Neither A. J. Weaver nor Greg Rilat had ever turned a lap atop Knoxville Raceway’s ½-mile clay oval prior to Saturday night’s Master’s Classic. But it didn’t stop the pair of American Sprint Car Series Gulf South Region drivers from stealing the show.
The pair of South Texas drivers made the trek to Knoxville, IA, for Saturday night’s 15th Annual Master’s Classic and it was Houston’s Weaver coming away with the victory while Texas City racer Rilat finished fifth.
Weaver, 52, a part-time competitor with the ASCS Gulf South Region, chased down Ohio’s Kenny Jacobs at the midway point of the 22-lap event for the lead and held on the rest of the way to snare the $3,000 victory in the race for drivers 50 years of age or older.
Meanwhile, 51-year-old Rilat, a three-time ASCS Gulf South Region points runner-up, ran amongst the leaders throughout before ultimately finishing fifth.
While Weaver has competed in 17 ASCS Gulf South Region events since the series began in 2002, Greg Rilat has been a fixture with the Gulf South Region.
Rilat, sometimes referred to as “Grumpy”, has competed in 74 consecutive ASCS Gulf South Region events, last missing a show in 2002. In total, the elder Rilat has competed in 83 of the 88 events in ASCS Gulf South Region history, making 82 feature starts with a pair of wins, 27 top-fives and 55 top-tens.
Rilat has also started 34 consecutive ASCS Gulf South Region feature events. The only time Rilat has missed a Gulf South feature start was on May 28, 2005, at Thunder Valley Speedway in Union Hill, LA.
Off to a slow start in 2007 with four rainouts already, the ASCS Gulf South Region is just a dozen events short of the 100 mark, which should occur sometime in September weather permitting.
| 
|