National series Eldon pre-event notes

Lucas Oil Sprint Cars at The Lake on Saturday!

TULSA, Okla. (June 23, 2010) -- That summer sun is beating down upon you. Temperatures are soaring, yet you're really craving that whiff of methanol in the air and the sight of clay flying off the churning right rear of some edge-of-control Sprint Cars.

What better fix than Eldon, Missouri's Lake Ozark Speedway on Saturday night for the Daniel McMillin / Jesse Hockett Memorial featuring the Lucas Oil ASCS National Series presented by K&N Filters.

A prime stop on the Lucas Oil ASCS National trail, Saturday's McMillin / Hockett main event offers up a $6,000 winner's share. And along with it go those valuable points towards the series championship chase, with a $250,000 point fund to be distributed among the top 15 in points following the ASCS National Championship Finals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on November 26-27.

The Lucas Oil ASCS National Series presented by K&N Filters has averaged 48.1 cars per night through the opening eight events of the season, with 150 different drivers taking in at least one night of action.

Nineteen drivers have taken in all eight nights of action thus far, with six different drivers cracking victory lane.

Only Broken Arrow, Oklahoma's Brady Bacon has broken into victory lane more than once. After capturing his first career Lucas Oil ASCS National triumph in the May 29 Steve King Memorial preliminary event at the Jetmore (KS) Motorplex, Bacon added a second win in the King finale the next night before making it three in a row with a Little Rock score the following weekend.

Bacon was unable to become just the second driver in series history to reel off four wins in a row however, as Norman, Oklahoma's Danny Wood topped the Eagle Nationals preliminary on June 11 before Louisiana's Jason Johnson finally broke through for his first National win of the season the following night in the Eagle Nationals finale.

In addition to Wood and Johnson, single wins have also been claimed by Sammy Swindell, Matt Covington and Zach Chappell.

With his Eagle glory, "The Ragin' Cajun" climbed to within four points of Bacon in the series $60,000 championship points race.

After adding another pair of ASCS Regional wins this past weekend, including a Lone Star vs. Sooner score at Devil's Bowl and a Gulf South victory at Houston Raceway Park, Johnson vies for a fourth consecutive Daniel McMillin Memorial victory.

Johnson topped the inaugural McMillin Memorial at Double X Raceway in California, MO, in 2007 before winning the last two editions of the event at Lake Ozark Speedway. Johnson had to work for it last year, battling much of the way with Tommy Bryant before ultimately beating Shane Stewart and Brady Bacon to the stripe.

A number of top contenders will try to crack Lucas Oil ASCS victory lane for the first time of the year in Saturday's McMillin / Hockett main event, including reigning series champion Shane Stewart, Tony Bruce, Jr., Tim Crawley, Jack Dover, leading Brodix Rookie of the Year contender Kyle Hirst, Travis Rilat, Gary Wright, Ricky Logan, Darren Long and the balance of the Rookie crop that includes Dustin Morgan, Austen Wheatley, Justyn Cox, Channin Tankersley and Andrew Marshala.

Saturday's stacked field of competitors will be bolstered by the Winged Outlaw Warriors ranks, led by Eric Todd and Tyler Blank, as well as the Lake Ozark Speedway regular contingent of competitors led by Josh Fisher and Randy Martin.

Saturday's Daniel McMillin / Jesse Hockett Memorial racing action at Lake Ozark Speedway gets under way at 7:00 p.m.

-source: ascs