ASCS Midwest Championship Within Sather's Reach Friday at U.S. 36
by Lonnie Wheatley

CAMERON, MO (Sept  4) – In all likelihood, it will be a historical night at U.S. 36 Raceway in Cameron, MO, as the American Sprint Car Series Midwest Region puts the wraps on its third season of action this Friday night.

And, barring the most unlikely of circumstances, 22-year-old Natalie Sather of Fargo, ND, will come away from the night as the first female driving champion in the 16-year history of the American Sprint Car Series.

Driving the familiar Shaver-powered Gateway Chevrolet No. 94s J&J wrenched by National Sprint Car Hall-of-Famer Kenny Woodruff, Sather carries a 78-point lead over defending series champion Toby Chapman into Friday night's season finale.

All Sather needs to do to secure the title is take a green flag in either heat race or feature action to safely move out of Chapman's reach.

But the attractive young lady racer will be shooting for more than just the ASCS Midwest Region title, as she'll try to track down her first series win atop the wickedly-fast, high-banked U.S. 36 Raceway clay oval.

Sather very nearly nabbed her first win in O'Reilly ASCoT National action early this year, only to have Texas ace Gary Wright slip by on the white-flag lap to deny her the win.

Sather's strong drive that night proved a harbinger of things to come in 2007, as consistent runs each night out have put her in position to lay claim to the ASCS Midwest Region championship.

The ASCS Midwest Region title has belonged to Lincoln, NE, over each of the past two seasons, with Billy Alley winning the inaugural crown in 2005 and then Chapman winning last year.

Chapman's title efforts this year have been hindered by several incidents while running among the top five in feature competition. Chapman has held strong though and still has the slightest of chances to overtake Sather in the finale.

Among others expected for Friday night's stout field of entries are Lee Grosz of Harwood, ND, who will likely put the clamps on the ASCS Northern Plains Region championship on Saturday night in South Dakota, Lincoln's Jason Danley, who is currently ranked fourth in ASCS Midwest Region points, and Brian Brown of Grain Valley, MO, who sits atop the all-time ASCS Midwest Region win charts with nine victories in the 30 events contested since the Region's inception in 2005.

Friday's racing action atop the high-banked, 3/8-mile U.S. 36 Raceway clay oval is set to fire off at 8:00 p.m.

U.S. 36 Raceway is located 50 miles northeast of Kansas City on I-35 to Exit 54, then 6.3 miles west on U.S. 36, then 0.1 mile north on SR 33. For more information, contact the track at 816-675-2279.

Friday's card marks the eleventh and final event of the season for the ASCS Midwest Region in 2007, with events taking place at seven different tracks throughout Nebraska and the immediate surrounding area.

The 2007 season marks the 16th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing for the American Sprint Car Series. With a dozen different Regions in addition to the O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National series, ASCS will sanction approximately 240 nights of racing at more than 100 different race tracks throughout at least 30 different states and Canada.

Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com .