WICHITA, KS, June 12 --
The Non-Winged World Championship (NWWC) / Sprint Car Racing Association (SCRA)
tour made a stop at the 81 Speedway Tuesday night for the running of the 5th
Annual Walt McWhorter Memorial. California's Mike Kirby drove the Mark
Alexander-Brad Geurin / Statewide Towing No. 5 to a hard fought 30 lap victory.
"This is good for Mark, he's been doing this for a long time and now he has
a little better budget to work with," Kirby said, referring to the
off-season merger with the Alexander Trucking Team. "This Stinger car
is pretty awesome and I'm excited about the rest of the year."
One year ago, Kirby was running fourth during this event when he became the
first tire casualty just 13 laps into the race. With hot sunlight and
heavy winds punishing the 81 Speedway throughout the day, it was feared by most
that tire wear might once again become an issue. As it turned out, the
track was in remarkably good condition considering the elements.
"Last year, I don't think we made it halfway through the race before we
blew a tire," Kirby said. "The track didn't take rubber
until about the 15th lap tonight, by then we had gotten by a few cars and we
were okay. We ran a
different compound than most people. I guess we just picked the right tire
tonight. Rusty McClure came over and gave us some suggestions that helped
us because running a track like this is right up his alley."
John Scott, who took the checkered flag first in last year's Walt McWhorter
Memorial, started on the pole after driving his Pace Electronics No. 83 TCR to
it's fourth JE Pistons Dash win of the season. Scott beat Troy Cline into
the first turn at the start of the race and led the field down the back
straight. Behind Scott, Cline and Rickie Gaunt touched wheels in turn
three. Cline was forced off the edge of the banking as a result of the
contact and found himself third from last by the time he returned to the racing
surface.
Gaunt and NWWC point leader Richard Griffin were closely behind Scott on lap
three when Cline came to a stop after having problems in turn two as well. Steve
Ostling ran fourth ahead of the BRAT Racing / B&R Automotive No. 8 Buckley
driven by Bob Ream Jr. on the restart. In Sander Engineering Time Trials,
Ostling broke the one-lap track record (with a time of 16.617 seconds) to give
the Fischer Motorsports Team it's first ever SCRA fast time.
Scott elected to restart the race on the bottom, while Gaunt decisively went to
the top. Gaunt's choice proved to be the better one and he quickly darted
around Scott to take the lead. The pass had to be particularly satisfying
for Gaunt, who led last year's 81 Speedway event until he spun on the final lap
of the race giving the victory to Scott. Lost in the moment was Kirby's
masterful restart that saw him move from sixth to fourth.
Much like he did the year before, Gaunt controlled the race until the caution
flag flew on lap eight. Kirby made the most of that restart as well,
passing Griffin for the third position. Prior to the restart, Gaunt was
pulling away from Scott. After the restart, Scott was able to stay
glued to the leader's tail tank. Scott continued to pressure Gaunt for
several laps on the cushion until Gaunt slid over the turn one cushion and fell
off the back of the banking on lap 15. Gaunt was quick to regroup and only
lost three positions before returning to the racing surface.
Scott was far from being home-free once in the lead. Instantly, Kirby
pressured Scott in much the same manner that he had been badgering Gaunt. That
pressure intensified once Gaunt reached lapped traffic on the 18th circuit.
With ten laps to go, Griffin had the Ron Chaffin / Arizona Race Mart No. 50 Jon
Boy in a position to challenge for the lead.
Scott hesitated briefly in lapped traffic on lap 22 and received a solid tap on
the rear bumper from Kirby. Thanks to some aggressive driving, all three
men managed to free themselves from lapped traffic one lap later. Scott
had been trying a variety of lines throughout the race, but when he dropped to
the bottom of turn four on lap 24, Kirby was able to drive around him for the
lead.
With a clear race track in front of him, Kirby was on his way to victory and
preparing to take the white flag when Adam Mitchell flipped hard into the catch
fence exiting turn four. Mitchell climbed from his car without injury as
Kirby sat hoping that he wouldn't get passed on a restart while leading for a
second straight race. As if that wasn't weighing heavily enough on his
mind, Kirby still had tire concerns.
"Brett Roa (Kirby's crew chief) told me that the car was all mine and that
I couldn't hurt the tires in three laps," Kirby laughed, happy that the
disappointment he suffered at Eagle Raceway had now been avenged.
"We've been pretty bad on restarts lately and I was thinking about the
other night at Eagle, that's for sure. Brett told me to calm down and if I
kept doing what I've been doing that I'd be fine."
Kirby applied Roa's advice and maintained his line and his composure even when
Griffin stuck a wheel under him entering the last set of corners. With
smoke streaming from his right rear tire, Kirby reached the checkered flag first
for the 35th time in SCRA competition. Cory Kruseman drove the Harlan Willis /
Omni Turn No. 45 TCR to a fourth place finish behind Scott. Ream rounded
out the top-five with his third career SCRA top-five finish.
###
SCRA RACE #17 - 81 SPEEDWAY,
WICHITA, KS (NWWC #3) Date
of Race: 06/12/01
SANDER ENGINEERING TIME TRIALS
1. Steve Ostling, Fischer Mtrspts 29, 16.617 *New Track Record
2. John Scott, Scott Mtrsprts 83, 16.625
3. Bob Ream, Jr., BRAT Racing 8, 16.718
4. Charles Davis, Jr, Morales 94, 16.735
5. Troy Cline, Cline 11, 16.740
6. Richard Griffin, Chaffin 50, 16.755
7. Cory Kruseman, Willis 45, 16.849
8. Troy Rutherford, Gardner 4, 16.854
9. Rip Williams, Jory 3, 16.893
10. Rickie Gaunt, Pratt 12 , 16.901
11. C.J. Johnson, Johnson 45x, 16.941
12. Mike English, Priestley 7 , 16.947
13. Mike Kirby, Geurin 5, 16.965
14. George Gervais, Gervais 9 , 16.969
15. Lance Gremett, Gremett 85, 17.003
16. Danny Sheridan, Sertich 92, 17.167
17. Adam Mitchell, Mitchell 99 , 17.170
18. Michael Hinrichsen (R), Lake Mtrsprts. 16, 17.247
19. Ronnie Clark (R), Winter 138, 17.265
20. Mike Spencer (R), Engstrom 44, 17.330
21. Tony Everhart, Everhart 55, 17.540
22. Casey Shuman, Lake Mtrsprts 6, 17.566
23. Hank Winter, Winter 33, 17.626
24. Glenn Crossno (R), Crossno 38, 17.865
25. Kevin Doty, Dooling 6x, 17.876
26. Jon Robertson, Pratt 12x, 19.081
27. Josh Davis, Davis 98d, 19.377
28. Brian Venard, Venard. 47, No Time
HEDMAN HEDDERS HEAT 1
1. Kirby, 2. Cline, 3. Mitchell, 4. Ostling, 5. Williams, 6. Everhart, 7.Doty
SHAVER ENGINES HEAT 2
1. Gaunt, 2. Scott, 3. Griffin, 4. Gervais, 5. Hinrichsen, 6. Shuman,
KSE PRODUCTS HEAT 3
1. Gremett, 2. Kruseman, 3. Ream, 4. Winter, 5. Johnson, 6. Clark,
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS HEAT 4
1. Sheridan, 2. English, 3. Spencer, 4. Crossno, 5. Rutherford, 6.
Davis,
JE PISTONS DASH
1. Scott, 2. Cline, 3. Gaunt, 4. Griffin, 5. Ostling, 6. Ream,
7. Kruseman, 8. English,
JB ENTERPRISE B FEATURE
1. Clark, 2. Williams, 3. Davis, 4. Rutherford, 5. Doty,
6. Shuman, 7. Everhart, 8. Hinrichsen, 9. Johnson, 10. Robertson.
A FEATURE (30 Laps)
1. Kirby, 2. Griffin, 3. Scott, 4. Kruseman, 5. Ream, 6.
Williams, 7. Davis, 8. Gaunt, 9. Doty, 10. Sheridan, 11.
Cline, 12. English, 13. Ostling, 14. Gervais, 15.
Rutherford, 16. Shuman, 17. Winter, 18. Spencer, 19.
Clark, 20. Crossno, 21. Mitchell, 22. Gremett,
Laps Led: Scott 1-2, Gaunt
3-14, Scott 15-23, Kirby 24-30
NWWC POINTS
1. GRIFFIN 204
2. KRUSEMAN 184
3. KIRBY 183
4. WILLIAMS 158
5. SCOTT 137
6. RUTHERFORD 130
7. OSTLING 127
8. GAUNT 121
9. DAVIS 118
10. CLINE 112
