|
Tri State Outlook.
column by Duane Hancock
Last weekend was an excellent weekend for racing in
more ways than one. First, the weather was pretty much
picture perfect for mid-April. 2nd, there was many
races to choose from. 3rd, the 2 shows I took in were
excellent races.
The World Of Outlaws made a visit to Attica Raceway
Park last Friday night. 55 cars were pit side. What an
excellent night of racing. Only the top 44 qualifiers
made the heat races. The heats were stacked. I still
don't like the new WOO rule that puts so much weight
on qualifying but, hey, we will live with it and see
what happens. I am just one that thinks everyone
deserves a fair shot and sending 11 cars to a NQ race
and only taking 2 to the tail of the C out of it, just
seems like you want the little man to stay home.
Anyways, at least I give the World Of Outlaws credit
for new ideas and they are trying to put on a good
show for the fans and a quickly ran show. Like I said
before, the heats were stacked. Plus, the ARP crew had
the track in prime shape for the Outlaws, so plenty of
passing and slicing and dicing were on the agenda. Pal
Weaver took a tumble in the NQ race. All the heats
were full of action. Shane Stewart starting dead last
to earning a transfer spot. Greg Wilson shooting from
4th to 1st in a half of a lap. Rob Chaney trying a
HUGE slider on the last lap, in turn 4, for a transfer
spot, falling just short and collecting the wall.
McMahan and Schatz racing side by side for 2/3rd of
the heats for the lead. Those were just some of the
bigger highlights of the heat action. By the way,
Steve Kinser, Greg Wilson, Butch Schroeder, and Paul
McMahan took the heats wins. Brooke Tatnell took the
C, yeah I said C, told you the heats were stacked.
Craig Dollansky took the Dash. Neon Dion Hindi took
the B Main. Zac Chappell took another tumble in the B.
Zac has flipped 6 times in WOO competition this year.
The 40 laps A Main was a good one. Attica's 40 lappers
always seem to produce a great race. I hope Attica
keeps all of their sanctioned shows 40 lappers because
they seem to not disappoint. Dollansky took the early
lead. After that the race was on. The battle upfront
was all race long. Plus, it just wasn't just a 2 car
battle. Lap 6, Schroeder does a small rollover. After
that it was hammer down. Dollansky, Kinser, and
Saldana was putting on an sweet battle for the lead.
Each one trying to squeeze the other just enough to
slow them but yet not enough to cause harm or contact.
A true classic battle. Coming down to complete lap 27,
Joey Saldana made a stellar move to take the lead.
They were 3 wide going into 4, Joey kinda just
diamond-ed the turn a little and came flying off the
bank, splitting Dollansky and Kinser, pulling the
wheels off the ground a little, taking the lead.
Kinser never gives up battling as Schatz and Jason
Meyers enter the battle. Joey looks to have things in
hand as they were taking the while flag. Coming off 4,
Kerry Madsen flips, collecting Jeremy Campbell and
Jason Sides. One rule I like, no lapped cars in
between the leaders. 4 cars have a real shot at the
green, white, checkered. Joey was too tough and holds
on for the win over Kinser, Schatz, Meyers, and
Dollansky. An excellent show that was ran at a very
decent pace, getting fans out of there at a fair time.
You could not of asked for too much more.
Sunday my BAS Broadcasting duties took me to
Winchester(IN)Speedway for the Rich Vogler Classic.
This was the USAC Sprints only visit to Winchester
this season. I have went to Winchester for years and
wasn't sure if I was going this time until Bash called
and needed some radio help. Actually, it just gave me
a good excuse to go and get away with it with women.
Honey, I got to work it. LOL!! 28 USAC Sprints were on
hand. One of the best car counts I remember in years
at the wicked high banks. the USAC Sprints always put
on a good race there but, this one was excellent. Marc
Jessup takes fast time at a 14.281. Trust me, that is
fast at Winchester, like 130 average speed. Jessup's
day was just beginning. he usually runs his family
owned 14j car but today, he gets to pleasure of
driving for Keith Kunz. Lap 1, heat 1, Jessup's day
turns bad quickly! The front row wiggles coming to the
green and the field stacks up behind them, just as
Marc hits the go button. Jessup climbs a wheel and
flips past the flag stand. After that, the heats were
wicked fast and produced some hair raising passes and
moves. Dave Steele, Dave Darland, Brian Tyler, and
Cameron Dodson took heat wins. The Kunz crew makes
some fast repairs and gets Jessup back out for the B.
Just as the field is moving into formation, Jessup is
on pit road. Hood is off and the crew goes to town.
Seems the throttle is hanging 5% to 8% open. They need
to go and Jessup motions for a push off. A good battle
for transfer spot but, Jessup just spanks the field in
the B. Come to find out after the B. The crew never
got the throttle fixed and Marc ran the 1st 3 or 4
laps of the b, using his thumb to control the
throttle. What, his thumb? Yep, the problem fixed
itself after a few laps and things went back to
normal. 30 A Main. Dave Darland gets takes the early
lead. Darland is good but, cars are faster trying to
get around quickly. Lap 7, Jessup's day is getting
better again as he takes the lead. The battle is on
and a great race is the product. Jessup has things
under control upfront but 2nd to 7th, you could put a
blanket over them. a few cautions slow the pace.
Jessup is still strong but the pavement master,
Steele, is closing, as is the Kunz team car of Darren
Hagen. Jessup is too much and puts a good spin on his
roller coaster ride, taking the win. Steele, Hagen,
Tracy Hines, and Eric Gordon round out a close top 5.
There was actually some last lap drama coming off 4 to
the stripe. Gordon was hounded the last 5 laps by a
quick Kevin Swindell. Kevin would get a run but,
Gordon would get wide enough, Kevin would have to back
off. Last lap, coming off 4, Gordon wiggles a touch,
Kevin sticks his nose in there as Gordon comes down to
block, contact and a mess break out. Kevin slides
across the stripe in 6th, then slams the inside wall.
Daron Clayton and Nick Green get collected. Green
takes a nasty tumble into turn 1. The car is a write
off, not a straight part on it. A beautiful sunny day
and a great race. Jessup has a story book day and some
of the young guns show they got game. Looks like an
interesting year in USAC.
UPCOMING: FRIDAY: USAC Gas City IN
SATURDAY: USAC Eldora
|
|
