6/29/2009
ASCS
Crockett Covers ASCS Regional at Great Falls
Shawn Miller, GREAT FALLS, Mont. (June 27, 2009) – It was anything but a routine victory for Roger Crockett in Saturday night's 30-lap ASCS Rocky Mountain vs. Northwest finale at Electric City Speedway. But, to little surprise, the ASCS Northwest Region's winningest driver used a late-race pass to claim the victory.
"That's why it's so entertaining for the fans because you never know what's going to happen," said Crockett, who now has seven Northwest Region wins over the past two seasons.
"We just try to take the wins that we get and we try to be there every night. If you keep beating on the door, you're going to get the wins and that what was able to happen tonight."
The Medford, Ore., driver slipped by leader Henry Van Dam with four laps remaining. Van Dam, who stuck his car on the cushion most of the way around the track, bobbled exiting turn two.
"There was a cushion, then there was a spot missing and more cushion," said Van Dam, who hails from Enumclaw, Wash.
"It was just a spot that was tough and Roger just made some better decisions. I definitely gave the race away in turn two."
Crockett, who started ninth, drove into the top five within the first 10 laps and picked off his fellow competitors one by one until he was up to second place on lap 16.
After the ninth and final caution on lap 20, Van Dam jetted to a 10 car-length advantage before Crockett began reeling him in.
"He was just using the cushion all the way around where as I was cutting across the dry and hitting the moisture a little bit sooner," Crockett said. "He was getting out there a little bit more in (turn) two."
Polesitter Jared Ridge, who picked up his first career victory at the same track on Friday night, led the first eight laps before Van Dam snagged the lead entering turn three. Crockett slipped by the Snohomish, Wash., resident a few laps later and Ridge was unable to stay within striking distance of the top two.
"I was kinda too tight for the top and too loose for the bottom," Ridge said after finishing third. "It kinda sucks starting on the pole the final night and not winning, but that's the way it goes sometimes."
Northwest Region point?s leader Steven Tiner of Visalia, Calif., placed fourth and Bend, Ore., resident Chad Groves drove from 11th to fifth.
Sixth-place finisher Danielle Ossenfort of Rapid City, S.D., was the Hard Charger, moving from the 18th starting position. The top-finishing ASCS Rocky Mountain representative was chased across the line by younger brother Jake Ossenfort in seventh. Trevor Kirkland, Josh Ostermiller and Joe Perry completed the top ten.
The race was slowed by nine caution s, including a red flag for a fuel stop after only eight completed laps. In that time, there were five cautions and the drivers had completed 62 total laps under both green and caution circumstances.
Once racing resumed, there were three cautions within three laps before the feature was slowed only once in the final 18 laps. Jason Solwold, who was running fifth, brought out a caution on lap 20 when he stopped on the frontstretch for an apparent motor issue.
ASCS Northwest vs. Rocky Mountain Results from Electric City Speedway:
Heat One (10 Laps): 1. 27dd-David Hoiness, 2. 12-Jared Ridge, 3. 72-Phil Dietz, 4. 44-Kelly Miller, 5. 35-Chip Roe, 6. 10-Danielle Ossenfort, 7. 98-Joe Ramaker, 8. 33-Tucker McCune.
Heat Two (10 Laps): 1. 37-Trevor Kirkland, 2. 12x-Josh Ostermiller, 3. 33v-Henry Van Dam, 4. 5h-Justyn Cox, 5. 38-Jerry Brown, 6. 12p-Randy Pierce, 7. 77-Mark Sweet, 8. (DNS) 23-Colin Baker.
Heat Three (10 Laps): 1. 7x-Paxton Lambrecht, 2. 25c-Chad Groves, 3. 51-Jason Solwold, 4. 11-Roger Crockett, 5. 99-Jacob Ossenfort, 6. 57k-Kolter Kosten, 7. 23n-Jayme Barnes.
Heat Four (10 Laps): 1. 28-Joe Perry, 2. 94-Steven Tiner, 3. 98m-Mitch Olson, 4. 0j-Jeremy McCune, 5. 44w-Austen Wheatley, 6. 27r-Russ Kosten, 7. 11w-Shane Broers.
"B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 12p-Randy Pierce, 2. 10-Danielle Ossenfort, 3. 99-Jacob Ossenfort, 4. 38-Jerry Brown, 5. 44w-Austen Wheatley, 6. 35-Chip Roe, 7. 57k-Kolter Kosten, 8. 77-Mark Sweet, 9. 33-Tucker McCune, 10. 23n-Jayme Barnes, 11. 27r-Russ Kosten, 12. (DNS) 11w-Shane Broers, 13. (DNS) 98-Joe Ramaker, 14. (DNS) 23-Colin Baker.
"A" Feature (30 Laps): 1. 11-Roger Crockett, 2. 33v-Henry Van Dam, 3. 12-Jared Ridge, 4. 94-Steven Tiner, 5. 25c-Chad Groves, 6. 10-Danielle Ossenfort, 7. 99-Jacob Ossenfort, 8. 37-Trevor Kirkland, 9. 12x-Josh Ostermiller, 10. 28-Joe Perry, 11. 27dd-David Hoiness, 12. 72-Phil Dietz, 13. 44-Kelly Miller, 14. 7x-Paxton Lambrecht, 15. 51-Jason Solwold, 16. 38-Jerry Brown, 17. 98m-Mitch Olson, 18. 5h-Justyn Cox, 19. 0j-Jeremy McCune, 20. 12p-Randy Pierce.
ASCS Northwest Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Steven Tiner 854, 2. Jared Ridge 850, 3. Henry VanDam 832, 4. Roger Crockett 826, 5. Mitch Olson 804, 6. Chad Groves 753, 7. (tie) Randy Pierce and Justyn Cox 711, 9. Chadd Noland 491, 10. Austen Wheatley 461.
ASCS Rocky Mountain Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Jake Ossenfort 574, 2. Jeremy McCune 560, 3. Randy Pierce 554, 4. Kolter Kosten 520, 5. (tie) Tucker McCune and Mark Sweet 469, 7. Russ Kosten 359, 8. Danielle Ossenfort 296, 9. (tie) Randi Miller and Joe McCarthy 290.
Submitted By: Lonnie Wheatley