Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (September 20, 2007) – The final few positions in the ASCS / Wesmar Challenge, which will take place during the Devil's Bowl Speedway Winter Nationals in Mesquite, TX, on October 12 and 13, were finally locked up over this past weekend of racing.
 
Drivers securing those final few invitations included Louisiana's Michael Herrington, Colorado's Keith Rauch, Oklahoma's Brian McClelland and Texas racers Brandon Berryman and Johnny Miller.
 
With those final five additions, a total of 27 drivers from throughout the nation have earned invitations to the ASCS/Wesmar Challenge, in which one driver will come away with a new Wesmar Racing Engine.
 
The field for the ASCS/Wesmar Challenge includes the following:
 
2m        Dustin Daggett (Portland, MI) – Sprints on Dirt
3g         Tim Norman (Warsaw, IN) – Sprints on Dirt
4a         Kenny Adams (Malabar, FL) – Rebel/Southern
4J         Lee Grosz (Harwood, ND) – Northern Plains
5          Eric Lutz (Sioux Falls, SD) – Northern Plains
5x         Dave Glennon (Casselton, ND) – Northern Plains
7          Michael Herrington (Gonzales, LA) – Coastal
7m        Kevin Ramey (Fort Worth, TX) – Sooner
07         Johnny Bridges (Cherryville, NC) – Southern
9          Gary Wright (Hooks, TX) - National
11F       Foster Landon (Collinsville, OK) – National
11T       T.J. Winegardner (Pierson, FL) – Rebel
12         Michael Dupuy (Amite, LA) – Coastal
21         Brian Brown (Grain Valley, MO) – Midwest
29         Travis Rilat (Forney, TX) – National
31         Brandon Berryman (Missouri City, TX) – Gulf South
32         Justin Barger (Montrose, NY) – Mid-Atlantic
35         Jared Zimbardi (Salamanca, NY) – Patriots
41         Jason Johnson (Eunice, LA) – National
45         Chuck Hebing (Ontario, NY – Patriots/Mid-Atlantic
45x       C.J. Johnson (Quinter, KS) – Rocky Mountain
53         Jack Dover (Springfield, NE) – Midwest
64J       Johnny Miller (Burleson, TX) – Gulf South
71         Keith Rauch (Thornton, CO) – Rocky Mountain
87         Brian McClelland (Tulsa, OK) – Sooner
91         Darren Stewart (Bixby, OK) – National
94         Wayne Johnson (Oklahoma City, OK) – National
 
 
The ASCS / Wesmar Challenge will be run in multiple segments.  Passing and finishing points will be in effect for each segment, with the top points earner winning a new Wesmar Racing Engine.
 
Drivers earned points towards the Wesmar Racing Engines Challenge by earning three points for a feature win, two points for a runner-up finish and one point for each third-place feature finish.  A driver had to compete in at least 60% of a respective Region's events prior to the September 15 deadline and be a registered member of the American Sprint Car Series to represent that Region in the ASCS / Wesmar Racing Engines Challenge.
 
The top two point earners from each ASCS Region, along with the top National Tour contenders, earned invitations to the ASCS/Wesmar Challenge.
 
Final ASCS/Wesmar Challenge points for each Region, listing only the drivers that met the eligibility requirements, are as follows.
 
ASCS Coastal Region:  1. Michael Dupuy (Amite, LA) 20, 2. Michael Herrington (Gonzales, LA) 8, 3. Lane Whittington (Denham Springs, LA) 6, 4. Shane Morgan (Biloxi, MS) 3, 5. Chris Sweeney (Channelview, TX) 1…… Notes: Herrington swiped the final Coastal invite by snaring a runner-up finish in Saturday night's clash versus the Gulf South Region at Fast Trax Speedway in Chatham, LA.
 
ASCS Gulf South Region:  1. Brandon Berryman (Missouri City, TX) 8, 2. Johnny Miller (Burleson, TX) 6, 3. Ray Allen Kulhanek (Conroe, TX) 6, 4. Skip Wilson (Mesquite, TX) 4, 5. Tommy Bryant (Montgomery, TX) 3, 6. Lane Whittington (Denham Springs, LA) 1…… Notes: Miller received the second invited based on one Gulf South win versus none for Kulhanek.
 
ASCS Mid-Atlantic Region:   1. Chuck Hebing (Ontario, NY) 8, 2. Justin Barger (Montrose, NY) 5, 3. Kenny Adams (Malabar, FL) 4, 4. Bryan Howland (Auburn, NY) 1, 5. Tim Hogue (Lumberton, NJ) 1.
 
ASCS Midwest Region:  1. Brian Brown (Grain Valley, MO) 11, 2. Jack Dover (Springfield, NE) 7, 3. Natalie Sather (Fargo, ND) 3, 4. Toby Chapman (Lincoln, NE) 3, 5. Jason Danley (Lincoln, NE) 2.
 
ASCS Northern Plains Region:  1. Lee Grosz (Harwood, ND) 7, 2. (tie) Eric Lutz (Sioux Falls, SD) and Dave Glennon (Casselton, ND) 3, 4. Curt Lund (Redwood Falls, MN) 2…… Notes: Lutz and Glennon shared identical podium records to both earn invites along with series champion Grosz.
 
ASCS Patriots:  1. Chuck Hebing (Ontario, NY) 34, 2. Jared Zimbardi (Salamanca, NY) 15, 3. Justin Barger (Montrose, NY) 11, 4. Bryan Howland (Auburn, NY) 7, 5. Bobby Breen (Savannah, NY) 6, 6. Scott Kreutter (Alden, NY) 2, 7. Blake Breen (Savannah, NY) 2, 8. Don Adamczyk (Williamsville, NY) 2, 9. Ray Preston (Romulus, NY) 1, 10. Chris Muhleisen (Arkport, NY) 1.
 
ASCS Rebel Region:  1. Kenny Adams (Malabar, FL) 6, 2. T.J. Winegardner (Pierson, FL) 6, 3. Shane Morgan (Biloxi, MS) 3, 4. Matt Linder (Hoschton, GA) 2.
 
ASCS Rocky Mountain Region:  1. C.J. Johnson (Quinter, KS) 12, 2. Keith Rauch (Thornton, CO) 10, 3. Patrick Bourke (Edwards, CO) 5, 4. Ricky Montgomery (Lakewood, CO) 2, 5. Bob Schaeffer (New Castle, CO) 2.
 
ASCS Sooner Region:  1. Kevin Ramey (Fort Worth, TX) 18, 2. Brian McClelland (Tulsa, OK) 8, 3. Nick Smith (Broken Arrow, OK) 4, Gavin Punch (Collinsville, OK) 3, 5. Cody Branchcomb (Sapulpa, OK) 2, 6. Sherman Davis (Sand Springs, OK) 1.
 
ASCS Southern Tour:  1. Kenny Adams (Malabar, FL) 15, 2. Johnny Bridges (Cherryville, NC) 10, 3. Brian Smith (Mooresville, NC) 10, 4. Bryn Gohn (Malabar, FL) 4, 5. T.J. Winegardner (Pierson, FL) 2…… Notes: Bridges received the second invite on the strength of two feature wins to Smith's one.
 
ASCS Sprints on Dirt:  1. Dustin Daggett (Portland, MI) 29, 2. Tim Norman (Warsaw, IN) 12, 3. Steve Irwin (Columbiaville, MI) 10, 4. Ryan Grubaugh (St. Johns, MI) 10, 5. Ben Rutan (Jerome, M) 10, 6. Gary Fast (Kalkaska, MI) 7, 7. Brett Mann (Goshen, IN) 6, 8. Dain Naida (Belleville, MI) 1, 9. Joe Bares (Traverse City, MI) 1, 10. Jake Stebner (Elmira, MI) 1.
 
 
The 2007 season is the 16th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing for the American Sprint Car Series, with the series set to sanction approximately 240 nights of racing at more than 100 different race tracks throughout nearly 30 different states and Canada.

Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.