|
OSKALOOSA, IA – Whenever you win a big race, all the pieces have to come together.
On Tuesday night at the Southern Iowa Speedway everything went right for Rob Chaney in the 25-lap Front Row Challenge as he picked up the victory and the $5,000 winner’s prize.
The Millersburg, OH. native drove Randy Hammer’s ride to one of the most impressive victories of his career as he outlasted some of the best names in the sprint car world to claim his first ever victory at the ˝ mile oval.
“This is awesome,” said Chaney. “We’ve been running well as of a late and this is a really big win as we head into the Knoxville Nationals.”
The 31-year-old driver started the event from the outside of the second row. He watched Daryn Pittman race out in front early only to have mechanical problems on lap 15. Chaney, then in second, took advantage of the restart and passed local driver Bronson Maeschen to take the lead and eventually the victory.
Maeschen, of Knoxville, IA., started second and finished in second with his no.96. Sam Hafertepe Jr. came from the seventh starting spot to come home third.
Ryan Farrell was the Hard Charger in the event after coming all the way from the outside of the tenth row to finish fourth. Chad Hillier, of Burlington, Wash., finished in fifth.
*****
TAKING THE CHALLENGE: Donnie Schatz took the front row challenge after the fans urged him to do so in an attempt to pick up $50,000. He gave up his top ten starting position to fall of the tail of the event.
GREEN FLAG FLIES: World of Outlaw regular, Pittman, took the lead from his pole-starting position at the drop of the green flag. He raced out in front and opened up a sizeable advantage over the field until the first caution came out for four laps later for Terry McCarl.
UPSIDE DOWN: Once racing resumed, Pittman again pulled away from Maeschen who sat in the runner-up position. That advantage went by the wayside on the 10th circuit when Tony Shilling flipped his car in turn four bringing out the red flag.
LOTS OF PROBLEMS: On lap 15, two of the races key players had problems. Pittman broke as he crossed the start finish line in what seemed like a motor issue while Schatz came to a stop in turn four with a broken torshion arm on his no.15. This handed the lead momentarily to Maeschen with Chaney right behind him.
“I don’t know if anyone had anything for him (Pittman),” said Chaney. “He was really fast early on and I saw him a few times in lapped traffic but I was never close enough to challenge him.”
LEAVING THE DOOR OPEN: On the restart, Maeschen raced into turn one and went high opening up the inside lane. Chaney stayed lay into the corner and was able to drive by as they exited the second corner.
“I watched him (Maeschen) go high on the last restart,” stated Chaney. “I knew if I rolled the bottom I could get by him if he did the same thing. We went into the corner and he pushed up the surface. I got alongside and just beat him off of turn two.”
SLOWER TRAFFIC: As the race reached its final stages, Chaney reached the tail of the field. He worked methodically through in an attempt to put as many cars between himself and the second place car. Several times he had to slow his pace in order to make the correct move to get by.
“Some of those cars at the back of the pack were really slow,” commented Chaney. “I really had to be careful. It was tight racing out there but I wanted to get by as many cars as I could because I didn’t know where the second place car was.”
SATISFYING FINISH: Chaney took the checked flag with Maeschen holding on to finish in second. A satisfying run for a team that has had nothing but problems as of late and a lot of did not finishes.
“We’ve really struggled the last few weeks,” said Maeschen. “We’ve torn up a lot of equipment, but to come out here and run as well as we did in a big race is pretty neat.”
NO GOOD ON RESTARTS: Maeschen ran second to Pittman for much of the early portions of the event but even with the cautions he couldn’t stay close. Part of the reason that he never challenged for the lead and eventually gave up the top spot was his inability to be good on restarts.
“The car just wasn’t good on any restart,” stated Maeschen. “It took me a few laps to get going. On that last restart I had the lead but got up into junk on the top and opened the door.”
FIGHT FOR THIRD: Hafertepe, 21, of Dallas, TX., battled with Brooke Tatnell at the end of the event to secure third. The duo swapped the position multiple times until Tatnell eventually pulled off with problems.
“He got by me high early on,” said Hafertepe. “I stayed with him and then there near the end he hit a rut and pushed opening the door for me to get by him.”
QUALIFYING: Jonathan Allard set fast time for the 27 cars in attendance with a lap of 15.620. Three heats were held with win going to Tony Shilling, Jesse Hocket and Kaley Gharst.
Front Row Challenge finish (started), 25 laps: Rob Cheney, Bronson Maeschen, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Ryan Farrell, Chad Hillier, Jesse Hockett , Tayler Malsam, Tyler Spath, Larry Pinegar II, Mike Moore, Bob Weuve, Brooke Tatnell, Rager Phillips, Daryn Pittman, Kaley Gharst, Donny Schatz, Tony Shilling, Jonathan Allard, Bruce White, Ray Allen Kulhanek, Terry McCarl, Brian Brown, Neil Shepherd, Eric Baldaccini, Dusty Zomer, DNS - Lynton Jeffrey, Skip Jackson
|
|
