Bryan Hulbert - TULSA, Okla. (April 15, 2013) The thirteenth season of competition for the American Bank of Oklahoma Sooner Region begins simply. It begins at the Creek County Speedway in Kellyville, Okla.
Slated for Friday, April 19, the longest running regional arm of the American Sprint Car Series based in Tulsa, Okla. will see Glenpool, Okla. driver Matt Covington enter as the defending champion of the Sooner Region.
Sweeping a pair of ASCS regions in 2012, Covington has seen substantial changes in his racing program during the offseason, including a return to his family backed No. 95 T&L Foundry Sprint Car. So far in 2013, Covington has competed five times with various ASCS regions and has earned a pair of top five finishes along with three top ten runs.
Among the drivers that make their summers with the American Bank of Oklahoma Sooner Region, the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour finds itself on an off weekend, allowing several National Tour drivers to take part in the Friday night affair.
Of those expected is Washington native Seth Bergman. Taking part in regional competition in 2012, the Snohomish, Wash. driver raced to victory at the Creek Count Speedway followed closely by fellow Washington driver Gary Taylor.
“I’m excited to come back to Creek” commented Bergman. “Sometimes you go to a track and it’s just good to you and Creek County is one of those tracks. Any time I go back to Creek I feel like I have a shot at winning.”
Racing week in, and week out with the National Tour, a change to the regional line-up poses certain difficulties. Namely, you enter the race as the person to beat more so than any other driver.
“Sometimes when you go into a region, they seem like they really want to beat the traveling guys more than anything so they’ll race you harder” said Seth of coming into Creek County. “It’s fun. That’s what makes it a good race because the guys that run there a little more often than we do so they sometimes have a better idea of what to do as far as the track goes.”
Headed by Steve Gran in 2013, the Creek County Speedway General Manager is far from new to the sport of racing, and certainly not in the Oklahoma area as a long time official of the Tulsa Shootout and Chili Bowl Nationals.
Asked if this experience has helped shape how he approaches Creek County Speedway, Gran’s reply was simple, “Oh sure. Anything you can do in racing for this long is certainly an asset.”
As the birth place of the American Sprint Car Series, Steve Gran fell is important, whether regionally or nationally, that the ASCS name comes back to Creek County, “That was probably one of the biggest motivations of doing this since ASCS was born at Creek County. So was Mini Stocks and going back to that tradition is very important.”
Normally a Saturday night track, events at the Creek County Speedway are scheduled to begin at 8 P.M. on Friday, April 19, 2013 with grandstands opening at 5 P.M. More information on the coming event can be found at http://www.creekcountyspeedway.co.