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| RACING SCENE Column – (Manzy Sprint Car WESTERN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP) by Tim Kennedy |
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Los Angeles, CA., The 41st running of the famous Western World Championship for sprint cars at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix on November 6-8, 2008 was another winner. The combined USAC National/USAC-CRA regional sprint car series turned out 65 strong; 64 cars qualified Friday, November 7 from 6:51 to 8:12 pm with a pair of laps on Manzy's half-mile clay track. Twenty-nine drivers set their best lap on their first lap and 33 drivers set their quicker lap on their second qualifying lap. Two drivers, including Alan Ballard and Shane Golobic, did not qualify. Ballard's team could not find the cause why Ballard's No. 75 Maxim stalled on his first lap. Keith Kunz entered a back-up No 67 car without a driver. Levi Jones set Manzy's one-lap USAC 410 c.i sprint car track record of 18.301 (98.355 mph) on 11-10-05. Proving that the half-mile was well-prepared and fast, Kevin Swindell, the 19-year old son of World of Outlaws champion Sammy Swindell, 53, was the fourth USAC driver to qualify. Kevin turned a best lap of 18.569. That time held up until 20th qualifier Brad Sweet, driving one of NASCAR Cup star Kasey Kahne's JEI/Speedway Mopars, turned the ultimate fastest qualifying time of 18.473, dropping Kevin to second fastest overall. WWC DRIVERS BY STATES: The 64 USAC 410 c.i drivers came from ten states. California led with 23 drivers. Arizona was next with 17 drivers, and Indiana sent 11 drivers. Tied for fourth with three drivers each were Missouri, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. Bringing up the rear and tied for seventh were Illinois, North Carolina, South Dakota and Tennessee, which sent one driver. The Arizona Sprint Car Series (ASCS Canyon Region for 360 c.i. Sprint cars) had 49 drivers in action Thursday. They qualified for Friday and Saturday competition. The ASCA drivers came from seven states. As expected, Arizona led with 32 drivers. New Mexico sent six drivers, followed by California with four, and two drivers each from Indiana, Missouri and Oklahoma, and one driver from Kansas. Nineteen drivers raced both USAC 410 and ASCA 360 sprint cars at the 2008 Western World Championship. Those drivers were Brady Bacon, Charles Davis, Jr., Josh Ford, Nathan High, Jesse Hockett, R. J. Johnson, Mike Leslie, Bobby Marcum, Thomas Ogle, Bob Ream, Jr., Andy Reinbold, Bill Rose, Hunter Scheurenberg, Jeremy Sherman, Casey Shuman, Jon Stanbrough, Danny Stratton, Brad Sweet and Gary Taylor, from WA, CO and now OK. USAC's hard working official starter, Jeff Stetson, from Tucson, AZ, started all races for both USAC and ASCS series. Remarkably, he worked solo in the elevated starter's stand without benefit of an assistant starter to help him spot potential trouble around the track. USAC's Rob Klepper broadcast WWC races live on www.usacracing.com, and Sean "Jack Slash" Buckley provided live updates between races on the Internet. At one point he had 80 on-line listeners at home following WWC action via the Internet. Videographer Dean Mills was on the roof of Manzy's press box filming each race. Many USAC racers were at PIR Thursday night for Silver Crown and/or Midget racing events. CHASSIS & ENGINE DEPT: The USAC 65 car field had 20 different chassis makers. In descending order, the most popular chassis was Maxim with 19, followed by DRC with 10 and Bullet with 4. Avenger, Chalk, Beast, F5, Sled and Viper all had 3 cars. Eagle, JEI and Stinger each had 2 cars. Solo chassis came from Buckley, Ellis, Extreme, J & J, Sherman, War-bird, Wolfweld and XXX. The engines listed in USAC sprinters came with 30 designations. Chevy led with 11 engines. Downing Chevy and Earl Gaerte each had 6 engines. Ron Shaver and Wesmar had 4, with Claxton, Mopar, and Ott each supplying 3 engines. Foxco Chevy, Kistler Chevy and Speedway Mopar had 2 engines. Single engine listings were: Brannan Chevy, Bailey Bros., Claxton Mopar, Donovan Ott, Ford, Frampton, Foxco, Gaerte Mopar, Fisher, JD Performance, Kistler Mopar, McMillan, Pelican, Pro Flyer, Stanton, Stanton Mopar, Speed, RC Performance and Wirth. FLIPS: There were six USAC flips on the two nights of WWC 410 racing. On Friday Daron Clayton, Nadine Gardner and Keith Williamson flipped in the C-main. Jeff Bland, Jr and Damion Gardner flipped during the fourth heat race. The only USAC flipper Saturday was D-main race leader Chris Windom, a 17-year old veteran from Illinois, who flipped in the third turn and wiped out his car without serious injury to himself. ASCS 360 competitors had seven flips in three nights of WWC racing. On opening night Josh Williams flipped hard and was unconscious briefly. He spent a night at St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix and returned to watch WWC on following evenings. In the first B-main Friday Bill Rose and Brian O'Donnell flipped. Saturday in the second B-main, O'Donnell (again) Jesse Baker and Art Mankel III all flipped simultaneously without injury in the first turn on the first lap. Shon Deskins flipped in the A-main. ASCS 360 sprint cars had 49 cars in action both Thursday and Friday. ASCS teams did not run qualifying laps. They drew starting positions for heat race starting positions with passing points awarded for positions gained in 8-lap heat races—six on Thursday and five on Friday. There were a pair of B-mains each night and a 22-car A-main both nights. All ASCS racing took place on the third-mile track that utilized the half-mile front straight. The top 16 drivers in position and passing points and the first three finishers in both B-mains each night comprised the 22-car starting fields for the A-mains both Thursday and Friday. Rex Calderwood, M. Leslie, G. Taylor, A. Reinbold, J. Hockett and B. Marcum won opening night heats. N. High and C. Shuman won the B-mains and Hockett (Jim Massey No. 2az) won the Thursday 20-lap A-feature. Friday ASCA 360 heat winners were J. Sherman, Derek Williams (his first), Josh Pelkey, Mike Martin and B. Bacon. Thomas Ogle (No. 5A) was at his pit when fire erupted from spilled fuel and splashed onto his uniform. Crews quickly extinguished the fire and no injuries resulted. Jeremy Reagles and R. J. Johnson captured the two B-mains. Warsaw, MO driver Hockett (2az) came from ninth starting slot in the 22-car, 20-lap A-main to lead the final two laps. He put a slide job pass on his Massey Racing teammate Charles Davis, Jr. (No. 50az) in the second turn after a caution flag on lap 19. The top eight drivers in ASCA points after the two preliminary nights were: Hockett 417.5, G. Taylor 398, J. Sherman 385, N. High 379.5, C. Shuman 368, M. Leslie 366.5, C. Davis, Jr. 364 and A. Reinbold 364. They advanced directly to Saturday's A-feature. The ninth place driver in points was 17-year old Nick Aiuto with 352. In Saturday ASCS action, Johnson and Marcum won the pair of 20-lap B-mains that sent the first eight finishers in each B to join the eight A-main drivers already seeded into the 30-lap A-feature by their accumulated points from Thursday and Friday races. In the 30-lap A, high-point driver Hockett "the Rocket" lived up to his nickname. He started and finished first to sweep all three ASCS A-main events. He led all 30-laps in a 24-car field. Twenty drivers finished and 18 of them completed all 30 laps. The 31-minute race had three yellow flags and one red flag. The Saturday A-main triumph paid Hockett $3,000. On his cool-off lap Hockett executed five or six quick 360-degrees donuts down the front straight-away without contacting the outside or inside walls in a show of great car control. He drove around the track and back to the starting line where he climbed out, stood atop his roll-cage and raised his arms in a victory salute to the appreciative crowd. USAC ACTION: The 40 fastest qualifiers in Friday time trials raced in five 10-lap heat races with eight cars in each heat. All eight cars were inverted fully,with the fastest qualifiers starting in back of the slowest qualifiers. The first four finishers in each heat race advanced to the 25-lap A-main Friday. Rickie Gaunt (No. 93J Gardner) was the 13th fastest qualifier, but he scratched from competition after time trials because his Downing engine spun a bearing. That allowed 41st fastest qualifier Rick Ziehl, from Lac Cruces, N.M, to move into a heat race instead of starting on the pole in the C-main. Fortunate Ziehl (No. 20z) started on the pole in the fifth heat and led all the way to make the Friday A-feature. USAC 410 c.i heat race winners Friday were Darren Hagen (from 1st), Kevin Swindell (from 8th), R. J. Johnson (from 2nd), Danny Sheridan (from 1st) and Ziehl (from 1st). The five heat race lineups were talent-laden. Fastest qualifier Brad Sweet could only race from 8th starting up to 5th place in the first 10-lap heat race. Of the ten back row quickest qualifiers four drivers reached the all-important top four finishing positions. Six of the ten quickest qualifiers did not transfer out of their heat races to Friday's A-main and had to race in the B-main. They did transfer from the B to the A with one exception. Tony Jones was second in the B when he backed into the turn four wall and DNF. Hockett started the 25-lap A feature second in the No. 2 Duke and Scott McMillan "in memory of J. F. McCray" Maxim. He led the first 15 laps but had a reported RF tire problem and finished second to just miss winning both the ASCS and USAC features Friday. Kevin Swindell came from sixth and led laps 16-25. "I didn't know he (Hockett) had a problem. I struggled to get through traffic," Swindell told the crowd. Jerry Coons, Jr. (a soon to be new father) started third and finished fifth, clinching his first USAC National Sprint Car Championship. The all-green flag 25-lap feature took only 9:08.87. The USAC 25-lap Manzy track record is 8:48.60 (85.131 mph) by Damion Gardner on 11-11-05. The No. 0 Bob Price 410 sprint car driven by Steve Sussex, Jr. was a brand new F-5 chassis making its debut. For the USAC 410 A-main Saturday Cole Whitt's Kunz Racing 67K engine was down on power so they used the team's No. 67 back-up car. Hoffman Racing 69 car (Coons) team members towed from Manzy Friday night to their motel and early Saturday installed a new engine, their third of the WWC weekend. The engine in the car did not sound right at the finish of Friday's feature. Two-time USAC National Midget Series champion Coons, 36, won his first USAC Silver Crown championship Thursday, November 6 in the PIR-CWC 100-lap race. Coons won his first National Sprint title at Manzy a night later and became the fifth USAC National Championship triple-crown winner in 53 years of USAC racing. In order those drivers were: Pancho Carter, Tony Stewart, Dave Darland, J. J. Yeley and now Coons. Car owner Scott Benic had Darland (No. 2B) and former NASCAR stock car driver Shane Hmiel (No. 21B) in his Maxim sprinters. IRL Indy Car winner Ryan Briscoe was in the pits Saturday to watch WWC racing. Retired WoO sprint car star Rick Ferkel was in the Manzy pits helping South Dakota owner/driver Bret Mellenberndt. USAC sprint car team owners Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart were in Phoenix to race in Sunday's NASCAR Cup race at PIR so most likely they dropped by Manzy at some point to watch their teams compete. Kahne's drivers are Brad Sweet and Brady Bacon in his 9 and 99 JEI-built cars, while Stewart has Levi Jones and Tracy Hines in his 20 and 21 cars. Local Arizona Republic press coverage Friday, November 7 featured J. J. Yeley in the headline and pre-race story along with the expected PIR NASCAR coverage. ... Don Tash, Arizona Midget Racing Assn racing director, and his driver son James, 26, were at Manzy each night to watch the WWC. ... Manzy's grandstands were about 75% full Friday despite the NASCAR Craftsman Trucks racing at PIR only 15 miles west. Manzy grandstands Saturday night were about 95% full. ... Temperatures at the WWC Friday were 78 degrees at 4:20 pm and 56 at 1:00 am; on Saturday they were 79 degrees at 4:05 pm and 57 at 12:50 am. ... Friday racing started with the 410 C-main at 8:39 pm. The 360 A-main ran from 11:51 pm to 12:07 am, and racing concluded with the 410 A-main from 12:21 to 12:30 am. Saturday racing started at 7:24 pm with the 410 D-main and concluded with the 410 A-main that started at 11:10 and finished at 11:36 p m. ... The No. F-16 sprint car driven by Ronnie Smith in the WWC is owned by Albuquerque's Tom Ball, a retired USAF F-16 fighter jet pilot. Ball raced his F-16 sprint car himself during the 1990s in New Mexico and Arizona. ... David Cardey returned home from the WWC after racing Friday night and his No. 38 Crossno Chevy did not compete Saturday. Cardey's pregnant wife Danita went into induced labor Saturday for the birth of their first baby. ... Windy McDonald's two books about racing in Arizona and Buzz Rose's nine books were on sale at the WWC main concourse each night. A No. 20 dirt late model stock car was parked on the concourse to plug Manzy's big dirt late model race the following weekend also drew attention. ... Following the PAS Oval Nationals final race November 1 the Riggs No. 37 and Windom No. 17 USAC National Sprint teams went south to San Diego. They spent Sunday through Wednesday at Mission Bay for some rest and relaxation at the beach. The 37 Riggs team installed new front and rear axles, front suspension and welded in a new front frame section after the damage from racing at the PAS. They did the work at a gas station with help from Speed Mart before driving to Phoenix for WWC racing. ... Long-time Manzanita promoter Keith Hall has promoted races this year at USA Speedway, a three-eighths mile clay track in Tucson. The track usually runs a two-day sprint car event around New Years Eve each year. Of interest to many, the grandstands from Gardena's Ascot Park, which closed after the Thanksgiving 1990 USAC Midget Grand Prix, are now used at the USA track in Tucson. USAC Saturday WWC racing included a 12-car, 15-lap D-main won by Matt Mitchell with a pass of second place Cody Williams (No. 3 Jory Stinger/Shaver) two laps from the end. Brady Short also led only the final two laps of the 20-lap C main. Runner-up Robert Ballou (No. 2A Tony Smiley Extreme/Ott) led the first 18 laps. The first eight finishers advanced to the back of the B, starting 17th-24th. The 20-lap B-main sent the first 12 finishers to the back of the A. Darren Hagen led lap 1, but second starter Dustin Morgan, who quit the 67 Kunz ride to drive his family No. 93x DRC/Claxton, led lap 2-20 and won by 30-yards over 4th starter Chad Boat. Chad, 16, passed 3rd place Hagen on lap 14. The battle to remain in the top 12 positions was intense during the final three laps with positions changing each lap, especially during the final three laps, after a yellow flag on lap 18. The 24 drivers who raced into the 40-lap A-main were joined by four provisional starters based on owners points for a 28-car field. The two from CRA were Miller (93) and Jones (4) and the two Nationals were Gardner (71) and Yeley (1). As on Friday night, the seven rows of four-wide sprint cars were aligned perfectly on the parade lap before the pace lap in front of a near-full grandstand and a jam-packed infield. Balloons were released into the air from the infield and floated over the first turn and out of sight. The USAC 410 A feature Saturday was a classic sprint car race that fans will be talking about for years. Tracy Hines led the first 28 laps from the pole before fading to his 7th place finish. Hockett's No. 2 McMillan and K. Swindell's No. 10K Tom Rolfe Maxim/Ott then took charge and traded the lead three times in their cars from northern California. Hockett led L 29-30 and 34-36. Swindell led L 31-33 and 37-40. Hockett's engine sounded sour, but he was still a close second on L 38 when his engine erupted into flames on the backstretch while still at top speed. Hockett slowed and coasted to a halt next to the third turn crash-wall. He was uninjured. Coons, the 2007 WWC feature winner, then pressed Swindell before finishing five-yards back. Levi Jones earned third, with Darland, Sherman, Boat, Hines, Sweet, Shane "the throttle" Cottle, and Cole Whitt, 17, completing the top ten. There were 22 of 28 starters still on the track and all 22 were on the lead lap. Following his thrilling victory and one cool-off lap, Swindell did six quick 360-degree power-donuts from the starting line to the entrance to turn one. He then stood on the cage of his car at the finish line and raised his arms in triumph as his proud parents, Sammy and Amy, beamed proudly in the pits. Runner-up Coons said, "We had a real good car. After hot laps we made some good adjustments on the car. It was a real good year. The car restarted real good. We'll try again next year." Third place Jones also said he "will be back again next year." Winner Swindell said, "I got more comfortable as the race went along. I got a good run. I'll try to come back again next year." POST RACE AWARDS: The WWC awards ceremonies at the finish line after the two main events awarded about 18 huge trophies to the top three finishers in both the 360 and 410 series. The impressive-looking, five feet tall trophies were displayed near Manzy's front office on the main concourse. They were spectacular in size, detail and total number of trophies. A wooden base and four upright ends anchored shelves that contained plaques showing the race name and the finishing positions on the bottom shelf, a photo plaque on the next level, a clock on the third shelf and a bronze cowboy figure (reputed to be cowboy star Rex Allen) on the top level. Feature winning drivers and car owners received large pedal car trophies. Paula (Mrs. Ron) Shuman, Gayle (Mrs. Charlie) Davis, Jr. and Linda Sweeney were the trophy committee responsible for securing the trophy sponsorships and trophies from Thunderbird Trophies at 7th St & the I-10 freeway. Trophy winners were: Sportsmanship-Jack and Jeff Gardner who experienced trouble with all three of their cars during the WWC, and to the trophy committee; Fan Favorite Award—Charles Davis, Jr.; Hard Luck Trophies went to two flip victims (410)-Chris Windom and (360s)-Josh Williams. "I'm okay, just a little sore," Windom stated. The Farthest Tow trophies went to (410s)--Rob Hoffman, who towed his USAC sprint car from Milford, OH, and (360s)-to Larry Carter, who towed from Kansas. The USAC Fastest Qualifier Trophy went to Brad Sweet. Two Hard Charger Trophies were presented to (410s)-Brett Burdette (No. 17B) who started 22nd and finished 14th (+ 8 positions). Chad Boat also gained 8 positions (14th to 6th). In the 360s Jon Stanbrough (No. 97az) started 23rd and finished 12th (+ 11 positions). Brady Bacon was runner-up with + 10 positions (16th to 6th). WWC FESTIVITIES: The 41st annual WWC Grand Marshall was 79-year old Bob Cleberg, winner of the inaugural WWC in 1968 when Keith Hall posted a $10,000 purse. The purse this year flirted with the $100,000 mark. Cleberg was introduced and spoke to the crowd Saturday. All 12 past WWC winners in attendance were introduced at the starting line and interviewed by infield announcer Rick Setzer, a retired driver at Manzy. The past winners present were Bob Huebner (1969), Rick Ferkel (74), Ron Shuman (75, 77, 81, 84, 94), Lealand McSpadden (78, 93, 95), Sammy Swindell (80, 89), Jay Drake (00), Jeremy Sherman (01), Bud Kaeding (02, 04), Tony Elliott (03), Dave Darland (05), Jerry Coons, Jr (07). Josh Wise, the 2006 WWC winner, was in Phoenix racing Saturday in NASCAR's Nationwide Series race in Michael Waltrip's No. 00 Toyota at PIR and did not make it to Manzy. Steve Kinser leads all drivers with seven WWC to Shuman's five. The now 25 different WWC winners in 41 races have come from 11 states. The last 15 WWC winners dating to 1994 have produced 14 different champions. The only double winner during that time has been Bud Kaeding (2002 and 04). A billboard on the main concourse near turn one listed all prior WWC winners but showed Brent Kaeding, Bud's father, as the 2002 & 04 winner. Bud noted that error when he was introduced before Saturday racing began. The Budweiser, NAPA, Parker Stores 2008 WWC $5.00, 28-page race program had the top three 2007 WWC finishers pictured on the color cover. They were: P 1 Coons, P. 2 Darland and P 3 Kaeding. The program contained some interesting lists from past WWC events. .It showed past WWC winners, USAC and Arizona sprint car champions, ASCS Canyon Region winners, and USAC sprint car winners at Manzanita Speedway since Mario Andretti won the first USAC sprint feature at the track in 1966. Eightteen drivers made both the 2007 and 2008 410 WWC Saturday A features. They were: Coons, Darland, Bud Kaeding, Hagen, Sherman, Sweet, Gardner, Spencer, T. Jones, L. Jones, Ziehl, Morgan, Johnson, Hockett, Bacon, Sheridan, Whitt and Cottle. Drivers in the 2007 WWC but not entered this year were Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Mat Neely, and recuperating Garrett Hansen. Drivers who raced in the 2008 WWC but did not make the WWC finale were: Casey Shuman, Rip Williams, Brady Short, Josh Ford, Hunter Scheurenberg, Stanbrough and Windom. First time WWC finale drivers in 2008 included Kevin Swindell, Chad Boat, Nic Faas, Shane Hmiel, Thomas Meseraull, Brett Burdette and Blake Miller. Drivers Yeley and Hines returned to race in the WWC finale again in 2008. The Bobby Martin Manzanita second year WWC promotional effort used a western motif Saturday. Trophy girls wore Old West saloon singer dresses that might have been found during the wild west days at Tombstone, AZ. As each A-main driver was introduced, he came through swinging barroom wooden doors under a sign overhead that read, "Pit Stop Saloon". Drivers walked on the black and white checkered pavement at the starting line infield to their cars on the front straight. The huge and numerous unique WWC trophies went to the top three in the 360 and 410 divisions and will rival the coveted PIR Copper World Classic trophies that go to the CWC winners. Ron Shuman, a young-looking 53, now wears glasses and works as the ASCS race director. He was on the radio in the press box controlling ASCS races, as Jason Smith and Steve Ostling did for the USAC 410s. Ron's second wife Paula (Casey' step-mom) did much of the WWC trophy design and footwork with the trophy company according to Ron, the leader of the late SCRA 410 sprint car racing organization. I asked Ron about the many racing trophies he won over his outstanding racing career. He said he has kept about 50 or so of his favorite racing trophies at his house. They include his 1979 Knoxville Nationals, WWC, Pacific Coast Championship, and Turkey Night Midget Grand Prix trophies. He also has kept unique trophies he won at Don Basile's Speedway 117 in Chula Vista. The 2nd annual Manzanita Speedway "Copper on Dirt" USAC triple-header race weekend was announced at the WWC. The dates are Friday-Saturday, February 20-21. The sprints will offer 2009 CRA points also and the midgets will offer 2009 Western Midget points. USAC Silver Crown, sprint car and midget national divisions will provide racing action on the half-mile clay track. This event got my vote as the 2007 new racing event of the year. It's a must see. Making it an even greater reason for a trip west by fans from mid-western and eastern states is the fact that on November 17 USAC HQ staff announced that the Copper on Dirt in Phoenix will kick off three National events on the West Coast. The second venue will take place at the Las Vegas (NV) Motor Speedway half-mile dirt track with a doubleheader on Wednesday night, February 25. LVMS will have National and CRA Sprints, plus National and Western Midgets series in action. Event three will be held Saturday, February 28 at Perris, CA with a similar National & CRA sprint car and National & Western midget doubleheader. That sounds like the best-ever USAC season opening schedule for open-wheel racing fans in the West. |
