From Bryan Hulbert
MESQUITE, Texas (March 16, 2018) – Rolling into the Devil’s Bowl Speedway for the first time in 14-years, Roger Crockett made a 3:00 A.M. mad thrash to finish is Rocket Designs / KPC No. 11 worthwhile as the newly relocated Oklahoma driver picked up his first career victory at the Devil’s Bowl Speedway, and seventh with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by Sawblade.com.
“Al Parker got this thing done in less than two-weeks. I wasn’t sure when I was really going to be able to run my car, so to be here is amazing,” stated Roger. “I left about 10 o’clock in the morning on Friday to get the engine from Al, drove back, then me and Brandi [Crockett] got everything put together. If it wasn’t for her and the how fast Al got the engine done, there is no way I could have made this races plus Johnny and Ann [Herrera] helped get our Generator fixed too.”
Third, to second in the fourth Heat Race, the move put Roger in the redraw.
Drawing the pole for Friday’s 25-lap A-Feature, Crockett assumed the lead only to have a caution bring the field back into formation. Round two, and it was Martin Edwards but again, the start was called back as the red displayed for Robbie Price.
Trailing Martin Edwards on the third drop of the green, Crockett fell to third as Travis Rilat rode a huge run on the cushion to advance from sixth to second through the first two turns.
Keeping the top-two insight as traffic loomed at the race’s half-way point, Edwards and Rilat worked a cat and mouse game with Rilat’s momentum stripped away as the engine expired under the bonnet of the ShopTheBoss.com No. 1. Advancing Crockett back to the second spot, the No. 11 searched the track as the center groove began coming in.
Inadvertent caution while working Lap 19, the restart saw Roger put the center groove to work.
“He [Martin Edwards] was setting a good pace and running good laps, and honestly, when that caution came out I knew the center was starting to take rubber, and it’s just a matter of time,” commented Crockett on the restart.
Working in Edwards’ tire tracks as the field put Lap 20 in the books, Roger peeled out of line as the pair raced into the third turn. Turning down the track through turn four, Crockett caught the middle to make the race-winning pass.
“I got a really good run off of turn four on the restart, and had enough to work by him on the next lap, but the car was just perfect.”
Holding off a restart charge by Sam Hafertepe, Jr. the Hills Racing Team No. 15h held on to finish second with Wayne Johnson peddling seventh to third in the Outlaw Wings No. 2c. Having to race through the night’s BMRS B-Feature, Canada’s Skylar Gee made his 19th Birthday a happy one; wheeling the Pat Beck Motorsports No. 99 from 18th to fourth to pick up the CP-Carrillo Hard Charger of the Night. Racing from 11th, Oklahoma’s Matt Covington rounded out the top-five.
From 14th, Sammy Swindell came up to sixth with Johnny Herrera following from 13th to finish seventh. Blake Hahn eighth was trailed by Harli White and Brodix Rookie of the Year contender, Scott Bogucki, to round out the top-ten.
A field of 31 was on hand to open up the 45th Devil’s Bowl Spring Nationals. Four Heat Races went to Martin Edwards, Wayne Johnson, Harli White, and Blake Hahn. The night’s B-Feature was topped by Ray Allen Kulhanek. No one needed to take a provisional into the A-Feature.
The 45th Devil’s Bowl Spring Nationals continues on Saturday, March 17, 2018, with gates opening at 5:00 P.M and Racing at 8:00 P.M. More information can be found online at http://www.devilsbowl.com.
For other news, notes, and information on the American Sprint Car Series, from the National Tour to any of the Regional Tours that make up the over 150 across the ASCS Nation in 2018, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com, follow on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Twitter (@LucasOilASCS).
Race Results:
Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour
Devil’s Bowl Speedway – Mesquite, Texas
Friday, March 16, 2018
45th Spring Nationals – Night 1
Car Count: 31
Heat Races (Top 16 in Passing Points advance to the A-Feature)
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 45-Martin Edwards, [2]; 2. 1-Travis Rilat, [3]; 3. 45X-Johnny Herrera, [4]; 4. 1J-Danny Jennings, [7]; 5. 77X-Alex Hill, [6]; 6. 17G-Ray Allen Kulhanek, [8]; 7. 55-Brad Queen, [1]; 8. (DNF) 98-J.C. Bland, [5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2C-Wayne Johnson, [1]; 2. 95-Matt Covington, [2]; 3. 3-Sammy Swindell, [4]; 4. 28-Scott Bogucki, [6]; 5. 12H-Tony Bruce Jr, [3]; 6. 99-Skylar Gee, [8]; 7. 12W-Dale Wester, [5]; (DNS) 99X-Dalton Stevens,
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 17W-Harli White, [1]; 2. 5J-Jamie Ball, [2]; 3. 23-Seth Bergman, [4]; 4. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, [7]; 5. 7M-Chance Morton, [6]; 6. 8M-Kade Morton, [3]; 7. 22X-Justin Henderson, [5]; 8. 5X-Tyson Hall, [8]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 52-Blake Hahn, [4]; 2. 11-Roger Crockett, [3]; 3. 21-Robbie Price, [5]; 4. 44-Chris Martin, [7]; 5. 17B-Ryan Bickett, [1]; 6. 58-Gary Floyd, [2]; 7. (DNF) 2X-Tucker Doughty, [6]
BMRS B-Main (Top 6 advance to the A-Feature)
B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 17G-Ray Allen Kulhanek, [3]; 2. 99-Skylar Gee, [4]; 3. 12H-Tony Bruce Jr, [5]; 4. 22X-Justin Henderson, [11]; 5. 8M-Kade Morton, [7]; 6. 77X-Alex Hill, [1]; 7. 17B-Ryan Bickett, [6]; 8. 5X-Tyson Hall, [12]; 9. 55-Brad Queen, [13]; 10. (DNF) 98-J.C. Bland, [14]; 11. (DNF) 7M-Chance Morton, [2]; 12. (DNF) 58-Gary Floyd, [8]; 13. (DNF) 2X-Tucker Doughty, [9]; 14. (DNF) 12W-Dale Wester, [10]; (DNS) 99X-Dalton Stevens,
Protect the Harvest A-Feature:
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 11-Roger Crockett, [2]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, [9]; 3. 2C-Wayne Johnson, [7]; 4. 99-Skylar Gee, [18]; 5. 95-Matt Covington, [11]; 6. 3-Sammy Swindell, [14]; 7. 45X-Johnny Herrera, [13]; 8. 52-Blake Hahn, [4]; 9. 17W-Harli White, [3]; 10. 28-Scott Bogucki, [16]; 11. 23-Seth Bergman, [15]; 12. 44-Chris Martin, [10]; 13. 12H-Tony Bruce Jr, [19]; 14. 1J-Danny Jennings, [8]; 15. 22X-Justin Henderson, [20]; 16. 77X-Alex Hill, [22]; 17. 17G-Ray Allen Kulhanek, [17]; 18. 5J-Jamie Ball, [12]; 19. (DNF) 8M-Kade Morton, [21]; 20. (DNF) 45-Martin Edwards, [1]; 21. (DNF) 1-Travis Rilat, [6]; 22. (DNF) 21-Robbie Price, [5]
Lap Leader(s):Martin Edwards 1-20; Roger Crockett 21-25
CP-Carrillo Hard Charger: Skylar Gee +14
FSR High Point Driver: Blake Hahn
Provisional(s): N/A
2018 ASCS National Driver Points (Top 15): 1. Roger Crockett 150; 2. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 142; 3. Wayne Johnson 135; 4. Skylar Gee 130; 5. Matt Covington 125; 6. Sammy Swindell 122; 7. Johnny Herrera 119; 8. Blake Hahn 116; 9. Harli White 113; 10. Scott Bogucki 110; 11. Seth Bergman 108; 12. Chris Martin 106; 13. Tony Bruce, Jr. 104; 14. Danny Jennings 102; 15. Justin Henderson 110;