Hoseheads Sprint Car Photos & News

Volume 10, Number 5

King of the Castle

Wind-burned, lips chapped, and facial features full of grit, the Monday morning return to reality is never the most pleasant for dirt track loyalists, extremely weary and eyes burning from too little sleep. Despite such symptoms, feeling the wave of momentum and surge of adrenaline from the action-packed weekend, we wouldn’t have it any other way, would we? Some like to say that dust does wash off, but I still manage to find minute particles a day or two later.

High winds wreaked havoc on Hoosier soil this weekend, creating surfaces more suited to veteran right feet that are trained in the art of throttle restraint. Such was certainly the case in my attended events at Brownstown and Kokomo, where feature winners returned to royalty after temporarily abdicating their once almighty throne.

King of the Castle. Lord of the Manor. Master of one’s domain. Whatever you want to call the deans of dirt, but this weekend’s winners had been unusually absent from victory circle, at least when it came to their dominant disciplines, for quite some time.

Levi Jones, conqueror of Saturday’s second USAC national dirt sprint car event of 2008, hadn’t seen victory lane in this specific series since June 9^th, 2007 at Hagerstown, Maryland. Yes, there have been several podium finishes for the two-time and defending USAC sprint car champion along with three local Indiana sprint car conquests, an initial USAC midget success, and a USAC-CRA silencing in Las Vegas. No national sprint car wins had occurred until Saturday however. Aggressive in his fourth and ninth place performances at the opening rounds at Gas City and Winchester, after claiming unsanctioned Sunday night bragging rights with Jeff Walker, the Brownstown bagging sacked two in a row for the Olney, Illinois tiger, catapulting him to the top of the national series standings once again.

Coming off career-best 21 and 30 win seasons, it’s hard to believe that until Sunday night Jon Stanbrough had not stood in victory lane since September 28^th of last year. Twenty-one features have transpired since that evening, manufacturing second twice and third three times. For the two-time driver of the year who raised the bar so high that anything less than perfection is a disappointment, could this be a mini-slump? Until Sunday night, perhaps.

Starting his third full-season with Avon’s Fox Brothers with a third at Bloomington and eighth at Gas City, coming on strong at the previous weekend’s Spring Clash he crashed violently but immediately recovered with a pair of top-fives for Lafayette’s Kenny Baldwin. A week off allowed Steve and Brad time to regroup, taking sixth from tenth at Brownstown and looting the Kokomo pay window for $3,000 thanks to the Jet Star Jack Hewitt Classic, which ironically was the same date as their first feature win of 2007 off I-69 (May 4^th). Upping Stanbrough’s Kokomo win total to 37 since 1999, he and the Fox Boys last won in Howard County on 7/22/07, which was a rather lengthy drought considering that they’d experienced the thrill of victory there 15 times since the spring of 2006. Like trees budding in late April and early May, any idea of the number of Stanbrough/Fox triumphs won’t be known until leaves are ready to fall.

As for Dave “The Rave” Darland, he has certainly made his fame from sprint cars, especially on a local level when he first broke through with a 19 win season in 1991. Gaining an honest attempt at midget cars in 1995 with Terry Caves, he eventually earned the ride of a lifetime with the Steve Lewis squad in October of 1997 at Terre Haute’s U.S. Dirt Nationals, running second to Jack Hewitt. Out of 181 recorded victories according to www.openwheeltimes.com, 40 have come in the mighty midgets and 28 were from behind the wheel of a “9” car. Dressed to the “nines” at the 1999 and 2002 Belleville Nationals, the 1999 and 2003 Hut 100, the 1999 Four Crown, and the grand daddy of them all, the 2007 Turkey Night Grand Prix, also in that list of Lewis wins is an impressive four in a row sweep of the 2003 Buckeye Nationals along with USAC national titles in 2001 and 2002.

In his limited midget appearances over the years, judging by the numbers Dave has indeed dominated, winning on tracks of all sizes, shapes, and surfaces. However, with the 9 bunch, it had been since 6/16/04 since he’d achieved ultimate success on soft surfaces. That was true until Sunday’s Jack Hewitt Classic, the team’s initial soil score since switching to Toyota power in 2006. And even more of a surprise was the fact that prior to Sunday Darland had never won in a midget at his home track. I work with numbers all day long and call me a stat geek, but rather than revenues and costs, I find these figures fascinating.

After dumping just enough $3.73 per gallon fuel in my Isuzu to get me to and from the Jackson County Fairgrounds, unusually stout winds from the west prevented respectable gas mileage during my ninety minute trek late Saturday afternoon. Recalling dry conditions for last year’s Brownstown sprint foray, the first since 1998, today I was concerned that such a breeze might sap precious moisture from the speedway’s surface that by default is dirt late model inspired smooth and slick. Thank goodness my suspicions were initially false.

After paying my twenty dollar fee at the front gate (that setup sure cuts down on scammers), I finished dressing for the cranky springtime weather and found a place in the turn one side of the nostalgic covered grandstand. Call them resourceful, but several fans tacked up blankets to the back of the stands, thereby cutting down on the cross flow of cool air, thus making for a much more comfortable evening than I’d planned. And if I squinted my eyes just right, watching and listening from under the roof was very reminiscent of Lawrenceburg Speedway excursions in the late ‘80s and 1990s, which undoubtedly involve memories of innocent and unbridled sprint car excitement.

Making the scenic journey from Bloomington was my nephew and his high school football pal “Pep”. Little D.O. donned a vintage ’92 Frankie Kerr t-shirt underneath an IU sweatshirt, quite appropriate for the venue in that Kerr chased Joe Roush to a CRA second place here in that same year. That infamous event was of course the one that Joe had to avidly coerce his earned $10,000 from CRA big wig Frank Lewis. Observing from above, soon after USAC senior VP of racing operations Jason Smith shared a few words, I acknowledged the attendance of former “Nuclear” Nick Corea assistant and Effingham, Illinois resident Jon Mooney, who isn’t able to get to as many races these days but noted that regardless of gas prices, he had to get his fix somehow, some way.

Forty-one sprint cars joined TQ midgets and crate late models, with several surprises joining the mix of USAC regulars. Two white fives belonging to Dick Briscoe were driven by son Kevin and Bedford’s Tom Busch. Owning quite a bit of Brownstown track time, Dick and Kevin once watched Chuck Amati claim fourth with a Briscoe 5 in a 1981 World of Outlaws meet while Kevin himself posed for victory lane photos on 9/28/91, 3/28/92, and 8/29/92, the first two in a Stannard 64 while keeping the latter in the family. Unfortunately, all that experience could not elevate Briscoe or Busch out of the non-qualifier.

The sight of Mr. Natural Disaster, Randy “The Hurricane” Hannagan, was definitely a Brownstown shocker, having last unbolted airfoils in June of 2004 for Lima and Eldora. Owning only a handful of wingless attempts in his career, Randy timed 24^th but could only muster 12^th in the semi-feature. As is usually the case, winged chauffeurs venturing into traditional territory excel on the half-miles where keeping a car straight equals supreme speed. Bending it in at Brownstown requires much more practice and later on in the night when grip goes south, patience is paramount.

Last year’s Haubstadt USAC midget hustler Hud Cone was on hand, as was A.J. Anderson, who found work with Jeff Walker for the second time in his career, 5^th in the number 11 at the Putnamville Clash of 2006. A.J. timed 15^th and wound up 14^th in the A while Cone, always exciting to watch given his top shelf preference, stormed from sixth to win the semi in his trusty coil-front Dynamite chassis, later finishing one spot ahead of A.J. in the A.

Up US 41 and east on 50 from his Princeton palace, 2007 MSCS kingpin Kyle Cummins made a rare USAC appearance outside of Haubstadt. Timing a solid ninth in his Trusses by Hobgood Maxim, Kyle converted that to a tenth place feature finish, his best-ever with the Speedway sanctioning body. Could his father’s experience at this same speedway, where he was a winged winner on 6/1/91, been of aid?

Up until Sunday night in Kokomo, Brady Bacon was a perfect three for three in premier Midwestern dirt sprint qualification performances, tripping the Brownstown beam (no transponders tonight) best at 14.305 seconds. Levi Jones, Daron Clayton, again a surprising Bret Bellenberndt (Wolf Weld with Dri-Bar), Dustin Morgan and Robert Ballou tallied coveted top-six times as drivers danced on less than four wheels, with Brownstown bite quite evident in the moist paperclip corners.

Some like to say that if you can’t win, be spectacular and Chad Boat followed that to a T. A B-main winner here last June, on his first lap of qualifications he bicycled big time as he entered turn one. Coming down on all four wheels after clearing the banking, steering and or brake issues sent him straight for the road grader which guarded the outer limits of the speedway property. Much like Kasey Kahne’s crash into Bloomington’s water truck in 2000, Boat slammed the front wheel of that grader, stopping his R/S Service Maxim dead in its tracks. Check out the bike ride courtesy of Dave Merritt at http://www.pbase.com/pitpass/image/96657097.

If Jeremey Rhoades is on your MySpace friends list, he has an even more dramatic photo posted in his pics section. And finally, Dean Mills, who celebrates the start of his 25^th season of videotaping racing events this Friday at Bloomington, caught the rocking of the Boat as well. Check out his awesome Brownstown and Terre Haute highlights at www.millsvideoproductions.com. Holy cow, both events featured some jaw dropping action!

As a testament to its racy conditions and sheer width, sprinters fanned three and four wide all night long and three of the four non-qualifier escapees made it to the A-main. Timing 37^th and 40^th, Jesse Hockett and Brad Sweet transferred through their heats while Chris Windom sailed from 20^th to 5^th in the 12 lap B. Driving for Lincoln Park opening night winner Scooter Ellis, NQ winner Mat Neely nearly took a transfer through his heat as well.

And talking about those heats, they were Sprintweek quality or better, which is nothing short of the truth! It’s hard to put into words the furious, swarming beehive of activity that was offered from the four, ten lap events but needless to say, it came as quite a pleasant surprise after last year’s huggy pole affair.

Beginning with a bang, the first lap of the first heat had three wide action for first in turn three, with Hunter Schuerenberg and Shane Cottle swapping the spot several times. Brady Bacon climbed Cottle’s right rear and flew off the track in turn four while Cottle would later get turned around by Dustin Morgan, flipped on his lid and relegating him to B-main status. Mechanic Tray House, 4^th here on 4/15/95 and 3^rd on 6/27/98, was able to make successful repairs but unfortunately for The Throttle he could not advance and fell all the way to tenth in points.

Attempting to text Kentucky Derby attendee Coby Smith with updates, I gave up after heat two when four wide action broke out for third, adding an embarrassing meeting of the minds for the pilots of both Tony Stewart Racing sprinters. Jones caught the left rear of a sideways Robert Ballou and contact from Tracy Hines launched Levi into a 360 spin in mid-air, miraculously landing on all four wheels. Too much damage meant he’d have to come from the B but obviously he had little trouble claiming one of the six passes to the A. Heat three touted a tight joust for first between Bill Rose, Jerry Coons, and Daron Clayton that lasted the entire distance, with Coons nipping both in a three wide fight to the finish. Heat four held the least drama when Cole Whitt, armed with a new coil-front Bullet, fired from the front row to win, but USAC underdogs Josh Spencer and Rex Norris did step up to take transfer spots.

Those missing the cut to the A from the B included last week’s Winchester hero Darren Hagen and points leader Dave Darland, who had a sure-fire transfer sewn up in his heat before falling off the track with two to go. Just like Gas City, Dave cashed a provisional to take part in the finale but could do no better than 18^th, sliding to sixth in points. It was an expensive night for sprint car sophomore Jeff Bland, Jr., who suffered through two separate engine malfunctions, only to still sit out the feature.

You can often judge the quality of a race by looking how many times the lead changed. Brownstown’s 30-lapper saw six official first place swaps, as polesitter Jerry Coons, earning his front row seat when Bret Mellenberndt could only manage 20^th in the B, led the first two laps. After three wide action for first involving Morgan, Coons, and Jerry’s fellow front row mate Robert Ballou, Robert ruled the roost on the third circuit, only to hand it back to the two-time and defending midget champ on the fourth go-around. The Mad (or is it bad?) Man used the middle lane to snatch the big banana on lap five and spent time in the spotlight until Morgan, who had been hounding him all race long, made hay on lap 16. Straining to see through dust thicker than fog on a London morning, five laps later Jones rolled the middle of turns three and four to claim P1, easing around a pair of lapped machines on the last lap and barely holding off a ferocious charge from sixteenth starting Brady Short to nail down the win.

Feature racing wasn’t nearly as scintillating as the heats, but insane action was still all over the place, with the bottom and middle grooves primarily occupied. Senseless in trying to capture the activity in my notes, I tried in vain but the blinding dust in turns three and four resulted in a “brown out” of sorts. Giving up, I decided to feast my eyes on Short’s 36, whose brand new five-bar Maxim (with new engine too) found traction through the middle to apply heavy pressure to the eventual winner, who was also in a Maxim. Afterwards, the crowd showed its appreciation for the show, offering a thunderous roar of approval for both Jones and “Sweet Feet” Short, who lives just west of here on U.S. 50. The first win for the pairing of Levi and new TSR wrench Rob Hart, Rob reportedly is four for four in Brownstown bookings.

Joining Jones and Short in the top-ten were an ever-improving Morgan, Ballou, Hines, Stanbrough, Coons, Bacon, Whitt, and Cummins. Over with at 10:10 PM, with a $70 investment I still left the scene satisfied, looking forward to a second-ever USAC appearance in Jackson County. Kudos goes out to sprint and midget coordinator Greg Staab for making this event a reality. Persistent, creative, open minded, and thoughtful in his approach to scheduling, I’m going to miss surprises like this.

Sunday

Owning the title as king of the one-liners, in responding to his feelings about Kokomo Speedway’s use of his name in their Jack Hewitt Classic, prior to last year’s event Hewitt’s witty reply was, “I’d rather be a classic than a memorial”. The man never disappoints when prompted for a quotable quip.

The absolute epitome of what a sprint car racer is and was all about - tough, hardcore, talented, aggressive, stubborn, nomadic, versatile, resourceful, honest, opinionated, hilarious, fiercely loyal, fearless, and friendly, Jack Hewitt still encompasses all of those adjectives even though his full-time driving days expired in July of 2002 after an ugly North Vernon accident. Sure, it’s a new generation now, but it’s too bad they don’t make sprint car shoes like Jack anymore.

Given his fame, achievements, and fan favorite status, it’s hard to imagine that no one else has used his name and applied it to an event of their own. Eldora’s Four Crown Nationals seems the most appropriate, but two years ago Kokomo Speedway beat them to the punch with a doubleheader of sprint cars and midgets. Rained out several times, eventually separate sprint and midget dates were won by Mat Neely and Tracy Hines while Jon Stanbrough and Josh Wise took 2007 honors. Not his best speedway for statistics, Hewitt was a winner here ten times, the last coming in August of 1991 with the All Star Circuit of Champions while driving Don Murphy’s 23.

Of course when one thinks of the ability to get it done in any kind of machinery, Dew-it Hewitt certainly comes to mind, having witnessed his mind-blowing Four Crown sweep of ’98. But how many times in the past did we also see him double up in so many different combinations, whether they be winged sprints, wingless sprints, 360 limited sprints, dirt champ cars, midgets, modifieds, late models, and even TQ midgets. Making it all the way to Indy where he wound up 12^th in the 500, I’m not sure the upper crust of the Indy Racing League could handle a real racer like Hewitt for longer than a season. Then again, he does like to remind that the Brady Bunch’s Florence Henderson, who annually makes a visit to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, had a thing for good ol’ Jack.

Long-time backer Darryl Guiducci of Jet Star Trucking and 6R Racing stepped up to sponsor this year’s event, paying $3,000 to the sprint car winner and $2,000 to the midget victor, doling out $400 and $200 for last place in each respective division. I read and heard many complaints about a $35 pit pass price and an entry fee which was $25 prior to race day, but in doing a little math, I found that the total purse for the sprints was $14,105, almost double that of a weekly show that pays $7,405. True, this wasn’t a USAC race, but does USAC pay $400 to start?

In the past, it seems as though big money has kept the middle to lower pack teams away. And although Terre Haute’s rescheduled Don Smith Classic (ironic that Hewitt and Smith are buddies) attracted 42 teams, Kokomo still wound up with 35 sprints and 27 midgets. Like last week, quality over quantity rang true with the only one missing being hometown hero and reigning track champ Shane Cottle. Dave Darland was absent last week but appeared in Rick Daugherty’s F5 and of course Steve Lewis’s Spike.

Others who joined Dave in double duty included Brad Kuhn (annexing an A.J. Felker midget), Rex Norris, Chris Windom (studying sprint cars with Jack Yeley), Dustin Morgan, Jon Stanbrough (enjoying midget madness with Matt Sandy), Jerry Coons (sprinting with Kenny Baldwin), Cole Whitt, Chad Boat, and Matt Westfall. Notables making initial 2008 appearances included Lee Stark (pupil of tonight’s honoree), Kasey Kahne teammates Brady Bacon and Brad Sweet, Team Auto sales expert Chris Gurley (whose handshake rivals Al Thomas as the strongest in racing), Cole Carter, Kent Christian, and Brownstown holdover Randy Hannagan.

A solid midget cast added Fenway-Roush trucker Bobby East, Bullet teammates Bryan Clauson and Ryan Kaplan, Brad Loyet, Brent Beauchamp (utilizing the veteran services of midget maestro Jim Rieder, first learned from Kevin Eckert in his Power-I column last week), and twin cars from the corral of Don O’Keefe for himself and Jason Holt.

Speaking of O’Keefe’s operation, you’d be hard pressed to find a classier presentation than the always pristine baby blue, black and chrome livery of LOK Enterprises, the LOK of course standing for Don’s wife Linda. One of the best ambassadors for the sport of open wheel racing since I first met him back on the ’92 CRA Midwestern Tour (allowing me access to the roof of his trailer), the last time I saw Don compete was at the Hoosier Hundred a few years later, unfortunately having to be carried out on a stretcher after a practice accident in turn one. These days, the Northern Californians have migrated all the way to Pittsboro, Indiana and on some Monday nights, O’Keefe can even be heard discussing sprint and midgets on the Racin’ with D.O. radio show. A nicer guy you’ll not find anywhere, Don’s team car for Holt fared 8^th in the A while the team leader was caught in the web of a B-main skirmish. Offering an intriguing look into the past, be sure and check out the LOK website at http://www.lokent.com/main.html.

A bright and sunny Sunday afternoon, winds still whipped from the west and caused undue stress on the dirt found inside Kokomo’s high-banked bowl. Sprint cars warmed up and qualified in one fell swoop as usual, but for this special show I would have liked to have seen single car qualifying similar to last year. Although some may disagree, my thought is if you’re going to qualify, do it the old fashioned way. When there are eight groups of five, the time savings is pretty much nullified.

Regardless of qualifying procedure, Jon Stanbrough’s lap of 12.988 was best of the bunch and that should have sent shivers down the spines of his competitors. The only other car in the 12 second range was Brad Sweet, but his lap was called back when Adam Byrkett dumped hard in turns three and four. Sweet still clocked second quick at 13.025.

Sprint heats saw a pair of last turn last lap passes for the win, with Dave Darland and Casey Shuman providing the drama. Darland’s event proved plenty exciting on its own with the top five cars all snuggled under a blanket. Heat race casualties included Windom (knocking loose a right front radius rod), Weir (spinning from 3^rd on the final lap), Cox (spinning from a transfer on the last lap), and Bacon (blasting the turn four wall while leading, peeling a left rear tire from its rim). Fourth heat benefactor due to Jason and Brady’s misfortunes was Hurricane Hannagan, who nursed his Maxim to the finish without the use of a left front shock.

All three midget heats were won from the front row, with Gary Bradley providing the biggest thrill after spilling in turn one. Exiting the first heat after smoke billowed from his Esslinger engine, Cole Whitt had a night to forget after missing the B-main sprint transfer by one spot. Pushed to the lineup chute by Chuck Gurney, Jr., Little Rim says he’ll be operating his own midget in the remaining asphalt events, with dirt plans involving a full Midget Week slate. When not helping Whitt, Chuck is employed at IPC where he constructs and repairs carbon fiber components. Gurney gathered that he’d love to find a sponsor so that he could compete for the entire balance of the season, as money is very tight.

If you weren’t in the house, Whitt’s midget was something to see. A second Stealth copy to J.J. Yeley’s Chili Bowl special from 2005, this car had the shortest roll cage I’ve ever laid eyes on, with nothing protecting the front axle much like the newer of Andy Bondio’s creations. I’m all for innovation and was totally enthralled with the unique whip. I neglected to ask, but I’m guessing it’s for unsanctioned events only, which are few and far between.

Whitt was joined in the B-main basement by Craig Dori, Matt Westfall, Stephanie Tuttle, Lee Stark, Mark Clark (flat left rear), Caleb Armstrong, Tom Davies, Chris Gurley, Rex Norris, Kyle Robbins, Jason Cox, James Bradshaw, and Iraq veteran Gary Paul.

While the track surface was being prepped for sprint and midget finales, I ran into quite a few people, one of those being Speedway, Indiana’s sultan of swap meets Crankin’ Craig Dori, who after a demoralizing previous weekend of sprint car activity asked Peru’s George Gamester to help out with setups. Much to his surprise, George took him up on his offer despite the fact that he utilizes a DRC chassis and that a large portion of Gamester’s sprint car customer base was competing at Terre Haute (Mitch Wissmiller and Chase Stockon were 6^th and 9^th in GRP chassis). A long time friend, Craig said George’s experience was invaluable, seeing things from the stands far ahead of the time it would have taken Craig to figure it out on his own, thereby allowing him to make the heat race qualifying invert. Once he finally felt comfortable enough to threaten for a B-main transfer, as usual his luck turned sour after a loud bang was heard and felt from underneath the hood, sending him to the sidelines much too early. Spending the beginning of the day circling the two mile high banks of Michigan International Speedway at 150-165 miles per hour for the Richard Petty Driving Experience, throwing on a pair of jeans and climbing into his wife’s Jeep he admitted that 75 miles per hour felt like a crawl, barely making it in time to hot lap.

Seen parading around the Kokomo pits was father and son combo Bob and Dustin Smith, 2002 Kokomo kings. Absent from sprint car competition for the first time since starting his son Corey back around 1993, Bob says they still have their stuff but haven’t decided when they were going to bring it out this year, thinking about a mid to late summer debut. Now retired from Chrysler and riding a Harley, the senior Smith has been tending to household chores that have been long overdue. Dustin, whose Chrysler job duties were rearranged, eventually was laid off and accepted a buyout clause, currently making ends meet by selling Hondas at Kokomo Auto World while further evaluating employment options. Both noted that the cost of living and the cost to compete were primary factors for sitting out.

Jerry Coons, Jr. and Scotty Weir were front row starters for the forty lap sprint car feature, with Weir getting the jump in Monte Edison’s red rocket and surging to a half straightaway lead. By lap six, sixth starting Jon Stanbrough had worked his way to second, chasing the Chalk chassis of Weir and quickly erasing any advantage. On the ninth circuit, Jon had to slide sideways in turn one to avoid spinning Scotty from first. One lap later, The Silent Gasser would lay claim to first by bombarding the bottom in the same corner.

Once out in front, Jon placed the Fox 53 DRC on the top shelf and the vast majority followed suit, as the smooth and slick surface featured its fastest groove along the fence, just like living legend Jack Hewitt would have preferred. Behind Stanbrough, Coons and Weir exchanged slide jobs and Dustin Morgan soon joined the party, a full straight behind the leader. After slapping the turn four wall early and falling to seventh, Brad Sweet battled to fourth with 18 laps in the books. Flying high with foot to the floor, five laps later he caught Coons and captured second.

At the crossed flags, Cole Carter cracked the concrete in turn three, skying as high as the top of the fence before crashing to Earth and causing red lights to glare. Weir’s Team Addiction replaced right rear rubber under red and had to start from the tail. Meanwhile, up front Stanbrough had at least a handful of lapped cars between himself and Coons, with Sweet having to work his way back by the black five one more time. With nine to go, Brad branded the runner up spot as his own but that’s as far as he would get, as the surface was now rubber-down and action was fast, furious, and singe-file.

Stanbrough’s initial strike of 2008 saw Sweet, Coons, Bacon, Morgan, Darland (12^th to 6^th), Neely (18^th to 7^th), Windom (16^th to 8^th), Boat, and Kuhn give chase.

Afterwards, the clean sweep winner revealed, “I thought the race was going to be on the bottom, but that’s no way to run the Jack Hewitt Classic. I’m glad we could finally win one.” Joined in victory lane by Jack, in between a wireless microphone that kept cutting out, I managed to hear a few mismatched sentences from Hewitt. He said, “This was an old man’s racetrack. Sprint car racing in Indiana is as good as it gets and what they’ve done to Kokomo is great. I can remember when Jon was just a kid and now he’s the veteran.” Still struggling to hear himself speak, Hewitt’s last words to track PA man Rob Goodman were, “Your microphone sucks!” As always, the crowd roared in approval. King of the one-liners I still say…

The 30 lap midget A rolled off shortly before 11 PM and polesitter Brad Loyet blasted to an early advantage, playing rabbit to fellow front row starter Dave Darland and Bryan Clauson.

An early spin by Russ Harper slowed the going and a couple of circuits later, Bobby East took a turn one tour in the spin cycle, clogging its entry and swallowing Kaplan, Boat, Jonathan Hendrick, Stanbrough, Kody Swanson (still adjusting to slippery surfaces after involvement in a handful of cautions), and Rex Norris. Because Rex landed on his side, the red flew, leaving restless fans looking at their watches. With not as much horsepower as sprint cars, I still don’t understand why midget races are constantly plagued by yellow fever. Could it be the short wheelbase?

Eventually the mess was cleaned up and Loyet again hit the hammer and found the high line to his liking, as everyone else soon realized the traction that could be gained upstairs. With eight laps in the books, BC rubbed Double D in turn one for second, soon lassoing Loyet and bringing Darland and Jerry Coons (Moore 10) along for the ride.

With sixteen to go, Clauson blew off Brad with a slick outside sweep of turn three, opening up a sizeable margin in a short time. Five laps later, Dustin Morgan halted once his right rear lost air and during the yellow, Clauson’s right rear also deflated, not to mention Bobby East’s as the abrasive rubber-down dirt took its toll on tire life. Bryan pulled off and his team exchanged the contact patch in the work area. East had his swapped on the track and was not allowed to restart because Kokomo’s rules demand that such work be done off the racing surface.

One lap after the restart, Darland dove underneath The Modern Day Cowboy of midgets with slight contact through turns one and two, saying see-ya and sailing away to an unopposed victory. Keeping it straight and smooth, the veteran made sure his Hoosier lasted the entire distance while behind him, Chad Boat recovered from the lap three calamity to take the show position from Loyet on the last lap, with the orange crush losing a right rear before he could complete the circuit. A three car crash in turn one after the checkered flew caused Chad to spin to avoid the melee, reinforcing the consistent mayhem that midgets mandate.

Coons, Boat, Westfall, Beauchamp, Windom (14^th to 6^th), Loyet, Holt, Kuhn, and Swanson placed second through tenth and afterwards, the winner admitted he was excited to gain the first win for his Team Lewis Toyota on dirt, also giving thanks to Mr. Hewitt for teaching him “a lot of stuff” over the years. Receiving some Eldora Speedway navigation advice from Jack in the early to mid-1990s, I have to wonder if those tips paid dividends on a similar surface tonight.

Jones, Stanbrough, Darland, and even Robert Ballou have all been categorized as royalty in recent times. Masters of ceremonies where traction is limited; they reaffirmed that notion with wins on Indiana dry-slickies this weekend. So instead of bidding a farewell to kings, we now welcome them back to power. Long live the kings!

That’s it for this week. Later!

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