Weiss Dominates Early, Survives Late Challenge to Hoist Sword at The Last Great Coliseum
The AAS started the 2023 season at The Last Great Colisuem, Bristol Motor Speedway, where thirty-nine competitors were on hand. This event proved to be high speed action with a lot of thrills and battles on the World's Fastest 1/2 mile! BHR Fabrication Qualifying kicked off right. Group A saw Josh Dietz go fastest with a 17.621 while Trey Bayne went second fastest with a time of 17.672 and Logan Walls went third with a 17.706. This was a marked improvement for Walls on a big track compared to last season. Group B of BHR Fabrication Qualifying had the overall fastest time with Ricky Weiss who turned a time of 17.437. Bradley Lewelling went second fastest with a time of 17.623 and Tim Maupin was third in the group with a time of 17.727.
The Race Track Connection Dash which sets the first three rows of the event saw Ricky Weiss take the victory over Trey Bayne and Bradley Lewelling. Three cars from each of the four heat races would transfer to the feature event. Dillon Brown would take the win in Dirt2Media Heat Race One over Justin Hudspeth and Ronnie Martin Jr. Outside Groove Heat Race Two went to Benji Hicks over Jacob Brown and Jordan Koehler. FMS Rapid Graphix Heat Race Three went to Derek Fisher over Seth Wimpey and Joshua Chesney. PPM Racing Products Heat Race Four went to Colby Quick over Duke Lowe and Terry Poore.
Two competitors would advance from each of the two ATC Bolt B-Mains on the night. Garret Paugh would take B-main one over TJ Salango to become the first B-Main Bolt Bandit of the year while Chase Oliver would be the second B-Main Bolt Bandit with Chub Gunter also transferring. The provisionals on the night would go to Jordan Hedger and David Grass.
The feature line up was the set with Ricky Weiss ready to go for another sword. He jumped to the early lead and the race had an early green flag feel to it. That was until a strong running Trey Bayne exploed a tire down the front stretch on lap nine while running second. Green flag racing resumed for two laps until Josh Dietz had problems on lap eleven. Things then kicked back off with green flag rcing. Colby Quick looped it on lap fifteen and sustained little to no damage, but Chase Oliver and David Grass spun to avoid and made contact ending their night early. During this time both Dillon Brown and Benji Hicks were working their way through the field. On the following restart Dillon would take a strong look and chase to Weiss but was never able to make the pass. The scariest incident of the night took place on lap 20 as Josh Chesney, Chub Gunter, Ronnie Martin Jr., Jordan Kehler, Jordan Hedger, and Terry Poore were all collected on the front stretch. All drivers were okay, but series regular Jordan Hedger totaled his car in the incident. Hicks would get a chance at second after that, but tire burn off saw him quickly return to third. Weiss showed that his experience paid off as he would collect the sword and the check on the 2023 season's opening night. Dillon Brown would take second over Benji Hicks. Logan Walls ran strong all night holding on for a fourth place finish and Jacob Brown, Dillon's younger brother, crossed the line fifth. Bradley Lewelling had a great start to the season as well, finishing 6th over Justin Hudspeth in seventh. Garret Paugh the Hyperco Hard Charger would finish 8th with Colby Quick and Tim Maupin rounding out the top ten.
The AAS would like to thank Bristol Motor Speedway for inviting us to be a part of the Bristol Dirt Showcase! We'd also like to thank all the partners who make it possible: Dirt2Media, PPM Racing Products, Rick Hendrick City Chevrolet, Chevrolet Performance: Vehicles, Parts, Racing, Pro Fabrication "Official Header of the AAS," Mahle, Super Clean "Official Cleaner of the AAS," Outside Groove, FMS Rapid Graphix, Race Track Connection, Beckley Motor Speedway, O'Reilly Auto Parts "Official Auto Parts Store of the AAS," Smash-It by BWR, American Racer, Wieland "Official Aluminum of the AAS," BHR Fabrication and Double Nickle Race Cars, Fast Lane Fabrication, Warrior Race Cars, WV Fireworks Outlet, TNT Race Cars, KRC Power Steering, Peeping Dragon Photography, Terror Race Cars, ATC Bolts and Fasteners, PopBit, MD3, Hyperco, and Fast Fab.
We look forward to seeing everyone this Saturday, April 8th at I-75 Raceway for the Second Annual Race Your Ice Off!