|
Tri-State Outlook
by Duane Hancock
It is hard to believe that the racing season is
already 2/3rds over this year. If you haven't been to
the track much this season, you better get there soon.
It was Beck Oil Night at Fremont OH Speedway last
weekend. With the All Stars off, you knew a decent
field of cars should be on hand. 31 410's and 33 305's
were pit side. Rob Chaney set quick time but, broke a
rear end and was believed to be scratched for the
night. The track was in pretty decent shape. The 410
heats were some good races. The 1st heat was a mess.
Chaney and Rodney Morgan didn't start, then Mike
Burkin and Todd Heller crashed, Heller flipped, so
only 4 cars were still standing for heat 1. Wait,
Heller re-fires with a wing that looks like it went
though a can crusher. Heller only lasted a lap due to
the wing all but shredding apart on the track. I am
really not sure why they let him restart. Everyone
could see that his wing was an accident waiting to
happen. After that incident, all the other heats went
off without any major problems. All in all, they
produced good racing. Byron Reed, Greg Dalman, Gus
Wasson, and John Ivy took the heat wins. Caleb
Griffith took the B. It was week one of the new Deal
Or No Deal format at Fremont. The format gives the
pole sitter a chance to go back to 13th starting spot
at a chance of an extra $2500, if he wins the A Main
from 13th. If he says no, then the outside front row
starter gets the same offer. Troy Vaccaro and Bobby
Clark both turned down the offer. After a bad start,
Vaccaro volt-ed to the lead. Lap 4, Wasson slows for a
yellow. Restart, Vaccaro takes off and is looking
pretty strong. Troy has won in the 305s and on
pavement but never in a 410 sprint car. With the laps
going non stop without a caution, the race was on a
quick pace. Vaccaro enters traffic as Lee Jacobs
closes quickly. With less than 10 to go, Jacobs is
just a few car lengths away. Vaccaro gets some good
breaks and pulls to a decent lead with less than 5 to
go. Vaccaro takes his first ever 410 win. Jacobs,
Clark, Brandon Martin, and Greg Wilson round out the
top 5. a fairly good race. Vaccaro pretty much lead
flag to flag without much pressure. Lee did get close
for a few laps but fell back after a few good shots at
Troy.
The 305 sprints heat were not as close as the 410s
but not too bad of races. All the winners came off of
the front row. Their was no major incidents during the
305 heats. Chris Lang, Chad Gullett, Dustin Keegan,
and Stuart Brubaker took the heat wins. Lang took the
Computer Man Dash. Lang and Brubaker looked like the
class of the field going into the main event. Kevin
Lee and Todd Heuerman took the B Main wins. Another
thing I could not figure out is the 305 B's. They both
transfer 2 but, the 1st B has 10 cars in it, the other
only has 7 cars in it. The 305 B Main was a real good
race. Chris Lang leaps to the early lead. Lap 4,
Dustin Keegan is off the top of turn 1. After that
slow down, it is all out racing. Benny Bowman catches
Lang and they are side bu side for a few laps. You
really couldn't call who had the lead for about 3 laps
in a row. Lap 13, Bowman takes over the lead. As they
move in and out of traffic, Brubaker catches the
leaders. Don't look now, Kevin Lee is blasting through
the field from his 17th starting spot. A good battle
is on upfront. Lap 22, Brubaker takes the lead. Lee is
within cars lengths of the leaders. Too late, Brubaker
takes his 1st Fremont win. Bowman, Lee, Lang, and Dan
Hammond round out the top 5. A real good race. 2 1st
time winners in their class as well.
An excellent thing about certain Sunday afternoons
during the summer, is Winchester (IN) Speedway opens
its gates for some racing. Winchester only runs a
special show format, no weekly shows. Why? The track
is wild, fast, and hard on equipment. Plus, it makes
it more traditional to get to Winchester if they only
have a handful of shows to offer. I don't care if you
are not a pavement racing fan, Winchester is a must
see on any list. The world's fastest half mile, as it
is billed, usually lives up to its name. I have been
going to Winchester since I could walk. Camped though
tornado like conditions, slept in the front seat of
the car while mom slept in the back and dad in the
trunk, almost had a sprint car land on our car when I
was young, just hangin' in the tree above it and all
kind of other things but have never seen a winged
sprint car hit the oval until last Sunday. let me tell
you, winged sprint cars that car stay glues to that
track are FAST. At average speed of over 132 mph, that
means a buck 70 or so down the straights. This event
was nilled as The King Of The Wings. It was a co event
with AVSS and HOSS sprints. The drivers where awarded
show-up points in their respective division, so not
all of drivers were on hand. 17 AVSS and 13 HOSS were
how the field was split. Mike Ling scratched his 61
ride early and took over the 99 ride. Jason Fuller had
to scratch early as well. Keith Butler was hired to
drive to only car that has won The King Of The Wing
race but, that ride had problems too. So 27 cars took
times. Jeff Bloom set quick time at 13.615, just off
the track record. This race has a different format.
The top 18 drivers in time are locked in and roll a
dice for the invert. Today's roll was a 6. Then, the
rest of the cars are in a last chance race. The top 6
were to transfer, then 2 provisional tag the tail. The
LC starts straight up and how you finish is how you
fill out the remainder of the A Main. The race is
pretty much an extra hot lap session for the drivers
and a show to put on for the fans. Once the green
dropped, the cars pretty much just went single file
and stayed that way for the 10 laps. Troy Underwood
took a convincing win in the LC race. Time for the
money show and one of the most unique trophies in
sprint car racing, a real crown. You could just tell,
this was going to be a barn burner. Yes, Bloom has
been fast and was on fire but Jason Blonde, Jimmy
McCune, Hank Lower and A Florida pavement ringer,
Shane Butler, was ready to take a run at the crown.
Green flag and the field is very tight. Side by side,
inches apart at 150 or so. Going into 3 and in the
middle of turn 4 to complete lap 1, Jimmy McCune gives
Ryan Litt a VERY clean slide job to take the lead. No
contact but, Litt jerks the wheel and plants it into
the outside turn 4 wall in front of the pack. Jason
Blonde has nowhere to go and tags Litt. As the cars
slide down, Kevin Feeney and others get collected,
Feeney flips over. After a long clean-up process, not
the track fault, just a HUGE mess, 4 cars are done for
the day. Under the red, Shane Butler goes pit side to
fix a loose fuel line. A jumbo-up restarting order
puts quick qualifier Bloom on the outside of row 1.
Yep, 1st thought was Bloom is going to run away and
hide and stink up the race. WRONG. He did for a while
but this was a barn burner. The lead was NOT the place
to be in this one. McCune took the lead as the green
flag waved. Lap 2, Bloom blistered past for the lead
and opened up a 15 car length lead with in laps. As
the race went on the pack was closing on Bloom
quickly. I thought, as I called it on the radio, that
it looked like Bloom's left rear was losing air. With
the car almost nose to tail, the race was on. Lap 16,
Jim Swain stops in turn 3. Restart, and its on.
Bloom's tire goes flat coming off 2 and he pulls pit
side. Lap 18, McCune leads. Ling, Lower, and Butler
are on the move, yep Butler who restarted 21st. The
very next lap, McCune breaks a throttle linkage and
slows, Ling take the lead as Butler brushes the wall
in 1 trying to pass for 3rd and get pass McCune at the
same time. Lap 20, McCune coast to a stop. Restart,
Ling is fast and looks to have a win after scratching
in his regular ride early on in the day. Wait, Butler
is on the move again and up to 2nd. Ling is starting
to get loose and Butler cuts a 15 car length lead into
2 car lengths with just a few to go. With 2 1/2 laps
to go, Butler gives Ling a love tag, at 160 plus MPH,
down the back stretch. Off 4, Butler takes the lead to
start lap 28, as the crowd goes wild. Butler wins from
21st to 1st in 28 laps!. Ling, Lower, up from 9th, Tim
Cox, up from 12th, and Bryan Lay, up from 14th round
out the top 5. What a race! Plenty of passing, side by
side racing, and some bumping at 160 plus MPH. A
pavement race where a guy wins from 21st! The King Of
The Wings defiantly lived up to its billing.
NOTES: Look for 305 standout, Andy Shammo to move
up to 410s next season...Jim Ford has announced his
retirement from Fremont Speedway. Jim's retirement
race, September 15th, will now pay at least $13,000 to
win and a new XXX chassis. Plus, at least $600 to
start for the 410s. The 305s and trucks will get $1000
to win. The only bad thing is, the All Stars have the
Hoosier Fall Classic the same night. Now the fans and
drivers will have to choose one or the other. Not that
it will effect every single fan, the Fremont locals
would more than likely be there anyways but, the
traveling fans and drivers will have to make a hard
decision. It should be interesting to see who shows up
where. I believe both shows will have a full field,
just the talent will be split-up. Both shows should be
good ones. I for one wish they wasn't on the same
night but, it is what it is. It would be nice for a
local to take the $13,000 without any outside
invaders. Then again, I personally would like to see
both shows on separate nights with a huge field of
cars at 2 late season races...Frankie Kerr made a
visit to Fremont Speedway on his off week from the
NASCAR sceen. Frankie spent most of the week in the
area catching up with old friends...Shane and Keith
Butler were hired in to run the King Of The Wings and
the HOSS and AVSS shows the night night before. The
pavement specialist form Florida both had good nights
Saturday with top 5 finishes. Of course Shane had an
excellent Sunday compared to Keith...Butler Michigan
Speedway will host a mid-week show next Wednesday
paying $3500 to win. I hear they have new EMS
equipment now, so hopefully a good field of cars will
show-up.
UPCOMING:
FRIDAY WOO I96 MI, SOD Cherry MI, IMSA Sandusky OH
SATURDAY WOO KC Speedway OH, SOD Merritt MI, IMSA
Sandusky OH
|
|
