Hickle scores first ASCS Frontier win at Great Falls

By Andrew Kunas

GREAT FALLS, Mont. – For the second straight night, someone from outside the state of Montana picked up his first career victory in Big Sky Country, as Quilcene, Wash.’s J.J. Hickle led all 25 laps to win the ASCS Frontier Region sprint car main event in the final night of the 20th Annual Montana Round-Up at Electric City Speedway on Sunday.

Though Hickle hails from the Evergreen State, the car he drove to victory was based locally in Great Falls. Starting on the pole, Hickle held off series points leader Joe Ramaker and made his way through traffic to earn the victory aboard the Peterson Racing No. 23n Ostrich-powered Rocket. With the team being from Great Falls, the win was popular with local fans.

Hickle, who currently sits second in the point standings for the ASCS Northwest Region, had only raced in Montana on a few other occasions before this weekend, including driving his own car at Electric City Speedway during the Frontier Region’s two-day season opener in May. Driving for Richie Peterson, Hickle had finishes of eighth on Friday and seventh on Saturday during the Montana Round-Up before finding victory lane Sunday.

“We had a really good car. It could go anywhere we wanted it,” said Hickle, regarding racing with Ramaker and dealing with traffic in a car that he had not driven before Friday night. “It was a matter of hitting your marks and picking the right time to make your moves. I hope to stay with this team awhile and improve more. I had fun.”

Ramaker, who leads the series with five victories this season, made a last ditch attempt at a slide job around Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 25 and snatch what would’ve been his third win at Electric City, but Hickle easily cleared him and held off one of Montana’s best.

“The best part was starting on the front row next to the guy who’s won here more than anyone here tonight, and then leading all 25 laps in front of him. When you come (to Great Falls), he’s the guy to beat,” Hickle said of Ramaker.

Hickle’s first win in Montana came one night after Dennis MacEachern of Edson, Alberta got his first such victory at the same race track. MacEachern finished tenth on Sunday.

Ramaker, who lives in Boise, Idaho but still calls nearby Choteau, Mont. home, finished second at his home track aboard the Ramaker Racing No. 98 Ostrich-powered J&J, extending his points lead over Lethbridge, Alberta’s Kelly Miller to 58 points. Ramaker was occasionally challenged by Iowa visitor Joe Beaver and defending Frontier Region champion Phil Dietz of Laurel, Mont. for second place, but eventually pulled away.

“We were lucky to finish second, I think,” Ramaker said. “We had to keep our momentum up tonight to keep pace. I had to try a bonzai run on the last lap, but he was fast tonight. J.J. did a good job. Hats off to him and the Peterson Family.”

With finishes of fifth, sixth and second, Ramaker earned the most points, 389, over the weekend and earned a $500 bonus from Electric City Speedway. Hickle was just four points back of Ramaker and earned $300.

Beaver, the 2014 Knoxville Raceway champion back home in Iowa, finished third to cap off his first visit to Electric City Speedway aboard the Beaver Motorsports No. 53 Moyle-powered Maxim. Beaver finished 12th on Friday night and tenth on Saturday before finally finding the setup his car needed Sunday. Beaver ran second in the early laps before yeilding to Ramaker.

“We were a lot better than we had been this weekend. We had a great car, but I was little disappointed since I messed up in the main a little bit, making a couple of mistakes. The guys out front did a great job. I just wish I had a second chance,” said Beaver, who said he otherwise enjoyed his time in Great Falls. “I had a lot of fun. There are a lot of good cars here. Everyone here is super nice. You can’t ask for more, other than a win maybe.”

Dietz finished fourth, earning his fourth Top 5 finish, including three runner-ups, in the last five races aboard the Prevost Racing No. 72 RFast-powered Gf1. Dietz finished second to MacEachern on Saturday night. Earning the third most points over the weekend, Dietz earned a $200 bonus.

Casey Adams of Le Duc, Alberta made a late run to finish fifth aboard the Adams Racing No. 12a BeL-powered Maxim.

Miller would finish sixth, one night after being involved in a crash that resulted in him losing a lot of ground to Ramaker in the point standings. Joe Perry of Billings would back up sixth and third place finishes with a seventh place effort. North Dakota visitor Dave Glennon, racing at Electric City Speedway for the first time this weekend, earned his third Top 10 finish in as many nights as well with an eighth place finish to back up his ninth place effort Saturday and his runner-up finish on Friday. Jeremy McCune of Shepherd, Mont. and MacEachern rounded out the Top 10.

Friday night feature winner Bill Boyce of Lethbridge finished 18th in Sunday’s main event. Hickle’s victory snapped a three-race winning streak by drivers from Alberta in ASCS Frontier Region competition. Miller won the August 16th event at Billings Motorsports Park before Boyce and MacEachern grabbed checkered flags at Electric City.

For the second straight night, Billings driver David Hoiness won the 12-lap B-Feature event, advancing to tag the back of the A-Feature field and taking Tristan Spiers, Bryan Brown and Steve Nelson with him. Nelson captured the final transfer one night after missing it by only one position.

Heat races earlier in the evening were won by Beaver, Dietz, Hickle and Ramaker. Hickle was the top scorer in the passing points system and in the Top 8 re-draw for starting positions in the main event Hickle immediately drew the pole. Beaver, Ramaker, Chris Roberts, Dietz, Adams, Perry and Glennon all qualified for the re-draw as well.

The ASCS Frontier Region has three races remaining this season. Next Saturday the series makes its final 2014 appearance at Gallatin Speedway in Belgrade, Mont. for the annual Gibson Guitar Big Sky Super Nationals, which was won by Joe Ramaker last year. Ramaker won the last event at Gallatin Speedway on August 15th.

The Frontier Region of the American Sprint Car Series, presented in part by Speedmart Inc. is a winged 360 dirt sprint car tour racing around the state of Montana and beyond. More information on the ASCS Frontier Region can be found online at frontier.ascsracing.com or you can also follow the series on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ascsfrontier. The national website of the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour presented by MAVTV American Real is www.ascsracing.com.

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ASCS Frontier Region
20th Annual Montana Round-Up – Night 3
Electric City Speedway
Great Falls, MT
August 31, 2014

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

32 cars

Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. 53 Joe Beaver, 2. 96 Gregory Hamilton, 3. 22 Chris Roberts, 4. 44 Damon McCune, 5. 24 Leroy Brush, 6. 11 Cliff Nelson, 7. 37 Trever Kirkland, DNS – 12p Randy Pierce.

Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. 72 Phil Dietz, 2. 12a Casey Adams, 3. 5 Dave Glennon, 4. 38b Bryan Brown, 5. 27dd David Hoiness, 6. 81 Darren Smith, 7. 3a Shane Ainscough, 8. 4 Junior Nelson.

Heat 3 (8 laps): 1. 23n J.J. Hickle, 2. 28 Joe Perry 3. 12 Jerry Brey, 4. 1x Vernon Hill, 5. X Steve Nelson, 6. 4n Johnny Nelson, 7. 51t Tristan Spiers, DNS – 3j Jordan Milne.

Heat 4 (8 laps): 1. 98 Joe Ramaker, 2. 1 Bill Boyce, 3. 44k Kelly Miller, 4. 3d Dennis MacEachern 5. 0J Jeremy McCune 6. 00 Roger Cummings, 7. 77 Bob Shiplet, 8. 35m Cody Masse.

B-Feature (12 laps): 1. 27dd David Hoiness, 2. 51t Tristan Spiers, 3. 38b Bryan Brown, 4. X Steve Nelson, 5. 81 Darren Smith, 6. 3a Shane Ainscough, 7. 00 Roger Cummings, 8. 35m Cody Masse, 9. 24 Leroy Brush, 10. 4n Johnny Nelson, 11. 11 Cliff Nelson, 12. 77 Bob Shiplet, DNS – 3j Jordan Milne, 4 Junior Nelson, 12p Randy Pierce, 37 Trever Kirkland. First four finishers transfer to A-Feature.

A-Feature (25 laps): 1. 23n J.J. Hickle, 2. 98 Joe Ramaker, 3. 53 Joe Beaver, 4. 72 Phil Dietz, 5. 12a Casey Adams, 6. 44k Kelly Miller, 7. 28 Joe Perry, 8. 5 Dave Glennon, 9. 0J Jeremy McCune, 10. 3d Dennis MacEachern, 11. 1x Vernon Hill, 12. 27dd David Hoiness, 13. 12 Jerry Brey, 14. 44 Damon McCune, 15. 51t Tristan Spiers, 16. X Steve Nelson, 17. 22 Chris Roberts, 18. 1 Bill Boyce, 19. 96 Gregory Hamilton, 20. 38b Bryan Brown.

Lap leaders: J.J. Hickle 1-25

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ASCS Frontier Region
Top 10 points after 8/31

1. Joe Ramaker, 1808
2. Kelly Miller, 1750
3. Phil Dietz, 1707
4. Trever Kirkland, 1634
5. Jerry Brey, 1550
6. Jeremy McCune, 1531
7. Damon McCune, 1333
8. Joe Perry, 1315
9. David Hoiness, 1313
10. Paxton Lambrect, 1195

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ASCS Frontier Region
Remaining 2014 events

September 6 – Gallatin Speedway – Belgrade, MT (Gibson Guitar Big Sky Super Nationals)
September 12 – Billings Motorsports Park – Shepherd, MT (Dan Laber Memorial)
September 13 – Billings Motorsports Park – Shepherd, MT (Dan Laber Memorial)

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ASCS Frontier Region
2014 Race Winners

May 16: Joe Ramaker at Electric City Speedway
May 17: T.J. Hartman at Electric City Speedway
June 13: Rained out at Gallatin Speedway
June 14: Joe Ramaker at Billings Motorsports Park
June 20: Rained out at Electric City Speedway
June 21: Joe Ramaker at Electric City Speedway
July 11: Brad Loyet at Electric City Speedway (National Tour race)
July 12: Jeff Swindell at Billings Motorsports Park (National Tour race)
July 18: Brad Loyet at Black Hills Speedway (National Tour race, non-points for Frontier Region)
July 25: Trever Kirkland at Gallatin Speedway
July 26: Joe Ramaker at Billings Motorsports Park
August 15: Joe Ramaker at Gallatin Speedway
August 16: Kelly Miller at Billings Motorsports Park
August 29: Bill Boyce at Electric City Speedway
August 30: Dennis MacEachern at Electric City Speedway
August 31: J.J. Hickle at Electric City Speedway