7/8/2019
ASCS
Matt Ward Delivers Top Ten Run At Big Sky Speedway With ASCS Frontier Region
(Image Credit: Soldierboy Productions)
Bryan Hulbert – BILLINGS, Mont. (July 8, 2019) Returning to Sprint Car competition for the first time since 2015, Oklahoma’s Matt Ward rebounded from a failed engine and car swap at the start of the night to climb to a ninth-place finish with the Brodix ASCS Frontier Region at Big Sky Speedway.
“I have to give a big thanks to Jeremy and Mindy McCune, Slim, my cousin Blake, our buddy Dalton, and my wife and mom for everything they did to get me in the car this past weekend. It felt good to get in a Sprint Car again. Wish I could have had a better result, but it was a mad dash just to get the car on the track after Hot Laps,” stated Ward.
Going out for Hot Laps, Ward felt comfortable in the car but would end up in a different mount before his Heat Race as the only spare engine available was in car owner, Jeremy McCune’s backup car.
“It ran good right up until I got the checkered flag, then it started shuttering so I shut it off and coasted in. We got checking it and when we pulled a valve cover off, fuel was pouring out of the engine. Luckily we hadn’t taken a competitive green flag lap, so we were able to drag the other car down and get it ready.”
Knocking the rust off in his Heat Race, Ward was able to position his McCune Racing No. 51 on the right of the sixth row for the A-Feature. Getting the car underneath him, Ward made constant laps and moved forward in the later stages of the race.
“We had issued with the brakes on the car we pulled down, so we spent most of the night trying to get them right and was better for the feature. If I tried to use them going into the corner, it would all but spin the car so it limited me on how hard I could drive the car, but we were still able to move forward. Once we got about halfway, I started picking up a lot of speed. I think if we would have had a caution late, I could have gotten closer to a fifth-place finish with how the car was rolling. Hopefully, I can get a few more laps this season at some point.”
Back to the role of National Director this coming weekend with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network, the next stop will be the NAPA of Montana Grizzly Nationals at Gallatin Speedway in Belgrade, Mont. on Friday, July 12 and Saturday, July 13.
For other news, notes, and information on the American Sprint Car Series, from the National Tour to any of the nine Regional Tours that make up ASCS Nation in 2019, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com, follow on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Twitter (@LucasOilASCS).
Submitted By: Bryan Hulbert