JJ Hickle Sweeps The Devil’s Bowl Spring Nationals!

Taking the broom to the field at the 48th annual Devil’s Bowl Spring Nationals, lapped traffic was again the ally of JJ Hickle as the Washington shoe made it career victory No. 2 with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network.

 

“I just can’t thank my car owners enough. Pat, Jimmy, everyone has just been working their butts off,” stated Hickle. “Dylan was really good all night. It was kind of one groove in one and two, but three and four you could move around, so I just tried to pace him, and he just got caught behind a lapper, and that put me in the catbird seat, so it worked out for us.”

 

Trailing Canada’s Dylan Westbrook the opening 17 laps, Hickle took the field three-wide down the front straightaway to advance fifth to second on the start to put himself into the chaser’s position. Consistently trailing by just under a half-second before a Lap 8 caution, Hickle tried for the lead on the restart, but the red lights came on as Martin Edwards tipped over in the fourth turn.

 

Single file on the next restart since a lap was not completed before the red, Hickle worked to keep pace with varying lines around the Devil’s Bowl. Clean air to the advantage of Westbrook, the Hills Racing No. 47x rode comfortably around the hub of the half-mile, but traffic would again be the difference for the AFEX Graphics No. 63. Working to the back bumper of Tucker Doughty as the field completed Lap 16, Westbrook’s pace slowed as he looked for room to run. Giving Hickle back nearly a half-second of lost time, the Nitro 54 Variety No. 47x looked low again on the slower car, only to get caught up through the third and fourth turns.

 

Rolling around the No. 47x for the point, Westbrook kept Hickle within striking distance for the next few laps, but a couple of quick moves through traffic was enough to begin pulling away, with JJ crossing 2.675-seconds ahead of Dylan. Roger Crockett crossed third with Matt Covington fourth. Battling from 11th, Australia’s Scott Bogucki completed the top five.

 

Chase Randall crossed sixth, with Blake Hahn making up six spots to seventh. Rolling out of the BMRS B-Feature, Jake Bubak rolled 17th to eighth. Danny Jennings crossed ninth with Garet Williamson in tenth.

 

The overall weekend saw 38 drivers from 11 states and three countries in attendance. Saturday greeted 35 competitors with SCE Gaskets Heat Race wins going to Martin Edwards, Matt Covington, Chance Morton, and Chase Randall. Hoosier Tire Qualifiers went to JJ Hickle, Colby Thornhill, and Dylan Westbrook. The BMRS B-Feature was won by Jake Bubak. One provisional was used by Travis Reber.

 

The Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network races next at Superbowl Speedway in Greenville, Texas on Thursday, March 25, then heads for I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark. on Friday, March 26, and Saturday, March 27.

 

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 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).

 

ASCS PR