From Bryan Hulbert
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (September 30, 2017) – Taking the Smith Racing No. 86 to I-30 Speedway for a Short Track Nationals tune-up, Tony Bruce, Jr. was firing on all eight-cylinders with Saturday’s $2,046 winner’s check going to the Kansas native with his win in the 10th annual Ralph Henson Memorial.
Rolling from fourth, Bruce was the third and final lap leader in Saturday’s 25 lap ASCS Mid-South A-Feature, as pole sitter, Ernie Ainsworth, surrendered the top spot on the second lap to Derek Hagar. Navigating the dry I-30 Speedway surface into traffic, Hagar held point through traffic with the dust having a chance to clear with a Lap 14 caution.
Restarting with Bruce in his tire tracks, the pair broke rank with Hagar low while Tony Bruce, Jr. worked high. Building momentum over the next three laps, the No. 86 took over the race lead on Lap 17 for Tony’s first ASCS Mid-South score.
Derek Hagar held on for second with Brad Bowden third. Tim Crawley fourth was trailed by Dale Howard to make up the top-five. Howard Moore was sixth, followed by Terry Gray who moved from 13th to seventh. Cody Gardner, Morgan Turpen, and Ernie Ainsworth completed the top-ten.
The ASCS Mid-South Region returns to I-30 Speedway for the 30th annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tire, happening October 12-14.
For continued updates on the American Sprint Car Series, from the National Tour to any of the seven regional tours that make up the over 150 dates across the ASCS Nation in 2017, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com.
Ralph Henson Memorial Winners: Tony Bruce, Jr. (2017), Derek Hagar (2016), Tim Crawley (2015), Jordan Mallett (2014), Cody Gardner (2013), Dale Howard (2012), Zach Pringle (2010 and 2011), Jeff Swindell (2009), Gary Wright (2008).
Race Results:
ASCS Mid-South
I-30 Speedway – Little Rock, Ark.
10th annual Ralph Henson Memorial
Saturday, September 30, 2017
Car Count: 32
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 47-Dale Howard, [1]; 2. 21B-Zach Pringle, [3]; 3. 91A-Ernie Ainsworth, [6]; 4. 10-Terry Gray, [5]; 5. 7M-Chance Morton, [7]; 6. 17-Mike Pack, [4]; 7. 1S-Joey Schmidt, [2]; 8. 1X-Gary Taylor, [8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Tim Crawley, [2]; 2. 86-Tony Bruce Jr, [4]; 3. 8M-Kade Morton, [1]; 4. 84-Brandon Hanks, [3]; 5. X-Charlie Louden, [7]; 6. 38-Rick Pringle, [5]; 7. 15J-Jeremy Middleton, [8]; 8. 32X-Robert Richardson, [6]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 9JR-Derek Hagar, [3]; 2. 42-Andy McElhannon, [1]; 3. 10M-Morgan Turpen, [2]; 4. 14-Jordan Mallett, [5]; 5. 88R-Cody Gardner, [8]; 6. 2H-Wally Henson, [6]; 7. 43-Matthew Bauldwin, [4]; 8. 93-Jake Knight, [7]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 39-Brad Bowden, [2]; 2. 40-Howard Moore, [4]; 3. 12T-Joe Young, [1]; 4. 26-Marshall Skinner, [8]; 5. D6-Dakota Gaines, [5]; 6. 4-Tommy Snellgrove, [6]; 7. 21-Kevin Hinkle, [7]; 8. 23B-Brian Bell, [3]
Race of Champions (6 Laps): 1. 9JR-Derek Hagar, [3]; 2. 47-Dale Howard, [1]; 3. 14-Jordan Mallett, [5]; 4. 88R-Cody Gardner, [2]; 5. 88-Tim Crawley, [6]; 6. 21B-Zach Pringle, [4]
Top 6 Dash (6 Laps): 1. 91A-Ernie Ainsworth, [6]; 2. 9JR-Derek Hagar, [1]; 3. 40-Howard Moore, [5]; 4. 86-Tony Bruce Jr, [4]; 5. 39-Brad Bowden, [3]; 6. 88-Tim Crawley, [2]
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 7M-Chance Morton, [2]; 2. 84-Brandon Hanks, [3]; 3. 8M-Kade Morton, [1]; 4. 38-Rick Pringle, [5]; 5. 17-Mike Pack, [6]; 6. 1S-Joey Schmidt, [8]; 7. 32X-Robert Richardson, [9]; 8. 43-Matthew Bauldwin, [7]; 9. 2H-Wally Henson, [4]
B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. D6-Dakota Gaines, [3]; 2. 15J-Jeremy Middleton, [5]; 3. 1X-Gary Taylor, [7]; 4. 12T-Joe Young, [1]; 5. 93-Jake Knight, [8]; 6. 4-Tommy Snellgrove, [4]; 7. 21-Kevin Hinkle, [6]; 8. X-Charlie Louden, [2]; 9. 23B-Brian Bell, [9]
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 86-Tony Bruce Jr, [4]; 2. 9JR-Derek Hagar, [2]; 3. 39-Brad Bowden, [5]; 4. 88-Tim Crawley, [6]; 5. 47-Dale Howard, [7]; 6. 40-Howard Moore, [3]; 7. 10-Terry Gray, [13]; 8. 88R-Cody Gardner, [11]; 9. 10M-Morgan Turpen, [12]; 10. 91A-Ernie Ainsworth, [1]; 11. 26-Marshall Skinner, [8]; 12. 7M-Chance Morton, [15]; 13. 42-Andy McElhannon, [10]; 14. 15J-Jeremy Middleton, [18]; 15. 84-Brandon Hanks, [17]; 16. 1X-Gary Taylor, [20]; 17. D6-Dakota Gaines, [16]; 18. 8M-Kade Morton, [19]; 19. 14-Jordan Mallett, [14]; 20. 21B-Zach Pringle, [9]