By LONNIE WHEATLEY

ASCS

TULSA, Okla. (June 13, 2009) - Just one more night remains to determine the champion of the 17th Annual F&J Construction ASCS Speedweek featuring the Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters.

And, it's a pair of Speedweek "rookies" that lead a tightly bunched points chase into Saturday night's finale atop Lawton Speedway's º-mile red clay oval. Brady Bacon leads Paul McMahan by just four markers, with Tim Crawley another two points back with both Jason Johnson and Sean McClelland still well within reach of the top spot.

Atop the heap after four rugged nights of competition and one rainout is the 19-year-old from Broken Arrow, OK, Brady Bacon. A true rookie among the winged Sprint Car ranks after just a pair of starts to close out the 2009 season, Bacon is just one night away from stashing away his first major winged accomplishment since snaring Rookie of the Year honors at I-30 Speedway's Short Track Nationals last October.

The third-generation racer that has shifted from the wingless Sprint Car and Midget ranks, where he ranked among the top ten in National points in both divisions over each of the past two seasons, carries a meager four-point lead over veteran road warrior Paul McMahan, a native of California that now calls Nashville, TN, home.

Joining forces with Mike and Megan Eubanks for this year's campaign on the Lucas Oil Sprint Car trail, Bacon has steadily climbed the charts this week. After his only finish outside the top ten, a 12th-place run in the Texarkana opener last Friday (June 5), Bacon snared tenth at Little Rock's I-30 Speedway the following night before charging from 23rd to claim fourth at Creek County Speedway on Tuesday night.

Bettering his finish once again, Bacon drove the Wesmar-powered Tel-Star Communications No. 99 Triple-X from eighth to claim runner-up honors in Friday night's action at Oklahoma City's State Fair Speedway to take over the ASCS Speedweek point lead a night after the Devil's Bowl round was rained out.

"Without the pressure of racing for season points, we've been able to experiment and try some different things," Bacon explained. "They've worked out pretty well and we've even found out some things accidentally," the Broken Arrow bandit chuckled.

Bacon is a mere four points ahead of McMahan entering Saturday's action, as McMahan has strung together finishes of 8th, 11th, 5th and 6th aboard the Wesmar-powered J&D Motorsports No. 3d Maxim in his first Speedweek effort.

Just another two points back and looking for a second Speedweek title after capturing the crown in 2004 is three-time Lucas Oil ASCS National champ Tim Crawley of Benton, AR, who topped the Speedweek opener last Friday at Texarkana.

Louisiana's Jason Johnson, the reigning ASCS Speedweek champion, is just a dozen points out of the lead in fourth, with Tulsa's Sean McClelland another two points back in fifth.

Tied for sixth are upstart Matt Clevenger of Flower Mound, TX, and Hooks, TX, ace Gary Wright, who broke into ASCS Speedweek victory lane on Friday night to join Crawley, Tony Bruce, Jr., and Zach Chappell as 2009 Speedweek victors.

The top seven in final ASCS Speedweek points will split up the $10,000 Speedweek points fund, with the champion collecting the $2,000 lion's share. The balance will be distributed as follows; 2nd ($1,600), 3rd ($1,500), 4th ($1,400), 5th ($1,300), 6th ($1,200), 7th ($1,000).

Sixty-four drivers have competed in at least one of this year's ASCS Speedweek events thus far, with 19 drivers taking part in all four events.

Saturday night's final round of ASCS Speedweek competition at Lawton Speedway is set to go green at 8:00 p.m.

Lawton Speedway is located off I-44 Exit 36, then 2.5 miles west on Lee Boulevard, then 1.4 miles south on Sheridan Road. For more information, contact the track at 580-355-6417.

Past ASCS Speedweek winners at Lawton Speedway include Jason Johnson (2008), Gary Wright (2007, 2003, 2002) and Kevin Ramey (2006).

Those unable to catch all the action in person can listen live at www.racinboys.com.

Official results, Speedweek championship point updates, photos and race notes will be available at www.ascsracing.com.

The Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters is currently slated for approximately 33 nights of racing action at 16 different tracks throughout the nation, with the country's top Sprint Car drivers set to battle it out for their share of the $250,000 points fund.

The American Sprint Car Series, in its 18th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing events, brings the best of Sprint Car racing to nearly 100 different tracks throughout 25 states and Canada in 2009. Anchored by the Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters, ASCS also consists of a dozen different Regions throughout the nation.

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