|
Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| FRED
GERHARDT CLASSIC-2003 by Norm Bogan |
|
|
|
Madera Speedway set aside a special weekend to honor one of the local auto racing legends, Fred Gerhardt. The Fred Gerhardt Classic was a two-day program featuring the USAC National Midgets accompanied by the Northern California based Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) on Friday night. Saturday would bring in the USAC Western States Sprints along with the SRL Super-Modifieds. Friday Night Midgets What a concept! Lets run midgets starting three abreast and eleven rows deep, just like Indy. We’ll race for one hundred laps and let the field shake out and see who comes out on top. Oh, by the way, we’ll make this a National USAC Midget show, which means all the big boys from the Midwest will be here and add in the Bay Cities Racing Association cars to complete the field. Since this was Easter weekend, why not bring in a couple of heavy hitters who are not racing in their regular series. Let’s invite former national midget champions, Tony Stewart and Jason Leffler and why not dedicate the race to a longtime local talent, who was both influential in Central California midget racing and also an icon in Indy racing for about thirty years, the late Fred Gerhardt, a long time builder and car owner from nearby Fresno. The idea was a no-brainer and what a great scenario for a successful race promotion! The concept worked and the crowds came to see their heroes at a price much less than a ticket to a NASCAR show. Thirty-eight cars timed in with J.J. Yeley garnering fast time at 14.012 seconds on this third-mile asphalt oval. The format had the fastest fifteen cars going directly to the feature, with the slower qualifiers running two qualifying races with nine cars taken from each to complete the field of thirty-three. The Ford Focus Midgets put on a good show as a companion feature tonight, with a field of twenty cars, running a thirty-lap feature. Indiana Midget star, Michael Lewis at the wheel of Garrett Hansen’s #24, did not get in a qualifying time and was gridded at the back of the field, but moved smoothly through the pack to claim a fourth place finish. Youngster, Ryan Kaplan in the # 27 car led the first sixteen laps of this event, then succumbed to California-South point leader, Todd Hunsaker, who went on to victory in the thirty lap feature. Travis Johnson captured the first qualifying race, with Tony Stewart starting near the back, falling out due to a mechanical difficulty and not making the transfer. The second qualifier saw Ryan Durst claim victory. What a dilemma as your headliner, Stewart was not making the show. Well, the old promoters option came into play as a twelfth row was added to include Stewart and Bill Lindsey running the only VW powered racer in the show. With the field set, it was time to stage and get the one hundred-lapper underway. On the front row were J.J. Yeley, Teddy Beach and A.J. Fike, with a second row of Bobby East, Jay Drake and Bud Kaeding, followed by Dave Steele, John Starks and Johnny Rodriguez and a fourth row of Jason Leffler, Tracy Hines and Jerome Rodela. As you can see, there were some heavy hitters present tonight. The first two of three abreast starts resulted in spinouts each time, so the third was a single file start and all went well. Yeley took the point with Beach in pursuit. During the event, there were a number of yellows for spins and one tip-over, but no major incidents all night. Several cars dropped out to attrition and the dicing was pretty intense among the cars running from third through tenth. Tony Stewart made a steady charge from the last row to finish thirteenth. Jason Leffler was running fourth late in the race, when contact spun him out of the show. J.J. Yeley dominated this show leading from wire to wire, trailed by Teddy Beach and Bobby East, A.J. Fike, Tracy Hines and Jay Drake. Lindsey’s VW ran last of the cars finishing, which could be thought of a victory of sorts. Now, these same teams focus on next week’s show at Irwindale for the Twin 25 program, when the cars will run a twenty-five lap race lined up by qualifying, then the field will invert the first race finish to line up the second twenty-five lap feature. If a driver can claim victory on both ends of this program, there is a $50,000 bonus. Dave Steele accomplished this task at a similar show last year at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Saturday night with Sprints and Super-Mods Passing through the pits early in the afternoon was a colorful exhibit of beautiful racecars. There were thirty USAC Sprints and seventeen SRL Super-Mods. The sprints have really upgraded over the past several years and nearly all competitors are now racing a specialized chassis for the asphalt. The Super-Mods are a breed of exotic racecar, looking much like the low-slung Indy cars. Designed for short track asphalt racing with a radical offset chassis where the engine and driveline are to the left of the driver. The racecars are beautifully painted with a lot of chrome and polished aluminum. Many are individually crafted. A stroll down pit road today was like a tour of the Concours d’ Elegance. One area that drew a lot of attention was a compound of two sprinters, #20 and #40 and two Super-Mods, #1 and #14. All the cars were immaculately prepared and all were painted a bright orange with a trim of silver and black. At the controls of the #1 and #20 was none other than Tony Stewart. His teammates were Jason Leffler in the #40 and Lonnie Adamson in the #14. Veteran Crew Chief Larry Triguero oversees the operation. Defending Western States Champion, Rick Hendrix, posted the fast time of 13.65 seconds to lead the sprint car qualifying. Joining the action in West Coast cars were several of the Indiana campaigners, defending National Sprint champ, Tracy Hines joined the fray along with Michael Lewis, Bud Kaeding and Jason McCord. Former World of Outlaws driver, Jason Meyers plans to race the full Western States schedule in 2003. The feature was pretty uneventful, with an early lap shunt, putting two cars out of the show and the balance of the field taking the checkers. Tony Stewart led all fifty laps collecting his first feature win of the evening. Following Stewart to the finish were Tracy Hines, Rick Hendrix, Michael Lewis and Bud Kaeding. Lonnie Adamson posted quick time for the Super-Mods with a 12.049 lap. Sixteen cars started the feature, which was punctuated by a number of collisions throughout the race. Jim Birges led the early laps closely pursued by Adamson and Stewart. Adamson eventually got around Birges and moved away from the rest of the field. Stewart looked strong early, but fell back to about fifth or sixth. Maybe Tony’s long distance NASCAR racing has helped him to set a pace to save the car for the finish. On a restart with a few laps to go, Stewart suddenly leapt to the front with Adamson in pursuit and Birges closing on the outside. On the final lap, these three went down the back straightaway side by side by side. Entering turn three, Adamson and Birges touched with Jim spinning to a stop as the others went around to take the checkered flag. Only five cars actually crossed the finish line. The crowd went wild as most had come to see their hero from the televised NASCAR races in person. Tony didn’t disappoint them scoring a double victory this evening. Stewart entertained the fans by taking the pace car out at intermission and doing a donut right at the starter’s stand, where a gracious interview was conducted over the public address system. While many criticize Stewart for cherry picking with the little guys, you must understand that these are his roots and Tony truly enjoys returning to race against past competitors. Stewart has a lot of respect for the Saturday Night Racers that never got an opportunity like Tony’s, which helps to keep life in perspective by coming back occasionally for a Saturday night show. |
