ASCS Sprints at Salina Speedway 8-16-2012

  When I saw that this show was the night before our first day of classes, I wasn't sure if I should go. I knew it would be well after midnight by the time I drove home, sent off a few pics, & hit the sack. I decided I might regret going for 8 hours, but I would regret NOT going for quite a while. I'm glad I went.
  Once again, the car count was below expectations, but at least the reasons were different. It was the start of school for lots of families and it was a work night. Fortunately, the field that did show up was made up of mostly top-notch teams. Bacon, Herrera, Wright, and several Johnsons plus Kevin Swindell were on hand among others.

  The racing was really fast and the track was almost free of dust, always a huge plus for photographers. 
  As usual, I won't go into detail when you can go to ASCS's site and get a full report of the show. I will mention that Kevin Swindell did a great job in moving up from his 6th place start to take the win.
http://www.ascsracing.com/profile/news/?i=12748&r=24330&rt=sch

Since the classes that normally run at Salina have starters, they got some experienced push truck drivers from Belleville to come help out.

Don doing a pre-race interview.

Hooks, Texas's Gary Wright. No, he didn't sing Dream Weaver.

Watching track prep.

One of the unsung faces behind the scenes, Michael Wiegert.

Hot laps. Wayne Johnson

Kevin Swindell

Jason Johnson

Brandon Hahn

Brad Loyet

Jake Martens

Aaron Reutzel

Don Droud Jr.

Logan Forler

Tony Bruce Jr.

Justin Schwien

JD Johnson

Jon Freeman

Gary Wright

Trying to find a problem. 

Brady Bacon

Shawn Petersen

Seth Bergman

Dustin Morgan

Johnny Herrera

The drivers' prayer.

Corbin Pickerill. Mod Lites were one of the support classes.

Heats

Mod Lite A.

Mod Lite winner Brandon Gray.

Mini Stock A.

Mini Stock winner Russel Roberg.

ASCS goes three wide.

The start of the feature........

......didn't get far. Dustin Morgan spun in 1, but nobody tagged him.

Swindell was close though.

Kevin Swindell working his way toward the front.

Three wide into one.

Jason Johnson also made an even bigger move. Eighth to second.

Sometimes you're just too close to the action.

A little rubbing coming into one.

Forler is getting Bruce a little sideways here.

As Bruce spins, it doesn't look like Wayne Johnson can miss him.

But he did.

Swindell had just pulled a slide job on leader Bergman, but Bergman dove back under him to keep the lead.

This pass was for keeps.

Jason Johnson hard on Swindell's heels.

Another big mover was Wayne Johnson; 12th to 5th.

All smiles after the race.

Kevin Swindell & Jeff Cooley.