Clanton Wins ASA Finale, Cywinski Takes Second Title
Nashville, Tenn. (October 19, 2003) - 2002 American Speed Association Champion Joey Clanton passed Glenn Allen Jr. with 49 laps remaining and went on to capture the BFGoodrich Traction T/A Tires 300 presented by Greased Lightning Orange Blast and Jani-King Sunday at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. While Clanton was recording the 14th race of his career, Kevin Cywinski in the Greased Lightning Orange Blast Chevrolet captured his second ASA championship with a ninth-place finish capturing the title by 140 points over Butch Miller. "Its great to win a championship with a new car owner (Country Joe Racing) and a lot of new crew members," Cywinski said. "There are a lot different emotions in winning a second championship." Cywinski was the 1996 ASA rookie of the year and captured his first title in 1997. Georgia driver Reed Sorenson in the ACDelco Chevrolet captured the $50,000 Pat Schauer Memorial Rookie of the Year honors. Sorenson drove to a 16th place finish in the season ending event. Allen in the Keystone Automotive Parts Chevrolet took the lead on lap 245 with an inside pass of Bryan Reffner in the Morton Salt Chevrolet entering turn 3. Allen was passed by Clanton on lap 251 entering turn 3 when he slipped inside of the Ohio driver's Chevrolet, who slipped high. Allen and Todd Kluever in the TK2 Racing Chevrolet chased Clanton for the next 47 laps. Mike Garvey in the Jani-King Chevrolet got past Kluever for third with two laps remaining with an inside pass exiting Turn four. Clanton went on to win by 1.453 seconds to collect $17,255 for the win. "The crew did an awesome job," Clanton said. "The car only bobbled one-time when two cars got together in front of me and I had to check up. "We had a long run in the middle of the race," said Clanton, "and we were trying to save right side tires for the end. I let the guys go and waited until the car was right to go back to the front. You need a game plan and we stuck to it." Allen recorded his best finish of the season and credited his crew with giving him a competitive race car. "I tried to get a run on Joey (Clanton) on the last restart but he was too strong for us at the finish," Allen said. "We were on a different tire strategy and we were a little off at the end." Clanton starting from the pole position led the first 83 laps in the Terry's Automotive Group Chevrolet and surrendered the lead to Boris Jurkovic in the Reliable Recovery Chevrolet on the first round of pit stops for the leaders. Paul Paine in the JB Car Care Products Pontiac took the lead on lap 156 and was battling with Davin Scites in the Wayne Lumber & Mulch Chevrolet and Garvey for the lead when J.C. Beattie Jr. in the ATI Performance Chevrolet spun coming off of turn 4. That collected Paine and Scites and allowed Garvey to take the lead. Wisconsin driver Brian Hoppe finished 12th in the Citgo / Gildan Activewear Chevrolet. Hoppe won a starting spot in the ASA 40-car field by winning the Patriot 200 sanctioned by the Indiana-based Sunoco Super Series and the Alabama-based Southern All Stars on Saturday. For additional information on the ASA Racing Series visit asaracing.com. ASA Box American Speed Association BFGoodrich Traction T/A 300 Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway Lap distance: .596-mile Race Sunday 1)(1) Joey Clanton, Chevrolet, 300 2)(34) Glenn Allen Jr., Chevrolet, 300 3)(3) Mike Garvey, Chevrolet, 300 4)(6) Todd Kluever, Chevrolet, 300 5)(19) Bryan Reffner, Chevrolet, 300 6)(4) Robbie Pyle, Chevrolet, 300 7)(12) Scott Lagasse Jr., Chevrolet, 300 8)(2) Zach Niessner, Chevrolet, 300 9)(18) Kevin Cywinski, Chevrolet, 300 10)(7) Butch Miller, Chevrolet, 300 11)(28) Kyle Jones, Chevrolet, 300 12)(21) Brian Hoppe, Chevrolet, 300 13)(10) Rick Beebe, Ford, 300 14)(20) Mike Cope, Ford, 300 15)(5) Greg Edwards, Chevrolet, 300 16)(22) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 300 17)(15) Peter Cozzolino, Chevrolet, 300 18)(24) Chad Wood, Chevrolet, 300 19)(11) Gary St. Amant, Chevrolet, 300 20)(8) Chris Wimmer, Chevrolet, 300 21)(16) Davin Scites, Chevrolet, 300 22)(40) Greg Williams, Chevrolet, 300 23)(39) Ed Brown, Chevrolet, 299 24)(13) Greg Stewart, Chevrolet, 298 25)(31) Joey Miller, Chevrolet, 298 26)(26) Troy Wangerin, Chevrolet, 297 27)(14) Travis Kittleson, Chevrolet, 297 28)(23) Toby Porter, Chevrolet, 283, accident 29)(27) J.C. Beattie Jr., Chevrolet, 270, handling 30)(35) Jim Ross, Chevrolet, 253 31)(17) Augie Grill, Chevrolet, 251, handling 32)(25) Boris Jurkovic, Chevrolet, 238, overheating 33)(9) Doug Stevens, Chevrolet, 233, accident 34)(36) Danny Edwards Jr., Chevrolet, 218, accident 35)(32) Kris Stump, Ford, 218, accident 36)(33) Travis Dassow, Chevrolet, 206 37)(27) Paul Paine, Pontiac, 187, accident 38)(38) Tim Russell, Chevrolet, 96, accident 39)(30) Jeff Harrison, Chevrolet, 74, clutch 40)(29) Casey Smith, Chevrolet, 48, accident Race Statistics: Time of Race: 2 hours, 34 minutes, 15.55 seconds Average speed: 69.545 mph Margin of Victory: 1.453 seconds Lead Changes: 9 among 9 drivers Lap Leaders: Clanton, 1-83; Jurkovic, 84-88; Niessner, 89-100; Lagasse, 101- 120; St. Amant, 121-155; Paine, 156-186; Garvey, 187-211; Reffner, 212-244; Allen, 245-250; Clanton, 251-300. Cautions: 13 for 84 laps ASA Racing Series final points after 17 events: 1) Cywinski, 3,006; 2) B. Miller, 2,876; 3) Pyle, 2,741; 4) Sorenson, 2,727; 5) Garvey, 2,691; 6) Reffner, 2,466; 7) Kluever, 2,394; 8) Beebe, 2,330; 9) Kittleson, 2,220; 10) Cozzolino, 2,159