Archive for Short Track
BALLOU’S PERRIS STREAK CONTINUES WITH FRIDAY OVAL NATIONALS PRELIMINARY WIN
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The United States Auto Club.
Perris, California.......Robert Ballou made it four-consecutive wins at Perris Auto Speedway on Friday night, as he coupled last year's sweep of the Budweiser "Oval Nationals" presented by All Coast Construction with his second-straight preliminary feature win in this edition. The Rocklin, California driver was untouchable on this night, slicing through lapped traffic and withstanding a restart with five laps remaining to win by 3.123-seconds in the Pacific Turf & Grass - Blakesley Auto #12 Maxim/Ott, tallying his twelfth in the win column on the AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship season.
"It means a lot to put my name up there in terms of winning seasons with guys I know like Pancho Carter and Bubby Jones, and other guys who are the legendary names in sprint car racing. It's special to have a season like this. I thought I gave away a couple too many to have a chance to put up a number like Bigelow's 14 (all-time record), but now we've hit a hot streak again. It's so tough to beat these guys out there, so we're happy to be winning but I know we need to find even more to keep this going," Ballou said.
Damion Gardner shot to the lead from outside the front row, with Ballou in tow as they completed lap one. It appeared as though Friday's feature would be much like the night before, as a long green-flag run put Gardner into traffic at lap ten. Held up by traffic on lap 12, Gardner moved to the outside in turn-two as Ballou rocketed across the track down the backstretch with a full head of steam to fly by him with the lead.
Ballou was off into the night, opening up his lead as he lapped well up into the 26-car starting field. On lap 19, Ballou jumped the turn-one cushion and barely collected himself before getting into the fence. He continued on, still with a lead in excess of three seconds.
Chase Stockon's title hopes took a severe hit on lap 25 when he shredded his right-rear tire down the frontstretch while running sixth. Unfortunately, there was too much damage to the car to continue.
With just six laps to go, Ballou had a cushion of six lapped cars between himself and Gardner, who was stationed in second ahead of ProSource Fast Qualifier Bryan Clauson, polesitter Brady Bacon, and the best run of Josh Hodges' National Sprint Car career.
Bacon snuck under Gardner for second as they completed lap 25 and Clauson tried to come along as well, with Gardner slicing off the high side to battle back for third just as Clauson's car shut off exiting turn-two. That caused a stack-up that collected six cars in total, with Kevin Thomas, Jr. narrowly escaping the melee to continue on.
With just five laps to go, all lapped cars went to the tail, but there was no stopping Ballou. He stretched out his point lead to 69 markers with another fine night, planting himself among just five drivers to ever win at least 12 races in a USAC National Sprint Car season.
Bacon came home second in the Hoffman Auto Racing - Mean Green #69 Triple X/Williams Mopar.
"Tonight puts us in a really good position for tomorrow, and we know tomorrow is such a big night where you want to have a shot. We're gonna have to try some stuff to have a chance to beat Robert, but we've gotten better and have a shot to race with him for it. I felt like I hung with him when he went to the bottom on the last restart, but I think we all lost a little bit after the red, and I just didn't have the drive to be able to go at him at all," Bacon said.
Gardner rebounded from his tough opening night to fill the podium in the Alexander Racing - Scott Sales Company #4x Spike/J&D while capturing the CRA Sprint Car Championship point lead by twelve points over Mike Spencer.
"My guys worked hard today, and we got it turned around from last night. We just got behind last night, and tonight we started better, and the driver did his job a little bit better. Tonight is how we should be running. I'm glad Perris and All Coast Construction are putting on this great event, and I love it when the National guys come out here to race. I love the competition, and they've gotten the best of us so far with Ballou on fire, so we'll have to get worked up and look for a little more speed to beat them. Hopefully we can find it," Gardner said.
Tracy Hines came from eighth to finish fourth in his The Carolina Nut Company - MPHG Promotions #4 DRC/Stanton Chevy, and Kevin Thomas, Jr. rounded out the top-five despite running the last five laps with a flat left-front tire on the Griffin's Propane - Bakken Concrete #17RW Maxim/Fisher.
Ballou, Bacon, Dave Darland, Thomas, Jr., Hines, and Thomas Meseraull locked themselves into Saturday's 40-lap, $25,000-to-win championship feature. They will run the "Super 6 Dash" to determine the starting order of the first three rows.
Chris Windom picked up a second-straight "Hard Charger Award" from Schoenfeld Headers for his drive from 20th to finish eighth.
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AMSOIL USAC SPRINT CAR NATIONAL & CRA CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: November 13, 2015 - Perris, California - Perris Auto Speedway - 20th Budweiser "Oval Nationals" presented by All Coast Construction
QUALIFYING: 1. Bryan Clauson, 63, Dooling/Hayward-16.647; 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 17RW, Dutcher-16.769; 3. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-16.807; 4. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-16.827; 5. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-16.833; 6. Damion Gardner, 4x, Alexander-16.850; 7. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-16.859; 8. Tracy Hines, 4, THR-16.875; 9. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-16.919; 10. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-16.941; 11. Dave Darland, 71p, Phillips/Curb-Agajanian-17.006; 12. Thomas Meseraull, 66, Amati-17.026; 13. Chase Stockon, 32, 32/TBI-17.093; 14. Aaron Farney, 15F, Farney-17.099; 15. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-17.105; 16. Richard Vander Weerd, 10, Vander Weerd-17.119; 17. Brody Roa, 48, Leonard-17.125; 18. Danny Faria, Jr., 4D, Gansen-17.152; 19. Ryan Bernal, 56, Phulps-17.155; 20. Ronnie Gardner, 12A, Allen-17.186; 21. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-17.243; 22. Chris Windom, 21x, Pollock-17.250; 23. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-17.299; 24. Justin Grant, 5, Baldwin-17.302; 25. Jon Stanbrough, 81, Stanbrough-17.408; 26. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-17.428; 27. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-17.458; 28. Mitch Wissmiller, 36, Springstead-17.463; 29. Logan Williams, 5J, Jory-17.532; 30. Chad Boespflug, 04G, Cook-17.549; 31. Kyle Edwards, 51E, Tafoya-17.550; 32. Austin Liggett, 83, Liggett-17.594; 33. Geoff Ensign, 3F, Finkenbinder-17.594; 34. Brady Short, 42, Cheney-17.607; 35. Matt Rossi, 02, Rossi-17.617; 36. Max Adams, 5M, Adams-17.710; 37. David Bezio, 37x, Bezio-17.798; 38. Verne Sweeney, 98JR, Tracy-17.810; 39. Lee Dakus, 75, Dakus-17.817; 40. Tommy Malcolm, 5x, Napier-17.869; 41. Koby Barksdale, 12B, Sampson-17.950; 42. Jace Vander Weerd, 88, Vander Weerd-18.013; 43. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-18.064; 44. Jeremy Ellertson, 98, Ellertson-18.207; 45. Mike Collins, 04, Collins-18.626; 46. Parker Colston, 64, Gore-18.702; 47. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-19.079; 48. Randy Waitman, Y69, Waitman-19.341.
C-MAIN: (10 laps) 1. J. Vander Weerd, 2. Barksdale, 3. Colston, 4. Ellertson, 5. Gansen, 6. Waitman, 7. Bell, 8. Collins. NT
FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Clauson, 2. Darland, 3. D. Gardner, 4. R. Vander Weerd, 5. C. Williams, 6. Johnson, 7. Adams, 8. Edwards. 2:51.21
SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Meseraull, 2. Windom, 3. Bacon, 4. Bender, 5. Thomas, 6. Roa, 7. Liggett, 8. Bezio. 2:50.67
THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Stockon, 2. Faria, 3. Hines, 4. Hodges, 5. Mitchell, 6. Ensign, 7. Sweeney. 2:49.16
FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Grant, 2. Farney, 3. Bernal, 4. Swanson, 5. Short, 6. A. Williams, 7. L. Williams, 8. Dakus. 2:53.74
FIFTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Ballou, 2. Boespflug, 3. Stanbrough, 4. Spencer, 5. R. Gardner, 6. Leary, 7. Rossi, 8. Malcolm. NT
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Thomas, 2. A. Williams, 3. Leary, 4. Roa, 5. C. Williams, 6. Mitchell, 7. R. Gardner, 8. Ensign, 9. Liggett, 10. L. Williams, 11. Short, 12. J. Vander Weerd, 13. Bezio, 14. Johnson, 15. Rossi, 16. Adams, 17. Dakus, 18. Edwards, 19. Malcolm, 20. Colston, 21. Barksdale, 22. Ellertson, 23. Sweeney. 3:32.95
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Robert Ballou, 2. Brady Bacon, 3. Damion Gardner, 4. Tracy Hines, 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 6. Thomas Meseraull, 7. Dave Darland, 8. Chris Windom, 9. C.J. Leary, 10. Austin Williams, 11. Richard Vander Weerd, 12. Jake Swanson, 13. Josh Hodges, 14. Ryan Bernal, 15. Mike Spencer, 16. Brody Roa, 17. Jon Stanbrough, 18. Justin Grant, 19. Danny Faria, Jr., 20. Aaron Farney, 21. Cody Williams, 22. A.J. Bender, 23. Bryan Clauson, 24. Chase Stockon, 25. Chad Boespflug, 26. Matt Mitchell. NT
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**Swanson flipped during qualifying. C. Williams flipped on lap 26 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-11 D. Gardner, Laps 12-30 Ballou.
NEW AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT POINTS: 1-Ballou-2042, 2- Darland-1973, 3-Stockon-1966, 4-Bacon-1850, 5-Stanbrough-1682, 6-Thomas-1636, 7-Windom-1478, 8-Leary-1351, 9-Hines-1295, 10-Grant-1188.
NEW AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT POINTS: 1-D. Gardner-1212, 2-Spencer-1200, 3-R. Vander Weerd-1140, 4-Swanson-1018, 5-A. Williams-1005, 6-Roa-951, 7-Mitchell-786, 8-C. Williams-745, 9-L. Williams-650, 10-Bernal-550.
OVAL NATIONALS POINTS: 1-Ballou-292, 2-Bacon-267, 3-Darland-261, 4-Thomas-246, 5-Hines-239, 6-Meseraull-238, 7-D. Gardner-236, 8-R. Vander Weerd-232, 9-Clauson-230, 10-Stockon-225.
NEXT AMSOIL NATIONAL & CRA SPRINT RACE: November 14 - Perris (CA) Auto Speedway - 20th Budweiser "Oval Nationals" presented by All Coast Construction
THE PIT BOARD
**Robert Ballou extended his series lead to 69 points, his biggest point lead since August 9th when he held a 94-point cushion over Chase Stockon.
**Dave Darland moved to the second spot in the series point standings for the first time since August 26.
**Stockon finished outside the top-10 for only the third time in 35 series starts this season.
**Friday night's race at Perris was only the 6th time a USAC National Sprint Car race was held on Friday The 13th. Previous winners on "Friday the 13th" include:
9/13/1991: Jim Mahoney at Lakeside Speedway
9/13/1996: Billy Pauch at Williams Grove Speedway
7/13/2001: Brian Tyler at Toledo Speedway
7/13/2007: Daron Clayton at Gas City I-69 Speedway
7/13/2012: Bryan Clauson at Gas City I-69 Speedway
**The last USAC National race in any series to be held in the state of California on "Friday the 13th" was a USAC National Midget race won by Larry Rice at South Bay Speedway in Chula Vista, Calif. on 10/13/1972.
**Tracy Hines 4th place finish on Friday night was his best finish since a 4th place at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway on August 28th.
**Chris Windom has advanced the most positions during the feature in three of the last four USAC National Sprint Car races. Windom advanced a total of 35 positions in those three races.
**Robert Ballou now has 12 USAC National Sprint Car feature wins in his incredible 2015 season. Ballou has surpassed the mark of 11 wins by Bubby Jones set in 1979 and now joins Larry Dickson (12 in 1968), Pancho Carter (12 in 1976), J.J Yeley (13 in 2003) and Tom Bigelow (14 in 1977) as the only drivers with 12 wins or more in a single season.
**Friday night marked the fourth time this season that Robert Ballou has won back-to-back USAC National Sprint Car features. The only other driver to accomplish the feat once this season is Thomas Meseraull.
**Ballou won his 4th consecutive USAC National Sprint Car race at Perris Auto Speedway.
**Ballou's 21st career series feature win tied him with Greg Weld for 24th on the all-time USAC National Sprint Car wins list.
**Damion Gardner took over the point lead in the AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car series and now holds a 12 point lead over Mike Spencer with just four races remaining.
**Damion Gardner led his first laps in a USAC National Sprint Car feature since his most recent series win at Port Royal Speedway on June 9, 2012.
THUNDER ON THE HILL RACING SERIES RESULTS
Posted by: | CommentsOCTOBER 17, 2015
NEWS FROM: BOB MILLER 443 513 4456
THUNDER ON THE HILL RACING SERIES
DUANE HOWARD WINS “MODS AT THE MADHOUSE” THRILLER, BRIGHTBILL & HAGGENBOTTOM SHARE THUNDER WINS AT GRANDVIEW
The fifteen year tradition of the NAPA Auto Parts Thunder on the Hill Racing Series Halloween Party returned to the Grandview Speedway with the MODS at the MADHOUSE triple header on Saturday night. When the Halloween treats were finally collected, it was Oley, PA driver Duane Howard who won the 40 lap $5,000 to win Modified feature as Brad Brightbill won the sportsman feature with Mike Haggenbottom winning the TSRS Sprint car feature event. Ninety-two cars took part in the action as a strong crowd turned out on cold and windy night.
Modified heat race events were won by Billy Pauch Jr, Duane Howard and Doug Manmiller as Craig VonDohren won the consolation.
#66 Duane Howard (WoS photo)
In the 40 lap MODS at the MADHOUSE feature event, Brett Kressley was the early race leader, taking the top spot from pole sitter Danny Creeden. Ryan Watt, Billy Pauch Jr and Kevin Hirthler followed to make-up the top five as the field crossed the line on lap five. On lap nine, the caution was displayed for Ray Swinehart. When green flag racing resumed, Ryan Watt powered into the lead followed by Kressley and Pauch. Watt remained the pace setter with Billy Pauch Jr. now in the chase and in a position to challenge for the lead.
Jeff Strunk was on the move, racing in third followed by Duane Howard and Kressley as the field passed for the halfway sign. Watt held off Pauch until lap twenty-three when Pauch made the move to take the lead. Following Pauch was Howard, Watt, Strunk and Kressley.
Howard began reeling in race leader Billy Pauch Jr. and on lap thirty, Howard was on the rear bumper of Pauch and challenging for the lead. Slower traffic was ahead of the race leaders and Pauch was lapped cars. The battle went on for the lead.
The turning point of the race took place on lap thirty-six, as Pauch and Howard were in a side-by-side run for the lead, Pauch slowed and it appeared that he broke, with his car nearly coming to a stop in turn two. The caution was displayed and shortly after, Pauch regained power. The yellow was displayed for Pauch so he was required to restart at the rear of the field.
This advanced Duane Howard to the lead followed by Ryan Watt, Jeff Strunk, Craig VonDohren (who started 19th) and Brett Kressley. At the drop of the green flag, Howard was on top with Watt trying to hunt down the leader as Jeff Strunk and Craig VonDohren were in the thick of the battle with just five laps remaining.
Howard maintained his lead to win the inaugural running the MODS at the MADHOUSE followed by Jeff Strunk, Ryan Watt, Craig VonDohren and Rick Laubach driving the Glenn Hyneman 126. Billy Pauch Jr who brought out the caution on lap thirty-six and restarted at the rear of the field, worked his way back to a solid tenth place finish. Doug Manmiller, winner of the third heat race did not start the feature due to a rule infraction with the motor. Craig VonDohren was forced to run the consolation after losing a wheel during the running of a heat trace.
Brad Brightbill (WoS photo)
A twenty-four car starting field answered the call for the twenty-five lap Sportsman feature. Joe Funk led the first lap with Brad Brightbill taking the lead on lap two. Brightbill was challenged numerous times by Jorden Henn and later Ryan Lilick was chasing the race leader. At the halfway point of the event, Brightbill remained the leader followed by Ryan Lilick, Henn, Craig Whitmoyer and Funk.
Brightbill easily handled the competition and with five laps to go, he maintained a comfortable lead. Brightbill took the win over Ryan Lilick, Craig Whitmoyer, Jorden Henn and Brett Kressley.
Mike Haggenbottom (WoS photo)
The TSRS sprint car feature was the final event of the evening and Tim Tanner was the leader at the drop of the green flag after two previous attempts to start the 25 lap feature. After the feature got started, the twenty-five lap main ran non-stop to the checker flag. Leavittown, PA driver Mike Haggenbottom caught Tanner on lap seven and one lap later, Haggenbottom was the new leader. Haggenbottom established a solid lead but deep in the pack Kevin Nagy, David Brown and Adam Carberry where heading to the front. Nagy and Brown advanced to third and fourth and began chasing down Tanner.
In the closing laps, slower cars were now playing a factor as Tanner inched closer to Haggenbottom with Nagy and Brown reeling in Tanner. Haggenbottom rallied home the winner. In victory lane, Hagenbottom was thrilled that after twenty-five years, he finally won a feature at Grandview Speedway, and he did it in convincing style. Tanner finished second followed by Kevin Nagy, Dave Brown and Adam Carberry.
MODS AT THE MADHOUSE FEATURE FINISH: Duane Howard, Jeff Strunk Ryan Watt, Craig VonDohren, Rick Laubach, Brett Kressley, Tommy Sheetz, Ryan Grim, Danny Creeden, Billy Pauch Jr., Kevin Hirthler, Chris Esposito, Mike Laise, John Willman, Kevin Beech, Brian Houseknecht, Jackie Brown Jr, Frank Cozze, Brian Hirthler, Colt Harris, Ray Swinehart, Mike Kellner, Kenny Gilmore, Ron Kline. DNQ: Tom Carberry Sr., Ron Steltman, Eric Engstrom, Jimmy Reppert, Ryan Godown, Doug Manmiller, Danny Erb, Mike Franz, Ron Haring, Jr., Mark Kratz. This event paid $5,000 to the winner, $1,000 for tenth and $500 to take the green flag.
SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH: Brad Brightbill, Ryan Lilick, Craig Whitmoyer, Jorden Henn, Brett Kressley, Joe Funk, Brian Hirthler, Mike Mamanna, Brett Arnold, Ryan Beltz, Jorden Cox, Dean Bachman, Brian Shupp, Brad Grim, Brett Gilmore, Pat Wall, Ken Eckert, Steve Young, Lex Shive, Tommy Tanner, Jim Houseworth, Paul Kline, John McGovern, Paul Housekencht. DNQ: Ryan Higgs, Kody Sites, Kyle Lilick, Frank Dorry Jr., Kevin Dale, Jesse Landis, Mike Koffel, Rob Reiegel, Steve Lozorak
TSRS SPRINT FEATURE FINISH: Mike Haggenbottom, Tim Tanner, Kevin Nagy, Dave Brown, Adam Carberry, Tommy Carberry, Stef Palmai, Karl Freyer, Scott Frack, Tony Smolenyak, Mike Kiser, Joe Kay, John Bennett, Samantha Leiberman, Jon Heagele, Mike Esposito, Zack Burd, David Bonner, Randy Sterling, Tim Smolenyak, Pat U’Selis, Keith Anderson, Rick Stief, Eddie Strada.
END
Special thanks to the race fans, competitors and members of the press for their support of the 2016 NAPA Auto Parts Thunder on the Hill Racing Series that year. We have already begun working on our 2016 schedule of events. Thanks again for all your support.
MESERAULL TAKES TEN GRAND WITH LAWRENCEBURG “FALL NATIONALS” TRIUMPH
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
Lawrenceburg, Indiana.......Thomas Meseraull made it back-to-back AMSOIL National Sprint Car wins with Saturday night's Lawrenceburg Speedway "Fall Nationals." The San Jose, California native picked up ten grand with a dominant drive to victory by 2.899 seconds aboard the Marion Underground Construction - Zeller Construction #66 DRC/Dynotech.
"I've had a tough couple weeks in other cars since we won Eldora, so it feels good to be back in the Amati Racing #66 and beat all these guys who are at the top of the game. I have so many laps here, and thanks to Todd Keen for letting me race here so much, that it felt good to be back at the Burg. (Crew chief) Donnie Gentry was not afraid to get it tight enough, and it was money from the start. It's surreal; I've been coming to USAC shows for a few years and getting beat, and now I feel like I should be up there and I've got a car capable of winning these races," Meseraull said.
Brady Bacon took the lead from outside the front-row as Meseraull snuck past polesitter Scotty Weir off turn-two to take second. Meseraull slid past Bacon on lap two and brought Kevin Thomas, Jr. with him on lap two, but Dave Darland slowed to a stop on the backstretch to bring out a caution. Bacon reverted to the lead.
Meseraull did not waste time, as he entered turn-one on the restart with a slidejob for the lead, and he rocketed away from the field. Thomas also moved past Bacon and tried to keep Meseraull in sight while setting a blistering pace into lapped traffic.
ProSource "Fast Qualifier" C.J. Leary, who received an extra $1,000 from the Lawrenceburg safety team in memory of Bill Hall, was also on the move and finally cleared Bacon for third on lap fourteen. He tried to join the top duo as they carved through traffic over the last half of the race.
As the track started to take rubber through turns three and four, Thomas closed slightly on the leader but could never get close enough to take a shot at Meseraull, who continually put lapped cars behind him, eventually lapping up to 13th.
Thomas was unchallenged behind him and came home second in the Griffin's Propane - Bakken Concrete #17RW Maxim/Fisher.
"It's such a confidence booster to be running so well of late. Mike Dutcher, A.J. Bray, and Charlie Fisher all got together and have us in a really good spot right now. We were in striking distance again tonight, but just needed things to fall our way a little better. He was able to clear another lapped car every time I got him in sight, so he was tough to catch. We just ran out of laps on that one," Thomas said.
Leary wound up third in the Leary Construction Company - Green Tech Lubricants #30 DRC/Claxton.
"Meseraull got to the lead so fast, so it was tough to keep pace with him starting from sixth. We were good as the race went on and turned our fastest lap late in the race after some rubber came in, but we would have needed a yellow to get a shot at them. It would have been hairy to make something happen with them, but I'd have liked to get a shot. We've got some momentum again before we go out west, so hopefully we can get a win out there again this year," Leary said.
Bacon came home fourth in the Hoffman Auto Racing - Mean Green #69 Triple X/Williams Mopar, and Chris Windom charged from 14th to finish fifth in the Rick Pollock - Bates Commodities #21x Maxim/Advanced.
Robert Ballou picked up the B&W Auto Mart "Hard Charger" while holding onto his National point lead while going from 21st to finish tenth.
Brady Bacon won the Indy Race Parts/Spike Products bonus as the highest average finisher between Saturday night's event and the World of Outlaws event on Friday, and Shane Stewart was awarded the Priority Aviation bonus as as WoO full-time competitor in the night's event, although his night ended early after a flip during qualifying.
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AMSOIL USAC SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: October 17, 2015 - Lawrenceburg, Indiana - Lawrenceburg Speedway - "City of Lawrenceburg Fall Nationals"
QUALIFYING: 1. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-13.898; 2. Tony DiMattia, 2x, DiMattia-13.942; 3. Kyle Robbins, 17R, Robbins-13.963; 4. Dave Darland, 71p, Phillips/Curb-Agajanian-13.969; 5. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Byram-13.990; 6. Chad Boespflug, 20N, Nolen-14.082; 7. Thomas Meseraull, 66, Amati-14.138; 8. Tracy Hines, 4, THR-14.142; 9. Kevin Thomas Jr., 17RW, Dutcher-14.153; 10. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-14.161; 11. Scotty Weir, 18x, Keen-14.173; 12. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-14.188; 13. Kody Swanson, 21k, Wolters-14.192; 14. Jerry Coons Jr., 10E, Edison-14.192; 15. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-14.247; 16. Jon Stanbrough, 81, Stanbrough-14.280; 17. Chris Windom, 21x, Pollock-14.285; 18. Aaron Farney, 15F, Farney-14.310; 19. Logan Jarrett, 29, Jarrett-14.337; 20. Justin Grant, 5, Baldwin-14.354; 21. Max McGhee, 17, McGhee-14.422; 22. Dustin Ingle, 2D, Ingle-14.434; 23. Lee Dakus, 75, Dakus-14.434; 24. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-14.496; 25. Casey Shuman, 4J. Ottinger-14.520; 26. Garrett Abrams, 32a, Abrams-14.645; 27. Brandon Mattox, 04, Burton-14.852; 28. Terry Babb, 17L, KCBJ-14.960; 29. Dallas Hewitt, 21s, Swanson-15.076; 30. Beau Stewart, 99, Brown-15.182; 31. Cody Gardner, 46, Gardner-15.244; 32. Riley VanHise, 96, VanHise-15.817; 33. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-15.907; 34. Shane Stewart, 2, Larson/Marks-NT.
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Windom, 2. Thomas, 3. McGhee, 4. Leary, 5. Cummins, 6. Swanson, 7. Hewitt, 8. Shuman, 9. Bell. 2:01.47
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Bacon, 2. Farney, 3. Coons, 4. Ingle, 5. DiMattia, 6. Boespflug, 7. Abrams, 8. B.Stewart. 2:00.77
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Jarrett, 2. Weir, 3. Meseraull, 4. Andretti, 5. Robbins, 6. Dakus, 7. Mattox, 8. Gardner. 2:04.03
FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Ballou, 2. Darland, 3. Grant, 4. Stockon, 5. Stanbrough, 6. Hines, 7. Babb, 8. VanHise. NT
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Swanson, 2. Cummins, 3. Stanbrough, 4. Boespflug, 5. Hines, 6. Abrams, 7. Shuman, 8. VanHise, 9. DiMattia, 10. B.Stewart, 11. Babb, 12. Mattox, 13. Bell, 14. Dakus, 15. Gardner, 16. Hewitt, 17. Robbins. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Thomas Meseraull, 2. Kevin Thomas Jr., 3. C.J. Leary, 4. Brady Bacon, 5. Chris Windom, 6. Kody Swanson, 7. Chase Stockon, 8. Scotty Weir, 9. Jon Stanbrough, 10. Robert Ballou, 11. Tracy Hines, 12. Chad Boespflug, 13. Justin Grant, 14. Jarett Andretti, 15. Dave Darland, 16. Aaron Farney, 17. Max McGhee, 18. Jerry Coons Jr., 19. Dustin Ingle, 20. Logan Jarrett, 21. Garrett Abrams, 22. Kyle Cummins. NT
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**Shane Stewart flipped during qualifying.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Bacon, Laps 2-30 Meseraull.
NEW AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT POINTS: 1-Ballou-1,902, 2-Stockon-1,883, 3-Darland-1,859, 4-Bacon-1,732, 5-Stanbrough-1,605, 6-Thomas-1,535, 7-Windom-1,404, 8-Leary-1,312, 9-Hines-1,197, 10-Grant-1,116.
NEXT AMSOIL USAC NATIONAL SPRINT RACE: November 12-14 - Perris (CA) Auto Speedway - 20th "Budweiser Oval Nationals" - Presented by All-Coast Construction
THE PIT BOARD
**Thomas Meseraull became just the 12th driver to follow up his first career USAC National Sprint Car feature win with his 2nd career feature victory in the very next race. The other drivers to achieve this include: Parnelli Jones (1961), Jud Larson (1964), Gary Bettenhausen (1968), Tom Sneva (1973), Marvin Carman (1975), Kenny Jacobs (1987), Gene Lee Gibson (1989), Andy Michner (1996), Michael Lewis (2003), Kevin Swindell (2008) and Chase Stockon (2012).
**Thomas Meseraull became just the second different driver to win back-to-back features in the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car action this season: Robert Ballou (Lakeside & Eldora) and (New Egypt, Port Royal & Susquehanna).
**The "Fall Nationals" marked the first USAC National Sprint Car appearance by Bixby, Oklahoma's Shane Stewart since May 7, 2004 at Memphis Motorsports Park.
**Brady Bacon and Shane Stewart were the only two drivers to compete in both Lawrenceburg Sprint Car events this weekend: Friday night (World of Outlaws) & Saturday night (USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship).
**Thomas Meseraull won his 2nd series feature of the season.
**Brady Bacon has now led 133 laps in the series on the season. Thomas Meseraull has now led 56.
**C.J. Leary earned his first series ProSource fast qualifying time of the season and first since the Budweiser "Oval Nationals" at Perris Auto Speedway on November 7, 2014.
**Robert Ballou won his 12th heat race of the year in the series, Brady Bacon his 9th, 6th for Chris Windom, and 5th for Logan Jarrett.
**Kody Swanson won his first semi-feature of the year in the series.
Thunder on the Hill // Mods at the Madhouse // Modifieds + Sportsman + TSRS Sprints
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Thunder on the Hill
A frightening chill and an eerie darkness will fall across Grandview Speedway on Saturday, October 17 (Rain date: Saturday, October 24) as the NAPA Auto Parts Thunder on the Hill Racing Series presents Mods at the Madhouse, a thrilling three-division show headlined by a Small-Block/Big-Block Modified event -- including full qualifying heat races - plus action from the Sportsman and TSRS Sprint Cars. Race time is set for 6 PM.
There is no entry fee but competitors are encouraged to pre-enter by October 10th by calling 443-513-4456. Pre-entered competitors will compete for a $5,000 top prize. If the winner is not pre-entered the winner's share will be $4,000.
Race fans young and old are encouraged to dress in costume to be eligible for special Halloween treats, a tradition of this event for many, many years. The Halloween Party remains a big part of this event.
General Admission ticket pricing for Saturday, October 17 is $25 for Adults, Children 6-11 are $10 and Kids 5 & under are FREE! The pit fee is $35 and a license is not required. A rain date of Saturday night, October 24 is in place.
Advance tickets are available by calling 443-513-4456
Celebrating the 26th season of racing action, the NAPA Auto Parts Thunder on the Hill Racing Series always includes fun for the fans with activities such as: Pre-Race Pit Tours, the Inside/Out Experience - where fans can sign-up to watch hot laps from the infield, the Low Down & Dirty Radio Show pre-race Meet & Greet, JOE "THE PIZZA DUDE", giveaways, fireworks, and appearances by the Thunder Girls. Jim Gallagher and GALCO Communications always take part in offering some special fun for the race fans.
NAPA Auto Parts continues their long run with Thunder on the Hill as the Series title sponsor joined by: Quaker Steak & Lube, Window World, GALCO Business Communications & Pioneer Pole Buildings.
- The United States Auto Club.
Rossburg, Ohio...Christopher Bell capped Saturday night's 34th "4-Crown Nationals" at Eldora Speedway with his first-ever Silver Crown Championship Series victory, making it two of three crowns for the night at the famed half-mile. Again, Bell took the lead from the start and went wire-to-wire, this time after setting the night's ProSource "Fast Time." He won by 6.398 seconds in the Fred Gormly - RPM Auto Enterprise #99 JEI/Foxco Chevy.
"I've been close on these races before, and I was worried as the race went on that something would come up. I really thought Kody (Swanson) would be tough to beat, as well as he was hanging with me early. I had to go above the little bit of rough into turn-one, and then I started losing my cushion off turn-four, and when it was gone, I kept hitting the wall towards the end. I tried to keep from doing it as much as I could, but it got really difficult up there. Thankfully, we were able to hang on for all 50 (laps)," Bell said.
Bell immediately rocketed to the lead from the start and ran right against the wall all the way around, entering above the cushion into turn-one and walking away from the field. Behind him, Kody Swanson and Chris Windom battled for the second spot before Swanson spaced himself away from Windom, comfortably in second.
After an early caution, Windom was locked in a battle with Shane Cockrum and Brady Bacon. Shane Cottle was on the move from his ninth starting spot and joined the fray as well.
Just past halfway, Dave Darland spun in turn-two to bring out the final caution of the event, erasing a 4.612-second lead for Bell. It had no adverse effect on him, though, as he traced the very outside of the high-banked half-mile to close out the night's festivities with a 50-lap win.
Behind him, Kody Swanson stretched out his advantage and came home comfortably in second, clinching his second-straight Silver Crown Series championship in the DePalma Motorsports - Radio Hospital #63 Maxim/Hampshire.
"When you're racing for these guys, you have to get yourself ready to go good here, and they've gotten me a lot better. To be able to seal up the championship here for them is really something special. I'm so proud of these guys and so grateful to be a part of their team. Two seconds at the 4-Crown is pretty wild for a guy like me," Swanson said.
Windom rounded out the podium as Bell's teammate in the Fred Gormly - RPM Auto Enterprise #98 Maxim/J & D Performance Mopar.
"Today was a really tough day. Just getting here from the rain-delayed ARCA race at Kentucky was a trip. I just couldn't quite get up in the fluff like those top-two were without getting really tight. I just had to settle in for third, which is a little disappointing with as bad as I wanted to win it. It was a good night for us as a team, though," Windom said.
Cottle's fine run ended fourth in the Curtis Williams - QS Components #81 Maxim/Williams, and Bacon rounded out the top-five in the Martens Machine Shop - Womack Machine Supply #48 DRC/Kistler Chevy.
Dallas Hewitt, who substituted for Kent Wolters in the feature, earned the $750 Larry Rice High Performance Award for his run from 19th to finish 13th.
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USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: September 26, 2015 - Rossburg, Ohio - Eldora Speedway - 34th "4-Crown Nationals"
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Christopher Bell, 99, RPM/Gormly-17.125; 2. Kody Swanson, 63, DePalma-17.385; 3. Brady Bacon, 48, Martens-17.705; 4. Chris Windom, 98, RPM/Gormly-17.754; 5. Jerry Coons Jr., 20, Nolen-17.942; 6. Shane Cockrum, 71, Hardy-17.981; 7. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary/6R Racing-17.995; 8. Kevin Thomas Jr., 17, RW/Curb-Agajanian-18.000; 9. Shane Cottle, 81, Williams-18.043; 10. Justin Grant, 8, Carli-18.130; 11. Dave Darland, 19, Longworth-18.173; 12. Aaron Pierce, 26, Pierce-18.303; 13. Chase Stockon, 14, McQuinn-18.365; 14. Steve Buckwalter, 53, SET-18.395; 15. Terry Babb, 00, Babb-18.636; 16. A.J. Fike, 3, RFMS-18.692; 17. Austin Nemire, 91, Hemelgarn-18.747; 18. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-18.885; 19. Kent Wolters, 21, Swanson-19.057; 20. Chris Fetter, 89, Fetter-NT.
FEATURE: (50 laps) 1. Christopher Bell, 2. Kody Swanson, 3. Chris Windom, 4. Shane Cottle, 5. Brady Bacon, 6. Justin Grant, 7. Shane Cockrum, 8. C.J. Leary, 9. Steve Buckwalter, 10. Jerry Coons Jr., 11. A.J. Fike, 12. David Byrne, 13. Dallas Hewitt (#21), 14. Chase Stockon, 15. Aaron Pierce, 16. Austin Nemire, 17. Tanner Thorson (#17), 18. Dave Darland, 19. Chris Fetter, 20. Terry Babb. NT --------------------------------
FEATURE LAP LEADERS:Laps 1-50 Bell.
NEW USAC SILVER CROWN POINTS: 1-Swanson-557, 2-Coons-433, 3-Fike-386, 4-Windom-351, 5-Pierce-335, 6-Leary-303, 7-Byrne-300, 8-Cockrum-297, 9-Nemire-283, 10-Grant-262.
NEXT USAC SILVER CROWN RACE: October 10 - Syracuse, NY - New York State Fairgrounds - "Super Dirt Week XLIV"
THE PIT BOARD
**Christopher Bell became the first driver to win his first career Silver Crown race at Eldora Speedway since his RPM/Fred Gormly teammate Chris Windom won in 2013. Others who have accomplished the feat include Bryan Clauson (2010), Mat Neely (2006), Kevin Huntley (1997), Ken Schrader (1983), Ron Shuman & Danny Smith (1982) & Steve Kinser (1981).
**Bell led all 50 laps en route to victory lane. He is the first driver to lead every lap in a Silver Crown race at Eldora since Bryan Clauson in 2010.
**Christopher Bell became the first driver to win both the USAC Midget & Silver Crown features in a single "4-Crown Nationals" since Kyle Larson in 2011. Others to accomplish that feat include Dave Darland (2004), J.J. Yeley (2001) & Jack Hewitt (1998).
**Kody Swanson finished 2nd in both the Sprint Car and Silver Crown features Saturday night and became the first driver to finish in 2nd place in multiple "4-Crown Nationals" features in the same year since Bryan Clauson in 2010.
MESERAULL MASTERS ELDORA FOR FIRST-CAREER USAC SPRINT WIN
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
Rossburg, Ohio...Thomas Meseraull has been beating on the door for his first-career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car win, and he finally kicked it in on Saturday night at Eldora Speedway during the 34th "4-Crown Nationals." The San Jose, California native came from row-three and dominated the second half of the 30-lapper.
Kody Swanson took the lead from the pole, but ProSource "Fast Qualifier" Chase Stockon was on the move from his sixth-starting spot, sliding past Swanson into turn-three on lap four.
After a caution on lap eight, Bryan Clauson rolled the high side to take the lead from Clauson on lap nine. He checked out on the field as he traced the outside concrete. Brady Bacon slowed on lap 13, and Kevin Thomas, Jr. flipped into turn-one under the yellow. He walked away.
On lap 16, Clauson came off turn-four with a flat right-rear tire, as Stockon flashed by to re-take the lead before the caution flew for Clauson. He changed his right-rear tire and restarted the race in 22nd.
That set the stage for Meseraull, who had just cleared Dave Darland and Swanson to earn himself the second spot on the restart. He wasted no time, as he roared by on the high side to take the lead. While he set off in pursuit of his first win, all eyes turned to Clauson, who was carving his way back through the field.
Swanson closed slightly over the late stages, but the 33-year old Meseraull finished it off to give himself an excited trip to Eldora victory lane with the Marion Underground Construction - Shane Wade Enterprises #66 DRC/Dynotech.
"I don't even know what to say about it. It's been a long road, and it's just crazy how great that car was and how simple it seemed to be tonight. Shane Wade and Donnie Gentry have given me an opportunity here, and this is why guys like us are doing this stuff. Clauson was so fast, and he was gonna be tough to beat, but his misfortune let it fall right into my lap. Things cleared on the high side, and it just stuck up there. This year, with the owners I've had starting with Todd Keen, has just been such a great thing for me. Shane Wade wants to win, and we got a taste of that tonight at one of the most prestigious events in the country, so I hope this is a sign of what we can do as a team together," Meseraull said.
Swanson finished off his best-ever USAC Sprint Car race on dirt, as he finished second in the DePalma Motorsports - Radio Hospital #63 Maxim/Hampshire.
"Luckily, Bob Hampshire and my team are good enough to carry me at a track where I still don't consider myself to be that good. Running second in the sprint car is just a great finish for us. It was tough early, but it came around to us and I was catching him towards the end, so I really just hated to see it end. It's good to take that momentum to the Silver Crown feature, too. I still need a little work here, but I'm gaining," Swanson said.
Darland came on late to round out the podium in the Phillips/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports - Trench Shoring #71P DRC/Foxco.
"Getting a good start was key to get from tenth. We went out really late, so timing in that well was pretty good. We were just decent in the slick, but we weren't a threat to the guys for the win. We're happy to get out of here with what we got, especially with our points situation. I know as well as anybody that every position and every point matters, so we'll take every one we can get," Darland said.
Clauson's amazing run from the back ended in the fourth spot aboard the B&H Contractors - Dooling Machine #63x Spike/Stanton. Scotty Weir rounded out the top-five in the Todd Keen - AAA #18x DRC/Claxton.
Chris Windom moved from 23rd to finish ninth to earn the $750 Larry Rice High Performance Award.
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AMSOIL USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS:September 26, 2015 - Rossburg, Ohio - Eldora Speedway - 34th "4-Crown Nationals"
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-16.204; 2. Thomas Meseraull, 66, Amati-16.378; 3. Bryan Clauson, 63x, Dooling/Hayward-16.541; 4. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-16.555; 5. Scotty Weir, 18x, Keen-16.675; 6. Jerry Coons Jr., 10E, Edison-16.678; 7. Kody Swanson, 63, DePalma-16.720; 8. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-16.740; 9. Nick Bilbee, 17B, Bilbee-16.814; 10. Dave Darland, 71p, Phillips/Curb-Agajanian-16.859; 11. Hunter Schuerenberg, 11, Walker-16.886; 12. Brandon Whited, 15, Whited-16.890; 13. Chad Boespflug, 20N, Nolen-16.902; 14. Brandon Spithaler, 2m, Marshall-16.953; 15. Kevin Thomas Jr., 17RW, Dutcher-16.997; 16. Jon Stanbrough, 81, Stanbrough-17.007; 17. Dallas Hewitt, 21s, Swanson-17.072; 18. Shane Cockrum, 24p, Paul-17.084; 19. Justin Grant, 5, Baldwin-17.086; 20. Tracy Hines, 4, Hines-17.087; 21. Aaron Farney, 15F, Farney-17.087; 22. Shane Cottle, 57, Hazen-17.111; 23. Shawn Westerfeld, 89, Westerfeld-17.126; 24. Cody Gardner, 46, Gardner-17.135; 25. Landon Simon, 24, LSR-17.153; 26. Michael Fischesser, 4F, Fischesser-17.303; 27. Beau Stewart, 27, Brumfiel-17.322; 28. Derek Hastings, 32m, Marshall-17.344; 29. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-17.349; 30. Travis Hery, 21H, Hery-17.349; 31. Tyler Courtney, 23E, Eberhardt-17.393; 32. Chris Windom, 21x, Pollock-17.404; 33. Tony DiMattia, 50, DiMattia-17.435; 34. Josh Spencer, 66J, Spencer-17.449; 35. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-17.500; 36. Jake Scott, 1, Scott-17.514; 37. Kyle Simon, 24x, Simon-17.572; 38. A.J. Hopkins, 42, Jackson-17.596; 39. Luke Hall, 9N, Nelson-17.600; 40. Dickie Gaines, 44, Soudrette-17.612; 41. Kyle Robbins, 17R, Robbins-17.662; 42. Dustin Smith, 77, Smith-17.684; 43. Chad Wilson, 14x, Wilson-17.696; 44. Kent Wolters, 12x, Wolters-17.706; 45. Brandon Moore, 7M, Moore-17.722; 46. Dustin Ingle, 2, Ingle-17.725; 47. Cooper Clouse, 14, Clouse-17.729; 48. Steve Little, 53, Little-17.832; 49. Tyler Hewitt, 97x, Hewitt-17.850; 50. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-18.029; 51. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-18.420; 52. Riley VanHise, 96, VanHise-18.634; 53. Aaron Pierce, 37, Felker-NT (Time of 17.208 disallowed).
FIRST HEAT : (8 laps) 1. Hines, 2. Stockon, 3. Hewitt, 4. Weir, 5. Andretti, 6. Boespflug, 7. Bilbee, 8. L.Simon, 9. DiMattia, 10. K.Simon, 11. Robbins, 12. Moore. 2:24.60
SECOND HEAT : (8 laps) 1. Darland, 2. Meseraull, 3. Cottle, 4. Coons, 5. Spithaler, 6. Cockrum, 7. Fischesser, 8. Ingle, 9. Smith, 10. Hopkins, 11. Hery, 12. Spencer. 2:27.02
THIRD HEAT : (8 laps) 1. Schuerenberg, 2. Clauson, 3. Swanson, 4. Thomas, 5. Westerfeld, 6. Grant, 7. Hall, 8. Courtney, 9. Clouse, 10. Stewart, 11. Wilson, 12. Leary. 2:28.33
FOURTH HEAT : (8 laps) 1. Farney, 2. Stanbrough, 3. Ballou, 4. Windom, 5. Gardner, 6. Whited, 7. Gaines, 8. Little, 9. Hastings, 10. Wolters, 11. Bacon, 12. Scott. NT
C-MAIN: (8 laps) 1. Hall, 2. Leary, 3. Clouse, 4. Gaines, 5. DiMattia, 6. Ingle, 7. Hopkins, 8. K.Simon, 9. Wilson, 10. Spencer, 11. Robbins, 12. Moore, 13. Little, 14. Hewitt, 15. Bell, 16. Scott, 17. Pierce, 18. Goodnight, 19. VanHise. NT
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Bacon, 2. Cockrum, 3. Bilbee, 4. Whited, 5. Courtney, 6. L.Simon, 7. Andretti, 8. Gaines, 9. Hall, 10. Boespflug, 11. Leary, 12. Westerfeld, 13. Gardner, 14. Fischesser, 15. Spithaler, 16. Hastings, 17. Clouse, 18. Stewart, 19. Hery, 20. Grant. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Thomas Meseraull, 2. Kody Swanson, 3. Dave Darland, 4. Bryan Clauson, 5. Scotty Weir, 6. Chase Stockon, 7. Dallas Hewitt, 8. Robert Ballou, 9. Chris Windom, 10. Jerry Coons Jr., 11. Tyler Courtney, 12. Nick Bilbee, 13. Hunter Schuerenberg, 14. Dickie Gaines, 15. Shane Cockrum, 16. Shane Cottle, 17. Brandon Whited, 18. Jon Stanbrough, 19. Tracy Hines, 20. Jarett Andretti, 21. Brady Bacon, 22. Aaron Farney, 23. Kevin Thomas Jr., 24. Landon Simon, 25. C.J. Leary. NT
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**VanHise flipped during the C-Main. Pierce flipped during the C-Main. K.Thomas flipped on lap 13 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-3 Swanson, Laps 4-8 Stockon, Laps 9-14 Clauson, Lap 15 Stockon, Laps 16-30 Meseraull.
NEW AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT POINTS: 1-Ballou-1,861, 2-Stockon-1,836, 3-Darland-1,826, 4-Bacon-1,673, 5-Stanbrough-1,567, 6-K.Thomas-1,471, 7-Windom-1,348, 8-Leary-1,247, 9-Hines-1,165, 10-Grant-1,083.
NEXT AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT RACE: October 3 - Lawrenceburg (IN) Speedway -"City of Lawrenceburg Fall Nationals"
THE PIT BOARD
**Thomas Meseraull became the first driver to win his first career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car race at the Eldora Speedway since Brad Sweet in 2008. Other drivers who have won their first career USAC Sprint Car feature at Eldora include Stan Bowman (1962), Allen Crowe (1963), Johnny Rutherford (1964), Larry Dickson & Arnie Knepper (1966), Rollie Beale & Mickey Shaw (1967), Tom Bigelow & Larry Cannon (1969), Jerry Poland (1972), Jackie Howerton & Clark Templeman (1976), Bubby Jones & Eddie Leavitt (1977), Larry Rice (1979), Steve Kinser & Dave Peperak (1981), Jack Hewitt (1982), Steve Butler (1984), Rick Ungar (1987), Kevin Doty, Tray House & Frankie Kerr (1994), Byron Reed (1995), Jimmy Sills (1996), Boston Reid (2003), Dickie Gaines (2004), Matt Westfall (2006), Robert Ballou (2007) & Brad Sweet (2008).
**The four lead changes that occurred during the feature were the most in a "4-Crown" Sprint Car feature since 2011 when there were five.
**Thomas Mesearaull became the third different first-time winner in the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series this season (Logan Jarrett at Lawrenceburg & Aaron Farney at Terre Haute).
**Kody Swanson's 2nd place finish was his best career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car finish. His previous best overall finish was a 3rd on the pavement at Lucas Oil Raceway in Brownsburg, Ind. in 2010. His previous best effort on the dirt in a USAC Sprint Car event was an 8th at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla. in 2012.
**Kody Swanson finished 2nd in both the Sprint Car and Silver Crown features Saturday night and became the first driver to finish in 2nd place in multiple "4-Crown Nationals" features in the same year since Bryan Clauson in 2010.
BELL OPENS ELDORA “4-CROWN” WITH MIDGET VICTORY
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
Rossburg, Ohio...Christopher Bell took his first "4-Crown Nationals" victory on Saturday night as he opened the 34th annual prestigious Eldora Speedway event with a wire-to-wire Honda National Midget win. The Norman, Oklahoma native made it three wins on the season in the Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports - Toyota TRD #71 Bullet/Speedway Toyota.
"It was tough out there tonight. It wasn't really the plan to go big for the lead on the first lap, but it kinda worked out that way. I almost crashed in one, and next thing I know, I had a big old run off turn-two. I saw the hole there and took advantage of it. I had to get in below the lip getting into one. It was nice to finally get that one under my belt," Bell said.
Bell jumped up top in the opening set of corners, as front-row starters Kevin Thomas, Jr. and Tracy Hines battled for the lead, but Bell used a full head of steam down the backstretch to throw a huge slide-job for the lead in turn-three. It stuck, and Bell led off turn-four, never to be dethroned. It was the 16th National Midget win of Bell's career, tying him for 38th all-time with George Amick, Billy Cantrell, Henry Pens, Lee Kunzman, and Bobby Olivero.
Hines stuck with Bell for a while, but he fell into the clutches of a battle with Thomas, Jr. and Bryan Clauson, who set ProSource "Fast Time" to open the program. Just after Clauson took third on lap 15, he tagged the turn-four wall and caught the front end, ripping the right-front wheel off the car. He was done for the event.
Rico Abreu was the man on the move from there, slicing past Thomas, Jr. and locking in a duel with Hines for the eventual second spot. He finally stuck the second spot in the Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports - Toyota TRD #97 Bullet/Speedway Toyota.
Hines held on for third to lengthen his National Midget point lead aboard the Parker Machinery - Turbines, Inc. #24 Spike/Stanton Toyota.
"I picked my line through the middle and I ran it the whole day. I didn't think it was gonna work at first, but all of a sudden it came in for me. I thought we were good enough for second, but we got beat out late for second. We kept it in one piece, though, and got the finish we needed," Hines said.
Tanner Thorson came home fourth in the Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports - Abreu Vineyards #67 Bullet/Speedway Toyota, and Thomas, Jr. rounded out the top-five in the Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports - Bakken Concrete #67K Bullet/Speedway Toyota.
Spencer Bayston drove from 12th to finish seventh to earn the $750 Larry Rice High-Performance Award as the race's hard charger.
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HONDA USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: September 26, 2015 - Rossburg, Ohio - Eldora Speedway - 34th "4-Crown Nationals"
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Bryan Clauson, 63, RKR/Dooling-16.886; 2. Rico Abreu, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-16.960; 3. Christopher Bell, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-17.110; 4. Tanner Thorson, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-17.254; 5. Tracy Hines, 24, Parker-17.377; 6. Kevin Thomas Jr., 67k, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-17.389; 7. Steven Drevicki, 19, Fitzpatrick/DeGre-17.488; 8. Thomas Meseraull, 27, Heffner-17.523; 9. Steve Buckwalter, 25, Buckwalter-17.523; 10. Tyler Thomas, 91T, Thomas-17.543; 11. Tony DiMattia, 50, DiMattia-17.570; 12. Spencer Bayston, 39, Clauson-17.591; 13. Brady Bacon, 37, Felker-17.664; 14. Isaac Chapple, 52, Chapple-17.680; 15. Ryan Greth, 4, Lesher-17.680; 16. Davey Ray, 23, Light-17.705; 17. Austin Nemire, 91, Nemire/Yager-18.177; 18. Todd Wills, 74, Wills-18.282; 19. Kevin Wills, 9, Wills-18.294; 20. Gary Gipson, 5, Byers-18.705; 21. Robert Bell, 71x, Bell-NT.
FIRST HEAT : (8 laps) 1. Thorson, 2. Clauson, 3. Ray, 4. Bacon, 5. Drevicki, 6. T.Thomas, 7. K.Wills. 2:23.95
SECOND HEAT : (8 laps) 1. Abreu, 2. Hines, 3. Meseraull, 4. DiMattia, 5. Chapple, 6. Nemire, 7. Gipson. 2:24.07
THIRD HEAT : (8 laps) 1. C.Bell, 2. Buckwalter, 3. K.Thomas, 4. Greth, 5. Bayston, 6. T.Wills, 7. R.Bell. 2:23.25
FEATURE: (25 laps) 1. Christopher Bell, 2. Rico Abreu, 3. Tracy Hines, 4. Tanner Thorson, 5. Kevin Thomas Jr., 6. Steven Drevicki, 7. Spencer Bayston, 8. Tony DiMattia, 9. Thomas Meseraull, 10. Ryan Greth, 11. Tyler Thomas, 12. Brady Bacon, 13. Austin Nemire, 14. Isaac Chapple, 15. Davey Ray, 16. Todd Wills, 17. Bryan Clauson, 18. Robert Bell, 19. Kevin Wills, 20. Steve Buckwalter. --------------------------------
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-25 C.Bell.
NEW HONDA NATIONAL MIDGET POINTS: 1-Hines-742, 2-Thorson-717, 3-Thomas-711, 4-Abreu-658, 5-Bayston-629, 6-T.Thomas-609, 7-Jerry Coons Jr.-607, 8-C.Bell-487, 9-Darren Hagen-385, 10-Buckwalter-345.
NEXT HONDA NATIONAL MIDGET RACE: October 23 - Wayne City, IL - Wayne County Speedway - "Jason Leffler Memorial"
THE PIT BOARD
Christopher Bell became the first driver to win both the USAC Midget & Silver Crown feature in a single "4-Crown Nationals" since Kyle Larson in 2011. Others to accomplish that feat include Dave Darland (2004), J.J. Yeley (2001) & Jack Hewitt (1998).
The win marked Bell's first USAC win at Eldora, despite winning a NASCAR Truck Series event at the track in July.
The Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian stable has won five USAC Honda National Midget features in a row and 10 of the last 11 overall.
The drivers currently standing 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the USAC Honda National Midget point standings finished 3rd, 4th, and 5th in the feature at Eldora. Tracy Hines maintains his point lead as he attempts to become just the sixth driver to win the National Midget, National Sprint & Silver Crown championships during a career.
