Sprints on Dirt Owendale results 2006-07-08

Irwin Wrestles ASCS Sprints on Dirt Victory from Cramer at Owendale

OWENDALE, Mich. (July 8, 2006) -- Steve Irwin watched his father race at Owendale Speedway for many years and put that knowledge to use along with a different setup to win Saturday night's 25-lap Engine Pro ASCS Sprints on Dirt presented by Victor Reinz feature event.

Irwin made a valiant charge through the field the during last half of the feature event to make a dramatic last-lap pass of Scott Cramer to win the feature in his Campbell-powered Leonard's Auto Body/Leaf Racewear/TJSlideways.com No. 0 Maxim. Afterwards, Irwin celebrated the win by climbing the fence to the delight of the partisan crowd at Irwin's home track.

"My crew chief (Don Whitney) and I tried some really funky stuff on the car, and it really backfired on us early on when it was dusty and stuff. We had no forward grip," said Irwin in the pit area after the feature. "Once the rubber was laid down it was actually the perfect setup."

Kyle Patrick and Bill Johnson were on the front row for the start of the feature. Before one lap was complete, a crash in turn three swept up Gregg Dalman, Ryan Grubaugh, Gary Fast, and Louie Carufel in turn three. All but Carufel were able to continue.J The second attempt to start the feature was successful with Patrick leading Johnson. Cramer made his presence known early on after the crash moved him up from the 12th starting position. Cramer took the lead from Patrick on the high side of the track on the third circuit and pulled away. As the track laid rubber on the bottom, Patrick was able to pull up to Cramer but unable to make the pass.

After a caution for Gary Hayward's stopped car in turn one, Irwin began his charge through the field. Irwin made the move past Patrick for second with five laps to go and started to run down Cramer. Coming to the white flag, Irwin got a tremendous run on the inside while Cramer was boxed in lapped traffic to take the lead. Patrick followed Irwin through to claim second while Cramer settled for third. Dain Naida, from seventh starting position, finished fourth with current point leader Ken Mackey racing from eleventh to round out the top five.

Bill Johnson, Kevin Atkins, Ben Rutan, Mike Galajda and Dustin Daggett completed the top ten.

Patrick, Johnson, Dalman, and Davey Brown won the heat race events for the 29-car field. In a thrilling performance, Ben Rutan won the "B" Main event from the 12th and last starting position on the grid.

Next week, the Engine Pro ASCS Sprints on Dirt make the trek to Crystal Motor Speedway for its second appearance of the 2006 season. For more information on the ASCS Sprints on Dirt, visit the official ASCS website at www.ascsracing.com.J Engine Pro ASCS Sprints on Dirt presented by Victor Reinz Results:

Heat Races (Top 16 in passing points to "A" main):

Ohsweken Speedway Heat Race #1 (8 Laps): 1. 33K -- Kyle Patrick, 2. 00 -- Ryan Grubaugh, 3. 47x -- Louie Carufel, 4. 9H -- Gary Hayward, 5. 30 -- Adam West, 6. 4 -- Tim Lowe, 7. 00i -- Joe Irwin. DNS: Ralph Brakenberry.

Engler Machine and Tool Heat Race #2 (8 Laps): 1. 33 -- Bill Johnson, 2. 26 -- Gary Fast, 3. 41 -- Jim Goetgeluck, 4. 25M -- Ken Mackey, 5. 66 -- Ernie Kuehneman, Jr., 6. 19B -- Joe Bares, 7. 72 -- Chris Webster.

Lane Automotive Heat Race #3 (8 Laps): 1. 49T -- Gregg Dalman, 2. 6n -- Dain Naida, 3. 0 -- Steve Irwin, 4. 47 -- Scott Cramer, 5. 12 -- Brett Lane, 6. 99 -- Wayne Morrison, 7. 22T -- Tank Brakenberry.

COMP Camps Heat Race #4 (8 Laps): 1. 13 -- Davey Brown, 2. 34 -- Kevin Atkins, 3. 2 -- Mike Galajda, 4. 85 -- Dustin Daggett, 5. 37s -- J.R. Stewart, 6. 18 -- Mark Irwin, 7. 23- Ben Rutan.

"B" Main (top four finishers advance to "A" Main)

Engine Pro/Victor Reinz "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 23 - Ben Rutan, 2. 30 -- Adam West, 3. 37s - J.R. Stewart, 4. 66 -- Ernie Kuehneman, Jr., 5. 00i -- Joe Irwin, 6. 99 -- Wayne Morrison, 7. 12 -- Brett Lane, 8. 19b -- Joe Bares, 9. 72 -- Chris Webster, 10. 18 -- Mark Irwin, 11. 4 -- Tim Lowe, 12. 22T -- Tank Brakenberry. DNS: Ralph Brakenberry.

Engine Pro ASCS Sprints on Dirt presented by Victor Reinz "A" Main Event:

"A" Feature (25 Laps): 1. 0 -- Steve Irwin, 2. 33k -- Kyle Patrick, 3. 47 -- Scott Cramer, 4. 6n -- Dain Naida, 5. 25m -- Ken Mackey, 6. 33 -- Bill Johnson, 7. 34 -- Kevin Atkins, 8. 23 -- Ben Rutan, 9. 2 -- Mike Galajda, 10. 85 -- Dustin Daggett, 11. 00 -- Ryan Grubaugh, 12. 26 -- Gary Fast, 13. 49T -- Gregg Dalman, 14. 37s -- J.R. Stewart, 15. 30 -- Adam West, 16. 41 -- Jim Goetgeluck, 17. 66 -- Ernie Kuehneman, Jr., 18. 13 -- Davey Brown, 19. 9H -- Gary Hayward, 20. 47x -- Louie Carufel.

Lap Leaders: Patrick 1-2, Cramer 3-24, Irwin 25.

Engine Pro ASCS Sprints On Dirt presented by Victor Reinz Points (Top Ten): 1. Ken Mackey 1,485, 2. Dain Naida 1,441, 3. Kyle Patrick 1,405, 4. Gary Fast 1,390, 5. Gregg Dalman 1,387, 6. Kevin Atkins 1,348, 7. Joe Bares 1,280, 8. Davey Brown 1,272, 9. Louie Carufel 1,225, 10. Ryan Grubaugh 1,182.

-ascs-