From Andrew Kunas
Belgrade, MT — (July 31, 2015) — Having never seen the place before – to the best of his recollection, at least, as he has seen race tracks everywhere around North America – Travis Rilat felt right at home at Gallatin Speedway on Friday night when he picked up the win in the ASCS Frontier Region sprint car main event.
The Forney, Texas driver, racing in Montana for the first time this year, started the 25-lap feature sixth and was in third place in the early going. Taking advantage of a restart with 13 laps completed, Rilat motored around 2014 series champion Joe Ramaker for second place right away and then got new points leader Phil Dietz for the race lead on the next lap. From there Rilat couldn’t be touched aboard the Richard Saumure No. 39c Shark-powered Maxim.
“It’s always fun when you win, but this track was a lot of fun to race on. It’s really nice to come here to Montana. The track was great and the fans are great,” Rilat said, noting the full house of spectators cramming the Gallatin Speedway grandstands. “On the restart I just had a run on the outside on both (Ramaker and Dietz) and went from there.”
While Rilat is from Texas, the Saumure No. 39c is based out of northern Alberta. Rilat also won his heat race earlier in the evening before the re-draw for the Top 8 in passing points knocked him down to the third row for the feature.
After trading passes with Dietz, Ramaker took over second place but couldn’t catch Rilat. The Choteau, Mont. driver finished second in the Ramaker Racing No. 98 Ostrich-powered J&J, getting his best finish of the season
It wasn’t how he would’ve like it, but Dietz’s third place finish was more than good enough to put the Laurel, Mont. driver atop the ASCS Frontier Region point standings. Entering the night Dietz was only eight points back of J.J. Hickle, who unfortunately is out of action for some time as he is recovering from a back injury suffered in a race in his home state of Washington last weekend. Just taking the green flag in his heat race guaranteed Dietz the point lead at the end of the night. After leading the first 13 laps of the feature, Dietz settled for a solid podium finish in the Dietz Prevost Racing No. 72 Kistler-powered Maxim.
Billings driver David Hoiness, who won the June 12th event at Gallatin, finished fourth aboard the Hoiness Racing No. 27DD and moved past Skylar Gee into third place in the point standings. East Helena, Mont. driver Bryan Brown earned a second Top 5 finish when he took fifth aboard the Brown Racing No. 38b Ostrich-powered Eagle.
Magrath, Alberta youngster Cody Masse earned a career best sixth place finish in his first visit to Gallatin Speedway. Joe Perry, David Miller, Jerry Brown and Shane Moore rounded out the Top 10.
Ramaker won the evening’s first heat race with a last corner pass around Joe Perry.
The ASCS Frontier Region next races on Saturday night at Billings Motorsports Park.
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 Motorsports Network is www.ascsracing.com.
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American Sprint Car Series – Frontier Region
Gallatin Speedway
Belgrade, MT
July 31, 2015
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
15 cars
Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. 98 Joe Ramaker, 2. 28 Joe Perry, 3. 99 Skylar Gee, 4. 16 David Miller, 5. 35m Cody Masse, 6. 3j Jordan Milne, 7. 22 Chris Roberts, 8. 38 Jerry Brown (DNF).
Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. 39c Travis Rilat, 2. 72 Phil Dietz, 3. 27DD David Hoiness, 4. 38b Bryan Brown, 5. 12 Josh Ostermiller, 6. 3m Shane Moore (DNF), 7. 34 Rob Matherly (DNF).
High points score: 72 Phil Dietz, 118
Feature (25 laps): 1. 39c Travis Rilat, 2. 98 Joe Ramaker, 3. 72 Phil Dietz, 4. 27DD David Hoiness, 5. 38b Bryan Brown, 6. 35m Cody Masse, 7. 28 Joe Perry, 8. 16; David Miller, 9. 38 Jerry Brown, 10. 3m Shane Moore, 11. 22 Chris Roberts, 12. 12 Josh Ostermiller (DNF), 13. 34 Rob Matherly (DNF), 14. 99 Skylar Gee (DNF), 15. 3J Jordan Milne (DNF).
Lap leaders: Phil Dietz 1-13, Travis Rilat 14-25
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ASCS Frontier Region
Top 10 points (after 7/31)
1. Phil Dietz, 1543
2. J.J. Hickle, 1416
3. David Hoiness, 1313
4. Skylar Gee, 1311
5. Bryan Brown, 1185
6. Josh Ostermiller, 1171
7. Kelly Miller, 1135
8. Jeremy McCune, 1130
9. Trever Kirkland, 1072
10. Roger Cummings, 1011