Brad Loyet Strikes Gold at Black Hills Speedway with Lucas Oil ASCS
RAPID CITY, S.D. (July 18, 2014) – On a dusty night in South Dakota, the Miller Truck Lines No. 05 of Brad Loyet found victory lane for the third time in 2014 with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV American Real; this time at the “Gold Rush in the Black Hills” presented by Peerless Tires and AtoZ Promotions at the Black Hills Speedway.
“It was dusty, but I knew we had a really good car,” said Loyet. “I really thought it was going to stick on the top, but then I started seeing some noses from the guys on the bottom and got down there and pulled the wing back to the trunk.”
After two starts were brought back by crashes, the race finally got underway with second starting Sam Hafertepe, Jr. jumping into the lead. Pacing the first seven rounds, the inside line was ripe for Jason Johnson as the MVT No. 41 bolted the lead exiting turn-four.
Having raced to second on the start, Loyet fell to fourth on Lap 6. Playing catch-up through cautions and reds, the No. 05 worked back to the runner up spot by Lap 10. Giving chase to Johnson through the heavy traffic and dust, Loyet finally snagged the lead on Lap 21. Challenged on restarts by Johnson in the closing laps, Loyet was not to be denied.
Crossing runner-up for the second consecutive race, Johnson, like Loyet, was also taken by the fact that the track didn’t stay topside, “I thought it was going to be around the top in the beginning of the race to be quite honest. You know, we all went up there and just slid around until somebody ran over a cone at one point. Then they took the cones away and it was just how low you could get down and still see.”
Gridding the field fourteenth, Aaron Reutzel blasted through the field to claim his second show position in as many nights.
“We put ourselves behind the eight-ball in that Heat Race and made a couple mistakes,” commented Reutzel of the deep starting spot. “You know, we worked together as a team and got the car right. We talked about what we needed to go and got up though there and I’ll say, this car was really good.”
After leading early on, Sam Hafertepe, Jr. settled for fourth with Johnny Herrera making moves through the field from seventeenth to fifth.
Eleventh starting Seth Bergman finished sixth with Randi Miller coming from fifteenth to seventh. Sturgis driver, Matt Heinzerling, crossed eighth after bouncing around the top twelve most of the race. A jump on the final restart on Lap 27 put Jeff Swindell to ninth from seventh with Matt Covington making up the top-ten.
Twenty-seven drivers drew in for three Heat Races finding Brad Loyet, Tony Bruce, Jr., and Jason Johnson grabbing wins. The night’s B-Feature was won by Johnny Herrera.
Up next of the Lucas Oil ASCS presented by MAVTV American Real is the 24th annual Arnold Motor Supply ASCS Knoxville Nationals at the Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa happening July 31 – August 2. Tickets for the famed event can be purchased at http://www.knoxvilleraceway.com.
For continued updates on the American Sprint Car Series, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com.
Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV American Real
Black Hills Speedway – Rapid City, S.D.
Friday, July 18, 2014
Car Count: 27
Speedmart Heat Races – 8 Laps in distance, taking the winners plus the next 13 highest in passing points to the A-Feature.
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 05-Brad Loyet[1]; 2. 2K-Kevin Ingle[2]; 3. 0J-Jeremy McCune[4]; 4. 22-Matt Heinzerling[8]; 5. 90-Randi Miller[5]; 6. 4-Adam Speckman[7]; 7. 14-Ben Holmberg[6]; 8. (DNF) 10-Anthony Farnsworth[9]; 9. (DNF) 7-Mike Sires[3]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[4]; 2. 95-Matt Covington[3]; 3. 23-Seth Bergman[1]; 4. 94-Jeff Swindell[7]; 5. 17-Blake Hahn[5]; 6. OX-Jess Beckett[9]; 7. 15-James Sires[8]; 8. (DNF) 77X-Nate Maxwell[2]; 9. (DNF) 21-Ryder Olson[6]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson[2]; 2. 6G-Bryan Gossel[1]; 3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[6]; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel[3]; 5. 45X-Johnny Herrera[5]; 6. 9A-Clint Anderson[9]; 7. 29-Eric Flatmoe[7]; 8. 8X-Damon McCune[8]; 9. 77-Bob Shiplet[4]
Smiley’s Racing Products B-Feature – 12 laps, taking the top 6 to the A-Feature.
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 45X-Johnny Herrera[1]; 2. 29-Eric Flatmoe[4]; 3. 10-Anthony Farnsworth[6]; 4. 15-James Sires[3]; 5. 8X-Damon McCune[7]; 6. 4-Adam Speckman[2]; 7. 77-Bob Shiplet[10]; 8. 14-Ben Holmberg[5]; 9. (DNF) 7-Mike Sires[11]; DNS 21-Ryder Olson; DNS 77X-Nate Maxwell
Protect the Harvest A-Feature
A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 05-Brad Loyet[4]; 2. 41-Jason Johnson[6]; 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel[14]; 4. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[2]; 5. 45X-Johnny Herrera[17]; 6. 23-Seth Bergman[11]; 7. 90-Randi Miller[15]; 8. 22-Matt Heinzerling[7]; 9. 94-Jeff Swindell[5]; 10. 95-Matt Covington[3]; 11. 29-Eric Flatmoe[18]; 12. OX-Jess Beckett[12]; 13. 2K-Kevin Ingle[1]; 14. 0J-Jeremy McCune[10]; 15. (DNF) 18-Tony Bruce Jr[8]; 16. (DNF) 4-Adam Speckman[22]; 17. (DNF) 6G-Bryan Gossel[9]; 18. (DNF) 15-James Sires[20]; 19. (DNF) 9A-Clint Anderson[13]; 20. (DNF) 10-Anthony Farnsworth[19]; 21. (DNF) 8X-Damon McCune[21]; 22. (DNF) 17-Blake Hahn[16]
Lap Leader(s): Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 1-7; Jason Johnson 8-20; Brad Loyet 21-30
KSE Hard Charger: Johnny Herrera +12
FSR High Point: Tony Bruce, Jr.
Hawk Performance Fastest Lap: Sam Hafertepe, Jr. – 17.930 seconds
CSI Rebound: N/A
Provisional(s): N/A
=======================================================
2014 A-Feature Winner(s): Brad Loyet – 3, Aaron Reutzel -2, Rico Abreu – 2, Tony Bruce, Jr. – 2, Christopher Bell – 2, Jeff Swindell – 2, Patrick Stasa – 1, Derek Hagar – 1, Seth Bergman – 1, Sam Hafertepe, Jr. – 1
2014 Lucas Oil ASCS Driver Standings (Top 10): 1. Brad Loyet 2,176; 2. Jason Johnson 2,117; 3. Jeff Swindell 2,038 4. Johnny Herrera 2,018; 5. Aaron Reutzel 2,011; 6. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 1,994; 7. Seth Bergman 1,933; 8. Matt Covington 1,875; 9. Blake Hahn 1,861; 10. Tony Bruce, Jr. 1,859;