National series Cottage Grove preview

Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Battle Shifts to Cottage Grove!

TULSA, Okla. (July 20, 2010) -- Cottage Grove Speedway, that little action-provoking bullring out on the left coast. It's where the brewing rivalry between Jason Johnson and Shane Stewart truly intensified in last year's inaugural event for the Lucas Oil ASCS National Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters in the state of Oregon.

Now, after that duo dominated the podium at Washington's Grays Harbor Raceway this past weekend, Johnson and Stewart lead the way into this weekend's double for the Lucas Oil Sprint Cars with $6,000 on the line for Saturday night's feature winner following a full slate of competition on Friday night.

Last year, Stewart topped the Friday night preliminary event before an aggressive slider from the "Ragin' Cajun" led to a Johnson victory on Saturday night with Stewart falling to third behind Cottage Grove ace Roger Crockett.

While Johnson left Oregon in the rear view mirror with a 26-point advantage over Stewart in the championship points race, Stewart ultimately got the last laugh on his rival by scrapping his way back into the $60,000 top spot by season's end.

The Bixby, OK, shoe once again finds himself in the chasing position in the points chase as the series shifts to Cottage Grove. After picking off his first Lucas Oil ASCS National win of the year at South Dakota's I-90 Speedway on July 10, Stewart posted finishes of third and second at Grays Harbor as Johnson swept through the weekend to stretch his lead to 53 markers.

Johnson and Stewart will have plenty of competition over the weekend with a full contingent of Lucas Oil ASCS National contenders as well as the ASCS Northwest Regional forces.

Trying to shake off the effect of a couple of bad weekends, Oklahoma's Brady Bacon still holds down the third position in Lucas Oil National points, with fellow 20-year-old Jack Dover of Nebraska close behind in fourth.

Oklahoma's Zach Chappell is up to fifth in National points, with the balance of the top ten including three-time series champion Tim Crawley of Benton, AR, Kansas shoe Tony Bruce, Jr., Oklahoma's Danny Wood, leading Brodix Rookie of the Year contender Kyle Hirst and Little Rock native Ricky Logan.

Twenty-year-old rookie contender Matt Covington of Glenpool, OK, is just outside the top ten, with others vying for their share of the $250,000 points fund that will be distributed among the final top 15 in points including Ohio's Darren Long and rookie contenders Channin Tankersley (Texas), Justyn Cox (California), Austen Wheatley (Washington), Dustin Morgan (Oklahoma) and Andrew Marshala (Oklahoma).

Despite a dismal weekend in which he made neither Grays Harbor feature, Roger Crockett leads the ASCS Northwest contenders into the weekend. After sweeping to victory lane in a pair of non-stop ASCS Northwest features at Cottage Grove just over two weekends ago, Crockett will try to add to a pair of previous ASCS National triumph.

Crockett's substantial ASCS Northwest points lead was whittled to 54 markers over Jason Solwold, with other top Northwest contenders including Mitch Olson, Jayme Barnes, Henry Van Dam, Seth Bergman, 14-year-old rookie shoe Trey Starks, Garen Linder, T.J. Hartman and Steven Tiner among others.

An open practice session on Thursday night from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. precedes racing action on Friday and Saturday. The $20 pit entry on Thursday includes barbeque, free hamburgers and hot dogs from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Thursday front gate admission of just $5 for all ages includes the free barbeque as well.

Two-day passes are available for just $40. The two-day pass, a $5 saving off individual night tickets of $20 on Friday and $25 on Saturday, also includes free admission to the Thursday night practice and barbeque.

The Series: Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters

When & Where: Friday night, July 23 at 6:45 p.m. -- Cottage Grove Speedway Saturday night, July 24 at 6:45 p.m. -- Cottage Grove Speedway

Track Information:

Cottage Grove Speedway (Cottage Grove, OR) -- 0x00bc-mile, semi-banked clay oval located off I-5 Exit 174, one block south on Gateway, then one block south on North 19th Street, then right for 0.3 miles on Ostrander Lane, then 0.4 miles north on Douglas (next to the fairgrounds). For more information, contact the track at 541-942-7561 or 541-510-0757 or check www.cottagegrovespeedway.com/.

-source: ascs