JJ Hickle won Friday's ASCS opener at Devil's Bowl (David Campbell Photo)
Bryan Hulbert – MESQUITE, Texas (March 19, 2021) The 1,000th Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network A-Feature came with a first-time winner as Washington’s JJ Hickle stormed into Victory Lane on Night 1 of the 48th annual Devil’s Bowl Spring Nationals.
The 156th different winner with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network, the 2021 Brodix Rookie of the Year contender worked slower traffic to perfection for his Devil’s Bowl triumph.
Asked what the win meant, JJ replied, “It means everything. This sets the stage, and this is why we came out here. It proves to all of us that, yes, we do belong out here. It’s an honor, and hopefully, we can keep this going.”
Chasing Oklahoma’s Danny Jennings, the first 10 laps, the No. 1j found his road blocked. Seeing a nearly one-second advantage evaporate in an instant, Hickle worked into the lead on Lap 11, with Seth Bergman also gaining the advantage for second on Lap 12.
On having to work slower traffic for the lead, JJ stated, “I just had to go where they’re not. Ivan gave me an awesome race car. I could drive this thing anywhere on the track and just bide my time. I knew I was pretty good off of four, so I just tried to be smooth.”
Red working Lap 13 as Blake Hahn and Garet Williamson made contact, the No. 24 flipped wildly off the top of the back straightaway but thankfully was unharmed. Realigned into the Delaware Double File Restart following an open red, Hickle had company as Seth Bergman charged the low line through the first and second turns. Unable to get the advance, clean air played to JJ’s advantage as the Ivan, and Jane Worden owned No. 63 steadily pulled away.
Into traffic with five laps to run, Bergman, like Borden 10 laps earlier, closed the gap in no time. Stalking Hickle, the two were inseparable before the caution lights came on. Red on the restart as Dylan Westbrook took flight in the third turn, the ensuing restart went single file with Seth again charging hard into the first turn. Keeping momentum over the Evergreen Coffee Co. No. 23, Hickle opened up his advantage to 1.164-seconds to become the sixth different Washington winner.
Seth Bergman held on for second over Blake Hahn, with Scott Bogucki rolling from 10th to fourth while Matt Covington raced from 13th to fifth. Chase Randall was sixth, with Roger Crockett emerging as the night’s Hard Charger with a run from 20th to seventh. Danny Jennings slipped to eighth with Jake Bubak tying Crockett at 13 positions advanced. Sammy Swindell completed the top ten.
A field of 37 teams from 10 states and three countries took part in Friday’s Devil’s Bowl Spring Nationals event. Four SCE Gaskets Heat Races were contested, with wins going to Dylan Westbrook, John Carney II, Chase Randall, and Sammy Swindell. A trio of Hoosier Tire Qualifiers was topped by Garet Williamson, Devon Borden, and Blake Hahn. BMRS B-Features went to Casey Burkham and Colby Thornhill. Two provisions were used by Alex Hill and Ryan Bickett.
The Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network is back at the Devi’s Bowl Speedway on Saturday, March 20. Races are slated to start at 8:00 P.M. (CDT). For tickets and directions, log onto http://www.devilsbowl.com or call (972) 222-2421.
The 2021 season is the 30th year of competition for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network.
For the first time, the series can be seen live on two platforms, with Racinboys.com and FloRacing.com both featuring National Tour events in tandem. Both are subscription-based sites. FloRacing.com is $20 per month, billed annually at $150 per year. Racinboys.com is $29.99 per month.
For other news, notes, and information on the American Sprint Car Series, from the National Tour to any of the Regional Tours that make up ASCS Nation in 2021, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com, follow on Facebook, on Instagram, and Twitter (@LucasOilASCS).
Race Results:
ASCS National Tour | ASCS Lone Star Region
Devil's Bowl Speedway (Mesquite, Texas)
48th Spring Nationals (Night 1)
Friday, March 19, 2001
Car Count: 36
SCE Gaskets Heat Races (Top 30 in Passing Points advance to Qualifiers)
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 19-Colby Thornhill[1]; 2. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[2]; 3. 23-Seth Bergman[7]; 4. 95-Matt Covington[4]; 5. 45B-Casey Burkham[5]; 6. 11-Roger Crockett[8]; 7. 20G-Noah Gass[10]; 8. 88-Travis Reber[3]; 9. 77-Damon McCune[6]; 10. 77X-Alex Hill[9]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 11X-John Carney II[1]; 2. 28-Scott Bogucki[3]; 3. 63-JJ Hickle[5]; 4. 2X-Tucker Doughty[6]; 5. 24-Garet Williamson[8]; 6. 74B-Jake Bubak[7]; 7. 72-Chris Tarrant[2]; 8. 6M-Blake Mallory[4]; 9. 3W-Willy Reed[9]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 9-Chase Randall[1]; 2. 22X-Steven Shebester[2]; 3. 1J-Danny Jennings[7]; 4. 0-Eric Baldaccini[4]; 5. 17B-Ryan Bickett[6]; 6. 03-Joe Wood Jr[8]; 7. 7M-Chance Morton[5]; 8. 12-Brandon Howle[9]; 9. #1-Justin Zimmerman[3]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 72S-Sammy Swindell[1]; 2. 44-Chris Martin[4]; 3. 8-Devon Borden[3]; 4. 52-Blake Hahn[5]; 5. 8M-Kade Morton[6]; 6. 33C-Casey Carter[2]; 7. 91-Zach Pringle[7]; 8. 45-Martin Edwards[9]; 9. 2-Dylan Opdahl[8]
Hoosier Tire Qualifiers (Top 16 in combined Passing Points advance to the A-Feature)
Qualifier 1 (8 Laps): 1. 24-Garet Williamson[2]; 2. 95-Matt Covington[1]; 3. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[3]; 4. 23-Seth Bergman[6]; 5. 72S-Sammy Swindell[4]; 6. 45B-Casey Burkham[8]; 7. 45-Martin Edwards[10]; 8. 19-Colby Thornhill[5]; 9. 91-Zach Pringle[9]; 10. 8M-Kade Morton[7]
Qualifier 2 (8 Laps): 1. 8-Devon Borden[2]; 2. 0-Eric Baldaccini[1]; 3. 1J-Danny Jennings[6]; 4. 28-Scott Bogucki[4]; 5. 22X-Steven Shebester[3]; 6. 11X-John Carney II[5]; 7. 74B-Jake Bubak[8]; 8. 11-Roger Crockett[7]; 9. 7M-Chance Morton[10]; 10. 20G-Noah Gass[9]
Qualifier 3 (8 Laps): 1. 52-Blake Hahn[2]; 2. 63-JJ Hickle[3]; 3. 9-Chase Randall[4]; 4. 44-Chris Martin[5]; 5. 17B-Ryan Bickett[1]; 6. 2X-Tucker Doughty[8]; 7. 72-Chris Tarrant[7]; 8. 12-Brandon Howle[6]; 9. (DNS) 03-Joe Wood Jr; 10. (DNS) 33C-Casey Carter
BMRS B-Feature (Top 3 advance to the A-Feature)
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 45B-Casey Burkham[1]; 2. 17B-Ryan Bickett[2]; 3. 45-Martin Edwards[3]; 4. 03-Joe Wood Jr[5]; 5. 91-Zach Pringle[4]; 6. 6M-Blake Mallory[6]; 7. 88-Travis Reber[7]; 8. 77-Damon McCune[8]; 9. (DNS) 8M-Kade Morton; 10. (DNS) 12-Brandon Howle; 11. (DNS) #1-Justin Zimmerman
B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 19-Colby Thornhill[1]; 2. 11-Roger Crockett[3]; 3. 74B-Jake Bubak[2]; 4. 20G-Noah Gass[5]; 5. 7M-Chance Morton[4]; 6. 77X-Alex Hill[7]; 7. 2-Dylan Opdahl[6]; 8. (DNS) 72-Chris Tarrant; 9. (DNS) 33C-Casey Carter; 10. (DNS) 3W-Willy Reed
Sawblade.com A-Feature
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 63-JJ Hickle[3]; 2. 23-Seth Bergman[2]; 3. 52-Blake Hahn[7]; 4. 28-Scott Bogucki[10]; 5. 95-Matt Covington[13]; 6. 9-Chase Randall[6]; 7. 11-Roger Crockett[18]; 8. 1J-Danny Jennings[1]; 9. 74B-Jake Bubak[20]; 10. 72S-Sammy Swindell[12]; 11. 45B-Casey Burkham[17]; 12. 19-Colby Thornhill[16]; 13. 17B-Ryan Bickett[19]; 14. 8-Devon Borden[5]; 15. 44-Chris Martin[8]; 16. 22X-Steven Shebester[15]; 17. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[9]; 18. 0-Eric Baldaccini[11]; 19. 88-Travis Reber[22]; 20. 2X-Tucker Doughty[14]; 21. 24-Garet Williamson[4]; 22. 45-Martin Edwards[21]; 23. 77X-Alex Hill[23]; 24. (DNS) 11X-John Carney II
Lap Leader(s): Danny Jennings1-10; JJ Hickle 11-25
Hard Charger: Roger Crockett+13
High Point Driver: Danny Jennings
Provisional(s): Alex Hill (Points); Travis Reber (Points)
ASCS Online:
American Sprint Car Series: http://www.ascsracing.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lucasoilascs
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lucasoilascs (@lucasoilascs)
Instagram: LucasOilASCS
Broadcast: FloRacing.com and Racinboys.com
Live-Scoring (Where Applicable): MRP Live
2021 Driver Standings (Top 15): 1. JJ Hickle 150; 2. Seth Bergman 142; 3. Blake Hahn 135; 4. Scott Bogucki 130; 5. Matt Covington 125; 6. Chase Randell 122; 7. Roger Crockett 119; 8. Danny Jennings 116; 9. Jake Bubak 113; 10. Sammy Swindell 110; 11. Casey Burkham 108; 12. Colby Thornhill 106; 13. Devon Borden 104; 14. Chris Martin 102; 15. Steven Shebester 100;
2021 A-Feature Winner(s): JJ Hickle – 1 (3/19 – Devil’s Bowl Speedway);v
ASCS National Tour Drivers Online:
Seth Bergman (Snohomish, WA.): http://www.sethbergmanracing.com
Ryan Bickett (Ramona, SD): https://www.facebook.com/rynotrucking
Scott Bogucki (McLaren Vale, S. Aust.): https://www.facebook.com/ScottBogucki89
Devon Borden (Raymond, WA): https://www.facebook.com/DevonBordenRacing
Matt Covington (Glenpool, OK): http://www.mattcovingtonracing.com
Roger Crockett (Broken Arrow, OK): http://www.rocketdesignsllc.com
Blake Hahn (Sapulpa, OK): http://www.blakehahnracing.com
JJ Hickle (Quilcene, WA): https://www.facebook.com/JJHickleRacing
Alex Hill (Six Nations, Ontario, Can.): https://twitter.com/alexhill77x
Travis Reber (Rapid City, SD): https://bit.ly/2P3Ok2r
Colby Thornhill (Enumclaw, WA): https://www.facebook.com/colby.thornhill.92
Dylan Westbrook (Scotland, Ont. Can.): https://twitter.com/westbrook47x
Garet Williamson (Columbia, MO.): https://twitter.com/garetw3
ASCS Sponsors:
Lucas Oil Products is the title sponsor of the American Sprint Car Series. More information can be found on Lucas Oil Products at www.lucasoil.com. MAVTV Motorsports Network is the presenting sponsor of the American Sprint Car Series. Log onto http://www.mavtv.com for more information.
Sawblade.com is the official SawBlade of the American Sprint Car Series and title sponsor of every National Tour A-Feature and Victory Lane. For more information, log onto https://www.sawblade.com and follow Social Media at @SawBladecom on Twitter, on Instagram at Sawblade. com_, and Facebook.
Associate sponsors for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented the MAVTV Motorsports Network include Hoosier Racing Tire and Brodix. All Heat Races are brought to you by SCE Gaskets. All B-Features are presented by BMRS.
Team Lucas Sponsors for the American Sprint Car Series consist of Protect the Harvest, Geico, SRI, General Tire, MAVTV Motorsports Network, MAVTV Plus, and General Tire.
Product and Contingency Sponsorship provided by SCE Gaskets, K&N Filters, BMRS, SpeedMart, Engler Machine and Tool, FSR Radiator and Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, MyRacePass.com, Weld Wheels, Maxwell Industries, Simpson, Wesmar Racing Engines, Hinchman Indy Racewear, Rod End Supply, Smiley's Racing Products, and Triple X Race, Co.