BUTTONWILLOW, California — Bryan Hintz continued to exhibit his dominance, and newcomer Kevin Callahan showed that he may soon be a force to be reckoned with, as the two teammates finished one-two in both days of racing action in the ASC Racing Series over the weekend at Buttonwillow Raceway Park.
The wins for Hintz were his eighth and ninth of the season in 14 races and allowed the Chino Hills driver to increase his lead in the overall standings to 48 points over David Arnheiter who finished fourth on Saturday and third on Sunday. Ed Ochylski, who entered the weekend tied with Arnheiter for second, fell 53 points behind Hintz with finishes of third and fifth.
Callahan, from Bakersfield, who normally competes in the Late Model division at Toyota Speedway of Irwindale, took the weekend off from the oval track to try his hand at road racing. With many years of experience in karts, Callahan had no problem adjusting to the stock cars on the road course. His two second-place finishes were the best opening weekend performance for a rookie driver in recent history. Hintz, who began his ASC Racing career last season, had two second-places finishes last year in his second weekend of competition. Hintz then went on to win his first ASC race in his third weekend of competition.
On Saturday, Kyle Kelly came from the rear of the field to beat out Manuel Gil del Real in the Unlimited Class winning in the ASC Unlimited class and finishing third overall. The win was Kelly's first in the division. Gil del Real was forced to do the same –come from behind- effort on Sunday, after a mechanical problem in the morning practice left him sitting on the sidelines and unable to qualify. He too, won in the Unlimited class and finished third overall in the Feature race.
The points battle remained fierce for second place in the Spec class between Arnheiter and Ochylski. The two battled it out both days before lapped traffic got in their way. On Saturday, Arnheiter tried to follow Ochylski past a lapper, but the slower car didn't realize Arnheiter was there, forcing the long-time series veteran into a wild spin. On Sunday, a lapped car spun in front of Arnheiter and Ochylski. This time Arnheiter was able to get by the slower car before it veered into Ochylski sending him spinning and breaking his swaybar in the process.
Rounding out the top five in the spec class on Saturday were Hintz, Callahan, Ochylski, David Arnheiter, and Mike Arnheiter. Sunday's top five were HIntz, Callahan, David Arnheiter, Keith Daniels, and Ochylski.
Hintz set the fastest race lap of the weekend on Saturday when he rounded the 2.88 mile circuit in 1 minute 49.996 seconds for an average speed of 94.258 miles per hour. The lap netted Hintz the Ghaster Painting Superior Performance Award which pays $200. The Yee-Haa Racing Bonus Award was won by Mike Arnheiter and Kevin Callahan. They were chosen in a blind draw among Spec Class drivers to receive the $100 award.
At the end of the racing activities, MGR Consulting Group presented the trophies to the top three competitors in each class.
The series will return to action on Sept. 27-28 at Willow Springs International Raceway. For more information on the ASC Racing Series go to www.ASCRacing.com.
