Wright is Good to the Last Drop in "King of the 360's" ASCoT Finale at East Bay
by: Lonnie Wheatley

TAMPA, Fla. (Jan. 27, 2007) – In the ninth edition of East Bay Raceway Park's "King of the 360's" Nationals, it was only fitting that the driver of the familiar No. 9 car, Gary Wright, became the first repeat winner in the history of the prestigious event.

Wright, the three-time and defending O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National champion who captured his first East Bay "King of the 360's" crown in 1999, gunned into the lead at the outset of the Sixth Annual Ronald Laney Memorial and led all 40 laps to garner the $10,000 winner's cut.

But, one more lap would have proved costly, as "The Texan" sputtered across the finish line in the Wesmar-powered Richwood Construction/Whiteco Commercial Funding/The Shop No. 9 Maxim on little more than methanol fumes.

"There were so many cautions early on that I ran out of fuel on the last lap, I just tried to take the shortest route around the track that last time around," Wright commented after his 108th career ASCS National Tour victory.

With the triumph and Thursday's preliminary feature win, Wright has already matched his 2006 ASCS National Tour victory tally of two, his lowest series victory output since 1996. "Last year, it took over a month for us to get our first win, now we've got two this weekend so hopefully we're on the right pace now."

Atop the point charts after the two preliminary events, Wright led the 26-car feature field to the green flag with Friday night winner and defending race champion Terry McCarl alongside. Wright raced into the lead at the start and weathered a half dozen cautions for minor incidents over the opening dozen rounds.

With the early spate of caution periods out of the way, Wright led the way in front of McCarl, Danny Smith, Tim Shaffer and Darren Stewart, finally reaching lapped traffic on the 20th round. Another caution appeared just two laps later though when Sean McClelland slowed with engine woes directly in front of the leader. Wright adroitly dodged the slowing machine to maintain command.

With a lapped car separating Wright from Danny Smith, who had taken second from McCarl just moments before the caution, "The Texan" wasted little time racing to a half straightaway advantage.

Wright continued to hold a comfortable lead until the race's final caution flew with just four laps remaining when Darren Stewart, who ran among the top five over the first half of the race, stopped in turn two with an expired powerplant.

With the lapped car of Nick Smith in between Wright and Danny Smith on the restart, Wright quickly reestablished his lead and appeared to have an easy victory within grasp. But as the white flag flew, Wright's mount began to stumble from fuel deprivation. With a healthy lead though, Wright was able to nurse it home over the final lap and took the checkered flag before coming to a stop on the backstretch during the cool-down lap.

Indiana veteran shoe Danny Smith settled for runner-up honors, while Louisiana's Jason Johnson shook off a pair of frustrating qualifying nights to race from the eighth starting slot to snare the show position. Shaffer crossed the stripe fourth, while 20th-starter Chuck Swenson gained the fifth position when apparent fifth-place runner McCarl was disqualified for failing to report to the scales.

Greg Wilson claimed sixth, with 17th-starter Travis Rilat, 21st-starter Jason Sides, 19th-starter Danny Martin, Jr., and Kenny Adams completing the top ten.

Adams, John Karklin, Jason Johnson, Justin Barger, Davie Franek, Jr., Danny Lasoski and Doug Emery each scored heat race wins, with Rilat, Emery, Danny Martin, Jr., and Swenson topping the four 12-lap "B" Mains.

A total of 75 drivers from 20 different American states and three Canadian provinces competed in the Ninth Annual "King of the 360's" Nationals, the opening segment of East Bay Raceway Park's 31st Annual Winter Nationals.

With Saturday's triumph, Wright is in the driver's seat to collect the Fast Lane Apparel Triple Crown Challenge bonus money of $75,000. Wright can pocket an extra $5,000 by winning either next Friday night's O'Reilly Sprint Bandits TNT main event or Saturday's 410-ci Winged Sprint Car finale. The bonus jumps to $75,000 if he completes the triple with wins in all three finales.



O’Reilly ASCoT East Bay Raceway Park "King of the 360's" Ronald Laney Memorial Results:

Locked in from Qualifying Nights (Top Seven in Points):

9-Gary Wright (Hooks, TX), 1m-Terry McCarl (Altoona, IA), 94-Wayne Johnson (Oklahoma City, OK), 4-Danny Smith (Danville, IN), w20-Greg Wilson (Benton Ridge, OH), 6-Tim Shaffer (Aliquippa, PA), 91-Darren Stewart (Bixby, OK).



Heat Races (Top 9 in passing points to “A” Main; Balance to 4 "B" Mains)

Brodix Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 4a-Kenny Adams (Malabar, FL), 2. X-Chuck Swenson (Watertown, SD), 3. b4-Eric Baldaccini (Keller, TX), 4. 50-Stephanie Chappell (Talala, OK), 5. 71-Wayne Reutimann, Jr. (Zephyrhills, FL), 6. 97-Mike Brecht (Beaver Dam, OH), 7. 57c-Chris Schmelzle (Victoria, BC), 8. 21x-Brent Vonk (Sioux Falls, SD), 9. 07h-Rob Hartman (Ozark, MO).

Wesmar-Shaver Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 69k-John Karklin (Freehold, NY), 2. 28FM-Steve Poirier (St. Julie, QUE), 3. 1-Sean McClelland (Collinsville, OK), 4. 15s-Nick Smith (Broken Arrow, OK), 5. 2-Frank Beck III (Riverview, FL), 6. 34-Luke Hall (Ludlow Falls, OH), 7. 4R-Robbie Vaughn (Mt. Vernon, WA), 8. 93-Wayne Reutimann, Sr. (Zephyrhills, FL), 9. 17bx-Ryan Bickett (Ramona, SD).

Brodix Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson (Eunice, LA), 2. 8b-Alain Bergeron (St. Piere, QUE), 3. 11F-Foster Landon (Collinsville, OK), 4. 3*-Kaley Gharst (Decatur, IL), 5. 79-Davey Sammons (Trenton, NJ), 6. 18T-Tony Bruce, Jr. (Liberal, KS), 7. 5c-Dan Carrozza (York, PA), 8. 44J-Abe Sherwood (Tulsa, OK), 9. 92-Matt Kurtz (Jacksonville, FL).

Wesmar-Shaver Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 32-Justin Barger (Montrose, NY), 2. 42x-Sport Allen (Pinellas Park, FL), 3. 75-Jesse Hockett, 4. 1b-Brian Maddox (Brandon, FL), 5. 18-Ryan Roberts (Aurora, NE), 6. 35-Brad Best (Tulsa, OK), 7. 70-Chad Kemenah (Alvada, FL), 8. 25x-Geoff Quackenbush (Pine Island, NY), 9. 1*-Kent Buckley (Farmington, MO).

Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 28F-Davie Franek, Jr. (Wantage, NY), 2. 11T-T.J. Winegardner (Pierson, FL), 3. 02-Gene Lasker (Tampa, FL), 4. 32d-Stephen Darvalics (Venice, FL), 5. 6s-Brad Sweet (Grass Valley, CA), 6. 19T-Matt Tiffany (Daytona Beach, FL), 7. 21x-Kevin Job (Campbellville, ONT), 8. 4J-Jamie Passmore (Rose, OK). DNS: 17b-Brett Burdette (Milan, IN).

Heat Six (8 Laps): 1. 01-Danny Lasoski (Higginsville, MO), 2. 29-Travis Rilat (Forney, TX), 3. 7s-Jason Sides (Bartlett, TN), 4. 20-Frank Carlsson (Oxford, FL), 5. 40-Mark Hery (Piqua, OH), 6. 0-Glenn Styres (Ohsweken, ONT), 7. XX-Tommy Denton (Orange Park, FL). DNS: 10-Terry Gray (Bartlett, TN).

Heat Seven (8 Laps): 1. 33-Doug Emery (Nedrow, NY), 2. 00-Danny Martin, Jr. (Sarasota, FL), 3. 14-Coleman Gulick (Binghamton, NY), 4. 36-Jason Martin (Liberal, KS), 5. 3-Pat Cannon (Etters, PA), 6. 87-George Suprick (Clarks Summit, PA), 7. 52L-Daniel Lampron (St. Hubert, QUE), 8. d12-Doc Sloan (Imperial, MO).



"B" Mains – Top 2 From Each Advance to “A” Main

First "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 29-Travis Rilat (Forney, TX), 2. 7s-Jason Sides (Bartlett, TN), 3. 15s-Nick Smith (Broken Arrow, OK), 4. 28FM-Steve Poirier (St. Julie, QUE), 5. 18T-Tony Bruce, Jr. (Liberal, KS), 6. 6s-Brad Sweet (Grass Valley, CA), 7. 50-Stephanie Chappell (Talala, OK), 8. 35-Brad Best (Tulsa, OK), 9. 4R-Robbie Vaughn (Mt. Pleasant, WA), 10. 4J-Jamie Passmore (Rose, OK), 11. 21v-Brent Vonk (Sioux Falls, SD), 12. 40-Mark Hery (Piqua, OH). DNS: 92-Matt Kurtz (Jacksonville, FL).

Second "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 33-Doug Emery (Nedrow, NY), 2. 42x-Sport Allen (Pinellas Park, FL), 3. 3*-Kaley Gharst (Decatur, IL), 4. 36-Jason Martin (Liberal, KS), 5. 70-Chad Kemenah (Alvada, OH), 6. 3-Pat Cannon (Etters, PA), 7. 20-Frank Carlsson (Oxford, FL), 8. 57c-Chris Schmelzle (Victoria, BC), 9. 71-Wayne Reutimann, Jr. (Zephyrhills, FL), 10. 21x-Kevin Job (Campbellville, ONT), 11. 93-Wayne Reutimann, Sr. (Zephyrhills, Fl), 12. d12-Doc Sloan (Imperial, MO), 13. 1*-Kent Buckley (Farmington, MO).

Third "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 00-Danny Martin, Jr. (Sarasota, FL), 2. b4-Eric Baldaccini (Keller, TX), 3. 11F-Foster Landon (Collinsville, OK), 4. 14-Coleman Gulick (Binghamton, NY), 5. 87-George Suprick (Clarks Summit, PA), 6. 19T-Matt Tiffany (Daytona Beach, FL), 7. 07h-Rob Hartman (Ozark, MO), 8. 1b-Brian Maddox (Brandon, FL), 9. 2-Frank Beck III (Riverview, FL), 10. 34-Luke Hall (Ludlow Falls, OH), 11. XX-Tommy Denton (Orange Park, FL). DNS: 44J-Abe Sherwood (Tulsa, OK), 17b-Brett Burdette (Milan, IN).

Fourth "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. X-Chuck Swenson (Watertown, SD), 2. 1-Sean McClelland (Collinsville, OK), 3. 75-Jesse Hockett (Warsaw, MO), 4. 79-Davey Sammons (Trenton, NJ), 5. 97-Mike Brecht (Beaver Dam, OH), 6. 18-Ryan Roberts (Aurora, NE), 7. 32d-Stephen Darvalics (Venice, FL), 8. 17bx-Ryan Bickett (Ramona, SD), 9. 5c-Dan Carrozza (York, PA), 10. 52L-Daniel Lampron (St. Hubert, QUE), 11. 25x-Geoff Quackenbush (Pine Island, NY). DNS: 0-Glenn Styres (Ohsweken, ONT), 10-Terry Gray (Bartlett, TN).



O’Reilly ASCoT Ronald Laney Memorial "A" Main Event:

“A” Feature (40 Laps): 1. Gary Wright (Hooks, TX), 2. 4-Danny Smith (Danville, IN), 3. 41-Jason Johnson (Eunice, LA), 4. 6-Tim Shaffer (Aliquippa, PA), 5. X-Chuck Swenson (Watertown, SD), 6. w20-Greg Wilson (Benton Ridge, OH), 7. 29-Travis Rilat (Forney, TX), 8. 7s-Jason Sides (Bartlett, TN), 9. 00-Danny Martin, Jr. (Sarasota, FL), 10. 4a-Kenny Adams (Malabar, FL), 11. 32-Justin Barger (Montrose, NY), 12. 15s-Nick Smith (Broken Arrow, OK), 13. 11T-T.J. Winegardner, 14. 33-Doug Emery (Nedrow, NY), 15. 28F-Davie Franek, Jr. (Wantage, NJ), 16. 69k-John Karklin (Freehold, NY), 17. 91-Darren Stewart (Bixby, OK), 18. b4-Eric Baldaccini (Keller, TX), 19. 01-Danny Lasoski (Higginsville, MO), 20. 1-Sean McClelland (Collinsville, OK), 21. 02-Gene Lasker (Tampa, FL), 22. 94-Wayne Johnson (Oklahoma City, OK), 23. 75-Jesse Hockett (Warsaw, MO), 24. 42x-Sport Allen (Pinellas Park, FL), 25. 8b-Alain Bergeron (St. Piere, QUE). Didqualified: 1m-Terry McCarl (Altoona, IA) – failed to report directly to scales after taking the checkered flag in fifth position.

Lap Leaders: Gary Wright 1-40.

Note: Jesse Hockett and Nick Smith both utilized provisional starting positions for the main event.

O’Reilly ASCoT Points (Top Ten): 1. Gary Wright 147, 2. Danny Smith 130, 3. Tim Shaffer 127, 4. Greg Wilson 126, 5. Wayne Johnson 118, 6. Terry McCarl 117, 7. Darren Stewart 115, 8. Danny Martin, Jr. 112, 9. Travis Rilat 111, 10. Kenny Adams 106.