7/8/2009
ASCS
Crawley Conquers Lucas Oil ASCS in Rock 'N Roll 50
[b Sweeps Series Return to Riverside!]
Lonnie Wheatley, WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. (July 4, 2009) – Arkansas ace Tim Crawley completed a weekend sweep of the Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters much-anticipated return to Riverside Speedway by winning Saturday night's Rock 'N Roll 50 championship feature event atop the storied ¼-mile gumbo clay oval.
The three-time Lucas Oil ASCS National champion wrestled the lead away from Justin Sturch on the 31st round en route to topping the first 50-lapper in series history, collecting the $6,000 winner's share and a nifty Gibson Les Paul guitar event trophy with the VERSUS cameras catching all the action.
"What a great weekend!" Crawley exclaimed in victory lane. "Last night it was pretty much wide open, but tonight was more about being patient and waiting for the right time to make that move."
After racing from eleventh to win Friday night's preliminary feature, Crawley drew the pole position for Saturday night's 50-lap finale. But, it was Justin Sturch gunning into the lead at the outset from the front row outside after racing his way into the six-car redraw by ranking among the night's top two earners in passing points.
Sturch paced 30 rounds before Crawley snuck underneath entering turn one on the 31st circuit and never looked back, ultimately taking the checkered flag aboard Mike Ward's McCarver-powered Boater Sports No. 88 Maxim with a comfortable straightaway advantage.
"Justin (Sturch) drove a strong race, but he left one hole open and I was there to plug it," Crawley explained. "We owe David McCarver a lot of credit on this one, he busted his tail to have an engine ready for tonight."
While Crawley cruised out front in the waning laps, event promoter Tony Bruce, Jr., slipped around Sturch in the closing circuits to snare runner-up honors in the Rider-powered Sundial Tee Shirts/AMC Plumbing No. 18 Maxim.
"I don't think I've ever been this worn out in my life," the Kansas shoe commented upon climbing out of his mount on a muggy night next to the Mississippi River after piling 50 laps upon double duty as racer and promoter. "It's worth it though, it was a great race and we look forward to doing this every year."
Sturch, the reigning track champion at Little Rock's I-30 Speedway, settled for his best career Lucas Oil ASCS finish by taking third in his No. 9 entry, commenting that, "We were just getting way too loose there at the end, we're satisfied with what we got. I was a little concerned that we were about to get freight-trained, but I think a lot of the other guys had the same problem."
Gary Wright battled forward from 11th to earn fourth in Scott Brown's ASI-powered Lubbock Wrecker Service/Richwood Construction No. 9x Maxim to take over the series points lead by six markers over Jason Johnson and Shane Stewart, who are now tied for second.
Jesse Hockett battled amongst the lead handful of cars throughout, ultimately rounding out the top five in the RMS-powered VKCC Motorsports/Tom Buch No. 13 JEI.
Gary Taylor advanced a half dozen positions to finish sixth, with Jan Howard, Nick Smith, Shane Stewart and 23rd-starter Jason Johnson completing the top ten.
The feature event ran off with four yellow flags and two reds. The first yellow flew after two laps when third-starter Darren Long looped it in turn one. Two laps later, Paul McMahan came to a stop in turn three with engine woes.
Chad Corken tumbled in turn two on the ninth lap to bring out the first red flag, with Brady Bacon spinning to a stop in turn two with 16 laps in the books. After Dustin Morgan coasted to a stop with mechanical issues after 36 laps, Travis Rilat got upside down in turn two three laps later after running among the top five throughout. Terry Gray and Danny Wood were collected in the melee, with Gray forced pitside along with Rilat.
A pair of drivers used provisionals to start the main event, including reigning series champion Jason Johnson and Nebraska's Jack Dover.
After tangling with Ricky Logan and flipping in turn four on the opening lap of the night's sixth and final heat race, Johnson used his first provisional of the year after being unable to transfer from his "B" Main.
Struggling in his heat and "B" Main, Dover regrouped to race from 24th to eleventh to garner the R.E. Technologies Young Gun of the Race award, presented to the night's top finisher under 21 years of age. Don Young claimed Friday night's Young Gun award.
With 50 cars on hand for Saturday night's Rock 'N Roll 50, Wright, Marshall Skinner, Taylor, Jan Howard, Smith and Stewart topped heat race action. Matt Covington, Danny Wood and Paul McMahan won the "B" Mains.
Gavin Punch slipped too high exiting turn two in the second "B" Main and flipped after tagging the wall. Punch walked away uninjured, as did the night's other flip victims.
Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters
Riverside Speedway – West Memphis, AR
Rock 'N Roll 50 Results
Locked in From Friday Night's Preliminary Feature:
88-Tim Crawley, 29-Travis Rilat, 13-Jesse Hockett, 18-Tony Bruce, Jr.
Heat Races (Top 12 in Passing Points to "A" Main; Balance to 3 "B" Mains):
Heat One (10 Laps): 1. 9x-Gary Wright, 2. 12-Trey Robb, 3. 95-Matt Covington, 4. 39-Brad Bowden, 5. 12d-Jeff Swindell, 6. 6-Raymond Stull, 7. 53-Jack Dover, 8. 75-Don Young.
Heat Two (10 Laps): 1. 26-Marshall Skinner, 2. 40r-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 3. 1-Sean McClelland, 4. 10-Terry Gray, 5. 16-Anthony Nicholson, 6. 2-Kenneth Walker, 7. 51-Lee Sowell, 8. 3-A.G. Rains.
Heat Three (10 Laps): 1. 91-Gary Taylor, 2. 7-Darren Long, 3. 94-Danny Wood, 4. 7n-Philip Faulkner, 5. 23-Seth Bergman, 6. 45-Dale Howard, 7. 8x-Chris Williams, 8. 17-Tim Sites.
Heat Four (10 Laps): 1. 4x-Jan Howard, 2. 58-Wade Oliver, 3. 99-Brady Bacon, 4. 40-Ernie Ainsworth, 5. 78-Henry Gustavus, 6. 97-Aaron Berryhill, 7. 16p-Dewayne Prince, 8. 44-Ronny Howard.
Heat Five (10 Laps): 1. 15s-Nick Smith, 2. 3d-Paul McMahan, 3. 1e-Eddie Gallagher, 4. 8z-Zach Pringle, 5. 2T-Todd Fayard, 6. 22-Kevin Kilpatrick, 7. 85-Jerry Bell.
Heat Six (10 Laps): 1. 57-Shane Stewart, 2. 9-Justin Sturch, 3. 11-Chad Corken, 4. 93-Dustin Morgan, 5. 81au-Gavin Punch, 6. 10a-Ricky Logan, 7. 41-Jason Johnson.
"B" Mains (Top 2 From Each Advance to "A" Main):
First "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington, 2. 11-Chad Corken, 3. 10a-Ricky Logan, 4. 12-Trey Robb, 5. 22-Kevin Kilpatrick, 6. 97-Aaron Berryhill, 7. 41-Jason Johnson, 8. 39-Brad Bowden, 9. 16-Anthony Nicholson, 9. 7n-Philip Faulkner, 10. 17-Tim Sites, 11. 44-Ronny Howard.
Second "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 94-Danny Wood, 2. 40r-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 3. 40-Ernie Ainsworth, 4. 8z-Zach Pringle, 5. 6-Raymond Stull, 6. 53-Jack Dover, 7. 75-Don Young, 8. 8x-Chris Williams, 9. 85-Jerry Bell, 10. 2T-Todd Fayard, 11. 81au-Gavin Punch.
Third "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 3d-Paul McMahan, 2. 1-Sean McClelland, 3. 12d-Jeff Swindell, 4. 1e-Eddie Gallagher, 5. 2-Kenneth Walker, 6. 51-Lee Sowell, 7. 16p-Dewayne Prince, 8. 45-Dale Howard, 9. 23-Seth Bergman, 10. 78-Henry Gustavus, 11. 3-A.G. Rains.
Rock N' Roll 50 "A" Main Event:
“A” Feature (50 Laps): 1. 88-Tim Crawley, 2. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 3. 9-Justin Sturch, 4. 9x-Gary Wright, 5. 13-Jesse Hockett, 6. 91-Gary Taylor, 7. 4x-Jan Howard, 8. 15s-Nick Smith, 9. 57-Shane Stewart, 10. 41-Jason Johnson, 11. 53-Jack Dover, 12. 40r-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 13. 7-Darren Long, 14. 1-Sean McClelland, 15. 94-Danny Wood, 16. 95-Matt Covington, 17. 29-Travis Rilat, 18. 10-Terry Gray, 19. 93-Dustin Morgan, 20. 26-Marshall Skinner, 21. 58-Wade Oliver, 22. 99-Brady Bacon, 23. 11-Chad Corken, 24. 3d-Paul McMahan.
Lap Leaders: Justin Sturch 1-30, Tim Crawley 31-50.
Note: Jason Johnson and Jack Dover utilized Lucas Oil ASCS provisionals to start the "A" Main. It was the first of the year for both drivers.
Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters Points (Top 20): 1. Gary Wright 996, 2. (tie) Jason Johnson and Shane Stewart 990, 4. Travis Rilat 899, 5. Paul McMahan 882, 6. Tim Crawley 881, 7. Danny Wood 872, 8. Jack Dover 871, 9. Nick Smith 870, 10. Tony Bruce, Jr. 869, 11. Jesse Hockett 785, 12. Brady Bacon 752, 13. Sean McClelland 728, 14. Gary Taylor 666, 15. Kenneth Walker 644, 16. Trey Robb 632, 17. (tie) Aaron Berryhill and Matt Covington 625, 19. Darren Long 607, 20. Gavin Punch 599.
Photo -
Tim Crawley drove to a sweep of the weekend's Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters action at Riverside Speedway in West Memphis, AR, aboard Mike Ward's McCarver-powered Boater Sports No. 88 Maxim by winning Saturday night's Rock 'N Roll 50 feature event, the first 50-lapper in series history.
Submitted By: Lonnie Wheatley
