Archive for Short Track
HIRSCHMAN SWEEPS TURKEY DERBY MODIFIED RACES AT WALL SATURDAY
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Wall Stadium
WALL TOWNSHIP, N.J. ~ Throughout the 2016 season Matt Hirschman lived up to his nickname “Big Money Matt” by winning many of the high paying races he entered. The Northampton, Pa. resident did it again on Saturday at Wall Stadium Speedway by winning both the Tour Type Modified and Wall Modified feature races during Turkey Derby XLIII. These two wins are added to the “Woody’s 105” race victory that he enjoyed in the summer here.
Hirschman collected a combined $9,000 by sweeping the 150-lap Tour Type feature and the 100-lap SK Modified feature.
“It’s a career day! That’s the only way to put it. I’ve been doing it for probably five or six years,” Hirschman said. “I’ve won each race on different years, but never in the same day. It’s incredible! It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I know Jimmy (Blewett) has done it before; I don’t know if anybody else has.
“I’m not the first to do it but it’s something I’ve wanted.”
Things seemed to be going Hirschman’s way early in the Tour Type Modified race when he was promoted to the inside of row one as a result of pole sitter Steven Reed failing to make the grid with a broken transmission. Hirschman dominated the majority of the event but nearly got tripped up late when former Turkey Derby winner Eric Mauriello of Howell jumped to the lead. Hirschman returned the favor on the following restarting jumping to the front and never again being headed.
Mauriello, Blewett, Brick’s Ron Frees, who had converted his Wall Modified to a Tour Type car, and Earl Paules of Palmerton, Pa. completed the top five in the 26 car field.
Things were not as easy for Hirschman during the Wall Modified feature. After losing a lap in time trials for being light at the scales in tech, Hirschman started in 13th. With a pack of cars around him, Hirschman made what would turn into a race-winning move near lap 25.
“We didn’t start up where I would’ve liked to and we were in a position that I didn’t like,” he explained after the race. “I thought something was going to happen. I thought it might not be the winning strategy, but let’s bail out of here, put our tires on, and hope it cycles through.
“The very next restart is when they all wrecked in three and four, so I went from last to eighth. It worked out, definitely the right thing to do, I don’t know why I felt like doing it, but it was a good feeling. From there I ran the car hard and it stayed with me.”
With Hirschman closing on the leader Jimmy Blewett, Blewett made what could’ve been a race-winning move when he went down pit road with just over 11 laps to go for new tires. Restarting around tenth Blewett charged through the pack to second before running out of time to challenge for the win.
Blewett, Matawan’s Anthony Sesely, Danny Bohn, and Holmdel’s Andrew Krause were second through fifth.
Blewett did enjoy a Modified win on Saturday taking top honors in the Dirt Modified 50-lap feature race. Krause came on to challenge later in the test before finishing second. Jim Brit, Mickey Kessler and Joey Payne wrapped up the top five.
Joe Ryan Osborn was a happy winner in Saturday’s 30-lapper for the Legend Cars over Mike Alcaro. Richie Davidowitz, Kyle Ellwood and Joe Graf completed the top five. In Sunday’s Legend Cars 40-lapper Alcaro took the win as Davidowitz, Noah Korner, Brandon Martinez and Kevin Nowak completed the top five.
Matt Roselli won Saturday’s TQ Midget 30-lapper.
On Friday, day one of Turkey Derby, Blewett was a winner in a wreck filled 50-lapper for the Sportsman cars holding off Mayetta’s Tyler Truex and Brick’s Dom Fattaruso. Andrew Bohn and Matt Langbein were fourth and fifth.
Shanon Mongeau of Manchester won Friday’s Limited Late Model 45-lapper over Wayne Coury. Chris Turbish, John Vullo and Marc Rogers were third through fifth.
Brick’s Joe Mongeau won Friday’s 40-lapper for the Factory Stocks over a challenging Rob McCormick. Richie Byrne, Scott Riggleman and Ron Booth were third through fifth. Sunday’s 50-lapper saw Union’s Joey Helberg take the victory with Shanon Mongeau, Tom Rajkowski, Tim O’Shea and Scott Riggleman completing the top five
Also on Friday Beachwood’s Todd Pilla won the 4 Cylinder Stock main event. Darren Burdge chased him across the line for second, while Christian LaCicero, Jason Lane and Jeff Loesch posted top five finishes. Shanon Mongeau returned to win the 75-lap main event for the 4 Cylinder Stocks on Sunday. Robert Sutphin, Dan Birdsall, Lee Allen and Jay Conrad wrapped up the top five.
On Sunday, day three of Turkey Derby, the Dirt Sportsman cars saw action with Joey Payne taking the win over Rich Coons, Dakota Kessler and Chuck Stone. The Dirt Outlaw Stocks were also on Sunday’s card with Brick’s Ron Frees taking the win with Brian Ludwig, Jon Meyer, Billy Wroble and Michael Creamer filling out the top five.
Jeff Henry won the demolition derby, final event of the season.
With the Turkey Derby now compete the 2016 season at Wall Stadium is in the record books. All attention is now turning to the 2017 season with the first pre-season testing session set for April 15.
Wall Stadium is located on Route 34 in Wall Township, N.J., just one mile north of Garden State Parkway exit 98 and Interstate 195 exit 35B. The speedway hotline number is 732-681-6400, the website is wallspeedwayracing.com and email address is CKMotorsports@aol.com.
TURKEY DERBY RESULTS
TOUR TYPE MODIFIED FEATURE – 150 Laps – 1. MATT HIRSCHMAN, NORTHAMPTON, PA., 2. Eric Mauriello, 3. Jimmy Blewett, 4. Ron Frees, 5. Earl Paules, 6. Jimmy Zacharis, 7. Andrew Krause, 8. Anthony Sesely, 9. Shawn Solomito, 10. Less Hinckley, 11. Keith Rocco, 12. John Fortin, 13. Jamie Tomaino, 14. John Markovic, 15. Amber Fortin, 16. Justin Bonsignore, 17. Andy Jankowiak, 18. Tommy Catalano, 19. Jonathan Mandato, 20. Timmy Solomito, 21. Austin Kochenash, 22. Dave Sapienza, 23. Ken Darch, 24. Jason Treat, 25. Tyler Truex, 26. Jack Ely
DOWNS FORD MODIFIED FEATURE – 100 Laps – 1. MATT HARISCHMAN, NORTHAMPTON, PA., Jimmy Blewett, 3. Anthony Sesely, 4. Danny Bohn, 5. Andrew Krause, 6. Eric Mauriello, 7. Jason Hearne, 8. Shawna Ingraham, 9. Marc Rogers, 10. Dennis Perry, 11. Shaun Carrig, 12. Chris Lane, 13. Chris Reynolds, 14. Ken Matlach, 15. Trevor Alspach, 16. Jack Ely, 17. Vinnie Marone, 18. Steven Reed, 19. Adam LaCicero, 20. Ricky Collins, 21. Justin Gumley, 22. Derek Hopkinson, 23. Shanon Mongeau, 14. Mike Benevides, 25. Zack Alspach, 26. Kenny Van Wickle
DIRT MODIFIED FEATURE – 50 Laps – 1. JIMMY BLEWETT, HOWELL, 2. Andrew Krause, 3. Jim Britt, 4. Mickey Kessler, 5. Joey Payne, 6. Rich Coons, 7. Rob Anderton, 8. Charles Stone, 9. Aleia Geisler, 10. Brian Papiez, 11. Dakota Kessler, 12. Bucky Kell, 13. Kerry Irwin, 14. Jackie Brown, 15. Mark Levy
LEGEND CARS FEATURE – 30 Laps – Saturday - 1. JOE RYAN OSBORN, 2. Mike Alcaro, 3. Richie Davidowitz, 4. Kyle Ellwood, 5. Joe Graf, 6. Artie Pederson, 7. Brandon Martinez, 8. Kevin Nowak, 9. Mitchell Dowd, 10. Matt Maring, 11. Vinny Delaney, 12. Louie Keraitis, 13. Lowbed Johnson, 14. Chris Gall, 15. Brad VanHouten, 16. Glenn Corner, 17. Bryan Kelly, 18. Tony Hanbury, 19. Joe Fresco, 20. Kyle Dealaman, 21. Tony Colandro, 22. Eugene Drew, 23. Noah Korner, 24. Gillian Korner, 25. Pat Verwys, 26. DJ Doyle
LEGEND CARS FEATURE – 40 Laps – Sunday – 1. MIKE ALCARO, 2. Davidowitz, 3. Korner, 4. Martinez, 5. Nowak, 6. Dowd, 7. Graf, 8. Kelly, 9. Maring, 10. Keraitis, 11. Delaney, 12. Kyle Elwood, 13. Gall, 14. Gillion Kirkpatrick, 15. Pedersen, 16. VanHouton, 17. Dealaman, 18. Mike Marfeo, 19. Korner, 20. Colandro, 21. Hanbury, 22. Johnson, 23. Joey Lembo, 24. Joe Fresco, 25. Joe Mafeo, DQ Joe Ryan Osborn
LIMITED LATE MODEL FEATURE – 45 Laps – 1. SHANON MONGEAU, MANCHESTER, 2. Wayne, Coury, 3. Chris Turbish, 4. John Vullo, 5. Marc Rogers, 6. Daryn Miller, 7. Joe Mancuso, 8. Brandon Turbish, 9. Mike Tillett, 10. Ricky Collins, 11. Jim Moorman, 12. Andy Gamble, 13. Anthony Hillard, 14. Ray Minieri, 15. Rick Kopf, 16. Brian Doyle, 17. Charles Macwhinnie
SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 50 Laps – 1. JIMMY BLEWETT, HOWELL, 2. Tyler Truex, 3. Dom Fattaruso, 4. Andrew Bohn, 5. Matt Langbein, 6. CJ Lehman, 7. Blake Barney, 8. Michael Carr, 9. Robert Silver, 10. Joe Graf, 11 Jonathan Laureigh, 12. Kenny Van Wickle, 13. Roland DeMartino, 14. Chris Owsik, 15. Jarret DiGiantomasso, 16. Robert Sutphin, 17. Jake Nelke, 18. Jon Meyer, 19. Bill McNeil, 20. Jimmy Wolcott, 21. Kevin Davison, 22. Eric lane, 23. Dom Casola, 24. Robby Walton, 25. Donnie Ericson, 26. Kenny Green
4 CYLINDER STOCK FEATURE – 40 Laps – 1. RODD PILLA, BEACHWOOD, 2. Darren Burdge, 3. Christian LaCicero, 4. Jason Lane, 5. Jeff Loesch, 6. TJ Graves, 7. Tom Lalomia, 8. Lee Allen, 9. Chuck McDonald, 10. Jimmy Avery, 11. Richard Smith, 12. Jim Sturtecky, 13. JC Duvall, 14. Dan Birdsall, 15. Ronnie Mullen, 16. Bobby Woch, 17. Brian Osborn, 18. Darianne McLaren, 19. Frank Ciancitto
FACTORY STOCK FEATURE – 40 Laps – Friday – 1. JOE MONGEAU, BRICK, 2. Rob McCormick, 3. Richie Byrne, 4. Scott Riggleman, 5. Ron Booth, 6. Ryan Flores, 7. Bill Stockert, 8. Tim O’Shea, 9. Gerry Koenig, 10. Tom Rajkowski, 11. Joey Helberg, 12. Scott Maher, 13. John Carpenter, 14. Tim Majik, 15. Eric Bodenschatz, 16. Steve West, 17. Mike Montano, 18. Waylon Speer, 19 Tommy Casagrande, 20 Josh Matthews, 21. Elliott Wohl, 22. Whitey Miller
FACTORY STOCK FEATURE – 50 Laps – Sunday – 1. Joey Helberg, Union, 2. Shanon Mongeau, 3. Rajkowski, 4. O’Shea, 5. Riggleman, 6. Stockert, 7. West, 8. Booth, 9. Maher, 10. Byrne, 11. Matthews, 12. Chris Felber, 13. Koenig, 14. Wohl, 15. Carpenter, 16. Rob Haberstick, 17. Joe Mongeau, 18. Waylon Speer, 19. Montano
DIRT OUTLAW STOCK FEATURE – 25 Laps – Sunday - 1. RON FREES, BRICK, 2. Brian Ludwig, 3. Jon Meyer, 4. Billy Wroble, 5. Michael Creamer, 6. Tom Wills, 7. Dan Collamer, 8. Spider Ensinger, 9. Todd, Dige, 10. Darren Cox, 11. Jack Beaumont
DIRT SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 12 Laps – 1. Joey Payne, 2. Rich Coons, 3. Dakota Kessler, 4. Chuck Stone
LARSON CARVES UP TURKEY NIGHT WIN #2; THORSON TASTES FIRST USAC NATIONAL MIDGET TITLE
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The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
LARSON CARVES UP TURKEY NIGHT WIN #2; THORSON TASTES FIRST USAC NATIONAL MIDGET TITLE
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Ventura, California November 24, 2016 - On the rare occasion that Kyle Larson gets the chance to take the wheel of a midget these days, he certainly makes each opportunity count.
On Thursday night in the centerpiece of the USAC National and Western States Midget calendar, Larson cooked up one of his patented performances, holding off a furious late-race rally from early leader Brady Bacon to win his second career "Turkey Night Grand Prix" in the 76th running of the prestigious event at California's Ventura Raceway.
Larson, of Elk Grove, Calif., started from the outside of the front row in his Keith Kunz - Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/Bullet/Speedway Toyota alongside Bacon. Larson fought his way to the lead on lap 21 with a turn two outside pass of Bacon. Larson then navigated through numerous bouts with lapped traffic as Bacon rapidly closed to mount a serious challenge on Larson for the victory in the final laps. Larson weathered the storm and sped off to grab the 0.303 second victory over Bacon, Carson Macedo, Rico Abreu and Damion Gardner.
Larson became the 18th driver to win "Turkey Night" twice during his career and also joins Mel Kenyon, Ron Shuman, Stan Fox, Billy Boat and Dave Darland as one of six drivers to claim a "Turkey Night" victory at two different tracks after also winning in 2012 at Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway.
"I had a good qualifying run and started second," Larson explains. "I was able to get by Brady (Bacon) fairly early and got through traffic. I tried the bottom early on, but it still felt like the top was better, so I went back to the top. I could see he was closing in on me a little bit more on the bottom and I knew I just had to get around that one lapper. I was running the top and could see Brady running to my inside. I knew eventually I'd have to get down to the bottom and I knew if I could clear him, I could run a better pace around the bottom. As soon as I cleared the lapper, I got down just in time to hold onto the lead. Once I cleared him, I ran the bottom even though I still went to the top a couple times in (turns) three and four and Brady was still right there. The white flag was not too far after that. A 98-lap race is a long time, but it felt pretty short for me."
A successful NASCAR Cup season that saw Larson score his first career series victory at Michigan in August concluded with the 14th win of his USAC National Midget career on a playground that he doesn't get to visit as much any longer, but cherishes every opportunity he gets.
"I enjoy running on the dirt every chance I get since I don't get to do it a whole lot anymore," Larson admits. Anytime I can do it, run up front and get wins, it's a lot of fun. I can't wait for the rest of the offseason, so I can run some more stuff on the dirt and get some more wins."
A melting pot of 52 midget drivers from coast-to-coast filled the pit area at Ventura in the event's largest car count since Larson's first victory in 2012.
The event was whittled to 29 for the 98-lapper at the one-fifth-mile dirt oval by the beach, but the action was quickly halted with Gage Walker's flip on the first corner of the first lap. He walked away unscathed.
Following the complete restart, Bacon and the FMR Racing/Beast/Toyota backed up the speed shown by recording the fastest laps in two of the three sessions in Wednesday night's practice and Thursday's ProSource/Woodland Auto Display fastest qualifier, proving to be the strongest combination early on after rocketing away to a half-straightaway lead.
By the 13th lap, Bacon was steadfast on the bottom as Larson made waves up on the cush. After slipstreaming through Bacon's wake, Larson charges right to the tail of the leader. On lap 21, Larson ripped around the outside of Bacon in turn two for the race lead. As the pair entered turn three, Larson slanted down from the top, cutting in front of the nose of Bacon just before the apex of the turn to take the bottom line, and the race lead, away just prior to meeting the tail-end of lapped traffic.
Meanwhile, the table was set for a heated battle for the USAC National Midget title. Separated by a mere nine markers coming into "Turkey Night," point leader Tanner Thorson ran eighth and teammate Spencer Bayston 11th just prior to the midway point.
On lap 42, Bayston and Frankie Guerrini were involved in a turn four tangle. The move was disastrous for Bayston as he lost pivotal track position that relegated him to the 23rd position for the restart.
Larson appeared to establish himself in a class of his own as he built his very own half-straightaway lead. However, multiple yellow flag periods would evaporate those leads. With 26 laps to go, Larson and Bacon, running one-two, were separated by the lapped car of Holly Shelton on the restart. It would take a couple of laps before Bacon would manage to slip by Shelton, using a turn one slide job on lap 74 to put Larson back within a clear view of out of the Broken Arrow, Oklahoma's helmet visor.
Larson went topside while Bacon remained on the chalk-lined bottom berm as the two entered the green room of lapped traffic. Bacon steadily reeled in Larson, but swiftly as Larson went high, low, anywhere he could go to find daylight.
With seven laps remaining, Bacon edged ahead of Larson on the bottom for the lead, briefly, off turn two. Yet, Larson found an avenue back to the front moments later by sneaking back down to the bottom in front of the lapped car of Nick Chivello to create separation between he and second-running Bacon.
With three laps remaining, Larson and Bacon swapped lines with Larson now down low and Bacon up top. Bacon appeared to have found the top to his liking soon after, but was unable to get off the corners as strongly as Larson who commandeered the point as Bacon lost precious ground.
Larson withstood a heady drive by Bacon, the two-time USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car champ, to seal the deal in the final laps for his second USAC National Midget win of the year in just his third start.
Minden, Nevada's Thorson would leave the "Turkey Night Grand Prix" a happy man for the second straight Thanksgiving night after winning last season's diamond jubilee. By virtue of his sixth-place finish in his Keith Kunz - Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/TRD - JBL Audio/Bullet/Speedway Toyota in Thursday night's feature, the 20-year-old Thorson was crowned as 2016 USAC National Midget champion.
"I went into this race set on winning," Thorson assured. "I didn't think about points all year until this race, so I wasn't trying to make it a big deal to myself because it can get you worked up and it doesn't allow you to perform your best. I just went out there to win the race."
Thorson's teammate and fellow championship combatant Bayston recovered from a spin just before halfway to finish ninth after restarting from the tail. It was an impressive feat in its own right to respond to adversity, but it would not warrant enough points for Bayston to surpass Thorson who became the first Nevada native to claim the series title.
"I saw Spencer get tangled up and it was really unfortunate," Thorson recalls. "You never want to see a teammate go out like that. It was unfortunate for him, but it worked in our favor. This whole team and our sponsors are what make this deal what it is. We have two of the best in the business in Keith (Kunz) and Big Al (Scroggins) who always put awesome cars underneath us."
"I came really close to getting the job done last year, but we came up a little bit short," Thorson adds. "This year, we were able to get it done even though we didn't start the season the way we wanted. I remember we were leading the first race during 'Indiana Midget Week' at Montpelier and popped a right rear tire. A few races later, we had an issue at 'The Ditch' (West Memphis, Ark.) and all that led to a not-so-great stretch. I didn't think that we were going to be able to get the job done after those issues. Suddenly, though, we just started clicking. Every time I went out onto the track, I had an awesome car which allowed me to win a lot of races this year. That's really the only thing that saved me this year. We got wins and stayed consistent after 'Midget Week' and it allowed us to get the job done. It's pretty incredible to be the champion. I'm speechless!"
Thirteenth-place finisher Ronnie Gardner would be the first to tell you that his 'Turkey Night' didn't go as well as he had hoped, but despite that one aberration, it was yet another banner season for the Corona, California native who became the first driver in the history of the USAC Western States Midget series to win four consecutive series championships in his Six8 Motorsports/Baldozier Racing - Esslinger Engineering/Stewart/Esslinger.
"My mom and Sleepy Tripp's wife are really good friends," Gardner explains. "I grew up idolizing Sleepy with what he accomplished on the west coast and across the United States in a midget. It's a pretty big deal to actually beat one of his records."
"I was a little disappointed," Gardner laments about Thursday night's race. "I thought we'd stack up a little better, but we kind of went outside the box tonight just trying to be better than we were, but we missed a little bit. I messed up qualifying and that put us mid-pack at the start and that hurt us in the race. Starting from the middle of the field against this competition makes it hard to get up to the front."
Award winners Thursday night at Ventura Raceway included Brady Bacon (ProSource/Woodland Auto Display/Jason Leffler Memorial Fast Qualifier), Jake Swanson (KSE Racing Products/Keizer Wheels/Rod End Supply Hard Charger), Kyle Larson (Light Up the World Beverages Feature Winner) and Carson Macedo (Don Basile Rookie of the Race).
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USAC NATIONAL/WESTERN STATES MIDGET SERIES RACE RESULTS: November 24, 2016 - Ventura Raceway - Ventura, California - 76th "Turkey Night Grand Prix"
PROSOURCE/WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Brady Bacon, 76m, FMR-12.277; 2. Kyle Larson, 71w, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.356; 3. Carson Macedo, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.378; 4. Shane Golobic, 17w, Wood-12.387; 5. Michael Faccinto, 35F, MF-12.425; 6. Damion Gardner, 4k, Klatt-12.458; 7. Gage Walker, 7, Walker-12.460; 8. Rico Abreu, 97k, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.476; 9. Cory Elliott, 11E, Elliott-12.543; 10. Tanner Thorson, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.575; 11. Kevin Thomas Jr., 73T, Ford-12.592; 12. Spencer Bayston, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.595; 13. Ryan Bernal, 73, Ford-12.602; 14. Ronnie Gardner, 68, Six8-12.608; 15. Jake Swanson, 17, Swanson-12,614; 16. Colton Hardy, 4H, Lesher-12.624; 17. Michael Pickens, 25p, Rodela-12.639; 18. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 27, Klaasmeyer-12.654; 19. Tyler Nelson, 47, Mason-12.662; 20. Chad Boat, 84, Tucker/Boat-12.682; 21. Courtney Crone, 25, Rodela-12.712; 22. Jake Hagopian, 14, Hagopian-12.715; 23. Cory Kruseman, 21k, Kruseman-12.721; 24. David Prickett, 122Q, Nichols/Neverlift-12.733; 25. Ryan Greth, 4, Lesher-12.746; 26. Danny Ebberts, 5, Van Dyne-12.754; 27. Holly Shelton, 67k, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.764; 28. Terry Nichols, 1P, Nichols-12.786; 29. Katlynn Leer, 77K, Leer-12.819; 30. Randi Pankratz, 8, Pankratz-12.827; 31, Nick Chivello, 17k, Morris-12.833; 32. Robert Dalby, 4D, Dalby-12.836; 33. Robby Josett, 2, Josett-12.851; 34. Ryan Robinson, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.852; 35. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-12.879; 36. Austin Brown, 7B, Brown-12.887; 37. Shon Deskins, 20, Deskins-12.960; 38. Maria Cofer, 57, Cofer-12.984; 39. Austen Figueroa, 49jr, Bach-13.024; 40. Tyler Seavey, 88, Arata-13.059; 41. Chris Ennis, 288, Ennis-13.061; 42. Kyle Smith, 55, Smith-13.071; 43. Zac Taylor, 12k, Kruseman-13.082; 44. Frankie Guerrini, 63, Guerrini-13.082; 45. Nate Wait, 35w, MF-13.097; 46. Tyler Dolacki, 18, Dolacki-13.110; 47. Dylan Ito, 73F. Ford-13.199; 48. Tim Barber, 3T, Finkenbinder-13.233; 49. Tony Everhart, 5T, Everhart-13.319; 50. Kirk Kubik, 32, Kubik-14.223; 51. Bryan Drollinger, 71D, Drollinger-NT; 52. Troy Rutherford, 73x, Ford-NT.
FIRST QUALIFIER: (12 laps) 1. Bernal. 2. Pickens, 3. J.Swanson, 4. Crone, 5. Kruseman, 6. Greth, 7. Chivello, 8. Josett, 9. Shelton, 10. Johnson, 11. Nelson, 12. Deskins, 13. Leer, 14. Taylor, 15. Ito, 16. Figueroa, 17. Ennis, 18. Everhart, 19. Wait. NT
SECOND QUALIFIER: (12 laps) 1. Boat, 2. R.Gardner, 3. Robinson, 4. Klaasmeyer, 5. Dalby, 6. Prickett, 7. Hardy, 8. Dolacki, 9. Guerrini, 10. Barber, 11. Smith, 12. Ebberts, 13. Pankratz, 14. Nichols, 15. Brown, 16. Seavey, 17. Hagopian. 18. Cofer. NT
LAST CHANCE QUALIFIER: (15 laps) 1. Josett, 2. Kruseman, 3. Guerrini, 4. Chivello, 5. Dalby, 6. Dolacki, 7. Nelson, 8. Smith, 9. Ebberts, 10. Deskins, 11. Barber, 12. Johnson, 13. Hardy, 14. Prickett, 15. Shelton, 16. Greth. NT
LIGHT UP THE WORLD BEVERAGES FEATURE: (98 laps) 1. Kyle Larson, 2. Brady Bacon, 3. Carson Macedo, 4. Rico Abreu, 5. Damion Gardner, 6. Tanner Thorson, 7. Shane Golobic, 8. Jake Swanson, 9. Spencer Bayston, 10. Cory Elliott, 11. Kevin Thomas Jr., 12. Ryan Bernal, 13. Ronnie Gardner, 14. Holly Shelton, 15. Chad Boat, 16. Ryan Robinson, 17. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 18. Robert Dalby, 19. Maria Cofer, 20. Robby Josett, 21. Tyler Dolacki, 22. Courtney Crone, 23. Nick Chivello, 24. Frankie Guerrini, 25. Michael Faccinto, 26. Michael Pickens, 27. Randi Pankratz, 28. Cory Kruseman, 29. Gage Walker. NT
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**Ennis flipped during the first qualifier. Greth flipped during the second qualifier. Hardy flipped during the second qualifier. Walker flipped on lap 1 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-20 Bacon, Laps 21-98 Larson.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS/KEIZER WHEELS/ROD END SUPPLY HARD CHARGER: Jake Swanson (17th to 8th)
DON BASILE "ROOKIE OF THE RACE:" Carson Macedo (3rd)
FINAL USAC NATIONAL MIDGET POINTS: 1-Thorson-1,249, 2-Bayston-1,231, 3-Bacon-1,202, 4-Boat-1,162, 5-Macedo-1,126, 6-Robinson-1,003, 7-Shelton-847, 8-Bryan Clauson-720, 9-Tyler Thomas-714, 10-Greth-582.
FINAL USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET POINTS: 1-R. Gardner-1,042, 2-Faccinto-873, 3-Elliott-835, 4-Guerrini-772, 5-Crone-713, 6-Cofer-610, 7-Dalby-609, 8-Pankratz-596, 9-Cody Swanson-564, 10-Dolacki-498.
FINAL WALL STADIUM TURKEY DERBY ADVANCE RELEASE
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DATE OF EVENTS: November 25, 26 and 27, 2016
DATE OF RELEASE: November 21, 2015
CONTACT: Jeff Gravatt
LARGE FIELDS EXPECTED FOR WALL STADIUM TURKEY DERBY
WALL TOWNSHIP, N.J. ~ If the overflowing number of cars that were in the Wall Stadium Speedway pit area for the two pre-race practice sessions are any indication, the 43rd running of the Turkey Derby stock car classic at Wall Stadium Speedway could feature a record setting field in both quality and quantity. The event is presented on Friday, Saturday and Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend during the daylight hours.
Among the Tour Type Modified standouts expressing interest in the annual classic are Matt Hirschman of Northampton, Pa., Jackson’s Steven Reed, Austin Kochenash of Danielsville, Pa., Dave Sapienza of Riverhead, N.Y., Howell speedster Eric Mauriello, Shaun Carrig of Little Falls, Les Hinkley of Windsor Locks, Ct., Holmdel’s Andrew Krause, Earl Paules of Palmertown, Pa. and Long Island racers Amber Fortin and Kenny Darch. Also planning to compete in Tour Type Modified action are Matawan’s Anthony Sesely, Jamie Tomaino of Howell, Brick’s Ron Frees, Tommy Catalano of Ontario, N.Y., Howell’s Jimmy Blewett, John Markovic of Bethlehem, Pa., Jonathan Mandato of Toms River and Freehold’s Chas Okerson. More entries are expected during the final two days leading up to the race.
The speedway’s own Downs Ford Modifieds will also be well represented by both local favorites and invaders. Ken Matlach of New Hyde Park, N.Y., Jason Hearne of New Egypt, Brick’s Marc Rogers, Dennis Perry of Pawcatwak, Ct., Derek Stachecki of South Harbor, N.Y., Buffalo, N.Y.’s Andy Jankowiak, Mike Benevides of Westerly, R.I., Howell’s Chris Lane, Derek Hopkinson of Toms River, Wall’s Jack Ely, Ricky Collins of Willow Grove, Pa. and Keith Rocco of Norwalk, Ct. are all reportedly planning to compete in the Wall Modified 100-lap feature. Howell’s Chris Reynolds, brothers Zack and Trevor Alspach, both of Willingboro, Shawna Ingraham of Brick, Adam LaCicero of Lavallette, Jackson’s Jason Treat and Manasquan’s Kenny Van Wickle also plan to be in the field.
Reed, Okerson, Sesely, Krause, Hirschman, Blewett, Mauriello, Carrig and Mandato are among those contemplating competition in both pavement type Modified races. In fact, both Blewett and Krause plan extra duty as they are also planning to compete in the Dirt Modified feature race. A healthy field of Dirt Modifieds has practiced during the two tune-up sessions.
In fact, each division that will compete in Turkey Derby action was well represented at both practice sessions indicating that large fields will be on hand for every class.
On Friday, November 25, day one of Turkey Derby, pit area gates will open at 6:30 a.m., practice will begin at 8:30 a.m. and grandstand seating will open at 9:30 a.m. Qualifying is set for 12:15 p.m. with feature racing scheduled to start at 2:00 p.m. The Snap-on Sportsman cars will compete in a 50-lap main event, the Elite Maintenance Limited Late Models will battle in a 50-lapper, the O’Shea’s Auto Repair Factory Stocks and the Surf Side Collision 4 Cylinder Stocks will each battle in 40-lap races.
On Saturday, November 26, the pit area will again open at 6:30 a.m. with practice at 8:30 a.m. and grandstands opening at 9:30 a.m. Qualifying will start at 11:00 a.m. with main events set for 1:00 p.m. The Tour Type Modifieds are set for a 150-lap, $5,000 to win feature race while the speedway’s Down Ford Modifieds will compete in a 100-lap feature race that offers $4,000 to the winner. Dirt Modifieds will also be on the Saturday card in a 50-lap feature and the Green Flag Driving Experience Legends cars will compete in a 30-lapper. The TQ Midgets will race on the inner oval in a 30-lap race.
The Turkey Derby weekend will then wrap up on Sunday, November 27, with pit gates opening at 10:00 a.m., practice starting at 11:00 a.m., qualifying at noon and main events set for 1:00 p.m. The Legend Cars will be competing in a 40-lapper and the Factory Stocks will race in a 50-lapper. The 4 Cylinder Stocks are set for a 75-lapper on Sunday while the Dirt Outlaw Stocks and the Dirt Sportsman cars have been added this season in 25-lap main events. A Demolition Derby will cap off Sunday’s action.
Among special awards offered for the weekend will be the Larsen Brothers Memorial Fast Time Award for both the Tour and Wall Modified divisions. The fast qualifier in each division will pocket $200.
A special commemorative Turkey Derby 43 sweatshirt will be available during the weekend and fans are reminded to bring small headset type radios to listen to the live call of the race events over the track’s 90.1 FM frequency. Campers are welcome but they are urged to call the speedway office prior to the event to make mandatory reservations.
Turkey Derby rules, registration forms, ticket purchase forms and more detailed information are all available on the speedway website at wallspeedwayracing.com.
Wall Stadium Speedway is located on Route 34 in Wall Township, N.J., just one mile north of Garden State Parkway exit 98 and Interstate 195 exit 35B. The speedway hotline number is 732-681-6400 and email address is CKMotorsports@aol.com.
MORE NEWS FROM INDOOR AUTO RACING SERIES OPENING AT TRENTON, NJ ARENA
Posted by: | CommentsNEWS FROM LEN SAMMONS MOTORSPORTS PRODUCTIONS
INDOOR AUTO RACING EVENTS AT TRENTON, ALLENTOWN, AND ATLANTIC CITY
PROMOTER: Len Sammons (609)888-3618
MEDIA CONTACT: Ernie Saxton Communications, Inc.
Esaxton144@aol.com – EMAIL ---- 267.934.7286 – Ernie’s CELL PHONE
News release written by Steve Barrick
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ALL NEW BJF-ENGINEERED THREE QUARTER MIDGET TO DEBUT AT BATTLE OF TRENTON INDOOR RACE EVENTS DEC. 9-10, 2017
TRENTON, NJ November 18, 2017 . . . A newly engineered Three Quarter (TQ) Midget built by BJF of West Valley, N.Y., wrenched by veteran TQ team owner Blu Metz and driven by Metz’s ace Geoffrey Sutton, is ready to take on the favored Mark Lafler-built cars that have dominated the Len Sammons Motorsports Productions (LSMP) Indoor Auto Racing Championship Series Fueled By VP Racing Fuels.
The LSMP Indoor Auto Racing Series starts with the Friday and Saturday, December 9-10 Sun National Bank Center events in Trenton, N.J.
The car, built by Jim Fleischman in western New York, is evolutionary, rather than revolutionary.
Dimension Design, the Brodheadsville, Pa., firm owned by Gary Mondschein, where Metz is employed, has run design models of the car and some of those ideas have been incorporated in the finished product.
“This is not a clean sheet of paper car,” Metz stressed. “There has been research and development that has been taken from some of the existing TQ chassis, including the Trey Hoddick car,” Metz said. “Some of my own ideas are part of the design.”
Sutton will drive the BJR TQ in its first competitive start at Wall Stadium's Turkey Derby over Thanksgiving Weekend.
The man Sutton and the new BJF car and all others will have to work overtime to defeat is Erick Rudolph. Rudolph, of Ransomville. N.Y. won last year’s TQ Battle of Trenton and the Indoor Auto Racing Championship Fueled By VP Racing series 2015-2016 championship.
As a special preview of the 2016-2017 Indoor Racing Series, general admission tickets for Friday’s opening night have been priced at just $10 for adults and $7 for children.
The ultra-quick TQ Midgets will headline both Friday’s opening night and Saturday’s “Battle Of Trenton” feature event finale as part of the Indoor Auto Racing Championship Series Fueled by VP Racing Fuels.
The TQ Midgets are lightweight high-tech race cars powered by 750cc Motorcycle engines that achieve speeds upward of 75 mph when driven by professional race car drivers from eight states and Canada.
The Friday night race program, which begins at 7:30 PM, consists of 60 TQ Midgets split into three 20-lap Qualifier races. A complete program of heat races and feature event for the Champ Karts is also on the schedule. Attendees can get a close up look at a TQ Midgets at Fan Zone located on the concourse.
Top drivers and Ms. Motorsports 2016 Arynne Moody will be making an appearance at Fan Zone offering autographs and photos free of charge.
On Saturday the “Battle Of Trenton” 40 lap feature event will be held after a series of qualifying events for the TQ Midgets. The always popular and wild Slingshots will also be part of this program sponsored by Oliver Communications in Bordentown, N.J. and Pete & Elda’s Bar in Neptune City. N.J.
Rudolph outraced a feature event field of 24 drivers to win the top prize last year. Sixty entrants will seek to stymie Rudolph’s repeat victory bid.
Tickets for Saturday’s races are available starting at $17 for adults and $7 for children. Fan Fest will be held inside the speedway one hour prior to the 7 PM starting time. The entire field of race cars competing on Saturday will be on display during Fan Fest and drivers will be available for free autographs and photos by their cars.
The Trenton race is part one of a three-race Indoor Series. Other races are scheduled for December 30-31 at PPL Center in downtown Allentown, Pa., and at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., on January 27-28, 2017.
Trenton Indoor Race tickets are available online at sunnationalbankcenter.com or by phone at 1-800-298-4200. Tickets may also be purchased at the Sun National Bank Center Box Office on Monday through Friday from 10am until 5:30 PM and on Saturday from 12 Noon through 4 PM
Event and promotional sponsorship information is available at www. aarn.com or by phoning 609-888-3618.
ERNIE SAXTON COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
Public Relations, Sponsorship Consultant
Publisher: Motorsports Sponsorship Marketing News
Award winning motorsports journalist
www.saxtonsponsormarket.com
215.752.7797 & 267.934.7286-Esaxton144@aol.com
Esaxton144@aol.com
GARDNER GRABS $25 GRAND; TAKES “OVAL NATIONALS” WIN #3 AT THE PAS
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
GARDNER GRABS $25 GRAND;TAKES "OVAL NATIONALS" WIN #3 AT THE PAS
Perris, California November 12, 2016 - On a night in which he had been awarded the hardware of a hard-earned USAC/CRA AMSOIL Sprint Car season title, Damion Gardner collected the biggest single-night reward of his championship season - a $25,000 check and the addition of his name to the list of the only three-time winners in the 21-year history of the Budweiser "Oval Nationals" presented by All Coast Construction at Perris Auto Speedway.
Gardner, of Concord, California, trailed for all of one half-straightaway Saturday night before retaking the lead from Richard Vander Weerd on the back straightaway with 13 laps remaining and cruising to a one-second victory in his Mark Alexander/Scott Sales Company - Weld Racing/Spike/J & D.
Gardner, who also won in 2009 and 2011, joined Bud Kaeding and Dave Darland as the only drivers to capture an "Oval Nationals" crown for a third-time in the richest dirt-track race in the state of California. Furthermore, Gardner kept the Eagle trophy in the hands of a USAC/CRA regular for the first time since Mike Spencer in 2012.
"We worked together really well tonight," Gardner said. "We made some big decisions tonight and did some different things and, ultimately, that's what won us the race. I looked at the track and knew it was going to be middle/bottom. I just didn't know if the top would come late. I knew it would slow down enough on the bottom that the top would come late, but I just wasn't sure when. It's tough being out front for 40 laps because you just don't know where to go. On the same hand, running second or third is tough when you have one of these guys running out front. Getting to them and getting around them is a tough task. I knew I was pretty fast and I knew it was slowing down, but I was getting really good runs off the corner. They gave me a good car and, everywhere it went, it worked. Mark and Steve (Alexander) always talk about having bad luck at the 'Oval Nationals' and I wanted to be the one to turn it around for them. That meant a lot to me."
Bad luck plagued Gardner throughout the early portion of the USAC/CRA schedule. It wasn't until late August when Gardner finally broke through for his first triumph of the season. Prior to this year's campaign, the latest Gardner has gone through a season as a full-time USAC/CRA competitor before scoring his first win was mid-April of 2013, but despite the setback, Gardner and the Alexanders persevered to win five races in the final two-and-a-half months of the season to take their fourth consecutive series title together as a team.
"Mark and Steve and everybody on the team have stuck together and kept digging," a prideful Gardner said. "It's been a tough season, not because we haven't been fast, but because we've had to go to the back I don't know how many times and it wasn't because of our doings. Maybe a couple of them, but we always managed to fight back and have a decent finish. We missed the first race, but we battled back and those guys stuck with me. I knew we could do it, but to win the championship and the 'Oval Nationals' in one year is huge."
In a battle of supremacy between USAC's CRA and National Sprint Car divisions in the season finales for both series, two west coast regulars - Brody Roa and Gardner - occupied the front row for the highest-paying National event on the USAC calendar.
Gardner got the best of Roa on the opening lap as he used the inside line on the back straight to surge ahead before sliding up in front of Roa at the exit of four to take the top spot.
On the second lap, Roa slapped the concrete with the right-side tires on the back straightaway, scrubbing off enough speed to allow Vander Weerd to get by for second.
Following a lap eight yellow flag for Josh Hodges' contact with the wall between turns one and two, the front of the field settled into a groove in the middle of the racetrack, but Vander Weerd peeked at the topside of turns one and two, nearly making it work to his advantage. Gardner hammered the throttle, pointed his front wheels to the sky and shot out in front of Vander Weerd to retain the lead.
Near the midway point, Gardner and the rest of the front runners met the tail-end of lapped traffic. Second-running Vander Weerd and third-place Roa managed to catch Gardner as he became hung up in the gridlock. But, on lap 28, Vander Weerd slipped under Gardner between the first and second turn to spurt to the lead. Gardner instantly countered to the inside of Vander Weerd off turn two to blast back to the front of the pack.
Lappers continued to be a bear, but a lap 33 caution for the slowing car of Chris Gansen gave the front of the field a clear sight ahead for the eight-lap shootout to the finish. However, Gardner could not be contained in the final laps as he distanced himself from second-running Vander Weerd. Although, the surging Chris Windom made a late charge on the cushion to spring from fourth to second past Roa and Vander Weerd on the final lap to grab second.
Meanwhile, up ahead, Gardner took the checkered flag for his first USAC National win since 2012 as well as his record-extending 70th career USAC/CRA victory by 1.040 seconds over Windom, Vander Weerd, Roa and 2016 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car champion Brady Bacon.
Chris Windom, of Canton, Illinois, took the runner-up spot in his Baldwin Brothers Racing/Fox Paving - AMSOIL/DRC/Claxton Mopar, finishing off a historic run of results that never saw him finish outside the top-six in any USAC National points-paying race through the last four months of the season.
"I found that line late," Windom admits. "I wish I would've found it a few laps sooner; I think we might've had a shot at it at the end. But Derek Claxton is the best crew chief in the country. He works his butt off every night and so does Billy (Grace). We've been rolling the last half of the year really well. It's unfortunate the season's over; I'd like to keep it going. We'll start back up strong going into Florida next year."
Visalia, California's Richard Vander Weerd led briefly coming out of turn two on lap 28, but in the end, settled for a solid third-place run to follow up Friday night's runner-up finish in his Ron Vander Weerd/Vander Weerd Construction - Stone Gate Development/Maxim/Shark.
"I knew we were in a tough position and I knew it was going to be a hard track to pass on," Vander Weerd explained. "We were able to get to second right at the start. Brody (Roa) pushed a little bit on the first corner and we got around him and then Brady (Bacon) and that got us into second. We just followed Damion (Gardner) for most of the first 30 laps, then I got underneath him and he crossed me back over coming off the top of the corner. He had a little more speed down the back straightaway and he got back underneath me, but I knew lapped traffic would come into play and I knew that was the only way we were going to get back by him. We stayed right with him, but those yellows hurt us. We just got so tight toward the end and, on the last lap, I could hear somebody coming behind me. I thought Chris (Windom) was coming on the inside, but I guess he was running the top. He got me right there at the line. But a third-place finish in the 'Oval Nationals' is awesome!"
Contingency award winners Saturday night at Perris Auto Speedway included Bud Kaeding (ProSource/Woodland Auto Display Fast Qualifier), Chase Stockon (Simpson Race Products/Extreme Mufflers First Heat Winner), Chad Boespflug (Competition Suspension, Inc. (CSI)/DJ Safety Second Heat Winner), Joe Stornetta (Benic Enterprises/Circle Track Performance Third Heat Winner and Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Feature Finisher), Jon Stanbrough (Indy Race Parts/Stand 21 Racer Goes Safer Foundation Fourth Heat Winner), Brody Roa (Keizer Aluminum Wheels Super Six Dash Winner), Kevin Thomas, Jr. and Jake Swanson (Brown & Miler Racing Solutions Semi Winners) and Austin Williams (KSE Racing Products/BR Motorsports/King Racing Products Hard Charger).
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USAC AMSOIL NATIONAL & CRA SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: November 12, 2016 - Perris, California - Perris Auto Speedway - 21st Budweiser "Oval Nationals" presented by All Coast Construction
PROSOURCE/WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: (Top 6 in points excluded - No Points) 1. Bud Kaeding, 16, Martin-16.587; 2. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-16.634; 3. Josh Hodges, 17, McGhee-16.645; 4. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-16.665; 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 1, Ballou-16.754; 6. Mike Spencer, 4s, Gansen-16.768; 7. Hunter Schuerenberg, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-16.810; 8. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-16.851; 9. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-16.881; 10. Chad Boespflug, 98E, NineEight/EZR-16.903; 11. Joe Stornetta, 3T, Finkenbinder-16.921; 12. Danny Faria, Jr., 17v, Faria-16.956; 13. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR-16.960; 14. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-16.967; 15. Colton Slack, 3F, Finkenbinder-16.979; 16. Jon Stanbrough, 81, Stanbrough-16.994; 17. Ryan Bernal, 56, Phulps-17.093; 18. Logan Williams, 5w, Jory-17.141; 19. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-17.171; 20. Austin Liggett, 83, Liggett-17.191; 21. Tommy Malcolm, 5x, Napier-17.260; 22. Thomas Meseraull, 42x, Bates-17.270; 23. Troy Rutherford, 4D, Gansen-17.273; 24. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-17.318; 25. Carson Macedo, 42, Cheney-17.345; 26. Aaron Farney, 17GP, Dutcher-17.364; 27. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-17.370; 28. Kyle Edwards, 39E, Edwards-17.476; 29. Max Adams, 5m, Adams-17.546; 30. Parker Colston, 64, Gore-17.548; 31. Jeremy Ellertson, 98, Ellertson-17.730; 32. Cody Majors, 81x, Watt-17.763; 33. Verne Sweeney, 98v, Tracy-17.787; 34. Anthony Lopiccolo, 36, Springstead-17.817; 35. Randy Waitman, Y69, Waitman-17.881; 36. Eddie Tafoya, 51T, Tafoya-17.965; 37. Matt McCarthy, 55, McCarthy-18.227.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS/EXTREME MUFFLERS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Stockon, 2. Kaeding, 3. Chapple, 4. Bernal, 5. Thomas, 6. Macedo, 7. Adams, 8. Malcolm. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI)/DJ SAFETY SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Boespflug, 2. Johnson, 3. A. Williams, 4. Spencer, 5. L. Williams, 6. Farney, 7. Colston, 8. Meseraull. NT
BENIC ENTERPRISES/CIRCLE TRACK PERFORMANCE/KEIZER ALUMINUM WHEELS THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Stornetta, 2. Schuerenberg, 3. Hodges, 4. Rutherford, 5. Gansen, 6. Bender, 7. Slack, 8. Ellertson. NT
INDY RACE PARTS/STAND 21 RACER GOES SAFER FOUNDATION FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Stanbrough, 2. Leary, 3. Faria, 4. Swanson, 5. Liggett, 6. Majors, 7. Edwards, 8. C. Williams. 2:54.53
KEIZER ALUMINUM WHEELS SUPER SIX DASH: (6 laps) 1. Roa, 2. Gardner, 3. Bacon, 4. Vander Weerd, 5. Windom, 6. Darland. NT
BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS FIRST SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Thomas, 2. Hodges, 3. Bernal, 4. Liggett, 5. Chapple, 6. Farney, 7. L. Williams, 8. Majors, 9. Sweeney, 10. Ellertson, 11. McCarthy, 12. Lopiccolo, 13. Tafoya. NT
BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS SECOND SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Swanson, 2. Meseraull, 3. A. Williams, 4. Spencer, 5. Gansen, 6. Malcolm, 7. C. Williams, 8. Slack, 9. Edwards, 10. Rutherford, 11. Waitman, 12. Faria. NT
FEATURE: (40 laps) 1. Damion Gardner, 2. Chris Windom, 3. Richard Vander Weerd, 4. Brody Roa, 5. Brady Bacon, 6. Bud Kaeding, 7. Chad Boespflug, 8. Dave Darland, 9. Chase Stockon, 10. R.J. Johnson, 11. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 12. Austin Williams, 13. Joe Stornetta, 14. Jon Stanbrough, 15. Mike Spencer, 16. Austin Liggett, 17. Jake Swanson, 18. Hunter Schuerenberg, 19. Isaac Chapple, 20. Chris Gansen, 21. Aaron Farney, 22. C.J. Leary, 23. Thomas Meseraull, 24. Logan Williams, 25. Max Adams, 26. Josh Hodges, 27. Ryan Bernal. NT
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**Macedo and Adams flipped during the first heat. Slack flipped during the third heat. Tafoya flipped during the first semi. Faria flipped during the second semi. Bernal flipped on lap 5 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-40 Gardner.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS/BR MOTORSPORTS/KING RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Austin Williams (20th to 12th)
FINAL USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Bacon-2676, 2-Stockon-2362, 3-Darland-2251, 4-Windom-2226, 5-Meseraull-2166, 6-Boespflug-2158, 7-Leary-2038, 8-Robert Ballou-1919, 9-Thomas-1419, 10-Farney-1383.
FINAL USAC/CRA AMSOIL SPRINT CAR CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-D. Gardner-1645, 2-Vander Weerd-1473, 3-Roa-1342, 4-Swanson-1320, 5-A. Williams-1254, 6-Spencer-1061, 7-Adams-938, 8-L. Williams-824, 9-C. Williams-759, 10-Gansen-721.
DARLAND TAKES THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED TO WIN NIGHT TWO OF THE “OVAL NATIONALS”
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
DARLAND TAKES THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED TO WIN NIGHT TWO OF THE "OVAL NATIONALS"
Perris, California November 11, 2016 - From the earliest moments of the race, Dave Darland made a commitment to run the top.
Even though it appeared the race was going to become a bottom-feeding procession in the first several laps, the veteran driver blazed his own trail on the cushion as he methodically picked his way through the field to take the lead at the halfway point, then held off a hard-charging Richard Vander Weerd to win his record-extending 59th career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature on night two of the 21st Budweiser "Oval Nationals" presented by All Coast Construction at southern California's Perris Auto Speedway.
The victory was the Lincoln, Indiana native's first in the series since April at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway in his Jeff Walker-Curb-Agajanian Racing/Jam-It-In Storage - Hoosier Tire/Maxim/Claxton. In what has, at times, been a trying season for the winningest driver in the history of the USAC National Sprint division, the three-time "Oval Nationals" champ showed he can still get the job done, even when the deck is stacked against him.
"I went to the bottom early," Darland recalled. "I started on the outside and didn't get too good of a start. I was a little bit scared of that cushion to start with, but by the time I got the chance to go to the bottom, I was tenth! I took a chance going up there, but everybody was bottled up around the bottom and not going very fast, so I opted to go to the top and tried to make it work to get a groove going up there. A couple of guys ahead of me went up there and got away from it, so I was up there by myself. It worked out great! I got up there and made my own lane and went by guys when I could."
"Oval Nationals" opening night winner Chad Boespflug began the race from the pole position and immediately sprinted out to a five-car-length lead by the end of the first lap with Brody Roa and Bud Kaeding in tow.
The night's scariest moment occurred on the fourth lap as Kaeding began to slow dramatically in the middle of the racetrack between turns three and four. Flames began to rise out of the cockpit, forcing Kaeding to evacuate through the top of the rollcage. As Kaeding bailed out of his still-moving machine, both of his legs were engulfed in flames. As the tense seconds ticked away, the fire was extinguished and Kaeding managed to walk away from the scene, albeit in discomfort.
By lap seven, several of the frontrunners remained in single-file formation on the bottom of the racetrack. However, Darland led the topside brigade from the seventh position, awakening the upper groove as he worked his way to sixth by lap nine and fifth on lap 12.
On a restart following Ryan Bernal's climb of the wall on lap 14, the top-four all stuck to the bottom, but not Darland. The 1999 USAC National Sprint Car titlist rode the cushion to rip past Vander Weerd between turns one and two, then outpaced R.J. Johnson off the fourth corner to take third at the stripe.
On lap 15, Darland picked off Roa for second and, one lap later, recorded his fastest lap of the race as he ran down Boespflug to take over the lead, nipping him at the line as the two passed underneath the crossed flags signaling the halfway mark.
Boespflug instantly came right back at Darland with a turn one slider, but Darland stayed on the throttle and narrowly escaped between the concrete and Boespflug's right side wheels to retain the race lead.
Boespflug migrated to the top and stayed within reach of Darland with less than ten to go while Vander Weerd worked the low groove in the third position.
On lap 25, though, Boespflug's race came to a crashing halt after tagging the wall at the exit of turn two, sending him tumbling down the back straightaway. Fortunately, Boespflug walked away uninjured from his battered racecar.
With six laps remaining and the half-mile dirt oval slicked off and widened out from the berm to the concrete wall, it was a tale of two strategies at play with Darland holding steady on the top and Vander Weerd alternating between the top and bottom lines.
The two ran wheel-to-wheel on the first lap following the restart with Darland able to cling to the lead by the smallest of margins. Vander Weerd made a run at him at the entrance of turn one on the 26th lap, but slid up through the middle of the racetrack and over the turn cushion, disrupting his charge to the front for the time being.
However, Vander Weerd came right back at Darland, running as low as possible through the third and fourth turns with the front wheels scraping the top of the berm with Darland in his crosshairs.
Meanwhile, USAC National Sprint point leader Brady Bacon entered the fray, poking his nose underneath Darland and Vander Weerd on the bottom entering turn one.
As Darland and Vander Weerd received the white flag separated by a mere half-car-length, the two ran nose-to-tail on the outside entering the first turn with Bacon on the inside. Vander Weerd ducked to the bottom in turn three for one last try on the final lap, but Darland kept his foot in it and used the momentum to propel himself to the victory by a single car length over Vander Weerd with Bacon a car length back of Vander Weerd in third.
Visalia, California's Richard Vander Weerd just narrowly missed his first career USAC National victory, taking second in his Ron Vander Weerd/Vander Weerd Construction - Stone Gate Development/Maxim/Shark.
"We were all running the bottom at the beginning," Vander Weerd explains. "It was too scary to jump to the top. You definitely want to wait until the bottom slows down a little bit before you jump to the top. Darland went to the top first and we went there second. Darland and I went side-by-side there with about three or four laps to go. I didn't have enough momentum and I knew that if I slid him, it probably wouldn't have been clean, so I just backed out of it, followed him and waited until the last lap. I knew if I was going to win, I had to hit my marks just perfect. We didn't make that corner perfect on the last lap and he got the win."
Brady Bacon of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma grabbed his second-straight third place result at Perris in as many nights in his Dynamics, Inc./Mean Green - Lykins Oil/Triple X/Williams Mopar.
"Our weakness has been starting back in the pack," Bacon admits. "We started 12th last night and 14th tonight. Fortunately, we put ourselves in a position that we don't have to start that far back on Saturday. We've had a really good car both nights. Hopefully, we can just keep it underneath us and get 40 good laps tomorrow."
"We were pretty good on the bottom, but there was just always someone there," Bacon said. "We just had to go where the guy in front of us wasn't. That's why it took us a little while to get going. We were jammed up in the back and there wasn't a place for me to go. Finally, it got slick enough that guys in front of me were messing up. Then, we could sneak around them on the bottom. It got pretty technical there at the end. If I would've ran the last three laps perfect, I might've been able to pull it off, but it was just so slick down there and the window was so small. We put ourselves in a position to win at the end despite being handicapped a bit at the beginning. That's what you have to do in these point accumulation deals; you just have to make the most of what's given to you and try not to mess up too bad."
Contingency award winners Friday night at Perris Auto Speedway included Jake Swanson (ProSource/Woodland Auto Display Fast Qualifier), Hunter Schuerenberg (Simpson Race Products/Extreme Mufflers First Heat Winner), Chris Windom (Competition Suspension, Inc. (CSI)/DJ Safety Second Heat Winner), A.J. Bender (Benic Enterprises/Circle Track Performance Third Heat Winner), Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Indy Race Parts/Stand 21 Racer Goes Safer Foundation Fourth Heat Winner), Brady Bacon (Keizer Aluminum Wheels Fifth Heat Winner and KSE Racing Products/BR Motorsports/King Racing Products Hard Charger), Ryan Bernal (Brown & Miler Racing Solutions Semi Winner) and Josh Hodges (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Feature Finisher).
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USAC AMSOIL NATIONAL & CRA SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: November 11, 2016 - Perris, California - Perris Auto Speedway - 21st Budweiser "Oval Nationals" presented by All Coast Construction
PROSOURCE/WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-16.417; 2. Damion Gardner, 4, Alexander-16.484; 3. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-16.630; 4. Carson Macedo, 42, Cheney-16.764; 5. Bud Kaeding, 16, Martin-16.810; 6. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-16.844; 7. Chad Boespflug, 98E, NineEight/EZR-16.853; 8. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-16.872; 9. Dave Darland, 11, Walker/Curb-Agajanian-16.942; 10. Richard Vander Weerd, 10, Vander Weerd-16.997; 11. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-17.003; 12. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-17.004; 13. Jon Stanbrough, 81, Stanbrough-17.016; 14. Joe Stornetta, 3T, Finkenbinder-17.037; 15. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-17.045; 16. Danny Faria, Jr., 17v, Faria-17.060; 17. Mike Spencer, 4s, Gansen-17.092; 18. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-17.140; 19. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 1, Ballou-17.159; 20. Ryan Bernal, 56, Phulps-17.165; 21. Hunter Schuerenberg, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-17.177; 22. Josh Hodges, 17, McGhee-17.267; 23. Logan Williams, 5w, Jory-17.279; 24. Parker Colston, 64, Gore-17.322; 25. Thomas Meseraull, 42x, Bates-17.381; 26. Aaron Farney, 17GP, Dutcher-17.421; 27. Tommy Malcolm, 5x, Napier-17.445; 28. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-17.448; 29. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-17.455; 30. Max Adams, 5m, Adams-17.468; 31. Colton Slack, 3F, Finkenbinder-17.494; 32. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR-17.623; 33. Jeremy Ellertson, 98, Ellertson-17.656; 34. Bret Mellenberndt, 97, Mellenberndt-17.764; 35. Kyle Edwards, 39E, Edwards-17.804; 36. Cody Majors, 81x, Watt-17.867; 37. Randy Waitman, Y69, Waitman-17.873; 38. Verne Sweeney, 98v, Tracy-17.917; 39. Troy Rutherford, 4D, Gansen-17.937; 40. Eddie Tafoya, 51T, Tafoya-18.160; 41. Anthony Lopiccolo, 36, Springstead-18.188; 42. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-18.314; 43. Matt McCarthy, 55, McCarthy-18.383; 44. Austin Liggett, 83, Liggett-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS/EXTREME MUFFLERS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Schuerenberg, 2. Leary, 3. Swanson, 4. Roa, 5. Farney, 6. Slack, 7. Lopiccolo, 8. Majors, 9. Faria. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI)/DJ SAFETY SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Windom, 2. Boespflug, 3. Hodges, 4. Gardner, 5. Chapple, 6. Gansen, 7. Waitman, 8. Spencer, 9. Malcolm. NT
BENIC ENTERPRISES/CIRCLE TRACK PERFORMANCE THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Bender, 2. Stockon, 3. L. Williams, 4. Stanbrough, 5. Johnson, 6. A. Williams, 7. Sweeney, 8. McCarthy, 9. Ellertson. 2:55.31
INDY RACE PARTS/STAND 21 RACER GOES SAFER FOUNDATION FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Thomas, 2. Darland, 3. Stornetta, 4. Liggett, 5. Rutherford, 6. Colston, 7. Macedo, 8. Mellenberndt, 9. C. Williams. NT
KEIZER ALUMINUM WHEELS FIFTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Bacon, 2. Meseraull, 3. Vander Weerd, 4. Kaeding, 5. Adams, 6. Bernal, 7. Edwards, 8. Tafoya. 2:53.01
BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Bernal, 2. Johnson, 3. Spencer, 4. Faria, 5. A. Williams, 6. Farney, 7. Adams, 8. Chapple, 9. Edwards, 10. Mellenberndt, 11. Majors, 12. Gansen, 13. Waitman, 14. Sweeney, 15. Tafoya, 16. Lopiccolo, 17. McCarthy, 18. Macedo, 19. Rutherford, 20. Colston, 21. Malcolm, 22. Slack, 23. Ellertson. NT
EVELYN PRATT FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Dave Darland, 2. Richard Vander Weerd, 3. Brady Bacon, 4. Chris Windom, 5. Brody Roa, 6. C.J. Leary, 7. Chase Stockon, 8. Damion Gardner, 9. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 10. Jon Stanbrough, 11. R.J. Johnson, 12. Joe Stornetta, 13. Josh Hodges, 14. Thomas Meseraull, 15. Ryan Bernal, 16. Jake Swanson, 17. A.J. Bender, 18. Hunter Schuerenberg, 19. Austin Williams, 20. Logan Williams, 21. Austin Liggett, 22. Chad Boespflug, 23. Mike Spencer, 24. Danny Faria, Jr., 25. Max Adams, 26. Bud Kaeding. NT
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**Macedo flipped during the fourth heat. Boespflug flipped on lap 25 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-15 Boespflug, Laps 16-30 Darland.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS/BR MOTORSPORTS/KING RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Brady Bacon (14th to 3rd)
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Bacon-2618, 2-Stockon-2316, 3-Darland-2202, 4-Windom-2159, 5-Meseraull-2143, 6-Boespflug-2106, 7-Leary-2015, 8-Robert Ballou-1919, 9-Thomas-1378, 10-Farney-1360.
NEW USAC/CRA AMSOIL SPRINT CAR CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-D. Gardner-1575, 2-Vander Weerd-1409, 3-Swanson-1291, 4-Roa-1281, 5-A. Williams-1215, 6-Spencer-1028, 7-Adams-915, 8-L. Williams-801, 9-C. Williams-749, 10-Gansen-698.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL NATIONAL & CRA SPRINT CAR CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: November 12 - Perris, California - Perris Auto Speedway - 21st Annual Budweiser "Oval Nationals"
LATEST NEWS ON INDOOR AUTO RACING SERIES, IT GETS STARTED IN TRENTON, NJ
Posted by: | CommentsNEWS FROM LEN SAMMONS MOTORSPORTS PRODUCTIONS
INDOOR AUTO RACING EVENTS AT TRENTON, ALLENTOWN, AND ATLANTIC CITY
PROMOTER: Len Sammons (609)888-3618
MEDIA CONTACT: Ernie Saxton Communications, Inc.
Esaxton144@aol.com – EMAIL ---- 267.934.7286 – Ernie’s CELL PHONE
News release written by Steve Barrick
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INDOOR THREE QUARTER MIDGET ACE RYAN FLORES READY FOR INDOOR AUTO RACING SERIES FUELED BY VP RACING FUELS CHAMPIONSHIP STARTING WITH BATTLE OF TRENTON, DEC. 9-10
TRENTON, NJ NOVEMBER 10, 2016 . . . Ryan Flores figures he has a score to settle.
A contender for victory in each of the past three years, Flores missed a shot at the 2015-2016 Len Sammons Motorsports Productions (LSMP) Indoor Auto Racing Championship Series Fueled By VP Racing Fuels championship because he was unable to race in Trenton.
Flores this time will be able to run all three events of the Indoor Auto Racing Championship Series fueled by VP Racing Fuels, starting with the Friday and Saturday, December 9-10 Sun National Bank Center events.
“I’m excited to be able to contend for the championship this year,” Flores said. “Last year, I had to miss the Trenton race because I was in Atlanta.”
Flores’ full time job is with Penske Racing on the NASCAR Sprint Cup side. He works in the fabrication shop during the week and is a right side tire changer for Ryan Blaney’s No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford on race days.
Flores is confident in his Lafler chassis, Pippard engined Three Quarter Midget (TQ heading into the Battle Of Trenton weekend of December 9-10. “I think we will be in good shape for Trenton and the other two races,” Flores summed.
The man Flores and all others will have to work overtime to defeat is Erick Rudolph. Rudolph, of Ransomville. N.Y. won last year’s TQ Battle of Trenton and the Indoor Auto Racing Championship Fueled By VP Racing series 2015-2016 championship.
As a special preview of the 2016-2017 Indoor Racing Series, general admission tickets for Friday's opening night have been priced at just $10 for adults and $7 for children.
The ultra-quick TQ Midgets will headline both Friday's opening night and Saturday's "Battle Of Trenton" feature event finale as part of the Indoor Auto Racing Championship Series Fueled by VP Racing Fuels. The TQ Midgets are lightweight high-tech race cars powered by 750cc Motorcycle engines that achieve speeds upward of 75 mph when driven by professional race car drivers from eight states and Canada.
The Friday night race program, which begins at 7:30 PM, consists of 60 TQ Midgets split into three 20-lap Qualifier races. A complete program of heat races and feature event for the Champ Karts is also on the schedule. Attendees can get a close up look at a TQ Midgets at Fan Zone located on the concourse. Top drivers and Ms. Motorsports 2016 Arynne Moody will be making an appearance at Fan Zone offering autographs and photos free of charge. Flores will be among those top TQ drivers who will be meeting and greeting Fan Zone attendees.
On Saturday the "Battle Of Trenton" 40 lap feature event will be held after a series of qualifying events for the TQ Midgets. The always popular and wild Slingshots will also be part of this program sponsored by NAPA Auto Parts, Oliver Communications in Bordentown, N.J. and Pete & Elda’s Bar in Neptune City. N.J.
Erick Rudolph of Ransomville. N.Y. won last year’s TQ ‘Battle Of Trenton’, outracing a feature event field of 24 drivers to win the top prize. Sixty entrants will seek to stymie Rudolph’s repeat victory bid.
Tickets for Saturday's races are available starting at $17 for adults and $7 for children. Fan Fest will be held inside the speedway one hour prior to the 7 PM starting time. The entire field of race cars competing on Saturday will be on display during Fan Fest and drivers will be available for free autographs and photos by their cars.
The Trenton race is part one of a three-race Indoor Series. Other races are scheduled for December 30-31 at PPL Center in downtown Allentown, Pa., and at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., on January 27-28, 2017.
Trenton Indoor Race tickets are available online at www.sunnationalbankcenter.com or by phone at 1-800-298-4200. Tickets may also be purchased at the Sun National Bank Center Box Office on Monday through Friday from 10am until 5:30 PM and on Saturday from 12 Noon through 4 PM
Event and promotional sponsorship information is available at www.aarn.com or by phoning 609-888-3618.
ERNIE SAXTON COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
Public Relations, Sponsorship Consultant
Publisher: Motorsports Sponsorship Marketing News
Award winning motorsports journalist
www.saxtonsponsormarket.com
215.752.7797 & 267.934.7286-Esaxton144@aol.com
Esaxton144@aol.com
