From Andrew Kunas
Great Falls, MT — (June 20, 2015) — Garen Linder made the very long tow from his home in Central Point, Oregon to Great Falls, Montana more than worth it on Saturday night when he scored his first career ASCS-sanctioned sprint car main event win, taking the checkered flag in the Frontier Region event at Electric City Speedway.
Starting from the fifth position, Linder motored his way to the front aboard his No. 22L Rodgers-powered KPC, moving into third place in the early going before getting by outside front row starter Kelly Miller for second place. Linder then went after Friday night winner Phil Dietz of Laurel, Mont. as they raced their way through traffic in the middle stages of the 25-lap A-Feature event.
Dietz was clearly stronger in Turns 1 and 2 of the 3/10-mile clay oval, but Linder was liking how Turns 3 and 4 looked. Linder slid his top wing back to change the handling of his car in anticipation, hoping to use the east end of the track to his advantage. On Lap 17, Linder made his move, diving to the bottom of the track entering Turn 3 as Dietz went high. Keeping his car on the bottom rounding the turn, Linder motored off of Turn 4 as the new leader ahead of Dietz.
After taking the lead, Linder never looked back as he scored his first win in the state of Montana. Also finishing fifth in Friday’s race, Saturday’s win came about five years after Linder’s last trip to Montana with the old ASCS Northwest Region, which last visited Electric City Speedway in 2010.
“The way the track was tonight, it made the whole trip worth it. That track was awesome,” Linder said in his trailer after the race. “In 1 and 2 the top was night and day better and I knew to just follow Phil around there. I pulled the wing back to setup to get him on the bottom in 3 and 4. It was slick top to bottom on that end.”
Electric City Speedway is hosting the three-day Montana Roundup featuring the ASCS Frontier Region on Labor Day weekend. Linder, who had his wife Tiffany and their children with him on the trip, expressed his desire to make the trip from Oregon again that weekend.
“Our plan right now is to come back. That was my kind of track tonight,” Linder said. “Also, everyone out here has been super nice and friendly. I’ve had a lot of the local guys coming in here to congratulate me. We had a good time.”
For the fourth time already in eight starts, Dietz settled for second aboard the Dietz Prevost Racing No. 72 Kistler-powered Maxim after leading 15 of the first 16 laps from the pole position. Points leader J.J. Hickle of Quilcene, Washington finished third aboard the Peterson Racing No. 23n Ostrich-powered Rocket.
Including his three wins, Hickle has been on the podium in all eight ASCS Frontier Region features in 2015. Dietz is the only other driver to have finished in the Top 5 in every race. Managing to finish in front of Hickle both nights this weekend, Dietz cut Hickle’s point lead from 46 to 31 tallies.
Shepherd, Mont. driver Jeremy McCune started eighth and earned a season best fourth place finish aboard his own No. 0J Two Dot Tech-powered J&J. It was his fifth Top 10 finish but his first Top 5 of the season.
The run of the night belonged to Billings driver David Hoiness, who had to race in the B-Feature after having fuel issues in his heat race. Winning the B-Feature for the second time this season, Hoiness started the A-Feature in the 17th position and charged his way to finish fifth aboard the Hoiness Racing No. 27DD Wesmar-powered J&J.
Alberta drivers Mathew Dusseault, Bill Boyce, Skylar Gee and Kelly Miller finished sixth through ninth, respectively. Billings driver Josh Ostermiller rounded out the Top 10. Gee’s effort was just enough to get him back past Trever Kirkland for fourth place in the ASCS Frontier Region point standings, just one night after Kirkland has passed him for the spot.
Hoiness came from fifth to win the 12-lap B-Feature, taking Bob Shiplet, Roger Cummings and Johnny Nelson with him to the A-Feature.
Heat races earlier in the evening were won by Miller, Boyce and Hickle. There was a tie for the top passing points score as both Ostermiller and Gee earned scores of 113 after each driver drove from the sixth starting position to finish second in their heat races. By ASCS rules, Ostermiller got the official nod as he achieved the score first.
The ASCS Frontier Region has the next few weeks off before returning to action in mid-July, but they will not be alone as the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour presented by MAVTV returns to Montana. Electric City Speedway will welcome the ASCS National Tour for the fourth time on Friday, July 17th before the tour moves to Billings Motorsports Park the next night. Both races will be Frontier Region points races as well.
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 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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American Sprint Car Series – Frontier Region
Electric City Speedway
Great Falls, MT
June 20, 2015
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
21 cars
Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. 2jr Kelly Miller, 2. 12 Josh Ostermiller, 3. 4d Mathew Dusseault, 4. 38b Bryan Brown, 5. 37 Trever Kirkland, 6. 00 Roger Cummings, 7. 77 Bob Shiplet.
Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. 1 Bill Boyce, 2. 99 Skylar Gee, 3. 0J Jeremy McCune, 4. 35m Cody Masse, 5. 81 Darren Smith, 6. 4n Johnny Nelson, 7. 4 Junior Nelson.
Heat 3 (8 laps): 1. 23n J.J. Hickle, 2. 22L Garen Linder, 3. 72 Phil Dietz, 4. 35 Paxton Lambrect, 5. 24 Leroy Brush, 6. 22 Chris Roberts, 7. 27DD David Hoiness (DNF).
High points: Josh Ostermiller, 113
B-Feature (12 laps): 1. 27DD David Hoiness, 2. 77 Bob Shiplet, 3. 00 Roger Cummings, 4. 4n Johhny Nelson, 5. 4 Junior Nelson. First four finishers transfer to A-Feature.
A-Feature (25 laps): 1. 22L Garen Linder, 2. 72 Phil Dietz, 3. 23n J.J. Hickle, 4. 0J Jeremy McCune, 5. 27DD David Hoiness, 6. 4d Mathew Dusseault, 7. 1 Bill Boyce, 8. 99 Skylar Gee, 9. 2jr Kelly Miller, 10. 12 Josh Ostermiller, 11. 37 Trever Kirkland, 12. 38b Bryan Brown, 13. 22 Chris Roberts, 14. 81 Darren Smith, 15. 35m Cody Masse, 16. 00 Roger Cummings, 17. 24 Leroy Brush, 18. 4n Johnny Nelson, 19. 35 Paxton Lambrect (DNF), DNS – 77 Bob Shiplet.
Lap leaders: Kelly Miller 1, Phil Dietz 2-16, Garen Linder 17-25
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ASCS Frontier Region
Top 10 points (unofficial after 6/20)
1. J.J. Hickle, 1139
2. Phil Dietz, 1108
3. Kelly Miller, 1016
4. Skylar Gee, 963
5. Trever Kirkland, 962
6. David Hoiness, 952
7. Jeremy McCune, 875
8. Josh Ostermiller, 836
9. Bryan Brown, 816
10. Roger Cummings, 797