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DARLAND WINS "SOKOLA
CLASSIC" OPENER AT MANZANITA |
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PHOENIX, Ariz. (March 19, 2004) A long day at two
different racetracks paid off in a big way for Dave Darland. After practicing and qualifying for Saturday’s National Midget Series event, as well as practicing for the Weld Racing Silver Crown Series event at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday, Darland moved east of the one-mile track and picked up the 20-lap Valvoline USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series race Friday at Manzanita Speedway, the first night of the “Sokola Classic.” Darland, driving the No. 14 JE Pistons-Discount Tool Repair Renegade/Pick’s machine, started on the outside of the front row, moved past polesitter Brian Venard in turns one and two of the first lap and led all 20 laps, holding off fellow and former National Sprint Car Series champion Tracy Hines for the win in the second race of the new series. “I had a great car tonight,” Darland said in victory lane. “We struggled a little bit in hot laps, but luckily we had it set up pretty close later on.” The Lincoln, Ind. native made it look easy, surging ahead of the field after two caution periods. After three laps, Troy Rutherford and Bob Ream Jr. tangled in turn two, bringing out the first of two yellow flag periods. Darland surged ahead and built nearly a straightaway lead over Hines and fast qualifier Rickie Gaunt halfway through the event. Darland continued to build a lead before Mike Spencer suffered misfortune in turn three with a few laps to go, bunching the field together for the final time. But Darland took off on the restart and was never challenged thereafter. He won the event by seven car-lengths over Hines, Gaunt, Eric Wilkins and Damion Gardner. Darland said thought he was strong on the restarts, he was worried about Hines and Gaunt getting a run on him. “I was worried,” he said. “The only place I wasn’t strong was between turns three and four, but I figured the track was safe for everybody. I ran the car against the wall because there was some moisture up there, and the car went a little faster up there. It was a little tricky out there. I was a little worried, especially with Tracy and Rickie right behind me.” The win was the second for car owner Ben Lancaster, who won a sprint car race with Brad Marvel at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Ind. several years ago. “I just don’t think it gets any better than this,” Lancaster said. “I’m tickled to death. I’m thrilled. You just never know when something like this will happen. But you have to have a good driver. It doesn’t matter how good your equipment is, you have to have a good driver, or you’ll never make it, and Dave is one of the best. Winners of the 10-lap heat races included Gaunt, Levi Jones, Alan Ballard and Cory Kruseman, while Mike Kirby, the winner of the first event, won the 12-lap semifeature. Ream Jr. won a four-lap dash. Gaunt’s qualifying time of 18.606 was .045 seconds off the track record, set by Brad Noffsinger. RESULTS QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Ricky Gaunt, 2A, Smiley, 18.606; 2. Damion Gardner, 50, Chaffin, 18.679; 3. Bob Ream Jr., 8, B.R.A.T., 18.702; 4. Troy Rutherford, 7, Priestley, 18.862; 5. Tracy Hines, 7H, Priestley, 18.930; 6. Eric Wilkins, 3w, WWS Racing, 18.964; 7. Charles Davis Jr., 8A, Smiley, 18.970; 8. Mike Kirby, 38, Crossno, 19.021; 9. Dave Darland, 14, Lancaster, 19.021; 10. Brian Venard, 47, Venard, 19.110; 11. Josh Ford, 73, Ford, 19.177; 12. Mike Spencer, 44, Engstrom, 19.242; 13. Bud Kaeding, 45, Willis, 19.262; 14. Levi Jones, 38J, Crossno, 19.265; 15. Alan Ballard, 97, Ballard, 19.269; 16. Jeremy Sherman, 21, Ellis, 19.283; 17. Jordan Hermansader, 91, Ferro, 19.284; 18. Tony Jones, 2, Vermeer/Ferreria, 19.332; 19. Mike Leslie, 76, Montgomery, 19.380; 20. Rip Williams, 3, Jory, 19.456; 21. Darren Hagen, 11, McMinn, 19.736; 22. Matthew Rossi, 16, Rossi, 19.799; 23. Jeff Slinkard, 61, Ratz, 19.879; 24. Greg Bragg, 12, Pratt, 20.057; 25. David Cardey, 59, Giardina, 20.723; 26. Seth Wilson, 17, Racing Optics, 20.984; 27. Robert Hall, 16a, Hall, 21.172; 28. Cory Kruseman, 4, Alexander, 26.105; 29. Tony Elliott, 6z, Keller, no time; 30. Bruce St., James, 7k, St. James, no time; 31. Jimmy Crawford, 18, Crawford, no time; 32. Brandon Lane, 97H, Lane, no time. DASH (4 laps): 1. Ream, 2. Rutherford, 3. Gardner, 4. Gaunt. 1:17.53 FIRST HEAT (10 laps): 1. Gaunt, 2. Hermansader, 3. Darland, 4. Hines, 5. Kaeding, 6. Hagen, 7. Cardey. (3:16.22) SECOND HEAT (10 laps): 1. L.Jones, 2. Gardner, 3. Wilkins, 4. Venard, 5. T.Jones, 6. Wilson, 7. Rossi. (3:20.94) THIRD HEAT (10 laps): 1. Ballard, 2. Ford, 3. Slinkard, 4. Ream, 5. Hall, 6. Leslie, 7. Davis. (no time) FOURTH HEAT (10 laps): 1. Kruseman, 2. Sherman, 3. Rutherford, 4. Williams, 5. Bragg, 6. Spencer, 7. Kirby. (3:17.15) SEMI (12 laps): 1. Kirby, 2. Kaeding, 3. Davis, 4. Spencer, 5. T.Jones, 6. Leslie, 7. Bragg, 8. Hagen, 9. Cardey, 10. Wilson, 11. Crawford, 12. Rossi, 13. Hall. (no time) FEATURE (20 laps): 1. Dave Darland, 2. Tracy Hines, 3. Rickie Gaunt, 4. Eric Wilkins, 5. Damion Gardner, 6. Mike Kirby, 7. Bud Kaeding, 8. Jeremy Sherman, 9. Cory Kruseman, 10. Tony Jones, 11. Brian Venard, 12. Bob Ream Jr., 13. Rip Williams, 14. Charles Davis Jr., 15. Levi Jones, 16. Jordan Hermansader, 17. Josh Ford, 18. Alan Ballard, 19. Mike Spencer, 20. Jeff Slinkard, 21. Troy Rutherford. (no time) Lap Leader: Darland 1-20. Points Standings (top 10): Gardner 119, Kirby 117, Kruseman 110, Williams 94, Rutherford 83, Gaunt 68, Darland 66, Hermansader 64, Hines 64, Ford 59. Next Race: March 20, Manzanita Speedway, Phoenix, Ariz., 4th Annual Sokola Classic. |
