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USAC TRIO OF STENHOUSE, BALLOU AND COONS COMPLETES BUSY ELDORA WEEKEND
ROSSBURG, OH (Sept. 22) – Young driving sensations Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (Midget) and Robert Ballou (Sprint), along with veteran campaigner Jerry Coons, Jr. (Silver Crown) wrapped up a busy Chevrolet sponsored An American Revolution weekend at Eldora Speedway with their impressive wins in the USAC (United States Auto Club) portion of the annual Four Crown Nationals.
With a break from Mother Nature and a huge crowd on hand, it was the Midget division taking to the massive one-half mile clay oval first, for their main events.
Brad Loyet took command of the 25-lap affair from the initial start, holding a several car-length lead over Brad Sweet, as the balance of the field diced and sliced within close quarters.
As Sweet attempted a pass, exiting the fourth turn on the 12th circuit, Loyet’s car banged wheels with his challenger. Sweet’s machine then hit the front straight wall, and cobbled to a stop in between turns one and two, with enough damage to end his night.
As the race resumed, it again seemed Loyet might be cruising to an easy win, but Stenhouse had worked his way to the front and mounted a challenge. Stenhouse caught Loyet late in the chase, and took the top spot on the 23rd lap. “I like big tracks with the Midgets and the Sprint cars”, said Stenhouse.
As with many drivers, Stenhouse was doing multiple duty on the night, swapping seat time between the varying USAC divisions.
He vaulted from victory lane with confidence and strapped into his Sprint mount. That confidence became deflated with an early exit from the 30-lapper and a disappointing 19th place finish.
Darren Hagen led the opening seven laps of the Sprint finale, before Ballou came forward to prove that his Eldora win of earlier in the year was no fluke. Ballou shot by Hagen on the start of the eighth circuit and from there on, it was merely a battle for the remaining positions – that is just how strong Ballou was.
His only real race was with his own car in the final two laps. Some mud had packed itself into the right rear wheel to create a vibration that literally shook himself to numbness. The checkered flag of victory was welcome sight, as the huge lead he had built up was nearly washed out. Hagen hung in during the caution-filled event to finish second, with Jesse Hockett coming in third, followed in order by Brad Sweet and Dave Darland.
Coons led all 50 laps of the Silver Crown night capper, with only an early race challenge from team mate Mat Neely and a late race scare from Dave Darland as his stumbling blocks.
After several second place finishes on the season, Coons found his feature win a refreshing change. For the Arizona based veteran, it was his first ever Silver Crown triumph.
“Those second place finishes were getting pretty old there for a while” commented Coons in the post-race conference, “everybody was starting get frustrated, but this wiped all of that out.”
Neely ducked underneath Coons early in the chase and that gave him the momentum to press forward with a huge lead. Veteran Darland, one of the best in the USAC, drove a steady and consistent pace to put himself in contention for a win at the finish. Commented Coons at the end, “Dave Darland is as good as anybody here, and to stay in front of him for my first win is pretty special”.
Neely hung in for third, while Aaron Pierce and Brian Tyler complete the top five.
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Saturday - September 22, 2007
UNITED STATES AUTO CLUB
Sprints 48 cars Fast Time: 16.628 Jerry Coons, Jr.
Non-Qualifier Heats: Russ Gamester, Steve Ott, Mike Murgoitio, Lee Stark, Neil Sheperd, Mike Miller, Aaron McFadden, Chappy Knaack, Craig Dori
Heat 1: Jerry Coons, Jr. Rob Chaney, Shane Cottle, Damian Gardner, Brady Bacon, Dickie Gaines, Mike Brecht, Russ Gamester, Bud Kaeding
Heat 2: Daron Clayton, Robert Balou, Matt Westfall, Jesse Hockett, Mat Neely, Steve Ott, Jon Stanbrough, Cole Whitt, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
Heat 3: Dustin Morgan, Chris Windom, Davey Ray, Bill Rose, Brad Sweet, Daren Hagen, Jeff Bland, Johnny Heydenreich, Levi Jones
Heat 4: Matt Mitchell, Gary Taylor, Hunter Scheurenberg, Dave Darland, Mark Arnold, Kevin Swindell, Kevin Huntley, Brady Smith,
Mike Murcoita
B-Main: Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Brad Sweet, Darren Hagen, Levi Jones, Kevin Swindell, Brady Short, Bud Kaeding, Brady Bacon, Kevin Huntley, Mike Brecht, Jon Stanbrough, Cole Whitt, John Heydenreich, Mat Neely, Dickie Gaines, Mike Murgoitio, Jeff Bland, Marc Arnold
30-lap A-Main: Robert Ballou, Daren Hagen, Jesse Hockett, Brad Sweet, Dave Darland, Damion Gardner, Brady Short, Jerry Coons, Jr., Rob Chaney, Davey Ray, Chris Windom, Kevin Swindell, Gary Taylor, Levi Jones, Brady Bacon, Mat Neely, Bill Rose, Matt Westfall, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Matt Mitchell, Shane Cottle, Hunter Scheurenberg, Dustin Morgan, Daron Clayton
Midgets 31 cars Fast Time Rickey Stenhouse, Jr. 16.608
Heat 1: Chris Windom, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Kevin Swindell, Bobby East, Danny Stratton, Tracy Readinger, Johnny Rodriquez, Davey Ray
Heat 2: Levi Jones, Michael Pickens, Matt Mitchell, Gary Taylor, Brad Kuhn, Ryan Smith
Heat 3: Russ Harper, Dave Darland, Brady Bacon, Cole Whitt, Darren Hagen, Brent Beauchamp, Jerry Coons, Jr., Dustin Morgan
Heat 4: Brad Sweet, Brad Loyett, Dan Droud, Jr., Brad Mosen, Matt Westfall, Shane Hollingswroth, Andy Martin
B-Main: Danny Stratton, Brad Kuhn, Davey Ray, Dustin Morgan, Shane Hollingsworth, Ryan Smith, Brent Beauchamp, Matt Westfall, Tracy Readinger, Johnny Rodriquez, Darren Hagen, Jerry Coons, Jr., Rob Chaney, Andy Martin
25-lap A-Main: Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Brad Loyet, Kevin Swindell, Dave Darland, Shane Hollingsworth, Matt Mitchell, Davey Ray, Cole Whitt, Levi Jones, Danny Stratton, Brad Mosen, Dustin Morgan, Chris Windom, Bobby East, Darren Hagen, Don Droud, Jr., Brady Bacon, Russ Harper, Jerry Coons, Jr., Ryan Smith, Gary Taylor, Brad Sweet, Brad Kuhn, Michael Pickens
Silver Crown: 28 cars Jerry Coons, Jr. 18.284
B-Main: Kevin Huntley, Shane Cottle, Dickie Gaines, Jon Stanbrough, Shane Hollingsworth, Tim Barber, Darren Hagen, Chappy Knaack, Russ Gamester, Jon Heydenriech, Mike Sroehle, A. J. Fike, Mike Murgoitio, Cameron Dodson, Wayne Reutimann, Jr.
50-lap A-Main: Jerry Coons, Jr., Dave Darland, Mat Neely, Aaron Pierce, Brian Tyler, Billy Wease, Kevin Huntley, Paul White, Levi Jones, Dickie Gaines, Bud Kaeding, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Jon Stanbrough, Shane Cottle, Tim Barber, Darren Hagen, A. J. Fike, Mike Murgoitio, Chappy Knaack, Mike Stroehle, Wayne Reuittiman, Shane Hollingsworth, Cameron Dodson, Jesse Hockett, Russ Gamester, John Heydenreich
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