Bryan Hulbert – SAPULPA, Okla. (June 20, 2013) Stop five of the 2013 Lucas Oil ASCS Sizzlin’ Summer Speedweek brought the chase for the Bob Westphal Memorial Trophy to Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa, Okla. where Jeff Swindell held off a final lap bid for the lead by Tony Bruce, Jr. for his second straight triumph .
“I don’t blame him” chuckled Swindell of the slide job.
Saying he really felt like he did not have a first place car, Swindell explained, “I thought I had a flat tire there those first couple of starts. I could beat Jason [Johnson] on the start in the tacky stuff, but as soon as we hit the slick I was junk. Patience and persistence, I guess, pays off.”
Reflecting further on the move by Bruce, the Tennessee veteran said he could feel it coming, “I heard him to close too many times and all you can do is lay the right rear in the cushion hard, and be ready if someone does come across. Be ready to turn it back underneath them.”
Starting outside the front row, three starts yielded cautions in two and red in one before the field came to life with pole sitter Jason Johnson taking off with the lead while Swindell slipped to third behind fifth starting Christopher Bell.
Into slower traffic by Lap 5, the red flag would be displayed as fifth running Zach Pringle ended up tipping in turn one. The Express Bus No. 14z returned to competition and finished fifteenth.
Back into slower traffic a short five laps later, Christopher Bell gave Jason Johnson all he could handle.
Going side by side with the MVT No. 41 on Lap 10, Bell would be credited with leading by inches. Taking the point back, Johnson would not be rid of the Norman, Okla. driver as Bell again mounted a charge for the lead in the Baytown Ford No. 31b.
Setting up for the pass to complete Lap 15, the pair would make contact exiting turn four, sending Bell spinning to a stop with damage and destroying the front suspension on Johnson’s mount. Incidentally, Bell led the lap, but a work area visit relegated the No. 31b to the tail. Christopher ended up eleventh.
With the lead in hand, Swindell went with eleventh starting Tony Bruce, Jr. in tow. Distancing from the No. 18 on the restart, Bruce wasted little time catching up. Again, slower traffic would come into play for the lead as the pair dashed toward the tail of the field. Taking several looks, Bruce finally saw his opportunity on Lap 24 only to see the caution out for the stalled No. 4pm of Whit Gastineau as he went side by side for the lead.
Like before, Swindell would take off to a near half-second advantage on the restart, forcing the Lubbock Wrecker Service No. 18 to play catch-up.
Catching Swindell more, and more, Bruce pulled to the back bumper of the Hammers No. 94 at the white flag. Sticking to Swindell’s tire tracks through turns one and two, Bruce dove to the inside of Swindell, cocked sideways with the wall approaching in a true all or nothing bid for the lead.
Leaving just enough room for Swindell to turn the car down the track, Tony Bruce, Jr. would have to settle for second as Jeff Swindell doubled down.
“I really wish we could have stayed in traffic there, but that’s the name of the game. I knew he was getting tight in the cushion really bad but every time he messed up, it seemed like I messed up” commented Bruce. “When I saw the white flag I said well, it’s time to earn my paycheck. Unfortunately it didn’t stick.”
PitStopUSA.com Hard Charger of the Night Brad Loyet stormed from eighteenth, after winning the night’s second B-Feature to complete the podium. “We used up a lot of our car coming from the back like that” said Loyet. “We had a really good car coming out of the “B” and towards the end I thought I may have a shot at this. I just wasn’t sure if they were going to wipe each other out on the last lap.”
Johnny Herrera crossed fourth after starting twelfth followed by Cole Wood from twentieth to complete the top five.
Sixth belonged to Jonathan Beason with Brandon Hanks coming from nineteenth to seventh. Seth Bergman charged from twenty-second to eighth followed by Morgan Turpen from sixteenth and Mike Goodman.
The 2013 ASCS Sizzlin’ Summer Speedweek concludes Saturday, June 22 at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. Races begin at 7:30 P.M. (CDT).
Lucas Oil ASCS presented by MAVTV American Real
Creek County Speedway – Sapulpa, Okla.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Car Count: 40
Wesmar Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson[3]; 2. 77-Tim Crawley[1]; 3. 14Z-Zach Pringle[6]; 4. 3-Raven Culp[4]; 5. 05-Brad Loyet[7]; 6. 23-Seth Bergman[8]; 7. 8-Shane Pace[2]; 8. 94L-Layne Himebaugh[5]
BMRS Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington[3]; 2. 4AM-Mike Goodman[6]; 3. 9$-Kyle Clark[5]; 4. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[7]; 5. 57-Kyle Chady[4]; 6. 81-Danny Wood[8]; 7. 25M-Morgan Montgomery[2]; 8. 48-Jake Martens[1]
Rod End Supply Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 31B-Christopher Bell[1]; 2. 36B-Jonathan Beason[4]; 3. 4JX-Jamie Passmore[3]; 4. 45X-Johnny Herrera[7]; 5. 8X-Alex Sewell[6]; 6. 93-Dustin Morgan[8]; 7. 17-Blake Hahn[5]; 8. 97-Kevin Cummings[2]
Ti 22Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 94-Jeff Swindell[2]; 2. 5M-Miranda Arnold[1]; 3. 29-Brandon Hahn[4]; 4. 10-Terry Gray[3]; 5. 17W-Cole Wood[8]; 6. 17X-Josh Baughman[6]; 7. 45-Tyler Thomas; 8. 4J-John James[7]
Saldana Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 4PM-Whit Gastineau[1]; 2. 14-Tony Stewart[3]; 3. 10M-Morgan Turpen[4]; 4. 3H-Brandon Hanks[6]; 5. 2L-Logan Forler[5]; 6. W94-Waylon Weaver[8]; 7. 1X-Sean McClelland[2]; 8. 5-Joe Bob Lee[7]
Joie of Seating B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 4JX-Jamie Passmore[2]; 2. 3H-Brandon Hanks[1]; 3. 8X-Alex Sewell[4]; 4. 81-Danny Wood[5]; 5. 2L-Logan Forler[6]; 6. 45-Tyler Thomas[8]; 7. 48-Jake Martens[12]; 8. 94L-Layne Himebaugh[11]; 9. 4J-John James[10]; 10. 17X-Josh Baughman[7]; DNF 3-Raven Culp[3]; DNF 25M-Morgan Montgomery[9]
DMI B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 05-Brad Loyet[2]; 2. 17W-Cole Wood[1]; 3. 23-Seth Bergman[4]; 4. 10-Terry Gray[3]; 5. 93-Dustin Morgan[5]; 6. 17-Blake Hahn[7]; 7. 57-Kyle Chady[6]; 8. 97-Kevin Cummings[11]; 9. W94-Waylon Weaver[12]; 10. 8-Shane Pace[8]; 11. 1X-Sean McClelland[9]; 12. 5-Joe Bob Lee[10]
Protect the Harvest A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 94-Jeff Swindell[2]; 2. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[11]; 3. 05-Brad Loyet[18]; 4. 45X-Johnny Herrera[12]; 5. 17W-Cole Wood[20]; 6. 36B-Jonathan Beason[8]; 7. 3H-Brandon Hanks[19]; 8. 23-Seth Bergman[22]; 9. 10M-Morgan Turpen[16]; 10. 4AM-Mike Goodman[4]; 11. 31B-Christopher Bell[5]; 12. 2L-Logan Forler[23]; 13. 9$-Kyle Clark[10]; 14. 8X-Alex Sewell[21]; 15. 14Z-Zach Pringle[7]; 16. 4JX-Jamie Passmore[17]; 17. 5M-Miranda Arnold[14]; 18. 29-Brandon Hahn[15]; DNF 4PM-Whit Gastineau[6]; DNF 41-Jason Johnson[3]; DNF 77-Tim Crawley[13]; DNF 14-Tony Stewart[9]; DNS 95-Matt Covington
Lap Leaders: Jason Johnson (1-9, 11-14) Christopher Bell (10, 15) Jeff Swindell (16-30)
PitstopUSA.com Hard Charger: Brad Loyet +15
FSR High Points of the Night: Mike Goodman
Hawk Performance Products Fastest Lap of the Night: Christopher Bell 12.895 seconds
Provisionals: Logan Forler (BP1)
2013 “A” Feature Winners: Jason Johnson-4, Johnny Herrera-3, Jeff Swindell-2, Brian Brown-1, Roger Crockett-1, Kyle Bellm-1, Brad Loyet-1, Danny Lasoski-1, Jack Dover-1, Seth Bergman-1, Logan Forler-1
Lucas Oil ASCS Driver Standings (Top 10): 1. Johnny Herrera 2,173; 2. Jason Johnson 2,100; 3. Jeff Swindell 2,019; 4. Brad Loyet 2,013; 5. Tony Bruce, Jr. 1,947; 6. Seth Bergman 1,912; 7. Logan Forler 1,905; 8. Cole Wood 1,730; 9. Dustin Morgan 1,727; 10. Brandon Hahn 1.380;
Bob Westphal Memorial Speedweek Driver Standings (Top 10): 1. Jeff Swindell 719; 2. Jason Johnson 647; 3. Johnny Herrera 611; 4. Brad Loyet 606; 5. Tony Bruce, Jr. 593; 6. Cole Wood 558; 7. Seth Bergman 548; 8. Logan Forler 545; 9. Dustin Morgan 489; 10. Zach Pringle 488
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The 2013 season marks the twenty-second 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 and into Canada. Anchored by the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series, ASCS also consists of nine different Regions throughout the nation.
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.
Associate sponsors for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV include: Hoosier Racing Tire and Brodix
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Product and Contingency Sponsorship provided by: K&N Filters, PitstopUSA.com, Engler Machine and Tool, Roush Yates Racing Engines, FSR Radiator and Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, Driverwebsites.com, Weld Wheels, Fuel Safe, Saldana Racing Products, SBI Fuel Bladders, Maxwell Industries, Print Place, Xtreme Accu-Tach, Simpson, LeJoie Seating, Ti 22 Performance, Wesmar Racing Engines, Hinchman Indy Racewear, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, DMI Rear Ends, Rod End Supply, Smiley’s Racing Products, Speedway Motors, and Hilborn Injection Systems.
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Photo Credit: Tim Aylwin