ASCoT: Bully Hill Prelim results 2007-05-18

Cobra Strikes O'Reilly ASCoT in Bully Hill Nationals Prelim

DUNDEE, NY (May 18, 2007) -- Chuck Hebing proved his mettle versus the best in the business by racing to victory lane in Friday night's 20-lap O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National series preliminary event for the Ninth Annual Bully Hill Vineyards New York Sprint Nationals presented by S.P. Wilson and Budweiser at Black Rock Speedway.

After a dominant drive to the 2006 ASCS Patriots title and winning the opening pair of Patriot events this year, "The Cobra" successfully defended his home state turf by battling past Jason Johnson for the lead on the seventh round and then survived some late traffic to secure his first career ASCS National Tour feature win.

"These are some experienced racers and under that red I think his crew told him I was coming on the low side," Hebing explained in victory lane. "He went to the bottom on the restart and left the top of one and two open for me and I took it."

"Getting locked in for tomorrow night is great, but just being able to beat these guys makes this a big win for us."

While Hebing gridded the field third in the Jimmy D's-powered F/A Products/Northcoast Proformance No. 45 Maxim, it was polesitter Johnson outgunning fellow front row starter George Suprick for the early lead.

Hebing made a quick move into second, with fifth-starter Wayne Johnson taking third from Suprick on the second round.

Following a lap five stoppage for a turn three tumble by Coleman Gulick in which Alain Bergeron also suffered race-ending front end damage, Hebing went to work on Jason Johnson and raced by on the top side of one and two on the seventh lap to take command.

Out front, there was no stopping Hebing as ran high in one and two and stuck to the bottom through turns three and four. Hebing did reach lapped traffic just prior to the unfurling of the white flag, with Jason Johnson and Gary Wright quickly closing the gap.

But Hebing slithered through three lapped cars with ease to take the checkered flag, with Johnson settling for second in Lanny Row's Wesmar-powered The Shop Motorsports/Custom Equipment Design No. 41 Eagle.

After starting ninth, Wright cracked the top five by the seventh round, raced past Suprick for fourth on the ninth lap and then took third from Wayne Johnson a lap later.

Wright closed on Jason Johnson and Hebing but was unable to climb any further, taking the show position and extending his run of top-five finishes to 13 in a row in the Wesmar-powered Richwood Construction/Whiteco Commercial Funding No. 9 Maxim. "I was running up top and coming off of four I was having a hard time seeing the cushion for the dust they were kicking up. I also couldn't tell exactly where the wall was. I knew I was locked in, so I wasn't gonna take any chances."

Wayne Johnson snared the fourth and final lock-in position to Saturday night's finale aboard Tim Hammers' Wesmar-powered H&H Enterprises No. 94 Eagle.

Darren Stewart battled past Suprick with a handful of laps to go and crossed the stripe fifth aboard Bobby Sparks' Ostrich-powered RESM Transport No. 91 Eagle, with two-time Billy Hill Nationals king Suprick in sixth.

Also a winner of a pair of Bully Hill Nationals events, Trevor Lewis turned in the night's top passing performance by charging from 16th to seventh.

Kenny Adams crossed the stripe eighth, with Justin Barger and Doug Emery completing the top ten.

Scott Bonnell, Stewart, Jason Johnson, Wayne Johnson and Hebing topped heat race action for the 38-car field, with Steve Poirier and Josh Weller earning "B" Main wins. Bonnell held the fourth spot in the early stages of the "A" Main but was unable to refire following the Gulick flip.

Foster Landon and Andy Shouse both utilized O'Reilly ASCoT provisionals for the main event, with Bryan Howland using an ASCS Patriot provisional.

Landon was engaged in a torrid battle for the lead with Jason Johnson in the evening's third heat race when the pair made contact while racing down the backstretch. While Johnson saved his machine from imminent disaster when he shot off the backstretch, Landon's car came to rest after jumping a motocross hill in the infield. Landon returned for "B" Main action but was unable to transfer.

Howland initially appeared to be the winner of the first "B" Main, but was disqualified when his nose wing was located too far forward.

O'Reilly ASCoT Bully Hill Vineyards New York Sprint Nationals Preliminary Results from Black Rock Speedway:

Heat Races (Top 16 in passing points to "A" Main; Balance to Twin "B" Mains)

Brodix Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 3b-Scott Bonnell, 2. 4a-Kenny Adams, 3. 35-Jared Zimbardi, 4. 14-Coleman Gulick, 5. 8-Blake Breen, 6. 39-Tim Hogue, 7. 4b-Bryn Gohn, 8. 21-Don Adamczyk.

Wesmar-Shaver Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 91-Darren Stewart, 2. F1-Nick Fratto, 3. 33-Doug Emery, 4. 63-Josh Weller, 5. 51-Bryan Howland, 6. 8b-Alain Bergeron, 7. 52-Scott Kreutter, 8. 52L-Daniel Lampron.

Brodix Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2. 87-George Suprick, 3. 9b-Bobby Breen, 4. 57c-Chris Schmelzle, 5. 10-Jeff Cook, 6. 25x-Michael Parent, 7. 29-Travis Rilat, 8. 11F-Foster Landon.

Wesmar-Shaver Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 94-Wayne Johnson, 2. 32-Justin Barger, 3. 00-Randy West, 4. 28FM-Steve Poirier, 5. 27-Andy Shouse, 6. 25-Geoff Quackenbush, 7. 44-Gary Troutman.

Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 45-Chuck Hebing, 2. 9-Gary Wright, 3. 21x-Trevor Lewis, 4. 17J-Lance Yonge, 5. 12-Tim Kelly, 6. 22-Ray Preston, 7. 10m-Chris Muhleisen.

Pole Dash (Finishing Order Determines Front Three Rows of "A" Main):

Pole Dash (5 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2. 87-George Suprick, 3. 45-Chuck Hebing, 4. 32-Justin Barger, 5. 94-Wayne Johnson, 6. 3b-Scott Bonnell.

"B" Mains -- Top 3 from each Advance to "A" Main

First "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 28FM-Steve Poirier, 2. 17J-Lance Yonge, 3. 29-Travis Rilat, 4. 57c-Chris Schmelzle, 5. 39-Tim Hogue, 6. 25x-Michael Parent, 7. 12-Tim Kelly, 8. 52-Scott Kreutter, 9. 10m-Chris Muhleisen, 10. 52L-Daniel Lampron. Disqualified: 51-Bryan Howland (nose wing too far forward after taking the checkered flag in first).

Second "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 63-Josh Weller, 2. 10-Jeff Cook, 3. 8b-Alain Bergeron, 4. 8-Blake Breen, 5. 27-Andy Shouse, 6. 25-Geoff Quackenbush, 7. 22-Ray Preston, 8. 4b-Bryn Gohn, 9. 21-Don Adamczyk, 10. 11F-Foster Landon, 11. 44-Gary Troutman.

O'Reilly ASCoT Bully Hill New York Sprint Nationals Preliminary "A" Main Results:

"A" Feature (20 Laps): 1. 45-Chuck Hebing, 2. 41-Jason Johnson, 3. 9-Gary Wright, 4. 94-Wayne Johnson, 5. 91-Darren Stewart, 6. 87-George Suprick, 7. 21x-Trevor Lewis, 8. 4a-Kenny Adams, 9. 32-Justin Barger, 10. 33-Doug Emery, 11. F1-Nick Fratto, 12. 28FM-Steve Poirier, 13. 63-Josh Weller, 14. 29-Travis Rilat, 15. 35-Jared Zimbardi, 16. 17J-Lance Yonge, 17. 11F-Foster Landon, 18. 00-Randy West, 19. 27-Andy Shouse, 20. 9b-Bobby Breen, 21. 10-Jeff Cook, 22. 51-Bryan Howland, 23. 3b-Scott Bonnell, 24. 14-Coleman Gulick, 25. 8b-Alain Bergeron.

Lap Leaders: Jason Johnson 1-6, Chuck Hebing 7-20.

Note: Foster Landon and Andy Shouse utilized O'Reilly ASCoT provisional starting positions for the "A" Main; Bryan Howland utilized an ASCS Patriot provisional for the "A" Main.

O'Reilly ASCoT Points (Top Ten): 1. Gary Wright 1,607, 2. Wayne Johnson 1,506, 3. Jason Johnson 1,489, 4. Darren Stewart 1,451, 5. Travis Rilat 1,439, 6. Foster Landon 1,266, 7. Andy Shouse 1,211, 8. Chris Schmelzle 1,050, 9. Johnny Miller 1,047, 10. Nick Smith 832.

-credit: ascs