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See You At The Races!!!

Making my way back to Van Wert on Thursday night, Dad and I departed fairly early on Friday to take in Little 500 second-day qualifications for the second year in a row. While this year didn’t have quite the same amount of drama as last year, it did have more controversy. Entries dropped by about 25 cars for this year’s running, and complaints were made about everything from purse structure to the format of qualifying for the event. Taking away some drama was the realization that Hud Cone and Aaron Mosley, who helped fill the field early in the afternoon, would not be able to bump their way back into the field after seeing 33^rd position come and go. This took away the only two drivers that could have possibly turned qualifying into a good show. It was nice to see Mark Hall find his way into the field, knowing that it was a very large goal of his to race in the Little 500.

Driving the rest of the way to the Indiana State Fairgrounds through sporadic outbursts of sprinkles and showers after leaving the Anderson quarter-mile, we pondered our Saturday night destination. Unfortunately, that moisture we drove through did not equate to a great track. Showing black streaks right away in hot laps, it took rubber very early and helped Paul White set an unofficial track record during the Hoosier Hundred’s new qualifying format.

Besides just 37 of the 43 cars in attendance taking time, the qualifying format was not an overwhelming success, nor was it a failure. While it was hard for fans to keep track of where all qualifiers were, it did insert a little drama into the top ten qualifiers. I am not sure that they made much money after buying a new set of tires to attack the mile, but it was something different to see.

One added attraction that I would like to see at the Hoosier Hundred is a consolation race that actually features racing to make the field. Once again, I was disappointed at the attrition taking place before the 100-lapper even began. Danny Ebberts touched the wall and broke multiple parts, not able to repair it well enough to qualify or race. Johnny Heydenreich had engine problems and was forced to tag the tail of the consy, but he had no problem transferring. Hud Cone never turned a lap after hot laps, but I failed to pinpoint the reason, along with Billy Puterbaugh, Jr. in his Bowe’s Seal-Fast look-alike. Danny Long and Tad Roach did just their usual, not lasting long enough to see feature laps, or very many consolation laps for that matter.

Dickie Gaines’ Parker champ car attempt saw the rear end tossed early in hot laps, but they got help from Puterbaugh’s team to insert a new one to tag the tail of the consy and run quite a few of the 100 laps. Nelson Stewart pounded the turn-one wall, leaving him done for the evening. Alex Shanks returned from backing his car into the turn-one wall to produce a few qualifying laps and easily make the field. Jimmy Stinson did not seem comfortable at all in his champ car ride, and he made just a few laps before pulling pit-side during the last chance affair. Sport Allen’s clutch was again a problem on his new Hurricane chassis. He ran very few laps the whole time, hoping that they have things figured out for trips to Springfield and DuQuoin. Mat Neely found the wall in turn one and was joined there by Jesse Hockett, who could not hook the bottom groove through one and two all night. They both repaired to turn a few qualifying laps and make the 100-lapper, though Hockett did not last long and Neely’s night ended upside-down.

In the consy, Tony Elliott pulled in right away, ending his night in the Louck’s 03. Randy Bateman was fairly fast, but he exited the race as well. Ryan Durst had a rough time holding off Dickie Gaines in the consy, but those two along with Gary Irvin transferred when no one else was running. They all made it because Brian Tyler scratched after he suffered a spin into the wall during qualifying. He would run Gary Irvin’s car for the feature, but that ended early in what he called a case of “brain fade.” Shane Hollingsworth was just as fast as anybody in qualifying, but he found the wall in turn four, forcing the team to make some hasty repairs for him to join his friends for the feature. Unfortunately, all these circumstances led to everyone that was left running being allowed to start the Hoosier Hundred, which takes away some credibility, in my opinion. How I long for the day when five or ten cars battle for the final transfer spot to such a prestigious event.

Oh yeah, the calamity didn’t stop there. Five cars never completed a lap in the Hoosier Hundred. First, David Gough stalled in turn three and was eventually slammed by Jack Hewitt in the two-seater. This brought out a red flag to clean up all the fuel dumped by Gough’s car. While lining up for the start, Kevin Huntley and Tom Hessert III found a way to put themselves in the turn two wall, which apparently led to some extra-curricular activities between the two. Johnny Parsons, Jr. would not be a crowd pleaser after he pulled into the infield before the start and was done for the night. Jerry Coons, Jr. did the same, going through his second car on the night.

All this just made for one strange night, and the night became even stranger when two kids outran one of the most accomplished racers in the history of Silver Crown cars. Paul White and Tracy Hines shared the front row, but Hines moved to the tail to run for the $50,000 bonus to win and $100 for every car he passed on the way. Paul White led the first two laps before the red flag for Neely’s flip, but he was leaking fuel profusely, which took him out of contention. 

This put Josh Wise in the lead, and he ran ahead of the pack until lap 86. Teddy Beach got by Dave Darland early in the race, and he stalked Wise for most of the race. Ron Gregory also showed his ability to run up front on dirt now that he has collaborated with Gene Nolen and has a Twister dirt champ car. Tom Capie was also a contender early after qualifying third for the grid, but he slipped back to fourth with some problems in turns three and four. He then slipped up on that end again and got into the wall, taking him to the trailer. Matt Westfall’s Peterbilt-sponsored Beast was also very fast early in the race, but his brakes went away and he found the wall in turn three, too.

For much of the race, the top four cars ran in the order of Wise, Beach, Gregory, and Darland. Darland appeared to be swinging the rear end of the car around to run through the corners, and it eventually bit him when he shredded a right rear coming down the front straightaway. Gregory eventually fell to the inside of the track down the back straightaway after losing a few spots late in the race.

Teddy Beach was very impressive in victory, however. I was one of those thinking that both Wise and Beach would run out of tires, but they conserved very well and both had just enough left at the end. Beach stalked Wise for a long time before pulling to the inside coming out of turn four and taking the lead down the front straightaway. Beach showed his happiness as he crossed the finish-line, arms flailing and fists pumping inside the cockpit. Congratulations to the Beach Boys team as Teddy continues to solidify his standing as a legitimate top-level driver in USAC.

The decision became final early on Saturday as we pointed the truck south on Route 127 to Lawrenceburg. Although the field was slimmer than I had imagined, most of the contenders I had hoped for were there. Early, the track left a lot to be desired. Packed tight with a fairly new sheeps-foot, it immediately appeared as if the high-banked quarter-mile would be dry and slick all night. Afraid heat races would be our best entertainment the lineups made things quite interesting for a few favorites. Dave Darland made the move of the night when he split three cars exiting turn two on his way to the front.

Heat races were hard to follow as the early-evening sunlight hit the dust and made everything in turns three and four difficult to see. Ted Hines was a victim of some large tractor tires that had been pushed out too far, it appeared, and he flipped in turn two. Unfortunately, these tires hurt the racing a bit at Lawrenceburg because no one can cleanly run the bottom. Sprinters continually had to turn right to avoid the monster front-end breakers, and many nearly came to a stop in order to get a run low off the corner. Support divisions took up much of the evening as three other divisions filled the pits to capacity. Super stocks have replaced pro stocks this year at Lawrenceburg, which means track wear will be even worse with the super stocks being almost like late models. 1200cc micro-sprints were also on the card, but they were not overly entertaining and did not have a very large field, either.

A seven-car C Main was pushed onto the track, but a 19-car B Main would not have been outrageous and would have saved some quality time. It did, however, provide an opportunity for Ted Hines to move up a few spots as he brought his repaired car to the front. Dickie Gaines helped Hines after his heat race problems, so the two of them along with Hines’ lone crew member (I always love to see sprint car teams that consist of a guy and his wife or girlfriend) performed a great task in just returning him to the track for the C.  He came to the front running right around the tires, and improved his starting spot to 13^th for the B Main.

The battle up front in the B Main was an epic battle that Tony Beaber eventually won, finding some traction with his shorter home-built car. Matt Brun and Rick Vaughn were also involved in the duel. The final transfer spot was a great battle as well when Ted Hines clawed his way by Jason Knoke with just a few laps left for fourth. Knoke would not give up, though, and used the middle to get back by Hines and eventually beat him to the line. All of Hines’ work would leave him as the first alternate for the night.

Just when I had lost hope for the feature event, knowing it would be tough to pass on a track that would probably take rubber, Tom Wieck and his crew made a great move. Watering the track and leaving it sit before the A Main somewhat rejuvenated the tired surface and gave us a raceable track for the 30-lapper. They let the field go to get some full-speed laps on the surface, and it still blew dust, but it would make for an equal track from top to bottom.

The bad part for us race fans was the line-up, as it appeared that Jon Stanbrough could run away with this feature from the front row. And that’s just what he did at the start of the race. Behind him, however, was an all-out dogfight for the next ten spots. Brandon Petty moved to second running up high as Matt Westfall dropped a few spots. Dave Darland found the bottom to his liking, and he moved into a top spot. A caution for a calamity involving Rick Vaughn, Marc Arnold, and Jason Knoke brought the field back to Stanbrough. Only Vaughn was done for the night. Soon after, Eric Davis headed for the pits, and later, Bryan Clauson hooked a tractor tire in turn two and caused a caution to be dragged into the infield.

Brandon Petty showed everyone how to run a cushion for the rest of the race. He quickly disposed of Stanbrough and opened up on the field. Nine cars formed a glob of sprint car beauty behind him as Stanbrough was shuffled back through the field. Darland also went backwards as Westfall, Kevin Briscoe, and Dickie Gaines found the sweet spot. Justin Marvel had trouble negotiating a lapped car and dropped back, but he fought with the rest by utilizing the upper groove. Gaines charge came using the middle in turns one and two, but he struggled to do anything to Petty’s lead in three and four, where they both ran the top. Gaines could not glide against the curb quite like Petty.

Gaines tried valiantly, but futilely, to catch Petty as Westfall and Beaber scrapped for the lowest inches of the Speedway, with Westfall prevailing over the 17^th-starting Beaber. Briscoe snuck by Marvel for a top-five, and Darland struggled to 7^th as the front-running cars were really on top of their game. A.J. Anderson wound up 9^th and Scotty Weir was 11^th, flanking Jon Stanbrough’s finish and describing it as the hardest they had ever raced for those positions in their careers. Kent Christian was steady in his 8^th finishing position, which seems to be his formula this year in producing consistent finishes near the front of the field.

Although I was not encouraged early in the night, credit has to go to the Lawrenceburg staff for making the great A Main I saw possible. It truly was a whale of a race, and the racing I saw in the top-ten was some of the best I have seen in quite a while. Once again, though, Brandon Petty proved that he is as good on a cushion as just about anybody, and his stats with Reynolds Racing this year are quite impressive. Already with eight top-five finishes, he is just one of many contenders for Hoosier Auto Racing Fans “Driver of the Year” award. It should be a competitive year across the board by simply seeing how each and every driver and team has stepped up their game for the 2005 season. It is very encouraging to see such strong racing at the local level, knowing that great shows can be seen weekend after weekend no matter where USAC is racing.

After watching “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” on Sunday afternoon, it was another Memorial Day weekend ritual to head south down State Route 118 to the hallowed grounds of Eldora Speedway.

Things went downhill before hot laps could even begin when newly-installed caution lights would not work through the first and second turns. After waiting for quite a while to find a fix, safety tracks were situated outside the catch fence with yellow lights flashing, and flagmen were positioned on the inside wall through the corners. The placement of the safety trucks may not have seemed overly safe, but, thankfully, the lights began to work during qualifying. Jason Holt was very impressive to me in his first attempt at Eldora, scaling the banks from his first lap on, running high and hard through turn one and diamonding off through a moist middle in turn two. Very few drivers tried the top line, but most of those were drivers who love the high banks here and have many laps on the track. Although it was slick in spots, drivers could pick from sailing around the top or going a bit more sideways through a slightly choppy middle groove.

Justin Marvel’s time of 15.652 led the field early and ended up as the top time on the night. Behind him, two Hoffman cars came out within the first twenty cars to take second and third. Levi Jones came out around 40^th to spoil Tom Hessert’s run for 6^th quick overall. Levi found himself fourth overall, but Hessert had reason to be upset when qualifying was over. After first taking to the track and posting a time of 15.963, Hessert was told by USAC that his car was too wide and would need to re-qualify. Apparently, his car was legal all along, but his original time was not allowed. His second attempt was .35 seconds slower, which put Rob Chaney in the Stan Courtad Racing 9x in 6^th and bumped Hessert back to 7^th. Although this would usually not appear as a large change, these positions are indeed very important in a USAC format.

Luke Hall was the only flip victim in qualifying when he came out about mid-way through the order and performed a long and slow set of rollovers through the first and second turn. Although he was unhurt, his number 34 took some hard hits. Qualifying featured an interesting mix of drivers running the thin cushion near the wall and the middle line through one and two while just about every line was tried through three and four. Unfortunately, Hessert was not the only one to experience misfortune in qualifying. Jonathan Vennard was expected to hit the track first, but his car was measured as being too wide, although the gauge used by the USAC officials was reportedly not correct. Vennard’s time was well off the mark, leaving him behind the heat race invert for the evening. Jay Drake’s first lap was good for eleventh quick, but he shut it down on the second lap, possibly because of caution lights reappearing around the track. He was then brought back to the track and posted a time much slower, only good for 31^st overall. His original time was honored, and he salvaged the 11^th fastest time.

Heat races started quickly and were very entertaining. Dickie Gaines jumped from outside the second row to check out on the first heat, but a group of five raced very hard behind him. Justin Marvel worked quickly from his row four starting spot, but things changed when he reached good friend Bryan Stanfill, who was trying to keep Eric Barnhill’s white DRC in a transfer spot. Bud Kaeding and Mat Neely took advantage of this opportunity to jump onto a possible transfer as Darland dashed into the mix. As the group of cars exited turn four, Darland barely beat Stanfill and Kaeding back to the line, and Neely and Marvel would have to try their last chance later in the evening.

The second heat had Mike Brecht quickly disposing of Matt Westfall to win. Critter Malone pushed his ponies to the wall and moved by Terry Pletch for the final transfer, leaving Rob Chaney and Jonathan Vennard still trying to find a way by the Holy Ghost-powered 29P. The third heat was racing its third lap when the largest debacle of the night surfaced. Lights went out from turn one all the way down the backstretch, leaving us with a lengthy delay to re-illuminate darkness. When the race went back to green, Jac Haudenschild tamed his bucking car, saving it from meeting the wall multiple times and looking wilder than ever in the Indy Race Parts 71. Jon Stanbrough and John Scott were shuffled back, putting Hines and Drake into transfer spots. Alex Pruett was the only other flip victim of the night in this heat, simply getting into turn one too hot, bouncing his right rear off the concrete and completing a quick flip. Brad Sweet found even more bravery in himself, going to the outer-most parameters of the high banks to take the last transfer. Lynn Reid loved his driver’s composure while running such a difficult line around the track. There’s no doubt about the talent stored in the small body of the red-haired California native.

Kevin Huntley rebounded from his slower-than-expected qualifying attempt to win the fourth heat easily. Levi Jones had no trouble in moving his Lucas Oil Maxim to the front, but Tony Beaber and Daron Clayton waited until the last lap to circle Kent Wolters, with Clayton using the very outside line to beat Wolters out of turn four.

Rob Chaney chased down fellow front row starter Justin Marvel to take the B. Bill Rose made some quick moves to take a transfer spot from Hessert, who was dropping quickly. Rose also verified that he would be visiting Kokomo quite a bit on Sundays if the improvements were to his liking. John Wolfe got by Hessert along with Scott and Stanbrough, which became the battle for the final transfer spot. Meanwhile, Jonathan Vennard was passing two cars a lap to try a run for that group. He got by Scotty Weir early, but Weir followed him through the pack. They eventually got by Hessert, who was suffering through his weakest performance of the season. Vennard found himself in 9^th, but could not make up enough ground on the next pack of cars, which was led by Stanbrough at the finish. Scott and Wolfe were not good enough for the A, despite their strong efforts. Weir ended up 10^th. Scott and Josh Ford, who did not look good all night and never made a move forward in the B, were awarded provisionals to start at the rear of the A Main field.

With the track looking like it would take rubber, a quick spray of water before the multiple late model last chance races would be the only hope for saving the race track. With the stock cars taking their toll, the outlook was bleak for the sprint car feature. Chaney led from his pole position, and the rest of the field waved goodbye. This was Chaney’s first Eldora victory, but I can remember him running well just about every time I have watched him there, going back to his days in Tom Burkey’s 57. Putting it on cruise control and seemingly going half-throttle much of the time, Chaney kept his mount perfectly straight and was never challenged, despite a caution on the last lap for Jac Haudenschild’s stop for a flat right-rear. Lapped traffic was heavy in front of Chaney, but he was smooth except for one beeping of the chrome horn to Stanbrough coming off turn four.

Rubber made the racing groove narrow as the race went on, progressing from top to bottom on the speedway. Passing was still possible for a while, but the lower the groove went, the harder it was for faster cars to make moves. Justin Marvel ran second for much of the race after making some slick moves from his third-row starting spot, getting by Darland and stretching his advantage over the rest of the field. Bud Kaeding was strong early, as well.

Brad Sweet and Dickie Gaines were two prime movers that put on a great show in advancing from their mid-pack starting spots. Gaines followed Sweet as he slid past many sprinters, taking them into the top-ten and closing on Josh Wise. The one-lap shootout provided by Haud’s yellow helped Gaines slip by Sweet for seventh. Darland also recovered late to steal 9^th from Neely on the last lap, just ahead of points contenders Jones and Drake, who finished outside the top-ten. Wise’s 6^th-place finish was a huge Eldora improvement for him, and Daron Clayton kept his mentor, Bubby Jones, happy by getting under Kaeding for fourth. Clayton is currently looking for a place to live in Indiana in order to make his racing schedule a little less hectic. Hines was not flashy in his A Main trip, but he positioned himself in 3^rd before the yellow and captured the runner-up spot in turn four of the last lap when Marvel had trouble negotiating the traffic ahead of him. It was the only mistake Marvel made in the 30-lapper, he said. It had to be a huge confidence builder for the Brownsburg, Indiana driver to find himself such a stout competitor on a track that usually takes experience to win.

Overall, it was disappointing to see the track take rubber so hard in the A Main, but the racing still was not bad behind the dominance of Chaney. I was glad to see Rob win, mainly because I have always liked seeing him do well at Eldora. Even though he is a young driver, his performances at Eldora have been impressive for the better part of a decade now. He never seemed to find himself in the right spot to win before, though. I can remember multiple times when the Burkey 57 (or 157 as it was sometimes scored) would be very fast only to blow an engine or have some other unfortunate accident happen. Congratulations, Rob Chaney!

With Memorial Day weekend in the rear-view mirror, the USAC sprints head back to Gas City to finish Border Wars, and the point chase is tight. The top five drivers have already shown that they will be contenders. Tracy Hines is still near the front, despite his part-time schedule. Tom Hessert and Josh Wise are also on the verge of battling for a top-five spot, so things could get interesting on Friday. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend thanks to finals week in Athens. My next race will be after I arrive home on June 9^th.

Congratulations also to weekend winners around Indiana, including Shane Cottle for his two scores coming off an injury at Eldora nearly a month ago. Scott Townsend and Josh Cunningham were the two winners over the 45-car field at Paragon, while Kenny Carmichael, Jr. beat his dad, among others, at Putnamville on Saturday for his first feature victory. That’s gotta be a big deal for the Carmichael clan! Kevin Briscoe got his first win of the year at Haubstadt on Sunday, beating Alex Shanks on the last lap. A pat on the back to Cory Kruseman for finally knocking off Damion Gardner at Perris. Good job to Michael Lewis for coming back to win at IRP Saturday, scoring yet another win in a huge race.

Eric Gordon continued his Little 500 dominance, but now the question is will he really retire before next year’s race? I am sure lots of guys would like the chance to win the Little 500, but it sure means a lot more to knock off the king of that race to win it! Alex Harris won again in Focus cars, so I am hoping his success will parlay into a good midget ride. The guy has won four pavement Focus races in a row out West, and he has five wins in nine races already this year. Surely, he deserves a return to the midget ranks somewhere! With June upon us, things are starting to heat up and races are becoming more plentiful, so good luck to everyone this weekend and have a blast at the races!

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