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O'Reilly ASCoT Set for Short Track Double This Weekend!
Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (April 21, 2008) – The intensity level continues to climb for the O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National series, as the nation's premier traveling Sprint Car circuit invades a pair of bullrings for the first time thus far in 2008 this coming weekend.
On Friday night, the O'Reilly ASCoT stars take to the high-banked, ¼-mile Paris Motor Speedway dirt oval in Paris, TX. Then on Saturday night, it's off to Little Rock's high-banked, ¼-mile I-30 Speedway clay oval.
Friday's card at Paris Motor Speedway marks the first National Tour event atop the Parisian dirt track since 2005, when four-time and reigning series champion Gary Wright claimed victory just an hour or so from his Hooks, TX, home. Louisiana's Jason Johnson topped a Regional event at Paris in 2006.
Saturday's action at I-30 Speedway serves as an excellent tune-up opportunity for the second leg of the 16th Annual ASCS Sizzlin' Summer Speedweek on July 12 and then the track's and series' season-ending $15,000-to-win Short Track Nationals on October 23-25, an event that has become one of the nation's most highly anticipated Sprint Car spectaculars.
After consecutive O'Reilly ASCoT points runner-up finishes in 2006 and 2007, Jason Johnson of Eunice, LA, rides a wave of two consecutive series feature wins into the weekend and ranks as the only driver to snare more than one National win thus far in 2008 with a total of three National victories.
However, Johnson enters the weekend ranked third in points due to missing the cut for one feature event and using a provisional, which awards money but no points.
Trying to chase down an unprecedented fifth consecutive ASCS National championship, Wright enters the weekend with a 40-point lead over Oklahoma City native Wayne Johnson in the $50,000 championship chase, with the unrelated Jason Johnson just another 18 points back.
Wright, winner of the last two ASCS National events at Paris Motor Speedway and ten series events at I-30 Speedway, has finished among the top ten in all eight series feature events this season with his lone win coming in the Devil's Bowl Spring Nationals finale on March 15.
A third-place finisher in last year's points, 2000 series champion Wayne Johnson comes off Hard Charger efforts at Lucas Oil Speedway as he pursues a second series title.
Tennessee's Jason Sides is holding down fourth in series points, with Garry Lee Maier of Cimarron, KS, rounding out the current top five.
Maier, the 1992 ASCS National champion, is just ahead of two more past ASCS National champions, including 2001 king Zach Chappell (Talala, OK) and 2003 champ Travis Rilat (Forney, TX).
Twenty-year-old Eric Baldaccini enters the weekend ranked eighth, tops amongst the series Brodix Rookie of the Year contenders. Baldaccini is just 35 points ahead of fellow rookie contender Don Droud, Jr., of Lincoln, NE with Springfield, Nebraska's Jack Dover competing the current top ten.
Other full-time O'Reilly ASCoT contenders include Kenneth Walker (Sapulpa, OK), Nick Smith (Broken Arrow, OK), 17-year-old Kathryne Minter (Bedford, TX), Gary Taylor (Sapulpa, OK) and Chris Tarrant (Greenville, TX).
A number of other top contenders will be in action over the weekend, including three-time ASCS National champion Tim Crawley of Benton, AR. Crawley topped this past weekend's weekly Sprint Car action at I-30 Speedway.
This weekend marks the second of four consecutive weekends of racing action for the O'Reilly ASCoT National series. The series moves on to Lake Ozark Speedway in Eldon, MO, on Saturday night, May 3, before returning to Oklahoma City's State Fair Speedway and then Devil's Bowl Speedway near Dallas, TX, on May 9-10.
The Series:
O’Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour (ASCoT)
When & Where:
Friday night, April 25 – Paris Motor Speedway at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday night, April 26 – I-30 Speedway at 7:30 p.m.
Track Information:
Paris Motor Speedway (Paris, TX) – 1/4-mile high-banked dirt oval located 7.4 miles east of Paris' loop 286 on US 82, then 3.9 miles south on FM 196. For more information, contact the track at 903-982-6062.
I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, AR) – ¼-mile high-banked clay oval located seven miles southwest of Little Rock off I-30 Exit 126 (Alexander Rd.), then south to frontage road, then east. For more information, contact the track at 501-455-4567.
O’Reilly ASCoT Paris Motor Speedway History:
The O'Reilly ASCoT National series has been in action on ten occasions at Paris Motor Speedway. Gary Wright won the first event in 1999 and has topped the most two recent Paris outings in 2004 and 2005. In between those wins, Wright was shut out as seven different drivers reached victory lane in the other seven events.
Paris Motor Speedway ASCS National winners include: Gary Wright 3, Tim Crawley 1, Jeff Day 1, Michael Dupuy 1, Terry Gray 1, Jason Johnson 1, Travis Rilat 1, Mike Ward 1.
Paris Motor Speedway O'Reilly ASCoT Race-by-race Winners: Gary Wright (7/29/99), Terry Gray (4/21/00), Michael Dupuy (7/20/00), Travis Rilat (9/29/00), Tim Crawley (9/30/00), Jeff Day (5/18/01), Mike Ward (7/19/01), Jason Johnson (6/6/02), Gary Wright (8/27/04), Gary Wright (7/8/05).
O’Reilly ASCoT I-30 Speedway History:
A staple of the ASCS National Tour, I-30 Speedway hosted the first official ASCS National Tour event on May 15, 1993, with Memphis shoe Mike Ward dropping in on victory lane. Since that time, 14 different drivers have posted at least one ASCS National Tour feature win in the 36 events contested at I-30.
Gary Wright has enjoyed the most success at I-30 with ten triumphs, his most recent one coming during the 2006 edition of ASCS Speedweek.
I-30 Speedway ASCS National winners include: Gary Wright 10, Garry Lee Maier 4, Tim Crawley 3, Terry Gray 3, Mike Ward 3, Jason Johnson 2, Wayne Johnson 2, Travis Rilat 2, Shane Stewart 2, Pete Butler 1, Ricky Logan 1, Jason Meyers 1, Eric Sandage 1, Tim Shaffer 1.
I-30 Speedway O’Reilly ASCoT Race-by-Race Winners: Mike Ward (5/15/93), Tim Crawley (6/24/93), Terry Gray (7/17/93), Garry Lee Maier (6/18/94), Garry Lee Maier (8/13/94), Terry Gray (5/20/95), Ricky Logan (6/24/95), Gary Wright (7/15/95), Mike Ward (5/18/96), Garry Lee Maier (6/15/96), Garry Lee Maier (8/3/96), Mike Ward (5/17/97), Gary Wright (6/14/97), Wayne Johnson (9/26/97), Wayne Johnson (9/27/97), Gary Wright (5/16/98), Terry Gray (6/13/98), Eric Sandage (8/25/01), Pete Butler (6/22/02), Gary Wright (7/13/02), Gary Wright (9/21/02), Gary Wright (6/21/03), Tim Crawley (7/12/03), Shane Stewart (9/6/03), Gary Wright (6/5/04), Travis Rilat (7/10/04), Gary Wright (8/28/04), Tim Crawley (6/11/05), Gary Wright (7/9/05), Travis Rilat (10/1/05), Jason Johnson (7/29/06), Jason Johnson (4/28/07), Gary Wright (7/14/07), Shane Stewart (10/25/07), Tim Shaffer (10/26/07), Jason Meyers (10/27/07).
Current O’Reilly ASCoT Points (After 8 of 42 Nights):
Top Fifteen: 1. Gary Wright (Hooks, TX) 853, 2. Wayne Johnson (Oklahoma City, OK) 813, 3. Jason Johnson (Eunice, LA) 795, 4. Jason Sides (Bartlett, TN) 756, 5. Garry Lee Maier (Cimarron, KS) 721, 6. Zach Chappell (Talala, OK) 717, 7. Travis Rilat (Forney, TX) 678, 8. Eric Baldaccini (Keller, TX) 659, 9. Don Droud, Jr. (Lincoln, NE) 624, 10. Jack Dover (Springfield, NE) 613, 11. Brian Brown (Grain Valley, MO) 593, 12. Kenneth Walker (Sapulpa, OK) 542, 13. Nick Smith (Broken Arrow, OK) 536, 14. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (Sunnyvale, TX) 522, 15. Kathryne Minter (Bedford, TX) 476.
2008 O’Reilly ASCoT Feature Winners:
Jason Johnson 3, Kenny Adams 1, Tony Bruce, Jr. 1, Danny Lasoski 1, Terry McCarl 1, Gary Wright 1.
O'Reilly ASCoT – A Look Ahead:
May 3 Lake Ozark Speedway (Lake Ozark, MO)
May 9 State Fair Speedway (Oklahoma City, OK)
May 10 Devil's Bowl Speedway (Mesquite, TX)
The O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National series is currently slated for 42 nights of racing action at 22 different tracks throughout a dozen different states, with more than $1,000,000 in purse money and point fund to be distributed during the 2008 season.
The nation's most prominent Sprint Car sanctioning body with 14 different Regions throughout the United States in addition to the O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National series, the American Sprint Car Series' (ASCS) 17th year of activity will include approximately 250 nights of racing at more than 100 different race tracks throughout 28 different states and Canada.
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.
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