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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
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excellent A Mains provide weekend fireworks by Kirk Spridgeon |
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July 7, 2005....Writing this weekly article was a direct
result of the increasing amount of acquaintances at the race track
that had turned into my friends. Knowing so many different people
while walking around between races, or even while sitting down to
enjoy a race, definitely makes my nights at the races all the more
enjoyable. Also, becoming friends with the people inside the cockpit
makes watching the races a strange experience. Through writing this article every week, I have
been able to meet even more characters all over the place who share
the same interest in sprint car racing. With the influx of young
drivers, a lot of my best friends wheel the savage sprint cars on a
weekly basis. As my case in point, take the Clauson family. I did
not know them when Bryan first campaigned a dirt sprinter in 2003.
When they hit it hard in ’04, I eventually became friends with
Bryan and the rest of his crew. A winter trip to hang out at the
Clauson camp in Noblesville and a lot of time spent conversing on
the computer and competing in Fantasy leagues made them a favorite
team of mine. This all leads up to my fantastic surprise on Friday
night at Bloomington Speedway. Bryan came back from injuries sustained at
Eldora Speedway a few weeks ago when he raced in a Kenyon midget at
the Indianapolis Speedrome. Afterwards, he jumped online to tell me
that he had a surprise waiting for me on Friday, but I had to
promise to wear it. I obliged, and the suspense nearly killed me.
Knowing that I was a fan of various drivers’ tee-shirts, I was
presented with a 1994 Tim Clauson piece that represented the last of
their inventory. Getting it signed by the man I saw winning on a
tape from Placerville, California, I now have a rare addition to my
tee-shirt collection of which I am quite proud! Thanks to the
Clausons for all the genuine hospitality they show to this poor
race-chaser! Donning my new shirt, I watched as 40 sprint
cars rolled onto the beautiful red clay of Bloomington Speedway. On
this night, the track appeared to be a little drier than average,
and that made for a qualifying session that forced drivers to search
for the fastest line. Turn three was slick for the most part, but
the faster qualifiers went to the very bottom or the very top to
find the quick way around. Mat Neely came out 12th to
plant his Twister Chassis near the bottom and motor to an 11.335
clocking. Later qualifiers suffered, but fifth-quick Kevin Besecker
was 26th to the track, Dickie Gaines came out five cars
later for tenth-quick, and Bobby Stines came out one from the end to
clock the ninth-fastest lap. Shane Hollingsworth was a quite-talented
observer on this night. Ending his deal with the Baldwin Brothers
team that represented the Big Max 85-numbered cars that Shane has
been driving recently, he already had a deal working with the
Beauchamps. The Beauchamps were associated with Shane’s yellow
midgets in years past, and son Brent now races on the local circuit
at fourteen years old. Planning to field a second red number eleven
next week, Shane is hoping to click quickly with a family he already
knows well. If everything works out, expect Shane to be a contender
right off the bat, upon which time he will also run Sprintweek. Heat races looked as though they may be quite
anti-climatic, but a few extraordinary drivers saved them. Kevin
Besecker and Mat Neely struggled to move up in the first heat, but
Kent Christian found a way past Kenny Carmichael, Jr. to win it. It
would be a tough weekend for Christian, though. He has been solid
all year, but his three-race weekend went by without a single
top-ten performance. Look for him to get back on track with an
Indiana weekend without USAC competitors next weekend. The last
weekend before Sprintweek is always an important tune-up. Dickie Gaines’ “Chicken Bucket” became an
obvious favorite after his performance in the second heat. Already
easily in a transfer position, Gaines flew over the turn-two bank
and had to restart at the tail. Using a deteriorating high groove,
Gaines passed the line of traffic racing around the tires to take
the win. Dave Darland used a similar scheme to move from his
third-row starting spot in the third heat. He took the win, and
Kevin Briscoe followed. Ted Hines had trouble exiting turn two, and
a turn-four tangle collected him, Nick Johnson, Dave Peperak, and
Brent Beauchamp. Jon Stanbrough appeared to have things in order
with a strong run to win the heat. Twin B Mains featured quite a bit of passing,
more than I thought would be produced by a slicked-off surface. Mat
Neely hugged the bottom until Ed Hassler and Casey Shuman both
streaked by on the cushion. Besides Neely, both Jared Fox and
Brandon Petty missed the show. The second B found Kevin Besecker
missing the show, making three of the top six that did not make it
when joined with Neely and Fox. Mitch Cunningham was solid on the
bottom groove, and Brady Short profited from an early checkered
thanks to a time limit. John Scott had come from 7th to
challenge Short for the spot before the premature end. Daron Clayton
was another notable to miss the main, struggling to run on such a
thin cushion. The 25-lap feature lined up with Bobby Stines
and Matt Brun on the front row, thanks to those missing the show
that had out-qualified them. Brun used the top to take the lead for
three laps, but Stines is very good on the bottom at Bloomington,
and he led thirteen laps in the middle of the race. Dickie Gaines
was obviously faster than the leader, and he slowly tracked down
Stines using a smooth routine in running the high side. For the fans in the stands, it seemed like just
a matter of time before Dickie took the lead. That came on lap 17,
and A.J. Anderson came along quickly to take second from Stines.
Anderson has a knack for running Bloomington when the track is dry
and the bottom has to be run straight and slow. Although he could
not track down Gaines in lapped traffic, a sound second-place goes
along well with what Anderson has been doing all year, sticking near
the front of the pack and generating good results. Danny
Holtsclaw’s first top-ten of the year came aboard the Pottorff
11P, and he backed it up with a top-five the next night at Paragon. Arriving Saturday to the sight of a packed
front parking lot because of a charge for closer parking at the
Terre Haute Action Track, I was anxious to see the newly-painted
concrete wall. Since I missed the earlier shows at the Action Track
this year, I was not able to see the changes made to the facility at
the Vigo County Fairgrounds. The track was left on the dry side on
this night, including a very dusty back straightaway. The slower
track may have been a blessing with the MSCS cars on hand, but the
dusty back straightaway led to some sight problems as the sun
dropped. Drawing for heats produced three heat winners
from the front row, and a large difference between the good cars and
bad cars made for some hairy moments and very little close racing.
Dave Darland had problems negotiating Al Thomas at the start, and he
took a nasty tumble in front of the flagman. The red car was rolled
out to replace the totaled blue car, and Dave fought off the effects
of the flip to race it later in the night. Jon Stanbrough attempted
to pass Donnie Brackett on the outside in turn two, but Brackett
veered to the right when Critter Malone jumped to his inside. The
result was a great save by Stanbrough when he vaulted Brackett’s
right rear tire and nearly went for a ride. Scotty Weir was not so fortunate when he could
not feel his way through turn three. Struggling to enter the turn
thanks to the setting sun and the thick dust, Weir found himself too
close to the wall by the time he could see, pounding the concrete
and finishing off his new for 2005 Ultramax. Only time will tell
what the young gasser will do with this latest bit of adversity. The B Main was strung-out for the most part,
but a few great battles made it a worthwhile race. Darland’s
charge from the thirteenth spot was worth watching as he willed his
car to the front. Brad Sweet drew away from a battle for the
transfer spot between Casey Shuman and Jon Sciscoe. John Scott was
another C Main competitor who tried to make the show, climbing to
the front just as he had done the night before. Coming out of turn
four, all three cars had a chance, but Shuman held off the others to
advance. Critter Malone’s wingless racing weekend had
two opposite paths to come to the same finish. Critter controlled
much of the race from the pole on Saturday, but he eventually
dropped to 6th with tire troubles. On Sunday at Kokomo,
he started last and charged like there was no tomorrow, climbing
into the top-five before ultimately finishing just outside it. Jonathan Vennard’s teaming with Tom Miller
has seen good runs and missed shows. Saturday may have turned the
corner, stalking Malone until lap twenty-two. Vennard could not get
far enough away from lifelong friend Levi Jones, though, and Levi
got by on the outside with two laps to go. Vennard made a valiant
charge to motor back by Levi, but he could not get a good enough run
to pass. Shane Cottle fought to third even with a blistered tire,
and Mat Neely had tire problems and still managed fourth, ahead of
A.J. Anderson. Anderson steadily passed cars on the bottom to take a
top-five. For Kokomo’s show on Sunday, I will just say
that it was their best race track of the year. It also challenged
the Outlaw race for the best race there this year. Dave Darland and
Brandon Petty’s battle was one of the best I have seen this side
of Jon Stanbrough and J.J. Yeley at Lawrenceburg in 2003. Bart Grider skied his front-end while running
low, ending up with a top-five in the Crites 82. The track was
tricky even though it was tacky in many places, and a lot of good
cars fell backwards. Levi Jones was fast all night, but he found
himself in seventh spot at the end of twenty-five laps. Matt Westfall’s new F-5, provided by his
champ car owner Rick Daugherty, appeared to be a contender before an
early tangle knocked him out of contention. Also put on the
sidelines in the mêlée was Kent Christian, who had climbed eight
spots already very early in the race. Brandon Whited put on his
charge late in the race, moving by Jon Stanbrough near the end to
take eighth. I must say that any positive words spoken about
Kokomo Speedway are not, in any way, blown out of proportion. The
track has been racey enough to make for very entertaining racing,
and the fields have been superb thus far. I think some guys would
like the fields to thin a little bit just so they could get some
feature racing under their belts. This weekend will not take me out of my home
state. Rarely do I get a chance to see pavement racing, and most of
the time I leave the state to watch racing, but Toledo and Mansfield
are too tempting. I have never seen a race at Mansfield, but the
facility alone is impressive. The best part is that USAC will
actually feature full fields in both divisions. I love to see a B
Main at a USAC pavement sprint car race! Here’s my top twenty-five for this week: 1. Dave Darland – 29 races, 6 wins, 13 top-fives, 22 top-tens, 2nd in USAC points 2. Damion Gardner – 17/18 features, 7 wins, 10 top-fives, 12 fast times, 2nd in CRA 3. Brandon Petty – 22/23 features, 5 wins, 15 top-fives, 1st in Lawrenceburg points 4. Rip Williams – 18 races, 1 win, 12 top-fives, 17 top-tens, leading CRA points 5. Dickie Gaines – 17/18 features, 6 wins, 10 top-fives, 14 top-tens 6. Cory Kruseman – 20 races, 4 wins, 9 top-fives, 14 top-tens, 3rd in CRA points 7. Jay Drake – 12/13 features, 2 wins, 6 top-fives, 8 top-tens, 1st in USAC points 8. Levi Jones – 17/19 features, 3 wins, 10 top-fives, 2 fast times, 3rd in USAC points 9. Mike Kirby – 18 races, 1 win, 11 top-fives, 15 top-tens, 4th in CRA points 10. Shane Cottle – 12/13 features, 3 wins, 8 top-fives, 10 top-tens, 2 fast times 11. Kent Christian – 20 races, 2 wins, 10 top-fives, 14 top-tens, 2nd in Bloomington pts. 12. Kevin Briscoe – 12 races, 2 wins, 9 top-fives, 1 fast time, 1st in Bloomington points 13. Rickie Gaunt – 16/17 features, 3 wins, 6 top-fives, 10 top-tens, 6th in CRA points 14. Mat Neely – 17/20 features, 2 wins, 6 top-fives, 10 top-tens, 6th in USAC points 15. Charles Davis, Jr. – 18 races, 8 top-fives, 14 top-tens, 5th in CRA points 16. Justin Marvel – 18 races, 5 top-fives, 12 top-tens, 1 fast time, KISS Champion 17. A.J. Anderson – 20/22 features, 8 top-fives, 13 top-tens, 1 fast time 18. John Wolfe – 16/18 features, 1 win, 7 top-fives, 11 top-tens, 2 FTs, 1st in G.C. pts. 19. Bud Kaeding – 14 races, 5 top-fives, 9 top-tens, 4th in USAC points 20. Bryan Clauson – 13/17 features, 2 wins, 5 top-fives, 7 top-tens 21. Josh Wise – 13/14 features, 4 top-fives, 9 top-tens, 5th in USAC points 22. Dave Steele – 5 races, 2 wins, 4 top-fives, 1 fast time, 9th in USAC points 23. Daron Clayton – 16/18 features, 3 top-fives, 9 top-tens, 2 fast times 24. Mitch Wissmiller – Only 10/17 features, but 4 wins already 25. Dustin Smith – 16/17 features, 1 win, 3 top-fives, 8 top-tens |
