Andrew Kunas - GREAT FALLS, Mont. - Former series champion Joe Ramaker picked up his first win of the season in Friday's ASCS Frontier Region sprint car main event at the Montana Round-Up at Electric City Speedway.
The Choteau, Montana driver, who won the ASCS Frontier Region title in 2014, led all but one of the 25 laps around the Great Falls clay oval, earning his first win in just over a year aboard the Ramaker Racing No. 98 Ostrich-powered J&J.
After the initial start was called back by a yellow flag for a collision, Joe Perry of Billings led the first lap before being overtaken by Ramaker, who passed him for the lead exiting Turn 4 on the high side of the race track. Ramaker was never seriously challenged despite dealing with heavy traffic at times throughout the race.
Skylar Gee of Leduc, Alberta moved into second place and appeared to be gaining ground on Ramaker before time ran out. Gee, however, earned his best finish in Montana this season aboard the Gee Racing No. 99 AMS-powered Triple X. Tenth starting David Hoiness of Billings took advantage a great restart and moved from seventh to eventually take third in the Hoiness Racing No. 27DD Wesmar-powered J&J. Hoiness is trying to hold off Gee to keep second place in the ASCS Frontier Region points standings in the final weekend of action in 2015. Hoiness unofficially sits 44 points ahead of Gee.
Laurel, Mont.'s Phil Dietz, who has already locked up the 2015 series championship, finished fourth in the Dietz Prevost Racing No. 72 Kistler-powered Maxim. Alberta visitor Casey Adams finished fifth in the Adams Racing Inc. No. 12a BeL-powerd Maxim.
Perry, Trever Kirkland, Bill Boyce, Josh Ostermiller and David Miller rounded out the Top 10.
Kirkland's run to his seventh place finish came from the 17th starting position, this after winning the B-Feature event just to get into the main event of the evening. Bryan Brown, Kyle van Ulden and Darren Smith all transferred with him. Originally scheduled for 12 laps, the crash plagued B-Feature ended up only having ten laps run due to time concerns.
Heat races earlier in the evening were won by Ramaker, Dietz, Dennis MacEachern and Gee. Adams earned the high passing points score of the evening with a score of 113 that he earned when he drove from the sixth starting position to finish second in Heat 2. In the Top 8 re-draw, MacEachern ended up on the outside of Perry on the front row for the A-Feature, only to fall out after suffering a flat tire.
The ASCS Frontier Region closes its 2015 season Saturday with the final night of the Montana Round-Up at Electric City Speedway.
The Frontier Region of the American Sprint Car Series, presented in part by Speedmart Inc. is a winged 360 dirt sprint car tour racing around the state of Montana and beyond. More information on the ASCS Frontier Region can be found online at frontier.ascsracing.com or you can follow the series on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ascsfrontier. The national website of the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour presented by MAVTV Motorsports Network is www.ascsracing.com.
American Sprint Car Series - Frontier Region
Montana Round-Up - Night 1
Electric City Speedway
Great Falls, MT
Septemer 25, 2015
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 98-Joe Ramaker; 2. 99-Skylar Gee; 3. 27DD-David Hoiness; 4. 72-Phil Dietz; 5. 12A-Casey Adams; 6. 28-Joe Perry; 7. 37-Trever Kirkland; 8. 1-Bill Boyce; 9. 12-Josh Ostermiller; 10. 16-David Miller; 11. 0J-Jeremy McCune; 12. 38T-Trevor Turnbull; 13. 4D-Matthew Dusseault; 14. 9-Sean MacDonell; 15. 14-Kyle Vanulden; 16. 81-Darren Smith; 17. 19-Dennis MacEachern; 18. 35M-Cody Masse; 19. 00-Roger Cummings; 20. 38B-Bryan Brown
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 37-Trever Kirkland[6]; 2. 38B-Bryan Brown[4]; 3. 14-Kyle Vanulden[10]; 4. 81-Darren Smith[3]; 5. 22-Chris Roberts[2]; 6. 24-Leroy Brush[9]; 7. 34-Rob Matherly[11]; 8. 11-Cliff Nelson[8]; 9. 4N-John Nelson[5]; 10. 4-Cliff Nelson Jr.[7]; 11. 38-Jerry Brown Jr[1]; 12. 23N-D.J. Brink
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 98-Joe Ramaker; 2. 9-Sean MacDonell; 3. 4D-Matthew Dusseault; 4. 27DD-David Hoiness; 5. 81-Darren Smith; 6. 4N-John Nelson; 7. 11-Cliff Nelson
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 72-Phil Dietz; 2. 12A-Casey Adams; 3. 1-Bill Boyce; 4. 38-Jerry Brown Jr; 5. 00-Roger Cummings; 6. 37-Trever Kirkland; 7. 24-Leroy Brush
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 19-Dennis MacEachern; 2. 12-Josh Ostermiller; 3. 38T-Trevor Turnbull; 4. 16-David Miller; 5. 38B-Bryan Brown; 6. 4-Cliff Nelson Jr.; 7. 23N-D.J. Brink
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 99-Skylar Gee; 2. 28-Joe Perry; 3. 0J-Jeremy McCune; 4. 22-Chris Roberts; 5. 35M-Cody Masse; 6. 34-Rob Matherly; 7. 14-Kyle Vanulden