| ASCS Rebel Region Wraps Up Season This Weekend at East Bay | By Lonnie Wheatley
 The biggest year in American Sprint Car Series history comes to a conclusion this weekend at the same place it started, Tampa, Florida's East Bay Raceway Park.
The year kicked off with the O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National series atop the 1/3-mile, semi-banked clay oval. Now, more than nine months later, the ASCS Rebel Region brings the curtain down on the 2007 season with two nights of action at East Bay Raceway Park on Friday and Saturday nights.
And the leading candidate to add his name to the illustrious list of 2007 ASCS champions is Pierson, Florida's T.J. Winegardner, who enters the two-night stand with a 30-point advantage in the Rebel Region points race.
Winegardner hopes to add his name to this year's list of ASCS champions that includes Gary Wright (National), Jeremy Sherman (Canyon), Michael Dupuy (Coastal), Brandon Berryman (Gulf South), Tim Hogue (Mid-Atlantic), Natalie Sather (Midwest), Lee Grosz (Northern Plains), Chuck Hebing (Patriots), C.J. Johnson (Rocky Mountain), Brian McClelland (Sooner), Brian Smith (Southern) and Tim Norman (Sprints on Dirt).
But, waiting in the wings in the event the 23-year-old Winegarnder stubs his toe on either of the two nights is Brian Thomas of Pendergrass, GA. Thomas is just 30 points out of the lead entering this weekend's double.
Other top ASCS Rebel Region contenders expected for the weekend include third-ranked Tyler Godwin of Lutz, FL, along with the Malabar, FL, father-son duo of Kenny Adams and Bryn Gohn.
The stout field of expected entries will be vying for some added stakes as well, as C&B Mushroom Farms of Avondale, PA, has posted a $500 bonus on both nights for any driver that can win the feature event after also winning either his heat race or a "B" Main. The posted bonus bumps the possible winner's share to $2,000 on Friday night and $2,500 on Saturday night.
East Bay Raceway Park is located in Tampa, FL, off I-75 Exit 250, then two miles west, then 1.2 miles north on US 41, then right 1.3 miles on Old US 41 to Burts Road. For more information, contact the track at 813-677-7223.
The inaugural season of racing action for the ASCS Rebel Region has consisted of eleven events thus far at nine different tracks throughout Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, with nine different drivers reaching victory lane. Adams and Michael Dupuy have each scored two Rebel Region wins, with single wins posted by Terry Gray, Wade Oliver, Matt Tiffany, Brad Bowden, Marshall Skinner, Lee Sowell and Jason Johnson.
In its 16th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing throughout the nation, the American Sprint Car Series has completed 187 nights of racing action at 90 different tracks throughout 25 different states as well as the Canadian province of Ontario. Another 44 nights of action were lost to rain and inclement weather.
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com
Late Entry:
Fast Sami Taylor will debut on Friday, November 9, 2007 in the American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) at East Bay Raceway. Rick Chancey, Giddens Motorsports, and Fast Sami are prepping for their -ASCS American Sprint Car Series debut in Florida.
2007-08 Nascar Drive for Diversity candidate, 18 year old lady shoe, Samantha Taylor of Bonney Lake, Washington state spent a week in Florida in a winged sprint car at East Bay Raceway Park.
Taylor practiced in Rick Chancey - Giddens' Motorsports prepared sprint cars. She ran 50 consistent laps on a super-slick track that had been subjected to torrential rains.
Taylor has spent the past several months in a Ford Focus Midget and plans to run in the ASCS and the Winter Nationals during Speedweeks in 2008.
Have an opinion on
this story? Post a message on
The Real Racin USA Florida Fan Message Board! or Email KARNACto send a letter to the editor!
|
