Curious which drivers you should keep an eye on at each American Sprint Car Series National Tour event? Series Announcer Randy Ward will bring you his five drivers to watch each race week.
This week: Texarkana 67 Speedway on Saturday, June 7
RANDY’S FIVE:
Cody Gardner
Why: Cody is an Arkansas racer who has done well in the past when tough competition rolls into town. Last year, he drove to a Heat Race win against the ASCS tour in Texarkana. This year, he is looking for more than that; he is aiming towards that kind of result in the feature.
Ryder LaPlante
Why: Brodix Rookie of the Year contender Ryder LaPlante raced at this track just a couple of weeks ago in 305 action and finished third in the main event to kick start a 305 Speedweek Championship run. Now, he will see if his experience on the track will pay off to help his ASCS campaign, since this is a rare track on our schedule that he has laps on.
Harlie White
Why: Harli raced to a seventh-place run at Texarkana last year in one of her limited ASCS appearances. This year, she is running the whole schedule in her return to a National Tour. While Harli is from Oklahoma, she now resides in the Texarkana area, so this will be a nice change of pace for her to get to race close to the house.
Austyn Gossel
Why: A career best finish last weekend where Austyn finished second at Dodge City Raceway Park has his team full of energy and they hope that means momentum to get another podium this week. During his rookie season last year, Austyn was constantly learning from anyone he could to try and get his car better. That continues this season as last weekend he had veteran crew chief Bobby Craft in the pits for the first time and Austyn scored that podium finish.
Sam Hafertepe Jr.
Why: Sam has won two of the last four races on tour and he won the race at 67 Speedway last year, so how could he not be on your list of drivers to watch. Sam is in the points lead, but he knows the only way to stay there is to keep getting top three results with some wins mixed in along the way. His results in the last four ASCS races are: first, second, third, and first. Keep an eye on the No. 15H to see if he can continue this hot streak.
You can follow these drivers and more this weekend at Texarkana 67 Speedway by getting your tickets at the gate.
If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch every lap live – with Randy Ward – on DIRTVision.
