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Boat Sails to Bob Darland Memorial Wins Bowman, Davis also find victory lane By Derek Fisher |
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JUNE 28, 2009 --- Much like Noah, who constructed his watercraft to hold two of
everything, Chad Boat likes things in pairs.
Thus it was fitting that the second-generation Arizona driver took home not one, but both legs of the Bob Darland Memorial at the Kokomo Speedway on Sunday night. Boat snared a lead he would not relinquish from Kurt Gross near the midway point in the 25-lap sprint car event, and later made a steady charge from the 12th spot on the grid to bag the 20-circuit midget main. The victories were Boat's first triumphs in the Hoosier state, where he is in his third year of competition. The doubleheader sweep was also just the second such occurence in Speedway history. Tony Elliott first notched the feat by securing both ends of a July 9, 1998 twinbill that paired BMARA / NAMARS midgets with a local sprint program. "This is a big win for us," Boat said from the All-Star Performance / Lowe's Racing Engines / Crume-Evans Insurance victory lane following the sprint car main. "This is our first one in Indiana, and we've been working hard towards it." Boat, the son of 1998 Indianapolis 500 polesitter Billy Boat, was rarely challenged in the event after banging wheels with Gross at the flagstand following the lap 11 slide job that garnered him the lead. The only real threat Boat encountered was two-time 2009 winner Billy Puterbaugh, who pressured the 17-year-old shoe briefly during a lap 14 restart. "The names that have won this race in the past are the best in the business," Boat added. "I've got to thank my guys and my dad. This one feels good." Hunter Schuerenberg, Jeff Bland Jr., Jon Stanbrough and Puterbaugh rounded out the top five. Gross faded outside the top 10 by race's end. Boat's midget effort was slightly more taxing. Beginning from the sixth row, Boat reached the top five on lap 10 while front-row mates Brad Kuhn and Tracy Hines swapped the lead in front of a hard-charging Bryan Clauson. After a lap 12 caution period saw Clauson retire from the event, Kuhn tried a sweeping slide job for Hines' lead on the 14th circuit's first turn. No contact ensued, but the duo's collective loss of momentum allowed Boat to enter the fray. Rocketing low and under the leaders off the fourth corner of that lap, the lead was Boat's for good. "We were a little loose early on," Boat said of his Room Store No. 30 machine. "Things kind of came to us at the end. Brad and Tracy got to racing hard and it opened the door for us." Hines, Kuhn, Dakoda Armstrong and Caleb Armstrong completed the top five. Tony Bowman captured his first Rent-A-Center street stock win of the year on Sunday night following a wild 15-lap event. David Hurst was the early leader of the race before nine-time Kokomo champion Glen Gamblin took the point on lap five. Again battling for the lead on the eighth circuit, Hurst and Gamblin made contact in the second corner as Gamblin spun to a stop. Both drivers were sent to the tail of the field as a result, handing the lead to Bowman. The veteran driver was able to lead the remainder of the race despite heavy pressure from Brandon Roundtree and Ryan Hines in the closing laps. "I'm not sure what happened with Glen and David," Bowman said of the leaders' incident. "But whatever it was, it worked for me!" Roundtree finished second while Gamblin recovered to take third. Hines and Hurst were fourth and fifth, respectively. Allen Davis won the UMP thunder car event. The triumph was his fourth win of the year in the division. 25 Lap Bob Darland Memorial Omni Source Sprint Car A Main 1.30 Chad Boat 10 Lap B Main #1 (Top 2 Transfer to the A Main) 1.12c Coons, Jr. 10 Lap B Main #2 (Top 2 Transfer to the A Main) 1.53 Stanbrough
1.30 Chad Boat 15 Lap Rent-A-Center UMP Street Stock A Main 1.56 Tony Bowman 15 Lap UMP Thunder Car A Main 1. 11d Allen Davis 8 Lap UMP Thunder Car B Main (Top 5 to the A Main) 1. 55 McMahan |
