3/14/08
Devil's Bowl Speedway
Mesquite, TX
ASCoT 360s
52 cars
Heat one (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Eric Lutz 1 (1*) 2. Trey Robb 1s (3*) 3. Eric Baldaccini B4 (6*) 4. Jake Peters 57x (8*) 5. Kathryne Minter 13 (2) 6. Skip Wilson 65 (4) 7. Loren Wofford 18w (9) 8. Chris Williams 8x (5) 9. Brandon Erwin 5E (7)
Lutz led flag to flag holding off Robb in a good battle. Peters, who has Knoxville and Huset's 410 plans this year was the prime mover, as 14 drivers earning the most passing points transferred out of the eight lap heat races to the A. The top eight in points redrew for starting position.
Heat two (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Jack Dover 53 (3*) 2. Gary Taylor 5 (2*) 3. Foster Landon 51 (1) 4. Dustin Morgan 8h (5) 5. Travis Rilat 29 (7) 6. Don Young 75 (9) 7. Kolt Walker 45K (8) 8. Kerry McAllister 15K (4) 9. Michael Lang 14 (6)
McAllister received contact from Rilat when the green flag fell and collected Lang. McAllister and Lang were done. Thomas grabbed the initial lead from teammate and polesitter Landon at the outset. Dover was strong out of row two and used the low side of turn four to blow by the leaders on lap five. He pulled away for an impressive win. Morgan challenged Landon on the last lap, but fell short.
Heat three (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Kent Winters 23w (4*) 2. Joe Wood Jr. 03 (2) 3. Jason Sides 7s (8*) 4. Shawn Sander 48 (1) 5. Natalie Sather 94s (6) 6. Brent Swift 41x (7) 7. Brandon Moseley 11m (9) 8. Kenneth Walker 2 (3) 9. Jason Johnson 41 (5)
Sather appeared to be crowded a bit by Sides coming down the frontstretch when the green fell. The result was a twitch to the left, and contact sending J. Johnson into the wall and to the back of the B. El Paso's Sander grabbed the initial lead, but was overcome by Winters on lap four. Winters pulled away from the field. Wood Jr. passed Sides with three to go for second.
Heat four (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Tony Bruce Jr. 18 (1*) 2. Ryan Roberts 18R (3*) 3. Zach Chappell 50z (4) 4. Sam Hafertepe Jr. 15H (8) 5. Don Droud Jr. 91 (6) 6. Brian Brown 21 (5) 7. Colt Treharn 77 (2) 8. Josh Higday 2x (7) 9. Chris Tarrant 71 (9)
Bruce checked out in by far the stoutest heat of the night. Chappell worked on Roberts and a spot that would have earned him an A transfer, but it was not to be. Two '07 Knoxville champs, three '07 World of Outlaws competitors and more comprised a fast heat.
Heat five (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Wayne Johnson 94 (1*) 2. George White 1w (3*) 3. Mike Chadd 4 (6) 4. Garry Lee Maier 11x (8) 5. Billy Alley 22 (5) 6. Matt Clevenger 31 (7) 7. Billy Melton 87 (2) DNS - Neil Stevens 2H (4)
W. Johnson led flag to flag. Veteran Chadd moved by a couple of drivers with ease, but couldn’t run down White. 8th to 4th wasn't enough for Maier either.
Heat six (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Nick Smith 15s (2*) 2. Gary Wright 9 (5*) 3. Aaron Berryhill 97 (1) 4. Kevin Ramey 7m (7) 5. Cody Branchcomb 94x (6) 6. Whit Gastineau 2w (4) 7. Gavin Punch 81AU (8) DNS - Matt Covington 95 (3)
Gastineau spun in front of most of the field, but avoided disaster. He would restart at the tail. Berryhill and N. Smith went side by side for a couple of laps before N. Smith took command. Wright drove under Berryhill at the midway point for second.
B main one (started): 1. Berryhill (3) 2. Wood Jr. (1) / 3. Brown (8) 4. Rilat (4) 5. Sather (5) 6. Chadd (2) 7. Ke. Walker (11) 8. Clevenger (7) 9. Minter (6) 10. Punch (10) 11. Lang (12) 12. Moseley (9) DNS - Stevens
Wood Jr. led early in the 10 lapper, but was dogged by Berryhill until the veteran took the point on lap eight. Brown ran out of laps, but appeared to be the fastest car on the track after getting by Rilat on the last lap and falling one car short of a transfer.
B main two (started): 1. Hafertepe Jr. (1) 2. Droud Jr. (5) / 3. J. Johnson (12) 4. Landon (2) 5. Morgan (3) 6. Wilson (7) 7. Alley (6) 8. Sander (4) 9. Gastineau (8) 10. Higday (11) 11. Covington (13) 12. Williams (10) 13. Treharn (9)
Hafertepe had no peer here. The race was for second. When Gastineau spun on lap eight, it set up a great race for second. Landon held the spot over Droud and J. Johnson on the restart. J. Johnson had passed Droud on the previous lap, but it was negated with the caution. Droud removed all doubt as he blew by Landon for the second and final transfer to the A, forcing J. Johnson to take a provisional that pays, but doesn't award points.
B main three (started): 1. Ramey (3) 2. Chappell (1) / 3. Young (4) 4. Ervin (11) 5. Ko. Walker (8) 6. Tarrant (12) 7. McAllister (10) 8. Melton (9) 9. Maier (2) 10. Wofford (7) 11. Branchcomb (5) 12. Swift (6) Ramey,
Chappell and Maier left the field behind. Maier would bow out on lap six, leaving the lead pair to transfer and leave Young a half lap behind.
A main (started): 1. Bruce Jr. (1) 2. Wright (10) 3. Sides (7) 4. W. Johnson (22) 5. N. Smith (3) 6. Chappell (18) 7. J. Johnson (21) 8. Berryhill (15) 9. Dover (6) 10. Hafertepe Jr. (14) 11. Robb (2) 12. Baldaccini (9) 13. Lutz (4) 14. Peters (13) 15. Roberts (8) 16. Winters (5) 17. Droud Jr. (19) 18. White (11) 19. Landon (20) 20. Thomas (12) 21. Ramey (17) 22. Wood Jr. (16)
W. Johnson needed two pushes to start the race due to an unfastened fuel coupler. He would start 22nd and the rest of the drivers in the outside rows moved up a spot. Bruce Jr. pulled away from the field on a track that was yielding a couple of racing grooves. Three laps were in the books before Chappell came to a stop on the backstretch. He would continue after a restart that saw Bruce leading Robb, N. Smith, Winters and Sides. Two more laps were in the books before Wood tagged the backstretch wall and retired. Wright had moved from 7th to 4th in two laps. A scary incident on lap six saw Thomas climb the right rear of Roberts on the backstretch and flip wildly. Ramey was also caught in the mess. Roberts continued with a mangled wing. Bruce led Robb, N. Smith and Sides, who had gotten back by Wright back to green flag racing. W. Johnson had utilized the low side to climb to eighth with fourteen laps to go. Roberts and Landon contacted on lap nine, bringing yet another caution to the 20 lapper. Landon retired. Bruce's lead now was over N. Smith, Wright, and Sides, who had moved by 15 year old Robb. Six green flag laps felt like an eternity in this one, and Bruce continued his comination. One last stoppage occurred on lap 15 when Droud hit an infield tire and was towed pitside. The last restart saw Bruce get a great jump on Wright, Sides and N. Smith. W. Johnson, who restarted fifth, snatched the final transfer to Saturday night's main event from N. Smith. The rest of the top four included Bruce, who snagged the win, Wright and Sides.