BILLINGS, Mont. – About five years ago Phil Dietz climbed out of a sprint car thinking he was done racing. Then he discovered that he missed it. Then he decided to come back this season. Friday night at Big Sky Speedway, Dietz’s decision to unretire was justified when he scored the ASCS Frontier Region victory at Night 1 of the Big Sky 360 Nationals presented by Kirkness Roofing.
It was Dietz’s eighth career ASCS Frontier Region triumph, and his first since September 2015 at Gallatin Speedway – he won another event in non-ASCS competition in 2016 before stepping away altogether. The Laurel, Montana driver started on the pole of the 25-lap, $1,500-to-win affair and led the entire way, much to the delight of the Montana fanbase happy to see the five-time sprint car champion again aboard the Dietz Racing No. 72 Wesmar-powered Maxim. Dietz celebrated in victory lane with his longtime crewmembers Sean Hoke and Lee Hoke, his wife Lisa and members of the family.
Trever Kirkland of Helena, Montana tried to challenge Dietz for the lead on a couple of restarts but could not make anything stick, settling for second place in the Kirkland Racing No. 37 Shark-powered Triple X. For Kirkland, it was almost a win considering his horrid stretch of bad luck this season, and an enormous step in the right direction for the Kirkland team, which climbed into the Top 10 in points with that run.
The drive of the night belonged to Great Falls, Montana driver Kory Wermling, who drove from the 14th starting position to finish third in his No. 9 Ostrich-powered CS9 after late race battles with defending series champion Jeremy McCune, points leader Logan Forler, Joe Perry and Tyler Driever. As big as Wermling’s charge was the points race tightening up as Forler, who ran in the Top 10 throughout the main, dropped out late with mechanical issues. Forler’s lead over Wermling in the ASCS Frontier Region points standings shrank to just 14 tallies. Driever, sitting in third place still after his sixth place finish Friday night, closed to within 36 points of Forler.
After the late race battles and shuffling of positions, McCune finished fourth and Joe Perry, another former Montana sprint car champion, finished fifth ahead of Driever. James Setters, Mindy McCune, Damon McCune and Trevor Plambeck rounded out the Top 10.
Dietz had won several times at Big Sky Speedway, previously known as Billings Motorsports Park, over his career but Friday’s win was surprisingly his first coming under the ASCS banner. Previous wins came with the regional tours preceding the ASCS Frontier Region, which began competition in 2013. Dietz won titles with the Montana Sprint Tour, Big Sky Sprint Tour and Big Sky Sprints before taking ASCS Frontier Region titles in 2013 and 2015.
Dietz’s return to racing this season was marred by engine issues, forcing him to sit out a few races, but came back this weekend with a borrowed motor from two-time ASCS Frontier Region champion David Hoiness, who is taking this season off after becoming a father during the off-season. Dietz was very grateful and quick to acknowledge the Hoiness Racing team for their assistance.
Heat races earlier in the evening were won by Driever, Forler and Dietz. Forler earned the top passing points score with his run from the fifth starting position to win Heat 2.
The ASCS Frontier Region season continues Saturday night with night 2 of the Big Sky 360 Nationals at Big Sky Speedway outside Billings, with the main event paying $2,000 to win. On Sunday, the series makes its inaugural appearance at Sheridan Speedway in Sheridan, Wyoming.
More information on the ASCS Frontier Region, along with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour and other regions, can be found online at www.ascsracing.com. Stagg Motorsports, the promoting company of the ASCS Frontier Region, can be found at www.staggmotorsports.com.
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Big Sky 360 Nationals presented by Kirkness Roofing – Night 1
Big Sky Speedway
Billings, MT
July 23, 2021
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
Car Count: 19
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 33T-Tyler Driever[1]; 2. 37-Trever Kirkland[5]; 3. 11M-Mindy McCune[3]; 4. 34-Trevor Plambeck[2]; 5. 20-Mitchell Burns[6]; 6. (DNF) 2-Shad Petersen[4]; 7. (DNF) 77-Damon McCune[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2L-Logan Forler[5]; 2. 0J-Jeremy McCune[2]; 3. 4L-Lane Taylor[4]; 4. 2J-James Setters[6]; 5. (DNF) 9K-Kory Wermling[3]; 6. (DNF) 2X-Mike Manwill[1]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 72-Phil Dietz[3]; 2. 28-Joe Perry[6]; 3. 38B-Bryan Brown[4]; 4. 81-Darren Smith[5]; 5. 00B-Michael Bingham[1]; 6. (DNF) 18-Paul Jones[2]
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 72-Phil Dietz[1]; 2. 37-Trever Kirkland[2]; 3. 9K-Kory Wermling[14]; 4. 0J-Jeremy McCune[5]; 5. 28-Joe Perry[3]; 6. 33T-Tyler Driever[6]; 7. 2J-James Setters[9]; 8. 11M-Mindy McCune[10]; 9. 77-Damon McCune[18]; 10. 34-Trevor Plambeck[13]; 11. 20-Mitchell Burns[12]; 12. 00B-Michael Bingham[15]; 13. 2-Shad Petersen[16]; 14. 2X-Mike Manwill[19]; 15. (DNF) 2L-Logan Forler[4]; 16. (DNF) 4L-Lane Taylor[8]; 17. (DNF) 38B-Bryan Brown[7]; 18. (DNF) 81-Darren Smith[11]; 19. (DNF) 18-Paul Jones[17]
