As the calendar rolls over to May at the end of the work week, the Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters fires back into action with Friday night’s $6,000-to-win event at Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, IL.
It marks the series debut atop the 3/8-mile Tri-City Speedway dirt oval next to Granite City, IL, and the series first Illinois appearance since 1997.
Friday’s card will also mark Round Three in the series $60,000 championship points chase after Shane Stewart and defending champion Jason Johnson split the opening two nights of action at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, TX, on March 20-21. Mother Nature has prevailed in three scheduled events since that time.
With $250,000 in point fund money up for grabs, Bixby, OK, native Shane Stewart is out to the early lead over a stellar field of championship contenders that includes four past ASCS National champions, Jason Johnson, Gary Wright, Tim Crawley and Travis Rilat, along with the likes of Brady Bacon, Eric Baldaccini, Jerry Bell, Seth Bergman, Aaron Berryhill, Brian Brown, Tony Bruce, Jr., Chad Corken, Matt Covington, Donnie Ray Crawford, Jack Dover, Josh Fisher, Jesse Hockett, Darren Long, Sean McClelland, Paul McMahan, Kathryne Minter, Dustin Morgan, Trey Robb, Nick Smith, Gary Taylor, Kenneth Walker, Robby Wolfgang and Dannny Wood.
Stewart currently holds a two-point lead over “The Ragin’ Cajun”, Jason Johnson, with Gary Wright just six points off the lead pace. Nick Smith and Danny Wood, who topped the ASCS Sooner Region opener this past weekend, are tied for fifth.
With the series taking to Tri-City Speedway for the first time ever, few of the title contenders have turned laps at the track since it was reconfigured from a sprawling ½-mile to its current 3/8-mile layout prior to the 2007 season.
Shane Stewart, Paul McMahan, Brian Brown, Tony Bruce, Jr., and Jesse Hockett have each turned Sprint Car laps around the current rendition of Tri-City Speedway, while Dustin Morgan, Brady Bacon and Gary Taylor have each toured the Tri-City oval in Midget competition.
California native McMahan, out to the early lead in the series Brodix Rookie of the Year chase, ranks as the only series points chaser to have ever recorded a feature win at Tri-City Speedway with a Gumout triumph in 2000 followed by an Outlaw score in 2003. Both of those triumphs came on the old ½-mile.
With the Lucas Oil ASCS forces joined on Friday night by the Winged Outlaw Warriors, either the Hoosier 105x16.0-15 Medium, Hoosier 105X18.0-15 Hard or the Hoosier SC-25 may be used on the right rear. No mufflers are required.
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