Speedweek round two Little Rock results 2009-06-06

Bruce Best in ASCS Speedweek Round Two at I-30 Speedway

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (June 6, 2009) -- Tony Bruce, Jr., captured his first career ASCS Speedweek feature win by cracking victory lane in the second leg of the 17th Annual F&J Construction ASCS Speedweek featuring the Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters at I-30 Speedway on Saturday night.

The Liberal, KS, racer scooted past Kenneth Walker for the lead on the sixth round and led the rest of the way in the hotly contested 30-lapper aboard the Rider-powered Coors Light No. 18 Maxim, ultimately taking the checkered flag just ahead of a rapidly-closing Gary Wright.

"I'm starting to like this place, it's been good for us lately," Bruce explained after backing up his $15,000 Short Track Nationals score atop the 0x00bc-mile I-30 Speedway clay oval last October.

While Bruce started the feature from the front row outside, he spent the opening handful of laps chasing pole starter Kenneth Walker. But, soon after a lap four caution for Gavin Punch's punch of a turn two infield tire, Bruce slid underneath Walker entering turn one to take command.

Working the topside of the track, Bruce led the way as Dustin Morgan and Jason Johnson also made their way past Walker by the time Lewis Jenkins, Jr., looped it in turn four with eight laps in the books.

Bruce worked the cushion flawlessly, with tenth-starter Gary Wright soon joining the fray for second. Wright finally battled past both Morgan and Johnson for second on the 23rd lap only to slip off the top of turn two.

The slip proved to be costly for the six-time Speedweek champion, as it took him another handful of laps to work back around Johnson and Morgan. And with just two laps remaining by the time "The Texan" had reclaimed second, Bruce was very nearly out of reach.

Wright hustled to close the gap, but hooking the turn three cushion one final time as the white flag being presented was just the last bit of breathing room Bruce needed to secure the win.

While Bruce escaped the night with a slim two-point lead in ASCS Speedweek points, Wright posted runner-up honors in Scott Brown's ASI-powered Lubbock Wrecker Service No. 9x Maxim.

After surviving a close call in heat race action in which Jeremy Newkirk's tumbling sprinter nearly removed his wing, Morgan battled amongst the front-runners all the way before taking show honors in the Wesmar-powered Ark Wrecking No. 93 Maxim.

Defending ASCS Speedweek champion Jason Johnson was a close fourth in Lanny Row's Wesmar-powered The Shop Motorsports No. 41 Eagle.

After winning the ASCS Speedweek opener one night earlier, Tim Crawley's night got off to an inauspicious start when he was squeezed into the frontstretch wall and suffered front end damage as the green flag flew on the night's third heat race.

The three-time ASCS National champion salvaged the night by racing from the tail of his "B" Main to take the third and final transfer position away from Nick Smith on the final round and then charging from 23rd to round out the top five in the feature event.

"If we could have caught a caution with six or seven laps to go, we might have made thing up front interesting," Crawley commented afterward.

Kenneth Walker crossed the stripe sixth, with Travis Rilat, Justin Sturch, 17th-starter Sean McClelland and 21st-starter Brady Bacon completing the top ten.

Third-starter Shane Stewart clipped an infield tire exiting turn two on the second lap and spun to a stop in turn three. Catching a timely caution on the ensuing restart, the current Lucas Oil ASCS points leader tagged the tail of the field and climbed back up to 13th by race's end.

Lewis Jenkins, Jr., Gavin Punch, Kenneth Walker, Gary Wright and Tony Bruce, Jr., topped heat race action for the 40-car field, with Don Young and Paul McMahan winning the twin "B" Mains.

Matt Covington, Jeremy Newkirk and Dusty Fronabarger each flipped in heat race action. Covington returned for "B" Main action, with the others done for the night.

The 17th Annual F&J Construction ASCS Speedweek featuring the Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters resumes with Round Three at Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa, OK, on Tuesday night, with racing action set to go green at 7:00 p.m.

Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters
17th Annual F&J Construction ASCS Speedweek
Round Two -- I-30 Speedway

Heat Races (Top 18 in Passing Points to "A" Main):

Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 7h-Lewis Jenkins, Jr., 2. 9-Justin Sturch, 3. 1-Sean McClelland, 4. 74e-Claud Estes, 5. 23-Seth Bergman, 6. 15s-Nick Smith, 7. 4T-Tommy Snellgrove, 8. 95-Matt Covington.

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 81au-Gavin Punch, 2. 31m-Matt Clevenger, 3. 57-Shane Stewart, 4. 99-Brady Bacon, 5. 72-Sherman Davis, 6. 58-Wade Oliver, 7. 11F-Foster Landon. DNS: 38-Rick Pringle.

Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 2-Kenneth Walker, 2. 93-Dustin Morgan, 3. 55-Donnie Ray Crawford, 4. 1g-Cody Gardner, 5. 75-Don Young, 6. 01-Jeremy Newkirk, 7. 77-Colt Treharn, 8. 88-Tim Crawley.

Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 9x-Gary Wright, 2. 41-Jason Johnson, 3. 91-Gary Taylor, 4. 1x-Chad Pitts, 5. 8z-Zach Pringle, 6. 94-Danny Wood, 7. 87a-Andrew Marshala, 8. 13-Dusty Fronabarger.

Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 2. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 3. 29-Travis Rilat, 4. 50z-Zach Chappell, 5. 57g-Dude Garrett, 6. 3d-Paul McMahan, 7. 14t-Tyler Brown, 8. 14k-Kyle Bellm.

"B" Main (Top 3 From Each Advance to "A" Main):

First "B" Feature (10 Laps): 1. 75-Don Young, 2. 99-Brady Bacon, 3. 88-Tim Crawley, 4. 15s-Nick Smith, 5. 8z-Zach Pringle, 6. 11F-Foster Landon, 7. 77-Colt Treharn, 8. 57g-Dude Garrett, 9. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 10. 58-Wade Oliver, 11. 87a-Andrew Marshala.

Second "B" Feature (10 Laps): 1. 3d-Paul McMahan, 2. 94-Danny Wood, 3. 14T-Tyler Brown, 4. 95-Matt Covington, 5. 72-Sherman Davis, 6. 23-Seth Bergman, 7. 4T-Tommy Snellgrove, 8. 1x-Chad Pitts. DNS: 01-Jeremy Newkirk, 13-Dusty Fronabarger, 38-Rick Pringle.

ASCS Speedweek Round Two "A" Main Event:

"A" Feature (30 Laps): 1. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 2. 9x-Gary Wright, 3. 93-Dustin Morgan, 4. 41-Jason Johnson, 5. 88-Tim Crawley, 6. 2-Kenneth Walker, 7. 29-Travis Rilat, 8. 9-Justin Sturch, 9. 1-Sean McClelland, 10. 99-Brady Bacon, 11. 3d-Paul McMahan, 12. 94-Danny Wood, 13. 57-Shane Stewart, 14. 31m-Matt Clevenger, 15. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 16. 55-Donnie Ray Crawford, 17. 91-Gary Taylor, 18. 75-Don Young, 19. 81au-Gavin Punch, 20. 14T-Tyler Brown, 21. 74e-Claud Estes, 22. 7h-Lewis Jenkins, Jr., 23. 50z-Zach Chappell, 24. 1g-Cody Gardner.

Lap Leaders: Kenneth Walker 1-5, Tony Bruce, Jr. 6-30.

17th Annual F&J Construction ASCS Speedweek Points (Top Fifteen -- Through Round Two of Six): 1. Tony Bruce, Jr. 292, 2. Tim Crawley 290, 3. Jason Johnson 280, 4. Sean McClelland 272, 5. (tie) Shane Stewart and Justin Sturch 270, 7. Travis Rilat 264, 8. Paul McMahan 262, 9. Kenneth Walker 258, 10. Brady Bacon 256, 11. Gary Wright 254, 12. Dustin Morgan 250, 13. Matt Clevenger 246, 14. Gavin Punch 242, 15. (tie) Zach Chappell and Don Young 236.

-credit: ascs