8/17/2014
ASCS
Kelly Miller Tops ASCS Frontier at Billings
(Photo Credit: ASCS Frontier Facebook)
Andrew Kunas, (August 16, 2014) SHEPHERD, Mont. - A season of hard work finally paid off for Kelly Miller as he held off the furious charge of both Phil Dietz and Joe Ramaker to pick up his first ASCS Frontier Region sprint car victory of the 2014 season Saturday night at Billings Motorsports Park.
The Lethbridge, Alberta driver led all 25 laps and for a time held more than a full straightaway lead, but slower traffic in the late laps got in Miller's way and allowed Dietz and then Ramaker to close in fast and make things interesting for the large crowd of spectators on hand at the 3/8-mile clay oval. With just a couple of laps left, Dietz tried to throw a slider on Miller as they exited Turn 4 amongst the slower cars, but Miller cleared it.
While Miller and Dietz still had several slower cars in front of them as they took the white flag, Ramaker closed right in on both of them, just a few laps earlier not appearing to be any threat. In the sudden three-way battle on the final lap, Dietz and Ramaker both tried to make moves but Miller fended them off and picked up the checkered flag.
Miller took the lead on the initial start of the feature race after getting a strong run around Turns 1 and 2 from the third starting position. After four other podium finishes, Miller was happy to finally get the KDM Motorsports No. 44k AMS-powered Schnee in the winner's circle. It was his first win with the series since last September at the same track.
"This weekend we tried some different stuff on the car and we found a good base setep. (Friday at Gallatin Speedway) it did alright (third place). Tonight it did really well. It responded well to changes. The car was better than the driver during the second half of that race" a happy Miller admitted, referencing the late race struggles with traffic.
"As soon as I heard 72 (Dietz) and 98 (Ramaker) on the radio for the restart, I knew I couldn't give an inch. Those guys are good," Miller continued. "Things just went our way tonight. It was nice get one of these finally."
With his victory, Miller cut Ramaker's lead in the ASCS Frontier Region point standings back down to 11 tallies. Miller has seven Top 5 finishes and nine Top 10 finishes in what has been a season of strong consistency for the Canadian driver.
Dietz, out of Laurel, Mont. earned his second runner-up finish in as many nights aboard the Prevost Racing No. 72 RFast-powered GF1 and has three of them now on the season. The ASCS Frontier Region series champion remains fourth in the point standings, but is now only four points behind Trever Kirkland for third.
"Kelly was a lot better in clean air. Once he was in traffic we were able to catch up to him a little bit. The last three laps were pretty fast and I was just trying to process (all that was happening around them), and I knew Joe was coming," Dietz said. "I feel like we're making good strides these last couple of races. Hopefully we can knock off a couple of wins here in the tail end of the season."
Ramaker, out of Boise, Idaho, easily could've been first or second following the frantic last lap scramble, but settled for third place in the Ramaker Racing No. 98 Ostrich-powered J&J, backing up his win at Gallatin Speedway on Friday. Ramaker was the top points scorer in the heat races earlier in the evening, but drew the eighth starting position in the redraw.
"It was a fun night. We just misjudged on the setup a little bit but that's OK. Can't win them all," said Ramaker, who has a series leading five wins this season. He also gave a lot of credit to his fellow competitor who won Saturday and is chasing him in the point standings. "Kelly's worked really hard. His win total really doesn't represent his talent and hard work. I'm really proud of him."
For the second straight night, Trever Kirkland of Helena, Mont. earned hard charger honors, coming from deep in the field to score a Top 5 finish, only this time he had to do it in someone else's car. Kirkland suffered mechanical issues in his own No. 37 machine during hotlaps. Chuck Perry had his No. 28 Santos & Sons-powered Maxim in the pit area but his driver was unable to come race Saturday night. Perry offered Kirkland the chance to drive his car and taped a temporary "37" on the right board on the top wing of the car. A grateful Kirkland drove Perry's machine from 11th to fourth in the main event.
Shepherd, Mont.'s Jeremy McCune started the main event second and finished fifth aboard his own No. 0J Carbone-powered GF1, getting his second Top 5 finish of the season.
Jerry Brey and Steve Nelson finished sixth and seventh, respectively. Wyoming's Shad Petersen earned a season best eighth place finish. Bob Shiplet and Roger Cummings rounded out the Top 10.
Billings driver David Hoiness, who started on the pole, was racing with Miller for the lead in the early laps when contact with a lapped car shot his car toward the front stretch wall as they exited Turn 4. Hoiness made a hard impact with the wall, sending his car on a tumble down the front stretch. Hoiness was able to climb out under his own power and walk away from his wrecked machine. Race fans in attendance immediately began a rollover fund for Hoiness and more than $300 was raised to help the Hoiness Racing team with repair costs on the No. 27dd.
Heat races earlier in the evening were won by Bryan Brown and Miller. Ramaker, Miller, McCune, Brown, Hoiness, Nelson, Brey and Dietz were the top eight drivers in passing points and got to participate in the redraw for their main event starting positions.
After taking next week off, the ASCS Frontier Region returns to action with the Montana-based tour's annual Labor Day weekend trip to Electric City Speedway in Great Falls. For the first time the "Montana Roundup" will be a three-day event on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, August 29th, 30th and 31st. Cars from Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, North and South Dakota and Alberta are expected for the big three-night event at the historic 3/10-mile clay oval.
The Frontier Region of the American Sprint Car Series, presented in part by Speedmart Inc. is a winged 360 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 also follow the series on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ascsfrontier. The national website of the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour presented by MAVTV American Real is www.ascsracing.com.
ASCS Frontier Region
Billings Motorsports Park - Billings, Mont.
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Car Count: 15
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 38B-Bryan Brown; 2. 98-Joe Ramaker; 3. 12-Jerry Brey; 4. 27DD-David Hoiness; 5. 7X-Paxton Lambrecht; 6. 37-Trever Kirkland; 7. 77-Bob Shiplet; 8. 35-Charles (Chip) Roe
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 44K-Kelly Miller; 2. X-Steve Nelson; 3. 0J-Jeremy McCune; 4. 72-Phil Dietz; 5. 44-Damon McCune; 6. 2-Shad Peterson; 7. 00-Roger Cummings
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 44K-Kelly Miller[3]; 2. 72-Phil Dietz[4]; 3. 98-Joe Ramaker[8]; 4. 37-Trever Kirkland[11]; 5. 0J-Jeremy McCune[2]; 6. 12-Jerry Brey[6]; 7. X-Steve Nelson[7]; 8. 2-Shad Peterson[13]; 9. 77-Bob Shiplet[14]; 10. 00-Roger Cummings[12]; 11. 38B-Bryan Brown[5]; 12. 44-Damon McCune[10]; 13. 7X-Paxton Lambrecht[9]; 14. 27DD-David Hoiness[1]; 15. 35-Charles (Chip) Roe[15]
Submitted By: Bryan Hulbert