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| HINES EARNS USAC WESTERN 360 SPRINT CAR TURKEY NIGHT VICTORY AT IRWINDALE By Tim Kennedy |
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IRWINDALE, Calif., Nov. 27 – Versatile Tracy Hines won the second of three USAC features on a cool Thanksgiving evening in Toyota Speedway at Irwindale racing action. The 40-lap USAC Western Series 360 cubic inch sprint car event on the half-mile track carried a $16,305 purse and started all 32 cars available from a 33-car field. USAC officials canceled a scheduled qualifying race. Hines, a 36-year old veteran open-wheel and NASCAR truck racer from New Castle, Indiana, started fourth in the standard USAC six-car inverted lineup based on qualifying times. His winning ride was Andy Morales' "Tamale Wagon" from nearby Anaheim. The latest "Tamale Wagon" carries on the winning tradition of the famed Alex Morales Offenhauser and later Chevy-powered championship sprint cars in CRA-sanctioned racing with drivers Chuck Hulse, Bobby Hogle and other drivers in the 1960-80 era.. The winning car, a 1999 J & J-built chassis with the original 1999 Shaver Specialties-built engine, has only raced 16 times, 12 times at Irwindale. Morales usually brings the No. 27 car, which is painted in the 1980s Tamale Wagon color scheme, out of storage for Hines to drive during the Turkey Night Grand Prix. He said the engine is probably down about 60 horsepower from more recent engines. Jimmy Sills was the first driver of the car on September 7, 1999 and he finished second in the Irwindale feature. Sills raced it four times during the next two seasons. Wally Pankratz drove it to a fourth place finish on September 25, 1999. Hines has been the designated driver since October 2000. He won a USAC 360 feature in it at Irwindale on March 24, 2001 in a 26-car field. He also had a pair of thirds in the car at Tucson and Las Vegas during 2002. The car was idle during 2004-05 while Hines was racing trucks. Hines drove it to third and seventh place finishes in the 2006 and 2007 TNGP sprint feature before scoring his second victory in the car Thursday. In victory ceremonies at the finish line Hines said, "This is where I want to be, but in the Midget. Thanks to Andy Morales and his crew for bringing this car out one time a year. I've even welded on it. I think we need a new engine to go down the straights. I have the USAC National Midget point lead but I have to take a provisional and start at the back." Hines earned $2,500 for the Morales "Tamale Wagon" team. Morales said he will just oil the cylinder walls and put the car back in storage until next Thanksgiving for Hines to drive again. Pole starter Ryan Kaplan, a 22-year old USAC Ford Focus Midget and Midget veteran from Chico, led the initial lap. He drove his No. 20 Ken Kaplan Hornet chassis with a Chevy built in the Fresno shop of Scott Losorwith. Chris Windom, a 17-year old from Illinois, followed in his Beast/Claxton with Hines third, Cole Whitt fourth and JoJo Helberg fifth. Hines took second on the second lap. At the start of lap four chaos erupted on the front straight near the starting line. Tenth place Aztec, N.M. driver Porter Smith, driving Kaplan's Eagle/Losorwith, had his engine quit suddenly when a power-train bracket broke. Cars following closely darted left and right and just avoided the slowing car near the starting line. WILD FLIP Then 26th starter John Sarale, from Stockton, hear his spotter say a car was slowing. He saw it and cut to the inside just as Smith turned left past the starting line to enter the infield. Sarale, a recent BCRA Midget champion, climbed the left rear tail and tire and left side of Smith's No. 21 2008 USAC feature winning car and flipped twice on the track. His overturned car slid to a stop near the first turn grass infield. Smith's car stopped on the track near turn one. Neither driver was injured. Rescuers assisted Sarale from his car and he walked away unscathed. Later he said his brand new Hornet chassis, which he and partner /fellow driver Jimmy Riddell manufacture in Ripon, was destroyed. They had completed it just in time to race it at Irwindale on Thanksgiving. A 14-minute red flag followed the crash for rescue and track clean-up. Racing resumed with lap four and Kaplan led the next two laps. He has raced a NASCAR late model stock car part-time and impressively at Irwindale during 2008 for Tim Huddleston's High Point Distributing five-car team. On lap six Hines shot past Kaplan on the inside as they raced towards the third turn. The yellow flag flew on lap 13 when 12th starter, eighth place Shane Hmiel, a former NASCAR driver from North Carolina, spun to the grass in the fourth turn. His No. 40 Western Speed Racing Eagle/Toyota restarted and finished 39 laps for 16th position. It was his first racing experience at Irwindale. At the starters' half-way sign, Hines held a 30-yard advantage over Kaplan, with Cole Whitt 20-yards back in third. Mike Murgoitio was fourth and Nick Green, 22-year old son of retired sprint car champion /WoO driver Tim Green, in fifth place. The scoring pylon had Helberg, three-time USAC series champion Tony Hunt, Windom, Utah driver Jim Waters, and Washington state driver Snake Livernash running sixth through tenth. FINISH LINE CRASH During the final five laps Kaplan cut Hines' lead from 25-yards in half, but Hines prevailed by 0.629-seconds. Whitt was 1.185-seconds behind Hines. Fourth and fifth place drivers Green and Helberg were three seconds behind the leader dueling for fourth as they exited turn four. Their cars got together with Green hitting the outer wall on the front straight and spinning across the finish line fifth, right behind the spinning car of Helberg, the18-year old fastest qualifier in a 33-car field. Following cars avoided contact with the checkered flag being waved. The two crashing cars swapped positions during the incident. Murgoitio, Brian McClish, Tanner Swanson, Livernash and Rick Hendrix, the 55-year old 2002 USAC Western Sprint champion, completed the top ten. Following in order were Windom, Waters, former USAC Ford Focus Midget graduate/school teacher Audra Sasselli in her three race old Beast/Losorwith, and Eric Humphries all completed the full 40-lap distance. Drivers in 15th through 23rd positions logged 39 laps. Twenty-seven of 32 starters finished, with one driver down two laps and three drivers down three laps. The 30:38.197-timed race started at 8:39 and checkered at 9:09 pm. Hines ran the fastest lap of the race at 16.729, with Whitt's 16.785 best lap the next quickest lap during the race. When interviewed at the finish line, Kaplan said, "The only chance at Tracy (Hines) would be in traffic. If we had ten more laps I might have had a chance. I'd like to take a stab at him." Third place Whitt, a rookie and runner-up in the 2007 TNGP sprint car event at age 16, stated, "This is our own car. We get help from Keith Kunz (his USAC Midget car owner). I'll be back with Red Bull sponsorship next year." TEMPERS FLARE After the Green and Helberg cars stopped on the front straight just past the starting line and all cars had passed, angry Green climbed from his car. He walked toward Helberg who was still sitting in his car about 15-yards closer to the first turn. Track emergency truck workers arrived quickly from the infield and intervened. A worker kept Green from advancing towards Helberg. Later in the pits tempers flared and the Green crew overturned a table of food during a scuffle in the Helberg pit area. Calm was restored before Irwindale police arrived so the incident ended quietly. Both teams are USAC Western Series regulars and are based in Northern California with Green from San Jose and Helberg from Rohnert Park near Santa Rosa. Helberg won the USAC 360 Sprint Utah Series championship this year. Rookie Tanner Swanson, who had clinched the USAC Western Sprint Series championship after the last race, set the 14th fastest qualifying time and was to start 14th. However, he had to start at the back in row 16 because he changed a right rear tire after time trials. He said the tire they removed was two hundredths slower than the tire he wanted for the 40-lap feature. The younger brother of USAC Midget and 360 Sprint Car champion Kody Swanson, 20, drove the same Swanson family-owned No. 17 TK Motorsports, Dr. Keith Williams, DDS-sponsored Eagle/Chevy that Kody raced to his 2005 USAC Western Sprint championship and rookie honors. The new 2008 Western Sprint champion also joined the top three finishers for post-race interviews and visited with the press topside. Swanson won his 2008 title by 96 points (971-875) over Helberg. Fast Time: JoJo Helberg, No. 7 Helberg, 16.471. Feature, 40-laps: Tracy Hines, Ryan Kaplan, Cole Whitt, Helberg, Nick Green, Mike Murgoitio, Brian McClish, Tanner Swanson, Snake Livernash, Rick Hendrix, Chris Windom, Jim Waters, Audra Sasselli, Eric Humphries, Bobby Santos III, Shane Hmiel, Davey Hamilton, Tony Hunt, Ryan Burdett, Robert Beck, Mike Maier, Kenny Hamilton, Dakoda Asrmstrong, Anthony Simone, Jimmy Riddell, Marv Barcello, James Sweeney, Chris Schmelzle, Ricky Ehrgott, Ryan Baumgartner, Porter Smith, John Sarale. - DNS Nick Rescino, Jr. |
