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Tri-State
Outlook
by Duane Hancock
If you want mid 90's temps and rain in Ohio, just wait
until Ohio Sprint Speedweek, it usually happens more than not each year
at Speedweek. Last week's 27th annual Ohio Speedweek was no different.
With many days in the mid to upper 90's, the heat was not just on the
track. Rain made Speedweek history last week, raining 2 shows out at 1
track. Attica's original show, the Speedweek opener on Friday, was
postponed until Thursday. Well mother nature roared her ugly head again
on Thursday. All other shows went off as planned except the every year
saga at Wayne County. It must of been too sunny for the crew and they
actually seen they had a water truck, so they canceled. With no point
fund for the first time in several years, one was not sure how many cars
would run the entire week outside of the handful of All Star regulars.
Let me say, this year, car counts were excellent, and the quality of
cars was the best in years. 60 was the high count and 43 was the low.
Plus, the crowds were good all the nights. I only hit 5 of the 6,
skipped Hilltop but, heard they had a crowd of over 3000. Night 1 of
Ohio Speedweek shifted to Eldora Speedway after a rain out on Friday. A
stout 48 car field was on hand. It was pretty much typical Eldora heat
races, not a knock, just true that most go single file quickly and
pretty stay that way. Jason Johnson, Brock Mayes, Dean Jacobs, and Phil
Gressman won the heat races. The track became very racy for the B Main.
Brando Martin had a great run from 16th to 8th in 3 laps, end up against
the wall. Ryan Myers held off a fast Terry McCarl for the win. Greg
Wilson and Stevie Smith paced the field for the 30 lap A Main. When the
green waved, all hell broke loose in turn 1 on the start. Chris Andrews
and Brad Sweet flipped hard, collecting David Gravel, Ben Gregg, and
Phil Gressman. Andrews and Sweet both would have to rebuild cars if they
wanted to continue the week. Once the carnage was cleared, the green
waved once again. Stevie Smith took the lead. Lap 2, Ed Lynch Jr spun.
Smith held on to the lead as Wilson trailed the first handful of laps.
Terry McCarl and Craig Mintz were starting to move through the pack from
11th and 13th place starting spots. T-MAC was already in the top 5 and
Mintz was just outside of it. Lap 15, Butch Schroeder had a good top 5
run end with a hard flip in turn 4. Smith lead on the restart, but
McCarl was running towards the front. Lap 18, Dale Blaney stops on the
track with a flat. Blaney is not allowed to return due to a tire
compound issue with the replacement tire. Its still Smith on the restart
but T-Mac is racing closer to the front and looking for his 1st ever
Eldora A Main win. Lap 23, Mintz runs out of fuel after just taking over
7th and on the tail tank of the 6th place car. Restart, McCarl makes his
moves and takes the lead, leading across the line to complete lap 24.
later on lap 24, Dean Jacobs spins. During the yellow, it is determined
by the All Star officials a red was needed for a fuel stop. A brief
delay and the race was on, with only 13 cars remaining for the final 6
laps. T Mac gets a great restart and the rest was history. McCarl takes
the win after starting 11th, over Smith, Wilson, Rob Chaney, up from
10th, and Randy Hannagan. This was an excellent race up to the last
yellow/red. McCarl was working his way up as well as Mintz and Chaney
from mid-pack. 2 of the top 5 started 10th or worse and with a pinch of
luck, Mintz would of made it 3 of 5. Another great All Star A Main at
Eldora. Not as good as the one in May but, still a pretty good one.
Night 2 shifts to Findlay Ohio and Millstream Speedway. One of the
longest running stops of Speedweek at one time, Millstream opens in
doors on the 09 season with the return of Ohio Speedweek to the Sunday
night track. 60 All Stars and 24 305 sprints are pit side. Plus, another
huge crowd. Not as big as the 7000 people last year but I would say mid
5000 range. The Roe's have a track that people want to attend, with help
from Rich Farmer and Andy James, the show was a huge hit for the All
Stars once again. Hopefully, this was a good sign and we can see about a
6 to 10 race schedule from Millstream each season. It don't need to be a
weekly track, just a special events one that races a handful of times
each season. Anyways, back to the results. Even tho Millstream was the
only place it was used, the All Star have a rule if there are too many
cars, the top 44 go to the heats, the rest to a Non-Qualifiers race, The
NQ race transfer 4, 1 to the tail of each heat, the rest to the tail of
the C. I hate that rule. Why not have 5 heats and transfer 4 cars to the
A main and have a C and B, or have 2 B's, like many groups now? Putting
12 cars directly to the C after time trails, well pretty much since the
NQ is like 6 or 8 laps, just seems a little bit unfair especially if
track conditions are tricky and when you only get 1 lap to time trail.
Jamie Miller flipped in hot laps. John Ivy won the NQ race. Brandon
Martin flipped coming to the yellow in the NQ race. Terry McCarl, Chad
Kemenah, Daron Clayton, and Dale Blaney took the heat wins. 3 of the 4
heats seen cars that started past the 6 car invert, transfer to the A
Main. Tho the track crew did much prep, the dust was a flying pretty
heavy through out the night as the track smoothed out and widen, making
for a multi groove racing surface. Brooke Tatnell took the C Main. Told
you the competition was tough this year at Speedweek. Tatnall in the C.
The start of the B seen Chris Andrews and Ben Gregg flip for the 2nd
night in a row. Both cars were bad damaged. This put an end to Andrews's
Speedweek run, trashing 2 cars in 24 hours. Caleb Helms found the wall
in the B as well. Cale Conley took the win. Rob Chaney and Brock Mayes
pace the field for the 30 lap A. Daron Clayton's good might turns bad
with a flip going into turn 1 on the start. Chaney takes the lead on the
restart. Chaney is looking strong but Tim Shaffer is quickly on his tail
tank. The duo battle and Shaffer takes over the lead on lap 6. Lap 7,
Brandon Wimmer stops. On the restart, Blaney and Danny Smith get
together. Shaffer maintains his lead while the track is under green.
Cautions seem to be in abundance tho tonight. Lap 12, Kenny Jacobs
stops. Restart, Conley spins. Next restart, McCarl stops with a flat.
Green, its still Shaffer, Chaney, and Hannagan upfront. Lap 17, Lee
Jacobs stops. Lap 18. Brock Mayes stops. After several laps of chaos on
lining the cars up, the red is displayed to kick Danny Smith off the
track for not obeying his radio. Well his radio don't work, so it seems
he gets to stay on the track. After re-firing all the cars, Blaney stops
on the back stretch and is out of, or low on fuel. Now, we stop the cars
again for a fuel stop. I know some nights go bad and they all can't be
perfect, and most of us couldn't do things any better than the people
doing it but, I hope there wasn't too many new fans in the crowd because
they would wonder what was going on, hell I wondered and have been to
thousands of races. This leaves for a 2 lap showdown. Shaffer has been
strong but Chaney has hung tough and Hannagan seems to be getting faster
each lap. Plus, you have Wilson and Stevie Smith who started farther
back making a run towards the front. Restart, its all Shaffer. Chaney is
slipping some as Hannagan gets past for his shot at Shaffer. Shaffer is
strong but with 2 to go Hannagan is closing. Shaffer is too strong and
holds on for the win. Hannagan, Chaney, Wilson, up from 9th, and S.
Smith, up from 20th, round out the top 5. A pretty decent race. A shout
out to Tatnell was well. Brooke went from the C, to the B, to the A.
Plenty of passing on this night. 24 305's were on hand for the big $1000
to win event. Todd Heuerman, DJ Foos, and Zac Kramer took the heat wins.
Dustin Dinan has a tire blow in heat 1, slamming him hard into the turn
3 wall. Dustin would spend the night in ICU due to a bruised heart and
chest. He was later released and will race soon. Todd Heuerman dominated
the 305 show at Millstream last October and looked for more of the same.
Shawn Valenti and Kevin Lee pace the field for the 25 lap event. Green,
Heuerman makes an excellent move from 3rd to 1st before lap 1 is
complete. Picking up where he left off at Millstream, Heuerman is on the
hammer. The only thing slowing Todd was a caution for a stopped car, and
2 for cars that found the wall. One car finding the wall was Travis
Hoffbauer at the mid-way point. Travis had charged from 18th to 6th
before his night came to an end. It was all Heuerman in this one,
spanking the field once again. Paul Weaver, Stuart Brubaker, up from
11th, Chad Wilson, up from 17th, and Lee rounded out the top 5. Heuerman
ran away but Wilson, Hoffbauer, and Brubaker was well worth watching
charging past many cars. After the make believe rain at Wayne County and
skipping Hilltop, my next stop on Speedweek 09 was Wanyesfield
Motorsports Park for night # 4. 50 cars were ready for action. Caleb
Helms rode the guardrail in hot laps, just having it bite him enough to
do a small tip-over. The tight Waynesfield oval usually provides some
close racing and some wild action as well. This night was no different.
Tim Shaffer, Lee Jacobs, Jimmy Stinson, and Randy Hannagan took heat
wins. The tight battles and at times contact racing, sent a few cars a
flipping. Todd Kane took a ride in heat 2. Mike Dunlap and Travis Philo
both took tumbles in heat 4. Daron Clayton took the C. Brandon Martin
looked strong and held on for the Dash win. Another loaded B Main,
flavor of the week at Speedweek, loaded B Mains, seen Craig Mintz hold
off Dean Jacobs for the win. The been seen Tim Hunter, Mike Linder, and
Steve Irwin flip. Plus, a excellent battle for the final transfer spot,
that involved some contact. When it was all said and done, Cale Conley
held off an aggressive Terry McCarl. Steve Irwin's last lap flip was
kind of crazy since it happened before the checkered and the flagman
just left his car lay there, leaving the green out. Stevie Smith and
Cole Duncan made-up the front row for the 40 lap A Main. With the track
crew working on the track all night long, the place showed little dust
and was fairly smooth for the A. Smith shot to the lead at the start and
was looking to keep his strong runs a going for the week. This 40 lapper
was a pretty decent race. Smith lead but Brandon Martin and Duncan
followed closely. With some tight quarters in traffic, the Smith never
got too far ahead. A few cautions in the 1st half of the A was all that
slowed Smith down. After the halfway point, Daryn Pittman mounted a
charge towards Smith. With just a handful of laps to go, Pittman was in
2nd and looked to be faster than Smith. just as Pittman got close, the
yellow waved for a stopped Brad Sweet. Pittman had one last shot but,
Smith got a great restart and took the win. Pittman, Martin, Duncan, and
Chaney rounded out the top 5. Smith lead flag to flag but, it wasn't a
cake walk either. An ok A Main event. With running to the races all week
and returning back home to work the next day, when Thursday came around,
it was time to get the RV out and head to Attica. 48 cars were ready for
action and took to the track for hot laps. After a few cars timed in,
the rains came and drowned the place. Needless to say, it would of took
several hours to even attempt to get the track ready. The night was
canceled once again. What to do now after the rain out and stuck in the
RV at Attica. A trip to the carryout and DVD's on the tv was about as
good as it got. Night 5 now shifts to Limaland Motorsports Park for the
All Star NRA Challenge. 49 cars were ready for action. Jody Keegan
started the night off bad by flipping at the end of his hot lap session,
after the yellow and checkered was displayed. LMP and its 1/4 mile oval
always provides some excellent racing action when the All Stars come to
town. With a strong wind, the track became dusty but still was very
racy. Mike Linder, Chad Kemenah, Brandon Wimmer, and Dale Blaney won the
heats. Some tight battles sent a few cars a tumbling. In the 1st heat,
Brandon Martin took a big ride after heavy contact with Tim Shaffer. In
heat 4, an excellent race for the transfer spots was going on until Chad
Blonde got crossed up coming off 2 and collected Stevie Smith and
Hannagan. Blonde and Smith both flipped. Jody Keegan recovered to win
the C. Roddy Bellbowen took a tumble in the C. Lee Jacobs charged from
8th to win the B Main. Brock Mayes and Danny Smith drew front row
starting spots in this 40 lapper. Phil Gressman flipped on the start.
Once the green flew again, the battle was on. A nonstop 40 lap race on a
tight 1/4 mile oval and it was a good one. Danny Smith shot to the lead
on the start. Smith was strong but quickly Tim Shaffer was in his tire
tracks. Lap 11, Shaffer takes the lead. not to be denied, Smith never
let Shaffer out of his sights. The duo battle for the next few laps and
Smith regains the lead on lap 18. Just after halfway Smith opens up a
little bit of a lead. The final third of the race, Greg Wilson, and the
man missing from the top most of the week, Dale Blaney, are on the move.
Blaney is looking to turn, what for him would be a terrible Speedweek
around in this one. 10 to go, Smith leads. The last 10 laps Blaney is
closing some but Smith it hitting every mark perfect in traffic. Smith
takes the win. Blaney, Wilson, Shaffer, and Mayes round out the top 5. A
real good race and a great win for Smith. P.S. camper, Speedweek, and
some cold ones equals excellent time after the races by the pond. I am
pretty sure we made California Dave's 1st Ohio Speedweek unforgettable.
The Speedweek final switched venues this year and was hosted at Fremont
Speedway. The Fremont crew has worked real hard the past few years to
host some big shows, this was just another addition to that list. 43 All
Stars and 22 nonwing 305's were ready for action. The heats had plenty
of passing and saw 4 cars that started out of the 6 car invert, earn a
transfer spot. Brad Sweet, Dale Blaney, Daron Clayton, and Kevin Lee won
the heats. Heat 4 was a wild one. The 2 quickest cars in the heat both
got upside down on the same lap, in different corners, Rob Chaney in
turn 1, Ryan Myers in 3. Sheldon Haudenschild was in a transfer spot
before getting airborne off turn 2. Lil Haud re-fired but a lap later
took a huge tumble coming off turn 4. Tim Shaffer won the loaded B Main.
Chad Blonde and Duane Zablocki paced the field for the 40 lap $10,000 to
win event. As the green waved, Blonde took the lead. Blonde set a quick
pace as the field entered lapped traffic a handful of laps later. As
Blonde lead, Brock Mayes and Craig Mintz started to show they were going
to be forces to reckon with. Just before the halfway point, all 3 cars
were battling upfront. Lap 18, Mayes takes the lead. A yellow for
Clayton slows the pace. Mayes leads on the restart but on lap 19, the
fastest car on the track, Mintz, takes the lead. Pulling away from the
pack, Mintz is by far the fastest car at this point. The next few laps
pass by and Shaffer and Stevie Smith start making come noise after
starting deeper in the pack. Upfront, Mintz is super fast but a problem
starts to develop on the 20x machine. A oil line fitting is loose and
oil is spraying all over Mintz's visor. Entering heavy lapped traffic
with a visor that is oil covered, spells trouble. Mintz gets stuck
behind the lapped car of Ivy, almost forced off the track, Mintz's pace
is much slower. Lap 27, Mayes takes the lead. Mintz recovers to hang out
to 2nd. With Mayes and Mintz still having major problems with lapped
cars, Shaffer is quickly gaining. Lap 36, Shaffer takes the lead as
Mayes is stuck behind a lapped car. Lap 37, Blaney stops. This would
spell disaster for Mintz. Craig dropped to 4th but under the yellow, the
oil that flew all over dripped on the headers and caught the 20x machine
on fire. A quick stop and exit, the fire went out but, Mintz's excellent
run and shot at a top 3 finish was gone. With a 3 laps shootout, Shaffer
got an excellent restart and cruised to the $10,000 paycheck. Shaffer
wins after starting 14th, Mayes, S. Smith, up from 11th, Blonde, and
Sweet round out the top 5. A good race that seen some tough breaks for
the fastest cars upfront. If Mintz never had an oil leak, I don't think
anyone would of beat him. If Mayes didn't get stuck for 3 or 4 laps
behind a lapper, Shaffer more than likely would not of gotten past him.
That is why they call it racing, you never know what will happen. The 22
305 sprint went topless for this event. I personally think this is what
they should do every week with the 305s. It would cut down on wing cost,
tire cost, and engine wear, making what its is suppose to be, an
affordable class. Anyways, some great action for the 305s. Steve Rando
took a nasty tumble in hot laps. Paul Weaver caught the front stretch
wall as well in hot laps. Weaver, Roger Shammo, and Bill Kraylek won the
heats. Chad Wilson and Josh Muntz took wild tumbles in heat 3. All 22
305s were put into the A. A great race it was. Roger Shammo took the
early lead on his 1st trip out in 09. Shammo lead until DJ Foos took
over on lap 5. A lap 5 collision between the 2nd place battle of Shammo
and Weaver, ended their shot at the win. Foos lead but Shawn Valenti is
strong but, a few more cautions slows the pace and Valenti run at Foos.
Lap 9, Valenti takes the lead. Valenti is pulling away from the pack.
Just when it looked like Shawn had a easy win in his pocket, A fast
Stuart Brubaker is on his tail tank after a lap 22 caution. A 3 lap
shootout to determine the $1,000 to win event. Valenti gets a good start
and leads, Brubaker settles in 2nd as the laps wind down. White flag its
all Valenti. Wait, Brubaker gets a great run into 2, makes the pass off
2 and takes the lead. Brubaker takes the win on a last lap pass.
Valenti, Nate Dussel, up from 10th, Heuerman, up from 18th, and Foos
round out the top 5. A great race. Another fun night in the campground
as well. Not as loud and as long as Friday's but good times.
UPCOMING: a big holiday weekend, so support a track
somewhere.
Friday: FAST Attica, USAC Sprint and Midgets Toledo,
HOSS Angola IN, AVSS Dixie MI, All Stars KC
Saturday: FAST Fremont, All Stars Terre Haute IN, AVSS
Owosso MI, MSCS Haubstadt IN
Sunday MASS North Vernon IN
Later
Last week was one of my newest favorite weeks of the
year, Indiana's USAC Midget Week. I caught a few shows of it the first
couple of years but, followed the entire week last year. After last
year's Midget week, there was no doubt, I was chasing it again this
year. I actually cheated a little. I had no plans of hitting the
Thursday show but, with its rain out, I made them all. With Midget Week
moved up a few months, many other races was going on too, so car counts
were down just a bit.
Wednesday night, USAC Midget Week 09 started at the Gas City I-69
Speedway. 36 midgets and 20 sprints darkened the pit area. Speaking of
darkening, rain was all over the area before the night was complete. The
track was very heavy and fast the entire night. Jiggs and the boys
pushed the program as you could see the rain was getting closer. It
actually sprinkled a few times. Some great midget heat races seen Brad
Loyet, Nathan High, Cole Whitt, and Shane Hmiel take wins. The loaded
midget B Main seen a great battle. At 1 time, the battle for 4th to 7th
was so close, 3 of the 4 cars spun out together, they were so close.
Chad Boat took the B Main win. Daren Hagen and Jerry Coons Jr made-up
the front row of the 30 lap A Main. Coons jumped into the lead as the
green waved. Some early lap miscues put some heavy hitters to the tail.
Brad Sweet, Josh Wyse, fast timer, Steve Buckwalter, Matt Sherrell,
Ricky Ehrgott, and Shane Hmiel all were to the tail by
the end of lap 1, due to some contact in a bunching up of the field.
Coons was fast upfront and with a super fast and heavy track, it was
elbows up to even think of staying close to him. After a few cautions
for some cars stopping, Coons was on the hammer once again. He never
really got more than 4 cars lengths ahead but, he was always outfront.
Brad Kuhn was charging up from 8th, moving into 2nd. Lap 27, the battle
upfront took another twist. Bryan Clauson got loose off 4 and the pack
bunched up some. Chad Boat flipped onto his side as Kody Swanson got
collected too. This made for a 3 lap showdown. Could Coons hold off the
charging Kuhn? Restart, Coons and Kuhn are nose to tail. Coons is in
control and looks to have it in the bag when the yellow flys with just 1
lap yo go. Kevin Swindell was running 4th and made a dive to the inside
of the track to attempt a pass on the 3rd place car. The Bulldog's car
bogged down and Ryan Kaplan had no choice but to
tag Kevin's tail tank. Kevin spins, collecting Cole Whitt, and Dane
McAllan. Restart, its all Coons. Jerry Coons Jr takes the win. Kuhn, up
from 8th, Hagen, Clauson, up from 9th, and Kaplan, up from 13th, round
out the top 5. A decent race, just not a barn burner.
The action for the Gas City sprints was just as fast. Kent Chrisitan,
Dave Darland, and Sammy Imel won the heats. With 20 cars making the tow
to Gas City, no B Main was needed. Cole Whitt and Dave Darland made-up
the front row for the 25 lap A Main. The battle quickly heated up when
the green waved. Darland danced into the lead on lap 1. That didn't last
long as Whitt took over the lead on lap 2. Whitt and Darland stayed
within a few car lengths apart the next handful of laps. After cautions
on lap 4, 5, and 6 for spin outs, the green would wave once again. Whitt
and Darland still battled upfront as Matt Westfall was making a charge
from deep in the pack. Just after half-way, the battle upfront was
getting tighter. Shane Cottle and Jon Stanbrough were entering the mix
as Darland was slipping back a few spots. 5 to go, Stanbrough is wheel
to wheel with Whitt. Inches apart, they battle for the lead. Lap 22,
Stanbrough makes the pass. Whitt stays right
in his tire tracks. white is out, Whitt has one last run, looks good,
but he just can't get it done through the lapped cars. Stanbrough wins.
Whitt, Cottle, Coons Jr, and Westfall, up from 15th, round out the top
5. Once again a decent race. Actually a little better than the midget A.
Plus, the show was pushed forward and was finished just after dark. How
close was the rain? Well less than 3 miles up the highway, the roads
were wet and rain was still falling a little.
After a Thursday night rain out, night number 2 now shifted to
Bloomington Speedway on Friday night. After driving 232 miles one way,
in dark clouds 1/2 of the time, it was a breath of fresh air to see the
sun peaking out when arriving in the area. As it got later in the
afternoon, a few huge dark clouds past with just a few sprinkles
falling. 38 midgets and 38 sprints are ready for action, just as the sun
finally starts to peak out for the rest of the evening. The track was
fast and the action was hot. Steve Buckwalter set a new track record for
the night. The 1st midget heat alone was well worth the 232 mile drive.
Side by side, a little bumping here, a little banging there, 3 and 4
wide racing all through the heats. Cole Whitt, Thomas Meseraull, Chad
Boat, and Brad Kuhn took the wild heat race wins. Josh Wyse and Henry
Clarke tumbled together in heat 2. Andrew Deal got on his lid in heat 3.
Wes Gutierrez took a nasty ride in heat 4. Wes was
transported to the hospital He was released the next day and, would race
later in the week. With 38 cars, a huge, and loaded, B Main was ready to
attack the wild 1/4 mile raceway. When the smoke cleared, Josh Wyse
recovered from his heat race woes to take the B Main win. As the 30 lap
midget A Main was lining-up, you could sense, it was going to be a
shootout. Wyse and Brad Sweet paced the field for the A. These two would
battle all race long, for the majority of the race, less than a car
length apart, at times side by side. Wyse lead lap 1, Sweet took over on
lap 3. Then they just kept glued to each other the rest of the race. A
lap 10 cation slowed the pack. It was still Wyse and Sweet all over each
other but Kuhn and Hines were coming towards the front as well. After
aanother11 laps of playing cat and mouse for the lead, Wyse takes the
lead on lap 21. 2 more laps, 2 cautions, as Sweet regains the lead on
lap 23. A lap 25 yellow has brought Brad Kuhn
right into the mix as well. If you thought the 1st 25 laps was a dog
fight, wait for the last 5. Sweet gets a great start but Kuhn is on his
tail tank. They battle hard but Sweet still stays out front. coming to
the white in turn 3, Kuhn tries to sneak under Sweet, as Sweet left a
little opening. Contact, Kuhn gets into Sweet's left rear, it quickly
goes flat. Sweet is still hammer down and leading into 1. off 2, down
the backstretch, its still Sweet. Kuhn is waiting for a slip up off 4,
Sweet drifts wide off 4, due to the flat, and Kuhn sneaks under and
beats him to the line. Kuhn wins after starting 14th. Sweet, Wyse,
Hines, and Bryan Clauson round out the top 5. An excellent race! 2 years
in a row a kick butt, all out excellent race for Midget Week. Sweet, is
all do respect, gave Kuhn a big love tap after the checkered waved. I
really liked Brad's interview! Anyone, I mean anyone that had just had
that happen to them would have felt cheated out of
the win too. I am not sure why he got all the boos. He just told it the
way it was and chalked it up to just great short track racing.
An excellent field of sprint were ready for action at Bloomington. Brady
Short, Jeff Bland Jr, Dave Darland, and Matt Westfall all won sprint
heats. Once again some great heat races. The B Main was split into 2
B's. Kent Christian and Kenny Niflis took the B Main wins. Coons and
Short paced the field to for the 25 lap A Main. Just as the green flu,
Christian spun. Restart, Brady Short shot to the lead. After 2 early
spins on lap 1 and 3, the green was displayed for several laps. It was
all pretty much the Brady Short show. Short was working traffic to a t
and was heavy on the go peddle. Coons held a strong 2nd as Stanbrough,
Darland, and Bland tried to get to the leaders. Just when Short looked
to be cruising to victory lane, a lap 23 caution. This would tighten the
pack but, 2 lapped cars split 1st and 2nd. The lappers didn't an
excellent job on the restart and quickly let the lead pack battle.
Battle they may but, this night was all Brady Short.
Short wins. Coons, Chad Boat, Stanbrough, and Bland round out the top 5.
Saturday the action switched to the super fast high banks of
Lawrenceburg Speedway. One of the finest facilities in this region of
the US, even tho I was a huge fan of the old new place. 28 midgets and
23 sprints were ready for action on a beautiful night. 21 mini sprints
were on hand as well. Chad Boat was just off the midget track record.
The speeds continued in the fast paced midget heats. Brad Kuhn, Ricky
Ehrgott, and Cole Whitt took the heat wins. One of the fastest guy all
week,l Steve Buckwalter found his groove in the B Main and took the w.
Bryan Clauson and Buckwalter paced the field for the 30 lap A Main.
Buckwalter got a great start and takes the lead as Clauson fades some.
Buckwalter proves he is super fast and pulls to a huge lead in just a
handful of laps. Sweet, Hagen and Clauson try to mount a charge at
Buckwalter but, Steve is just too strong. A few mid-race cautions on lap
10 and 16 bunch the pack once again. Buckwalter is still just
too strong and drives off into the lead. Clauson gets a run a going and
starts to close a little but, still a ways back. A caution on lap 23,
may be just what the others needed. Restart, Buckwalter seems to be a
little bit slower, as Clauson seems too be just as strong now. Lap 25,
into turn 3, Clauson makes his move and takes the lead. A quick caution
once again puts the field nose to tail in the last 5 laps of the race.
Clauson gets a great starts and runs a perfect line the final 5 laps to
take the win. sweet does an excellent series of slide jobs the last 2
laps to earn a 2nd place finish. Buckwalter, Hagen, and Hines round out
the top 5. It turned out to be a great finish to what looked like a run
away race.
The sprint cars heats at The Burg were pretty good heats. Coons, Shawn
Westerfeld, and Josh Moffatt took the wins. Coons and Westerfeld made
last lap passes to win their heats, Moffatt just flat run away with his.
Once again, no B Main was needed for the sprints as track management put
all 23 cars in the A. I think this is an excellent idea and a great
gesture. Plus, a great way to keep the guys that support you a coming
back. Coons and Westerfeld paced the field for the 25 lap A Main. Coons
crushed the throttle and out the Hoffman 69 car into the lead on lap 1.
After a lap 2 yellow, it was all green. With all green flag racing and
Coons in the Hoffman 69 outfront, it was all over. Coons put a huge
whipping on the field on this night. All was not a bore tho as Levi
Jones and Shane Hmiel put on a rim riding clinic at The Burg in the
Trucker's 24 hours cars. Both were elbows up on the cushion, just inches
off the wall. Watching them work traffic was
awesome. Coons takes the win tho over, Jones, Hmiel, Short, and Moffatt.
A run away race but the Trucker's cars stole the show. Another fasted
paced show that was over just after dark, barely. It was just after
9:30, which meant danger for me since the big money pit is next door.
Then again, maybe it was just my lucky night as when I walked out of the
casino doors just past 1 AM, I actually made up for all the $$ I lost
during the WOO weekend and all I spent that night.
As the week wound down, one race was left to run for Midget Week at
Kokomo Speedway. After traveling from Lawrenceburg to Kokomo Sunday
afternoon, weather once again was in the area. Traveling through some
heavy sstorms all was clear about half-way between Indy and Kokomo. 33
midgets and 21 sprints pulled into the Kokomo pit area. Ricky Ehrgott
took a nasty tumble into midget hot laps/time trials. Ricky went to the
hhospital and was later released. Thank God because it looked pretty
nasty for a minute or two. One thing about Kokomo and midget racing, it
is awesome! The 4 midget heats were just plain kick ass, no other words
to explain it. Cars racing 3, 4, and yes 5 wide in the heats, lap after
lap as well. When the gun smoke cleared in the heats, Hagen, Clauson,
Hines, and Dakota Armstrong walked away heat race winners. 2 of the 4
heats were on at the line. Steve Buckwalter was once again a quick car
and took the B Main win. If you thought to heats
were a gun fight, you better of bbroughta bigger gun for the 30 lap A
Main. Darland and Hagen pace the field for the A. Hagen gets the jump
and the lead before lap 1 is complete. Lap 2, a grinding crash between 2
of the fastest car of the night, Chad Boat and Brad Sweet. Both cars
flip and are done for the night. Bryan Clauson had a terrible start
after almost losing his car in turn 1, dropping back to 11th. Hagen
looks strong until he sudden slows and stops. This puts Darland in the
lead. After another caution on lap 13, cars are racing high, low, and in
between, once again 3 to 5 wide for positions in the top 10. Plus, the
lead pack is nose to tail, side by side, just fighting it out. Darland,
Buckwalter, Kuhn, Whitt, and he comes Clauson all battling hard upfront.
With 8 to go, Clauson catches Darland. DD has to change his line as BC
was was low and showed his nose to Darland. Whitt was working high and
the others were all over the place. 5 to go,
and there is 8 cars upfront still battling for the win. Lap 26, another
grinding crash with hard flips by Henry Clarke and Zach Daum. Buckwalter
pulls pit side in 3rd under the red. This sets up a 4 lap war. Darland
was kind of a sitting duck as Clauson was working good low and Whitt
high, he couldn't block both of them. Darland runs just a car length and
a half off the bottom to try and maintain the lead. Clauson gets a run
but Darland pinches the door shut. Lap 27, Clauson gets an excellent run
and takes the lead. BC opens up just a little distance as the others
bump and bang for position. Still 3 and 4 wide, Clauson rides home
across the finish line 1st, after falling to 11th on lap 2. Darland,
Kuhn, up from 17th, Whitt, up from 16th, and Kevin Swindell, up from
10th, round out the top 5. Think there wasn't any passing, just look at
that, guys in the top 5 after starting 10th, 16th, 17th, and falling
back to 11th. Whitt and Darland had a little
contact after the show as well. Whitt got hooked and spun after he gave
DD a love tap. The 2 exited the cars and talked about DD little pinch on
Whitt with a few laps to go. Another excellent race and a great finish
to a good week of racing.
Sprint cars at Kokomo always seem to race hard as well. For all the cars
making the A main, you would of thought the heats paid $5000 to win as
hard as they were racing. Kevin Thomas Jr, Kent Christian, and Ryan
Kaplan took the heat wins. Coons Jr, Whitt, and Anthony Peterman all
left the heats on a wrecker. Peterman actually took a wild tumble.
Rookie Andrew Elson took his 1st ever checkered flag in the Dash. Once
again, all cars to the A. Shane Cottle and Jerry Coons Jr pace the field
for the 25 lap A. After some great runs all week, coons once again put
on a beating in the sprint A. This time in the Trucker's 24 Hour car,
Coon Dog ran away from the pack soon after the green was displayed. In a
non-stop green to checkered race, Coons littery ran away from the pack
and no one had a chance of catching him. Coons spanks them in this one,
taking the win. Billy Puterbaugh, Whitt, Cottle, and Elson rroundout the
top 5. Great night for the rookie Elson.
After attending the entire USAC Midget Week for the 2nd year in a row,
I, in my humble opinion, thought of a few ways to even make it better. I
love the idea of USAC Midgets and regular non wing sprints as the
support class. This year car counts were down some but, timing of other
shows made for many more races going on at the same time. How about a
bonus like some others have done. Lets say get a sponsor, like Hoosier
Park, to get an insurance policy to pay like a $100,000 bonus to win all
10 A Mains. $75,000 to win 9, $50,000 to win 8, $40,000 for 7, and
$25,000 for 6 wins. These policies don't cost much and could create a
lot of buzz and maybe many more cars or more double duty cars. Plus, how
about a different track than North Vernon on Thursday. Just my 2 cents.
UPCOMING:: Ohio Speedweek starts Friday
Friday: All Star Attica,
Saturday: All Star Eldora, HOSS Anderson IN, KISS
Paragon IN, USAC Sprints Kalamazoo MI
Sunday: All Star Millstream OH
Monday: All Star Wayne Co
Tuesday: All Star Hilltop
Wednesday: All Star Waynesfield
Friday: All Star Limaland Motorsports Park, SOD MT
Pleasant MI
Saturday: All Star Fremont, SOD I96 MI, AVSS Berlin MI
Sunday: Bob Darland Memorial Kokomo IN, HOSS Plymouth IN
See You at most of the Speedweek shows and the Darland
Memorial
Thanks
Duane
E-mail Duane Here
A Hosehead
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