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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| HammerDown Report by Bobby Gerould |
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Stratton bumps and runs to Hanford Midget win |
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10/09/04
- Hanford, CA.
…The United States Auto Club Western States Midgets
co-sanctioned the Pacific Coast Open at Kings Speedway Saturday
night with the Bay Cities Racing Association. 31
teams were in competition on a 65 degree night at the Kings County
Fairgrounds. At the end of 30-laps Danny Stratton stood in the
winners circle, with second place finisher Robby Flock, and third
place runner Tyler Brown. The 30-lap feature started in an ugly way for
Jerome Rodela, and Wally Pankratz. The two executed a nasty double
flip on the front straightaway coming to the green flag after one
aborted start. The race was delayed for cleanup and both drivers
were transported awake and alert to a local When the race resumed Ryan Kaplan and Josh Wise lined up first and second in single file formation. The top ten qualifiers were inverted in the 23-car feature. Points leader Johnny Rodriguez joked, “I think Josh (Wise) sandbagged to start up front.” Wise passed Kaplan by diving underneath him in turn three on lap one to take the lead. He ran away until he entered turn three on lap eight and did a quick flip to bring put the red flag. That gave the lead back to Kaplan. The crowd was buzzing watching 12th
starting Stratton pick off cars on the high groove. The cushion
pushing Stratton drove around 2003 series champion Steven Paden, and
Garrett Hansen both on lap eight. He overtook Brown one lap later to
leap into the top-five. On lap ten he powered past Rodriguez in turn
two. Intense racing ensued as Kaplan, Robby Flock,
Jimmy Christian, and now the charging Stratton were tightly grouped.
Stratton made more daring moves on lap13 when he passed Christian in
turn one, and Flock in turn three. One lap later Stratton caught
Kaplan and as the two raced off turn four Stratton’s #50 bumped
the left rear of Kaplan’s #27. Kaplan suffered a flat left rear
and dropped numerous positions. The caution flag appeared on lap 17 for a
stalled Ronnie Day who was using his local track knowledge in the
second of two McKenney Racing entries. During that slow period,
third place running Paden dropped out with mechanical trouble. Flock made the race close on lap 20 but
Stratton ultimately won comfortably. “I was sitting in eighth spot
early in the race and I knew I had to get going”, said Stratton.
“I got some momentum and just kept passing guys.” Of the contact
with Kaplan, Stratton said, “It got real narrow in turn four.
Racin’s racin’. I was just racing hard like the rest of the
guys.” Flock said of his runner-up run, “The
racetrack was great. We didn’t win but they still knew we were
here. Give credit to Stratton. He beat us.” The third heat was the toughest heat of the
2004 season thus far. The top ten qualifiers were all in the special
race. Wise won the heat over Christian. The top six in USAC Western
States Midget points were all in the same heat! Meseraull and
Stratton won the first two heats respectively. Paden had quick-time
turning the sticky 3/8’s mile in 16.215 seconds.
First Heat: 1. Meseraull, 2. Mitchell, 3. Day,
4. Kuhn, 5. Sarale, 6. Dennett, 7. Davis, 8. Second Heat: 1. Stratton, 2. Russell, 3. Gard,
4. McQueen, 5. McKenney, 6. Streeter, 7. Alvis, 8. Hubert III, 9.
Joyce Third Heat: 1. Wise, 2. Christian, 3. Brown, 4.
Flock, 5. Rodriguez, 6. Pankratz, 7. Paden, 8. Hansen, 9. Rodela,
10. Kaplan. Semi Main: 1. McKenney, 2. Streeter, 3. Davis,
4. Alvis, 5. Pierovich, 6. Hubert III, 7. Joyce Main Event:
1. Danny Stratton, 2. Robby Flock, 3. FEATURE LAP
LEADERS: Laps 1-7 Wise, Laps 8-13 Kaplan, Laps 14-30 Stratton. NEW WESTERN
MIDGET CAR POINTS: 1-Rodriguez-1,041; 2-Pankratz-915; 3-Rodela-853;
4-Paden-727; 5-Flock-709; 6-Hansen-684; 7-McKenney-673;
8-Mitchell-527; 9-Brown-496; 10-McQueen-484. NEXT
WESTERN MIDGET CAR RACE: |
