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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
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TWO DIFFERENT DISCIPLINES AT THE TULARE OPENER by Norm Bogan |
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Opening night of the 2005 Tulare Thunderbowl season featured the World of Outlaws in their maiden voyage at this venue. Sharing the spotlight was a new class, the SCRA 360 traditional sprints. Fans got to sample both the winged and non-winged forms of racing and they reacted by creating a sell out for the promoters and eating up all the concession food, while being rewarded with a good show by each group. On hand were
thirty-five winged cars consisting of nearly half regular
competitors in the World of Outlaw series and the balance coming
from the local Golden State Challenge series. The SCRA 360 sprints
counted thirty-eight cars, mostly locals from the Bandit series, VRA
racers from Ventura and a few from Arizona, joined by regular 410
racers like Cory Kruseman, Damion Gardner, Mike Kirby, Josh Ford,
Ronnie Case, Danny Sheridan, Andy Forsberg and Brad Sweet. Both classes
presented the fans with top talent from each discipline.
The Outlaws qualified against the clock with Donny Schatz
garnering the quick time and a new track record for winged 410 cars.
To keep the program moving along, the SCRA 360 cars did a
pill draw for starting position in the heat races and were awarded
passing points. The
feature was staged in order of accumulated points. Each class ran four
heats, with both the Outlaw and SCRA cars having problems and
flipping. The cars
would swing down into the infield entering turn one and then turn
right up the bank and exit the track.
The area where they crossed the track packed in harder and
when cars on the track entered turn one, they would hit that area
and upset their cars. While
the track was well prepared and stayed racy all evening, this one
area caused problems all evening.
The track crew worked over the area on a couple of occasions
in an attempt to alleviate the problem. As the SCRA 360 cars got underway, the red flag flew on the first two starts for flips. On the first lap of racing, about six cars tangled with a couple getting upside down against the front stretch wall. Several cars were lost, while the others were able to restart. Due to the delays, the feature was reduced to fifteen laps. Cory Kruseman was able to hold the point and record his first victory of 2005. Brad Sweet was impressive as he restarted at the rear of the field and advanced to second place. Josh Ford, once again looking strong, finished in third. In the Outlaw
feature, Tim Kaeding assumed the lead early and appeared to be
roaring to victory, when he tangled with a lapped car and
overturned, recording a DNF. Tim
Shaffer bided his time and then moved to the front, holding off all
challengers for the spoils. Fast
timer Schatz was the runner-up and Dennis Moore Jr. came home in
third.
The track appeared
to be a bit tackier than a usual Outlaw venue, but the teams
adjusted and put on some good racing.
The surface was a comfortable compromise between the Outlaw
preferred dry slick and the non-wing option of a tacky surface. The fans were
treated to a great show by both classes and with the full house, it
was decided to run this same combination again in the fall, when the
Outlaws return to the West Coast at the end of the season for a
two-day show. Look into
getting your tickets now, since two more sellouts are anticipated.
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