SOD Season Opener at Crystal Motor Speedway tonight is cancelled due to weather. It is rescheduled for Saturday, May 14th.

By Lonnie Wheatley
TULSA, Okla. (April 25, 2011) – The Engine Pro ASCS Sprints on Dirt presented by ARP kicks off its 32nd year of competition on some familiar turf with Saturday night’s season opening event atop the semi-banked, 3/8-mile Crystal Motor Speedway clay oval in Crystal, MI.

The site of the first SOD event in 1980, Crystal Motor Speedway hosts the ASCS Sprints on Dirt for the 109th time this Saturday night.

Dustin Daggett has been an unstoppable force in recent years at Crystal Motor Speedway, which hosts the ASCS SOD forces three times over the course of each season.

Daggett, who moved to the top of the all-time SOD win charts with a dozen triumphs last year to extend his career total to 76, has topped ten of the last 12 series events contested at Crystal including the last eight in a row.

Daggett will by vying for a ninth consecutive Crystal triumph on Saturday night, as the last time someone else reached SOD victory lane at Crystal was May of 2008 when Tim Norman cracked the winner’s circle.

While Daggett topped the win charts again in 2010, it was St. Johns, MI, shoe Ryan Grubaugh racing to his first ASCS SOD championship on the strength of eleven top-fives and 14 top-tens. Grubaugh claimed the crown by a 143-point margin over Gregg Dalman, with Daggett, Ben Rutan and Dain Naida rounding out the top five in points.

Others among the top ten in last year’s ASCS SOD points included Gavin Hunyady, Robert Huisken, two-time series champion Brett Mann, Aaron Shaffer and Jim Lingar.

Saturday’s action at Crystal Motor Speedway is set to get under way at 7:30 p.m.

Crystal Motor Speedway is located in Crystal, MI, 5.5 miles north of SR 57 on Crystal Road, then east on Sidney. For more information, contact the track at 989-235-5200.

The Engine Pro ASCS Sprints on Dirt presented by ARP is in its 32nd season of competition. Twenty-seven races are on the calendar scheduled at 13 different tracks throughout Michigan, Ohio and Ontario.

The 2011 season marks the 20th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing for the American Sprint Car Series, with approximately 200 nights of competition at tracks throughout the nation and into Canada. Anchored by the Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters, ASCS also consists of ten different Regions throughout the nation.

Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.
Posted 4/25/2011

By T.J. Buffenbarger

Crystal, MI. – (Saturday May 1st, 2010) – Dustin Daggett took the lead from Joe Bares on lap two, battled a majority of the event with ASCS Lucas Oil Series regular Darren Long, and held on during two last lap restarts for the victory in the Mott Motorsports car.

“That was a fun race,” said Daggett in victory lane. “We ran really good our first race out last Friday in Ohio and just continued on tonight. I can’t thank Phil and Marty Mott along with the rest of my team enough for giving me such a good race car tonight.”

Bares and Long started on the front row for the 25-lap feature event. The first attempt to start the race saw Bares get sideways and lose several positions as Long took the lead Then in turns three and four Ryan Grubaugh got sideways and Robert Huisken had nowhere to go and collided with Grubaugh to bring out the caution flag. Both drivers were unable to restart.

The second attempt at the start was better for Bares as he took the lead. After one lap though Bares was under pressure from Long and Daggett as the trio swapped the top position racing three wide through turns one and two with Daggett taking the lead. Long moved into second and went in pursuit of Daggett while Bares battled Gregg Dalman and Brett Mann for the third sport.

Daggett and Long separated themselves from the rest of the field. Daggett managed to get through lapped traffic until a pair of cautions on lap 16 and 17 for spins by Kirk Cheney and Curt Shumaker.

Long kept Daggett within striking distance until Lap 19 when Long nearly made contact with Daggett and doing so almost slid off the track. Long did not give up though and chipped away at Daggett’s lead and used slower traffic to close the gap with two laps to go.

As the leaders crossed under the white flag and appeared to headed for last lap theatrics the caution appeared for Shumaker who spun off the track.

The first attempt at the last lap restart saw Kirk Cheney nullify it with a spin in turn one. Daggett got the jump during the second attempt and Long could not make up the difference. Bares, Dalman, and Mann rounded out the top five.

Aaron Shaffer, Bares, and Long captured heat race victories, Andy Teunessen won the fast car dash, and Kyle Patrick won the B-Main.

The Engine Pro ASCS Sprints on Dirt presented by ARP is in its 31st season of competition throughout Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and into Canada.

The American Sprint Car Series, in its 19th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing events, brings the best of Sprint Car racing to nearly 100 different tracks throughout the United States and Canada. Anchored by the Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series, ASCS also consists of a several different Regions throughout the nation.

Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.

Engine Pro ASCS Sprints on Dirt presented by ARP Results
Saturday May 1st, 2010
Crystal Motor Speedway – Crystal, MI

Heat Races (Top 16 in passing points transfer to the “A” Feature)

Engler Machine and Tool Heat Race #1 (8 Laps): 1. 22 – Aaron Shaffer, 2. 19 – Brett Mann, 3. 3w – Ryan Grubaugh, 4. 46 – Robert Huisken, 5. 6N – Dain Naida, 6. 33k – Kyle Patrick, 7 61x – Don Smith, 8. 22T – Tank Brakenberry

Lane Automotive/Comp Cams Heat Race #2 (8 Laps): 1. 91 – Joe Bares, 2 49t – Gregg Dalman, 3. 31 – Andy Teunessen, 4. 187 – Gavin Hunyady, 5. 55 – Kirk Cheney, 6. 10x – Curt Shumaker, 7. 29s – Marques Huffer, 8. 2t – Ralph Brakenberry

Butlerbuilt Heat Race #3 (8 Laps): 1. 3G – Darren Long, 2. 2M – Dustin Daggett, 3. 27R – Ryan Ruhl, 4. 23 – Ben Rutan, 5. 85 – Mike Daggett, 6. 14 – Ryan Davis, 7. 8 – Tim Champlin

B-Main (Top four finishers transferred to the A-Main)

Engine Pro B-Main (10 Laps): 1. 33k – Kyle Patrick, 2. 14 – Ryan Davis, 3. 8 – Tim Champlin, 4. 61 – Don Smith, 5. 29s – Marques Huffer, 6. 22t – Tank Brakenberry, 7. 2T – Ralph Brakenberry

Total Seal Fast Car Dash presented by Gaerte Engines (4 Laps): 1. 31 – Andy Teunessen, 2. 19 – Brett Mann, 3. 49t – Gregg Dalman, 4. 22s – Aaron Shaffer.

Engine Pro ASCS Sprints on Dirt presented by Victor Reinz “A” Main Event

“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 2m – Dustin Daggett, 2. 3g – Darren Long, 3. 91- Joe Bares, 4. 49t – Gregg Dalman, 5. 19 – Bret Mann, 6. 23 – Ben Rutan, 7. 85 – Mike Daggett, 8. 31 – Andy Teunessen, 9. 8 – Tim Champlin , 10. 27 – Ryan Ruhl, 11. 22 – Aaron Shaffer, 12. 14 – Ryan Davis, 13. 55 – Kirk Cheney, 14. 33 k – Kyle Patrick, 15. 61x – Don Smith, 16. 10 – Curt Shumaker, 17. 6n – Dain Naida, 18. 187 – Gavin Hunyady, 19. Ryan Grubaugh, 20. Robert Huisken.

Lap Leaders: 1 Bares, 2-25 Daggett

Hard Charger: Champlin (+10)

Engine Pro ASCS Sprints on Dirt presented by Victor Reinz Point Standings (Top Ten): 1. Dustin Daggett 150, 2. Darren Long 142, 3. Joe Bares 135, 4. Gregg Dalman 130, 5. Brett Mann 125, 6. Ben Rutan 122, 7. Mike Daggett 119, 8. Andy Teunessen 116, 9. Tim Champlin 113, 10. Ryan Ruhl 110.

All systems are go for the season opener at Crystal Motor Speedway tonight. Report from the track is rainfall was minimal and everything is on schedule!