|
Tri State Outlook
by Duane Hancock
Last weekend was a pretty mild weekend of racing. I
am getting geared-up for a full out assault here in
the next few weeks, so had to have a fairly mild
weekend.
Friday, not sure how mild it turned out, it was over
to Limaland Raceway Park for what was to be a double
feature program. A good field of 27 360s were pit side
for the regular night's program. Dale Blaney and
Austin McCarl were a few of the non Limaland regulars
pit side ready for action. First off, the make-up A
Main for the previous week. Mike Miller and Cory
Seeling paced the 20 car field. Once the green flew
for the 25 lap event, Rick Boughan shot from 3rd to
the lead lap 1. Miller was in hot pursuit and they two
instantly went to battle. Pretty much side by side and
or nose to tail they raced for the 1st handful of
laps. Miller officially took over the lead on lap 3.
Lap 7, Seeling spun. On the restart, Alaska's Tyler
McDonald spun. Try again, McDonald spins again. It
looked like the Tyler was diffidently having some
issues that he couldn't surpass. Third time was a
charm, we went green. Miller opened up around a 10 car
length lead as Boughan was falling back. By the
half-way mark, JR Stewart and Jimmy Stinson were
trying to become a factor in the race. As the laps
were winding down, traffic was getting heavy, the wind
was blowing stronger, and the dust was getting worse.
Well at least pit side it was since the strong wind
was blowing right at us. There isn't much you can do
though with high winds and a banked dirt track, it
drys them pretty quick. Anyways, Miller was in traffic
trying to work his way around to close the deal.
Boughan was reeling Miller each lap in traffic. Both
drivers choosing the low line, they are nose to tail
again. Lap 18, Boughan takes the lead back. Miller
starts to fade a few laps later. With 5 to go, it
looks like Boughan's race to lose. Rick Boughan holds
on and takes his 2nd Limaland Raceway Park 360 A Main.
His last win came a few years back. Miller held on to
2nd, Stewart, Stinson, and Luke Hall rounded out the
top 5. All in all a pretty good battle between Miller
and Boughan for the 1st handful of laps and then for a
few laps at the 3/4rd mark. Now on to the regular
program for the night. Just as the 1st heat was pushed
off, some tornado warnings had been issued for the
Limaland area. Several was spotted all over the
surrounding area. Wisely, the LMP officials quickly
called off the program and asked all spectators to
please be safe but take to your cars and leave the
grounds. I had the advantage of weathering the storm
just a mile away at my ex in-laws residents.
Thankfully all in the area was safe and the only
damage was to structural.
Saturday night is was a rare off night from racing.
It was still spend with many racing friends. Long time
friend and as close to family member you can be
without being family, Bruce Robenalt had his oldest
child graduate from high school. So off to Bascom it
was to kick back with Bruce, Carrie, Beardy, Chucky,
Kenny, Bert, Ed, Scoop, Chad, Lou, Ruthy, Dorthy, and
of course the guest of honor Barb. Instead of dirt
clods, dust, methanol fumes, and track food. It was
volleyball, bugs, fresh air, and come excellent home
cookin. For sure well worth the night off from the
race track.
A bright sunny Sunday afternoon, what better to do?
Head to Kokomo Indiana for the KISS show Sunday night.
I just wish the place was closer than 132 miles from
my driveway. Sad to say but this was my first trip to
Kokomo Speedway for the year. It just makes it real
hard at times to make the 264 mile round trip and
still be alive at work the next morning, after
traveling all over the previous few nights. Not
complaining, I have done it for many years and plan to
do it many more, it just sucks that a great place to
catch an excellent Sunday show is so far away. More
often than not, like 9 out of 10 times, I never regret
making the trip to Kokomo and each time say, I wish I
could make this a weekly routine. 35 non-wing sprints
were ready for action. All KISS shows are lined-up via
pill draw. On this night, top 4 out of the heats
transfer, top 2 redraw for the A Main. After a bad
start in the 1st heat, Robert Ballou and Josh Spencer
battled upfront. Once Ballou took the lead, he never
really looked back. Some excellent battles were going
on, just not for the lead. Ballou took the win, with
Spencer, Jerry Coons Jr., and Hunter Scheurenberg,
with a last second pass, transferred to the A. Hunter
worked up from 8th for a transfer spot. Put Jon
Stanbrough on the pole of a heat race and unless you
have been hiding under a rock, you pretty much know
the outcome. Jon ran away and let the others battle
for the transfer spots. Another excellent battle from
2nd to 4th. 7 cars were fighting for the final 3
transfer spots. After Stanbrough ran away with the
win, Cole Whitt from dead last, Brent Beauchamp, and
Blake Fitzpatrick, from 8th, made the transfers. A
great race with plenty of passing from 2nd to 9th.
That is the only thing that sucks about a pill draw, a
guy like Stanbrough drawing the pole and running away
from the pack. Doing his best Stanbrough impression,
Dustin Morgan short from the pole of heat 3 and
spanked the field. Another great battle from 2nd to
5th as a young Caleb Armstrong was holding on strong.
Daron Clayton was on the running the cushion for all
it was worth but couldn't catch Morgan. Morgan wins,
Clayton, Armstrong, and Kyle Wissmiller transfer. Heat
4 was another good one. With no clear-cut winner the
battle was on. Jeff Bland was working for a transfer
and was driving the car in like his was in southern
CA. Man can that guy drive a car into a corner. Bart
Grider held off a tight pack of cars to take the win.
AJ Anderson, Ron Dennis, and Bland take the transfers.
Its 7:43 PM and all the heat races are finished. After
35 minutes of track maintenance, its time for the B
Main. Kokomo points leader, Scotty Weir lead the
charge in the B Main. Sammy Imel has a strong run end
has he spins, running in a transfer spot. Chris Windom
and Dave Darland had worked from 8th and 11th to set
just outside of a transfer spot on the restart.
Windom's car won't take off and Darland tags the 17
car pretty hard. Windom pulls to the infield with an
ill car that now has a half smashed tail tank. DD's
car is OK. On the restart, Coleman Gulick jumps the
cushion in turn 4 and stalls. Weir still has the lead
as Thomas Meseraull and Adam Byrkett look to lock-up
at least the top 3 transfer spots. Wait, a few laps to
go, Byrkett pulls to the infield. Running in a
transfer spot or near one has not been the place to be
so far in this one. With a handful of laps to go, an
excellent for the final transfer spot. Casey Shuman,
Darland, Anthony Peterman, and Shain Matthews are all
in the hunt. To the checkered, its Weir, Meseraull,
Matthews, and Shuman edges Darland and Peterman.
Peterman was the man on the move from 18th to just
missing the transfer. Excellent racing so far and the
30 lap A Main is next. 9:00 PM on the nose and the A
Main is pushing onto the track. A great job on keeping
the show a rollin and working on getting the fans on
the road at a decent hour on a Sunday night.
Stanbrough and Ballou draw the front row for the A. Oh
no the crowd is thinkin, Stanbrough on the pole. Well,
this is racing and you never know what is in store.
This night will prove no different. Green, Ballou gets
an excellent run off turn 2 and has the lead down the
back stretch. One of the fastest cars all night, Cole
Whitt spins on lap 3. Whitt re-fires and tags the
tail. Restart, Beauchamp was on the move from 10th to
5th already but spins in 3 collecting Anderson,
Spencer, and Coons. Restart again, Clayton is hammer
down and gets a huge run on the inside off 2 and take
the lead. Clayton and Ballou are tooth and nail for
the lead. Two throttle mashers running every inch of
the track they can to stay upfront. The track was in
excellent shape was well where they could do that. It
was really perfect for a good race. A nice heavy
cushion, a little slick in the middle but not too
much, and a bottom that was racy as well. Clayton and
Ballou fight for the top spot as Stanbrough falls back
a few spots. Lap 11, Ballou regains the point. Lap 13,
Shain Matthews takes a NASTY tumble from the middle of
the back stretch into turn 3. One of the worse tumbles
I have seen all year. Shain was A-OK. At the mid-way
point, its still Ballou and Clayton putting on an
excellent show upfront but some eyes have turned back
a few spots. Hunter Scheurenberg has the Jeff Walker
11 car bouncing all over the cushion, fo sho cowboy
up, and passing cars. From 13th to the top 5, Hunter
is coming to the front when he gets all four tires
landed on the ground in the corners. Ron Dennis is
making a huge charge as well, running the cushion from
his 12th place starting spot. Ballou and Clayton are
about to have some pretty strong company. Lap 22,
Scheurenberg flys by to take the lead. Dennis is up to
3rd and is looking for more as well. Just after lap 22
is complete, Dennis swings wide of a lapped car in 2,
jumps the cushion, ending his night with a tumble. A 8
lap shoot-out. Hunter is ready but Ballou, Clayton,
and a new horse in the race, Grider are all shooting
for the KISS win as well. Plus don't look now but
Whitt is back towards the front and last place
started, Shuman has made an excellent run up to the
front of the field. Hunter gets a good restart and
looks like its his night if he keeps it on all 4's. 5
to go, the war looks to be starting. Ballou is closing
fast, Grider is making a great run on the bottom,
Clayton is slippin fast. Coming to the white in turn
3, Ballou pulls a huge slider, makes the pass off 4, a
very slow Wissmiller stacks them up, yellow, contact
between Scheurenberg and Ballou as the yellow waves.
Both cars are OK and ready for a 2 lap showdown. WOW,
what a close call. Green, white, checkers. Hunter gets
a good restart as Ballou trys to mount a pass. White
flag, Hunter leads off 4. Wait, Ballou gets one last
shot in 1, trys to hook a slider, no go, it all
Hunter. Scheurenberg is hooked-up and holds off a
bunch of charging racers. EXCELLENT RACE!!! Ballou,
Grider, Clayton, and Whitt, after restarting last on
lap 3, round out the top 5. Kudos to Shuman as well
after charging from dead last to 6th. Hunter explains
in victory lane, the last 10 laps his car had no
brakes. He was just easing it into the corners the
last 10 go a rounds, trying not to jump the cushion
and giving the race away. I knew there was a reason I
wished this place was closer to my house. All
conditions was right for an excellent A Main. I am
glad they took the 35 minutes to work the surface and
shaping it for a great race. Was it dusty, a little,
was it slick, a little, was there a cushion, yes a
damn nice one. When you have all these factors, not
too dry, not too slick, not too heavy, these are the
results you get, damn good racing. Plus, on the road
home by 10:00 PM.
A big weekend of racing start Thursday night this
week.
UPCOMING:
THURSDAY:
USAC Sprints Winchester IN
FRIDAY:
USAC Sprints Shady Bowl OH
NRA/SOD Limaland Motorsports Park
AVSS/IMSA Toledo Speedway
UMRA Gas City IN
SATURDAY
USAC Sprints/NRA Eldora
HOSS Baer Field IN
AVSS Auto City MI
MSA Sandusky
SUNDAY
UMRA Kokomo IN
Don't Forget!!
Tuesday 17th Ollie's Challenge Sharon Speedway OH
Then Ohio Sprint Speedweek starts the end of that
week. I hope mother nature is over her fits because I
plan plenty of windshield time over the next few
weeks.
|
|
