Crockett picks up another ASCS win in Elma

ELMA, Wash. – The Roger Crockett and Danny Lasoski show picked up Sunday right where it had left off.

Throughout most of ASCS Northwest Speedweek July, Crockett and Lasoski turned races into two-car battles.

By the end of Sunday night’s American Sprint Car Series event at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash., it was more of the same.

Crockett, who won four times in six nights of racing during Speedweek to win the week, continued his strong ways Sunday by passing Jayme Barnes on lap 18 of 30 and taking the win.

Not surprisingly, Lasoski finished right behind in second place. ASCS Northwest Region points leader Barnes held on for third, while Rick Fauver got by Jared Ridge at the end for fourth.

Crockett started sixth in the feature while Lasoski, winner of the preliminary night Evergreen State Sprint Challenge at GHR in July, started right behind in eighth. Crockett had won the final night of the ESSC.

Seth Bergman led early from pole, but Fauver made his way to the front on lap 4. Barnes, who had started fourth, took second on lap 6 and got by Fauver for the lead on lap 8.

While Fauver moved up front, behind him Crockett was getting ready to make a move.

“We got a pretty decent start,” Crockett said. “We move to fifth at the start, then got into fourth after a couple of laps and cruised there a little bit. The car started to come in at about the halfway point, so we went after that.”

Barnes, the 2008 Dirt Cup winner, stayed in front until Crockett made a move past on lap 18.

Crockett sensed he was in a good position as he followed Barnes.

“I knew I had to wait, and let some fuel burn off as the race went on,” Crockett explained. “I just had to not beat myself. I just had to be patient. I knew we were faster than (Barnes). When he got held up in traffic, it was time to make the move.”

While Crockett settled into the lead, Lasoski moved up through the pack. “The Dude” got by Barnes five laps from the end, but didn’t have enough time to do anything with Crockett.

“I figured he would be close,” Crockett said of Lasoski. “You had to expect he would be pretty close. I was getting through the traffic, with no one holding me up. Here at this track, when it’s racy and multiple grooves like it was, it’s easier to get by the traffic. There’s a lot more room. If the car is good, and can run anywhere on the track like ours could, it’s easy to get by.”

The four 10-lap heat races were won by Barnes, Shawn Rice, Fauver and Bergman.

The 12-lap B-Main was won by Brock Lemley, in a race stopped when Rob Held took a hard lick in turn three. Held was reported to be okay, but action was delayed while the fence was repaired.

There were 29 cars signed in on the night.

Sunday’s win was the 13th of the year for Crockett and his Henderson Motorsports team in various series, and came one night after the team finished fourth in a World of Outlaw race at Skagit Speedway.

“We’ve had a lot of momentum since Speedweek,” Crockett said. “We’ll keep building on the wins, keep getting the car good and just get better each week.”

Based on Saturday’s strong run at Skagit and the chance for a big payday Sunday in Skagit’s rain-delayed final night, Crockett and his crew had a dilemma in regards to where to race Sunday.

“It was definitely a tough choice,” the driver from Medford, Ore. said, noting the purse difference. “But we committed to run with the ASCS. The only way for the series to grow is for people like us to be here and support it. So that was the choice we made.”

ASCS Northwest Region teams return to Elma Sept. 19-20 to compete in the second annual Fred Brownfield Memorial, named for the late GHR promoter. The series wraps up its 2008 campaign Sept. 26-27 at the Yakima Dirt Track in Yakima, Wash.

Racing continues in Elma Monday night as the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series rolls into town.

Sunday, Aug. 31 at Grays Harbor Raceway

Elma, Wash.

Heat 1

1. 9-Jayme Barnes

2. 12-Jared Ridge

3. 9P-Jared Peterson

4. 8x-Otto Jorgenson

5. 2D-Brian McCaughan

6. 25C-Chad Groves

7. 40-Shaun Holtorf

8. 4-Brock Lemley