6/13/2015
ASCS
David Hoiness Brings it at Belgrade with the ASCS Frontier Region
(Image Credit: Soldierboy Productions)
Andrew Kunas - BELGRADE, Mont. (June 12, 2015) After dealing with early season misery, David Hoiness was all smiles Friday night at Gallatin Speedway. After a very rough start to his 2015 race season the prior two weekends, Hoiness took advantage of a late race restart to score his first ASCS Frontier Region sprint car main event victory of the season.
The Billings driver, piloting his family's No. 27DD Wesmar powered J&J, had run in the Top 5 throughout the 25-lap event while Alberta's Kelly Miller led most of the way. With 16 laps completed Hoiness was running third behind Miller and series points leader J.J. Hickle when 2014 series champion Joe Ramaker got under Hoiness for third place and was immediately going after Hickle and Miller. Hoiness followed Ramaker back to the bottom of the race track and discovered that it had taken rubber, which Hoiness was needing to get better grip for his tires and get more speed.
As that happened, Ramaker got tangled with a lapped car and brought out the caution. On that final restart with nine laps to go, Hickle briefly got around Miller to take the lead but went back up to the high side of the track as Hoiness and Phil Dietz moved in to make it a four-way battle for the lead. Hoiness, knowing the bottom of the track was perfect for him, took advantage and made the pass for the lead on Lap 18 and Dietz followed him.
From there it was a two car race over the last handful of laps around the 3/10-mile clay oval. Dietz tried to run down Hoiness as they encountered the occasional slower car, but ran out of time. Hoiness ended a winless drought of almost two years. His last win was in August 2013, also at Gallatin Speedway. Expecting to do well in 2015, Hoiness had a run of bad luck to start the year, including crashing twice, before turning his luck around on Friday.
"It feels really good. It shows you how hard it is to win here with this group of guys," Hoiness said. "This win is a big boost. As a team, we were down. We worked really hard this off-season, and when you start out the way we did it drags you down. To win tonight, it showed us it's possible."
In the season opening main event at Billings Motorsports Park two weeks ago Hoiness crashed out while racing for the lead, and the following Friday at Electric City Speedway his car hit a rut awkwardly and ended up rolling over. Fridays had not been kind to Hoiness and his team and Saturdays saw them struggle still before their big win at Gallatin. Hoiness did admit he was a little surprised to find the opening he had available to him to make the winning pass.
"Earlier when (Ramaker) slid me for third I went back under him and found rubber, so I knew the bottom was better. When (Miller and Hickle) went up top I just drove underneath on the rubber. (Later) my car took a heck of a push on the final corner and I had to ease off a bit. I didn't know it was (Dietz) but I saw his car's shadow on the track and knew he was right behind me."
Dietz, who entered the night second in the point standings behind Hickle, finished second for the third time this season in the Dietz Prevost Racing No. 72 Kistler powered Maxim. For Dietz, the former series champion who many point at as due for a return to victory lane himself, it was his eighth runner-up finish dating back to last season.
Hickle finished third in the Peterson Racing No. 23n Ostrich-powered Rocket. Dietz cut seven points off of Hickle's lead in the standings, which is now 34 tallies.
Miller, who unofficially led a race high 13 laps, settled for fourth in the KDM Motorsports No. 2jr AMS powered Schnee. Like Hickle and Dietz, Miller has finished in the Top 5 in every ASCS Frontier Region main event so far this season.
Rapid City, South Dakota's D.J. Brink, also racing at Gallatin for the first time, had to race in the 12-lap B-Feature, which he won. Then in just the first six laps of the A-Feature he moved from the 17th starting position to eighth, catching the attention of the full house of spectators. His charge eventually stalled out but he managed to take home hard charger honors with a fifth place effort in the SMAC Motorsports No. 75 Parker powered Maxim.
Skylar Gee, Trever Kirkland, Joe Perry, Chauncey Filler and Randy Pierce rounded out the Top 10.
Brink's victory in the B-Feature came over Trevor Turnbull, Bob Shiplet and Shad Petersen, who all transferred to the A-Feature with Brink. Heat races were won by Miller, Dietz and Ramaker. Miller's run from fifth to first in Heat 1 earned him the top heat race passing points of the evening with a score of 120. In the Top 8 re-draw for their A-Feature starting positions, Miller drew the fourth starting position for the main event. Ramaker, who was seventh in the passing points, drew the pole position while the outside front row was left for Hoiness, who was the last driver in the Top 8.
Friday's 25-car field was geographically diverse, featuring cars and drivers from Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Alberta.
The series races again Saturday evening at Billings Motorsports Park, where J.J. Hickle swept the two season opening events on May 29th and 30th. The series then returns to Electric City Speedway in Great Falls, Montana for two nights of action on June 19th and 20th.
The Frontier Region of the American Sprint Car Series, presented in part by Speedmart Inc. is a winged 360 dirt 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 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.
Race Results:
ASCS Frontier Region
Gallatin Speedway – Belgrade, Mont.
Friday, June 12, 2015
Car Count: 25
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2JR-Kelly Miller; 2. 38B-Bryan Brown; 3. 28-Joe Perry; 4. P12-Randy Pierce; 5. 55-Tyler Liebig; 6. 00-Roger Cummings; 7. 22-Chris Roberts; 8. 2-Shad Peterson; 9. 24-Leroy Brush
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 72-Phil Dietz; 2. 27DD-David Hoiness; 3. 37-Trever Kirkland; 4. 74U-Chauncey Filler; 5. 51T-Tristan Spiers; 6. 18-Seth Ostermiller; 7. 4-Cliff Nelson Jr.; 8. 4N-John Nelson
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 98-Joe Ramaker; 2. 12-Josh Ostermiller; 3. 23N-J.J. Hickle; 4. 0J-Jeremy McCune; 5. 99-Skylar Gee; 6. 75-D.J. Brink; 7. 38-Trevor Turnbull; 8. 77-Bob Shiplet
B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 75-D.J. Brink[3]; 2. 38-Trevor Turnbull[4]; 3. 77-Bob Shiplet[6]; 4. 2-Shad Peterson[7]; 5. 4-Cliff Nelson Jr.[2]; 6. 24-Leroy Brush[9]; 7. (DNF) 4N-John Nelson[8]; 8. (DNF) 55-Tyler Liebig[1]; 9. (DNF) 22-Chris Roberts[5]
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 27DD-David Hoiness[2]; 2. 72-Phil Dietz[5]; 3. 23N-J.J. Hickle[6]; 4. 2JR-Kelly Miller[4]; 5. 75-D.J. Brink[17]; 6. 99-Skylar Gee[11]; 7. 37-Trever Kirkland[7]; 8. 28-Joe Perry[8]; 9. 74U-Chauncey Filler[12]; 10. P12-Randy Pierce[9]; 11. 0J-Jeremy McCune[13]; 12. 38-Trevor Turnbull[18]; 13. 98-Joe Ramaker[1]; 14. 38B-Bryan Brown[3]; 15. 77-Bob Shiplet[19]; 16. 00-Roger Cummings[14]; 17. (DNF) 51T-Tristan Spiers[15]; 18. (DNF) 18-Seth Ostermiller[16]; 19. (DNF) 12-Josh Ostermiller[10]; 20. (DNF) 2-Shad Peterson[20]
Submitted By: Bryan Hulbert
