From Lonnie Wheatley
LUBBOCK, Texas (March 23, 2012) – Derek Drown kicked off Lady Luck Speedway’s Fifth Annual Beat the Heat season opener by wiring the field in Friday night’s 25-lap ASCS 305-ci Sprint Car feature event.
After climbing from sixth to third in his heat race, Drown redrew the front row outside for the feature event and led all the way to take the $2,000 triumph on the opening night of the two-night card.
Drown took the checkered flag ahead of John Carney II, who worked forward from sixth and ultimately took the runner-up position when Kyle Sager blew an engine and pulled pitside six laps shy of the checkered flag.
Wes Wofford claimed the show position, with pole starter Chris Douglas and Lorne Wofford rounding out the top five.
The initial 21 laps of the main event ran off in non-stop fashion until the red flag flew for Preston Peebles II, who popped an engine and briefly burst into flames on the frontstretch. On the ensuing restart, Jerry Graves climbed a right rear tire entering turn three and flipped to illuminate the red lights once again.
Lorne Wofford, Douglas and Leighton Crouch topped heat race action, with Josh Baughman winning the “B” Main. Brandon Black flipped in turn two on the opening lap of the second heat race and was done for the night.
Lady Luck’s Speedway Beat the Heat event concludes on Saturday night with a $3,500 winner’s share up for grabs for the ASCS 305-ci Sprint Cars.
Lady Luck Speedway Beat the Heat Friday ASCS 305-ci Sprint Car Results:
First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 118-Lorne Wofford, 2. 9k-Kyle Sager, 3. 21-Wes Wofford, 4. 13-Ben Brewer, 5. 11p-Preston Peebles II, 6. 121-Jeff Radcliffe, 7. 05-Billy Briley, 8. 11-Justin Melton, 9. 25-Zach Blurton.
Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 56-Chris Douglas, 2. 12-Jerry Graves, 3. 74b-Derek Drown, 4. 58-Gary Floyd, 5. 17-Josh Baughman, 6. 50-Brent Rose, 7. 24-Scott Pace, 8. 777-Brandon Black.
Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 0c-Leighton Crouch, 2. 224-John Carney II, 3. 5-Kyle McCutcheon, 4. 47-Tad Baughman, 5. 77-Colt Treharn, 6. 16-Cory Riley, 7. 13x-Andy Shouse, 8. 2x-Brandon Williams.
“B” Feature (8 Laps): 1. 17-Josh Baughman, 2. 11-Justin Melton, 3. 47-Tad Baughman, 4. 77-Colt Treharn, 5. 121-Jeff Radcliffe, 6. 13x-Andy Shouse, 7. 05-Billy Briley, 8. 25-Zach Blurton, 9. 2x-Brandon Williams, 10. 24-Scott Pace. DNS: 777-Brandon Black.
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 74b-Derek Drown, 2. 224-John Carney II, 3. 21-Wes Wofford, 4. 56-Chris Douglas, 5. 118-Lorne Wofford, 6. 17-Josh Baughman, 7. 77-Colt Treharn, 8. 5-Kyle McCutcheon, 9. 58-Gary Floyd, 10. 47-Tad Baughman, 11. 12-Jerry Graves, 12. 11p-Preston Peebles II, 13. 9k-Kyle Sager, 14. 13x-Andy Shouse, 15. 16-Cory Riley, 16. 0c-Leighton Crouch, 17. 50-Brent Rose, 18. 11-Justin Melton, 19. 121-Jeff Radcliffe, 20. 13-Ben Brewer (DNS).