WRIGHTWOOD, Ca — September 30th, 2009 – After eight races and five different winners so far in the 2009 racing season, the ASA Speed Truck Challenge heads to LUCAS OIL I-10 Speedway on the Colorado River Fairgrounds this Saturday night with the Championship points battle swapping hands again.
Jeremiah Wagner in the #77 Wagner Homes Chevy Colorado pulled off a “hat trick” at TOYOTA Speedway at Irwindale last Saturday night winning his third in a row at the ½ mile Super Speedway. Followed by Wagner was his team-mate for the one two sweep, Chris Birdsong in the #46 Wagner Homes Ford Ranger also taking home Fast Time Qualifier at 19.909.
Randel King in the #35 Luke’s Transmission Dodge Dakota finished seventh but with just enough points to take sole possession of the Championship Points lead from Joey Licata in the #71 Winner’s Circle United Nissan Chevy S-10 after Licata dramatically blew a transmission on lap 65 of the 100 lap feature. Cole Cabrera in the #53 Ag Source Magazine Chevy Colorado finished third with crafty veteran and three time series champ Darren Young in the #18 H&R Springs in the fourth position and the #04 Baker Commodities Chevy Colorado of Josh Goshen rounding out the Top Five. Other notables were Chris Snyder in the #0 Freightliner of Arizona Chevy Colorado in the sixth position and Cameron Jocelyn in the #15 Alpine Stars Chevy S-10 finishing eighth.
“Randel and Joey continue to show incredible driving talent and they both remain void of a win this year.” Stated Jay Rutherford, ASA Speed Truck Challenge President. Randel has seven and Joey has five top-five finishes and you can bet there will be a battle this Saturday night at Lucas Oil I-10 Speedway between these two vying for their first win in the 100 lap feature event.”
Splitting first place King and third place Licata in the second position is Jeremiah Wagner who just keeps moving up in the Championship points and also holds the lead in the Rookie of the Year category with 28.
#53 Cabrera loves the “drivers track” at I-10 Speedway and wants another win to add to his two this year, both from the Las Vegas Motor Speedway “Bullring” and to add points to the Rookie standings where he sits behind Wagner by two at 26. Josh Goshen holds the third position with 22 Rookie points and we all know he is a hard charger at I-10 Speedway. The 2009 Rookie of the Year battle is “hot” between Wagner, Cabrera and Goshen!
Jamie Bennett in the #02 Bennett Transport Chevy Colorado holds 5th in the Championship Points battle and will be ready at I-10 after a disappointing 11th place finish at Irwindale due to a Speed Truck with “gremlins” that could not be controlled before the start of the race. He still took home the Hard Charger award after advancing six positions even with an ill truck.
We have seen excellent driving from numerous racers, which has been the standard trademark of this dramatic, hard-charging and very competitive and traveling racing series from Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s “Bullring” to Lucas Oil I-10 Speedway to Firebird International Raceway to Havasu 95 Speedway, TOYOTA Speedway at Irwindale and Tucson Raceway Park, to name a few. Talk about competitive; between the first and the last qualifying times this season with an average of 18 Speed Trucks per event, there is only 7/10 of a second difference in these qualifying times which certainly makes racing action very tight and door to door.
"The Speed Trucks always put on a great show and showcase some of the top young drivers from the Southwest" said Greg Scheidecker, Director of Racing Operations at Lucas Oil. "We are glad to feature the ASA Speed Trucks in our race track every year and know this event will produce 100 laps of very exciting “door to door” racing action." Scheidecker concluded.
The Speed Trucks are 2,450 pounds, full tube chassis, 108 inch wheelbase, 375 horsepower Van Gordon Racing V-8’s, fired by Mr. Gasket’s - Mallory / ACCEL ignition systems and VP Race Fuel, with 2-speed direct drive transmissions and Speedway Engineering aluminum quick change rear ends on 8-inch Hoosier Racing Tires and Allied Racing Wheels and can reach speeds of 105 MPH at the ½ mile TOYOTA Speedway at Irwindale oval and 150 MPH on the 2.1-mile road course at Firebird International Raceway. The Speed Trucks sport exact replica Norris Racing fiberglass bodies in Chevy S-10, Chevy Colorado, Ford Ranger, Dodge Dakota and Toyota Tacoma.
ASA Speed Truck Challenge is proud to share its national spotlight with some of the finest companies associated with West Coast and national racing. Its advertising partners include: VEMMA / Verve! “insanely healthy energy,” Bushwacker, Delson Products, DJ Safety, E3 Spark Plugs, EZ-UP Shelters, Hoosier Racing Tires, Mechanix Wear, Mr. Gasket / ACCEL / Mallory Ignitions, TOYOTA and Toyota Racing Development, Allied Racing Wheels, Frank’s Radio Service, King Taco, Motorsports Marketing, Stagger Pro 1000, Oval Research, Purigen 98 and the ION Sports Network.
If you would like to find out more about the ASA Speed Truck Challenge and how your company could be part of the growing excitement across the nation about this dynamic series, contact Jay Rutherford, President at 760-249-1149 / jay@speedtruck.com or go to www.speedtruck.com. Attractive marketing partnership packages are available for your involvement regionally or nationally.
The ASA Racing program is comprised of more than 35 short tracks around the United States, as well as road racing divisions and regional/national touring race series. For more information, call ASA Racing at 386-258-2221 or send an email to info@ASA-Racing.com. For news and information from all the race tracks, road racing divisions and tours involved in the ASA, visit www.asa-racing.com.
ASA™, ASA Racing™ and American Speed Association® are trademarks of Racing Speed Associates, LLC. Racing Speed Associates, LLC is not related to nor affiliated with ASA LATE MODEL SERIES, LLC.
The Lucas Oil I-10 Speedway is located in Blythe, CA, where the I-10 Freeway and the Colorado River cross one another. Blythe is approximately 225 miles east of Los Angeles, CA, 160 miles west of Phoenix, AZ, 205 miles south of Las Vegas, and 105 miles north of Yuma, AZ. The I-10 Speedway is located on the Colorado River Fairgrounds
