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Amarillo Saturday results

Wright completes O'Reilly ASCS weekend sweep with Amarillo triumph AMARILLO, Tex. (June 28, 2003) - Gary Wright completed a sweep of the weekend's racing action for the O'Reilly American Sprint Car Series National Tour presented by Love's Travel ...

Wright completes O'Reilly ASCS weekend sweep with Amarillo triumph

AMARILLO, Tex. (June 28, 2003) - Gary Wright completed a sweep of the weekend's racing action for the O'Reilly American Sprint Car Series National Tour presented by Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores and United Trailers by posting a convincing victory in Saturday night's 25-lap feature at Route 66 Motor Speedway.

Just seven days after lapping up to fifth place at Little Rock's I-30 Speedway, only a late caution prevented Wright from improving upon that show of dominance, with six drivers finishing on the lead lap Saturday night as Wright notched his third consecutive series victory and seventh of the season.

Wright earned the pole position for the main event by virtue of a last lap pass of Derek Drown to win the third heat from the seventh starting slot. Wright outgunned fellow front row starter Darren Stewart to take the lead at the outset and bolted away from his rivals.

Wright began slicing his way through lapped traffic after five rounds, and had amassed more than a half lap lead when the race's only caution appeared after 19 circuits for Rick Behr's turn four spin.

With seven lapped machines separating Wright from second-running Drown on the restart, Wright raced to the checkered flag unchallenged aboard the Salina-powered Southwest Express/The Shop/Richwood Construction Maxim. The victory was Wright's 68th career O'Reilly ASCS National Tour triumph.

While Wright was in complete control throughout, Drown and Stewart engaged in a race-long battle for the runner-up slot. Drown raced into second from his sixth starting slot exiting turn two on the opening round, only to have Stewart regain the position in turn three. Drown overtook Stewart for second at the midway point, only to have Stewart dive to the low side exiting the fourth turn on the final round to snare second place at the line.

Drown posted a career-best ASCS National Tour third place finish in front of his hometown crowd, with eleventh-starter Travis Rilat gaining a pair of positions in the final rounds to claim fourth. Zach Chappell rounded out the top five, with Tony Bruce, Jr., the final car on the lead lap, posting a career-best sixth place finish.

Matt Clevenger took the checkered flag in seventh, just ahead of Jason Martin. Cody Branchcomb earned the race's Hard Charger award by coming from 17th to finish ninth, with Toby Brown completing the top ten.

Stewart, Bruce and Wright claimed heat race victories for the 25-car field, with Dennis Park topping the 12-lap B Feature. Branchcomb took the checkered flag in the first heat race, but was disqualified for failing to report directly to the scales.

Rilat and Stewart left the evening tied for the series points lead, with Chappell just 14 points back in third. Wright has closed to within 48 points of the leaders, setting up a four-driver battle for the O'Reilly ASCS National championship.

Results:

A Feature (25 Laps): 1. Gary Wright, 2. Darren Stewart, 3. Derek Drown, 4. Travis Rilat, 5. Zach Chappell, 6. Tony Bruce, Jr., 7. Matt Clevenger, 8. Jason Martin, 9. Cody Branchcomb, 10. Toby Brown, 11. Rickey Hood, 12. Dennis Park, 13. Edward Munoz, 14. Rick Behr, 15. Marcus Jackson, 16. Jimmy Taylor, 17. Dan Adkins, 18. Bud Goodwin, 19. Ryan Dalrymple. DNS: Larry Neighbors.

B Feature (12 Laps): 1. Dennis Park, 2. Rickey Hood, 3. Cody Branchcomb, 4. Jimmy Taylor, 5. Marcus Jackson, 6. Ryan Dalrymple, 7. David Smith, 8. Josh Grady, 9. Terry West, 10. Zeke Ziska. DNS: Aaron Corea.

First Heat (8 Laps): 1. Darren Stewart, 2. Rick Behr, 3. Bud Goodwin, 4. Dan Adkins, 5. Edward Munoz, 6. Terry West, 7. Rickey Hood, 8. Zeke Ziska. Disqualified: Cody Branchcomb.

Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. Tony Bruce, Jr., 2. Jason Martin, 3. Zach Chappell, 4. Travis Rilat, 5. Larry Neighbors, 6. Jimmy Taylor, 7. Josh Grady, 8. Aaron Corea.

Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. Gary Wright, 2. Derek Drown, 3. Toby Brown, 4. Matt Clevenger, 5. Dennis Park, 6. Ryan Dalrymple, 7. Marcus Jackson, 8. David Smith.

O'Reilly ASCS Points (Top Fifteen): 1. (tie) Travis Rilat and Darren Stewart 2,918, 3. Zach Chappell 2,904, 4. Gary Wright 2,870, 5. Cody Branchcomb 2,712, 6. Toby Brown 2,610, 7. Shane Stewart 1,948, 8. Rick Behr 1,709, 9. Matt Clevenger 1,642, 10. Kevin Ramey 1,358, 11. Nick Smith 1,274, 12. Tim Crawley 1,114, 13. Jimmy Taylor 1,011, 14. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 969, 15. Garry Lee Maier 956.

-ascs-

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