Sooner Region Saturday Lawton results 2003-07-05

Nick Smith a Lawton ASCS Sooner Region Star

ASCS - LAWTON, Okla. (July 5, 2003) - Nick Smith held off Danny Jennings and Kevin Ramey over the final rounds to win Saturday night's 25-lap American Sprint Car Series Sooner Region feature at Lawton Speedway.

Since posting a pair of ASCS Sooner Region wins in 2001, Saturday night's Firecracker Nationals triumph marked the first win of the season for the twenty year-old hotshoe after sitting out the 2002 season.

Smith led the feature field to the green flag with defending ASCS Sooner Region champion Jennings alongside. Smith jumped into the early lead, with Jennings, Foster Landon and David Langford in pursuit.

While Smith survived a pair of early cautions for spins, current ASCS Sooner Region point leader Ramey was working his way through the field from his eleventh starting slot, utilizing the high groove to crack the top five by the 12th round.

As lapped traffic came into play, Jennings moved in to challenge for the lead and slipped by Smith for the point on the 14th round, only to see the move negated when the caution flag flew for a Joel Howard spin in turn four. On the ensuing restart, fifth-running Langford looped his machine in turn four, bringing out the caution once again.

Smith led the way on the restart in front of Jennings, Landon and Ramey. As Smith fought off Jennings, Ramey worked his way past Landon two rounds later and set his sights on the lead pair. As the white flag flew, Jennings was on Smith's rear bumper when Stephanie Chappell spun in turn one, bringing out the race's final caution and setting up a two-lap dash to the checkered flag.

In the dash to the stripe, Jennings made a move to the high side to try to take command as the leaders completed the 24th round, but Smith held off the challenge as Ramey darted underneath Jennings for second. Smith held Ramey off by a narrow margin at the checkered flag to post the win, with Jennings settling for the show position. Landon claimed fourth, with Brian Harvill rounding out the top five.

Kevin Risley, making his first ASCS Sooner Region start of the season, was sixth, while Travis Scott advanced from 17th to finish seventh. Derek Drown was eighth, with Claud Estes and Jeff Dodd completing the top ten.

Smith, Andy Shouse, Langford and Jennings claimed heat race victories for the 28-car field, with Scott topping the 15-lap B Feature.

Results:

First Heat (10 Laps): 1. Nick Smith, 2. Stephanie Chappell, 3. Derek Drown, 4. Joel Howard, 5. Travis Scott, 6. Jeff Leep, 7. Earnest Jennings.

Second Heat (10 Laps): 1. Andy Shouse, 2. Brian Harvill, 3. Foster Landon, 4. Jimmy Taylor, 5. Joe Farley. 6. James Shoun, 7. Rodney Brown.

Third Heat (10 Laps):  1. David Langford, 2. Kevin Risley, 3. Marcus Jackson,
4. Claud Estes, 5. Michael Brown, 6. Blake Mallory.  DNS: Gary Owens.

Fourth Heat (10 Laps): 1. Danny Jennings, 2. Kevin Ramey, 3. Jeff Dodd, 4. Roy Larkin, 5. Steve Ochs, 6. Brandon Rogers, 7. Cody Wampler.

B Feature (15 Laps): 1. Travis Scott, 2. Steve Ochs, 3. Brandon Rogers, 4. Earnest Jennings, 5. Blake Mallory, 6. Jeff Leep, 7. Joe Farley, 8. Michael Brown, 9. Rodney Brown, 10. Cody Wampler. DNS: James Shoun.

A Feature (25 Laps): 1. Nick Smith, 2. Kevin Ramey, 3. Danny Jennings, 4. Foster Landon, 5. Brian Harvill, 6. Kevin Risley, 7. Travis Scott, 8. Derek Drown, 9. Claud Estes, 10. Jeff Dodd, 11. Roy Larkin, 12. Earnest Jennings, 13. Andy Shouse, 14. Steve Ochs, 15. Stephanie Chappell, 16. David Langford, 17. Marcus Jackson, 18. Jimmy Taylor, 19. Joel Howard, 20. Brandon Rogers.

ASCS Sooner Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Kevin Ramey 1,028, 2. Danny Jennings 956, 3. Derek Drown 910, 4. Brian Harvill 863, 5. Nick Smith 824, 6. Roy Larkin 820, 7. Robert Sellers 806, 8. Travis Scott 796, 9. Marvin Lough 721, 10. James Shoun 715.