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Tri State Outlook.
By Duane Hancock
Another huge week of racing took place last week. With the King's Royal week along comes the Ollie's Challenge and The Brad Doty Classic. Plus, throw-in the start of Indiana Sprint Week, you can hit a bunch of shows in a week's time.
Tuesday the 2nd leg of the Ollie's Outlet 360 Challenge took place at Eldora Speedway. Donny Schatz won leg 1 and was looking for a $50,000 bonus if he could take home leg 2. 43 cars were on tap to try their hand at winning and heading to Williams Grove in August with a shot at the $50,000 bonus. A pill draw system was used to determine the heat lines ups. Then the top 16 in points, after the heats, including passing points, when into the A Main. The top 8 in points re-draw for the first 8 starting spots in the A Main. Next, 4 cars would come out of each B Main to make-up the 24 car, 30 lap A Main. The track was in good shape and ready for action. Fred Rahmer, Sam Hafertepe Jr, JR Stewart, and Brian Brown won heat races. The majority of the heats were won by a large margin. Schatz made an excellent move in heat 4, shooting from last to first in a lap and a half. In heat 5, Scott Cramer took a tumble, collecting Jason Barney and Bob Carman. All were
OK. Dale Blaney and Danny Smith took the B Mains. The 2nd B had some nasty tumbles to start the main. First, Luke Hall tagged the turn 1 wall hard, taking a nasty ride. Luke was loaded in the Squad and found to be OK. On the restart, Mark Hery and Kevin Huntley had some contact going into turn 1. Hery tried to regain control after tagging Huntley's car. Hery had more contact and Mark, Lee Stark, and Jason Barney all 3 tumbled at the same time. Thankfully, all 3 were OK. Donny Schatz and JR Stewart re-drew the front row for the 30 lap A Main. With a $50,000 bonus on the line and an excellent average finish of late, everyone thought you better right the check now. Well, that is why we race'em. Schatz shot to the lead on the start. Donny was on the hammer and was only slowing down because of a yellow flag for Darren Long. On the restart, Schatz was checking out on the field in a hurry. Schatz was pulling out to a larger lead each lap. Joey Saldana, Sam
Hafertepe, and Jason Johnson were all fighting for position in the top 5, looking for a way to catch Schatz. Just past the half-way mark, Johnson got some clean air and looking to be gaining on Schatz. With 10 to go, Johnson was getting closer as glimmers of smoke appeared from Schatz's ride. Lap 23, Johnson shoots past Schatz for the lead to the delight of crowd. Just moments after Johnson takes the lead, Schatz goes up in smoke, ending his night. Johnson leads, Saldana and Hafertepe are trying to close in. Joey blows a tire with 4 to go, ending he shot at the $6,000 win. Hafertepe is on Johnson's tail tank on the restart. The final 4 laps was a shoot-out. What a great final few laps. Jason and Sam exchanged slide jobs every other turn, swapping the lead back and forth. Rahmer was closing in on the bottom. Johnson finally made his last slide job, with 1 to go, stick and take home the win. Hafertepe, Rahmer, Greg Wilson, and Kasey Kahne rounded out the
top 5. A great race the final 10 laps. Johnson started 8th and just paced his self towards the front. A few problems for Schatz and an excellent finish capped off the night. Now, Jason Johnson is the only one who can take home an extra 50 G's at The Grove in a few short weeks. I for one am glad Jason has a shot. The 360 guys don't race for huge money every night, so its cool a 360 regular gets a shot at the bonus $$.
Wednesday of King's Royal week, all eyes focus towards Limaland Motorsports Park and the Brad Doty Classic. This year is the 20th annual event and the 3rd at LMP. It is crazy to even think it has been 20 years since that terrible night of Brad's accident. I still remember it very well. The upside, such a terrible accident has turned full circle and into a great event. I got the pleasure of interviewing Brad as part of the High Vista video of the event. As always, Brad and I had a great talk and hopefully added some flavor to the DVD. I am sure Jeff will have them available soon. One thing I can never figure out about this event, its a mid-week show that pay great money and its lucky to draw 40 cars. 39 cars were on hand this night. Daryn Pittman stared the night off with a tumble during his qualifying attempt. The track was fast with a heavy cushion. Shane Stewart broke the 10 year old track record in qualifying. The heats were ready on the fast racy
but quickly drying track. There was plenty of action in the heats. Kerry Madsen, Kraig Kinser, Steve Kinser, and Joey Saldana took the heat wins. 2 of the heats seen the car that started dead last make a transfer spot into the A. In just his first few days in the states, Aussie driver, Todd Wallace, took a soft tumble in heat 3. Chris Andrews followed suit with a hard tumble in turn 1 a few laps later. Heat 4 had some real wild tumbles. Terry McCarl and Dale Blaney was fighting for position when McCarl's car seemed to lose power. Blaney had nowhere to go and climbed T-Mac's right rear, flipping hard into turn 1, down to turn 2. Then, Fred Rahmer tried a slide job that even the greatest driver ever could never pull off and slammed David Harrison into the turn 4 wall. Harrison flipped and his ride was a total write-off. All driver were OK. Troy Little took the C. Yes, a C Main with only 39 cars. Not sure who's brain storm this is but, why do the Outlaws
have just 12 cars in the B Main now and put the rest in a C Main? A 6 car C and a 12 car B, looks like a wasted race and wasted time and money for the teams that run the C. JMO. Sam Hefertepe Jr took the B Main. Joey Saldana took the Dash and earned the pole for the 40 lap A Main. Shane Stewart took a tumble in the Dash. Saldana and Meyers pace the pack to the green. Meyers jumps to the lead. Jason has no time to waste as the pack enters lap traffic in just a handful of laps. Saldana is hot on Meyers tail tank. They battle as Meyers holds on to the point. An excellent battle though out the pack. Upfront, the action heats up just approaching the half-way mark. Jason and Joey are in heavy traffic, nose to tail. Jason gets caught behind a lapped car, Joey makes the pass. Jason shoots back under as the cross the stripe. Just after they cross the stripe, a yellow for a Chad Hillier spin. 19 laps in the books as Joey leads the pack now. Restart, its all out
racing. The track still has a decent cushion and is very racy. Yes, there is plenty of dust too but it is dirt track racing. It can be that dusty every night if the racing is as good as it has been on this night. Joey leads as Jason trys to find a way back around. As the laps wind down, the traffic gets very heavy and Steve Kinser starts to show his stuff. Steve gets a great run and now sits in 2nd. 5 to go and the battle is on. Lap 36, Kinser pulls a slider on Joey and takes the lead. Kinser is looking to has it wrapped-up but no way. Joey is right back on his tail tank, Meyers is lurking in 3rd. 2 to go, still nose to tail but Meyers is closing. White flag, Kinser gets caught up in traffic off 2, Meyers gets a great run, dives down in 3, pulls off the slider in 4, off 4, side by side, Meyers and Kinser, Meyers wins by a half car length. Kinser, Saldana, Stewart, and Schatz round out the top 5. An excellent race. 3 different leaders in the last 4
laps.
Thursday, in keeping up with the Duane is insane tour, after working 6 1/2 hours, its off to The New Lawrenceburg Speedway for night 2 of the USAC Indiana Sprint Week. Let me start by saying WOW! If you haven't been to Lawrenceburg since they re-did the track, you need to get there. You will be totally shocked at the new layout. A 3/8th high-banked oval with a full wall all away around the surface. This for sure ranks up there as one of the top facilities in the US for dirt track racing. The track was super tacky and ready for action. 48 cars were ready to battle. One thing about an Indiana Sprint Week show with 48 cars and only 32 making the heats through time trails, some big names can be in the Non-Qualifiers races. This night was no different. Jesse Hockett and Tracy Hines won the NQ races. The 4 heats were some excellent heat races. The track was fast but very passable. Josh Spencer, Kyle Wissmiller, Jon Stanbrough, and Cole Whitt took heat wins.
6 out of the top 8 qualifiers did not earn a transfer spot to the A. Hines made a great charge from the NQ race to an A Main transfer spot via the heat race. Excellent side bu side racing with some contact and no major incidents. The 12 lap B could have been a non-wing A-main almost anywhere in the US. Jerry Coons Jr took the B. Chad Boat and Jesse Hockett take a provisional to start the A. Daron Clayton scratches allowing Darren Hagen into the show. After a bad start, Brady Short jumps into the lead. Short was hammer down and was finding the new track to his liking. Running the mid to high groove Short was hooked-up and on a rail. Hunter Scheurenberg gets some runs at Short but soon falls back. This night the only thing slowing Short was a few yellows for slowed cars. This one was all Brady as Short took a comfortable win. Scheurenberg, Shane Cottle, Coons Jr, and Dave Darland rounded out the top 5. A pretty good race at a super nice facility. A huge
change from the old track. I hope the new additions will bring the World Of Outlaws back there same day.
Friday was the annual Knight Before the King's Royal show at Eldora. 40 WOO and 29 NRA 360's were pit side. It was a hot and humid day as the track slicked-up quickly. The heats went off in fast order without any major crisis. With the Outlaws only inverting the top 4 in the heats on a fast track, most of the heats were won or lost on the starts. Donny Schatz, Joey Saldana, Dale Blaney, and Rob Chaney took the heat wins. Chaney was on a roll and took the Dash win, earning the pole for the A Main. Chad Blonde took the C. Jac Haudenschild took the B. Blonde had a good run a going to try and run the alphabet soup but, he found the wall in turn 4. A somewhat of a surprise front row of Chaney and Blaney paced the field for the 30 lap A Main. It's funny because during Ohio Speedweek they said Chaney rhymes with Blaney so that is why they always seem to be together. Now its an Outlaws show and they are together again. Blaney uses the high groove to his
advantage and takes the lead on the start. Lap 2, Chaney spins out coming off turn 4. Restart, Brian Paulus, Randy Hannagan, Kraig Kinser, and Ed Lynch Jr come together between turns 3 and 4. Blaney is strong on the next restart. Lap 5, nasty crash in 4. Hafertepe and Brock Mayes tangle and both flip, Brock's is a wild one. Hannagan, Kraig Kinser, and Chad Hillier all get collected as well. Finally, they get some green flag laps in the books. Blaney looks very strong and like he might run away and hide from the pack. With 10 in, Blaney is in heavy lap traffic that just won't give him any breaks. Blaney tried several times to get past a few back markers. Joey is closing in fast. Lap 13, Saldana takes the lead. Joey is hammer down and running Eldora like we have seen so many other times. Jason Meyers works past Blaney as the laps wind down. Meyers tries all he can to catch Joey but, this night belongs to Saldana. Meyers, Blaney, Schatz, and Craig
Dollansky, up from 14th, round out the top 5. A pretty decent race. Blaney looked like he might be able to beat the Outlaws but it just wasn't meant to be on this night.
Dale Blaney, Mike Brecht, and Dustin Daggett took the 360 heat wins. Rick Boughan flipped in heat 1, collecting Dwain Leiber, JR Stewart, and Aaron Shaffer. Jared Hortsman took the B Main win. They 20 lap A Main was ready for action. Mike Dunlap and Dane Naida get hooked together before the green drops. Hortsman flips hard in turn 3 before a lap is complete. Mark Grabill and Ron Blair get collected in the accident. Butch Schroeder got the jump on the 1st start but not this one. Tim Allison takes the early lead on the restart. Allison is running hard as Schroeder finds his Eldora groove of old. Lap 8, Schroeder takes the lead. It has been a long time since Butch visited Eldora's victory lane and he was ready to again. Blaney and Wilson made late race charges but to no avail. Schroeder takes the win. Blaney, Wilson, Brecht, and Allison round out the top 5. The night ended with some great times with some good friends in the Eldora campgrounds. I even a
few rides on the party wagon. If anyone camped, they probably know the golf-cart I am talking about.
Saturday, the 25th annual King's Royal event. The day started by honoring the past Kings of the Royal. Then the National Sprint Car Hall Of Fame benefit auction. Some great items and good money was raised to keep the HOF a running. After a morning rain, things did clear up pretty good but, talk was of a storm heading that way. The pre-race show featured many of the former Kings once again. Really a pretty neat little promo. Just as hot laps for the 39 cars pushed off a huge rain fell. It cleared-up once again, then bam another heavy rain. A few inches of heavy rain later and the show was pushed back to Sunday at 5 pm. I know some liked that idea, some didn't, wanted it at noon. I personally think 5 was OK. I actually seen no reason no to keep it 6, just push the program.
Sunday, 36 cars return for the 25th annual King's Royal. A qualifying blunder set the pace for all the talk. Donny Schatz was giving an extra lap, after blowing his 1st two by running the low groove and timing in 26th quick. Donny and WOO official believe he had some interference on lap 1, so he got another lap on request. The WOO rules book book say you can request another lap, if it is determined you had interference on your attempt. I didn't see any interference, no more than normal anyways, and neither did hardly anyone else. Steve Kinser was so upset he loaded his car and was going to head home. Oh yeah, Donny ran the high line on his third lap and timed in 6th quick. I really think this was handled way wrong. The word was an WOO official stated he waved the 1st lap off right away. Well then, radio to the flag stand and give him the green again. Or how about putting a yellow out if someone is in the way? Or how about waving down pit lane and back
onto the track, like that has been done before? Don't weight him at the scales, push him back down pit lane and sit there by his crew, and then push him off later and give him another lap. That just makes for things to look very bad. Plus, its not the first time that has happened at an Outlaw event this season. Anyways, back to the show. Meyers, Schatz, Saldana, and Pittman took heat race wins. The 4 heat race winners and the 4 fastest cars that transferred to the A make-up the Dash. Saldana took the Dash. Lee Stark flips off 2 in the B, collecting Kraig Kinser. Steve Kinser takes the B Main. Steve was so mad before he unloaded his car for his heat, he forgot to turn on the by-pass and burnt up his engine. That was the reason he was in the B. Craig Dollansky had the bonehead of the weekend move on the last lap of the B. The Crowd Pleaser clearly had a transfer spot into the Royal. Off 2 on the last lap, he turns a slide job on Butch Schroeder for
position, which both were in transfer spots. The slide job failed, heavy contact, both are out of the Royal. The 40 lap A Main was set and ready to go. The Eldora track staff did an excellent job of pushing the show along to get the show over at a decent hour. It was barely dark out when the A was ready. Saldana was looking very strong and showed it by taking the early lead. Joey was on a rail and running away quickly. Lap 7, Shane Stewart flips bad in turn 1. He was OK. Saldana, Meyers, Pittman, and Blaney are upfront and pacing their self for the distance. Lap 15, Blaney blows a tire off 4 and tags the wall hard. After a strong 3rd place run on Friday and a great looking run in 4th in this one, his night was over. Saldana was checking out. Pittman and Meyers were closing but never enough to make a move. Lap 24, Paulus stops. Restart, Terry McCarl has some problems. Saldana is fast but Pittman looks to be faster. Lap 27, Pittman catches Joey just as
Joey blows a right rear tire. Pittman is now the leader. Daryn actually looked faster than Joey the 5 or 6 laps before that. Lap 29, Chad Blonde finds the wall for the 2nd time of the weekend. Pittman has 11 laps to take his 1st WOO win of the year and his 1st King's Royal win. 5 to go, Meyers is closing. Last Lap, Meyers is 2 car lengths away in 2. Off 2, down the back stretch, Meyers trys a slider in 3, never close enough to work, Pittman takes the Royal. Meyers, Chad Kemenah, up from 13th, Schatz, and Steve Kinser, up from 18th, round out the top 5. A pretty decent race. It is always cool to see someone like Pittman take a big race. Lets hope that happens some this season.
The MTS race that was rained out at Waynesfield a few weeks back has been rescheduled for August 16th. The All Star race at Skyline Ohio has been canceled for this Friday the 18th by the track promoter.
UPCOMING:
Thursday:
USAC Sprints Kamp IN
Friday:
USAC Sprints Bloomington IN
NRA Limaland
MSA Supers Toledo
SOD Ionia MI Fair
Saturday:
All Stars Butler Speedway MI
SOD Crystal MI
USAC Sprints Haubstadt IN
Sunday:
All Stars Findlay OH, Millstream Speedway
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