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Lucas Oil Sprint Cars Ready to Rock ‘N Roll at Riverside!
BY Lonnie Wheatley
WEST MEMPHIS, AR (May 2, 2011) - Everyone can go ahead and break out their
blue suede shoes, as the Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters is set for
Saturday night’s Third Annual Rock ‘N Roll 50 atop Riverside Speedway’s
storied ¼-mile black gumbo clay oval.
It marks the lone
stop of the year at the West Memphis, AR, oval for the nation’s most
fiercely competitive touring Sprint Car series and is also the only 50-lap
feature event on the ASCS National slate of events.
Fifty laps is a
distance that’s been covered just two times in 614 previous ASCS National
features dating back to 1992, with both of those taking place at Riverside
in the previous two editions of the TBJ Promotions Rock ‘N Roll 50.
And, both previous
times, it was three-time ASCS National champion Tim Crawley standing in
victory lane at the end of the night with the $6,000 winner’s share and the
coveted customized Gibson Guitar trophy.
Crawley will be
among a loaded field of competitors Saturday night, all but eight of which
will be vying to become the ninth different Lucas Oil ASCS National winner
of 2011 in the ninth event of the season.
Four of Crawley’s
42 career ASCS National wins, third best in series history behind Gary
Wright (127) and Jason Johnson (49), have taken place at Riverside,
including three wins in four features at the Ditch over the past two years.
Crawley comes off a season-best fifth-place run in the series most recent
event at Little Rock’s I-30 Speedway on April 16.
Crawley is one of
several top series contenders trying to break into victory lane for the
first time in 2011 along with 2010 points runner-up Brady Bacon, Tony Bruce,
Jr., Zach Chappell, Seth Bergman, Dustin Morgan, Danny Wood and Brodix
Rookie of the Year contenders Aaron Reutzel and Logan Forler.
The eight winners
in eight races thus far includes current points leader Shane Stewart,
reigning Lucas Oil Sprint Car champion Jason Johnson, four-time series
champion Gary Wright, Johnny Herrera, Jeff Swindell, Sam Hafertepe, Jr.,
Kyle Larson and Tim Kaeding.
Finishing outside
the top five just once in eight main events, 2009 Lucas Oil champ Stewart of
Bixby, OK, has opened up a 110-point gap over Albuquerque’s Herrera, who is
taking aim at the Lucas Oil Sprint Car title as is third-ranked Jeff
Swindell of Bartlett, TN. Swindell, back on the road full-time again for
the first time in several years, is just six points behind Herrera.
Crawley is fourth
despite using up two of his allotted provisionals already, with Gary Wright
cracking the top five after a strong I-30 double. Broken Arrow, Oklahoma’s
Bacon is currently sixth, with the rest of the top ten in driver points
including Washington’s Bergman, Reutzel of Clute, TX, Liberal native Tony
Bruce, Jr., and 2001 series kingpin Chappell.
While the Lucas Oil
ASCS presented by K&N Filters National series brings a contingent of heavy
hitters to Riverside’s West Memphis, AR, oval on Saturday, a stout group of
local competitors will be ready to defend their home turf. A.G. Rains, who
has claimed a pair of National wins in the past at Riverside, topped the
April 2 weekly event at Riverside over I-30 regular Cody Gardner, Wade
Oliver, Dale Howard and Brad Bowden, who led 18 Lucas Oil ASCS laps at I-30
on April 16 before Gary Wright took command.
Tickets for next
Saturday night’s Third Annual Rock ‘N Roll 50 are available by checking
www.tbjpromotions.com.
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