By Andrew Kunas
BILLINGS, Mont. – Logan Forler dominated for a second straight night on Saturday and easily won the Harvey Ostermiller Memorial in ASCS Frontier Region sprint car action at Big Sky Speedway.
The reigning series champion out of Boise, Idaho led all 30 laps and cruised to the victory aboard the Steve Forler No. 2L Fisher-powered Maxim. It was Forler’s second straight year winning the Harvey Ostermiller Memorial, run in memory of the respected and influential Montana sprint car pioneer who was also involved financially at Big Sky Speedway before his passing in 2016.
Forler has spent his 2022 season racing mostly 410 sprint cars on the west coast, but has twice come back out to Montana to race with the ASCS Frontier Region, racing four total races. He has won all four of those races, leading the series in victories, and all came at Big Sky Speedway.
Forler started on the pole thanks to his victory in the four-car pole shuffle, and immediately jetted out to the lead. Former series champion Phil Dietz of Laurel, Montana started outside Forler and was unable to chase him down early on. Dietz made attempts to take the lead on numerous restarts but couldn’t make anything work. In a long green flag run to end the race, Forler won by 3.2 seconds over Dietz.
Though disappointed to not the win the race for the man he knew and highly respected, Dietz still got on the podium for the second straight night, finishing second aboard the Dietz Racing No. 72 Panella-powered Maxim. On the front stretch following the race, Dietz expressed his desire to see the Harvey Ostermiller Memorial become a bigger event in the coming years.
Driving for local owner Jerry Brey, Johnny Herrera of Albuquerque, New Mexico drove from the eighth starting spot to finish third aboard Brey’s No. 17 Kannady-powered Maxim, this coming after constant battles with series points leader Trever Kirkland of Helena, Montana for positions throughout the race. Having advanced the most positions, Herrera got the hard charger nod and scored a $412 bonus coming mostly from the fans in the grandstands. The 12 represented Harvey Ostermiller’s car owner as a driver and later an owner.
Kirkland finished fourth and now has a commanding 145-point lead over Great Falls, Montana driver Kory Wermling with five races to go. Wermling finished sixth in Saturday’s race despite brake issues and severe damage to his nose wing, coming in behind fifth place finisher Kelly Miller of Coaldale, Alberta. The rest of the Top 10 were Tony Bruce Jr, Jordan Milne, Damon McCune and Blayne Brink.
Heat races earlier in the evening were won by Dietz and Bruce. Forler defeated Dietz in a thrilling final round of the pole shuffle to win the pole position for the main event. Kirkland and Bruce were the other participants.
Ian Myers of Great Falls, Montana finished 12th in the feature, but received a huge surprise in the form of a $1,200 bonus for finishing in that position thanks to the Ostermiller Family. Incidentally, Myers finished 12th on Friday night also and received a $112 bonus from a group of fans in Harvey Ostermiller’s memory.
Next up for the Brodix ASCS Frontier Region sprint car tour is the annual Montana Roundup at Electric City Speedway after a several-year absence. The Great Falls, Montana track will host the ASCS Frontier Region for three nights on September 2, 3 and 4 – Friday, Saturday and Sunday – on Labor Day weekend.
More information on the Brodix Frontier Region of the American Sprint Car Series, along with news and info on the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour and other ASCS regional tours, can be found online at www.ascsracing.com. Stagg Motor Sports, the promoting company of the ASCS Frontier Region, can be found at www.staggmotorsports.com.
– – –
Brodix ASCS Frontier Region
Harvey Ostermiller Memorial
Big Sky Speedway
Billings, MT
August 20, 2022
Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. 72 Phil Dietz, 2. 37 Trever Kirkland, 3. 33t Tyler Driever, 4. 69r Damon McCune, 5. 17 Johnny Herrera, 6. 63 Chris Williams, 7. 24m Ian Myers, 8. 31 Shane Moore.
Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. 12h Tony Bruce Jr, 2. 2L Logan Forler, 3. 9k Kory Wermling, 4. 3 Jordan Milne, 5. 2jr Kelly Miller, 6. 21 Blayne Brink, 7. 12 Josh Ostermiller, DNS – 0J Jeremy McCune.
Pole Shuffle: 37 Trever Kirkland d. 12h Tony Bruce Jr. in Round 1. 72 Phil Dietz d. 37 Trever Kirkland in Round 2. 2L Logan Forler d. 72 Phil Dietz in Finale Round.
Feature (30 laps): 1. 2L Logan Forler, 2. 72 Phil Dietz, 3. 17 Johnny Herrera, 4. 37 Trever Kirkland, 5. 2jr Kelly Miller, 6. 9k Kory Wermling, 7. 12h Tony Bruce Jr, 8. 3 Jordan Milne, 9. 69r Damon McCune, 10. 21 Blayne Brink, 11. 31 Shane Moore, 12. 24m Ian Myers, 13. 63 Chris Williams, 14. 0J Jeremy McCune, 15. 33t Tyler Driever, 16. 12 Josh Ostermiller.