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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| West Coasters come to Indiana while the pavement
pounders hit the high banks by Kirk Spridgeon |
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August 17, 2004....Going back to 1997, when SCRA regulars
first came east to compete with USAC’s best during Indiana
Sprintweek, I have been a fan of the California contingent that
travels here to race in the Hoosier state. It has always been fun to
see their differing style and their usually bright-colored cars with
unique paint schemes. They are also some of the nicest guys I’ve
met, and my T-shirt supply always received an influx of new
inventory whenever they raced out here.
When the NWWC tour started in 1999, it allowed me to see
them in a large event at Terre Haute along with a few races through
the Midwest, including two tracks I had wanted to see in Knoxville
and Eagle. Since then, we have hit various parts of the tour as it
has changed its path. This year, with a smaller car count due to the
splitting of fields in California, just a dozen or so cars came
East. At the same time, though, it offered the first time they would
race at one of Indiana’s best weekly tracks, Gas City. Although
they were cancelled at Lawrenceburg, this tour offered their
regulars a chance to race in Indiana for a full weekend(if they so
wished) along with a start and finish of high-dollar deals in the
Plains states. Gas City’s quarter-mile started off wet, which would
usually equate to a shelling by the best of the SCRA. Gas City
regulars are somewhat used to this, however, and 32 cars came in
under thirteen seconds on this evening in qualifying. Last week,
with muddy conditions to start, just six cars had the same
achievement. On a track that was likely as fast as you’ll see in
Indiana, many locals were too tight, also thanks in part to a supply
of mandated tires that left stagger too small. Three racers went over during their two laps of time.
Michael Burthay turned fifth quick on his first lap before an invert
into turn one that tweaked his chassis and left the team thrashing
to ready it for a B Main later in the evening. Scotty Weir biked
hard on his first lap, but he showed an important ability to qualify
under pressure by turning tenth quick on his second lap. Rookie of
the Year candidate Mike Smith went over turn two and found himself
on his cage, but he came out at the end of the line for a lap that
would put him near the tail of a B Main. Chris Kopczynski started an
unwanted streak as he flipped for the second week in a row.
First-year sprinter Matt Brun showed a quick learning curve as he
stood on the gas in qualifying to a new track record at 12.417. With
his only experience at the ‘Burg and Gas, the former midget
gasmasher has adapted quickly, with his only hope tonight being to
make the feature. Heat races commenced quickly, as the SCRA runs an even
tighter program than Gas City does. With street stocks chopping up
the surface, the first heat was very fast and one lane. Matt
Westfall pushed to the top of the track with an ultra-tight Maxim.
His horrible I-69 luck continued in the semi as he was involved in
an early tangle that left him torn in the infield. Regulars
dominated the heats as Dustin Smith, Shane Hollingsworth(with a
great pass of Mike Spencer), Kris Deckard, and Kevin
Besecker(checking out from good friend AJ Anderson) took the
checkers. Mat Neely ran a great heat race as he transferred from row
four. Dave Darland looked to pass Zac Osborn after already taking a
transfer, but Osborn nearly lost and both avoided the tires in turn
two. When Dave tried to set his car to go under Osborn in turn one
of the following lap, John Wolfe drove right up and over Darland.
This helped a struggling Rickie Gaunt make the cut, as both
fourth-row starters were out of contention. Darland’s night got even worse in a hammer-down B Main as
he tried to find a way around Scotty Weir. With almost two years
under his belt now, Weir is no longer a field-filler looking for
laps. The red and black Maxim was too fast for Dave to pass, but
they both put pressure on Brun. Running out of laps, Darland’s
only relief on the night was that he didn’t miss the USAC point
race in Pennsylvania, as it was a washout. Burthay’s battered Maxim found his mainstay groove on the
bottom of his B Main, which also transferred three. As Tony Elliott
and Casey Shuman(looking very good after a runner-up in qualifying
in front of his dad’s club) raced away, Burthay looked comfortable
in third. Matt Hardin, running the top line in his Stealth, started
to catch Burthay late in the race after starting tenth because he
qualified so poorly. Making a power move around the outside with two
to go, Hardin pulled away for a spot in the feature. After winning the dash, Shane Cottle shot out to an early
lead. The early battle between him and Critter Malone resembled the
race here one week before. A combination of run-ins throughout the
front of the pack ended when Mat Neely was tapped and his left-side
tires took hold, turning him over. Cautions continued to slow down
the pace early in the A, including a yellow for Seth Wilson, who was
spun to the low side of turn two. When cars converged, he was hit on
the right side of his car, and out popped the helmet of the “Warbird.” As the middle lane became slick, bottom and top were the
only two options. With Cottle running the top, Shane Hollingsworth
began to nail down lap after lap encircling the tires. With ten to
go, Hollingsworth had reeled in the leader. While the two raced
side-by-side for eight to ten laps, Hollingsworth beat the Monte
Edison’s mount back to the line on two occasions. With a few to
go, Cottle saw the bottom open long enough from turns two to three
for him to drop in front of the other Shane’s white number 85. The
two made contact, but continued on in the same positions. Two laps
before the finish, Kris Deckard’s night came to end on the
frontstretch, leaving us with a green-white-checkered finish. Coming slowly from the 12th starting position,
Tony Elliott put it on the tall ledge at the top of the speedway as
Cottle and Hollingsworth fought around the bottom. As they came to
the line, Cottle had edged out Elliott for the win as Hollingsworth
lost the runner-up spot exiting turn four. It was an encouraging run
for Elliott, who was experiencing his first race in the car that
Sammy Swindell had been racing. For Cottle, it was his second sprint
car win at Gas City, and it was his third big score after also
winning a KISS event and the Sheldon Kinser Memorial. Wearing a Ron
Shuman shirt late into the night, Cottle told of the SCRA president
being his favorite driver when he was younger. Kudos for the second week in a row to Jiggs Thomason, who
was thanked over and over again by SCRA teams for his great track.
Harlan Willis said it may have been the first time he’d seen mud
at the end of the night in Indiana. Shuman’s first experience of
Gas City left him feeling good that 48 cars and a healthy crowd
showed to see this special race. Overall, it was a good night for
both sides, and I came away thinking it was one of the best races I
had seen all year. After a late night talking about everything with the SCRA
officials, a daunting drive to Salem was nearly nixed. Four hours
after departure, I arrived to see sprint car practice and a full
show on the high banks that measure five-ninths of a mile. Salem is
one of my favorite places, sitting right next to the airport on the
west side of town. Running on the wall in turns three and four and
through the middle on the other end, it’s a tricky track that
requires a total of talent, handling, and bravery to be a
frontrunner. Although the banks are rough and cracked these days, in
need of a repaving, the racing is still fast and furious. With an
extremely small field of midgets and just enough sprinters for a
full feature field, heat races were rather uneventful. Travis Miniea
was strong in his heat until his car quit, and Kevin Newton did
likewise. Aaron Pierce went to the wall for a move on Josh Ford in
heat race two, and Marc Jessup followed him with a move on the
bottom to take second. Mat Neely was much-improved in the third
heat, but Dave Darland and Bud Kaeding passed him before the finish. Only thirteen midgets took the green flag for the
thirty-lapper, and just eight survived after Richey Jacobs spun and
collected the struggling Bobby East. East’s brakes glowed red
before his premature finish. Brad Kuhn was running near the front,
first holding off Aaron Fike, and then Dave Steele, before he spun
in turn four. With just a few laps to go on the restart of East and
Jacobs, Steele ducked under Fike for the lead, but the start was
called back when Jay Drake had trouble taking off. Steele was
steaming, but he eventually made the pass for the lead after a few
laps of pressure, leading the final three laps in victory. With fifty laps on tap for the Joe James/Pat O’Connor
Classic, saving tires and steadily moving to the front would be
necessary. Brian Tyler shot to the lead, and he would be hard to
pass. With a lead pack of Tyler, Eric Gordon, Dave Steele, Michael
Lewis, Bud Kaeding, and Jay Drake, the early pace was quick, as they
encountered lap traffic early. Those obstacles were negated when
Darland and Miniea stopped on separate occasions on the backstretch. Marc Jessup started eighth and quickly beat Levi Jones for
the seventh spot. Trying to save his tires for the long haul, Jessup
worked slowly for the spots in front of him. When Drake was caught
behind Kaeding early in the race, Jay tried to go low entering turn
three while Bud ran high. Jessup glided above Drake with a daring
move near the wall. After disposing of Kaeding, Jessup looked like
he could run with the leaders. Drake and Aaron Pierce, who started 11th,
followed him through BK’s 29. Tailing Michael Lewis’
fourth-place Hoffman machine, Jessup waited until those in front of
him moved to pass other cars before he pounced. Being fairly
cautious, Jessup finally found third on lap 35, and he got by Brian
Tyler, who was the hold-up of the lead pack, on lap 36. Steele had
already gotten underneath Tyler and moved to the lead. With Jessup trying desperately to track down the leader,
the racers behind him were in heavy lapped traffic and trading
positions constantly. Pierce’s charge came all the way to fourth,
but Tyler held him off for yet another podium finish in the Beast
bought from Tony Epperson and Bobby Smith. For Jessup, it was his
best USAC finish after a third-place run at IRP a month earlier.
Steele only showed that he is one of the best pavement racers that
USAC has seen. After arriving home just after four in the morning, a
Sunday trip to Kokomo was cancelled. I regretted missing what
sounded like a good show, but my body requested repose. For this
weekend, I want to meet up again with the best of SCRA mixed with
some Midwest winged racers(including defending champion, Jesse
Hockett), and some travelers from Indiana, including Kevin Briscoe
and most of the top USAC teams. I’d be glad to see many Indiana
teams support this race, as it’s not only a great track, but it
pays $10,000 to win on Saturday, and the start money for the two
nights are $400 and $500. Look for me there, or take your chances on
me arriving at Kokomo on Sunday. |
