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by Kevin Oldham

The KO Interview With Paul Hazen is Here

The KO Interview With Eric Gordon is Here

The KO Interview With Jiggs Thomason is Here

The KO Interview With Greg Staab is Here

Steve Lafond and I arrive at one of the world’s most exciting dirt track venues.

Volume 12, Number 10

Happy Place

After twelve seasons of blogging, anyone subscribing to my long-winded publications should be fully aware that USAC Indiana Sprint Week is my favorite time of the year. Far better than Christmas or my birthday, my personal zenith is that happy place where on the darkest days, I can close my eyes and revisit time and time again, instantly making me feel warm and welcome. Rare, extended time off from work is scheduled around this festival of sprint car craziness and special home preparations allow for overnight guests from out of town. Without a care in the world, all else is ignored during this oasis, so if some major world news broke during Sprint Week, chances are I wouldn’t have any clue whatsoever.

Unfortunately, that was then and this is now, as for the first time ever, that carefree, happy-go-lucky feeling that accompanies my “summer solstice” wasn’t present, and for good reason. If I were to categorize my life as a wheel, that wheel contains several spokes that are ultimate keys to stability and satisfaction; namely family, health, career, finances, female relationships, and a little bit of spirituality as well. When just one of those spokes is bent, my wheel becomes wobbly and can upset even the most sacred season.

Forever the glue that has held the Oldham family together, there is no doubt that my mother is truly a saint. Giving birth to seven children (including two sets of twins, back-to-back) and adopting one, over the years she happily sacrificed everything for her kids, and I mean everything. Turning seventy in January, one would never have known it, as she is in such great physical condition, fanatical about her daily aerobics sessions. One could say that I was in disbelief after receiving that early Sunday morning phone call a month ago, informing me that mom was in the hospital for something that could be very serious. An extremely private woman, out of respect I will refrain from divulging the specifics, but I will say this, that family spoke has been harmed, heavily impacting every aspect of my environment since receiving the gut-wrenching news.

The prospect of losing one or both of my parents has forever been a paramount fear. Although inevitable, irrationally it was always something I had hoped would never get here, with little comprehension of how I would ever handle such flow of emotions. Although she is willing to bravely fight her ailment for her eight kids and husband of fifty-one years, here that fear was, staring me right in the face. For the majority of the two weeks after that phone call, on the outside I may have appeared just fine. But on the inside, it was a completely different story. I was and still am a mess.

Yes, my zenith may have arrived, but it was impossible to even think about enjoying something as frivolous as sprint car racing. In my formative years, my hard-working father was an influence, but not like my mother, who was there all the time and instilled so many values and beliefs that have stuck with me. Honesty is always the best policy, treating others like you want to be treated, not saying anything if you don’t have anything nice to say, being polite and offering thanks, the power of prayer, and learning to live just one day at a time, those are examples of things burned into my brain because of my mom.

Babying each one of us with all kinds of benefits, when my precious summer break would come to a close, I would never want to go back to school, feeling so sad in those final days of freedom. Call me a mama’s boy, but even when it came time to go away to college, I felt the same way, living a sheltered life and still unable to fend for myself. But, there my mom was, offering encouragement and reminding that sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to do, as they will only make us stronger. While putting in my time in Muncie, not only did I figure out that I really liked the music of RUSH, but I also religiously read National Speed Sport News and Open Wheel from cover to cover and learned a lot about racing. Thanks to my mom who had mailed them to me, for sure they helped transport me to my happy place.

Always wanting to see us Oldham kids smiling, happy, and well-fed, although I never heard her say it, I know that she would insist that I forget about all of the stress and sadness surrounding her health. Similar to packing my belongings for my first semester in Muncie, for my own mental stability, attending and attempting to enjoy Indiana Sprint Week was a must. Obeying one of those life lessons she taught me, I needed to visit my happy place to further spread my wings, move forward, and gain strength. As if I hadn’t done so already, it was time to make something of my own life.

Facing the possibility of an equally life-changing event last summer was Ded Ringer drummer and worldly-acclaimed racing photographer (www.tohf.com) Steve Lafond. Breathing some invigorating Indiana air, indulging ourselves with superb pre-race morsels, sampling some salivating Indiana Sprint Week action and arriving home to tilt back a few shots, it was a cathartic experience. And by the time that Steve arrived back in San Jose, his problems had miraculously been remedied. Could the healing powers of this happy place have such a positive effect?

Reserving space at Chateau Oldham one year ahead of time by leaving behind a pair of muddy tennis shoes, I was hoping that The Animal’s return would result in a similar change of fate, but this time for yours truly. Arriving on a rainy Thursday afternoon, after scooping up Steve we trekked far northeast to the unassuming, tiny town of Perkinsville for my all-time favorite eatery: Bonge’s Tavern.

As far as eateries are concerned, Perkinsville, Indiana’s Bonge’s Tavern is my ultimate happy place. (Steve Lafond photo)

On a normal Friday or Saturday in the summer, this place is jumping, as people tailgate in the parking lot while waiting for their name to be called. Thinking that a rainy Thursday wouldn’t be so busy, of course I was wrong, turning into a two hour wait made shorter by a couple of beers and surprisingly, Indiana Sprint Week discussions with other Bonge’s patrons who had actually heard of such places as Gas City. I know that Steve was starving, but so was I as I eagerly anticipated the lettuce wedge with homemade bleu cheese dressing, ultimately deciding on the signature Perkinsville Pork from the chalkboard menu. Steve was unwavering in his commitment to the 14 ounce New York Strip decked out in demi-glaze and bleu cheese crumbles.   Deviating from my usual dessert decision of sugar cream cake with whipped cream and warm blueberry topping, I finished the feast with my first-ever helping of dump cake, containing cherries, pineapple, coconut, and pecans, topped with some sort of a brown sugar coating and whipped cream. Great food in such an unusual setting created a night to remember, a wonderful way to kick off Sprint Week 2010. Even though the racing had yet to begin, reserved for special occasions Bonge’s is also one of my happy places, already making me feel a little bit better about life.

Friday July 9

After one more half-day of work on Friday morning, whether I liked it or not, the 23rd edition of Sprint Week was finally here, so it was up to me to make it a worthwhile experience. As difficult as it is to follow up any dining event post-Bonge’s, Friday’s fueling came courtesy of the Friendly Tavern in the quaint community of Zionsville. My Cajun prime rib sandwich with horseradish sauce was worth coming back for. Steve sank his teeth into the mammoth Co-jack burger (voted Indy’s best), reminding me of one of my mom’s monster creations.

Soon enough it was time to embark on the one hundred minute journey to Dearborn County, firing off the most memorable nine days of the year. With Little D.O. along for ride, we piled out of the VehiCross and encountered legendary USAC backer Brent Goodnight, also finding former Kokomo cohort “Coach” Randy Moss up from Florida. It just wouldn’t be Sprint Week without people like Brent and Coach in the house.

Always enthusiastic and full of energy, Lawrenceburg Speedway promoter/operator Dave Rudisell stopped his ATV to shake hands, still anxious about what the western horizon had in store. Ignoring whatever weather odds there were, I never hesitated in making the trip but Dave was obviously in a pickle. Overnight and morning showers added even more water to the complicated equation that is Indiana dirt track preparation. Make it too wet and it’s hard to pass. Leave it too try and the racing will be better, but so many of the fans will complain about dust. What to do…what to do. As my mom always told me, you can’t please everybody.

Dave Darland and Brian Cripe are animated in their celebration after an opening night Indiana Sprint Week victory.

Expecting no more than thirty cars given the somewhat weaker USAC sprint car counts of 2010, I was pleasantly surprised by the opening night number of 42, especially given the fact that Lawrenceburg’s monster banking and high speeds tend to scare off the little guy. About a half-dozen of the local contingent did support Sprint Week’s lid-lifter, but only a quartet from the left coast invaded; a far cry from the late 1990s when this was a vital stop in summertime Midwestern tours.

Matt Mitchell hauled Maxims all the way from Yorba Linda, California with Nic Faas assisting in the attack. Visalia walnut farmer Greg Bragg was back for another Indiana outing for Sprint Mart’s Mark Deskovich, as were NorCal’s Keith Bloom and Bud Kaeding, the latter in a Maxim with Davey Jones calling the shots. Also back for more was folk-hero Daron Clayton, engaging with Sam Brooks in an eleventh-hour thrash to ready a 2007 DRC chassis. Working into the wee hours in the days leading up to Lawrenceburg, after moving shock towers and finishing up an engine at Dave Conn’s J&D performance, they were buttoned up and ready to roll by 2:30 on Friday afternoon.   Binghamton, New York’s Coleman Gulick was here for a few events while Darren Hagen, absent from most dirt sprint events this year, landed a ride in a DRC owned by Steve and Carla Phillips.

Mirroring Midget Week, group qualifying was a Sprint Week first for USAC. As a traditional fan, it just didn’t seem right to me. With a handful of cars on the track at the same time, confusion reigns. You don’t know who is fast, and it’s almost anti-climactic when you do find out who is. In my mind, there’s something about the sights and especially the sounds of one car racing against the clock to see who is bravest. USAC certainly has a good thing going with Sprint Week. I know the goal is to try and speed up the show and save the track surface that withers in daylight savings time, but why try and reinvent the wheel? When doing the math, 40 cars with four laps apiece for group qualifying is twice as much wear and tear on the track compared to 40 cars with two laps apiece. So where is the logic?

On a wet and clumpy surface that demanded all kinds of courage, Baldwin Brothers bandit Justin Grant was fastest overall from the first session, clocking in at 13.367 seconds. Also touting top-six times were throttle jockeys Bobby East (from session two), “The Savage” Kurt Gross (session four), Damion Gardner (session two), Levi Jones (debuting eye-catching red, white, and blue STP livery), and Blake Fitzpatrick (session one).

Levi Jones and Dave Darland have at it during the Lawrenceburg feature.

Just like last year, qualifying exclamation points were provided by an unlucky pair, this time both numbered twenty-seven. Assisted by Indy Race Parts proprietor Bernie Stuebgen, Anderson, California visitor Keith Bloom, Jr. biked up high, tumbled up the banking and bounced off the fence. Knocked out for a brief moment, Keith would later visit a local hospital to get checked out. He would return to action two days later with a brand new Maxim chassis, but for the latter half of Sprint Week, he would wing it in Ohio.

Once a Golden stater but now a Hurryin’ Hoosier, Lawrenceburg point leader Andrew Elson had seven race Sprint Week plans. Jim Forman led the Elson effort, formerly guiding John Wolfe and Scotty Weir through thrilling 2005 and 2006 Sprint Week performances. After sprint car Sophomore Andrew two-wheeled turn one, Jim would be forced to re-evaluate, as a long and vicious flip all the way to turn two ripped front torsion tubes from the Maxim frame. Before bolting back to his Carmel compound, a gimpy Elson was spotted up in the stands.

Before Sprint Week heat racing commenced, USAC’s microphone master Rob Klepper gave a brief tribute for a fallen friend. Receiving a text message just two days prior to Friday that we had lost Paul Wilson, when combining this terrible news with my mom’s condition, it was almost too much to take. I had known “PW” since the mid-1990s, never encountering anyone who owned such pure passion for loud music, Mopar muscle cars, open wheel racing, and Colts football.

Honest to a fault and continually challenging me to do my best in objectively covering sprint racing, the former Paragon street stock star could literally do anything he set his mind to, dabbling in all forms of motorsport media outlets. Truly one of a kind, I was stunned to learn of his serious health condition just a couple of years ago. Running into him this past winter at a Monday night radio show, he seemed to be in both good health and spirits, talking about all the projects he was involved in. Equally stunned to hear of his passing, the racing world will certainly miss his presence, as I know of few who had as many interesting and intriguing stories to tell about some of the most famous people in our sport.

Jon Stanbrough led all thirty laps at Gas City, his first of three Sprint Week wins.

Always willing to go the extra mile for his friends, something that became especially evident when I was going through a divorce, I’ll never forget a Monday night radio show many years back when I encouraged him to do a smoky burnout in the parking lot with his bad-ass 1970 Dodge Dart. Unbeknownst to either one of us, a police officer was patrolling the area, immediately flashing the cherries and berries and putting a halt to the showboating. I felt completely responsible for the outcome, but as it turned out, Wilson talked his way out of a ticket. With so much more wide open living to be done, it’s hard to believe that Paul left us at the age of just 48. Maybe one day, I’ll have to forego Bloomington and Gas City for a trip to Attica, just to appease Paul because I know the next time I’ll see him, he’ll ask if I’ve been there. I miss you already PW.

In an attempt to produce multiple grooves, post-qualifying Rudisell and his small staff bladed from the middle to the bottom and packed the you-know-what out of the top. Even with all of the extra work, Hunter Schuerenberg (Rock Steady 35), Chris Windom, Tracy Hines, and Jon Stanbrough still won each of the four heats from the front row. Sullivan’s Chase Stockon broke while leading heat three and would finish one spot out of a B-main transfer. After missing the cuts in their heats, top-six qualifiers East, Gross, and Fitzpatrick earned A-main passes through the B, with big names like Jerry Coons, Jr., Hagen, and Kaeding failing to crack the top-six. Jerry and Casey Riggs would cash provisionals for A-main access.

Prior to the sprint car finale, Bob and Monica Clauson awarded Dave Rudisell a sack full of cash donated by the Lawrenceburg caravan of campers, a way of saying thanks for not charging for everyone’s electric hook-ups. Truly a classy guy, Dave said he’d be donating the money to charity. Seriously, you’re going to have to invent ways to not like Dave Rudisell.

Pushing off before ten PM, because three of the quick six transferred through the B, that meant eleventh and tenth quick John Memmer and Brady Short would share front row seats. Unfortunately for Gross and two-time Midget Week champ Shane Cottle, they were unable to make the initial start.

As expected, the first lap of 2010 Indiana Sprint Week feature action was frantic. John Memmer led first, but second row starters Dave Darland (debuting a new DRC for Matt and Gene Goodnight) and Levi Jones waged war on the west end, adding Damion Gardner for a three-wide mix. Jones diamonded three and four and cleaned off the left front of Matt Mitchell’s machine. The ensuing chaos crashed Chris Windom into the turn four wall while Riggs climbed Jeff Bland’s wheel and dumped ass over teakettle down the inside of the front chute. Without steering, Mitchell mangled his Maxim after kissing turn one concrete.

Normally mild-mannered, one could literally hear the drama unfold as Matt hustled over to turn three to say hello to Mister Jones, rattling his roll cage and beating on the top of his helmet. In the process, Levi landed a blow or two of his own. A lap had yet to be completed and blood was already boiling. What a way to start off Sprint Week, eh?

Shown here at Gas City, Haubstadt winner Blake Fitzpatrick is always hard on the hammer.

Despite repeated attempts to make the track more maneuverable, passing still came at a premium come feature time. With the groove moved just halfway up, June 5^th winner Memmer led most of the way with little trouble. Levi and Dave tested reflexes in a battle royal, intensely exchanging the show position a couple of times. Darland eventually pushed wide in turn two and Levi had to lift, allowing The People’s Champ to pull away and slide Short for second in three and four.

The absolute class of the field, about two-thirds of the way through Memmer began to encounter heavy lapped traffic, at one time splitting Ricky Williams and Jeff Bland and seeming to have everything in hand for his first USAC victory. Like my mom always said, “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch”, as John’s evening would soon go up in smoke when his power plant puked in turn one. Leading the first 24 laps, one can definitely say that his Lawrenceburg Sprint Week performance will finally overshadow his embarrassing Danville debacle of 2009.

Darland inherited first place and sprinted to his series-leading fourteenth Sprint Week victory, also becoming the winningest USAC sprint car driver at The Burg. Brady Short and Bobby East wound up on the podium, with Bobby’s right rear tire losing all of its air afterwards. Even if he wasn’t racing with the lead pack, Levi Jones still wound up fourth while his points protagonist Damion Gardner followed immediately in fifth. Despite the difficulty in overtaking, Hunter Schuerenberg managed to move up twelve spots from his 18^th starting position. Clayton gathered six in his romp from 13^th while Grant, Fitzpatrick, and Clauson rounded out the top ten. Bland, Hines, Coons, and Stanbrough were still running but were not a factor.

Receiving a big ovation, Darland told Rob Klepper, “The racetrack here at Lawrenceburg is just a blast to come race on. It was way shorter around the track tonight than I’d like it. I like it when we were up against the wall a few weeks ago. That was a blast but tonight was a blast also. We were passing some good cars for the lead and too bad for Memmer. He had a good run going and something happened to his engine. I couldn’t do it without my team. Brian Cripe does a great job. I have to thank Rodney Reynolds and Matt and Gene Goodnight, the car owners. They give me a great racecar. That was fun!”

“Running good in all these Sprint Week races is a necessity. It’s what we’ve got to do. Luckily, I have a good team to drive for. This is a brand new DRC tonight. I’d like to thank Joe Devin at DRC for giving us a good racecar – not giving it to us – but selling it to us. I should also mention the CSI shocks…this was just a good racecar – a blast to drive. I’d just like to thank my team for the opportunity and thank everyone for coming out. We’ll see you tomorrow night!”

A Sprint Week winner here back in 2008, Brady Short continued his superb 2010 season with a second place run, commenting, “My motor started getting hot. It got to 300 degrees. They don’t run very well when they get that hot. It was kind of losing a little power up on the cushion so I thought on that last restart that I’d try something on the middle and bottom. But Darland’s just good when there’s a cushion. He can roll around there. He’s been doing this a long time so it’s pretty cool. We’re going to try to do this whole Sprint Week deal. Like I told these guys, if we just go out and qualify in the top ten, make all the shows and finish them, we should be there in the end.”

Perhaps a surprise to some with his third place effort, ever since Bobby East branched out into dirt sprint cars at the beginning of 2009, he’s looked very sharp, especially on Lawrenceburg’s lightning-fast banks. He described his evening by stating, “That was a lot of fun. The car was really good all night. The motor ran good. My wife and my dad have been my crew this whole summer. Evan (Avart) said he wanted to come along for Sprint Week and he did a great job. I want to thank my mom. I think she’s still up there in the stands. I just want to thank the fans for coming out too. This was a lot of fun!”

The first wave lap of Sprint Week took place at Lawrenceburg Speedway. Look at that crowd!

Asked if he thought he had anything for Darland, Bobby bantered, “I did actually. But then I had seen that my water temp was pegged.   For a few laps I was right there but it just started laying down. I’ve got a flat right rear up there. I don’t know if it was that or if I was low on fuel or the motor.”

A solid show completed at 10:33, the Cincinnati experience even came complete with a Batesville stop for Skyline Chili, where a late night snack consisted of two cheese coneys and a regular three-way. No, it was not quite the In-N-Out urge, but with all that shredded cheese on top, I’d bet the calories were close.

Saturday July 10

After enjoying such generous meals on Thursday and Friday, I felt inclined to sweat off a few of those pounds prior to our Saturday departure. Here for just the weekend, Steve decided to take it easy, napping on the couch when he was so rudely interrupted by a loud smack against my front door. Curious as to what the commotion was all about, he found a small bird lying on my porch while a much larger one flew off into the distance. Stunned and paralyzed from the huge hit, the injured bird actually allowed Steve (while wearing my gardening gloves) to pick it up and nurse its limp legs back to life. Eventually the little feathered friend awakened from its stupor and trotted off to a nearby nest underneath a neighbor’s bush. A gentle giant, just call Steve the bird whisperer, but the whole ordeal is a reminder that sometimes we might just need a helping hand. That, and life is far too precious to give up and let slip away that easily.

Extremely satisfying was our pre-race, red meat treat at Longhorn Steakhouse. Washed down with ice cold Sierra Nevadas, I later showed Lafond my unique selection of county roads and state highways en route to Gas City’s sprinter in the sky. It sure felt weird touring these same back roads on a Saturday, but this was Sprint Week after all. Everything is different during this time of the year.

Here’s the feathered friend that Steve Lafond nursed back to life. Do you believe in miracles?

Arriving about thirty minutes prior to hot laps, as if Lawrenceburg wasn’t crowded enough, Gas City was simply jam packed. Announced as the largest crowd in the relatively short history of the facility, a standing room only sign would send some away. Everything, from the restrooms to the concession stands, was maxed out. A good problem to have, I wonder what the solution is if Sprint Week’s popularity blossoms? In order to avoid the necessity of putting down blankets days beforehand, I’d like to see every bleacher seat sold as reserved. That sure would make it an equitable situation for everyone.

Arriving far too late for a decent front stretch seat, I reverted to the pits, which was also packed but wasn’t quite as cramped. Literally bumping into “Bullet” Bob Ream, Jr. along the way, the Arizona sprint car chauffeur was here for first time, dodging dark dirt clods to protect his precious chicken strips and deep fried mushrooms. As I’ve forever maintained, Gas City has some good eats.

Saturday’s population of 44 sprinters was best of the seven nights, with approximately nine new contestants making roll call. One of them was west coast point leader Mike Spencer, who made his Sprint Week debut in a Scooter Ellis Twister supported by Sam Pierce Chevrolet. Claiming his first I-69 score back in May, former UMRA and NAMARS royalty Travis Welpott turned into a spectator after engine issues were encountered in hot laps.

The Elson Motorsports tow rig was a late arrival, quite shocking to see them back in action so soon. Letting the team finish up last minute preparations before inquiring of the magnitude of the thrash, that sort of passionate Indiana Sprint Week spirit from a small team had not been experienced in quite some time.

In speaking to Jim Forman, he admitted, “Oh yeah, it was an all-nighter. My dad (Skip) came down and helped us. We had Bill (Elson). My brother Rich stopped by and helped for awhile. They helped me until about 7 in the morning and then they went home. I went home at 8 o’clock in the morning, took a shower, laid down and took about an hour nap. I got back to the shop at about 10 and finished it up. It got to be about quarter after four and I said we better load the racecar up. We jetted up here and we had a few things left to do. We had to bleed the brakes, clean the nozzles, and put a rear bumper on it. The racecar really wasn’t finished until about 45 minutes after we got to the racetrack.   We missed hot laps because the fuel was shut off. We went out in qualifying and turned eleventh quick. I know I’m tired (laughing).”

“From the front motor plate and back, everything was good on the other car. We took the rear end and the rear arms from that car and put them on this one. It was basically disassembling the old car and putting all the good stuff on the new car. We threw a new front axle in it and new front arms and here we are.”

A recent Carmel High School graduate, not to mention Lawrenceburg and Gas City point leader, young Andrew Elson said, “I’m sore and tired. My knee feels a lot better. It just banged the steering box when we were flipping upside down there. In time, it will get better. It’s the only thing that’s hurting right now. It’s still a little tender.”

“I honestly don’t know what happened. We came off of three and four and it was hopping a bit. So I was like, I’ll take it into one and two and see what it feels like. I was upside down before I ever knew what happened. We’re a little depleted on the energy right now. Maybe after a good night’s sleep we’ll feel like we really came together as a team and really accomplished something. I think for right now, our Sprint Week schedule is a little more limited. We only have one more car and we don’t have the funds to keep racing it.”

Setting a one-lap record in time trials one year ago, Bryan Clauson was again quickest of all in the sixth of seven sessions. Daron Clayton, last year’s winner Levi Jones, April winner Tracy Hines, Mike Spencer, and Darren Hagen landed in the top six.

Standing room only, there was not a seat to be had at Gas City I-69 Speedway.

After another Paul Wilson tribute, this time by “Dirt Track” Danny Williams, nail-biting heats were won by Stanbrough (from fourth), Windom (from second), Grant (from first), and Coons (from second). Choosing to be either a hero or zero by riding high, Critter Malone climbed a wheel and soared through the eastern sky, crashing hard on the other side of the banking. After some work, Malone’s small squad was eventually able to roll his DRC into the trailer. Jeff Bland, Jr. was the biggest mover and shaker, coming all the way from eighth to a transfer position while his Bedford buddy Brady Short actually had tasted Gas City success for once. Tracy Hines stole fourth from fellow New Castle native Kyle Robbins with a scintillating high side heist on the final turn of the final lap. Additional drama unfolded when Levi Jones moved Bobby East out of the way for fourth in heat three. Perhaps for Sprint Week, my mom’s golden rule is not valid.

An insane 27 car B-main was next on the card, a forty-five minute affair filled with seven yellows and one red. East, Cottle, Ballou, and Hagen were the biggest names to miss the cut but Greg Bragg did surge from 13th to 6th. Some beating and banging from Casey Shuman (Gorby 1G) and Chase Stockon on the track led to some heated words off. Just like it was reminded in the heats, Sprint Week has never been a time to win friends.

Even though top and bottom lanes were toured in the semi, prior to the sprint finale track officials still felt it necessary to render an extensive “Jack Himelick” maneuver to the black gumbo. According to my infield informer, you should have heard the whining from selected heroes about such surface resuscitation. Because three men ahead of him competed in the consy, ninth quick Jon Stanbrough would end up on the pole for the feature. His fellow front row mate was Brett Burdette, whose appearance outside of Dearborn County was rare.

Owning a full-straight advantage almost immediately, The Silent Gasser was into lappers early, his familiar Foxco 53 serving as the proverbial hot knife slicing through all that butter. A Bud Kaeding spin off the top of four kept the leader honest at lap twenty, but it wouldn’t be enough to prevent further annihilation. With ten remaining, Burdette, Hines, (Mike) Spencer, and Jones were finally able to read the numbers on the tail tank of the leader, but that’s as close as they would come. Half-tracking the field in the final sprint and literally stinking up the show, Jon kicked ass and took names later, making up for a disappointing 14^th place start to Sprint Week.

Burdette backed up as the top finally came in. Hard to keep track of all the insanity behind Jon, Spencer, Hines, Jones, Weir (Simon 22), Clauson, and Clayton dipped and dived for second. A Hines and Jones rub slipped Spencer into runner-up status and landed Levi on the podium. Tracy and Scotty (from 12th) scored crucial top-fives while Clayton, Clauson, Coons (up seven) Burdette, and Windom were sixth through tenth. Last night’s winner Darland struggled to a sub-par 15th.

Jon told Rob Klepper, “It really was (smooth sailing). A couple of lapped cars just had a little bit of trouble, but it wasn’t too bad. I’ve got to thank Steve, Brad, and Tim. They did a helluva job on the setup tonight. Garret – from CSI shocks. Tom Chalk with his Chalk Stix. Simpson. Hoosier Tire. Just everyone who helps us out, I’ve got to thank them. I really appreciate all the fans who come out and everybody that cheers and yells and screams. We couldn’t do it without you, so thank you!”

“It started to slick off there towards the end but even when I got in the slick, the thing still drove through the corner good and came off the corner good. They got the car dialed in and we stayed out front all night. We definitely needed that to rebound from our finish last night. But you know, like I said about last night to a few people, we’ve got a strong team. Nobody ever points any fingers at anybody. And we showed that we’re a strong team when we can rebound from bad finishes.”

Excited about his runner-up placement, Cal-Poly Pomona engineering grad Mike Spencer stated, “This feels awesome – to come out here and run second here at Gas City. The last ten laps were really fun! We got into lapped traffic there and kind of moved up to the top. My car was just really good up there. We got a little loose on the bottom so I had to move around. I’m just happy to come back here and run really good. Indiana Sprint Week is so tough and that’s what brings everybody out here to watch and participate. I just want to thank all the fans for coming out tonight. Congratulations to Jon Stanbrough and I’ve got to thank my car owner Scooter Ellis and Sam Pierce Chevrolet – they’re helping us out this week. It’s kind of just me and Scooter, riding to the track in the truck. Richie Brannan is helping us with the engine.”

After a rough Thursday in Brownstown, Kevin Price and Dave Darland enjoy some Friday morning fishing from the pond of Rodney Reynolds. (Chris Hoyer photo)

Levi Jones squeezed out a third place finish and claimed, “It’s just tough to start in the third row when they work the track like that. But there was no dust and it was hard to catch the 53 in open track. We just got together with Tracy, vying for the same real estate. That let Spencer get back around us. We had a pretty good car but I’d give anything to start the thirty laps over on this track right here. But we’ll take it. We’ve got a pretty good Sprint Week going – two races out of seven. We’ll go to the car wash, do it all over again, and see what happens tomorrow night.”

Done at 10:45 and wading through a parking lot atmosphere that better resembled Woodstock rather than Sprint Week, rather than party Steve and I had our own adult beverages awaiting back home, hoping to toss back a few and toast to some rather righteous digital images. Unfortunately for the legacy of Tear-Off Heaven Fotos, his head-on shots from qualifying weren’t up to the site’s lofty standards, but the disappointment did not stop us from making the Crown disappear. Heck, there’s always hope for tomorrow and not getting that eye-popping, perfect shot is reason enough for Steve to return next year.

Either way, this sure beats Baghdad.

Sunday July 11

A lively and massive Bub’s Café brunch set the tone for Steve’s final day of his much-abbreviated 2010 Sprint Week tour. Obviously my eyes were much bigger than my stomach on Sunday morning, as a slice of quiche (real mean can and do eat that sort of thing), a large bowl of fruit, and three Bub holes made me wave a white flag halfway through one massive strawberry pancake. Even though I didn’t box up the remains, I know my mom still would have been proud to see her youngest boy attempt to eat that much.

Able to enjoy three new speedways after absorbing the final four Sprint Week stops of 2009, Sunday night’s venue was the primary reason for Lafond’s first-half decision. Leaving by four put us up in Howard County before five, but that still was not nearly enough time to snag a decent parking spot, as the south lot was yet again filled to the brim with the caravan of campers.

Without question the most anticipated event of the seven race tour, Kokomo Speedway grandstand seating was as equally tight as the parking lot. Thanks to Tom Percy’s blanket placement at 10:30 AM, I actually owned a seat on the front side, but it’s hard to fathom that 140 less people showed up this year compared to last. Either way, it seemed like half the world was here, which included former Eric Shively crew member Kevin Bodine, whose son Cole finished third in a wingless 600cc mini sprint at Logansport the previous evening. Of course Cole’s machine is propelled by a Shively Racing Engine.

Making the short tow across U.S. 35 and state road 22, Sprint Week standings were tight as they prepared for steel cage match sprint car racing. Levi led by twenty over Jon and Daron, who were locked up for second. Twenty-five markers behind were Hines and Darland, also joined at the hip for fourth. A fine field of 41 featured no new players over the first two evenings.

I’ll continue to rant that I’m not a fan of group qualifying, but when you can view the times on a scoreboard like the one in K-town, it actually can be very exciting.   Breathtaking was more like it, as the track was simply perfect. Blake Fitzpatrick broke his own USAC one-lap record in the first session, but the king of Kokomo qualifying had something left to say. Ultimate record holder Daron Clayton (12.510, set on 9/11/05), who battled the stomach flu for the first half of Sprint Week, retained his royalty status with a scorching 12.620 circuit. No wings? No lifting? No worries for the Modern Day Cowboy.

Once a Sikeston, Missouri resident like Clayton, Hunter Schuerenberg kissed concrete in session three, unable to record a lap until a special two-car corral was held at the very end. After some quick repairs were made, he clocked sixth quickest, still looking for a feature win since 2008. Under overcast skies, the top-ten dipped underneath thirteen seconds, with The Demon, Coon-dog, and Jonathan Hendrick joining Clayton, Fitz, and Hunter in the quick-six club.

Andrew Elson is about ready to go for a big ride in Lawrenceburg qualifying.

Short, Stanrough, and Darland scored popular heat wins from the front row while a motivated Gardner, who has suffered through a couple of K-town B-main meltdowns in the past, won his from sixth. With limited calamity, that allowed the heats to finish before 8 PM. Even without the mayhem, they were still edge of your seat affairs, as four of the quick six failed to transfer. Perennial Sprint Week stud Levi Jones got crossed up while dicing with Coleman Gulick and had to come from the B.

A clear indication of what would be on tap later, the twelve lap last chance affair saw Schuerenberg launch over the mound of dirt that had accumulated atop turn two, inverting on top of Gulick while scrapping for sixth. Both were ok, even though Hunter’s wheels came awfully close to Coleman’s helmet. Fanning four wide for the final transfer, the action was so close that Mike Spencer, who was officially scored seventh, was awarded an A-main pass because four officials saw him as sixth. And here I thought electronic scoring would solve those mysteries! Matt Mitchell manhandled his machine from seventh to fifth in last two laps.

After the second of two stock car features was checkered at 8:49, for the third night in a row the question was: should they water? I could see Reece O’Connor mulling it over, making the call to break up the crust at turn one’s entry but add no H2O. The brief intermission certainly served as the calm before the storm, as there was absolutely no way that these guys could behave that well for an entire Kokomo Speedway Sprint Week battle.

Twelfth and tenth in time trials, Windom and Hines were up front for an A-main that pushed at an efficient 9:15. Lots of heavy hitters began in the back, specifically rows nine and ten that contained Ballou, Clauson, Darland and Stanbrough. A winner here the previous two Sundays, Chris initially led Tracy s and Bobby (East) along the bottom. While living the high life, in five laps Coons had climbed from eighth to fifth place in the Hoffman Maxim, hauling ass around Hines to take third just two laps later. Second at lap ten, a supreme launch off corner two propelled him to the premier position at the eleventh tour. Amber bulbs illuminated when Daron Clayton did a donut, but for some reason Da-Ron would not get his spot back.

When going back to green, sprint cars fanning five wide at Kokomo was a first for me, as Fitzpatrick, Hines, East, Gardner, and tenth starting Levi Jones got after it in a big way.   As the top groove continued to be pounded into submission, Jones took advantage of aggressive infield tire placement to take the shortest route to third. With fourteen laps left, Bud Kaeding spun, now noticing that 16th starting Short was slotted in seventh and Stanbrough in eighth.

Thinking back to that calm before the storm, this is when the winds started to become more brisk. Immediately after that caution, Jon juked up to fifth place while Bobby moved from fourth to second by stepping upstairs. Unfortunately, saying hello to Fonzi caused East to blast the southeast concrete, teetering to a Tommy-tipover. With nowhere to go, Damion Gardner snagged him with his right rear and was violently tossed upside down, zinging his Shaver to the redline and spewing some oil. On the opposite end, Clayton’s flaming 92 was extinguished by photographer Chris Pedersen.

The second shot in the Elson sequence. Hang on!

Coons, Windom, Jones, Stanrough, and Hines were top-five material with twelve to go. Continuing to show how low one can go in Kokomo, Jones came out of nowhere to shock the world with his surge to first with eleven remaining. Short followed the STP special on the bottom and snatched fourth from Stanbrough. Coming all the way from 22^nd, Shane Cottle and his “little” engine proved it could still get the job done, moving Jon back to sixth. Trying so hard to make the high groove work to no avail, The Silent Gasser exceeded turn four’s boundary and landed his DRC upside down. Again, Clayton was on fire but was able to restart.

Seven circuits remained when Dave Darland and Robert Ballou had a meeting of the minds on the north end of town. With front and rear ends damaged, Robert sat helpless on the back chute when Jeff Bland, Jr. wedged his whip into the turn four fence. While making the long walk back to his pit, The Mad Man spotted The Rave and stopped to have a heated discussion, pointing his finger in the cockpit several times, surely a no-no for the partisan People’s Champ crowd. After an impending war with Dave’s son Trenton fizzled, Ballou politely smiled, waved to the crowd, and escaped the mob with a ride on a four-wheeler. Given the mature nature with which he handled himself after the discussion, perhaps behavior consultant car owner Dallas Mulvaney was rubbing off on Robert’s actions. Either way, tempers almost always flare at the Kokomo Sprint Week stop.

Two laps were left when Darren Hagen smacked the wall and inverted in one and two, resulting in the fourth red of the feature. Try as they may, but nobody could lasso first place from the bottom-feeing Jones, who celebrated with a HUGE wheelie in front of the massive mob.

Up fourteen spots, Brady Short impressed with his run to second. Windom wound up on the podium while Cottle (advancing 18) and Coons completed the first five. Darland (up 13), Clauson (up 11), Fitzpatrick, Hines, and Clarke (up 14 from provisional land) were scored sixth through tenth. Heading into the two day break, Levi continued to hold the Sprint Week lead by 32 over Short and 36 over Darland.

His sixth win of 2010 and making a bold statement in coming from tenth to do so, Jones commented, “Yeah, I guess we didn’t block anybody tonight. We started tenth and were able to get the win. There’s a lot of happy people on this team. There’s new paint for this week with STP. It’s great to carry on a winning tradition with STP. There’s just a great group of guys at TSR that work just as hard as everybody else. Sprint Week is just the best time of the year. It’s great to see record crowds. Let’s keep it going!”

“You never know at Kokomo. The tires aren’t in the same place every week because they’re not mounted in certain spots. You’ve just got to race the racetrack plus all forty guys. I think I’ve only won once or twice here at Kokomo and it’s just great to be here in victory lane. I grew up racing with Jeff Walker and to beat him, he (Jeff) wouldn’t even let me come here and race at the old Kokomo because I tore up his car every time. It’s great to win here tonight. I’ll see you in Terre Haute in a couple of days.”

Stealing second place from Windom on the final lap, Short stated, “These guys work hard. We want to come here and try to win Sprint Week but if we can’t, we want to run top-five. Our goal this year was to win the Sprint Week title. Our worst two racetracks were Gas City and Kokomo and we got out of here with a second. We probably would have been better at qualifying but my throttle kept sticking. The spring came off the motor and it was kind of scary driving around this place with the throttle sticking but hey, we put on a helluva show for the fans and that’s all that matters!”

I wonder what Keith Bloom, Jr. was saying at this particular moment?

Windom wound up third and wagered, “Everyone was kind of fighting for the bottom there at the end and I tried to get a run on Levi down the back stretch and put it into one a little too hard and Brady got under me. Good job for those guys. I’ve got to thank all the fans for coming out and Jeff Walker, my dad, Hoosier Tires, Murray’s Body Shop, Claxton Engines – everybody that helps us. Hopefully we can keep clicking off better finishes than we got the past two nights.”

Back at a decent hour but still needing to unwind, Steve and I toasted for one last time as we salivated at the Sunday night snapshots. Time does indeed fly when you’re having fun, as before we knew it, the clock read one AM. After three and a half days together, I was reminded that another mandatory spoke in my wheel is quality friendships and camaraderie.

Special times with special people. That’s just one enticing aspect of the Sprint Week experience.

Monday July 14

Up at 4:30 to leave for the airport by 5, I was surprised at how easily I awoke after only a few hours of rest. What wasn’t easy was saying goodbye, but a planned California excursion in mid-August for a Ded Ringer concert and GSC round in Placerville made the bitter pill a little easier to swallow.

Back at home by six, I literally laid there for sixty minutes but could not sleep, making for a brutal Monday which were my final hours at the office until the following Tuesday. Later that day, a special Sprint Week edition of Racin’ with D.O. was co-hosted by the current non-wing sprint car king of media Sean Buckley. USAC’s Kevin Miller, Jason McCord, and Jason Smith talked shop in front of the largest crowd of the year, making me feel like our show was back where it belongs, at least for one night. Say what you will, but Racin’ with D.O. has always been the voice of Indiana racing.

Running on fumes, I called it an early evening, as J.J. Hughes helpers Tom Percy and his western PA/Southern California confidant Loren Hill followed me to Carmel. Hill’s early Tuesday morning Sprint Week exit to PA was made much easier by my I-465 proximity.

Tuesday July 13

Beginning my break from the bean counting ball and chain with another Bub’s breakfast, I was surprised at the crowd for just a Tuesday morning. Does anybody in Carmel work or are they just independently wealthy? Given that my traditional Tuesday gym routine would have to come before a late afternoon North Vernon departure, this time I went conservative on my consumption.

After a huge Kokomo win, Levi Jones reminds us why he is a perennial Sprint Week stud. This time, he’d have to settle for second in points.

An unsanctioned sprint car meet paying $3,000 to win and $200 to start, Twin Cities Raceway Park promoter Mason Fleetwood planned this event in the winter months, hoping for an influx of Sprint Week participants and fans, later asking USAC if they’d like to have the date and the track to host an eighth evening. Unfortunately for the Fleetwoods, none of the above occurred, as only 24 sprint cars showed and a minimal percentage of the camping population made the drive down from Kokomo. On the other hand, people like Ohio’s Dave Wood, Jon Stanbrough’s first Silver Crown owner, used this date as the kick off to a mini Sprint Week for him and his wife.

A Tuesday night outing did not necessarily jive with the Indy working folk, but a respectable crowd did come from the surrounding counties to take in a rare sprint car meet at what was once arguably the premier Sprint Week stop. With Uncle Tom acting as chauffeur in his Suzuki rental ride, dark skies to the south made the drive down 65 iffy. Arriving just before the scheduled hot lap commencement, we found damp grounds, humid air, and just two push trucks packing the showered surface.

One of those two vehicles had a bug shield that stated, “Up Your’s at Hill’s 4x4”. Shaking my head at such a sight, I enjoyed the irony of the slogan, but I couldn’t get past the poor grammar. Perhaps I should have been an English teacher, but the word “yours” does not require an apostrophe. Why do so many people think that a word ending in an ‘S’ requires an apostrophe? It drives me bananas (not banana’s). Perhaps both grammar and spelling are a lost art in Southern Indiana, as the Lawrenceburg Fire and Safety Crew misspelled a local legend’s name while scraping mud from the concrete walls. Holding the modern day record for consuming the most beers in one sitting, 1999 Lawrenceburg track champ Pete Abel’s last name was spelled “Able” – perhaps on purpose just to annoy him. I had to chuckle and wonder though. At least Pete’s former co-car owner Rodney Reynolds got a huge kick out of the entire spectacle.

By 7:13, the first cars took to the speedway for additional wheel packing, ready to qualify at an astonishingly late ten till 9. Being used to a timely show the first three nights, Tuesday magnified the difference between official Sprint Week status and unofficial. About all I could say on Tuesday night was that it was a good thing I didn’t have to work in the morning! Single car qualifying (one lap only) lined up the heats, as the locally owned ride of Hunter Schuerenberg (Hank Byram 35) qualified quickest overall at 13.97 seconds on the super-heavy surface. Byram’s Majestic Electric was responsible for revamping the lighting here way back in 1999.

Leaning against a substantial cushion of clay, Casey Shuman (Cooke 4G), Greg Bragg, and Dickie Gaines (Roberts/Tate 21x) would win the trio of heat races from either the first or second row and as a result, would begin from the front of the feature. Kent Christian (Wingo 4) bagged the B and would start near the rear. Renting A.J. Felker’s Triple X chassis for the evening, mini sprint veteran Seth Motsinger was a wild man in the B, nearly taking out the field twice, the only car left running to not crack the A lineup.

After an 11:01 wave lap, Ethan Barrow scaled a wheel and dumped the Mickey Smith 14, but soon thereafter Shuman led from the pole, with Gaines and Brady Short (from fifth) briefly battling for second place. Brady’s stump-pulling engine began to smoke as the top three raced in close proximity, dodging dirt clods just as much as watching the action and taking notes. Pelted a few times on the arm and leg, I did manage to spot Short slipping underneath of Shuman in corner four. But as the laps wound down, the audio coming from beneath the hood of the Indiana Stone Works Maxim became distorted, losing one or more cylinders and allowing a full straight lead to vanish into thin air as a huge cloud of smoke signaled an end to the evening for car 36.

Levi’s sharp looking STP ride gained big bite off Kokomo’s bottom.

Having moved his way underneath of Shuman, Dickie Gaines inherited first place, possibly facing heat from Keith Bloom, Jr., who had scooted up to second with an outside sweep of Shuman in one. Casey recovered the runner-up position while Bloom backed up, as Schuerenberg crushed the cushion and acquired third in his romp from tenth.

A late race caution bunched the field and although Shuman tried low one more time, it was not enough to stop Dickie from finding victory lane for the fifth time this season. Shuman, Schuerenberg, Bloom, Riggs, Bragg, Mark Perry, Christian, Gross, and Dakota Jackson trailed the 2001 KISS champion.

Knowing that there is no love for one another after a recent Bloomington Speedway outing when Brady blasted Dickie in an interview, when asked in victory lane what he thought of Short’s engine going up in smoke, Dickie replied, “It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.”

Even though this wasn’t an official Sprint Week stop, the surface was heavy, an underdog ended up scoring big, and there was a little controversy with the winner’s interview. It may not have been a night to remember, but at least I had four more nights to look forward to.

Wednesday July 14

Talk about an odd way to start the day…

While working on the computer around 9:30 AM, I was startled by a very loud pop that sounded extremely close to my back door. Unsure if it was a bunch of kids playing with fireworks or if it was actually an explosion of some sort, as a genuinely concerned homeowner I peeked out my patio door and spotted thick, black smoke pouring from the home located across my backyard pond, with the windows curiously open on an already muggy morning. My next door neighbor was already on the phone, dialing 911 and about five to ten minutes later, firefighters were on the scene, successfully dousing the flames and keeping the structure intact. Still unsure of what started it all, shortly thereafter the mystery started unfolding when police and fire personnel pulled out the infamous white sheet, covering the body of the man who not only set his house on fire, but shot himself to death.

It’s hard to imagine what was troubling the man who lived alone, having only seen him on his riding lawn mower and smoking cigarettes on his back deck. The harsh reality of it all was bone-chilling, first worried that someone was losing his/her home and then shocked to learn that the owner actually took his own life. Hearing how police had been called to that particular address 29 times over the last few years for various domestic disturbances, regardless of the issues that led his demise, after learning in the last few weeks at just how precious life is, it’s hard to fathom why anyone would feel the need to end it all so suddenly. What a waste.

It’s rare that I ride to any Sprint Week round by myself, but after clearing the air regarding the backyard mystery, TP soon bolted to Columbus to ride over in the Hughes hauler while Little D.O. made plans with a few of his Pedersen pals. My dad even bailed, but I was cool with it, enjoying some alone time on I-70 and eventually meeting up with Speedway dentist to the stars Dr. Tom Lucas. After a stop in Danville, Sullivan, Illinois Caterpillar retiree Wendell Smith soon joined the fun.

Successfully avoiding the five dollar parking fee by walking across the bustling U.S. 41, of course my destination was the festive atmosphere of the Vigo County Fair, where plenty of track preparation was still ongoing from Kokomo Speedway’s Jared O’Connor and Track Enterprises’ Bob Sargent. Both groups willingly took over operation and promotion of the legendary facility from Action Promotions partners Mike King, Davey Hamilton, and Brian Dorsett after their fourth member Chris Novotney quit following the Hulman Classic debacle. Soggy through the middle with dryer patches high and low, as it turned out those dry spots were deceiving, a result of the water truck only being able to make it three-quarters of the way around the half-mile before running out. Due to fair activities, O’Connor and Sargent did not get access to the Action Track until Monday evening, somewhat late in the game to prepare for such a big event. Yet, these pros still managed to pull it off. That would not have happened with the previous regime.

After sprint cars ironed in the rest of the slop, hot laps at quarter till seven had engines screaming for the fine field of forty, bringing three Krockenbergers, Mitch Wissmiller, Robbie Shuttleworth, Brandon Mattox, and Hud Cone (Pollock 21) to the Sprint Week party. Because the timing loop was severed, to much fanfare it was announced that single car qualifications would be back for one night. With solid track prep, no support classes (the only track having the guts to do so), and the correct form of time trials, I could already tell that this was going to be a good evening.

Mister Excitement when it comes to qualifying, sixth in line Daron Clayton did not disappoint, the only man to dip into the 19 second bracket. His head-spinning 19.773 tour was nearly three-tenths better than Dave Darland’s best. Gardner (using the same engine as Sunday), Jones, Windom, and Clauson copped quick-six times.

During his qualification attempt, Jasper, Indiana’s Adam Nigg became distracted by the flagman, trying to interpret whether he received the white or checkered flag. One lapse in concentration was enough to completely miss his entry to turn one, slapping the outer concrete which then led to a violent set of barrel rolls atop the barriers, eventually ending up completely outside of the joint. Nigg was spotted in the Tri-State Speedway stands on Saturday, giving his account to track announcer Jason Adams. Both Dave Merritt and D.O. Laycock scored incredible, multiple-sequence photos of the harrowing incident.

Jeff Bland, Jr. reaches for the sky at Kokomo.

By 8:30 PM the first heat rolled out, with winners coming from first (Gulick), second (J.J. Hughes), third (Stanbrough, who won by a half-straightaway), and second (Coons, who overtook Shane Cottle on the final go). Sideways exiting two, a B-main bobble by Jeff Bland, Jr. swallowed Tracy Hines, who was forced to utilize a provisional A-main pass. More watering and grooming came after each event, still happy with an effort that was world’s apart from my last visit.

Because Clayton, Gardner, Gross, Williams, and Hendrick failed to transfer from their heats, that sent eleventh and seventh fastest Henry Clarke and Jon Stanbrough up to the front row. This slight change in USAC procedure for 2010 sure has changed the outcome of so many features, some good, and some bad, depending on your allegiances. Remember what happened when Stanbrough last started from the front? Just as Doctor Tom said when I told him Jon was on the front row, it would be game, set and match.

As it turned out, it wasn’t THAT easy. Clarke led to turn one, but as expected Stanbrough stormed to first with a power move outside of two. Beginning fifth, by the end of lap one Levi Jones landed third, coaxing second from Clarke as he completed corner two. Third here in May, Darland also flexed his half-mile muscle, slicing from sixth to third and moving Clarke further rearward.

Levi and Dave managed to keep Jon in their sights, but it would only be Jones who would add stress to The Silent Gasser’s drive. Diamonding the east end, Levi launched extremely well from the moist bottom, politely not pinching Jon on the backstretch while inching closer and closer with each successive circuit. Breathing heavily down the leader’s neck, as he followed the Foxco 53 into one, Jones briefly hesitated to avoid contact, sending his Maxim up on two wheels. Slamming hard on the left rear, the impact sent his machine twirling into the concrete. Somehow landing on all four wheels and still on the gas, that spun him into a couple of 360 degree revolutions, smack dab in the middle of oncoming traffic. Just like Sunday night, Damion Gardner had no time to react, t-boning him on the left side and killing both cars. Bear in mind, these were the top two USAC points chasers, not to mention Levi comfortably led Sprint Week points as well. There would be no such comfort for the rest of the week.

Red lights were lit with 13 laps completed, as the new top-five contained JRS, Darland, Clauson, Windom, and Clayton. The green was out only momentarily as Robert Ballou suddenly slowed on the backstretch and was mauled by USAC rookie Ricky Williams, whose crash could have been much worse.

One more caution flew for a dead-in-the-water Shane Cottle and at the same time, Windom would exit stage left, giving up a solid fourth place. Owning a half-straight advantage at the end, Stanbrough’s chasers included Darland, Clauson, Coons (up six spots in his best Sprint Week run but also suffering a flat right rear), and Clayton (his best finish of the series). Hines would earn only national points in his tremendous charge from 23rd to 6^th. Gulick gained ten positions from 17^th while Fitzpatrick, Spencer (up ten), and Mitchell filled out the top-ten at a respectable 10:35 PM.

Celebrating his fourth Terre Haute Action Track victory with the United States Auto Club and eleventh overall at the famed facility, Stanbrough spoke of his late-race concerns afterwards, stating, “I know Dave (Darland) is good on the cushion. He’s good here. He’s good everywhere. He’s a great racecar driver. My guys were giving me some signals. One of the first signals they gave me told me I was pretty far out and the next signal I wasn’t so far out so I started running it a little harder. I ended up blistering both rear tires. I could feel it vibrating. I was trying to be as cautious as I could with the tires. It was shaking and I just wanted to make it to the end, so I babied it down the straightaways but ran the shit out of it in the corners.”

“I never touched anything or changed anything during the race. A couple of times I made some mistakes and changed my line accidentally but it was still good even when I made those mistakes. My hat’s off to Steve and Brad and Tim. I can’t forget all of the sponsors - Garrett at CSI, Desire at Simpson, Butlerbuilt, Hoosier, Jarvis Enterprises, and Foxco Motors. And I especially have to say thanks to all the fans for coming out tonight. We appreciate you.”

Runner-up Darland received a solid applause from the raucous crowd, telling them, “They were just good. Jon was fast. Steve and Brad gave him a good racecar. They were just in the right spot, starting in the front. When you have to pass cars, it makes it tougher. Sometimes it’s better to start back a bit so you can move around on the track and notice more about the track conditions.”

“My crew, Brian Cripe, Matt and Gene Goodnight, gave me a great racecar. The DRC chassis with CSI shocks and Claxton engine - this thing was fast. We had a pretty good night. To come out of here with a second place behind Jon, we’re pretty pleased about that.”

When told he had the Sprint Week points lead, Darland denoted, “It sounds good to me. I could use one of those rocking chairs. My ass is getting old and tired!”

Third place Bryan Clauson posted his best Sprint Week performance on Wednesday night, adding, “It was awesome. We didn’t need that last caution. We got to battling with Dave and cleared him off of two. They kind of got away from us there at the end. I can’t thank Scott Benic, J.C. Bayless, and everybody on this Rotondo Weirich Benic 2B enough. They did an awesome job. We had a brand new Gaerte power plant in it tonight and it ran awesome. We’ll go to Brownstown tomorrow night. Levi kind of gave us some life there in the Sprint Week points so we’ll get after this thing one more time.”

Tied for 5th in Sprint Week points, Brady Short won Brownstown and was runner-up at Lawrenceburg and Kokomo.

Given the disastrous nature of the previous 2010 Terre Haute outings, tonight was a huge victory for the future of the legendary Action Track. Bob Sargent and Jared O’Connor certainly came through in the clutch, as a limited selection in track preparation equipment and very small window for prep time couldn’t stop them from hitting a home run in front of the largest grandstand crowd I’ve ever witnessed. With new life breathed into the Terre Haute half-mile, that’s quite a contrast to how my day started. What a weird Wednesday it was.

Thursday July 15

Thankfully Thursday’s only bit of drama came in the form of on-track entertainment at the Brownstown Speedway, which I will get to in a minute. Again going solo and barely escaping scary looking storms that would later blow away part of the flowering shrub the shields my deck from the scorched home across the pond, by the time I crossed the Mason-Dixon line (a.k.a. Johnson County), skies were sunny and temperatures soared into the upper-nineties. And by the time I exited my ride, damn it was hot. Par for the course, it was Sprint Week hot.

My third trip to the Jackson County Fairgrounds and first since 2008; what an ideal environment to hold a Sprint Week stop, as people were spread out all over this tidy property for pre-race gatherings. I still find it unusual that they take your money as you pull into the parking lot. It’s a very good way to cut down on scammers, but it had to be a pain to administer with the huge throng who without a doubt arrived early.

Keeping up with the Sprint Week trend, 39 contestants would combat the wide confines of the stock car track, only the second time the USAC contingent has ever paid a visit. Adding local flavor, new Sprint Week players included Paragon regular Josh Cunningham, Bloomington’s Ethan Barrow, Columbus’s Logan Hupp, and Martinsville’s Lynsey Tilton (Felker 11). John Memmer and Scotty Weir were back, but Daron Clayton and Darren Hagen were not, the latter for the balance of the series. Levi Jones was no longer in STP colors, having to break out his “Rat Rod” Eagle chassis with which he won the April Racin’ Fest at Putnamville.

In an attempt to save the surface, practice actually started at seven. Despite looking damp, you can’t judge a book by its cover, as the dirt was packed way too tight and blew dust by the first heat.   Back to group qualifying, from the second session California transplant Justin Grant was quickest in Kenny Baldwin’s 5, tying Brady Bacon’s one lap mark from 2008. His 14.305 tour bested Andrew Elson, Gardner, Windom, Jones, and Clauson.

Bright sunny skies quickly turned to overcast, but the clouds did little to aid the parched playground. Mandating safety goggles to see from my turn one vantage point, seven cars went it at hot and heavy for the win in the entertaining third heat, as Jones (from fifth), Short (from fourth), Coons (from second), and Windom (from sixth) took top honors. Virtually all of the moisture had vanished, a far cry from 2008 for which I maintain were the best set of preliminaries I’ve ever witnessed. After promising a solid surface in the days leading up to the event, announcer Chris Nunn said that a complete rework was upcoming once the lone undercard (mini sprints) concluded their heats.

Unfortunately, those brooding clouds kept their cover and with rain reportedly on its way, night number five was suddenly sent into “hurry-up” mode, unable to squeeze in a surface revamp. After timing 27th, missing his cut through the heat, and being buried in the B (inside row six), I’d bet Dave Darland was doing a rain dance. Spun at the start by Robert Ballou, no doubt a payback from Kokomo, Dave kept the wheels turning and retained his spot.

For Darland and several others, this was a B-main from Hell, complete with five cautions and one red. Josh Cunningham climbed a wheel and spilled his Stealth in turn one. The Rave rallied and made a run for sixth before touching wheels with Hupp and looping the Goodnight/Reynolds DRC, later climbing the bank in the same corner as he tried the top. It would do no good. Tracy Hines prematurely pulled pit side and would pop his second provisional pill in a row. Mike Spencer spun in turn four and ruined his ninth-quick qualifying time, a similar scenario for eighth-quickest J.J. Hughes, who was eliminated from sixth after an inopportune bump from J.C. Bland. Timing third slowest in the field, Hud Cone was a different story, passing 16 cars en route to a transfer. Ethan Barrow eclipsed eleven and earned the final feature pass.

Having an up and down week for Jeff Walker, Chris Windom finished on the podium twice and wound up tied for fifth in points with Brady Short.

With some major lightning flashing on the western horizon, because Elson and Gardner came from the consolation and Spencer and Hughes missed it altogether, tenth and seventh fastest Short and Schuerenberg had the best view to turn one. Almost immediately, The Bullet and The Bear (Windom) locked wheels but kept going though the infield, although their association altered Elson’s event.

Short led the first two tours as the three-wide madness began behind him, with Clauson, Jones and Schuerenberg scrapping for second. Hunter and Levi soon scattered three-abreast for first, with the TSR 20 splitting cars 36 and 35 in three.

Tip-toeing on the treacherous top, as advertised Hunter “Percent” was giving it all he had, officially up front for the next four laps, again with continuous three-wide action for first. I have no idea how any scorer could tell who held first place at the line, but Jones would eventually pilfer P1 in three. With four scored, a Bryan Clauson broken front end gave the big banana back to Schuerenberg.

Three laps later, Jones would indeed lead low while his national points pursuer Gardner found fourth after firing from eighth. Two by two up front, the first four featured Jones and Windom on the bottom with Hunter and Damion on top. Up five spots from eleventh, Jon Stanbrough sneaked past Short to fifth, utilizing the previously unoccupied middle lane. I realize my eyes and my writing hand were getting a work out, but how in the hell was I keeping track of all of this? Information overload!

Stanbrough was without question coming but Hunter did not give up his patented high line, eventually eclipsing Jones, whose time in the limelight was all of four laps. Jon and Brady would join the unbelievable party up front, with the first six fitting under one hot, humid, and sweaty blanket. A slip over the backstretch bank by the silver 71 furnished fourth for Stanbrough. Schuerenberg duplicated Damion’s flub and donated first to Windom at lap 17.

The Silent Gasser continued to move forward via no-man’s land, advancing to third and second on consecutive circuits and setting his sights on the bottom-feeding leader. Off again on the back chute, this time Gardner came to a stop, as only eight laps were left in the thrilling affair, some of the closest and most competitive sprint car racing I’ve ever witnessed. Seriously, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen so many cars fighting for first place all at once. The naysayers can claim that it was at slow speeds, but the unpredictability moved me to the edge of my seat.

Restacking the deck with Windom, Stanbrough, Schuerenberg, Jones, and Short, Jon appeared ready to strike, but behind him Brady began making noise on the top shelf, a groove that I am certain everyone had thought was completely gone. Jerking fourth from Jones, he began to build momentum and stole third from Schuerenberg. Finding even more bite, perhaps by accident, Short slipped off the backstretch and began to close on second place. A duplicate line off of two powered him past Stanbrough once he ramped over the bank and reached turn three. Going wide over the front stretch, in the blink of an eye Short strutted out of nowhere to first place! Holy cow! The place was literally going nuts! Can you believe what just happened? With jaw opened, I was absolutely in awe.

Continuing to drift off both the front and back stretch, the former Brownstown modified regular, hailing from just down U.S. 50 in Bedford, easily led the last four laps in one of the most dramatic features I’ve ever witnessed. Windom and Stanbrough settled for podium placements while Jones and Schuerenberg were scored fourth and fifth. Six through ten included Jeff Bland Jr. (up 11), Ballou (up 13), Cone (up 14), Grant, and Gaines. Taking only two hours and forty minutes to complete the USAC portion of the program, the crowd literally erupted as Short climbed from his winning ride, having stormed from 18^th to 2^nd in the 2008 USAC Brownstown edition.

Nicknamed “Sweet Feet” because he knows how to work both pedals, Brady bellowed, “First of all, what do you think about me going to the top? That was kind of unreal on a black/slick racetrack. We took off there and I couldn’t get any traction on the bottom. I fell back to fifth. And you know, I thought, ‘I ain’t got anything to lose. I’m either going to run off the racetrack or I’m going to find something.’ I’ve run here for a lot of years back in the modified. I love coming to this racetrack. It’s a great racetrack. I was looking forward to coming here all week. I told these guys, if we can hang in there the first week, you know, with Gas City, Kokomo, and Terre Haute, we’d have a chance at this deal. So far, here we are.”

“To me, that was the best race of Sprint Week! You could run the bottom, the middle, and the top. And that’s what racing is all about. It takes a lot of talent to run on this type of racetrack. I love coming here. Hopefully we can come back here the next few years.”

Windom was second – again – wagering, “The car was the best we could get it for the track conditions. Brady found something at the end. I couldn’t believe it when I saw him flying around the outside. You know, we had a great car. I’ve got to thank Jeff and all my guys. Hopefully we’ll go out and get one tomorrow.”

Third place Stanbrough stated, “Yeah, after that last yellow, I was right on the outside of Chris and thought I could get him. Obviously Brady blew past both of us so fast that he sucked the paint off both of our cars. But you know, it was a good race, a good finish for us. Hopefully we moved up in the points a little bit. The guys did a great job on the car. Everything was great. It was just a slick racetrack tonight. Thanks to all the fans for coming out tonight.”

Waiting in traffic to exit the Jackson County Fairgrounds and reflecting on what I just saw, this was one of those nights you’ll come across once or twice in a decade. Again, what an unbelievable feature it was, especially given the worn out Brownstown surface. Completely unpredictable, that just goes to show you that traditional sprint car racing can often make lemonade from a sack of lemons.   And I just love the sweet taste of lemonade in the sweltering heat of Sprint Week.

Friday July 16

My nephew had unselfishly already planted seats in Bloomington while on his way to Brownstown, so I was in no real rush to make the sprint down south, spending some quality time with mom before my impending departure. Since I’d be passenger-free for the third night in a row, there would also be no flavorful stops for local cuisine, although Coby Smith had planted a Nick’s English Hut seed the day before. Unfortunately, there was no Coby confirmation, choosing the shortest route possible and overtaking MP Environmental truck driver Tracy Hines on the rather un-scenic state road 37 bypass, arriving in plenty of time to tour pit lane.

Rewinding to Thursday, it wasn’t the first time that Bloomington Speedway opened the gates one day early to let people put down blankets and lawn chairs. Initially I was in disbelief of Danny’s description, sounding more like the Oklahoma Land Rush or the releasing of the bulls in the streets of Spain, as people actually sprinted up the steep hill to get their first choice of seating. As I have previously mentioned, such demand is a good problem to have for Sprint Week venues, but I truly believe that an alternative plan needs to be in place next year so that the seating system is fair to everybody, including the average working stiff who might not have the luxury of touring the state by motor home and reserving seats ahead of time. Do I sound like a broken record?

Levi Jones enters Gas City’s turn three in style.

Like they say in the theme to Cheers, sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name and it always makes my day to receive such a warm welcome from Leslie, the lady who works the pit booth down here every Friday. Now that I think of it, Kokomo’s Chris Naranjo and Gas City’s Nona Thomason are extremely warm and accommodating as well, setting a positive tone before the evening ever starts. Thank you to these ladies for making a good trip even greater.

The second-largest Sprint Week sprint car population appeared at Mike and Judy Miles’s gorgeous quarter-mile, as 43 men and machines prepared to do battle, including a slew of eight Southern Indiana locals. Walking the pits under the unrelenting sun, the front of my shirt became sweat-soaked, finding point leader Levi Jones in his third car of the week, a standard 2008 Maxim. Back after one night off was Daron Clayton and back with a new attitude was Dave Darland and his Goodnight/Reynolds Racing team. After missing the show at Brownstown, “Fun First Racing” kicked back and decompressed on Friday morning, allowing Dave to catch ten fish in Rodney Reynolds’s pond. Throwing each one back, I have to wonder if it was the same fish every time that took the bait.

Surprised to find my father waiting for me in our “reserved” seating, we watched Bobby East end up fastest overall out of the fourth group at 11.244 seconds, attacking the top like there was no tomorrow. Clayton, Stanbrough (his best qualifying performance of the week), Gross, Coons, and Caleb Armstrong (also his best) timed in the top six. Showing well in Terre Haute and Brownstown, virtual unknown J.J. Hughes opened eyes with the eighth-quickest lap.

Enjoying a pre-race chat with long-time Bloomington Speedway announcers Pat Sullivan and Brad Dickison, after another Paul Wilson tribute by Pat (so fitting because B-town was Paul’s all-time favorite dirt track), Schuerenberg (from fourth), Short, Stanbrough (from sixth), and Holtsclaw (from pole) claimed heat victories. With traction vanishing in the extra hour of daylight, Short’s sprint from seventh was that much more impressive, employing all avenues. Receiving a text message from Tom Percy, I was informed that for safety purposes USAC was going to fine anyone $250 if they slipped off the edge of the track and immediately returned to the racing groove. Given that news, I was actually surprised to see so many teeter on the top.

Daron Clayton brought his car out of mothballs and was fast all week.

I completely concur with Brent Goodnight’s conclusion that both Gas City and Bloomington’s surfaces were most affected by the 2006 switch to daylight savings time. Doing the math on this particular evening, group qualifying may have saved some time, but if you double the number of laps of qualifying for 43 cars, that meant the red clay received 172 tours instead of the standard 86. Is it any wonder why the track went slick so quickly while broiling in ninety degree heat?

Slick or heavy, it’s the same track for everybody and as long as there are two lanes to choose from, that should be the main thing to worry about. Occasionally requiring patience and finesse, not all Sprint Week venues are hammer-down so to be king, you must master all of the disciplines. Bloomington’s course might just be the biggest challenge of all from the driver’s seat, but nobody ever said this was easy. Regardless, it still would have been nice for the guys to have that cushion to lean on later in the evening.

Chris Babcock tripped over the turn one curb and inverted his DRC while Jerry Coons, Jr. and Mike Spencer smoked engines. Unfortunately for Spencer, they would be done for the week. Falling out of the first heat, Jerry’s Hoffman squad had that engine swapped before the end of the fourth, but it was not without incident as Rob’s young son A.J. had to go to the hospital for some stitches to his forehead. Bryan Clauson also left a torque tube laying on the front stretch, requiring a thrash from the Scott Benic bunch to get the 2B readied for the B-main.

Once a Bloomington Speedway scorer way back in 1995, I did not envy the staff that had to keep track of 23 cars in just 12 B-main laps. With a small brown strip of moisture around the bottom of one and two and the backstretch, the patient line of four-time Sprint Week king Kevin Thomas was employed, allowing Jerry Coons to recover from the engine change and take the first of six A-main tickets. Last year’s Bloomington winner Clauson fell to ninth at the start but put on a passing clinic in rising to fourth. Greenwood’s Jared Harris hailed the final transfer.

Because of attrition (Spencer) and the fact that four of the top-six qualifiers had to compete in the B, Gardner and Schuerenberg shared the front row after timing eleventh and ninth. So accustomed to the former USAC procedure of getting one’s time back even after running the B, I’m still very intrigued by the new system. Even though I feel like the six-car heat race inversion is too lenient, it still emphasizes passing.

Stepping into the seat of Tony Epperson’s deuce for the second time this week, Schuerenberg led Gardner, Jones, Hughes, and East at the end of lap one. Making the middle lane work on the slick surface that was blackened from top to bottom, Jones strutted to second while fifth-starting Stanbrough regained his original position by slipping underneath Hughes.

Without a substantial cushion to kiss, Levi continued to explore the middle while Damion patrolled the bottom and applied heat to Hunter, hoping to exorcise his Bloomington demons. Meanwhile, that infamous white DRC was coming, coaxing fourth from East. Brownstown hero Short was mired all the way back in 18^th after starting 20^th.

Just like last night, the top four toured in two by two formation, curiously watching J.J. Hughes sweep past Gardner for fourth as he followed Levi through the middle. Sensing an upset of epic proportions, at this stage it looked like J.J. had the fastest chariot, enjoying a whiff of first place. However, it wasn’t enough to keep up with car 53.   Stanbrough secured second with a surprise tour of the top in turn two and by lap fourteen, his upstairs climb netted him first. Behind him, Chris Windom was doing some nice work in advancing seven spots to fifth.

Appearing that rubber was now being laid through that middle lane, a few too many slips outside of the grip caused Hughes to give up a few spots, spotting fourth to ninth-starting Sciscoe. As the laps continued to click off, Jon pulled away, but not too much as congestion allowed Schuerenberg to keep him in sight.

Leading 24 Lawrenceburg laps before blowing his engine, John Memmer came so close to a USAC victory.

Willing to follow Ricky Williams through the rubber, Stanbrough’s sizeable lead vanished with less than five to go. The final lap had Hunter pull to Jon’s rear bumper in turn four, but there wasn’t enough time for late race heroics as Stanbrough scored his third Sprint Week victory and fourteenth overall for 2010. Trailing the top two were Jones, Sciscoe, Gardner, Clauson (up seven), Windom, East, Hughes, and Darland. Green to checker, the feature was complete by 9:48, allowing all kinds of time for post-race partying.

With a mob of rabid Stanbrough fans chanting “Jon is King”, I could barely hear him tell Pat Sullivan, “I was trying to figure out if they were booing me or if they are cheering me, but at this point, I really don’t care. Everybody that is here and everybody that is booing, I’m just happy that you’re here and that we put on a helluva show for you tonight. Thanks to Mike Miles for giving us a great racetrack to run on. Thanks to Steve, Brad, Tim, Garrett, and all of our sponsors – again. Here we are for the third time in victory lane for Sprint Week. I can’t say enough about my team. Man, we’re on a roll right now.”

“Standing here, I forgot that I hadn’t won a Sprint Week or USAC event here. Yeah, it’s great to get that off my list. I’ll have to go through another one and see what else I’ve got to accomplish before I end my career. Hopefully I’ll be here for another ten to twenty years.”

Describing his charge to the front, Jon said, “I was very patient. I knew that the car was going to come to me. I just had to find somewhere that was good for me. Guys were running high and low and the middle was the only open spot. There’s been several times when I’ve been able to make that work and towards the end, it started to lay real rubber down coming out of the corners. It just snugged the car up a little but we held on.”

Reflecting on the years that have passed, Stanbrough waxed, “I had minimal success in my own car and quite a lot of success with the other car owners. You know, the Law Brothers, Paul Hazen, and the Hoffman team. When I got in the 53 car, the very first time I sat in it, I won the feature. Matter of fact, I won the second feature we ever run. It’s been a great combination. I can’t say enough about them.”

Second place Schuerenberg had his best showing of Sprint Week, admitting, “I’m getting tired of getting beat by that 53 car here, but those guys are good. They deserve to win. They work hard. I’m happy with our finish tonight. We haven’t won in awhile but I just thank God every day that I’m able to be out here racing with these guys under the circumstances. I’m happy to be here and thank my sponsors Epperson Painting, Majestic Electric, Simpson, and Butlerbuilt.”

Third place Jones spoke of the big picture afterwards, noting, “Yeah, third is not bad when you’re going for the championship. I sure wanted to win. We tore up our good car, the only one that we had that we thought we were going to do anything with. I probably destroyed it, but we pulled this one out from ’08 and put it together. With another night, I think we can move up another couple spots. We’re in the hunt for a championship after seven long, hard days. Congratulations to the Fox guys and Jon. They were pretty good on a track that was hard to get a hold of.”

Bryan Clauson worked hard for his third place points finish, perhaps passing more cars than anyone.

With six of seven rounds complete, it would be another epic battle for the Sprint Week crown in Haubstadt, as Levi led Jon by a scant seven points. With such excitement in store for tomorrow, is it any wonder why this week is my ultimate happy place?

Saturday July 17

Back from his extended stay in Columbus with the Hughes family, uncle Tom (Percy) graciously agreed to drive his rental car the whole way to and from Haubstadt, showing him Paragon Speedway and the scenic state roads of 67, 57, and 168 during the daylight. For once, I could play passenger and eye all the things that I cannot when behind the wheel, leisurely wandering Indiana. One Spencer stop for liquid refreshment, a downpour just beyond Worthington, and several inconsiderate Saturday afternoon drivers caused us to arrive at Tom and Loris Helfrich’s Tri-State Speedway a half-hour behind schedule.

Adding Kyle Cummins and his WolfWeld chassis to the list of Sprint Week contestants, by no surprise only 33 cars showed, rather traditional for the final stop of the tour. Sticky and sunny in the southwest corner of the state, as always a seat was saved by Wendell Smith, actually finding plenty of open spaces on the front side. If Sprint Week standings were based solely on time trial results, Justin Grant might just be king. His 13.137 lap was at the top of the heap, but Daron Clayton should also be given kudos for timing inside of the top-six for five of his six outings. Fitzpatrick, Gross (inside the top-ten in four of his six appearances), Hines, and Stanbrough were third through six.

Placed in the same session as Jon, Levi chose an inopportune time to struggle, unable to do any better than 17th. Robert Ballou caught his right rear in the turn one cushion and flipped, immediately bolting back to Fishers. Unable to make the Gas City feature, finishes of 19th, 20th, 22nd, 7th, and 18th summarized the sub-par Sprint Week for MPHG Promotions.

Kokomo offered plenty of lanes to choose from, with three, four, and sometimes five-wide action!

After additional surface preparations wowed native Kiwis and first-time visitors Alan Rush and Wayne “Mags” Nicholson, Levi Jones added two more points to his margin by winning the first heat from second. Schuerenberg and Ricky Williams also won theirs from the outside of row one, the first time all week that Williams transferred through a heat. The fourth heat needed five attempts to cleanly reach turn one, but The Savage still won from sixth. Keeping his title hopes alive, Stanbrough narrowly reached the feature by slipping underneath of Short in the final turn of the final lap in a stacked second heat.

A slim thirteen car consolation contained heated combat for the final transfer between Cullman, Alabama’s Kevin Thomas, Jr. and Hud Cone, who was back in his own comfortable Dynamite chassis. Penultimate lap contact led to a dirty turn one slider from KT, shoving Cone out of the way. Seeing red and immediately countering, The Ice Cream Man did not lift at turn three’s entry, aiming for and leaning on Thomas’s white nine. Climbing Kevin’s left front and wickedly barrel rolling four times to the turn three fence, Hud swept Matt Mitchell into the mess and rivaled Adam Nigg’s Terre Haute tumble for the most violent Sprint Week calamity. Standing at his trailer in a state of shock, Cone surveyed the damage as countless crew members stopped to examine the wreckage and check on his condition. With engine nearly ripped from the chassis after breaking all of the bolts out of the rear motor plate, both car and human body were in bad shape, as it was later learned that Hud suffered a broken collarbone.

The stage was now set for the final Sprint Week battle. Using quite a bit of vacation from his Lafayette CSX rail yard duties, before the festivities ever began “Railroad” Joe Higdon boldly predicted a Tri-State triumph for seventh-fastest Dave Darland, who wound up on the pole after Justin Grant came from the consy. Stanbrough was alongside Darland, needing to finish four spots ahead of Jones in order to claim his second crown. Given last year’s down-to-the-wire title fight between Jones and Clauson, it wouldn’t be easy, as you had to know Levi would have his game on, thriving under pressure and motivated to move forward from his 15^th starting spot. In this neck of the woods, the crowd loves Levi and Levi loves racing at Haubstadt.

Reaching the top of turn two first, Stanbrough paced the first lap, but chaos soon consumed the rest of the field. Beginning 13th, Clauson looped it in turn three while ahead of him, Clayton was crossed-up exiting turn four and ignited a huge chain reaction that would ultimately alter the Sprint Week outcome. Daron brushed the right rear of Brady, flipped the Bedford Blaster on his lid, collected Coons, and bottled up a few more victims. Attempting to miss the mess, Jones clipped Clayton’s right rear, the connection dramatically tossing his TSR Maxim upside down on the front stretch. Knocking the driveline out of the car, Levi knew his Sprint Week was over, walking the front stretch to a huge applause. Credited with last place, Jones would need a miracle if he were to collect a record-tying fourth Sprint Week championship. With Clayton out of action as well, all Stanbrough needed to do now was simply finish the race. Talk about buzz kill, the thrill of the Sprint Week title fight was gone.

Sensing the switch to survival mode, Dave immediately slid Jon through turn three to snatch first place. Fitzpatrick flew to third by overtaking Hines and Gross in one fell swoop. Jeff Bland, Jr. stopped after an out-of-shape experience exiting turn two and caused caution, with the retirement of Thomas clinching at least a tie between Stanbrough and Jones.

The People’s Champ and The Silent Gasser pulled away from the pack when action resumed. After his first lap tour of the spin cycle, Clauson was already up to 13th and began to make a statement around the infield markers, moving up six more spots by lap 13. Kyle Robbins was the fourth car to pull to the infield at lap 14, effectively wrapping up the second Indiana Sprint Week title for Jon.

Halfway through, Fitzpatrick continued to flex his Tri-State tendons, powering underneath Stanbrough through three and four. Jon battled back in one, but Blake returned the favor on the back chute. Taking no time at all to chase down Darland, the middle lane worked well for the West Terre Haute terror, wrenched by Jake Argo and coached by Norman “Bubby” Jones. Twirling on the south end with eleven to go, Casey Riggs caused caution number two.

Restacking a deck containing Darland, Fitz, JRS, Hines, and Gross, the black ten immediately attempted a slider in two to no avail. At lap 20, Blake tried the bottom of four but didn’t have enough to get the job done. At lap 21, it was the same thing. Clauson continued his forward progress, marching to fourth on lap 24 when hauling past Hines.

Flying high on the healthy cushion, Darland still led but faced even more pressure from Blake’s bottom-side bursts. Laps 26, 27, and 28 had the recent high school grad giving the Lincoln legend grief, finally completing the deal with a tidy turn four slide job. Dave’s front end pushed in one and the chase was over, eventually nipped off the final corner by Stanbrough. Darland settled for third while Clauson and Gardner filled out the top-five. Hines, Gross, Windom, Schuerenberg, and Holtsclaw procured positions six through ten.

Earning a huge hug from Jake Argo, Fitzpatrick climbed from the cage of his Terre Haute First Financial Bank backed Hurricane to bask in the glow of his first-ever USAC sprint car victory, his second-ever score in a sprinter. Appearing in shock of what had just transpired, Blake told Jason Adams, “How about that shit? On the bottom!”

“Pinch me! I don’t know what to say. I got one other win at Putnamville. This is it. That’s all I’ve ever won. This feels pretty good. I’ve led quite a bit. The story of my life is that I lead a lot and then mess up but I didn’t really mess up tonight. I’ve really got to thank Bubby Jones for sticking behind me. I know I haven’t won a lot but he’s kept pushing me. He said he needed some money so we’ll give him some.”

Initially thought to be second but later scored third, Darland divulged, “Haubstadt is just a bitch sometimes. When they tear it up and redo it four or five times a night, it’s hard to keep up with it. It’s fun to come here. You always have a nice cushion to run. That’s just a blast. My car was good up against the cushion there. When I had clear track, I was running pretty good. I could see everything. But as I started to catch up with lapped traffic, I just couldn’t see the mark. When it’s that close to the wall and that tall, you’ve got to be able to see exactly what you’re doing, and I just couldn’t do it. Blake was good tonight and obviously just a little bit better than we were. But my team gave me a good racecar with Brian Cripe and the Goodnights. We’re just glad to be here and having a lot of fun.”

With those same Stanbrough fans from Bloomington making the trek down to Haubstadt, all kinds of noise was coming from the front stretch fence. All smiles and appearing so relieved to achieve his second Indiana Sprint Week championship, Jon mused, “You know, I’ve got to say, that was probably one of the most up and down points battles that I’ve ever been in. EVER in Sprint Week. I kind of wrote it off after the first night after finishing so bad. Then we won the second night and I thought, ‘Well, we’re here.’ Then I made a mistake and turned the car over in the feature at Kokomo. From then on out, I was just like, ‘Whatever it is, it is.’ We just kept pounding the dirt. We never gave up, won some races, and had a few more good finishes. We were able to capitalize on all of that and pull the win out.”

Shown here at Gas City, despite rough rounds at The Burg and Kokomo, Jon Stanbrough was a model of consistency.

Complimented as the King of Indiana by Adams, Jon deflected the praise by stating, “Well, it’s just not me. It’s my team. It takes a team to win races. I don’t know how consistent you’d say I’ve been during Sprint Week because like I said, we started out pretty rocky. We won one, had another rocky finish, and then we got pretty consistent. Levi was very consistent too but he had a couple of bad nights – same as us. I really wish he was out here to compete with us. That would have made it a better battle. But things happen and I guess it just wasn’t meant to be for him but it was for us.”

“Steve owns the car and Brad, both brothers, take care of the motor and the car. CSI builds a helluva shock for me. Desire at Simpson always takes care of me. Hoosier Tire. Chalk Stix. Butlerbuilt seats – man, those seats make me so comfortable in the racecar. And, especially all the fans for coming and sticking through all these Sprint Week nights. I know it’s been blazing hot. I really appreciate you.”

Finishes of 14th, 1st, 22nd, 1st, 3rd, 1st, and 2nd wrapped up the 2010 title in what is looking to become another career year for Stanbrough. Aside from Terre Haute and Haubstadt crashes, Jones had an unbelievable week, finished no worse than fourth, but still had to settle for second in the standings. Clauson’s incredible Haubstadt charge netted him with third in the Sprint Week war, scoring up and down finishes of 10th, 7th, 7th, 3rd, 23rd, 6th, and 4th. Darland was fourth while Windom tied for fifth with Short.

“King of Indiana. King of Indiana.” That was the chant heard from the stands as Jon posed for photographers, sitting in the high-dollar (valued around $3500), custom-crafted rocking chair donated to the Sprint Week winning car owner. Hoisted on the shoulders of those crazed fans, I honestly have never seen a bigger smile on Stanbrough’s face, clearly touched by such enthusiasm for his success.

Done before ten PM central time and filled with energy, the return home on U.S. 41 was punctuated by the most incredible lightning show I have ever witnessed on a nighttime drive. From west to east, gargantuan clouds contained all kinds of activity, with occasional bolts striking the ground, eventually running into rain between Vincennes and Terre Haute.

Relieved that I did not have that make that long journey from behind the wheel, the 2 AM arrival time required Tom and I to say our goodbyes before getting some shuteye, as he had to leave awfully early to make a pre-7 AM flight. I was really too tired to feel the separation anxiety and realize the finality of such a setting, but my happy place of Sprint Week was now behind me, forced to face the music of going back to work and the reality of growing older and facing some serious family health issues.

In hindsight, Indiana Sprint Week made plenty of memory bank deposits. Outside of racing, it all began with a fine meal at my favorite establishment, followed by a bird flying into my house but being rescued back to life, capped by a neighbor setting his house on fire and taking his own life. Temperatures and humidity were high, racetrack attendance reached record numbers, car counts exceeded expectations, and the on-track action was crazed, although not quite as intense as years past. As always, the Sprint Week cream rose to the top, as veterans like Darland, Stanbrough, Jones, and Short made the most noise, but the young guns like Fitzpatrick, Memmer, East, Clauson, Windom, Schuerenberg, and Hughes made their presence known, a true microcosm of the Indiana scene.

An up and down points battle came down to the wire and the refusal to give up the fight gave Jon Stanbrough a shot at his second title, despite things appearing quite bleak after a sub-par performance in Lawrenceburg and a Kokomo crash. If I could take anything away from the week, it would be that despite a stacked deck of odds, one should never surrender or give up hope.   Especially with the weird stuff that went on behind my home, I was reminded of how fragile and fleeting life can be. Needing to live every day like it were my last, how many times do I need to remind myself that I should be treasuring each moment spent with loved ones? And just like that bird that crashed into my door, if someone needs a hand, I should not be afraid to step in and insist upon helping those who do not want to be helped. Trust me, that hits closer to home than you can ever imagine.

Yes, there were plenty of lessons to be learned on this escape from reality. But when it was all said and done, unfortunately my problems did not magically disappear. A trip to my Sprint Week happy place sure did add some perspective though, making me realize that some solid food, good racing, and time spent with great friends are some of the best medicine for rebuilding inner peace and fortitude. Life is filled with so many twists, turns, ups, and downs that you’ll never know what’s around the corner. And regardless of what’s around the corner, as long as I have a happy place to turn to, at least I can make a brief escape and begin to feel better. Until next July, the thoughts, visions, and glowing memories will have to suffice.

Check out the tilt of the engine in Hud Cone’s car after his Haubstadt crash. Brutal! (Tom Percy photo)

Volume 12, Number 9

Serenity Now

Two and a half days away from work might as well been one entire week or month.

The inevitable Monday morning return from Midget Week was an eye-opener, inundated with hundreds of e-mails, nagging personnel problems, and other assorted requests, filling the rest of the week with hours and hours of meetings and ultimately realizing how I’d be forced to alter my Sprint Week vacation time as well. By Wednesday I felt like my brain was locked in a vise, squeezed so tight that I could not prioritize even the simplest of tasks. Needing to work longer hours yet still unable to get caught up, exercise may have helped relieve some of the stress, but by the time I arrived home to truly relax, I was completely zapped of any creativity in fulfilling my writing responsibilities. Trying to do it all and then some, welcome to my world of middle management in corporate America.

As the years go on, I’m finding it even more difficult to blend the lives of the accountant Kevin Oldham and the racing personality you know as KO, as there just isn’t enough time to do both. I tend to use this blog as my vehicle for venting, but ever since I can remember, I’ve never been able to enjoy life when I have a huge workload hanging over my head. Already scrapping Friday and Sunday evening sprint car opportunities in order to get my writing and even the most basic household chores completed, somewhere in between I knew I needed a peaceful, extended break from the insanity.

I had thought about simply taking a seat out on my deck and under the umbrella, staring out across my backyard pond, but that setting was too close to the keyboard. I also proposed getting the blood flowing by going for a long bike ride on the Monon Trail, envisioning what it was like tour that same Chicago to Indianapolis branch via passenger train way back in the day. Recalling a similar ride on Memorial Day two years ago, sans cell phone I ended up having to walk my bike back seven miles after suffering a flat at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. As it is most of the time, for a real break I jumped in the car, rode sixty to ninety minutes, and arrived at a local Indiana dirt track, absorbing the sights and sounds of some feel-good sprint car action. That usually helps me forget about my problems, at least for a few hours.

Sunday nights at Kokomo tend to put me in the right frame of mind for the upcoming work week, but in the Indiana sprint car community, I can think of no other place that has as much of a calming influence as the placid Paragon Speedway. I don’t know what it is about the area surrounding state road 67 southwest of Martinsville that trips my trigger, but it just tends to soothe my soul. Bordered by rolling hills and wooded areas to the northwest, the ensuing flat farmland filled with endless rows of corn is eventually interrupted by the serpentine swath of the White River valley. As my friend Kevin Bledsoe once stated, “It’s God’s Country down there.” I think he’s right on the money and that’s certainly one of the reasons I prefer that particular path to Haubstadt.

Sprint car racing like it used to be, it’s no stretch of the truth to reiterate that Paragon Speedway is a time capsule. In this ever-changing world, it’s comforting to know that there actually are a few remaining things that do not stray from long-standing expectations and perceptions. When I pull into the parking lot, plop down some dollars at the admission booth, hike up the steep incline, and look down at the freshly-mowed hillside, beyond the Southern Indiana clay all that green and gold seems to stretch to infinity and beyond. That hasn’t changed since I first started coming here in September of 1988. For others, they’ve enjoyed that scene decades longer than I have.

Peering to the left, of course the most obvious feature of these grounds is the pond that sits in between the front and back stretch. I’ve only seen two cars get wet here and both happened on the same September evening in 2004. Twenty-two years later, the ultimate depth of the “drink” still remains an unsolved mystery. Other than the magic mile at DuQuoin, Illinois, how many other dirt tracks feature a body of water in the infield, let alone one so close to the racing surface?

When standing atop the hill, another thing noticed when looking beyond the pond are the neighboring grain bins and elevator that casts an imposing presence over the south edge of the grounds. I’m still amazed that when looking at a photo of a young Steve Kinser snapped by John Mahoney way back in June of 1978, those same grain bins are evident. 1978 or 2010 – except for hair styles, clothing, and the size of right rear tires, who could tell what year it is? In speaking with track operator Keith Ford a few seasons ago, I know those hard-headed neighbors will never give up their ground to aid Paragon Speedway expansion. That’s a shame, as that piece of property would offer plenty of parking if Ford were able to squeeze an Indiana Sprint Week date from the powers that be. It is of my opinion that any Indiana track that hosts weekly sprint car meets belongs on the Sprint Week docket. Even if Keith could somehow acquire the land, I’d hope that he would keep the elevator and bins as a reminder of that down-home, farm-fresh flavor.

Purchasing this parcel from the late Mike Johnson, Keith and Judy Ford have proudly presided over these grounds since 1987. Joe Roush was the initial sprint car champion that season, but sprint car racing sure has changed a lot since then. However, just like all those same rustic visions that have survived, Keith and Judy have done their best to preserve the family-friendly and fun aspect to Saturday night short track racing that’s been a 56 year tradition in rural Morgan County.

There’s nothing corporate or pretentious about a Paragon Speedway production. All they ask is that you keep your shirt on to respect the loads of families that plant themselves in hillside lawn chairs or lay out a blanket in the grass. For the most part, it’s a local crowd and likewise in the pit area, most competitors come from the surrounding counties. If and when all the big money leaves the upper levels of sprint car racing and the sport must reconstruct itself, the core that will remain is a setting like Paragon.

For this King of Indiana Sprint Series finale paying $2,500 to win and $250 to start, when the B-main guarantees $100 to start (thanks to Indiana Stone Works), I’ll never understand why the weekly Paragon regulars fly the coop. Regardless of those big dogs in the house, one could normally count on participation from ageless Bloomfield postal deliverer Johnny Johnson. However, Johnny was nowhere to be seen. In all the years I’ve been coming here, I honestly cannot remember a Paragon sprint car event without a Johnson in the field. And for that matter, I cannot remember seeing Dennis Rose’s name in the results over the last couple of years either. Even back as far as ’88, Dennis and his number 270, powered by a big-block Buick, has been a Paragon mainstay. I guess some things that were once certain do in fact change with time, although ’87 track champ Joe Roush was seen up on the hill with a signature cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

With the speedway’s history dating back Edd Sheppard’s construction in 1954, old road 67 is appropriately named the Edd Sheppard Memorial Highway, where all the June rain shows stalks of corn sprouting tassels, well beyond knee-high at Fourth of July length. Edd’s remaining outbuildings and barns are still on the Paragon Speedway premises and adding even more flavor, I also like the rustic line of retired trucks and buses along the fence line. Iconic of any “real” racetrack, I could eat this stuff with a fork every day.

I toured pit lane with Indianapolis dentist “Doctor Tom” while my dad (Doctor Drew – also a dentist who once practiced in Morgan County) took the cooler and lawn chairs for a hike up the hill. Just like the depth of the pond, I’ve always wondered who the guy is that guards the Paragon pit gate. For as long as I’ve been making the trip south on 67, blazing hot, frigid cold, and rain or shine, that same guy has been here week after week after week.

Only twenty-nine sprint cars populated Paragon’s pits, shocked and disappointed by the lack of support for such a solid paying local event. I counted sixteen of the 29 as Saturday night regulars, wondering where the remaining guys were. Yes, there was competition from a Putnamville raised purse (gathering 38 cars) and the ASCT in Flora, Illinois (just 12 cars), but Lawrenceburg was off and USAC was all the way out in Burlington, Iowa. Could it have possibly been the searing heat that kept a lot of racers away?

2003 track champ Jon Sciscoe said that “The Commissioner” Danny Holtsclaw decided to skip Saturday sprint car racing and instead headed to the lake. Rumored to be the author of Sciscoe pre-race predictions that have now become legendary, Jon surmises that there must not be enough Farm Bureau Insurance business in Greene County. Even though it’s done electronically, I enjoy Danny’s old-school shenanigans.

After the impressive opening figure of 44 at Gas City, KISS car counts for 2010 numbered 27 at Kokomo, 23 at Lawrenceburg, and 23 at Haubstadt. I guess 29 is par for the course, but I suspect the purse money offered by the ten year KISS concept is no longer an enticing-enough carrot to be dangled in front of the racers’ faces. It’s either that or the recession has indeed started to take its toll on the sprint car community. Speaking with Judy Ford early in the evening, she noted, “We’re blessed to get the cars we get on a weekly basis. But we have definitely noticed that our car counts are down this year.” Forever the barometer for the health of Hoosier sprint car racing, when Paragon starts to have trouble attracting competitors, you know there is a much bigger problem at hand. Heck, when the 16-room mansion in nearby Hyndsdale still has not sold for a bargain basement $124,000, you know something has to be off kilter with our economy. Then again, how long has that house been for sale?

Even though the number of sprint cars was lower than expected, there were still enough prime-time players to put on a quality program. In addition to Sciscoe, 2004, 2005, and 2009 track champs Josh Cunningham, Doug Heck, and Ethan Barrow were in the house. Four-time KISS king and current series point leader Jon Stanbrough was obviously present, as was former Sikeston, Missouri resident Hunter Schuerenberg (Epperson 2), who trailed Jon by 55 markers. Still wearing last year’s KISS crown, Bedford’s Brady Short was here, as was Springville’s Jeff Bland, Jr. and Bloomington’s Ty Deckard.

Winning his first-career sprint car feature here back in June of 2003, Kyle Cummins was back in his own Maxim, dampened by AFCO gas shocks and towed from Princeton on an old-fashioned open trailer borrowed from John Pettijean, Tommy Helfrich’s chief mechanic from his dirt late model driving days. In this day and age, it’s so rare for a sprint car to be towed to any track on an open trailer, but in my opinion, that’s the way it should be done. Nearly everyone hauls their stuff in a non-descript, big white box that does not give gawking road-goers the chance to know its contents, let alone follow such an intriguing racecar to its destination. It may be a ridiculous notion, but I wonder how many more fans would be created if a majority of competitors towed cars on an open trailer? Food for thought…

With this KISS event having an open tire rule, Kyle and father Mark debated between Hoosier DT3 and D12 rubber and across the way, second year sprint car combatant Jordan Kinser took the last opportunity to change into his fire suit. Jordan’s father’s name is Leon, found lying in Paragon dirt as he swapped out quick-change gears. Calling Bedford home, Leon is a cousin to famed mechanical genius/car owner Karl Kinser, who has offered plenty of advice but still refuses to consult at the racetrack for fear of getting the “fever” once again. Coming on strong of late, like so many kids of today’s age seventeen year-old Jordan started racing quarter-midgets at the age of seven, eventually graduating to mini sprints where he cleaned house in a 17 win season of 2006. How cool would it be for Karl to return to his roots and campaign a white eleven at places like Bloomington and Paragon?

Recently claiming his first 410 sprint car victory at the Perris Auto Speedway for Tom and Lauri Sertich, Visalia, California’s Greg Bragg was a first-time Paragon visitor, trying Mark Deskovich’s Sprint Mart house car on for size this weekend. Not that long ago, Mark moved from the golden state to the Hoosier state, formerly competing against Bragg in both mini sprints and 360 cubic inch sprints. Back in the day, Deskovich absorbed ideas from Jack Yeley, whose son J.J. was a scant fifteen years old when he moved from midgets to sprints. Mark noted that this particular JEI chassis features a right front shock tower extension that makes the car work similar to a Yeley-like coil car while retaining the spring base of a more-forgiving torsion bar setup.

Speaking of J.J., do you remember the last time he raced at Paragon Speedway? It was April 15, 2000, an early season test and tune for his ABC Sand and Rock squad. Slipping by a young Josh Cunningham for the lead very late in the 25-lapper to produce his lone Paragon victory, Yeley’s question to Keith Ford afterwards was, “Who was that guy?” Keith’s reply: “Just some kid who lives down the road.” Well, these days Josh Cunningham is still a kid that lives a little further down the road from his original Spencer home, but he’s now the big dog around these parts, twice winning in 2010 and posing on the front stretch some 27 times since 1999, far more than anyone else. In recent years, Josh has also become a minister at a church south of his Bloomington residence, delivering a solid pre-race prayer in the sweltering heat before belting into his Marti and Joe Hamm Stealth.

Stanbrough (from sixth), Bland (from fifth), and Sciscoe (from third) were heat winners, with The Silent Gasser even lapping a couple of cars along the way. The best passing job of the early evening festivities came from that same kid who lives just down the road. Yep, Josh Cunningham did the deed as he impressively bolted from ninth to second, giving Bland a big-time run for his money.

Sprint heats were done by 7:52 and still staring into the big orange disc, rather than suck on ice cubes and broil in the intense heat, I headed for shade provided by the big trees located behind the hill, saying hello to Keith Ford and his “White Dog” and soon shooting the breeze with Terre Haute’s Jerry Shaw and Columbus mailman Danny Burton. Wondering just how hot it was, the next day I checked The Weather Channel’s website, surprised that the official high temperature here was only ninety degrees. However, the site did say that it felt more like one-hundred, which was what I was thinking. Agreeing with Richie Murray that the 2005 KISS affair here felt hotter, I also recall1997 and particularly 1998 Indiana Sprint Week stops being particularly unbearable as well. Even though it is God’s country, for some reason this part of Morgan County always receives extreme weather. It could be intense heat, tornadoes, or torrential rain that overflows the White River’s banks, but summertime in Paragon isn’t for the faint of heart. Even at 10 PM, Burton said that the temperature reading in Martinsville was a still-sticky 84 and after the hour-plus ride home, my t-shirt was still damp.

After speaking with Shaw, I made the trek back to pit lane, stopping to inspect the collection of heavy equipment Keith Ford has collected over the years. Although I haven’t kept a mental inventory, all of the pieces could have certainly been here since 1987. Each one is faithfully maintained by Ford, no surprise that they have lasted all these years. Checking out the old International water truck, beneath the surface rust I could barely make out that it once served some distributor down in Bloomington. Just like Mike and Frank on The History Channel’s American Pickers, I enjoy the stories told by rusted metal, wondering just how old it is and how many miles are on the odometer.

After admiring the old water truck, I inspected a pair of vintage David Brown tractors that were also parked outside of turn four. According to their ID tags, they were both manufactured in Meltham, England, but not being up on my history of these machines, I had honestly never heard of the nameplate. Old English tractors still serving Paragon Speedway – who’d have thunk it?

Checking it out on the internet, I learned that David Brown first began building tractors in 1936 through a joint venture with Harry Ferguson, whose engines powered the earliest versions of midget racecars. But once Ferguson started sharing technology with Henry Ford, Brown broke away and started designing his own tractor in 1939. Over the years the David Brown brand became legendary for innovation, eventually selling the tractor division to the American-based Tenneco Inc. in 1972, owners of J.I. Case tractors. Interestingly enough, David Brown once bought the struggling Aston Martin brand of English automobiles in 1947 for the small sum of 21,500 pounds. Remember the silver Aston Martin DB5 that was made famous in James Bond movie Goldfinger? Well, the “DB” stood for David Brown. Tying James Bond to Paragon Speedway, it all comes from taking an interest in some old tractors.

A rather-ragged B-main eliminated Danny Williams, Jr. (Robinson 57R), Arin McIntosh, Jim Dugan, and Doug Heck (losing something on the bottom end of his engine), all of them operating in transfer positions. A.J. Clark was involved in the Dugan deal but nursed an injured Hinkle’s Hamburgers hauler back to fourth. Kinser, Nick Johnson (Harris 18), Warren Perkins, and Jake Simmons were feature benefactors.

Just past 9:15 and with sunlight still on the western horizon, Cummins and Cunningham shared front row seats for thirty laps of A-main action. Bland, Sciscoe, Short, and Stanbrough began just behind after the first two heat race finishers drew for starting positions.

Triumphant ten times here since 2003, Cummins corralled first off turn two, but it didn’t take long for the first flip of the switch for the caution light, as Greg Bragg rammed the rear of Stanbrough’s sixth place ride through the middle of three and four, spinning Greg and swallowing Donnie Gentry and Ethan Barrow. “Wheel” Barrow was still on the hammer, doing a quick donut and mounting the rear of the west coast warrior.

Once they pulled the cars apart, Cummins led Bland, Cunningham, Sciscoe, and Short back to green. Almost everyone played huggy pole, everyone except for Indiana’s leading feature winner Jon Stanbrough, securing fifth place from Sweet Feet. Jeff was anything but Bland when inching underneath Cummins on the next go-round, stealing the big banana just before Jordan Kinser tumbled in turn one.

I was surprised to see an open red with just four laps down, as nearly every one of the crews came out to adjust air pressure. Afterwards, Stand-on-it-bro still went where they weren’t, trying the middle of one and two and the top in three and four. Although traction was already diminishing on the worn out top shelf, JRS was making the momentum work, acquiring fourth from Sciscoe on the back chute.

Cunningham collected second from Cummins, showing everyone just how low one can go around here. Just as Josh was making his move, car 53 stole his thunder, sending the local favorite back to third. Jon wasn’t done either, as a lap later he pulled even with Bland’s locally backed Pottorff Logging 38 in turn three. Cunningham made it a three-car party up front but Jeff led at the line.

Getting a good run off of two, Stanbrough reached turn three first, but Bland battled back on the bottom and seized the spot. As the top-five now tightened up even more, one more lap expired and it was the same scenario in three and at the line. Like rewinding a tape and playing it back, Jon refused to waver from his high-side heroics, surging ahead at the end of the backstretch and this time, he made it stick. Except for a late race scare from a spinning lapped car, the Fox/Stanbrough freight train could not be slowed while thundering through Paragon, far easier than his romp from sixteenth last season.

With half of the race left, attention turned to the splendid battle for second. Bland, Cunningham, and Short immediately fanned three-wide, JBJ using a lot of brake as evidenced by his glowing inboard rotor. Bouncing off of one another on the front stretch, Jeff and Josh went at it hot and heavy, allowing Brady to make his bid. Second place was still a three-wide brawl, with the local favorite procuring the position for a brief moment before Short slapped him, surging Bland to second. The red 36 soon slowed on the front stretch though, mysteriously parading until pulling off altogether.

As moisture continued to disappear, Paragon veteran Cunningham used his years of experience to lay low while Cummins charged up top. Those two soon saw Bland’s back bumper but Josh escaped with runner-up rights after a sneak attack through front stretch traffic. With white flag waving, that three car tussle was reduced to two when Kyle sailed it into turn one way too hard, scaling the bank and falling all the way to fifth.

Victorious with a Paragon KISS three years in a row, Stanbrough’s chasers were officially listed as Cunningham, Bland, Schuerenberg, Cummins, Sciscoe, Deckard, Adam Beliles, Ted Hines, and Donnie Gentry. Adding to his complete KISS domination in recent years, the big score was Jon’s series-leading 17th, now a five-time King of Indiana in ten years of competition.

Answering questions on the front stretch, the happy winner said, “I’ve got to thank Steve, Brad, and Tim. I know I say it a million times, but they give me a great car and they work their butts off. Garrett builds us a great shock at CSI. Tom Chalk makes some great torsion bars. Just everybody that helps us, we couldn’t do it without them. Especially all you fans. We couldn’t race if it wasn’t for you. I thank you more than anything for being out here tonight and supporting us.”

“We just come to the racetrack and try to win every night. Jeff Bland, Brady Short, Hunter Schuerenberg – all the guys that were in this race tonight are capable of winning races. My hat is off to them for running a clean race. I thought I was going to get wiped out there by that lapped car. I slid off the track and saw the light was still green so I got after it as quick as I could. It worried me a little bit that some of the competition could have gotten a little closer if they weren’t already. It all worked out good.”

Series coordinator Dawn Moss handed Jon and his Fox Brothers team one thousand dollars for claiming the KISS crown, adding to the $2500 winnings already earned. Accepting the prize, Jon said, “I appreciate this. The KISS series has been really, really good to me. I just can’t thank all the racetracks enough for putting on this series. It’s just really neat for all the fans and all the competitors to have something to run for other than just our local shows every week. Not that our local shows are bad, but we always like to run for a little extra money and always have those championships to run for.”

Awarded the VanHorn Tint and Accessories designed KISS championship helmet by series publicist Mike O’Leary and Keith Ford, a teary-eyed Stanbrough closed with, “I just want to let everybody know that last night (Bloomington) was Brad and Steve’s one hundredth career win too. I am glad to be a part of that and celebrate that with them and also this KISS championship tonight.”

Loading up the gear and heading back down the hill by 9:40, although I was a little drained from sun overexposure, I definitely left a satisfied customer after witnessing a thoroughly entertaining feature that contained loads of two and three-wide racing. Much more relaxed on the ride home when compared to the ride down, after spending several hours in the soothing environment of rural southern Indiana, “serenity now” can easily be achieved with a trip to Paragon Speedway.

Simply the stress of not being able to get my work done, in retrospect I readily admit that my problems post-Midget Week were pretty minor. It’s a simple fact of life that work will always need to be done but until everything is crossed off my list, relaxing is the furthest thing from my mind. Unless I wish to die of a heart attack or stroke, I’ll have to find ways to accept this reality. The sad part is, if I only had an inkling of the earth-shattering news that was about to hit me and my family so hard the very next day, I certainly would never have complained or felt overwhelmed at all.

Offering Saturday afternoon and evening appointments every week through August 28^th, I have a feeling I may need to book a therapeutic Paragon Speedway session or two before the summer is over.   Serenity now…serenity now!

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