Archive for USAC
USAC WEEK IN REVIEW – APR. 11, 2016
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USAC AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINTS AT BLOOMINGTON FRIDAY, TRI-STATE SATURDAY
Thomas Meseraull and Kyle Cummins will square off this Friday and Saturday night in a pair of USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car races, separated by just a single point in the series standings heading into this weekend’s action.
Friday night’s venue is Bloomington (Ind.) Speedway where Bryan Clauson was victorious last year. Clauson is in the midst of a challenging “Circular Insanity” pursuit of 200 races this year and could be among the favorites this weekend.
“The Brady Bunch” prevailed in each of the three series races last season at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind., which hosts Saturday night’s “Spring Showdown” co-sanctioned by MSCS. Broken Arrow, Oklahoma’s Brady Bacon is the defending “Spring Showdown” winner while Brady Short was victorious in the series other two events at the track.
Series points leader Meseraull of San Jose, Calif. leads the standings entering the weekend. Meseraull scored a victory and a third at Ocala, Fla. in February while Princeton, Indiana’s Cummins, second in series points, was on the podium all three nights in the Sunshine State, but continues to seek that elusive first USAC triumph.
In the only USAC Sprint feature ran at Bloomington in 2015, Cummins grabbed 17th while Meseraull was not in attendance.
At Haubstadt last season, Cummins had strong top-10 finishes of third and 7th, in the April and July races, respectively, but it was the one that got away that was most crushing to him. Leading with just five laps to go in last fall’s “Haubstadt Hustler,” Cummins got caught up in an accident encountering lapped traffic, knocking him out of the race.
Meanwhile, last year at Haubstadt, Meseraull was able to manage results of 10th and 19th in two appearances.
Dave Darland enters the fray 29 points out of the point lead after recording his record 58th series victory at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway. He now has an incredible string of 24 consecutive years with at least one USAC National feature win to his credit!
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UPCOMING USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP EVENTS
DATE: Friday, April 15, 2016
SERIES: USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship
TRACK: Bloomington Speedway (Bloomington, Indiana) - ¼-Mile, High-Banked Clay Oval
EVENT: USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship, 305 RaceSaver Wing Sprints and MMSA Non-Wing Sprints
TRACK ADDRESS: 5185 S Fairfax Rd, Bloomington, IN 47401
TRACK PHONE: (812) 824-7400
TRACK WEBSITE: http://www.bloomingtonspeedway.com
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UPCOMING USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP EVENTS
DATE: Saturday, April 16, 2016
SERIES: USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship
TRACK: Tri-State Speedway (Haubstadt, Indiana) – ¼-mile, high-banked dirt oval
EVENT: “Spring Showdown” featuring USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship (co-sanctioned by the Midwest Sprint Car Series) and Modifieds
STARTING TIMES: Qualifying starts at 6:30 PM with racing to start at 7:30 PM (CST)
TICKETS: Adults $25, Students (Age 13-18) $20, Children 12 & Under Free
TRACK ADDRESS: 10149 U.S. 41, Haubstadt, IN 47639
TRACK PHONE: (812) 768-5995
TRACK WEBSITE: www.tristatespeedway.com/index.php
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2016 USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP DRIVER POINT STANDINGS (TOP-10)
1. (269) Thomas Meseraull (San Jose, CA)
2. (268) Kyle Cummins (Princeton, IN)
3. (253) Chase Stockon (Haubstadt, IN)
4. (240) Dave Darland (Lincoln, IN)
5. (240) Justin Grant (Ione, CA)
6. (233) Robert Ballou (Rocklin, CA)
7. (229) Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, OK)
8. (228) Max McGhee (Camby, IN)
9. (209) Bryan Clauson (Noblesville, IN)
10. (208) C.J. Leary (Greenfield, IN)
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2016 USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP OWNER POINT STANDINGS (TOP-10)
1. (269) Amati Racing #66
2. (268) Rock Steady Racing #3R
3. (253) 32/TBI Racing #32
4. (240) Jeff Walker/Curb-Agajanian Racing #11
5. (240) Baldwin Brothers Racing #5
6. (233) Ballou Motorsports #1
7. (229) Dynamics, Inc. #69
8. (228) Sam McGhee Motorsports #17
9. (209) Dooling-Hayward #63
10. (203) Michael Dutcher Motorsports #17GP
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ALL-TIME BLOOMINGTON SPEEDWAY USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR FEATURE WINNERS
1. (4) Bryan Clauson
2. (2) Kevin Briscoe, Dave Darland & Tony Elliott
5. (1) A.J. Anderson, Jerry Coons, Jr., Jay Drake, Bobby East, Brad Fox, Jack Hewitt, Tracy Hines, Rick Hood, Bob Kinser, Sheldon Kinser, Cory Kruseman, Larry Martin, Hunter Schuerenberg, Brady Short, Jon Stanbrough, Kevin Thomas, Kevin Thomas, Jr., Rich Vogler, Chris Windom & J.J. Yeley
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ALL-TIME TRI-STATE SPEEDWAY USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR FEATURE WINNERS
1. (5) Daron Clayton
2. (4) Cory Kruseman
3. (3) Rick Hood
4. (2) Hunter Schuerenberg, Brady Short, Jon Stanbrough & Kevin Thomas, Jr.
8. (1) Brady Bacon, Robert Ballou, Steve Butler, Jay Drake, Tony Elliott, Blake Fitzpatrick, Damion Gardner, Tracy Hines, Kenny Jacobs, Levi Jones, Casey Riggs & J.J. Yeley
LEARY BREAKS THROUGH, WINS FIRST USAC NATIONAL RACE IN TERRE HAUTE’S SUMAR CLASSIC
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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They say good things come to those who wait. Those words never rang more true than in Sunday's "Sumar Classic" at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track as C.J. Leary's turn finally came, breaking through for his long-awaited first career USAC National feature victory in the 2016 Silver Crown season opener, joining his father Chuck, who won the 1997 "Hoosier Hundred" at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, to become the first father-son duo to win races in the 46-year history of the Silver Crown Series.
Leary, of Greenfield, Ind., the Silver Crown "Rookie of the Year" just one season ago, took the lead from Justin Grant on lap 94 and reversed his fortunes from last year's "Sumar Classic" second place finish to take the victory in his Leary-6R Racing/Leary Construction-AMSOIL-sponsored DRC/Claxton Toyota.
The 100-lapper in the afternoon sunshine harkened back to yesteryear when the Terre Haute Action Track regularly hosted daytime events, creating a challenge for each of the teams from the get-go. Within the first 10 laps, turn two took rubber and became a treacherous test as the drivers had little room for error between the paper-thin cushion and the Action Track's infamous red, white and blue cement.
Leary, who started outside the front row, continuously made runs at ProSource fast qualifier and race pole sitter Grant for the lead, but was never able to pull ahead, having to settle for the second spot throughout the middle portion of the race. On lap 55, Grant tagged the wall with the right rear in turn two, briefly disrupting his rhythm and momentum, but Leary was unable to close the gap, hitting the wall in the same spot as Grant moments later, with both continuing without damage.
Grant's pace was electric as he lapped everyone but the first eight positions by the 68th lap. By lap 74, Brady Bacon had found the rubber, closing in on Leary for second, now putting Grant, Leary and Bacon one-two-three with one quarter of the race remaining.
Leary closed on Grant once again after Grant bounced his right rear off the turn two wall, but Leary was unable to shrink the advantage, getting pinned behind the lapped car of Neil Shepherd on the bottom, allowing Bacon to run down Leary a few laps later and clear him for the second position with just 21 laps to go.
Just when Bacon appeared to be Grant's top challenger for the lead, Leary returned the favor, beating Bacon to the bottom in the first turn to regain second. With Grant able to ward off every single challenge that was thrown at him, a lap 89 caution for the stopped car of Austin Nemire reset the field.
The car of Robert Ballou was the only lapped machine separating Grant in first and Leary, second. Leary quickly disposed of Ballou and made his charge at Grant and, with just seven laps to go, Leary used a run off the bottom of turn four to jet past Grant for the lead and pull away from the field, winning by a 0.424 second margin over Grant, 2015 Silver Crown champ Kody Swanson, Bacon, Chris Windom, Shane Cottle, defending "Sumar Classic" winner Shane Cockrum, Bryan Clauson, Jerry Coons, Jr. and Dave Darland.
One night after his runner-up finish in the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship feature at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway, Leary was beaming with confidence and was finally able to claim the victory that had eluded him after six career runner-up finishes in USAC National competition.
"I never thought my first USAC win would come in the (Silver) Crown car," Leary said. "It kind of feels surreal. The track was rough with it taking rubber, so we had to be a little patient there. That yellow (on lap 89) helped a lot because they had been telling me that Bacon was down there (on the bottom of the track) and that it finally took rubber, so I moved all the way down on that restart and got around Justin (Grant)."
Though somewhat disappointed by his second place finish after running up front for the majority of the 100 lap race, by virtue of his fast qualifying time and leading the most laps (93), Grant, of Ione, Calif., leads the points after the first round of the 2016 Silver Crown schedule.
"The track was tricky just because it was super slick and there wasn't really a lot to hold onto up top," Grant said. "But I felt like we were good up there. I just hated to see that yellow at the end because I felt like we could've finished the deal, but it's a good start to our season and hopefully we can keep building on this. We'll get one soon."
Former "Sumar Classic" winner Kody Swanson of Kingsburg, Calif. had a quiet, but strong third place run as he seeks to become the first driver to win three consecutive USAC Silver Crown titles.
"I'm just so thankful to drive for DePalma Motorsports," Swanson beamed. "These guys work so hard for me and deserve to win every race and I hate that I couldn't get this one for them. But we'll take third; it's a solid run to start the season and we'll just go out and try to win the next one."
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USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: April 3, 2016 - Terre Haute, Indiana - Terre Haute Action Track - "Sumar Classic"
PROSOURCE QUALIFYING: 1. Justin Grant, 8, Carli-21.691; 2. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary/6R-21.806; 3. Jerry Coons Jr., 20, Nolen-22.021; 4. Kody Swanson, 63, DePalma-22.066; 5. Chris Windom, 98, RPM/Gormly-22.222; 6. Brady Bacon, 48, Martens-22.225; 7. Shane Cottle, 81, Williams-22.819; 8. Dave Darland, 17, Dutcher-22.836; 9. Shane Cockrum, 71, Hardy-22.843; 10. Steve Buckwalter, 53, SET-22.956; 11. Billy Puterbaugh, Jr., 27, Phillips-23.025; 12. Terry Babb, 00, Babb-23.226; 13. Robert Ballou, 14, McQuinn-23.259; 14. Bryan Clauson, 6, Klatt-23.544; 15. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-23.839; 16. Casey Shuman, 55, Bateman-23.914; 17. Terry James, 23, Satterthwaite-24.011; 18. J.C. Bland, 5, Bland-24.610; 19. Austin Nemire, 91, Hemelgarn-25.039; 20. Neil Shepherd, 7, Shepherd-NT.
FEATURE: (100 laps) 1. C.J. Leary, 2. Justin Grant, 3. Kody Swanson, 4. Brady Bacon, 5. Chris Windom, 6. Shane Cottle, 7. Shane Cockrum, 8. Bryan Clauson, 9. Jerry Coons Jr., 10. Dave Darland, 11. Robert Ballou, 12. Casey Shuman, 13. David Byrne, 14. Billy Puterbaugh, Jr., 15. Neil Shepherd, 16. Terry James, 17. Austin Nemire, 18. Terry Babb, 19. Steve Buckwalter, 20. J.C. Bland. NT
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KSE/MARTENS MACHINE SHOP HARD CHARGER: Bryan Clauson
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-93 Grant, Laps 94-100 Leary.
NEW USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Grant-73, 2-Leary-70, 3-Swanson-64, 4-Bacon-61, 5-Windom-58, 6-Cottle-55, 7-Cockrum-52, 8-Clauson-49, 9-Coons-46, 10-Darland-43.
NEXT USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: April 30 - Toledo (OH) Speedway - Hemelgarn Super Fitness "Rollie Beale Classic"
LAWRENCEBURG USAC AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT RACE RESULTS
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: April 2, 2016 - Lawrenceburg, Indiana - Lawrenceburg Speedway
DARLAND DOES IT AGAIN AT LAWRENCEBURG FOR USAC SPRINT WIN #58
In what became a contest of survival of the fittest, Dave Darland was the last man standing, making his tires last to the finish to extend his all-time USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship career victory tally to 58 in Saturday night's 30-lap feature at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway. With the win, Darland continued his incredible streak of winning at least one USAC National feature in each year to 24 consecutive seasons!
Darland, of Lincoln, Ind., started 10th and picked his way to the front one-by-one, conserving his right-rear tire as several of the frontrunners fell by the wayside in the latter half of the feature. Justin Grant was the first one to fall victim to tire wear while running in the third spot on lap 19, bringing out the yellow, and moving Darland to third behind Robert Ballou and Thomas Meseraull.
Defending USAC National Sprint car champ Ballou and USAC's most recent feature winner at Lawrenceburg, Meseraull, battled for the top spot throughout the middle portion of the race as the field began to gravitate toward the bottom of the track to the rubber. Though Meseraull threw everything he could at Ballou, he was unable to wrestle away the position.
With just 10 to go, Meseraull's right rear tire began to soften as Shane Cottle and Jerry Coons, Jr. tangled in turn two, bringing out the yellow flag. With right rear tire degradation imminent on Meseraull's machine, all he could do was hold on, but a yellow for fifth-running Chad Boespflug, who lost a right rear tire with eight laps to go, brought a stoppage to the action once again.
On the restart, the right rear tires of leader Ballou and second-place Meseraull began to show their cords. Meseraull's was the first to give way on a lap 22 restart while Ballou's only lasted two more laps until the 24th lap. Darland took over the lead and, with his tires appearing to show limited wear, seemingly took control of the event.
Late-race challenger Brady Bacon stood second when action resumed, but he quickly became the next victim, wearing out a right rear on lap 25.
After Aaron Farney's tire gave way with three to go and a Landon Simon spin in turn three, due to the number of yellow flags and the total laps run under green and yellow conditions during the feature, the decision was made by race control to throw the red flag so that teams could stop for a splash of fuel for the final dash to the finish.
The final restart saw C.J. Leary lined up behind Darland for the final three-lap sprint, but a strong restart by Darland erased all doubt, providing him with an insurmountable lead in the final laps as he wheeled his Jeff Walker/Curb-Agajanian Racing/Jam-It-In-Storage - Hoosier Tire-sponsored Maxim/Claxton as straight as an arrow on the bottom of the racetrack on his way to his first victory of the season over Leary, Scotty Weir, Chase Stockon, Max McGhee, KSE Hard Charger Dallas Hewitt, new series point leader Meseraull, Ballou, Grant and Farney.
Darland earned his first USAC win in the seat of a Jeff Walker-owned car since October of 2012 at Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria, Arizona while Walker's number 11 found USAC victory lane for the first time since Chris Windom's triumph in 2013 "4-Crown Nationals" at the Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.
Darland, who dedicated his victory to longtime friend and sponsor Steve Stroud, who passed away in February of this year, netted his seventh career USAC National Sprint win at Lawrenceburg Speedway, two more than any other driver. Darland knew early on that tire conservation was going to be the key to putting his car in victory lane at night's end.
"I knew from the beginning that it was going to be tough to save tires, but I knew everybody else was in the same boat, so we just had to make the best of it," Darland said. "We were fast, but had to save our stuff and I'm glad we could hold on and get it done."
Leary's maiden voyage in the Michael Dutcher Racing number 17GP went about as smoothly as he could hope for, recording ProSource qualifying time to begin the night and finishing a strong second place at the checkered flag for the second consecutive year in the April Lawrenceburg show.
"I was running up top at the start because I didn't even really know how much rubber was down on the bottom," Leary admitted. "But once I moved down, it was just a matter of riding and trying to save your stuff. I hate to run second again, but it was a good first night in Mike's (Dutcher) stuff, so I'm pretty happy."
Weir's run to third in the Todd Keen machine was his best result since April of 2014 when he scored a third at Gas City (Ind.) I-69 Speedway.
"I watched the B-Main and knew it was going to lay rubber, so I had the mindset from the beginning that I was just going to ride and try to outlast everybody," Weir said. Thankfully, it sort of played out that way for us and we had a solid run."
Contingency award winners include C.J. Leary (ProSource Fast Qualifier), Chase Stockon (Simpson Race Products First Heat), Chad Boespflug (Competition Suspension (CSI) Second Heat), Jarett Andretti (Benic Enterprises Third Heat), Thomas Meseraull (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat) and Dallas Hewitt (KSE Hard Charger).
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: April 2, 2016 - Lawrenceburg, Indiana - Lawrenceburg Speedway
PROSOURCE QUALIFYING: 1. C.J. Leary, 17GP, Dutcher-13.861; 2. Justin Grant, 5, Baldwin-13.996; 3. Robert Ballou, 1, Ballou-14.027; 4. Max McGhee, 17, McGhee-14.224; 5. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-14.304; 6. Shawn Westerfeld, 89, Westerfeld-14.317; 7. Kody Swanson, 71p, Phillips/Wolters-14.339; 8. Thomas Meseraull, 66, Amati-14.350; 9. Scotty Weir, 18w, Keen-14.433; 10. Chad Boespflug, 98E, NineEight/Eberhardt/Zirzow-14.455; 11. Dave Darland, 11, Walker/Curb-Agajanian-14.570; 12. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Byram-14.602; 13. Aaron Farney, 15F, Farney-14.618; 14. Carson Short, 21, Short-14.817; 15. Jerry Coons Jr., 10E, Edison-14.848; 16. Kevin Thomas Jr., 2E, Epperson-14.878; 17. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-14.883; 18. Jon Stanbrough, 81, Stanbrough-15.050; 19. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-15.073; 20. Shane Cottle, 57, Hazen-15.140; 21. Chris Windom, 21x, Pollock-15.153; 22. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-15.197; 23. Joss Moffatt, 5J, Moffatt-15.211; 24. Dallas Hewitt, 16, Hewitt-15.222; 25. Kyle Robbins, 17R, Robbins-15.234; 26. Casey Shuman, 4J, 4J Motorsports-15.278; 27. Garrett Abrams, 32A, Abrams-15.304; 28. Brandon Mattox, 04, Burton-15.316; 29. Cole Ketcham, 41K, Ketcham-15.387; 30. Landon Simon, 24, LSR-15.475; 31. Bret Mellenberndt, 97, Mellenberndt-15.517; 32. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-15.521; 33. Logan Jarrett, 29, Jarrett-15.565; 34. Aric Gentry, 10, GBR-15.774; 35. Kent Wolters, 71wp, Wolters-16.310; 36. Riley VanHise, 96, VanHise-16.883.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Stockon, 2. Leary, 3. Bacon, 4. Weir, 5. Windom, 6. Farney, 7. Jarrett, 8. Robbins, 9. Ketcham. 2:06.75
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Boespflug, 2. Stanbrough, 3. Westerfeld, 4. Grant, 5. Short, 6. Shuman, 7. Simon, 8. Chapple, 9. Gentry. NT
BENIC ENTERPRISES THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Andretti, 2. Darland, 3. Ballou, 4. Coons, 5. Moffatt, 6. Abrams, 7. Mellenberndt, 8. Wolters, 9. Swanson. 2:07.35
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Meseraull, 2. Cottle, 3. Cummins, 4. Hewitt, 5. Mattox, 6. Thomas, 7. Goodnight, 8. VanHise, 9. McGhee. NT
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. McGhee, 2. Thomas, 3. Farney, 4. Short, 5. Moffatt, 6. Ketcham, 7. Robbins, 8. Shuman, 9. Simon, 10. Goodnight, 11. Abrams, 12. Chapple, 13. VanHise, 14. Mellenberndt, 15. Swanson, 16. Mattox, 17. Jarrett, 18. Wolters, 19. Windom. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Dave Darland, 2. C.J. Leary, 3. Scotty Weir, 4. Chase Stockon, 5. Max McGhee, 6. Dallas Hewitt, 7. Thomas Meseraull, 8. Robert Ballou, 9. Justin Grant, 10. Aaron Farney, 11. Jerry Coons Jr., 12. Brady Bacon, 13. Jarett Andretti, 14. Kyle Cummins, 15. Kevin Thomas Jr., 16. Landon Simon, 17. Carson Short, 18. Cole Ketcham, 19. Shawn Westerfeld, 20. Chad Boespflug, 21. Shane Cottle, 22. Jon Stanbrough, 23. Joss Moffatt. NT
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**Wolters and Jarrett flipped at the start of the semi.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-3 Westerfeld, Laps 4-24 Ballou, Laps 25-30 Darland.
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Meseraull-269, 2-Cummins-268, 3-Stockon-253, 4-Darland-240, 5-Grant-240, 6-Ballou-233, 7-Bacon-229, 8-McGhee-228, 9-Bryan Clauson-209, 10-Leary-208.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: April 15 - Bloomington (IN) Speedway
GOLOBIC GLIDES TO FIRST USAC MIDGET VICTORY IN Du QUOIN’S SHAMROCK CLASSIC
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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GOLOBIC GLIDES TO FIRST USAC MIDGET VICTORY IN Du QUOIN'S SHAMROCK CLASSIC
Shane Golobic of Fremont, California wasn't content on just running the bottom as he went to the high side to pass leader Shane Cottle on lap 34 and was able to pull away on a late green-white-checkered to win his first career USAC Midget National Championship feature in Saturday night's inaugural "Shamrock Classic" at the Southern Illinois Center in Du Quoin.
Golobic, driving the Matt Wood Motorsports/Elk Grove Ford - Competition Suspension, Inc./Spike/Esslinger, joined drivers Kevin Besecker, Blake Fitzpatrick, Todd Forbes, Gene Hartley, Steve Lotshaw, Henry Pens, Dick Pole and Terry Wente as the only drivers to win their first career USAC National Midget race in the season opening event.
Golobic started in the fifth spot, while the night's race promoter Bryan Clauson started on the pole with Tony Roney outside. The 50-lapper started out as the race that refused to begin. Three cautions and a red flag were thrown before a single lap was even completed.
When the race finally did begin, Clauson jumped into the lead with Cottle in tow. Clauson, who won his heat and his qualifying race earlier in the night appeared to be the car to beat as he first encountered lapped traffic on the fifth circuit. On the sixth lap, USAC Midget National Championship Rookie Holly Shelton pirouetted off the berm between turns three and four directly in front of the lead pack. Amazingly, Clauson's car went under the airborne Shelton without making contact.
However, under the caution, Clauson's engine shut off, forcing him into the pit area and leaving him with a hard luck, last place finish on the night. Cottle, who did make slight contact with Shelton during the incident, was the new leader on the ensuing restart followed by Zach Daum.
On the lap 6 restart, Travis Berryhill participated in the only flip during the feature. He was uninjured and, in fact, was able to restart.
With Cottle still in front on lap 18, second running Zach Daum spun in turn three while fourth-place Tyler Thomas came to a stop on the high side, sending them both to the tail.
It was a race to the bottom for the front runners through the midway point of the race as Cottle, Golobic, Thomas Meseraull, and Roney hugged the inside berm while Brady Bacon was the lone driver in the top-five utilizing the higher line.
After a caution brought out by the stopped car of Gage Walker with 18 laps to go, the restart saw second-running Shane Golobic venture to the outside and making it stick, gaining ground on Cottle each lap, resulting in a near dead-heat at the flag stand at the end of the 33rd lap. One lap later, Golobic was finally able to nose his number 17w ahead of Cottle, officially taking the lead at the stripe on lap 34.
Golobic drove away from second-place Cottle to gain a healthy advantage, but the lead was erased when a yellow on the final lap brought out a green-white-checkered finish. With the field bunched up and a clear track in front, Golobic had no problems whatsoever driving away to the victory followed by Cottle, Meseraull, Bacon, Roney, Spencer Bayston, Tanner Thorson, David Budres, Berryhill and Daum.
Saturday night, Golobic became the first driver since Kenny Irwin, Jr. at the Toronto (Ontario) SkyDome in 1993 to win a full, points-paying USAC National Midget feature indoors.
"Man, I've waited so long to hear my name attached to the phrase 'USAC National Midget winner,' and it feels amazing," Golobic exclaimed. "Our car was so good tonight; I've never driven one that good before. I'm so excited to be working with Tim Clauson and this Matt Wood Racing team. I think we've really got a nice package put together and I can't wait for the rest of the season."
Cottle, of Kokomo, Indiana led the most laps (28) and just came short of picking off his first series win since 2010.
"It's hard to be the leader and not really know where those guys behind you are running," Cottle explained. "We were good on the bottom, but then Golobic went around us on the top and from then on, it was just playing defense to hold those other guys off. We had a really good car all night; (we) just couldn't quite finish it off."
Contingency award winners for the "Shamrock Classic" included Bacon (Max Papis Innovations (MPI) "Wheelman of the Race"); Daum, Cottle, Shane Morgan and Daniel Adler (Competition Susepension, Inc. (CSI); Cottle, Clauson, Budres and Chad Boat (All Star Performance); Golobic (Simpson Race Products Steering Wheel); Roney, Ryan Greth, John Campbell and Terry Babb (Simpson Race Products); Golobic (Priority Aviation $777); Golobic, Danny Meyer and Bayston (Afco Shocks); Dave Darland, Chris Andrews, Boat, Robert Bell and Babb (Indy Race Parts); Golobic (Lap 39 leader from Ben Hodgin), plus the Dooling Machine "Pot of Gold" to five different winners.
USAC Contingency award winners included Chase Briscoe (Simpson Race Products First Heat); Bryan Clauson (Benic Enterprises Second Heat); Jake Neuman (Competition Suspension, Inc (CSI) Third Heat); Dereck King (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat) and Tanner Thorson (KSE "Hard Charger").
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USAC NATIONAL MIDGET SERIES RACE RESULTS: March 19, 2016 - Du Quoin, Illinois - Southern Illinois Center - "Shamrock Classic"
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Chase Briscoe (#D33 Davis), 2. Andrew Felker (#11A Felker), 3. Katlynn Leer (#77K Leer), 4. Justin Grant (#38 Gardner), 5. Nick Knepper (#55 Knepper), 6. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (#2x Shuman), 7. Ty Hulsey (#21 Hulsey), 8. Chase Hill (#11H Felker). NT
BENIC ENTERPRISES SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Bryan Clauson (#63 RKR/Dooling), 2. Justin Peck (#5x Peck), 3. Kevin Olson (#5H Hoppe), 4. Spencer Bayston (#97 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 5. John Campbell (#19 Campbell), 6. Mike McSparin (#0A Zero), 7. Shane Morgan (#15M Morgan), 8. Tucker Klaasmeyer (#27 Klaasmeyer). NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Jake Neuman (#3N Neuman), 2. Chase Johnson (#17m Wood), 3. Michelle Decker (#4M Meents), 4. J.D. Black (#7JR Robinson), 5. Kyle Schuett (#9K Schuett), 6. Daniel Robinson (#57D McCreery), 7. Danny Meyer (#86J Bergfeld), 8. Scott Orr (#88x Orr). NT
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Dereck King (#91 Harris), 2. Brady Bacon (#76m Noffsinger/Manafort), 3. Tyler Thomas (#91T Thomas), 4. Tim Siner (#15 Siner/Cyliax), 5. Chad Boat (#84 Tucker/Boat), 6. Austin Prock (#41 Prock), 7. Dave Darland (#11AG Gray), 8. Carson Macedo (#71K Kunz/Curb-Agajanian). NT
FIFTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Zach Daum (#5D Daum), 2. Thomas Meseraull (#66 Amati), 3. Travis Berryhill (#11 Manic), 4. Ryan Greth (#4 Greth), 5. Tanner Thorson (#67 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 6. Colten Cottle (#5c Cottle), 7. Daniel Adler (#50 Adler), 8. Robert Bell (#71½ Bell). NT
SIXTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Shane Golobic (#17w Wood), 2. Tony Roney (#1T Roney), 3. Anton Hernandez (#37x Felker), 4. Chris Urish (#77u Casson), 5. Holly Shelton (#67K Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 6. Chris Andrews (#91A Thomas), 7. Bill Rose (#6 Rose). NT
SEVENTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Shane Cottle (#56 5IVE-6IX), 2. Ryan Robinson (#71 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 3. Gage Walker (#7 Walker), 4. David Budres (#31 Manic), 5. Terry Babb (#88 Babb), 6. Brad Kraus (#6B Kraus). NT
ALSO AT THE TRACK: Larry Knowles (#13 Zero).
C-MAIN #1: (10 laps) 1. Darland, 2. Macedo, 3. Morgan, 4. McSparin, 5. Hulsey, 6. Rose, 7. Bell. NT
C-MAIN #2: (10 laps) 1. Andrews, 2. Orr, 3. Meyer, 4. Prock, 5. Hill, 6. Klaasmeyer. NT
FIRST QUALIFIER: (10 laps) 1. S.Cottle, 2. Meseraull, 3. Felker, 4. Neuman, 5. Decker, 6. Peck, 7. Siner, 8. Schuett, 9. C.Cottle. NT
SECOND QUALIFIER: (10 laps) 1. Clauson, 2. Roney, 3. Adler, 4. Babb, 5. R.Robinson, 6. Bacon, 7. Olson, 8. Urish, 9. Black, 10. D.Robinson. NT
THIRD QUALIFIER: (10 laps) 1. Budres, 2. Walker, 3. T.Thomas, 4. Daum, 5. Knepper, 6. Hernandez, 7. Leer, 8. K.Thomas, 9. Greth. NT
FOURTH QUALIFIER: (10 laps) 1. Boat, 2. Berryhill, 3. King, 4. Golobic, 5. Briscoe, 6. Thorson, 7. Shelton, 8. Bayston, 9. Campbell. NT
SEMI #1: (15 laps) 1. Meseraull, 2. Bacon, 3. Hernandez, 4. Thorson, 5. Adler, 6. Knepper, 7. Schuett, 8. Briscoe, 9. Macedo, 10. Darland, 11. Siner, 12. C.Cottle, 13. K.Thomas, 14. Leer, 15. Campbell. NT
SEMI #2: (15 laps) 1. Berryhill, 2. Babb, 3. Decker, 4. D.Robinson, 5. Bayston, 6. Andrews, 7. Shelton, 8. Orr, 9. Urish, 10. Neuman, 11. R.Robinson, 12. Greth, 13. Johnson. NT
FEATURE: (50 laps) 1. Shane Golobic, 2. Shane Cottle, 3. Thomas Meseraull, 4. Brady Bacon, 5. Tony Roney, 6. Spencer Bayston, 7. Tanner Thorson, 8. David Budres, 9. Travis Berryhill, 10. Zach Daum, 11. Anton Hernandez, 12. Terry Babb, 13. Chad Boat, 14. Tyler Thomas, 15. Holly Shelton, 16. Gage Walker, 17. Justin Peck, 18. Daniel Robinson, 19. Michelle Decker, 20. Dereck King, 21. Andrew Felker, 22. Bryan Clauson. NT
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**Rose flipped during the sixth heat. Prock flipped during the second last chance qualifier. R.Robinson flipped during the second qualifier. Urish flipped during the second qualifier. Berryhill flipped on lap 6 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-5 Clauson, Laps 6-33 S.Cottle, Laps 34-50 Golobic.
NEW USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Golobic-70, 2-Bacon-61, 3-Bayston-55, 4-Thorson-52, 5-Budres-49, 6-Daum-43, 7-Hernandez-41, 8-Boat-37, 9-T.Thomas-35, 10-Shelton-33.
NEXT USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACES: April 8-9 - Kokomo (IN) Speedway - "Kokomo Grand Prix"
USAC NEWS
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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USAC Appoints Firestone Farm Tires President to Board of Directors
Tony Orlando named to 3-year term
SPEEDWAY, Indiana - The United States Auto Club (USAC) today announced that Tony Orlando, president, Firestone Farm Tires, has been appointed to the organization's board of directors. Orlando will serve a three year term that began in January. Firestone Farm Tires, a division of Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, is a leader in the agricultural tire solutions market.
USAC is America's most diversified motorsports sanctioning organization. Headquartered in Speedway, Indiana, USAC annually conducts more than 250 motorsports events nationwide in a wide variety of disciplines. Throughout the organization's 60-year history, USAC has presented nearly 10,000 total motorsports events internationally, spanning the spectrum of the sport from quarter-midget racing to Indy Cars and Formula One.
"Bridgestone has a great tradition of racing that is ingrained in our company's history and roots, and I am honored to have been appointed to the USAC board of directors," said Tony Orlando, president, Firestone Farm Tires, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations. "An avid follower of motorsports for many years, I am looking forward to bringing my passion for the sport to the position."
Orlando joins a board comprised of business executives representing several facets of the sport, including Chairman and Indianapolis businessman Jeff Stoops, Secretary Pete Morse of Barnes & Thornburg Attorneys, Brett Frood of Tony Stewart Racing, Sterling Pratz, founder of Autonet Mobile, Mark Kvamme, co-founder and partner for Drive Capital, Charlie Mancuso, President of Feld Motorsports, Colin Dyne, CEO of Global Rally Cross, and USAC President/CEO Kevin Miller.
For more information about USAC, visit www.USACRacing.com.
OCALA USAC AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT RACE RESULTS – Feb. 20
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: February 20, 2016 - Ocala, Florida - Bubba Raceway Park - "Winter Dirt Games VII"
MESERAULL SURVIVES AND THRIVES IN EPIC WINTER DIRT GAMES FINALE
There's a fine line between conservation and aggressiveness behind the wheel of a racecar. How much a driver can push himself and his car in either strategic direction without sacrificing the other is an art that is truly a difficult art to master. If a driver doesn't push hard enough, he will not put himself in a position to win. Conversely, if a driver doesn't take care of his equipment, namely the four pieces of rubber on his car, throughout the race, odds are he will not likely be standing in victory lane at night's end. On Saturday night, San Jose, California's Thomas Meseraull was able to find just the right combination of speed, patience, and timeliness to take the victory on the last corner of the final lap in a wild, topsy-turvy USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship "Winter Dirt Games VII" finale at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Florida.
Meseraull, who was the night's ProSource Fast Qualifier would start the 30-lap feature from outside the third row, but it was the previous two nights' fast qualifier Max McGhee who started on the pole and led the first lap of the affair. Following a three-car tangle that brought out the race's first caution, the ensuing restart saw outside front row starter Robert Ballou taking the point from McGhee on lap two with Bryan Clauson in tow.
On the fifth lap, Clauson and Ballou banged wheels three separate times, swapping the lead back-and-forth in a battle of the two most recent series feature winners. As Clauson took command of the top spot, Ballou attempted to regain his rhythm as he dropped to fourth, overtaken by McGhee and Meseraull.
At the halfway point, the surface began to take rubber and tire wear became a primary concern as Meseraull got to the second spot on lap 17 with an outside maneuver on McGhee coming off of turn four. On the 18th lap, Meseraull threw a slide job on Clauson for the lead entering one, making slight contact with his right rear tire on Clauson's left front.
Just two laps later, Clauson regained the lead as Meseraull slid high exiting the second turn. Clauson immediately began to pull away and appeared as if he had the race in the bag as he distanced himself from the rest of the field. However, on lap 23, Clauson became the first victim of tire wear, popping a right rear tire and handing over the lead to youngster Max McGhee, putting the 18-year-old in a position to win his first career series race with just eight laps to go.
Under caution, McGhee and others cooled their tires off on the cushion, looking for any possible way to subdue the heat on the tires for the run to the checkered flag. On lap 25, Brady Bacon, running seventh, and fifth-place Ballou saw right rears wear out on them in what was becoming a battle of survival of the fittest.
With two laps remaining, McGhee, Justin Grant, and Meseraull ran nose-to-tail into turn one when suddenly McGhee's right rear tire went flat, sending him out of the groove, out of the lead, and out of luck. The green flag stayed out as Grant and Meseraull now ran one-two headed for the white flag. On the fourth turn of the final lap, with the checkered flag in sight, Grant's right rear gave way, allowing Meseraull to get underneath him and take his first series win of the season aboard his Amati Racing/Marion Underground Construction - Zeller Construction/DRC/Claxton number 66, beating Chris Windom, Kyle Cummins, Chase Stockon and a heartbroken Grant to the finish line.
The Meseraull/Amati combo has become a force within the series since teaming up last summer, already peeling off three feature victories since late September of 2015. But on this night, Meseraull admits that it's not only experience that enabled him to manage his tires enough to win on this night, but sometimes luck plays a role along with being in the right place at the right time.
"I think I'm already one of the guys that can keep the tires under it." Meseraull said. "You can't over-gas these things and tonight that was the key. I tried not to get wheel spin and we made some changes to get the car over on the left side more and I think that was the key. If we'd have been buried on the right rear, we would've been done. Once Clauson went out, I just started to not burn it at all and then it was just a waiting game. Then, Max McGhee lost his (tire) and Justin lost his in the last corner. We kind of got lucky, but sometimes it's better to be lucky than good."
Runner-up Chris Windom had a strong, steady, under-the-radar run in his Rick Pollock/Bates Commodities/Maxim/Advanced Engines number 21x, picking his way through the field from his 14th starting spot by altering his race strategy midway through the feature.
"The first ten to twelve laps we had a really good car and could pick some guys off," Windom said. But the last half was all strategy. You had to save your tires as much as possible, and then the last five laps became even more strategic. I was watching the top-three and knew at least a couple of them were going to blow tires because they were going way too hard on the right rear, so I just laid off and hoped that mine would stay up; thankfully it did."
Third place Kyle Cummins continued his impressive performances during "Winter Dirt Games VII" in the Hank Byram/Vincennes University - Tim Mason ReMax/Mach-1/Cummins number 3R, taking his third consecutive top-three finish in Ocala and extending his lead in the series point standings to 18 markers over Meseraull.
"It's been a really good week," Cummins exclaimed. "Every night we tried something different and we still have a good top-five car each night. The team is clicking and we're having fun. For a while there it became like a job to me. But I just try to go out and race and have a good time. We certainly want to win, but with finishes like that, we're going to start winning some. Once we do win, we'll have even more confidence and, I think, have a really good season."
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
PROSOURCE FAST QUALIFIER: Thomas Meseraull
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT WINNER: Kyle Cummins
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT WINNER: Justin Grant
BENIC ENTERPRISES THIRD HEAT WINNER: Brady Bacon
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT WINNER: Chad Boespflug
KSE HARD CHARGER: Jon Stanbrough
SCHROEDER/PAC SPRINGS 3RD PLACE FINISHER: Kyle Cummins
SCHOENFELD HEADERS 5TH PLACE FINISHER: Justin Grant
SCHROEDER/PAC SPRINGS 8TH PLACE FINISHER: Jon Stanbrough
TOP MAXIM FINISHER: Chris Windom
WILWOOD BRAKE SYSTEMS PASSING MASTER: Bryan Clauson
USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS:February 20, 2016 - Ocala, Florida - Bubba Raceway Park - "Winter Dirt Games VII"
PROSOURCE QUALIFYING: 1. Thomas Meseraull, 66, Amati-14.073; 2. Chase Stockon, 32, 32/TBI-14.149; 3. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-14.157; 4. Carson Short, 21, Short-14.174; 5. Bryan Clauson, 63, Dooling/Hayward-14.240; 6. Robert Ballou, 1, Ballou-14.269; 7. Kody Swanson, 71p, Phillips/Wolters-14.304; 8. Max McGhee, 17, McGhee-14.309; 9. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Byram-14.317; 10. Justin Grant, 5, Baldwin-14.322; 11. Dave Darland, 11, Walker/Curb-Agajanian-14.411; 12. Chad Boespflug, 98E, NineEight/EZR-14.442; 13. Mitch Wissmiller, 1w, Wissmiller-14.500; 14. Kent Schmidt, 5K, Schmidt-15.554; 15. Chris Windom, 21x, Pollock-14.557; 16. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-15.580; 17. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-14.601; 18. Aric Gentry, 10, GBR-14.632; 19. Shane Cottle, 2E, Epperson-14.658; 20. Brady Short, 17GP, Dutcher-14.706; 21. Kyle Robbins, 17R, Robbins-14.708; 22. Brandon Spithaler, 57B, Burkey-14.730; 23. Landon Simon, 24, LSR-14.773; 24. Jon Stanbrough, 81, Stanbrough-14.798; 25. Casey Shuman, 4J, Ottinger-14.848; 26. Tom Harris, 5E, East-14.878; 27. Matt Westfall, 38, Baumgartner-14.908; 28. Aaron Farney, 15F, Farney-15.156; 29. Bret Mellenberndt, 97, Mellenberndt-15.302; 30. Frank Carlsson, 20, Carlsson-15.339; 31. Lee Dakus, 75, DOW-15.611; 32. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-16.626.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Cummins, 2. Clauson, 3. Meseraull, 4. Andretti, 5. Wissmiller, 6. Robbins, 7. Mellenberndt, 8. Shuman. 2:04.24
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Grant, 2. Stockon, 3. Spithaler, 4. Ballou, 5. Gentry, 6. Schmidt, 7. Harris, 8. Carlsson. 2:03.00
BENIC ENTERPRISES THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Bacon, 2. Cottle, 3. Windom, 4. Darland, 5. Swanson, 6. Simon, 7. Westfall, 8. Dakus. NT
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Boespflug, 2. B. Short, 3. Stanbrough, 4. McGhee, 5. C. Short, 6. Farney, 7. Leary, 8. Bell. 2:04.86
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. C. Short, 2. Wissmiller, 3. Farney, 4. Swanson, 5. Leary, 6. Simon, 7. Harris, 8. Robbins, 9. Shuman, 10. Westfall, 11. Dakus, 12. Bell, 13. Mellenberndt, 14. Carlsson, 15. Schmidt, 16. Gentry. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Thomas Meseraull, 2. Chris Windom, 3. Kyle Cummins, 4. Chase Stockon, 5. Justin Grant, 6. Dave Darland, 7. Bryan Clauson, 8. Jon Stanbrough, 9. Carson Short, 10. C.J. Leary, 11. Robert Ballou, 12. Brady Bacon, 13. Jarett Andretti, 14. Chad Boespflug, 15. Aaron Farney, 16. Brandon Spithaler, 17. Max McGhee, 18. Shane Cottle, 19. Kody Swanson, 20. Landon Simon, 21. Mitch Wissmiller, 22. Brady Short. NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 McGhee, Laps 2-4 Ballou, Laps 5-17 Clauson, Laps 18-19 Meseraull, Laps 20-22 Clauson, Laps 23-28 McGhee, Lap 29 Grant, Lap 30 Meseraull.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Jon Stanbrough
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Cummins-227, 2-Meseraull-209, 3-Clauson-209, 4-Stockon-184, 5-Grant-184, 6-Bacon-178, 7-Ballou-174, 8-McGhee-163, 9-Darland-163, 10-Windom-162.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: April 2 - Lawrenceburg, Indiana - Lawrenceburg Speedway
BALLOU BANKS WINTER DIRT GAMES GOLD IN OCALA
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
Some might consider putting the #1 on a racecar in the year following a championship as a well-earned honor. On the other hand, some might consider it a curse.Defending series champion Robert Ballou quickly put the latter notion to rest by leading all 30 laps in his Ballou Motorsports/MPHG Promotions - Blakesley's Auto/Maxim/Ott to win night two of "Winter Dirt Games VII" in Friday night's USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship feature at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Florida.
The Rocklin, California driver started on the pole position, quickly jumping out to a sizable lead in the opening laps. Throughout the duration of the race, Ballou rarely encountered trouble, magnificently maneuvering through lapped traffic by the tenth lap. Just two laps later, a Kyle Robbins turn four spin ridded the leaders of traffic, supplying Ballou with an advantage on the lap 12 restart with the lapped car of Kent Schmidt sandwiched between him and second-running Brady Bacon at the green flag.
Bacon was Ballou's most serious threat in the early going, yet it was previous night's second place finisher Kyle Cummins riding the cushion around Bacon in turn two for the second spot on lap 14.
A flip by Jarett Andretti into turn one on lap 21 created one last restart with ten laps remaining. Cummins' left rear appeared to be low on air as the field prepared to come to the green and Bacon was quickly able to charge past Cummins to claim the second position.
Ballou's commanding lead quickly shrank as Bacon once again was looking at a clear racetrack through his visor. One last move by Bacon on Ballou coming out four to the checkered flag wasn't enough as Ballou earned his first victory of the year, beating Bacon, Cummins, Bryan Clauson and Dave Darland to the line at the finish.
Ballou tallied his 23rd career series win, tying him for 19th on the all-time USAC National Sprint Car win list with A.J. Foyt and Roger McCluskey.
"I thought we had a car that was capable of winning last (Thursday) night, but we forgot to put a bleeder in and it just kind of messed up the night," said Ballou who finished 10th in Thursday night's feature. We didn't point any fingers; we just kept digging. We put our heads down today and I said, 'it's a new night; we've got to start over; it's a long season.' We had to dig deep, but we hit everything where we needed to tonight."
Bacon, the 2014 series champ and a USAC Sprint feature winner in Ocala, Fla. one season ago, discovered during his run Friday night that the high side was the place to be.
"Before the next to last yellow, I tried the bottom and it just didn't work and Cummins got around me," admitted Bacon, the driver of the Dynamics, Inc./Mean Green - Lykins Oil/XXX/Williams Mopar. "But the next restart, I went back up top and was able to get back around him. I felt like I was better the first few laps after a restart than a couple of those guys, but everyone was pretty equal up on the top and that was pretty much the only option."
Third place finisher Cummins, who carries the series point lead into Saturday night's "Winter Dirt Games VII" finale, backed up his second place run on Thursday night with another podium finish in his Hank Byram/Vincennes University - Tim Mason ReMax/Mach-1/Cummins.
"I kind of found a different groove when I was chasing Robert and I'd catch him, but then lose him again," Cummins said. "This thing is right on the edge of being a handful to drive right now and we just haven't found a good setup to calm it down. We changed quite a bit from last night and it still acted sort of the same. Finishing third is alright, but we'll have to try some drastic stuff tomorrow to really get after it. We're fast. We just have to be better."
Friday night's contingency award winners included Max McGhee (ProSource Fast Qualifier & Simpson Race Products First Heat); Shane Cottle (Competition Suspension (CSI) Second Heat); Clauson (Benic Enterprises Third Heat & KSE Hard Charger); Brady Short (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat); Cummins (Schroeder/Pac Springs 3rd Place Finisher); Darland (Schoenfeld Headers 5th Place Finisher); Chris Windom (Schroeder/Pac Springs 8th Place Finisher); Ballou (Top Maxim Finisher).
USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS:February 19, 2016 - Ocala, Florida - Bubba Raceway Park - "Winter Dirt Games VII"
PROSOURCE QUALIFYING: 1. Max McGhee, 17, McGhee-13.771 (New Track Record); 2. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Byram-13.914; 3. Carson Short, 21, Short-13.979; 4. Chris Windom, 21x, Pollock-13.997; 5. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-14.040; 6. Dave Darland, 11, Walker/Curb-Agajanian-14.111; 7. Justin Grant, 5, Baldwin-14.115; 8. Robert Ballou, 1, Ballou-14.116; 9. Thomas Meseraull, 66, Amati-14.119; 10. Landon Simon, 24, LSR-14.152; 11. Aaron Farney, 15F, Farney-14.164; 12. Chase Stockon, 32, 32/TBI-14.171; 13. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-14.221; 14. Matt Westfall, 38, Baumgartner-14.290; 15. Kody Swanson, 71p, Phillips/Wolters-14.301; 16. Chad Boespflug, 98E, NineEight/EZR-14.307; 17. Jon Stanbrough, 81, Stanbrough-14.379; 18. Shane Cottle, 2E, Epperson-14.409; 19. Bryan Clauson, 63, Dooling/Hayward-14.476; 20. Brady Short, 17GP, 14.481; 21. Mitch Wissmiller, 1w, Wissmiller-14.491; 22. Tom Harris, 5E, East-14.500; 23. Kent Schmidt, 5K, Schmidt-15.508; 24. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-14.565; 25. Brandon Spithaler, 57B, Burkey-14.592; 26. Casey Shuman, 4J, Ottinger-14.636; 27. Kyle Robbins, 17R, Robbins-14.655; 28. Aric Gentry, 10, GBR-14.704; 29. Lee Dakus, 75, DOW-14.726; 30. Bret Mellenberndt, 97, Mellenberndt-14.949; 31. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-15.288; 32. Frank Carlsson, 20, Carlsson-15.640; 33. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-15.657.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. McGhee, 2. Stanbrough, 3. Andretti, 4. Bacon, 5. Spithaler, 6. Wissmiller, 7. Dakus, 8. Leary, 9. Meseraull. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Cottle. 2. Cummins, 3. Darland, 4. Simon, 5. Harris, 6. Shuman, 7. Mellenberndt, 8. Westfall. NT
BENIC ENTERPRISES THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Clauson, 2. Schmidt, 3. Swanson, 4. Grant, 5. C. Short, 6. Robbins, 7. Farney, 8. Bell. 1:57.93
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. B. Short, 2. Boespflug, 3. Ballou, 4. Stockon, 5. Windom, 6. Chapple, 7. Gentry, 8. Carlsson. 1:59.69
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Windom, 2. Meseraull, 3. C. Short, 4. Wissmiller, 5. Leary, 6. Robbins, 7. Farney, 8. Shuman, 9. Gentry, 10. Chapple, 11. Mellenberndt, 12. Dakus, 13. Harris, 14. Westfall, 15. Bell, 16. Spithaler, 17. Carlsson. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Robert Ballou, 2. Brady Bacon, 3. Kyle Cummins, 4. Bryan Clauson, 5. Dave Darland, 6. Justin Grant, 7. Thomas Meseraull, 8. Chris Windom, 9. Chad Boespflug, 10. Chase Stockon, 11. Max McGhee, 12. Carson Short, 13. Brady Short, 14. Shane Cottle, 15. Kody Swanson, 16. C.J. Leary, 17. Jon Stanbrough, 18. Casey Shuman, 19. Jarett Andretti, 20. Kyle Robbins, 21. Landon Simon, 22. Mitch Wissmiller, 23. Kent Schmidt. NT
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**Mellenberndt flipped during the semi. Andretti flipped on lap 21 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Ballou
KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Bryan Clauson
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Cummins-155, 2-Clauson-148, 3-Bacon-131, 4-McGhee-129, 5-Ballou-127, 6-Meseraull-127, 7-Bloespflug-118, 8-Grant-118, 9-Stockon-111, 10-Darland-103.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: February 20 - Ocala, FL - Bubba Raceway Park - "Winter Dirt Games VII"
