TULSA, Okla. (July 6, 2010) – The Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters kick off the North by Northwest Swing with Saturday night’s annual event at Hartford, South Dakota’s high-banked, 3/8-mile I-90 Speedway dirt oval.
Saturday’s $6,000 to win tilt, the fourth annual series stop at I-90 Speedway, marks the tenth round of competition in the Lucas Oil Sprint Car $60,000 title chase with 18 full-time travelers battling it out for their cut of the $250,000 points fund.
After taking the lead away from local ace Chad Meyer in last year’s I-90 feature event, Gary Wright went on to capture his first Lucas Oil win of the year over a field of 52 entries. Tony Bruce, Jr., bested 39 entries at I-90 for his second career series win in 2008 and Jason Johnson topped a field of 34 in the series inaugural stop at I-90 in 2007.
Twenty-year-old Brady Bacon of Broken Arrow, OK, leads the Lucas Oil National forces into Saturday’s card, maintaining a ten-point lead over Johnson on the strength of three consecutive feature wins earlier in the season.
Bacon, making his first full run at the Lucas Oil title after taking in three-fourths of last year’s schedule, will be getting his first look at I-90 Speedway on Saturday night as well as Washington’s Grays Harbor Raceway and Oregon’s Cottage Grove Speedway over the following two weekends.
“The Ragin’ Cajun”, on the other hand, has enjoyed a pair of victories at I-90 Speedway with a 2006 Regional score preceding his National glory in 2007.
Looking to close ground in his Lucas Oil ASCS title defense is Bixby, OK, native Shane Stewart, who picked off a Regional win at I-90 in 2007. Stewart is just 65 points off of Bacon’s lead pace.
Liberal, KS, shoe Tony Bruce, Jr., is just another ten points back in fourth, just ahead of a tightly-bunched group of top contenders that includes 20-year-old Jack Dover of Springfield, NE, three-time ASCS National champion Tim Crawley of Benton, AR, 2001 ASCS National champ Zach Chappell of Talala, OK, and Norman, OK, veteran shoe Danny Wood.
Chappell guns for two wins in a row and his third on the season after topping the recent Daniel McMillin / Jesse Hockett Memorial at Missouri’s Lake Ozark Speedway.
A pair of Brodix Rookie of the Year contenders round out the current top ten, with Loomis, California’s Kyle Hirst just 36 markers ahead of Glenpool, Oklahoma’s Matt Covington, a Lucas Oil National winner at Lone Star Speedway earlier this year.
Past ASCS National champ Travis Rilat of Forney, TX, is just outside the top ten, with other Lucas Oil National contenders including the likes of Little Rock native Ricky Logan and Ohio’s Darren Long along with the rest of the rookie crop that includes Dustin Morgan (Tulsa, OK), 17-year-old Austen Wheatley (Lake Stevens, WA), 16-year-old Justyn Cox (Clarksburg, CA), 19-year-old Channin Tankersley (Highlands, TX) and Andrew Marshala (Shawnee, OK).
Saturday’s card also awards ASCS Midwest points. Dover currently sits atop the Midwest point charts with the edge over Sioux Falls shoe Eric Lutz and Nebraska’s Doug Lovegrove.
A strong contingent of local forces will likely be on hand as well to defend their home turf. Harrisburg, South Dakota’s Dusty Ballenger is the current I-90 Speedway points leader with Justin Glaser, Lane Brenden, John Lambertz and Justin Saathoff rounding out the top five.
Through the opening nine events of the 2010 season, the Lucas Oil ASCS National Series presented by K&N Filters has averaged 48.6 competitors per race night.