7/20/2009
ASCS
Rilat Pockets $10,092 with Brownfield Memorial Win
[b Crockett's Lucas Oil ASCS Sweep Nixed at the Scales…]
[i Lonnie Wheatley, ELMA, Wash. (July 18, 2009)]
The inaugural weekend of competition for the Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters within the State of Washington concluded with Forney, TX, shoe Travis Rilat collecting the $10,092 winner's share in Saturday night's 35-lap Third Annual Fred Brownfield Memorial at Grays Harbor Raceway.
But, after setting the pace for the initial 32 laps, it looked as if it would be a night of heartbreak for Rilat when Friday night winner Roger Crockett rocketed into the lead and sailed to the checkered flag.
"I just messed up there, I knew better and I still missed my line getting into one on that last restart and Roger was there to take advantage," Rilat explained afterward.
The explanation came from victory lane though with the past ASCS National champion taking the victory after Crockett rolled across the scales seven pounds shy of the 1,475 pound minimum weight requirement.
"This isn't the way we wanted to win, but we'll definitely take the ten-thousand and ninety-two dollars," Rilat smiled after his second Lucas Oil win of the year and 24th National score of his career.
"It's great to win up here in front of the Shark Engine and Triple-X Chassis guys, they make sure we have good stuff to work with and I'm glad we got to show 'em what we can do," Rilat commented.
After chasing Crockett to the stripe in Friday night's preliminary feature, Rilat started Saturday night's main event from the pole position with Crockett alongside. And, while Rilat gunned into the lead at the outset, he had his hands full with Crockett throughout.
The duo battled for the lead virtually the entire distance, racing through traffic much of the way. But, after a pair of cautions in the final half of the race, Rilat appeared to have Crockett cleared.
One final caution with just three laps to go gave Oregon's Crockett one last shot. And, when Rilat drifted high into one, Crockett took quick advantage and raced into the lead for keeps. It proved to be all for naught, however, when Crockett's mount proved too light at the scales.
Not only did the disqualification cost Crockett the prestigious victory, it also negated a second consecutive ASCS Northwest Speedweek championship. Missouri's Jesse Hockett, who won the opening three legs of ASCS Northwest Speedweek, claimed the crown despite a 20th-place finish in Saturday's finale after turn two trouble on the 16th round while running seventh.
Chasing Rilat's F&J Construction No. 29 across the line was defending series champion Jason Johnson, who battled past Travis Rutz in the final rounds to snare runner-up honors in Lanny Row's Wesmar-powered The Shop Motorsports No. 41 Eagle.
"I just wish we could of got up there to contend for the win, we just couldn't quite get there," Johnson explained.
Rutz earned the show position in the Rudeen Racing No. 26 entry, commenting that, "Trading sliders back and forth with guys like Jason Johnson and Travis Rilat, that was a blast."
Racing forward from 15th, Gary Wright snuck by Tim Crawley in the final corner to snare fourth in Scott Brown's ASI-powered Lubbock Wrecker Service No. 9x Maxim.
Crawley rounded out the top five in Mike Ward's McCarver-powered Boater Sports No. 88 Maxim, with Tony Bruce, Jr., crossing the stripe in sixth.
After utilizing a provisional to start the main event, Washington native Gary Taylor charged from 23rd to seventh, with 19th-starter Shane Stewart, 17th-starter Wayne Johnson and 20th-starter Paul McMahan completing the top ten.
Jason Solwold was battling for third throughout with Rutz and Johnson before tangling with a lapped car just seven laps shy of the checkered flag.
Hockett, Jared Peterson, Mike Melwicks, Sean McClelland and Danny Wood topped Saturday night's heat race action, with W. Johnson, Jay Cole and Stewart winning the "B" Mains.
J.J. Hickle's night came to an end after flipping in the opening corner of the night's fifth and final heat race. Chad Groves got upside down in turn two in the night's third "B" Main. There were no injuries.
Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters
Third Annual Fred Brownfield Memorial
Grays Harbor Raceway – Elma, WA
Locked in from Friday Night's Preliminary Feature:
11c-Roger Crockett, 29-Travis Rilat, 88-Tim Crawley, 41-Jason Johnson.
Heat Races (Top 12 in Passing Points to "A" Main; Balance to 3 "B" Mains):
Heat One (10 Laps): 1. 13-Jesse Hockett, 2. 9j-J.J. Dishneau, 3. 26-Travis Rutz, 4. 08-Steve Vague, 5. 12-Jared Ridge, 6. 23-Seth Bergman, 7. 6-Jayme Barnes, 8. 11-Chad Corken, 9. 72-Glenn Borden, 10. 2-Kenneth Walker.
Heat Two (10 Laps): 1. 9p-Jared Peterson, 2. 9x-Gary Wright, 3. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 4. 33v-Henry Van Dam, 5. 0j-Jay Cole, 6. 15c-Cody Anderlini, 7. 53-Jack Dover, 8. 7k-Danny Kirkpatrick, 9. 15j-Jeff Dunlap. DNS: 81au-Gavin Punch.
Heat Three (10 Laps): 1. 2m-Mike Melwicks, 2. 94T-Steven Tiner, 3. 3d-Paul McMahan, 4. 25c-Chad Groves, 5. 76-Shawn Rice, 6. 12p-Randy Pierce, 7. 44w-Austen Wheatley, 8. 4-Nick Engberg, 9. 96-Mack Brown.
Heat Four (10 Laps): 1. 1-Sean McClelland, 2. 57-Shane Stewart, 3. 35a-Wayne Johnson, 4. 18T-Travis Jacobson, 5. 98m-Mitch Olson, 6. 23T-Colin Baker, 7. 5h-Justyn Cox, 8. 21w-Vern Wheeler, 9. 15d-Dan Dunlap.
Heat Five (10 Laps): 1. 94-Danny Wood, 2. 51-Jason Solwold, 3. 91-Gary Taylor, 4. 29v-Robbie Vaughn, 5. 94z-Zach Zimmerly, 6. 7-Darren Long, 7. 33-Nate Morelock, 8. 6m-Phillip Del Rosa, 9. 7a-J.J. Hickle.
"B" Mains (Top 2 From Each Advance to "A" Main):
First "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 35a-Wayne Johnson, 2. 3d-Paul McMahan, 3. 29v-Robbie Vaughn, 4. 08-Steve Vague, 5. 7-Darren Long, 6. 2-Kenneth Walker, 7. 7k-Danny Kirkpatrick, 8. 23T-Colin Baker, 9. 15c-Cody Anderlini, 10. 72-Glenn Borden, 11. 96-Mack Brown, 12. 33-Nate Morelock.
Second "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 0j-Jay Cole, 2. 33v-Henry Van Dam, 3. 94T-Steven Tiner, 4. 91-Gary Taylor, 5. 6-Jayme Barnes, 6. 98m-Mitch Olson, 7. 4-Nick Engberg, 8. 12p-Randy Pierce, 9. 5h-Justyn Cox, 10. 6m-Phillip Del Rosa, 11. 15j-Jeff Dunlap. DNS: 81au-Gavin Punch.
Third "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 57-Shane Stewart, 2. 53-Jack Dover, 3. 11-Chad Corken, 4. 76-Shawn Rice, 5. 44w-Austen Wheatley, 6. 21w-Vern Wheeler, 7. 23-Seth Bergman, 8. 94z-Zach Zimmerly, 9. 25c-Chad Groves, 10. 15d-Dan Dunlap. DNS: 7a-J.J. Hickle.
Third Annual Fred Brownfield Memorial "A" Main Event:
“A” Feature (35 Laps): 1. 29-Travis Rilat, 2. 41-Jason Johnson, 3. 26-Travis Rutz, 4. 9x-Gary Wright, 5. 88-Tim Crawley, 6. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 7. 91-Gary Taylor, 8. 57-Shane Stewart, 9. 35a-Wayne Johnson, 10. 3d-Paul McMahan, 11. 18T-Travis Jacobson, 12. 0j-Jay Cole, 13. 2m-Mike Melwicks, 14. 9p-Jared Peterson, 15. 33v-Henry Van Dam, 16. 12-Jared Ridge, 17. 9j-J.J. Dishneau, 18. 51-Jason Solwold, 19. 94-Danny Wood, 20. 13-Jesse Hockett, 21. 53-Jack Dover, 22. 7-Darren Long, 23. 1-Sean McClelland, 24. 11c-Roger Crockett (Disqualified; weighed in below required minimum).
Lap Leaders: Travis Rilat 1-32, Roger Crockett 33-35.
Note: Gary Taylor and Darren Long utilized Lucas Oil ASCS provisionals to start the "A" Main.
Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters Points (Top 20): 1. (tie) Jason Johnson and Gary Wright 1,420, 3. Shane Stewart 1,394, 4. Travis Rilat 1,339, 5. Tim Crawley 1,311, 6. Tony Bruce, Jr. 1,279, 7. Paul McMahan 1,278, 8. Danny Wood 1,238, 9. Jack Dover 1,205, 10. Jesse Hockett 1,163, 11. Sean McClelland 1,058, 12. Gary Taylor 1,024, 13. Darren Long 943, 14. Kenneth Walker 912, 15. Chad Corken 892, 16. Nick Smith 870, 17. Gavin Punch 847, 18. Seth Bergman 832, 19. Brady Bacon 752, 20. Ricky Logan 639.
ASCS Northwest Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Jared Ridge 1,544, 2. Steven Tiner 1,536, 3. Roger Crockett 1,530, 4. Mitch Olson 1,458, 5. Henry VanDam 1,449, 6. Chad Groves 1,369, 7. Randy Pierce 1,246, 8. Justyn Cox 1,203, 9. Jay Cole 954, 10. Colin Baker 953.
ASCS Northwest Speedweek Points (Top Ten through Round Five of Five): 1. Jesse Hockett 696, 2. Roger Crockett 674, 3. Jared Ridge 658, 4. Jay Cole 648, 5. Wayne Johnson 625, 6. Steven Tiner 619, 7. Henry Van Dam 581, 8. Mitch Olson 577, 9. Mike Melwicks 565, 10. Chad Groves 530.
[u Photo]
Travis Rilat (29) and Roger Crockett (11c) battle it out for top Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Series honors in Saturday night's $10,092 to win Third Annual Fred Brownfield Memorial at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, WA.
Submitted By: Lonnie Wheatley
