(Image Credit: Rob Kocak)
WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. (May 2, 2015) In a race with five different leaders, the 7th annual Eagle Motorsports Rock ‘N Roll 50 presented by MyRacePass.com saw Washington’s Seth Bergman charge from 12th to win for his second career victory at the famed Riverside International Speedway.
Winded after the 50 lap affair, Seth Bergman’s win is his first of the season with the Lucas Oil ASCS presented by MAVTV American Real, and matches Tim Crawley as the only other two-time winner of the Rock ‘N Roll 50.
“I was really bad at the begging of this deal. We tightened the car up way too much and I was actually worried we were going to go a lap down before that first caution came out so I just told myself – man up, put this thing on the fence, and if you bring it back on the Wrecker, at least you know you tried – and I’m pretty sure I bounced it off every piece of wall out here.”
Taking off following a false start, Aaron Reutzel jumped around fellow front row starter Anthony Nicholson for the lead. Starting to find slower traffic in the early laps, Reutzel came under fire from Tim Crawley for the lead; relinquishing the top spot on the seventh round.
Caution on Lap 19 for Brandon Hanks, the lead battle had shifted as Reutzel faded to fourth, allowing Blake Hahn and Johnny Herrera to second and third. Regrouping on the restart, Reutzel worked back into the lead battle; trading slide jobs with Tim Crawley and Blake Hahn before Hahn found the wall exiting turn-two on Lap 37.
Restarting fifth, Bergman rode the wall at either end of “The Ditch”, moving by Crawley on Lap 39 and setting sights on Reutzel as the red flew the following lap for the No. 8z of Zach Pringle who flipped in the first turn. Zach was okay.
Under red, Reutzel saw his night take a turn as the right rear went flat. Along with Johnny Herrera, the pair ended up in the work area. Handing Seth Bergman the race lead, it was not wasted as Seth drove to a 1.530 second advantage over Tim Crawley for the win.
“Sometimes when you’re leading, you just don’t know what’s going on behind you and you’re just a sitting Duck,” commented Crawley on the runner-up finish after leading the lion’s share of the night’s 50 laps. “Once they showed they’d moved up some, and I tried it but I was so tight trying to get in against the wall, I was struggling up there. So second; again.”
Utilizing the restart on Lap 40, Wayne Johnson made the charge from fifth to round out the night’s podium, “We were really good early in the race there, and I really thought we were going to have something for these guys but then Johnny got to having that flat there and kind of got wide and it messed me up and that’s when Bergman got by me. Not making excuses the car was good, just had a third place car evidently.”
Matt Covington crossed fourth with Mississippi’s Dale Howard completing the top-five after starting 14th.
With fresh rubber on the right rear, Aaron Reutzel put on a clinic from deep in the field to grab sixth in the final ten laps, putting the No. 87 to a 78 point advantage over Johnny Herrera in the championship standings.
Earning the final transfer into the night’s A-Feature, event promoter, Tony Bruce, Jr. was the night’s Hard Charger from 21st to seventh. Kyle Bellm from 15th crossed the line eighth with Marshall Skinner and Anthony Nicholson completing the top-ten.
The night saw 36 drivers drawing in with five Heat Races going to Anthony Nicholson, Tim Crawley, Derek Hagar, Wayne Johnson, and Matt Covington. A pair of B-Features went to A.G. Rains and Andy McElhannon.
The next event for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV American Real is Thursday, May 7 at Lakeside Speedway with the McCarthy Auto Group KC Klassic. Tickets are on sale at http://www.racinboys.com.
For continued updates on the American Sprint Car Series, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com.
Race Results:
7th annual Eagle Motorsports Rock ‘N Roll 50
Riverside International Speedway – West Memphis, Ark.
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Car Count: 36
Heat Races (8 Laps, taking the winners plus the next 11 highest in Passing Points into the A-Feature. Top eight in points will redraw)
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 16-Anthony Nicholson[4]; 2. 52-Blake Hahn[7]; 3. 47-Dale Howard[3]; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel[8]; 5. 32B-Taylor Tidmore[6]; 6. 91-Steven Russell[5]; 7. 21-Kevin Hinkle[2]; 8. (DNF) 17G-Cody Gardner[1]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Tim Crawley[2]; 2. 23-Seth Bergman[1]; 3. 14K-Kyle Bellm[3]; 4. 91A-Ernie Ainsworth[6]; 5. 5-Jerod Roller[5]; 6. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[7]; 7. 43-Matthew Bauldwin[4]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 9JR-Derek Hagar[7]; 2. 45X-Johnny Herrera[4]; 3. 44-Ronny Howard[2]; 4. 3-A.G. Rains[3]; 5. 15-Jeremy Middleton[1]; 6. 33-Kris Miller[6]; 7. 2-Brandon Kilpatrick[5]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 77X-Wayne Johnson[1]; 2. 31-Justin Webb[2]; 3. 94-Jeff Swindell[3]; 4. 42-Andy McElhannon[4]; 5. (DNF) 8Z-Zach Pringle[6]; 6. (DNF) 27-Curt Terrell[5]; 7. (DNF) 39-Brad Bowden[7]
Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington[2]; 2. 26-Marshall Skinner[3]; 3. 3H-Brandon Hanks[1]; 4. 14-Jordon Mallett[7]; 5. 1-Eddie Gallagher[6]; 6. 92-Jordan Weaver[5]; 7. 6-Sean Hosey[4]
B-Features (12 Laps, taking the top 3 from each)
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 42-Andy McElhannon[2]; 2. 44-Ronny Howard[1]; 3. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[5]; 4. 39-Brad Bowden[8]; 5. 32B-Taylor Tidmore[3]; 6. 1-Eddie Gallagher[4]; 7. 33-Kris Miller[6]; 8. 27-Curt Terrell[7]; 9. 43-Matthew Bauldwin[9]; 10. 21-Kevin Hinkle[10]
B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 3-A.G. Rains[2]; 2. 8Z-Zach Pringle[3]; 3. 3H-Brandon Hanks[1]; 4. 5-Jerod Roller[4]; 5. 17G-Cody Gardner[10]; 6. 15-Jeremy Middleton[5]; 7. 91-Steven Russell[6]; 8. 2-Brandon Kilpatrick[8]; 9. 6-Sean Hosey[9]; 10. (DNF) 92-Jordan Weaver[7]
***A-Feature (50 Laps)
A Feature (50 Laps): 1. 23-Seth Bergman[12]; 2. 88-Tim Crawley[3]; 3. 77X-Wayne Johnson[7]; 4. 95-Matt Covington[5]; 5. 47-Dale Howard[14]; 6. 87-Aaron Reutzel[1]; 7. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[21]; 8. 14K-Kyle Bellm[15]; 9. 26-Marshall Skinner[9]; 10. 16-Anthony Nicholson[2]; 11. 3-A.G. Rains[18]; 12. 94-Jeff Swindell[16]; 13. 42-Andy McElhannon[17]; 14. 45X-Johnny Herrera[6]; 15. 14-Jordon Mallett[10]; 16. 9JR-Derek Hagar[8]; 17. 91A-Ernie Ainsworth[13]; 18. 31-Justin Webb[11]; 19. 33-Kris Miller[23]; 20. (DNF) 8Z-Zach Pringle[20]; 21. (DNF) 52-Blake Hahn[4]; 22. (DNF) 44-Ronny Howard[19]; 23. (DNF) 3H-Brandon Hanks[22]
Lap Leader(s): Aaron Reutzel 1-2; 4-6, 39-40; Anthony Nicholson 3; Tim Crawley 7-37; Blake Hahn 38; Seth Bergman 41-50;
Hard Charger: Tony Bruce, Jr. +14
FSR High Point of the Night: Derek Hagar
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2015 Lucas Oil ASCS Winners: Aaron Reutzel 2; Jason Sides 1; Mark Smith 1; Seth Bergman 1;
Lucas Oil ASCS Driver Points (Top 10): 1. Aaron Reutzel 689; 2. Johnny Herrera 611; 3. Seth Bergman 579; 4. Mark Smith 562; 5. Jeff Swindell 558; 6. Tony Bruce, Jr. 553; 7. Wayne Johnson 526; 8. Brad Loyet 520; 9. Matt Covington 491; 10. Kyle Bellm 446;
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The 2015 season will mark the 24th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing for the American Sprint Car Series, which brings the best of Sprint Car racing to dozens of different tracks throughout the nation in both National and Regional competition.
Lucas Oil Products is the title sponsor of the American Sprint Car Series. More information can be found on Lucas Oil Products at www.lucasoil.com. MAVTV is the presenting sponsor of the American Sprint Car Series. Log onto www.mavtv.com for information regarding availability and listings in your area.
ASCS Online:
American Sprint Car Series – http://www.ascsracing.com
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/lucasoilascs
Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/lucasoilascs (@lucasoilascs)
Audio Broadcast – http://www.racinboys.com
Live Scoring (Where Applicable) – http://www.ascsracing.com/live and the Race Monitor App
ASCS National Drivers Online:
Josh Baughman – http://www.joshbaughman.com
Kyle Bellm – http://www.kylebellm.com
Seth Bergman – http://www.sethbergmanracing.com
Tony Bruce, Jr. – http://www.tonybrucejr.com
Matt Covington – http://www.mattcovingtonracing.com
Derek Hagar – http://www.derekhagarracing.com
Blake Hahn – http://www.blakehahnracing.com
Sam Hafertepe, Jr. – http://www.sam15.com
Johnny Herrera – http://www.johnnyherreraracing.com
Wayne Johnson – https://www.facebook.com/WayneJohnsonRacing?fref=ts
Parker Price-Miller – http://www.parkerpricemiller.com
Aaron Reutzel – http://www.aaronreutzelracing.com
Jeff Swindell – http://www.jeffswindell.com
Jordan Weaver – https://www.facebook.com/JordanWeaverRacing92
Associate sponsors for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV include: Hoosier Racing Tire and Brodix.
Team Lucas Sponsors for the American Sprint Car Series consist of Protect the Harvest, iON Camera, Smokey Mountain Moonshine, C&R Radiator, Hawk Performance Products, Geico, E3 Spark Plugs, and General Tire.
Communications for the American Sprint Car Series is provided by Racing Electronics. All events are broadcast online at http://www.racinboys.com.
Product and Contingency Sponsorship provided by: K&N Filters, KSE Racing Products, Fuel Safe, DMI Rear Ends, BMRS, SpeedMart, Competition Suspension, Engler Machine and Tool, FSR Radiator and Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, Driverwebsites.com, Weld Wheels, Maxwell Industries, Print Place, Simpson, The Joie of Seating, Wesmar Racing Engines, Hinchman Indy Racewear, Rod End Supply, Smiley’s Racing Products, Speedway Motors, and Hilborn Injection.