From Bryan Hulbert
Rapid City, S.D. — (July 23, 2016) — Making it a perfect weekend with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network, Johnny Herrera made it win No. 4 on the season with a sweep of the Rushmore Rumble at the Black Hills Speedway in Rapid City, S.D.
Taking advantage of track position, Herrera commented on the run by saying, “The track got rubber down a little more than last night so I was just trying to keep my stuff straight and just work to them and let them mess up until I heard or saw somebody. I never really did but I still tried to keep a good pace but I knew Sam and those guys were coming.”
Thanking sponsors, family, and crew, Herrera has now won the last three outings at the South Dakota oval with the Lucas Oil ASCS presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network, Herrera has 17 overall victories with the National Tour.
Trailing Kyle Bellm into the first two turns, Herrera stuck the high side of the half-mile; barely making the pass between Bellm’s right rear and the outside concrete. With Sam Hafertepe, Jr. in tow, Herrera began pulling away to a comfortable advantage before hitting slower traffic in the early laps.
Weaving through the back markers, Herrera’s lead was cut in half from nearly three seconds, but the race’s lone caution on Lap 15 brought Hafertepe’s No. 15h to Herrera’s back bumper.
Glued to the MVT No. 45x on the restart, Hafertepe’s advance was stalled as Herrera again began to put car lengths over the Keith Dobbs Motorsports entry.
Back into traffic in the closing rounds, the leaders would have to walk a fine line as the track locked to the bottom groove. With Sam pulling back into contention, the battle went to three as Aaron Reutzel joined the mix in the final laps.
With only a car length at best separating Herrera and Hafertepe on the white flag, it was a matter of when something was going to happen as the pair dashed into heavy slower traffic.
Rounding the fourth turn, the bottom nearly fell out for the top three as the lapped cars they were racing through began scattering. With cars slowing drastically, Herrera threaded the needle to grab the checkered flag as Sam and Aaron scrambled to avoid the traffic that was nearly stopped on the front stretch.
Hafertepe was able to hold onto the runner-up spot despite the mad dash to the finish.
“It was better than last night for sure. We had a pretty good car, just having to battle the first few laps getting around Kyle [Bellm], it hurt us to where we couldn’t get to Johnny as quick as we wanted to. I felt we were a little bit better at the end, but I’m pretty sure he was preserving his tires. Traffic was hectic there, but he drove a smart race but he’s a veteran, so I expect that from him,” said Hafertepe of his 15th podium finish of the 2016 season aboard the Hwy. 79 Collision No. 15h.
With Aaron Reutzel earning the final podium step, the defending National Champion ends the weekend with a pair of podium runs.
“In Hot Laps, we were so good, I didn’t want to change it any but I should have because the track ended up being the same, but we definitely have some momentum coming back. It’s nice to have a good handling car again,” said Reutzel of the race and weekend overall.
After starting on the pole, Kyle Bellm slipped to a fourth place finish, but even so, has moved to ninth in tour standings. Rounding out the top-five was Seth Bergman who advanced forward from the ninth starting spot.
Wayne Johnson rebounded from a DNF on Friday night to sixth after starting 13th. Logan Forler was seventh with Blake Hahn eighth. Matt Covington crossed ninth with D.J. Brink rounding out the top-ten as the highest finishing driver with the Brodix ASCS Frontier Region.
28 drivers took part in Saturday’s portion of the Rushmore Rumble with three Heat Races going to David Hoiness, Blake Hahn, and Seth Bergman. The night’s B-Main went to Ryan Parks. A Regional Provisional was utilized by James Sires.
A pair of South Dakota ovals await the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports with both seeing the National Tour for the first time. Thursday, July 28 will see action at the Park Jefferson International Speedway in Jefferson, S.D. followed by a $10,000 to win showdown at Badlands Speedway in Brandon, S.D. on Sunday, July 31.
For continued updates on the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com.
Race Results:
ASCS National / ASCS Frontier
Black Hills Speedway – Rapid City, S.D.
Rushmore Rumble – Night 2
Saturday, July 23, 2016
Car Count: 28
Event Count: 28
ButlerBuilt Heat Races (8 Laps, Top 12 in Passing Point advance to the A-Main)
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 27DD-David Hoiness[2]; 2. 75-D.J. Brink[3]; 3. 95-Matt Covington[7]; 4. 6G-Bryan Gossel[1]; 5. 0J-Jeremy McCune[4]; 6. 13-Ryan Parks[8]; 7. 14-Ben Holmberg[6]; 8. (DNF) 77-Damon McCune[5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 52-Blake Hahn[7]; 2. 2JR-Kelly Miller[8]; 3. 2K-Kevin Ingle[4]; 4. 10-Anthony Farnsworth[1]; 5. 4-Adam Speckman[6]; 6. 2-Shad Petersen[5]; 7. 99-Skylar Gee[2]; 8. (DNF) 24R-Lany Reber[3]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 23-Seth Bergman[1]; 2. 2C-Wayne Johnson[5]; 3. 2L-Logan Forler[2]; 4. 29-Eric Flatmoe[3]; 5. 77M-Nate Maxwell[4]; 6. 3-Mike Pennel[8]; 7. 7-Mike Sires[6]; 8. 15-James Sires[7]
BMRS B-Feature(s) (12 laps, top 6 advance to the A-Feature)
B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 13-Ryan Parks[5]; 2. 6G-Bryan Gossel[1]; 3. 0J-Jeremy McCune[3]; 4. 10-Anthony Farnsworth[2]; 5. 77M-Nate Maxwell[4]; 6. 2-Shad Petersen[6]; 7. 15-James Sires[9]; 8. 24R-Lany Reber[10]; 9. 14-Ben Holmberg[7]; 10. 7-Mike Sires[8]; (DNS) 77-Damon McCune; (DNS) 99-Skylar Gee
Protect the Harvest A-Feature (30 Laps)
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 45X-Johnny Herrera[2]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[3]; 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel[4]; 4. 14K-Kyle Bellm[1]; 5. 23-Seth Bergman[9]; 6. 2C-Wayne Johnson[5]; 7. 2L-Logan Forler[13]; 8. 52-Blake Hahn[8]; 9. 95-Matt Covington[11]; 10. 75-D.J. Brink[10]; 11. 27DD-David Hoiness[6]; 12. 0J-Jeremy McCune[19]; 13. 6G-Bryan Gossel[18]; 14. 13-Ryan Parks[17]; 15. 2JR-Kelly Miller[7]; 16. 2K-Kevin Ingle[12]; 17. 29-Eric Flatmoe[14]; 18. 4-Adam Speckman[15]; 19. 77M-Nate Maxwell[21]; 20. 3-Mike Pennel[16]; 21. 15-James Sires[23]; 22. 10-Anthony Farnsworth[20]; 23. 2-Shad Petersen[22]
Lap Leader(s): Johnny Herrera 1-25
FSR High Point Driver: Blake Hahn
Hard Charger: Jeremy McCune +7
Provisional(s): James Sires (Regional Prov.)
2016 ASCS National Driver Standings (Top 10): 1. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 2,849; 2. Johnny Herrera 2,715; 3. Blake Hahn 2,464; 4. Wayne Johnson 2,444; 5. Logan Forler 2,441; 6. Seth Bergman 2,408; 7. Matt Covington 2,403; 8. Aaron Reutzel 2,347; 9. Kyle Bellm 1,551; 10. Brad Loyet 1,498;