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Tuesday's Top Ten – O'Reilly ASCoT East Bay Preview (1/29/08)
Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (January 29, 2008) – Tuesday's Top Ten is
back with a look at this weekend's season-opening event for the O'Reilly
American Sprint Cars on Tour National series at East Bay Raceway Park's
32nd Annual Winter Nationals in Tampa, FL.
While much of the nation shivers in sub-freezing temperatures, the nation's
leading Sprint Car series slings the clay for three nights at East Bay. Following
prelim action on Thursday and Friday, Saturday night's Ronald Laney
Memorial winner pockets a cool $10,000. Not a bad way to start out the year at
all.
Dig in….
1. Five-Peat? – Retirement rumors aside again, Gary Wright shoots for an
unprecedented fifth consecutive O'Reilly ASCS National title in 2008. After a
runner-up finish in the closest points race in series history in 2003 when he
missed one event due to a highway accident, "The Texan" has reeled off
consecutive ASCS titles in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007, matching Terry Gray's
streak of four in a row from 1995 to 1998.
The likes of past ASCS National champions Travis Rilat (2003), Zach Chappell
(2001) and Wayne Johnson (2000) along with two-time series runner-up Jason
Johnson (2006 and 2007) will be among the leading contenders to dethrone
Wright.
2. Splitting Time – Wright is slated to open the season at East Bay aboard
Donnie Cooper's No. 01 entry. But with Cooper wrenching for Missouri young
gun Josh Fisher in 2008, Wright will also spend some time over the course of
the season in his own No. 9 machine after holding back several pieces from
the auction recently held at the Chili Bowl.
While jumping from one car to the other could make another title in 2008 an
even bigger challenge, the car owner's championship points race opens up as
well.
3. For Openers – With Darren Stewart vacating the seat of the familiar No. 91
Bobby Sparks entry, the Olive Branch, MS, car owner will kick off the season at
East Bay with Nebraska's Don Droud, Jr., at the wheel. No final decision has
been made on the driver for the balance of the season, but Sparks will likely
keep himself in top contention in owner points with Droud at the helm over the
weekend.
4. Tuned Up – Several ASCS shoes tuned up by competing in the 22nd
Annual Dodge Chili Bowl Nationals at Tulsa Expo Raceway on January 8-12,
including 2007 top-ten National ranking Gary Wright, Wayne Johnson, Travis
Rilat and Darren Stewart along with two-time Sooner Region champ Kevin
Ramey, Northern Plains champion Lee Grosz and Mid-Atlantic runner-up
Coleman Gulick among other Regional contenders.
Rilat fared the best, missing out on the championship main event by just seven
positions with a 13th place "B" Main finish among the record 274 competitors.
Rilat is geared up for an ASCS National championship run in 2008,
commenting that, "We're probably just going to run the 44 National races and
nothing else, we've got to focus on winning that championship."
The Forney, TX, racer will be faced with temptation right out of the gate with a
$3,000 to win ASCS Coastal vs. Rebel Region showdown at Deep South
Speedway in Loxley, AL, on February 9 and then a $3,000 to win ASCS Gulf
South event at Houston Raceway Park on March 1.
5. It's 45 Now – In case you hadn't noticed, the O'Reilly ASCoT National
schedule for 2008 now consists of 45 nights of action with the addition of a
Jackson Motor Speedway event in Jackson, MS, on Saturday night, August 30.
The Jackson add makes for a Labor Day weekend triple with the track under
new ownership sandwiched by Checkered Flag Speedway in Hohenwald, TN,
on Friday and Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, MS, on Sunday.
The ASCS National Tour last visited Jackson Motor Speedway in 1997 when
Garry Lee Maier took top honors. Terry Gray picked up an ASCS National win
at Jackson in 1995.
Maier, the inaugural ASCS National champion in 1992, is expected to take in
most of the National series this year, including this weekend's action at East
Bay.
6. Format Change – The ASCS format will remain virtually the same for 2008,
with just one exception: the elimination of Pole Dashes. Rather than a Pole
Dash for the top six earners in passing points, the top eight in passing points
will now redraw for feature starting positions. Thus, the top point earner after
heat race action could start from the pole with a lucky draw or as far back as
eighth. On the flip side, a driver that wins a late heat race from the pole
position and thus ranks lower in passing points could still have the opportunity
to redraw a position at or near the front. Either way, the end result should
spice things up a bit for the fans while reducing engine and tire wear incurred
in what were typically uneventful Dashes.
7. Down Under Tune Up – Jason Johnson spent his "off-season" racing in
Australia, racking up a handful of feature wins and ranking sixth in World
Series Sprintcar points.
A winner of 18 National feature events and 34 overall ASCS features over the
past two years alone, "The Ragin' Cajun" hopes for a stronger East Bay
performance than he's experienced over the past couple of years as he kicks
off his pursuit of the $50,000 O'Reilly ASCoT National title.
Two years ago, Johnson missed the East Bay opener altogether due to
Australian commitments and spotted Gary Wright 110 points before ultimately
closing in to within 30 points by season's end.
Last year, Johnson struggled through the opening two nights at East Bay
before salvaging a third-place finish in the finale. Still, Johnson left Florida 60
points in arrears to Wright, who became the first repeat winner in East Bay's
"King of the 360's" Nationals history.
8. Rookies – An interesting Rookie crop is set to battle it out in 2008, with 20-
year-old Eric Baldaccini of Keller, TX, and 17-year-old Kathryne Minter of
Bedford, TX, among those expected at East Bay.
Baldaccini ranked eighth in National points last year despite running a limited
slate, while also finishing ninth in ASCS Sooner Region points. Minter's first full
year of ASCS action last year netted eighth in Gulf South points.
After capturing the SMRS Midget title last year, past ASCS Rocky Mountain
Region champion Gary Taylor will pick up the ASCS National Tour at the
Devil's Bowl Spring Nationals in March as he pursues Rookie of the Year
honors. A Snohomish, WA, native that spent several years residing in Wheat
Ridge, CO, driving for the venerable Harry Conklin, Taylor now calls Sapulpa,
OK, home.
Eighteen-year-old Matt Covington, missing out on East Bay due to high school
wrestling commitments at Glenpool, OK, will take in approximately 75-80% of
the National schedule while also taking in the full Sooner slate.
Kenneth Walker of Sapulpa, OK, who ranked ninth in National points last year,
has also reportedly announced intentions to contend for Rookie of the Year
honors in 2008.
A pair of past top Rookie finishers, including Nick Smith (2006) and A.G. Rains
(2004), will be back on the road as well. Broken Arrow, Oklahoma's Smith
takes to the Tour for the first time as Gary Wright's son-in-law after Costa
Rican nuptials with Lauren Wright in the off-season, while West Memphis shoe
Rains will reportedly make another run at the series title after sticking closer to
home the past couple of years.
9. In Jeopardy – Before the season's first engines have even fired, one of
Gary Wright's records is already in jeopardy. Of course the guy that is
threatening that record is, well, none other than Gary Wright.
After suffering a DNF in the Daniel McMillin Memorial at Double X Speedway in
California, MO, on July 4, Wright finished out the 2007 season with 13
consecutive top-five feature finishes in ASCS National competition.
That streak of 13 in a row among the top five puts Wright just three behind the
record of 16 consecutive top-fives that he established during the 2005
season. An ultra-strong East Bay performance with top-five runs on all three
nights could tie him for the record, setting up a potential record-breaking 17th
consecutive top-five at the Devil's Bowl in March.
Jason Johnson holds the current streak for most consecutive top-tens with 19
in a row, still some distance short of Tim Crawley's 41 consecutive top-tens in
2002.
Wright has started 155 consecutive ASCS National Tour main events, a record
he extends with each additional start.
Wright has also competed in 166 consecutive ASCS National Tour events,
approximately one season short of Toby Brown's record of 212 events
competed in. Zach Chappell competed in 199 in a row over a similar stretch
with Brown.
10. East Bay ASCoT History – Gary Wright and Terry McCarl have combined
to win five of six ASCS National Tour features at East Bay Raceway Park's
Winter Nationals over the past two years, with Travis Rilat the only other driver
to crack victory lane with a prelim win in 2006.
Prior to 2006, it was the previous century when Wright scored as ASCS win at
East Bay in 1997, with other 90's ASCS winners including David Steele, Garry
Lee Maier and Larry Pinegar.
For the record, past ASCS National Tour winners at East Bay are as follows:
David Steele (2/11/96), Garry Lee Maier (2/12/96), Larry Pinegar (2/9/97),
Gary Wright (2/10/97), Travis Rilat (1/26/06), Terry McCarl (1/27/06), Terry
McCarl (1/28/06), Gary Wright (1/25/07), Terry McCarl (1/26/07), Gary Wright
(1/27/07).
Can't make it to East Bay for the season-opening O'Reilly ASCoT event in
some pleasant Florida weather? You can still crank up the heat at home and
tune in live to www.HighSpeedRadio.com for all the weekend's action.
Back next week with TTT, containing all the scoop from East Bay Raceway
Park.
Until next week, any information you may desire regarding the American Sprint
Car Series is available at http://www.ascsracing.com/.
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