Archive for Short Track
THORSON WINS 4TH IN A ROW AT GRANITE CITY; CRUISES TO NIGHT #2 “GOLD CROWN” VICTORY
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The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray | richie@usacracing.com
THORSON WINS 4TH IN A ROW AT GRANITE CITY; CRUISES TO NIGHT #2 "GOLD CROWN" VICTORY
Granite City, Illinois October 7, 2016 - Throughout history, certain tandems have become synonymous with each other: Lewis and Clark, Lennon and McCartney, Calvin and Hobbes, Milk and Cookies, etc.
After his USAC Midget National Championship feature victory Friday night, a new duo to add to the list may very well be Tanner Thorson and Tri-City Speedway.
The Minden, Nevada driver dominated every lap of the caution-free affair in which he established a new 35-lap track record at the 3/8-mile dirt oval on the way to his fourth straight "Gold Crown Midget Nationals" win dating back to 2015.
In the process, Thorson was able dig a little closer to the point-lead, as he is now just 15 points behind teammate Spencer Bayston in the latest series standings with three events remaining including Saturday night's "Gold Crown" finale.
Thorson began the feature from outside of the front row alongside Brady Bacon and immediately established the point as the field hit turn one on the opening lap.
Bacon, another driver in the thick of the series point race, encountered trouble one night prior after suffering a cut tire while leading with six laps to go. On this night, the Broken Arrow, Oklahoma native settled into second in the early going, running the high side as Thorson worked the bottom.
Suddenly, on lap six, heartbreak met Bacon for the second consecutive night as his mount began to slow dramatically entering turn three, resulting in an early exit, a 20th place finish and the loss of substantial ground in the title race - a race that he now finds himself 74 points out of the lead after entering Thursday down just 22.
With Bacon now out of sight, no one was able to put up much of a fight on Thorson for the remaining 30 laps and, though, Thorson quickly distanced himself to a three-second lead by the 15th lap, he was unable to completely break away from his fellow competitors involved in the point race.
With his pass on Thursday night runner-up Zach Daum, Chad Boat positioned himself in third, a straightaway behind leader Thorson and Bayston with 20 to go.
The only obstacle separating Thorson from certain victory in the second half of the contest was lapped traffic. But, with a full straightway lead, Thorson was in a zone and a backmarker or two wasn't going to trip him up on this night.
Thorson had to negotiate the eighth, ninth and tenth place cars with less than five laps to go as the battle for position between Holly Shelton, Jerry Coons, Jr. and Kyle Jones waged on in front of the leader.
Thorson had little trouble as he stuck to the bottom while the lappers pursued the high side, providing Thorson a clear path to an eventual, commanding 4.85 second victory over Bayston, Boat, Ryan Robinson and Carson Macedo.
Thorson completed the 35-lap feature at a track record time of nine minutes, 24.36 seconds in his Keith Kunz - Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/TRD - JBL Audio/Bullet/Speedway Toyota, his series-leading fifth USAC National Midget victory of the 2016 season and the ninth of his career.
"I don't know if it's me or this car that keeps getting to victory lane, but these Keith Kunz guys are awesome," Thorson exclaimed. "They deserve to be here. The track was in our favor tonight, for sure. You can't enter the bottom too early here; that makes it tough, but having that track position at the start was really big. Our confidence level is really high heading into tomorrow and I'm looking forward to trying to make it two 'Gold Crowns' in a row."
Lebanon, Indiana's Spencer Bayston held serve at the head of the points race, finishing one spot behind Thorson in Friday night's feature to take second in his Keith Kunz - Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/TRD - Mobil 1/Bullet/Speedway Toyota.
"I was more confident tonight than I was last night," Bayston thought. "I made a couple mistakes earlier in the night and the guys made sure to point them out to me so we could correct them for the feature; I feel like we made some progress in that sense. Tanner was really good through the lapped cars. I felt like I was catching him a little bit, but he was so strong on the bottom that it was hard to make up any ground. We probably needed a yellow, but we'll take a second for points, though, and go try to get a win tomorrow."
Chad Boat, of Phoenix, Arizona, now stands 22 markers out of the lead and seven behind Thorson in the updated series standings after earning third in his Tucker-Boat Motorsports/PristineAuction.com - K & C Drywall/Spike/Speedway Toyota.
"Track position hurt us a little bit," Boat admitted. "We were rolling there for ten laps or so and I thought we could get Spencer. I felt like we were better than Tanner, but then our tire went away and I just had to hold on. Overall, though, it was a decent night. We learned some things last night and got better tonight, so we'll hopefully be two spots better tomorrow."
Contingency award winners Friday night at Tri-City Speedway included Brady Bacon (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Tanner Thorson (Competition Suspension, Inc. (CSI) Second Heat Winner), Dave Darland (Benic Enterprises/Indy Race Parts Third Heat Winner), Alex Bright (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger) and Jake Neuman (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Feature Finisher).
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USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: October 7, 2016 - Granite City, Illinois - Tri-City Speedway - "Gold Crown Midget Nationals"
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Brady Bacon (#76m FMR), 2. Chad Boat (#84 Tucker/Boat), 3. Spencer Bayston (#97 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 4. Ryan Greth (#4 Lesher), 5. Jerry Coons, Jr. (#25 Petry/Goff), 6. Gage Walker (#7 Walker), 7. Kyle Jones (#5B Daum), 8. Davey Ray (#23 Two-Three). 2:02.44
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Tanner Thorson (#67 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 2. Carson Macedo (#71K Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 3. Zach Daum (#5D Daum), 4. Jake Neuman (#3N Neuman), 5. Tyler Thomas (Thomas #91T), 6. Johnny Murdock (#0 Zero). 2:03.28
BENIC ENTERPRISES/INDY RACE PARTS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Dave Darland (#11AG Gray), 2. Ryan Robinson (#71 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 3. Brad Loyet (#22 Malpocker), 4. Holly Shelton (#67K Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 5. Justin Peck (#5x Peck), 6. Brayton Lynch (#1K RKR), 7. Tyler Roth (#13 Zero). 2:05.01
FIRST QUALIFYING RACE: (10 laps) 1. Bacon, 2. Bayston, 3. Thorson, 4. Neuman, 5. Shelton, 6. Bright, 7. Lynch, 8. Murdock. 2:40.66
SECOND QUALIFYING RACE: (10 laps) 1. Thomas, 2. Loyet, 3. Boat, 4. Robinson, 5. Walker, 6. Coons, 7. Roth. NT
THIRD QUALIFYING RACE: (10 laps) 1. Jones, 2. Daum, 3. Macedo, 4. Darland, 5. Greth, 6. Peck, 7. Ray. 2:45.99
FEATURE: (35 laps) 1. Tanner Thorson, 2. Spencer Bayston, 3. Chad Boat, 4. Ryan Robinson, 5. Carson Macedo, 6. Zach Daum, 7. Brad Loyet, 8. Holly Shelton, 9. Jerry Coons, Jr., 10. Kyle Jones, 11. Dave Darland, 12. Alex Bright, 13. Jake Neuman, 14. Tyler Thomas, 15. Justin Peck, 16. Gage Walker, 17. Brayton Lynch, 18. Davey Ray, 19. Tyler Roth, 20. Brady Bacon, 21. Johnny Murdock, 22. Ryan Greth. 9:24.36
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-35 Thorson.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Alex Bright (22nd to 12th)
NEW USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Bayston-1072, 2-Thorson-1057, 3-Boat-1050, 4-Bacon-998, 5-Macedo-927, 6-Robinson-785, 7-Shelton-732, 8-Bryan Clauson-720, 9-Thomas-661, 10-Greth-539.
NEXT USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: October 8 - Granite City, IL - Tri-City Speedway - "Gold Crown Midget Nationals"
THORSON THRILLS AT GRANITE CITY; WINS NIGHT #1 OF “GOLD CROWN MIDGET NATIONALS”
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray | richie@usacracing.com
THORSON THRILLS AT GRANITE CITY; WINS NIGHT #1 OF "GOLD CROWN MIDGET NATIONALS"
Granite City, Illinois October 6, 2016 - While it may not become as famous as Danny Sullivan's "Spin and Win" at the 1985 Indianapolis 500, Minden, Nevada's Tanner Thorson's "Half Spin and Win" performance on Thursday's opening night of the 2016 "Gold Crown Midget Nationals" at Tri-City Speedway will surely go down as one he won't soon forget.
While running fourth on the sixth lap of the 30-lap feature, Thorson drifted into the infield after getting sideways between turns three and four. Thorson regained control of the car, kept the RPMs up and was able to continue on, albeit after kicking up a cloud of southern Illinois soil as he gassed his Keith Kunz - Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/TRD - JBL Audio/Bullet/Speedway Toyota through the infield to rejoin the action on the front straightaway.
The mishap immediately dropped Thorson back to seventh as teammates Carson Macedo and Spencer Bayston sped past as did 2008 "Gold Crown" winner Jerry Coons, Jr.
Not only was Thorson's bid for a third straight Granite City victory in jeopardy, an opportunity to cash in on valuable points toward a tight USAC National Midget championship were in danger of being squandered.
Thorson didn't panic and, one lap later, he was able to get back around Coons for sixth just before the yellow flag flew for a Brayton Lynch spin on the back straight.
On the ensuing restart, Thorson worked his way back to the fourth spot as, up front, Brady Bacon threw a successful slider on Chad Boat for the lead entering turn one.
After disposing of Zach Daum for third, Thorson engaged in a see-saw battle with Boat for second that changed hands three times.
On the tenth lap, Thorson used a big run on the bottom of turn four to grab the spot from Boat. But, on lap 11, Boat cruised the cushion to glide around the outside of Thorson in turn four to retake the position. Thorson stuck within close range and was able to take ahold of second for good with another run on the bottom of turn four past Boat on the 12th lap.
The spectacular back-and-forth game of chess between Boat and Thorson played into Bacon's favor as it allowed Bacon to stretch his lead out front to more than a second as he sought his first USAC National Midget win since 2012's "Hut 100" at Haubstadt, Indiana's Tri-State Speedway.
Thorson also began to put distance between himself and third-running Boat, but with ten laps to go, race leader Bacon began to encounter lapped traffic. With cars running high and low, Bacon had the daunting task of carefully wading his way through the backmarkers with a flying Thorson set to pounce at a moment's notice.
Bacon had difficulty working his way around the lapped car of Gage Walker, eventually executing a lap 22 slide job on Walker, but that allowed Thorson to knock a half-second off of the interval and slice Bacon's lead down to a mere three car lengths.
With Thorson hot on the trail of Bacon with six laps remaining, Bacon bounced over the turn four cushion, contacting the outside wall before continuing on as Thorson shot by for the lead.
There would be no victory lane celebration for Bacon on this particular night as, by the time he hit turn two, it became apparent that the right rear tire on his machine was flat, necessitating a yellow that brought the action to a halt.
The late-race restart set up a rematch of last year's Saturday night "Gold Crown" showdown between Thorson and Daum. This time around would be the same as the last as Thorson would once again hold the upper hand, pulling away on the restart to tame the three-eighths-mile dirt oval in Granite City for the third time in as many tries dating back to last year's sweep of the "Gold Crown."
Thorson's eighth career victory in the series came one and a half second in front of Daum, Macedo, Boat and Bayston. Thorson became just the second driver to win three straight at the "Gold Crown," joining Darren Hagen, who won three in a row during a single weekend in 2010.
Meanwhile, a minor bit of redemption was in store for Bacon in the end as he raced to a sixth place finish during the final six laps after changing his right rear tire and restarting from the tail.
With Thorson's win and Bacon's misfortune, the tide has once again turned in the race for the 2016 USAC National Midget title. The points battled that entered Thursday night with just a 30-point separation between first and fourth remained at 30, but with a few positions rearranged.
Thorson leapfrogged both Bacon and Boat to vault from fourth to second in the standings with four races remaining while Bayston's lead shrunk from 22 to 18. With Thorson's recent dominance at Granite City, he has the chance to make up a good chunk of ground during the next two nights of the "Gold Crown."
"This is one of my favorite tracks," Thorson exclaimed. "Saving the tires is going to be a big factor in these races this weekend because the track is so fast and the races are longer. I feel like I saved them pretty well tonight, but it's a 40-lapper on Saturday. The last couple of restarts were tricky because I knew the bottom was good. It went away on entry, though, toward the end of the race so I knew I needed to get to the top. I just went with my gut and it worked out for us. My guys gave me a great car and we're excited for tomorrow and Saturday."
Zach Daum had to settle for his second straight runner-up performance at Granite City behind Thorson in his Dan Daum/TRD - Daum Crop Insurance/Eagle/Stanton Toyota, but the Pocahontas, Illinois native was pleased to bring home his best USAC finish of the season.
"We were back there in the thick of it, even though we were towards the front." Daum explained. "The big sliders are probably more nerve-wracking to watch than when you're in the car and I know that nine out of ten guys out here aren't going to stick you in the fence if they can't clear you. We'll take a second tonight; it's the same as last year with Tanner out front, but hopefully by the end of the weekend, we can change that."
Leading series rookie Carson Macedo of Lemoore, California turned in another solid performance Thursday night, grabbing third in his Keith Kunz - Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/TRD - Tarlton & Son/Bullet/Speedway Toyota.
"The car was good tonight, but the track was tricky," Macedo said. "You had to find where you were good at right away and Tanner did that. I'm happy with our night, though; it was fun to race with all of these guys the way we did, really hard, but very clean. This place is wild! You have to respect it because you're moving. There's not a lot of room on the top of turn four, but you have to commit to the top if you're going to run it. It's tricky, but I'm really excited for the next two nights."
Davey Ray and Ryan Greth walked away uninjured after both flipped in turn one on the second lap of the feature.
Contingency award winners Thursday night at Tri-City Speedway included Tyler Thomas (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner and Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Feature Finisher), Chad Boat (Competition Suspension, Inc. (CSI) Second Heat Winner), Brad Loyet (Benic Enterprises/Indy Race Parts Third Heat Winner) and Gage Walker (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger).
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USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: October 6, 2016 - Granite City, Illinois - Tri-City Speedway - "Gold Crown Midget Nationals"
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Tyler Thomas (Thomas #91T), 2. Justin Peck (#5x Peck), 3. Zach Daum (#5D Daum), 4. Dave Darland (#11AG Gray), 5. Ryan Robinson (#71 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 6. Kyle Jones (#5B Daum), 7. Alex Bright (#77 Hemler), 8. Steve Buckwalter (#25 Buckwalter), 9. Gage Walker (#7 Walker). NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Chad Boat (#84 Tucker/Boat), 2. Davey Ray (#33 RAYPRO), 3. Ryan Greth (#4 Lesher), 4. Spencer Bayston (#97 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 5. Tanner Thorson (#67 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 6. Holly Shelton (#67K Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 7. Jake Neuman (#3N Neuman), 8. Andrew Felker (#11A Felker). 2:01.55
BENIC ENTERPRISES/INDY RACE PARTS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Brad Loyet (#05 Loyet), 2. Brady Bacon (#76m FMR), 3. Carson Macedo (#71K Kunz/Curb-Agajanian, 4. Jerry Coons, Jr. (#25x Petry/Goff) 5. Brayton Lynch (#1K RKR), 6. Andy Malpocker (#22 Malpocker), 7. Tyler Roth (#13 Zero), 8. Johnny Murdock (#0 Zero). 2:03.44
FIRST QUALIFYING RACE: (10 laps) 1. Boat, 2. Ray, 3. Jones, 4. Coons, 5. Lynch, 6. Murdock, 7. Loyet, 8. Bright. 2:37.67
SECOND QUALIFYING RACE: (10 laps) 1. Macedo, 2. Bacon, 3. Daum, 4. Darland, 5. Neuman, 6. Malpocker, 7. Robinson. NT
THIRD QUALIFYING RACE: (10 laps) 1. Thorson, 2. Greth, 3. Shelton, 4. Bayston, 5. Peck, 6. Thomas, 7. Roth. 2:36.61
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Tanner Thorson, 2. Zach Daum, 3. Carson Macedo, 4. Chad Boat, 5. Spencer Bayston, 6. Brady Bacon, 7. Kyle Jones, 8 Jerry Coons, Jr., 9. Dave Darland, 10. Holly Shelton, 11. Jake Neuman, 12. Justin Peck, 13. Tyler Thomas, 14. Gage Walker, 15. Andy Malpocker, 16. Ryan Robinson, 17. Steve Buckwalter, 18. Johnny Murdock, 19. Brayton Lynch, 20. Tyler Roth, 21. Alex Bright, 22. Davey Ray, 23. Ryan Greth. NT
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**Ray and Greth flipped on lap 2 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-7 Boat, Laps 8-24 Bacon, Laps 25-30 Thorson.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Gage Walker (22nd to 14th)
NEW USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Bayston-1005, 2-Thorson-987, 3-Boat-986, 4-Bacon-975, 5-Macedo-869, 6-Robinson-724, 7-Bryan Clauson-720, 8-Shellton-683, 9-Thomas-626, 10-Greth-516.
NEXT USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACES: October 7-8 - Granite City, IL - Tri-City Speedway - "Gold Crown Midget Nationals"
HURRYIN’ HODGES HAMMERS ‘EM IN “FALL NATIONALS” AT THE BURG
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray | richie@usacracing.com
HURRYIN' HODGES HAMMERS 'EM IN "FALL NATIONALS" AT THE BURG
Lawrenceburg, Indiana October 1, 2016 - In a season that's seen a new crop of youngsters step up to the forefront of USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car competition, Josh Hodges became the latest to establish himself as a first-time series winner, taking the lead with 13 laps to go, then running away from the field for a commanding victory in Saturday night's $10,000-to-win "Fall Nationals" at Lawrenceburg Speedway.
The 21-year-old Hodges, from Tijeras, New Mexico, became the seventh first-time winner on the USAC National Sprint Car trail during the 2016 season, joining Scotty Weir, Tyler Courtney, Kyle Cummins, Brent Beauchamp, Carson Short and C.J. Leary on the list.
The state of New Mexico's first USAC National winner since Silver City's Richard Griffin scored a Sprint Car feature victory at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track in 2000, Hodges has continually progressed since his first tour of "Indiana Sprint Week" in the summer 2015.
In 2016, he's been a force in the western United States within USAC, winning a CRA Sprint Car feature, two West Coast/Southwest Sprint Car Special Events and a Southwest Sprint Car feature. In addition, Hodges has traveled back-and-forth between the west and the Midwest throughout the season, allowing him to snag a pair of unsanctioned sprint car feature victories at Lawrenceburg.
However, on Saturday night, Hodges made the Midwest his stage and, a little over a year after his debut on the National scene, the fruits of his labor have paid off with a USAC National victory in his Jack Hodges/Jackson Compaction - Mesilla Valley Transportation/Maxim/Gibson.
"I knew it was going to be tough to beat Darland on the start," Hodges admitted. "I thought we had gotten a decent start, but he just beat me to turn one. I just got in a rhythm. I've gotten to run here quite a bit, so I kind of knew what to look for and, luckily, we caught lapped traffic in time and I was able to get moved up. It seemed like it slowed up just enough there; when it slows up and you get to lapped traffic, you need to move up. I was able to do that and when you're running third, you can go where they're not. Our car was bad fast. It's unreal to get our first USAC win here at such a big show!"
Earlier in the night, Hodges' Southwest Sprint Car rival, Stevie Sussex, laid down the fastest lap in ProSource Qualifying in his first ever visit to Lawrenceburg, making his debut in the Phillips Motorsports machine. The Tempe, Arizona driver, aiming to make his first USAC National Sprint Car feature start since 2011, earned $1100 for the quick lap courtesy of ProSource and the Lawrenceburg Speedway Fire Rescue team in memory of Bill Hall.
Hodges held the pole for the 30-lap main event with April Lawrenceburg winner Dave Darland alongside.
Darland got the early jump at the start on the outside. Hodges fought to stay alongside Darland for the duration of the first lap, but Darland prevailed off of turn four to secure the lead on the opening lap.
Nearing the halfway mark, Darland saw his six car length advantage over Hodges begin to shrink as the two neared lap traffic. As the two continued to run the middle of the racetrack, third-running Windom closed in to make it a three-car tango.
On lap 15, Hodges migrated to the high side, which in the short-run cost him a position as Windom shot underneath to grab second off of turn two.
In the long run, though, the move to the high side would pay large dividends for Hodges as he created his own line up top that enabled him to pull even with Windom off the second turn on lap 16. Both Hodges and Windom surrounded the tail tank of Darland as the three drag raced under a blanket down the back straightaway.
Hodges rode the rim through turns three and four, propelling himself past Windom for second at the stripe by a half-car length.
Yet, Darland still maintained the advantage up front and, on lap 18, the lapped car of Joss Moffatt got a bit sideways between turns one and two, encroaching on the line of Darland at the exit of turn two. Darland pitched his car slightly to avoid contact, allowing Hodges and Windom to once again be close enough to smother him with pressure.
The three formed a nose-to-tail freight train into turn three and as Darland continued to cut through the middle, Hodges and Windom stepped out of line to hit the cushion. Hodges nailed the berm perfectly and rode the rail to the lead past Darland at the line at the completion of lap 18.
One lap later, Windom utilized the same line in the same part of the racetrack to produce the same result, flying by Darland for the second position.
However, Hodges was long gone by that point, stretching his lead out to a half-straightaway with five laps remaining.
With all the lapped cars in front of him cooperating by running the low side, Hodges had no trouble putting this race on ice in the final laps, cruising to a 1.884 second win in the fastest 30-lap USAC Sprint Car feature ever run at Lawrenceburg: 7 minutes, 21.09 seconds over Windom, Darland, Kyle Cummins and Justin Grant.
Second place finisher Chris Windom came off his recent wrapping up of the 2016 Silver Crown title with his second straight runner-up result in his Baldwin Brothers Racing/Fox Paving - AMSOIL/Maxim/Claxton Mopar. The Canton, Illinois veteran has been a model of consistency this season, not only in the Silver Crown division in which he finished in the top-five in all nine races, but also in the Sprint Car where he has not finished outside of the top-six since July 16!
"It was going to be a good race there for a while," Windom thought. "Then, Josh (Hodges) jumped to the top and found something there and pulled away from us. We're fortunate to get up to second. We just didn't quite have enough for him tonight."
Lincoln, Indiana's Dave Darland, who owns the most USAC Sprint Car wins at Lawrenceburg with seven, led the opening 17 laps of Saturday night's feature in his Jeff Walker-Curb-Agajanian Racing/Jam-It-In Storage - Hoosier Tire/Maxim/Claxton.
"We're pretty happy to get out of here with a decent finish," a relieved Darland shared. "It's been a tough summer; we haven't been running that great. About ten laps in, we lost a cylinder or something happened to it. From lap ten on, it just didn't run quite right. It kept losing power the longer the race went. To get out of here with a third place finish with the problems we had, we're certainly happy about it. If that hadn't have happened, I think we had a good chance at winning."
Contingency award winners Saturday night at Lawrenceburg Speedway included Stevie Sussex (ProSource Fast Qualifier), Chad Boespflug (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Competition Suspension, Inc. (CSI) Second Heat Winner), Brady Bacon (Benic Enterprises/Indy Race Parts Third Heat Winner), Carson Short (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger and Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Feature Finisher).
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: October 1, 2016 - Lawrenceburg, Indiana - Lawrenceburg Speedway - "Fall Nationals"
PROSOURCE QUALIFYING: 1. Stevie Sussex, 71p, Phillips-13.453; 2. Justin Grant, 17, McGhee-13.529; 3. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-13.544; 4. Jon Stanbrough, 81, Stanbrough-13.586; 5. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-13.595; 6. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-13.614; 7. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Rock Steady-13.614; 8. Tyler Courtney, 23c, TOPP-13.615; 9. Dave Darland, 11, Walker/Curb-Agajanian-13.623; 10. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-13.647; 11. A.J. Hopkins, 14H, Hopkins-13.654; 12. Bret Mellenberndt, 97, Mellenberndt-13.735; 13. Drew Abel, 04, PCA-13.794; 14. Kevin Thomas Jr., 1, Ballou-13.803; 15. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-13.831; 16. Chad Boespflug, 98E, NineEight/EZR-13.852; 17. Joss Moffatt, 5J, Moffatt-13.855; 18. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR-13.861; 19. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-13.948; 20. Nick Bilbee, 17N, Bilbee-13.954; 21. Aaron Farney, 17GP, Dutcher-13.973; 22. Landon Simon, 24, LSR-14.191; 23. J.T. Stapp, 74, JDS-14.323; 24. Dickie Gaines, 71s, Spille-14.336; 25. Tony McVey, 7m, McVey-14.510; 26. Carson Short, 21, Short-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Boespflug, 2. Abel, 3. Hodges, 4. Cummins, 5. Stanbrough, 6. Leary, 7. Sussex, 8. Simon, 9. McVey. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Thomas, 2. Courtney, 3. Moffatt, 4. Short, 5. Hopkins, 6. Stockon, 7. Bilbee, 8. Stapp, 9. Grant. NT
BENIC ENTERPRISES THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Bacon, 2. Darland, 3. Chapple, 4. Mellenberndt, 5. Windom, 6. Andretti, 7. Farney, 8. Gaines. 1:52.93
INDY RACE PARTS SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Sussex, 2. Grant, 3. Leary, 4. Stockon, 5. Andretti, 6. Bilbee, 7. Farney, 8. Simon, 9. Gaines, 10. McVey. 2:51.39
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Josh Hodges, 2. Chris Windom, 3. Dave Darland, 4. Kyle Cummins, 5. Justin Grant, 6. Tyler Courtney, 7. Jon Stanbrough, 8. Stevie Sussex, 9. Brady Bacon, 10. Jarett Andretti, 11. Chase Stockon, 12. Kevin Thomas Jr., 13. Carson Short, 14. Bret Mellenberndt, 15. Nick Bilbee, 16. A.J. Hopkins, 17. C.J. Leary, 18. Chad Boespflug, 19. Isaac Chapple, 20. Aaron Farney, 21. Joss Moffatt, 22. Landon Simon, 23. Drew Abel. 7:21.09 (NTR)
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-17 Darland, Laps 18-30 Hodges.
KSE HARD CHARGER: Carson Short (20th-13th)
NEW AMSOIL USAC SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Bacon-2,268, 2-Stockon-2,023, 3-Darland-1,929, 4-Robert Ballou-1,919, 5-Thomas Meseraull-1,910, 6-Boespflug-1,809, 7-Leary-1,807, 8-Windom-1,780, 9-Max McGhee-1,264, 10-Farney-1,233.
NEXT AMSOIL USAC SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: October 15 - Terre Haute (IN) Action Track - "Jim Hurtubise Classic"
PAUCH RACES TO KING OF THE BIG BLOCKS TITLE
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Bridgeport Speedway
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PAUCH RACES TO KING OF THE BIG BLOCKS TITLE
Swedesboro, NJ September 24, 2016 - During his forty plus year career, Billy Pauch has earned many titles. King of the Big Blocks can now be added!
Billy Pauch raced to the win in the first King of the Big Blocks event at the Bridgeport Speedway in front of a huge crowd of racing fans, many of whom were seeing their first race on the 5/8th mile speedway. The King of the Big Blocks is sponsored by K&A Excavating and United Rentals.
Pauch's performance was flawless, starting out with a win in his qualifying event, drawing the pole for the fifty lap feature and then leading from the green to the checkered flag and the $12,000 pay check. Pauch spends most of his Saturday nights racing Small Block Modifieds but the accomplished veteran proved that he's got what it takes regardless of the division that he's racing. "I hope I can do this a few more times before I give it up," Pauch said following the victory.
Pauch took over sole possession of third on Bridgeport's All Time Feature win list as his win in the King of the Big Blocks moved Pauch's total to fifty-nine - just one win ahead of Wade Hendrickson. Pauch first won on the 5/8th mile Bridgeport Speedway in March of 1987.
Pauch held off challenges from 2015 Bridgeport Champion, Jamie Mills to capture the prestigious win. Mills finished second with his Blue Hen No. 30. Dominick Buffalino, the winner of the 2016 season opener, finished third in the Pat Michael No. 51m while former multi-time track champion, Duane Howard finished fourth in a new Norm Hansell owned No. 357. Young Brett Kressley finished fifth after running as high as third in his Kressley Truck Sales No. 19B.
Ryan Godown, Billy Pauch, Jr. and Neal Williams followed the top five across the finish line. Sam Martz and 2016 Bridgeport Champion, Ryan Watt made tremendous comebacks to finish in the top ten after both were involved in early race incidents. Watt was forced to pit on two separate occasions to replace broken shocks.
The Stewart Stainless Crate Sportsman and PennCo Tech Outlaw Stocks joined the Big Block Modifieds on the King of the Big Blocks racing card.
The number to be was 99 in the Crate/Sportsman action as Craig Whitmoyer raced ahead of Brian Papiez to capture the feature win at the end of twenty laps. Whitmoyer last won at Bridgeport in during the 2012 season while Papiez was a feature winner earlier this season..
Eric Kormann finished third with pressure from Brandon Grasso who finished fourth. Ryan Lilick finished fifth, coming all the way from a twenty-third starting position to finish in the top five.
Tom Wills, Jr. picked up his second win of the 2016 season in the Outlaws Stock feature. After running fourteen consecutive green flag laps, there were two cautions before the final lap could be scored.
Wills raced ahead of Ken Watson, Jr. for the win after former track champion, Pat Conaway spun on the final circuit. Spider Ensinger picked up another solid finish to take third over Mike Creamer and Brian Ludwig.
The Bridgeport Speedway will present the bonus hand of the 811 Dig Safely 2016 Poker Series this coming Saturday, October 1st. The Spirit Auto Center Big Blocks, Stewart Stainless Crate/Sportsman and PennCo Tech Outlaw Stocks will compete in the tripleheader show to be followed by Powder Puff competition on the quarter mile. Drivers have the opportunity to better their poker hands during this event. Racing gets underway at 6pm.
K&A EXCAVATING/UNITED RENTALS KING OF THE BIG BLOCKS (50 LAPS)
1 – Billy Pauch, 2 – Jamie Mills, 3 – Dominick Buffalino, 4 – Duane Howard, 5 – Brett Kressley, 6 – Ryan Godown, 7 – Billy Pauch Jr, 8 – Neal Williams, 9 – Sam Martz, 10 – Ryan Watt, 11 – Craig VonDohren, 12 – Tyler Dippel, 13 – Ryan Anderson, 14 – Tommy Beamer, 15 – Mike Iles, 16 – Richie Pratt Jr, 17 – Jimmy Horton, 18 – Travis Hill, 19 – CJ Jones, 20 – Wade Hendrickson, 21 – Billy VanInwegen, 22 – Bobby Drayton, 23 – Rick Laubach, 24 – Dave Shirk, 25 – Jeff Strunk, 26 – Rocco Infante, 27 – Danny Bouc
CRATE/SPORTSMAN
1 – Craig Whitmoyer, 2 – Brian Papiez, 3 – Eric Kormann, 4 – Brandon Grosso, 5 – Ryan Lilick, 6 – Dave Damiano, 7 – Brad Arnold, 8 – Clyde Cox, 9 – John Micek, 10 – Jordan Henn, 11 – Kyle Lilick, 12 – Dakota Kessler, 13 – John McGovern, 14 – Roger Manning, 15 – Chuck Potts, 16 – Scott Hulmes, 17 – Tom Sherby, 18 – Brian Hitz, 19 – Devin Dodson, 20 – JR Burritt, 21 – Matt Stangle, 22 – Steve Searock, 23 – Adam Cox, 24 – Steve Desmylek
OUTLAW STOCKS
1 – Tom Wills Jr, 2 – Ken Watson Jr, 3 – Spider Ensinger, 4 – Mike Creamer, 5 – Brian Ludwig, 6 – Tom Princiotta, 7 – Art Avery, 8 – John Parker, 9 – Fred Tomarchio, 10 – Rich Stinson, 11 – Pat Conaway, 12 – Joe Meron, 13 – Tom Wills Sr., 14 – Roy Combs
Upcoming events
Saturday, October 1 - Poker Series Bonus Hand - Big Block Modifies, Crate/Sportsman, Outlaw Stocks & Powder Puff Races on the 1/4 mile, racing at 6pm
Saturday & Sunday, October 15 & 16 - Misfits 4x4 Fall Down & Dirty Weekend plus Demo Derby, 7pm Saturday
Saturday & Sunday, November 4 & 5 - URC/360 Sprints Big Track Classic plus Crate/Sportsman Showdown
Friday, November 11 - Wild Card Weekend - 358 Small Blocks, TSRS Sprint Cars, Outlaw Stocks plus practice for Saturday
Saturday, November 12 - Gone But Not Forgotten - 811 Dig Safely Poker Series Hand #5 - Big Block Modifieds, Crate/Sportsman & Outlaw Stocks
IT’S COZZE OVER PAUCH IN BARNBURNER
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IT'S COZZE OVER PAUCH IN BARNBURNER ON THE EVE OF THE KING OF THE BIG BLOCKS!
Swedesboro, NJ September 23, 2016 - It brought back memories for seasoned racing fans!
It was a show not many will forget as two drivers who have forged stellar careers in stock car racing over the span of forty years battled wheel to wheel and side by side for more than half the race.
Frank Cozze picked up his first Bridgeport Speedway win in more than twenty years as he held off the challenges of Billy Pauch to win the twenty-five lap 358 Small Block Modified feature event at the Bridgeport Speedway on the eve of the first running of The King of the Big Blocks! It was Cozze's seventh Bridgeport Speedway win while Pauch sits tied for third on the track's All Time Feature Winner's List with fifty-eight wins.
It was Cozze's fourth win of the season for car owner, Tom Umbenhauer. Cozze lined up along side of 2016 Bridgeport Champion, Ryan Watt for the start and quickly jumped out in front. Pauch drove into second from his sixth place start on lap eleven and the battle was on.
Lap after lap, Pauch would race ahead of Cozze on the inside as the two battled side by side through the turns but it was Cozze who would roll the outside off the corner to regain the lead. Pauch edged ahead as the leaders raced across the line to complete lap seventeen but Cozze was back in front as the pair exited turn two on the next circuit.
Cozze and Pauch led a stellar field of talent to the checkered flag at the end of twenty-five laps. The amount of racing history represented in those first to spots is nothing less than staggering. Billy Pauch, Jr. finished third in his own Kid Racing No. 15. Dominick Buffalino finished fourth with Brett Kressley racing into fifth on the final laps.
Watt, Tyler Dippel, Craig VonDohren, Ryan Krachun and Rick Laubach rounded out the top ten finishers.
Steph Palmai-Carberry returned to Bridgeport's Victory Lane when she picked up the win in the Hilborn Tri-State Race Savers Sprint Car (TSRS) feature event earlier in the evening after leading from the green flag to the checkered. The winner was greeted in Victory Lane by her father and grandfather who have played integral roles in her racing career.
Tim Tanner raced into second on lap fourteen and began to cut in to the lead but was unable to get to Palmai-Carberry's No. 99 before the checkered. Tanner finished second with Robbie Stillwaggon racing into third in the race's final laps. Tommy Carberry, the winner's husband finishing fourth with Mike Haggenbottom rounding out the top five. It was the final night of points for TSRS as Haggenbottom earned his fifth consecutive title with his fifth place finish.
Several hot lap sessions were offered for the Big Block Modifieds who will take center stage tonight (Saturday) in the first King of the Big Blocks event. Fifty laps of Big Block Modifieds with $12,000 going to the winner in an event sponsored by K&A Excavating Company and United Rental Inc.
By virtue of the quick laps in the final timed sessions, Craig VonDohren and Brett Kressley earned guaranteed starting spots in the King of the Big Blocks.
358 SMALL BLOCK MODIFIEDS (25 LAPS)
1 – Frank Cozze, 2 – Billy Pauch, 3 – Billy Pauch Jr, 4 – Dominick Buffalino, 5 – Brett Kressley, 6 – Ryan Watt, 7 – Tyler Dippel, 8 – Craig Von Dohren, 9 – Ryan Krachun, 10 – Rick Laubach, 11 – John McClelland, 12 – Duane Howard, 13 – Jim Britt, 14 – Tommy Scheetz, 15 – Ray Swinehart, 16 – PJ Oiver, 17 – Ryan Forte, 18 – Ron Roberts, 19 – Brian Papiez, 20 – Eric Kormann, 21 – Kevin Vaclavicek, 22 – John Pakenham, 23 – Mike Iles, 24 – Ryan Godown, 25 – Jimmy Horton, 26 – Richie Pratt
HILBORN TRI-STATE RACE SAVER SPRINT CARS (20 LAPS)
1 – Steph Palmai-Carberry, 2 – Tim Tanner Jr, 3 – Ryan Stillwaggon, 4 – Tommy Carberry, 5 – Mike Haggenbottom, 6 – Eddie Wagner, 7 – Joe Lord, 8 – Dave Brown, 9 – Joe Kay, 10 – Kyle Purks, 11 – Chris Allen, 12 – Samantha Lieberman, 13 – Bryant Davis, 14 – David Bonner, 15 – Harris Kohen, 16 – Tim Smolenyak, 17 – Douglas Snow, 18 – Scott Frack, 19 – Doug Suiter, 20 – Jeff Geiges, 21 – Rick Steif
Upcoming events
Saturday, October 1 - Poker Series Bonus Hand - Big Block Modifies, Crate/Sportsman, Outlaw Stocks & Powder Puff Races on the 1/4 mile
Saturday & Sunday, October 15 & 16 - Misfits 4x4 Fall Down & Dirty Weekend plus Demo Derby, 7pm Saturday
Saturday & Sunday, November 4 & 5 - URC/360 Sprints Big Track Classic plus Crate/Sportsman Showdown
Friday, November 11 - Wild Card Weekend - 358 Small Blocks, TSRS Sprint Cars, Outlaw Stocks plus practice for Saturday
Saturday, November 12 - Gone But Not Forgotten - 811 Dig Safely Poker Series Hand #5 - Big Block Modifieds, Crate/Sportsman & Outlaw Stocks
MAURIELLO BREAKS WALL STADIUM DROUGHT WITH MODIFIED WIN SATURDAY
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Wall Stadium
MAURIELLO BREAKS WALL STADIUM DROUGHT WITH MODIFIED WIN SATURDAY
WALL TOWNSHIP, N.J. September 24, 2016- Eric Mauriello put all of his bad fortunes of the 2016 season behind him Saturday night and won the 40-lap Downs Ford Modified stock car main event at Wall Stadium Speedway. The “Snap On Night” win was the Howell resident’s first victory of the season.
Mauriello took full advantage of the front row starting spot, earned in the handicapping system by his streak of poor fortunes, to rocket to the lead at the outset. He was first forced to fight off the advances of Derek Hopkinson before the Toms River race was forced to pit on lap 26 with a flat right front tire. Steven Reed of Jackson, the defending champion and point leader, then took up the chase and hounded Mauriello most of the way.
At the checker flag Mauriello was the winner while Reed stretched his point lead slightly by finishing second. Title contender Andrew Krause of Holmdel, who spent much of the race passing cars in the outside lane, finished third and another title contender, Chas Okerson of Freehold, was fourth. New Egypt’s Jason Hearne was fifth.
“It just feels good to get this off my shoulders and win a race,” Mauriello said in the winner’s circle. “This has been a real tough year. We’ve had some good finishes and we’ve had out share of bad luck. It is really nobody’s fault, just racing. I have to thank Dick and Robert Barney for giving me a great car every week and for sticking with it.”
Snap On Sportsman title contender Ricky Collins of Willow Grove, Pa. overcame challenges by Dom Fattarusso of Brick and Jackson’s Blake Barney to cross the finish line first in the 30-lap “Fan Appreciation Night” feature race. Barney was second and Kenny Van Wickle of Manasquan was third. Tyler Truex of Mayetta and Nick Shaw wrapped up the top five. Howell’s Kevin Davison, the point leader going into the event, was involved in two skirmishes during the race and was forced to come from the rear of the field twice. The combination of Collins’ crossing the line first and Davison’s eighth place finish puts them in a points knot going into this Saturday’s final point race of the campaign.
As of Sunday the Sportsman finish is not yet official while technical inspectors determine whether or not a motor part in Collins car conforms to rules.
Ron Booth of Eatontown grabbed the lead with ten laps remaining to win the O’Shea’s Auto Repair Factory Stock 25-lapper. Booth, who works for Snap On, enjoyed his win in front of his company’s crowd. Brick’s Joe Mongeau all but wrapped up the driving title by finishing second, with early leader Scott Maher of Brick, Union’s Joey Helberg and Gerry Koenig of Seaford, N.Y. completing the top five.
TJ Graves of Wall crossed the finish line first in the Surf Side Collision 4 Cylinder Stock 25-lapper, but when his car had trouble with an unapproved chassis part in post-race inspection Brick’s Ronnie Mullen was awarded the win. Howell’s Brian Osborn, Darren Burdge of Jackson, Brick’s Jason Lane and Jeff Loesch of Neptune City were second through fifth.
Defending champ Robert French of Howell won the 25-lapper for the Green Flag Driving Experience Legend Cars grabbing the top spot near halfway. Joe McGrath of Middletown, Edgewater Park’s Nick Van Wickle, Brick’s Chris Gall and Peter Bruno of Little Silver completed the top five.
Shannon Mongeau of Manchester won his second straight 25-lapper for the Elite Maintenance Limited Late Models coming from the rear of the field. Freehold’s Howie Conk, Ray Minieri of Bay Shore, N.Y., Brian Doyle of Ronkonkoma, N.Y. and point leader Mike Tillett of Bayville were second through fifth.
The Saturday night stock car regular season wraps up this Saturday (Oct. 1) with “Champions’ Night” competition. All feature races will offer double points and champions will be crowned in every division. In competition will be the Modifieds in a 40-lapper, the Sportsman cars in a 30-lapper and the Factory Stocks, Legend Cars, Limited Late Models and the 4 Cylinder Stocks all racing in 25-lappers. Grandstand seating opens at 5:00 p.m. Qualifying starts at 5:45 p.m. and feature racing begins at 7:00 p.m. In the event of rain on “Champions’ Night,” a Saturday night, October 8, rain date is in effect.
Post-season events, the “Spooky Spectacular” on October 15 and the Thanksgiving weekend “Turkey Derby,” are also being planned. Each event will be contested during the daylight hours and details will be announced soon.
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.
MODIFIED FEAUTE – 40 Laps – 1. ERIC MAURIELLO, HOWELL, 2. Steven Reed, 3. Andrew Krause, 4. Chas Okerson, 5. Jason Hearne, 6. Shaun Carrig, 7. Ron Frees, 8. Shawna Ingraham, 9. Derek Hopkinson, 10. Zack Alspach, 11. Chris Lane, 12. Jonathan Mandato, 13. Justin Gumley, 14. Ed Delage, 15. Rob Hyer
SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 30 Laps – 1. RICKY COLLINS, WILLOW GROVE, PA., 2. Blake Barney, 3. Kenny Van Wickle, 4. Tyler Truex, 5. Nick Shaw, 6. Jarret DiGiantomasso, 7. Dom Fattarusso, 8. Kevin Davison, 9. Chris Owsik, 10. Matt Langbein, 11. Roland DeMartino, 12. Dave Bailey, 13. Joe Cocca, 14. Jonathan Laureigh, 15. Jimmy Wolcott, 16. Kenny Green, 17. Donnie Ericson, 18. Scott Brannick
FACTORY STOCK FEATURE – 25 Laps – 1. RON BOOTH, EATONTOWN, 2. Joe Mongeau, 3. Scott Maher, 4. Joey Helberg, 5. Gerry Koenig, 6. Richie Byrne, 7. Bill Stockert, 8. Jerry Stanzione, 9. Rob Longo, 10. Rick Siddons, 11. Tim O’Shea, 12. Tom Rajkowski, 13. John Carpenter, 14. Tony Bartone, 15. Matt Badessa, 16. Scott Riggleman
4 CYLINDER STOCK FEATURE – 25 Laps – 1. RONNIE MULLEN, BRICK, 2. Brian Osborne, 3. Darren Burdge, 4. Jason Lane, 5. Jeff Loesch, 6. Frank Ciancitto, 7. Richard Smith, 8. Mike Lavery, 9. Todd Pilla, 10. Darianne McLaren, 11. Fred Cannock, 12. Jay Conrad, DQ TJ Graves
LEGEND CARS FEATURE – 25 Laps – 1. ROBERT FRENCH, HOWELL, 2. Joe McGrath, 3. Nick Van Wickle, 4. Chris Gall, 5. Peter Bruno, 6. Luke Marzano, 7. Malcolm Campbell, 8. Art Marrero, 9. Roger Nickerson, 10. Louie Keraitis
LIMITED LATE MODEL FEATURE – 25 Laps – 1. SHANON MONGEAU, MANCHESTER, 2. Howie Conk, 3. Ray Minieri, 4. Brian Doyle, 5. Mike Tillett, 6. Glen Conk, 7. Michelle Moorman, 8. Bill Vanderveen
Ian Madsen scores Four Crown Nationals victory for first ever Eldora Speedway win
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Artic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions
Contact: Tyler Altmeyer
Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions
(724) 954-4915
altmeyer119@gmail.com
tyler@tonystewart.com
Ian Madsen scores Four Crown Nationals victory for first ever Eldora Speedway win,
Chad Kemenah reclaims Arctic Cat All Star championship point lead over Dale Blaney
ROSSBURG, Ohio (September 24, 2016) - Sometimes, being in the right place at the right time can make all of the difference. For Ian Madsen, that statement proved to be worth $5,000.
For the first time in his career, Ian Madsen is a main event winner at the world-famous Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio; scoring a victory against the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions during the 35th Annual Four Crown Nationals.
Climbing ahead from third on the feature grid, Madsen took command officially on lap 28, utilizing Rico Abreu’s misfortune while racing in the runner-up position. The victory was Madsen’s third against the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions during the course of his career, but his first in 2016. Chad Kemenah finished second, followed by Randy Hannagan, Kraig Kinser and Brady Bacon.
“It’s really awesome to get a win at this place,” Ian Madsen explained. “I’ve always dreamed of winning a race at Eldora Speedway. It’s really cool to be able to stand up here on this victory lane stage. I can’t thank my team enough for their hard work. Kyle, Mark, Jackson, and all of the guys back home, Brett and Matt; they all do so much. My crew chief, Kyle Ripper, gave me a great car tonight. We’ve been knocking on the door to get a big win, so this is awesome.”
A pair of California natives, Rico Abreu and Randy Hannagan, led the feature starters to green on Saturday night at Eldora Speedway. Hannagan earned the early advantage, leading Chad Kemenah and Rico Abreu by the flagstand for the first time. The “Hurricane” kept control for the first six circuits, eventually feeling some pressure from the duo racing directly behind him. A pair of cautions on lap seven would halt competition for the first time during the 30-lap main event, erasing Hannagan’s advantage at the front of the field. The cautions proved to be beneficial for second place running Rico Abreu; using the momentum change to drive by Hannagan when green flag action returned to officially lead the seventh circuit.
Abreu drove on to dominate the next 20 circuits, outrunning Randy Hannagan, Chad Kemenah and eventually Ian Madsen through two additional cautions and periods of intense traffic. Unfortunately, Abreu’s dominating performance would soon come to a halt; spinning all alone between turns three and four on lap 28, eventually adding Lee Jacobs to the pileup. Madsen, who battled his way forward after starting on the inside of row two, inherited command. His lucky strike would soon pay off, keeping Chad Kemenah and Randy Hannagan at bay for the last three circuits to secure $5,000 and a first-ever trip to the Eldora Speedway victory lane stage.
“I don’t think we had anything for Rico (Abreu),” Madsen explained. “We got a lucky break there, so we had to make the most of it.”
With his runner-up finish, Chad Kemenah officially reclaims the top spot in the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions title chase, now holding a 20-point cushion over Dale Blaney, and a 70-point cushion over Sheldon Haudenschild, heading into the next Arctic Cat All Star program. Blaney and Haudenschild each suffered from problems during the Four Crown Nationals main event; Blaney made contact with the turn four retaining wall, while Haudenschild suffered from engine failure.
“You have to finish every race. My crew always gives me a great opportunity to do that,” Chad Kemenah explained. “We just keep plugging away and we keep earning podiums. Ian (Madsen) had a really good car tonight. I actually felt like I was getting better and better as the race went on. We were able to move around quite a bit on the race track. We were good enough to run second to him and I’ll take it.”
With only two weeks to wait, the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions will return to The Big E on Saturday evening, October 8, for the Eldora Speedway season finale. Dubbed the Sprintacular, the sprint car triple-header will feature the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions, NRA ‘360’ Sprint Invaders and the BOSS non-wing sprint cars, each conducting a full program including preliminary competition and main events. The Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions will battle for a $5,000 top prize, as well as full points, during the annual Sprintacular; the fourth and final Eldora Speedway appearance for the Arctic Cat All Stars in 2016.
Those seeking additional information regarding the 2016 Eldora Speedway Sprintacular should visit Eldora Speedway live on the Web at www.eldoraspeedway.com.
Contingency Awards/Results: Eldora Speedway - Saturday, September 24, 2016:
Event: 35th Annual Four Crown Nationals
EMi Driver’s Meeting: 37 Entries
State Water Heaters Warm-Ups: Dale Blaney - 14.490 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Randy Hannagan - 14.158 seconds
Kistler Racing Products Heat #1: Jac Haudenschild
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Tyler Courtney
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Sheldon Haudenschild
EMi Heat #4: Caleb Helms
JE Pistons Dash: Rico Abreu
Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Ian Madsen
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Max Stambaugh (+12)
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 5th Place Finisher: Jac Haudenschild (6th)
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 10th Place Finisher: Kerry Madsen
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 15th Place Finisher: Cole Duncan
(Lincoln Electric, Daido Engine Bearings, MSD Performance, Outback Steakhouse: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)
Qualifying
1.11N-Randy Hannagan, 14.158; 2.11K-Kraig Kinser, 14.243; 3.24-Rico Abreu, 14.258; 4.70-Dean Jacobs, 14.259; 5.1-Dale Blaney, 14.281; 6.10H-Chad Kemenah, 14.339; 7.99-Brady Bacon, 14.387; 8.93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 14.396; 9.18-Ian Madsen, 14.500; 10.35-Jac Haudenschild, 14.548; 11.21-Cap Henry, 14.549; 12.81-Lee Jacobs, 14.565; 13.17W-Kerry Madsen, 14.572; 14.8M-TJ Michael, 14.602; 15.20N-Hunter Schuerenberg, 14.649; 16.23-DJ Foos, 14.691; 17.40-Caleb Helms, 14.739; 18.7C-Caleb Armstrong, 14.740; 19.49D-Shawn Dancer, 14.755; 20.9X-Cole Duncan, 14.782; 21.OO-Dane Lorenc, 14.817; 22.23c-Tyler Courtney, 14.835; 23.57X-Andrew Palker, 14.885; 24.19P-Paige Polyak, 14.890; 25.33M-Max Stambaugh, 14.932; 26.09x-Carson Macedo, 14.976; 27.83-Adam Cruea, 15.022; 28.71m-Paul May, 15.109; 29.O7-Jacob Wilson, 15.127; 30.7J-Joe Swanson, 15.140; 31.59-Ben Schmidt, 15.167; 32.11R-Chase Ridenour, 15.288; 33.10S-Jay Steinebach, 15.314; 34.49H-Bradley Howard, 15.321; 35.60-Kory Crabtree, 15.611; 36.6-Bill Rose, 15.649; 37.5B-Chad Blonde, 15.693;
Heat 1, Group A - (8 Laps)
1. 35-Jac Haudenschild[2] ; 2. 99-Brady Bacon[3] ; 3. 1-Dale Blaney[4] ; 4. 20N-Hunter Schuerenberg[1] ; 5. 23-DJ Foos[5] ; 6. 09x-Carson Macedo[6] ; 7. O7-Jacob Wilson[7] ; 8. 7J-Joe Swanson[8] ; 9. 6-Bill Rose[10] ; 10. 60-Kory Crabtree[9]
Heat 2, Group B - (8 Laps)
1. 23c-Tyler Courtney[1] ; 2. 18-Ian Madsen[3] ; 3. 17W-Kerry Madsen[2] ; 4. 11K-Kraig Kinser[4] ; 5. 19P-Paige Polyak[5] ; 6. 33M-Max Stambaugh[6] ; 7. 59-Ben Schmidt[7] ; 8. 11R-Chase Ridenour[8]
Heat 3, Group C - (8 Laps)
1. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[2] ; 2. 10H-Chad Kemenah[3] ; 3. 24-Rico Abreu[4] ; 4. 21-Cap Henry[1] ; 5. 81-Lee Jacobs[5] ; 6. 71m-Paul May[8] ; 7. 49H-Bradley Howard[9] ; 8. OO-Dane Lorenc[7] ; 9. 49D-Shawn Dancer[6]
Heat 4, Group D - (8 Laps)
1. 40-Caleb Helms[1] ; 2. 11N-Randy Hannagan[4] ; 3. 70-Dean Jacobs[3] ; 4. 7C-Caleb Armstrong[5] ; 5. 8M-TJ Michael[2] ; 6. 9X-Cole Duncan[6] ; 7. 57X-Andrew Palker[7] ; 8. 83-Adam Cruea[8] ; 9. 10S-Jay Steinebach[9]
Dash 1 - (6 Laps)
1. 24-Rico Abreu[3] ; 2. 11N-Randy Hannagan[1] ; 3. 18-Ian Madsen[5] ; 4. 10H-Chad Kemenah[2] ; 5. 99-Brady Bacon[6] ; 6. 35-Jac Haudenschild[4] ; 7. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[8] ; 8. 11K-Kraig Kinser[7]
B-Main 1 - (12 Laps)
1. 33M-Max Stambaugh[5] ; 2. OO-Dane Lorenc[3] ; 3. 9X-Cole Duncan[2] ; 4. 09x-Carson Macedo[6] ; 5. 71m-Paul May[8] ; 6. 59-Ben Schmidt[11] ; 7. 83-Adam Cruea[7] ; 8. 7J-Joe Swanson[10] ; 9. O7-Jacob Wilson[9] ; 10. 60-Kory Crabtree[15] ; 11. 49H-Bradley Howard[14] ; 12. 6-Bill Rose[16] ; 13. 57X-Andrew Palker[4] ; 14. 49D-Shawn Dancer[1] ; 15. 10S-Jay Steinebach[13] ; 16. 11R-Chase Ridenour[12] ; 17. 5B-Chad Blonde[17]
A-Main 1 - (30 Laps)
1. 18-Ian Madsen[3] ; 2. 10H-Chad Kemenah[4] ; 3. 11N-Randy Hannagan[2] ; 4. 11K-Kraig Kinser[8] ; 5. 99-Brady Bacon[5] ; 6. 35-Jac Haudenschild[6] ; 7. 21-Cap Henry[15] ; 8. 7C-Caleb Armstrong[16] ; 9. 33M-Max Stambaugh[21] ; 10. 17W-Kerry Madsen[12] ; 11. 70-Dean Jacobs[13] ; 12. 23c-Tyler Courtney[10] ; 13. 20N-Hunter Schuerenberg[14] ; 14. 09x-Carson Macedo[24] ; 15. 9X-Cole Duncan[23] ; 16. 23-DJ Foos[17] ; 17. 57X-Andrew Palker[25] ; 18. 40-Caleb Helms[9] ; 19. 24-Rico Abreu[1] ; 20. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[7] ; 21. 8M-TJ Michael[20] ; 22. 81-Lee Jacobs[19] ; 23. 1-Dale Blaney[11] ; 24. 19P-Paige Polyak[18] ; 25. OO-Dane Lorenc[22]
Current Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions Standings (September 24, 2016):
1. Chad Kemenah - 4960
2. Dale Blaney - 4940
3. Sheldon Haudenschild - 4890
4. Cap Henry -4646
5. Kraig Kinser - 4586
6. Danny Holtgraver - 4580
7. T.J. Michael - 4370
8. Caleb Helms - 4190
9. Lee Jacobs - 4042
10. Andrew Palker - 3980
Additional Arctic Cat All Star Series Info:
Those seeking additional information regarding the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions 📿should visit their official online home at www.allstarsprint.com. Series updates and breaking news will be posted regularly on the official Twitter account of the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions: https://twitter.com/ASCoC. Find full text results from each and every event, as well as an up-to-date schedule, online at www.allstarsprint.com/schedule/.
About the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions:
All Star Enterprises, LLC, wholly owned by Tony Stewart, d/b/a the All Star Circuit of Champions, is a winged sprint car series. The All-Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series is one of the oldest traveling 410 sprint car organizations and is a staple of grassroots, open-wheel racing. Formed in 1970 by Bud Miller, the series has largely been considered the first 'outlaw' Sprint Car organization of the modern era. After a 10 year stint as owner of the All Stars, Miller passed control of the series to Bert Emick in 1980; a reign that would continue through 2002. Guy Webb then purchased the series from Emick in the summer of 2002 and served as the series President for the next 12 years. Motorsports entrepreneur Tony Stewart agreed to terms with Guy Webb to become the sole owner of the original winged sprint car tour in January of 2015.
About Arctic Cat:
The Arctic Cat brand is among the most widely recognized and respected in the recreational vehicle industry. The company designs, engineers, manufactures and markets all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), side-by-sides and snowmobiles, in addition to related parts, garments and accessories under the Arctic Cat® and Motorfist® brand names. Arctic Cat Inc.’s world headquarters is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Its common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “ACAT.” More information about Arctic Cat and its products is available at www.ArcticCat.com.
