 11-Mike Stringfield; 18. 131-Royal Jones; 19.
45x-Johnny Herrera; 20. 43-Curt Barnett; 21. 2j-Zach Blurton; 22.
21-Wes Wofford; 23. 36-Joe Alvarado; 24. 11p-Preston Peebles
MVT/CSR Hard Charger: Lorne Wofford
Longest Tow Award: Zach Blurton
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.