By Lonnie Wheatley,
ASCS Staff

BEAUMONT, TX -May 9, 2008– Channin Tankersley enjoyed his first career American Sprint Car Series Gulf South Region feature win three weeks ago so much that he decided to make it two in a row by wiring the field in Friday night's 25-lap feature at Golden Triangle Raceway Park.

After starting third, the 17-year-old Highlands, TX, hotshoe charged into the lead on the backstretch on the opening round and led all the way to top the Fifth Annual John Bankston Memorial aboard Ricky Tankersley's Tim's Engines-powered Griffith Trucking Equipment No. 71 Maxim.

Behind him, the battle for position was fast and furious throughout, with Brandon Corn holding the runner-up slot until the tenth round when Scottie McDonald snared the position.

McDonald surrendered second to rookie shoe Travis Elliott ten laps later, only to have Elliott loop his machine the next time around and lose several positions. McDonald held second to the line behind Tankersley only to be disqualified when his car failed to meet the minimum required weight.

Gary Watson assumed the runner-up position after McDonald's disqualification, with defending series champion Brandon Berryman taking the show position. Elliott was fourth, with Chris Sweeney maintaining the slightest of point leads by racing from 14th to round out the top five.

Corn was sixth, while Tommy Bryant recovered from an early incident to salvage seventh. Michael Miller was eighth, with Michael McNeil and Shawn Mize completing the top ten.

Three-time series runner-up and current title contender Greg Rilat exited after being collected in an opening lap tangle that also eliminated Rick Behr and Terry Monroe.

Corn, Travis Knighton and Berryman topped heat race action.

American Sprint Car Series Gulf South Region Results:

Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 74-Brandon Corn, 2. 88-Scottie McDonald, 3. 15T-Travis Elliott, 4. 35-Greg Rilat, 5. 4-Michael Miller. DNS: 8b-Bruce Crockett, d20-David Noker.

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 61-Travis Knighton, 2. 71-Channin Tankersley, 3. 3-Gary Watson, 4. 67-Rodney Henderson, 5. 93-Chris Sweeney, 6. 12-Shawn Mize.

Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 31-Brandon Berryman, 2. 1-Rick Behr, 3. 21T-Tommy Bryant, 4. 20-Terry Monroe, 5. 80-Michael McNeil, 6. 30x-Bean Elliott.

"A" Feature (25 Laps): 1. 71-Channin Tankersley, 2. 3-Gary Watson, 3. 31-Brandon Berryman, 4. 15T-Travis Elliott, 5. 93-Chris Sweeney, 6. 74-Brandon Corn,
7. 21T-Tommy Bryant, 8. 4-Michael Miller, 9. 80-Michael McNeil, 10. 12-Shawn Mize, 11. d20-David Noker, 12. 67-Rodney Henderson, 13. 30x-Bean Elliott,
14. 61-Travis Knighton, 15. 8b-Bruce Crockett, 16. 1-Rick Behr, 17. 35-Greg Rilat, 18. 20-Terry Monroe, 19. 88-Scottie McDonald.

ASCS Gulf South Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Chris Sweeney 828, 2. Gary Watson 826, 3. Channin Tankersley 800, 4. Greg Rilat 796, 5. Travis Elliott 749, 6. Tommy Bryant 735, 7. Brandon Berryman 734, 8. Brandon Corn 732, 9. Travis Knighton 675, 10. Terry Monroe 664









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