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Lucas Oil ASCS season begins in Arizona
Bryan Hulbert - Tulsa, Okla (February 21, 2012) - As the month of March approaches so does the start of the 2012 season for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters. With 64 dates on the national schedule, the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters will kick off its twenty-first year of competition in the state of Arizona with first time visits in their first four round of competition.
Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria, Arizona will host the first two nights of racing for the 2012 season with the Copper Classic on Friday March 2nd and Saturday March 3rd. As soon as the first rounds of points are tallied the tour will head further into the “Grand Canyon State” for a double header at Cocopah Speedway just outside Yuma on Friday March 9th and Saturday March 10th.
New Tracks - To date the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters has visited the state of Arizona 11 times with events at the former USA Raceway in Tucson, Arizona. The Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters has logged 640 feature events at 117 tracks in 27 states since 1993. Canyon Speedway Park will be 118 with Cocopah Speedway 119 on the list of tracks who have hosted the Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters.
Opening Night Winners - Gary Wright leads the field of drivers who has claimed first night victories doing so in 2000, 2004, and 2007. Garry Lee Maier has a pair of opening night wins in 1995 and 1998 while Zach Chappell holds the distinction as being the only driver to have claimed back to back season openers in 2002 and 2003.
Other drivers who have claimed opening night wins include Mike Ward (1993), Tim Crawly (1994), Jason Sides (1996), Lee Scrape (1997), Terry Gray (1999), Larry Neighbors (2001), Danny Jennings (2005), Travis Rilat (2006), Kenny Adams (2008), Shane Stewart (2009), Sammy Swindell (2010), and Tim Kaeding (2011).
Of the divers who have claimed the opening night victories since 1993, Tim Crawley (1994), Gary Wright (2004 and 2007), and Shane Stewart (2009) are the only drivers to have ended the season atop the leaderboard.
Past Champions - Four past Lucas Oil ASCS champions are expected for the opening tour in Arizona. Expected champions include four-time series champion Gary Wright (2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007) who will be running as a driver/car owner for the 2012 season. Three-time champion Tim Crawley (2002, 1999 and 1994) will also be on hand in the Mike Ward Motorsports 88.
Jason Johnson will also be on hand for the season opener. The start of the 2011 season saw Johnson absent from the first four races in 2011 while finishing up competition in Australia. Johnson is a two time driver champion (2008 and 2010) as well as being three time owner champion (2008, 2010, and 2011). Johnson will be piloting the Stenhouse Jr./JJR 41 in 2012.
Also joining the line-up of champions will be 2001 series champion Zach Chappell who will back in the family owned 50z. Chappell is the youngest driver to ever win the Lucas Oil ASCS National Championship.
Rookies - The 2012 season will a pair of drivers vying for the Brodix Rookie of the Year honors. Three time Poweri Midget Series and 2011 Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior Region Champion Brad Loyet will be behind the wheel in the Vacuworx International 05. Loyet will have plenty of competition as Logan Forler will also be on the road in the well-known Harley Van Dyke Motorsports/Lucas Oil 5h.
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