|
ASCS Sooner Region Invades Creek County on Saturday
TULSA, Okla. (September 17, 2007) – As the 2007 racing season begins to wind down, the American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region makes its final stop of the year at Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa, OK, this Saturday night.
And with just two nights of racing action following Saturday night's card, Fort Worth's Kevin Ramey holds a slim points lead as he chases down a third American Sprint Car Series Sooner Region title.
Picking up his fourth Sooner Region win of the year this past Friday night in the series debut stand-alone event at Waco's Heart O' Texas Speedway, the championship battle tightened in the series 100th event since 2001 when his closest competitors both finished ahead of him on Saturday night at Cowtown Speedway.
Ramey is locked in a torrid three-way battle for the ASCS Sooner Region title with a pair of Tulsa area drivers. Cody Branchcomb of Sapulpa is just seven points behind Ramey entering Saturday's card at Creek County Speedway, with Tulsa's Brian McClelland another six points back in third.
Following Saturday night's event, the series wraps up the 2007 season with a two-night stand at Mid-America Speedway in South Coffeyville, OK, on October 5-6, giving Branchcomb and McClelland some semblance of home-turf advantage over the critical final three nights of the year.
Missing the cut for an early-season feature at Mid-America, Ramey has finished among the top ten in all ten other feature events to fight his way back into the lead. Branchcomb and McClelland have made the cut for all eleven feature events thus far, with both finishing among the top-ten nine times apiece.
Gavin Punch of Collinsville, OK, enters Saturday's card ranked fourth, with Lawton's Michael Brown rounding out the current top five.
Hailing from Fort Worth by way of Collinsville, 2001 series champion J.P. Bailey is currently ranked sixth, with Derek Cottrell of Fletcher, OK, ranked seventh as he pursues a third-consecutive top-ten ranking in ASCS Sooner Region competition.
After collecting his eighth career ASCS Sooner Region feature win, Nick Smith of Broken Arrow, OK, has climbed to eighth in points despite missing three events along the way. Eric Baldaccini of Keller, TX, is currently ninth, with Sherman Davis of Sand Springs, OK, rounding out the current top ten.
An already stout ASCS Sooner Region field is expected to be bolstered on Saturday night by the likes of 2005 series champion Sean McClelland of Collinsville, OK, and past ASCS National champion Zach Chappell, who returns to the seat of Terry Henry's No. 92 entry.
Ten different drivers have visited ASCS Sooner Region victory lane in eleven events contested atop the ¼-mile Creek County Speedway clay oval since 2001, with Ramey the only driver to post multiple victories. Ramey picked off two wins at Creek County Speedway in 2003.
Sean McClelland topped last year's Sooner Region stop at Creek County Speedway.
An attempted event at Creek County in May was rained out.
In addition to Ramey and S. McClelland, other past ASCS Sooner Region winners at Creek County Speedway include Travis Rilat, Danny Jennings, Jason Martin, Jamie Passmore, Larry Neighbors, Nick Smith, J.P. Bailey and Wayne Johnson.
Saturday's action at Creek County Speedway fires off at 7:00 p.m.
Creek County Speedway is located southwest of Tulsa, OK, off I-44 Exit 211, then 0.3 miles south on State Road 33, then one mile west on State Road 66, then south. For more information, contact the track at 918-247-6675.
Following eight early-season rainouts, the 2007 schedule for the American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region is now composed of 14 events at seven different tracks throughout Oklahoma and Texas.
The 2007 season marks the 16th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing for the American Sprint Car Series. With a dozen different Regions in addition to the O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National series, ASCS will sanction approximately 240 nights of racing at more than 100 different race tracks throughout at least 30 different states and Canada.
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.
|
