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Ryan Carlson Gets Redemption
at Rockford
ASA Late Model Series PR-
(July 25, 2010)
Ryan Carlson grabbed the lead
on the first lap of the ASA Late Model
Series All Star 100 and never looked back en
route to his second career ASA Late Model
Series victory. This was Carlson’s first
career touring series victory at his home
track. The Loves Park, Illinois driver was
able to claim the checkered flag in a race
that seriously injured him one year ago,
breaking his back after going up into a
billboard in turn three and being slammed
back to the ground. The youngster held off a
hard charging Eddie Hoffman, who was able to
nudge Carlson on the last few laps, but was
unable to get by the hometown hero.
2007 ASA Late Model Series
North Division Rookie of the Year, Jesse
Saunders picked up the AR Bodies Fast Time
Award in qualifying after turning in a
13.356 second lap, just a tick quicker than
Josh Nelms time at 13.395 seconds. Saunders
drew a ten for the invert, and was forced to
take the green flag from the outside of the
fourth row after local driver Mike Beyer
gave up his inverted starting spot on the
outside of the front row to make adjustments
to his machine after qualifying.
The start of the race saw an
all Illinois front row with Naperville’s
Brad Plunkett lined up on the inside, and
Ryan Carlson on the outside at the start.
When the green flag waved, Carlson jumped
out at the front of the field while Plunkett
slid back through traffic. Jesse Saunders
made his way into the top five on lap two as
he utilized the high side of Rockford
Speedway to his advantage. On lap six,
Saunders got past Anthony Danta to move into
the fourth position.
Carlson continued to pull
away at the front of the field in the early
going and Hoffman trailed in second.
Hoffman’s pre-race strategy was to ride for
80 laps, and go for the final 20, so he was
simply biding his time and clicking off laps
during the early going. Jesse Saunders
worked his way around Erik Jones into the
third position at lap 14, shortly after the
first caution of the day flew when Seth
Moody spun his machine at the entry of turn
three on lap 8.
The hardest crash of the
evening came on lap 31 when front row
starter, Brad Plunkett, slid up the
racetrack in turns three and four.
Plunkett’s machine hit the wall and climbed
up to the billboards before coming back down
on all four wheels. When he got back to the
racing surface, he continued to slide down
the track, directly in the path of Seth
Moody. Moody had nowhere to go and made
contact with Plunkett at the exit of turn
four. The crash ended the night early for
both drivers.
On lap 47, another one of the
hometown drivers fell out of contention, as
2009 Short Track National Champion, Josh
Nelms, broke a shock mount on his Digital
Fuel Solutions Chevrolet. Nelms spun at the
exit of turn two and hit the wall with his
machine, ending what had been a promising
night for the 2009 ASA Late Model Series
North Division Rookie of the Year. Nelms had
been running in the top five much of the
night, and qualified second fastest.
When the racing resumed,
Carlson again jumped out at the front of the
field. As the laps clicked by, it was
evident that Eddie Hoffman was catching him
for the lead. Hoffman’s car appeared to be
much stronger than Carlson’s on a long run,
but just as Hoffman caught Carlson on lap
80, the caution flag flew once again. This
time it was for a spin in turn three
involving rookie drivers Jared Marks and
Trevor Dassow. The two were battling for
position and Dassow dove into the corner too
deep, forcing contact and causing both
drivers to spin. Dassow continued on,
however Marks was forced into the pits from
the damage, and was not able to finish the
race. Under this yellow flag, Mike Beyer
also came into the pits and the hood went up
on his Pathfinder Machining Chevrolet,
ending his night prematurely.
The final twenty laps saw
Hoffman and Saunders chase Carlson but it
was all for naught, as Carlson was able to
keep his Crazy Times Pub/Kar Korner
Chevrolet in the preferred racing groove
ahead of Hoffman. The fans went wild as
Carlson claimed the checkers, as many of
them were in attendance last year when
Carlson was injured during the All Star 100.
The victory was a bit of redemption for
Carlson, who was elated to finally score an
elusive touring series victory at his home
track. It was also an ending to an emotional
day, as Carlson had to attend the funeral of
his best friend’s fiancé before the driver’s
meeting, who was tragically killed in a
traffic accident earlier in the week.
“This is one of the biggest
wins of my career,” said an elated Carlson
in victory lane. “We have been close to
winning so many times in touring series
races here at Rockford, but we have always
had something happen. Not tonight! I was
hearing noises and the car started going
away with about 20 to go and I was wondering
if I had over drove it and shot myself in
the foot, but we are here in victory lane
and this is one of the sweetest wins ever!”
Eddie Hoffman will continue
to lead the points over Jesse Saunders as
the 2008 ASA Late Model Series North
Division Champion sets his sights on his
second championship. Hoffman had a faster
car at the end of the night, but was unable
to get around Carlson.
“You have to be quite a bit
faster here to pass the guy in front of
you,” said Hoffman after the race. “It is
barely a one lane track, so two lanes are
tough. We would have had to nudge and shove
and help Ryan up out of the way, and we
needed a little more time to do that nice
and gently and not cause any damage. We just
ran out of laps and the car was good on
longer runs and we did not have a lot of
long runs there at the end.”
The ASA Late Model Series
will return to action on Saturday August 7th
at Owosso Speedway in Ovid, Michigan. To
find out more information about the ASA Late
Model Series, be sure to visit
www.asalatemodelsnorth.com.
There you will find race results, point
standings, schedule information, and other
related items.
The Sunoco
National Tour and ASA Late Model Series are
their own entity and not endorsed,
sponsored, or affiliated in any way with ASA
Racing, American Speed Association, or the
ASA Member Track Program. The Sunoco
National Tour and ASA Late Model Series are
operated by Ron Varney.Rockford has always
been a home trakc for me. |
