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Tri State Outlook.
column by Duane Hancock
The Hoosier Fall Classic is just that, a classic
event. It started back in 1983 at Avilla Speedway.
After a few years at Avilla, the event found a home at
Lawrenceburg Speedway and has been a fixture on the
All Star schedule for many years. 2006 was the only
year the Classic was not ran. Many memories of the
Classic are still etched in the attendees minds. I can
think of many of my own, way back to a Sunday
afternoon in 84 when Jack Hewitt and Jac Haudenschild
had one of the best battles I have ever seen. Now,
with all the attractions near by, it makes for a true
get-away weekend. This year's event was another true
classic that produced memories for years to come, race
wise and championship wise.
Friday night, after a flying trip to Lawrenceburg
Speedway, 41 cars were pit side. Yes, with Shelby
doing excellent in volleyball and being automatically
benched if she misses practice, the car wasn't hammer
down to The Burg until just after 4:30. A 3 hour plus
drive, under normal conditions it was thought we would
miss part of the show. I was VERY happy to see they
started the program a little late and was just pushing
off for time trials when we entered the gate at 7:30.
First off, the track was in great shape. It was heavy
and fast. A little rough but you get that on a heavy
1/4 mile track. Plus, it stayed that way all night,
almost too heavy for much passing. Josh Davis found
the wall hard in hot laps and was loaded up before we
got there. 4 10 car, 10 lap heats. All but 1 heat was
won from the front row but, that doesn't mean there
wasn't some action. Cars racing side by side on a 1/4
mile bullring turning low 10 second laps, always seems
to produce some good action. Greg Wilson, with a last
lap pass, Paul May, Brock Mayes, and Brian Ellenberger
won the heat races. Mike Miller slide over the bank in
turn 4 during the 1st heat, collecting the wall fairly
hard. 2006 410 national rookie of the year, Neil
Shepard took the B Main. It was Neil's 1st winged race
since Knoxville and only his 8th or 9th all year. The
track was still fast and fairly heavy, with about a 3
inch cushion 3/4rds of the way up the track as the 30
lap A Main pushed off. Danny Smith trails in the 07
title hunt by just 3 points and starts on the pole
with Chad Blonde on the outside. If have been paying
any type of attention the last month, you know Blonde
has been on a terror. Chad took the lead before lap 1
was in the books. The track was so fast by the end of
lap 2, Blonde was in traffic. Chad was hooked-up,
which wasn't good for the other 23 cars. Smith and
Kraig Kinser trail Blonde through traffic. Brandon
Martin is looking fast too. Just at the halfway point,
is Blonde, Kinser, Martin, and Smith. Lap 15, Brian
Paulus slows for a caution. After all the cars finally
got in the proper restart order, the green was out.
Brandon Martin was for sure one of the fastest cars on
the track but got bottled-up on the restart behind
some laps car and climbed the wheel of Todd Kane,
flipping his 11M ride. Man, Brandon cannot buy a break
lately. He has ran upfront a ton but just can't find
that win. I honestly think he would of had something
for Blonde as fast as he looked. Next restart,
Ellenberger clips a tire and breaks the front end.
Kody Kinser spins to avoid contact. Next restart, its
all Chad Blonde. Kraig Kinser gets a run at him but,
never gets close enough to make a real attempt on a
pass. Blonde wins again. Kinser, Smith, Wilson, and
Dale Blaney round out the top 5. A decent race. Blonde
and Kinser were pretty close at times and Chad made
some excellent moves, 3 wide at times, through
traffic. Passing, not a ton of it but, still was a
decent race. A great job by the track crew for getting
the show done at 11, after starting a little late.
Saturday night was the season finale for the All
Star Circuit Of Champions and what a points battle
they have. Danny Smith and Greg Wilson are now tied
for the 07 championship. Night 2 features 43 cars and
once again a pretty heavy track. It wasn't as fast as
Friday, 10.217 compared to Friday's 9.942, but still
pretty fast and tacky. Once again the heats were full
of action. Actually, a little more action because the
track is just right, not as fast, allowing for more
passing and some side by side racing. The cars are
still hooked-up, jumping all over the cushion, doing
some wheelies, and just all out heavy track racing.
Neil Shepherd, Jesse Hockett, Luke Hall, and Wayne
McPeek took the heat wins. Ty Deckard totaled his ride
in the 1st heat. The car had heavy frame damage. In
heat 2, Dale Blaney and Keith Baxter tangled, both
flipping. Chad Blonde jumped a right rear in heat 4
and went for a wicked flip. Paul May took the Dash
win. Blonde and Blaney got their ride repaired just in
time to push-off for the B. The duo had a good battle
with Blonde taking the win. Kent Wolters took a tumble
in the B. After the heats, Danny Smith leads the
points by 2. Danny is finally looking like he might
get past all of his bad luck of recent years. Wait,
just about 15 minutes before the A is to push out, it
is discovered Smith has something broken in the
rear-end. Members from a bunch of crew, and drivers,
swarm Smith mount to get it fixed before the push-off.
Just in time, the car is ready to roll. As the 50 lap,
$10,000 to win A Main pushed off, there was 2 races
everyone was watching. The one for the win and the one
for the title. Wilson must finish 2 spots ahead of
Smith to take the title. Wilson starts on the pole
while Smith starts 10th. As I move to the infield for
the radio broadcast, I am thinking that I have the
ring side view for what I believe is going to be some
major action. Green, Wilson jumps to the lead and is
looking very strong. Brian Paulus closes just a few
laps into the A, as they enter traffic. Lap 7, Danny
Smith spins in turn 2. Are you kidding me? I can't
believe he dodged one bullet before the A and now
this. Restart, Paulus is hot on Wilson tail tank. The
battle is on again. Lap 9, Jesse Hockett stops.
Restart, Paulus tries to get Wilson, Greg slams the
door. Lap 11, Paulus takes the lead. They are in heavy
lapped traffic and Wilson get bottled up behind a
lapper and contact is made. Greg's nose wing is loose
and bent. Lap 14, Ryan Meyers spins. Neil Shepherd
spins as the yellow is just waving. Restart, the
leader Paulus spins just past the cone. A few others
go all over to avoid contact. The red is displayed for
a quick clean-up and is opened-up for fuel only.
Wilson inherits the lead back but, cannot work on his
nose wing since the red is fuel only. Restart,
Wilson's wing is effecting the handling of the car a
little bit. He is not as fast as he was. Kraig Kinser
is on the move and on his tail. Chad Blonde is flying
through the field as well from his 11th place starting
spot. Lap 18, Kinser takes the lead. Wilson falls more
as Blonde is now in second. Kinser and Blonde are
ready for a showdown. Blonde catches Kraig. Lap 25,
Todd Kane stops. Restart, Blonde is hooked-up once
again and blows past Kinser to lead lap 26. Kraig was
tired of seeing orange ahead of him after last night
and didn't let Chad get out of his sites. What a
battle. These two are nose to tail, side by side, in
and out of traffic. Blonde just getting an advantage
off 4 to keep the lead. Lap 33, Kinser gets past
Blonde for the lead. Chad , said don't think so, pulls
a huge slider to regain the lead for on lap 34. The
battle is on. These cars don't get more than a few car
lengths apart, just about swapping the lead in each
corner. Remember, this is all during 10 second laps
and in heavy traffic. Lap 45, Kraig takes the lead
again. on lap 46, how did they do it? Going into 2,
Kraig gets held up behind the lapped car of Tom Busch.
Chad gets a huge run, trys the slider, contact, they
both are over halfway sideways, pointing towards the
infield getting ready to spin out. They both save
it!!!! Busch didn't and the yellow is out. chad cars
has a heavy bounce now after the contact. A 4 lap
shoot out and if its like the last 25 or so laps, hold
on. Oh wait, did I mention Danny Smith is now just 2
cars behind Wilson. How could you not watch that
battle as well? Just as the cars are coming off 3 into
4 for the restart, Blonde's front end breaks a drag
link and his car slows. A tough break for Chad after
an excellent drive to the front and battle for the
lead. Brandon Martin is in 2nd and is looking very
fast the last few laps, actually gaining on the lead
duo. Kinser gets a good restart but Martin is there
ready to battle. Lap 47, Jimmy Stinton stops. 3 laps
to go, can Martin change his fate after so many
seconds of late and take the win? Kinser gets an
excellent restart and has the $10,000 check in his eye
site. As Kraig checks out, all eyes turn to the Smith
Wilson battle. Just 1 car separates the pair. If Danny
gets past one more, they will tie. White flag, Smith
is on Bill Rose's tail trying to make the pass. Danny
gives it all he has got into turn 1, ouch, he goes too
hard and just about loops it. Kraig, does it at the
line and adds another Kinser name to the long list of
Kinser winners in the Hoosier Fall Classic. Wilson
breaths easy into 3 and 4 crosses the line with 1 car
in between him and Danny, winning the title by 2
points. Martin, Blaney, up from 12th, Kelly Kinser, up
from 13th, and Dean Jacobs, up from 17th, round out
the top 5. What a race! It for sure lived up to its
classic name. It was late due to a 1 1/2 hour mod A
Main that was ran before the All Star A but, it was
well worth the wait. After the checkered fell, Wilson
and Smith circle the track side by side for a few to
honor each other and show how much respect they have
each other. Kinser was jumping for joy in victory
lane, Smith and Wilson was embracing each other as
they climbed from their mounts. Everyone, even Greg
said it, would of loved to see Danny get it done but,
Greg had a job to do too and did he job and took home
his 2nd All Star title in a row.
Kelly Kinser ran his last and final race of his
career at the Hoosier Fall Classic. Kelly said after
his Ohio Speedweek crash he was done but came back for
one more race. His son Kody will now take over the 4k
full-time...Mike Miller got the call to pilot the
Holbrook/Wood 8H over the weekend. The 8H has been hot
on the All Star tour in 07. Miller brought it home
10th Friday night after a heat race accident. Saturday
night the car just couldn't get a running right all
night, ending in a 8th place B Main
finish...Lawrenceburg management announced that the
All Stars will be back for the Hoosier Fall Classic in
08. Looks like things are back to normal at The
Burg...The respect and gratitude Greg Wilson and Danny
Smith display for each other after the A was worth the
price of admission itself. It goes to show that this
group of driver is like one big family...Sprint car
owner, Billy Jarrell has purchased Skyline Speedway in
southern Ohio. Look for a heavy dose of 410 winged
sprints on Friday nights. This could help grow the 410
market in southern Ohio with a Skyline/KC double
header weekend. I think a positive for Ohio sprint car
racing. Look for an All Star race or 2 as well in 08
at Skyline...Even though I usually don't report on the
rumor mill, some very good sources say Denny Donaldson
has regained control to the Butler MI Battlegrounds.
This would be a huge positive for Michigan sprint car
racing...Finally, September 15th race weekend is over.
Enough of who got paid to go here or there, or who
won't if they don't, my answer, shut up and race
already!!! Everyone in this industry should be more
than happy that 2 major races went off with great car
counts, great crowds, and excellent racing. This shows
that 410 sprint car racing in NOT DEAD in the Ohio
region and is actually fairly strong. Over $80,000
passed out between 2 tracks on the same night and a
total of 86 cars raced. Say what you want but, that
should be a good sign to Ohio fans, tracks, and
promoters.
UPCOMING:: FRIDAY: Eldora has a fall World Of Outlaw
show. I have wanted a WOO show in this area after
Knoxville for years. Lets hope it goes over good.
SATURDAY: the annual USAC 4 Crown Nationals at Eldora.
C U at Eldora |
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