June 24, 2006 -- Kevin Briscoe scored his third King of Indiana Sprint Series
(KISS) feature win at Paragon Speedway, Saturday, with a timely move up into the
rubber that had built up in the turns. The veteran racer from Mitchell,
IN, passed point leader Jon Stanbrough with three laps remaining, and was ahead
of Jon Sciscoe by seven car lengths when the race ended. Stanbrough earned
a third place finish, followed by Dave Darland and Josh Cunningham.
“It’s good to get a win,” he said after the victory photos.
“We’ve had a bad year. It’s our fourth win, and we’ve had a lot of
top-5’s. But the draw has been killing us. I just wish they had
passing points.”
With 68 cars in the pits, competition for the 22 KISS feature starting spots was
intense. Briscoe and Critter Malone were among the heat race winners, even
though both started from the tail. Before the main event, Dawn Kirchner
drew the number 2 pill for the Briscoe Homes Stealth, giving Kevin the outside
of the front row.
From the pole, Sciscoe shoved the Pottorff Logging machine into the lead in the
first turn, with Stanbrough and Briscoe glued to his tail, and Arin McIntosh
running fourth. Sciscoe was in command through the first half of the
race, working the bottom lane and preventing anyone from getting inside of him.
On the fourth circuit, Shane Hollingsworth nicked a turn two marker tire and
somersaulted the Truckers 24-Hour Service Twister on the backstretch.
Sciscoe continued to show the way following the restart, but while the leaders
seemed married to the bottom groove, others were making progress around the top
of the track. Jonathan Vennard used the cushion to stay in fifth, and Dave
Darland and Darren Hagen raced into the top ten from the ninth and sixth rows,
in Jeff Walker’s machines. When Donnie Gentry spun to bring a caution
flag at the half-way point, the lineup was Sciscoe, Briscoe, Stanbrough,
McIntosh, Vennard, Hud Cone, Darland, Hagen, Danny Holtsclaw and Joe Roush.
Sciscoe tried the high route through the first turn on the restart allowing
Briscoe to pull even on the bottom. When Sciscoe regained the lead, he
dropped back into the bottom groove, but Briscoe quickly moved up the track and
found what he had been watching for, the buildup of rubber had become gummy and
fast. He shot ahead, easily taking the lead on lap 18.
When the field took the green after a lap 20 yellow, Briscoe and Sciscoe went to
the top of the track, but Stanbrough stayed on the inside and hustled past both
of them. Looking for his third KISS victory in 2006 and a lock on the
point title, Stanbrough kept the Fox Brothers’ DRC a dozen car lengths in
front while Darland grabbed fourth spot. But Briscoe came back, taking the
lead on lap 24 only to have a spin by Danny Holtsclaw bring another caution
before the lap was completed.
Staying on the bottom, Stanbrough led three circuits after the green and
Cunningham took third from Sciscoe. But on the 27th
lap, Briscoe had the Briscoe Homes Stealth wound up and screamed back into the
lead. Sciscoe followed into second on lap 29. A caution on lap 30,
involving Hagen, Cone and Rob Botts, ended the race by track rules, with Briscoe
ahead of Sciscoe, and Stanbrough edging Darland for third.
Afterwards, Briscoe noted that his car had been fast on the bottom, but he kept
“screwing up”. He explained that he kept checking the top for rubber
during the caution, then one time “there it was”. The bottom was
faster after cautions, he said, but he knew that the rubber was coming back
three or four laps later. “Any time it becomes a track where you have to
search around experience comes into play. You have to be smart and
find the race track.”
Jon Sciscoe has become used to the runner-up role this year, but that doesn’t
mean he’s enjoying it. “I led the majority of the race,” he said.
“It looked like it was taking rubber, but I didn’t know and Kevin slipped
around us. You really can’t tell. Sometimes the track is black
like that and it’s slicker than hell. Other times it locks us right
down.”
Stanbrough’s third place run gave him a 99-point advantage over Vennard with
just one event remaining. He noted that he was on the bottom the whole way
and “when the track laid rubber down on the top, Briscoe just got a better
bite.”
Results: King of Indiana Sprint Series at Paragon Speedway,
June 24, 2006
Heat 1 (3 transfer): Critter Malone (11), Jon Sciscoe (1), Darren
Hagen (7), Josh Cunningham (4), Mike Gibbs (8), Bart Pletch (9), Chris Babcock
(3), Donnie Gentry (6), Nevil Algieo (2), Johnny Johnson (5), Nick Johnson (10),
Levi Jones (12)
Heat 2: Danny Holtsclaw (2), Jonathan Vennard (3), Marc Arnold (1), Derek
O’Dell (7), Alex Shanks (9), Dustin Beliles (12), Jerry Ruble (10), Eric
Edwards (5), Matt Laffoon (11), Muff Cody (8), William Nedderman (4), Bruce
Berry (6)
Heat 3: Kevin Briscoe (11), Cole Whitt (1), Rob Botts (9), Miranda
Throckmorton (5), Nick Corea (10), Randy Johnson (8), Jake Scott (7), Scott
Hampton (2), Josh Slone (6), Wesley Hickman (3), Buddy Cunningham (4)
Heat 4: Jon Stanbrough (3), Shane Hollingsworth (4), Justin Marvel (1),
Kyle Cummins (9), Tony Reed (2), Dennis Rose (5), Eric Zellner (7), Gary Blum
(6), Jim Dugan (10), Nick Mosier (11), Chris Gentry (8)
Heat 5: Hud Cone (4), Shane Cottle (5), Chris Windom (7), Scotty Weir
(10), Ray Kenens (6), Adam Beliles (6), Kevin Studley (11), Bobby Smith (8),
Kevin Chambers (1), Doug Heck (9), Kent Christian (3)
Heat 6: Joe Roush (4), Arin McIntosh (3), Dave Darland (9), Brent
Beauchamp (6), Dickie Gaines (5), Jared Fox (1), Gregg Cory (7), Nick Mosier
(11), Kerry Kinser (2), Eric Smith (10), John Johnson Jr.
B-Main #1 (2 transfer): J. Cunningham (1), D. Gentry (13), Babcock (10),
Corea (5), Jones (25), Throckmorton (2), A. Beliles (9), Kenens (6), Smith (15),
Studley (12)
B-Main #2 : Cummins (2), Gaines (6), Fox (9), Shanks (4), O’Dell (1),
Reed (5), D. Beliles (7), Zellner (11), Cory (12), Edwards (13)
Feature (30 laps): Briscoe (2), Sciscoe (1), Stanbrough (4), Darland
(18), J. Cunningham (19), Vennard (5), McIntosh (3), Marvel (16), Cummins (20),
Cottle (12), Arnold (14), Windom (17), Malone (6), Roush (9), Gentry (21), Hagen
(13), Cone (7), Botts (15), Holtsclaw (10), Gaines (22), Whitt (8),
Hollingsworth (11)
Points: Stanbrough 510, Vennard 411, Windom 384, Marvel 381, Briscoe 363,
Cottle 355, O’Dell 346
SCHEDULE. The 2006 KISS championship will kick off Independence Day
weekend at the Terre Haute Action Track on Saturday, July 1. By the time
the last firework has exploded, a new (or returning) King of Indiana Sprints
will be on his throne.
2006 King Of Indiana Sprint Series Schedule
Gas City I-69Speedway
Friday, May 12 Rain Out
Bloomington Speedway
Friday, May 19 -- Stanbrough
Lincoln Park Speedway
Saturday, May 20 -- Stanbrough
Lawrenceburg Speedway
Saturday, May 27 Anderson
Kokomo Speedway
Sunday, June 18 Rain Out
Paragon Speedway
Saturday, June 24 -- Briscoe
Terre Haute Action Track
Saturday, July 1
THE PURSE. The total KISS purse for 2006 exceeds $80,000. Each
feature pays $2,500-to win. As in previous years, the teams will forgo
qualifying and draw for heat race starting spots. And as last year, the
top two finishers in each heat will re-draw for their feature starting spots.
Features pay $250 to start, while B-Main competitors will take home a minimum of
$50.
POINT FUND. The point fund will pay $1,400 to the King Of Indiana
Sprint Series champion following the July 1st finale Terre Haute Action Track.
Additionally, the point fund pays the top five in the standings, with second
place receiving $1000, while third receives $700, fourth $600 and fifth $500.
SPONSORS. Elliottbrand Web Designs, in Westport, IN, created
the KISS website, which provides a highly functional and effective tool that
places the King Of Indiana Sprint Series within arms length of racing fans
around town and around the world. Visit them at www.Elliottbrand.com.
The King of Indiana Sprint Series is organized and conducted by the individual
Indiana sprint car race track promoters to put the best racing in the state on a
heavy metal wheel-to-wheel tour. Information is now available on our
website, www.kissracing.com.
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