KAHNE CONQUERS IRWINDALE OVAL (2X!)

KAHNE CONQUERS IRWINDALE OVAL (2X!)
BURNS FLYS LOW IN AUTO CLUB RACE
RACE REPORT - OCTOBER 27, 2001
by Tim Kennedy and USAC

Kasey Kahne may have new worlds to conquer next year, but the 21-year old budding superstar is still employing his versatile racing talent in USAC Western States competition. The Washington state native jumped into the Consani/East Beast/Shaver 360 cubic inch powerplant and won a 35-lap feature Saturday on the banked, paved half-mile Irwindale Speedway. Kahne credited his victorious drive in the just completed 30-lap USAC WorldCom Western States Midget Series main event for showing him the best line around the track. He used it successfully in the sprint car feature that officials shortened by five laps from the scheduled 40 laps because of the 11 p.m. track curfew. The happy winner thanked Beast and Bob East “for giving me two really good cars here tonight.”

Kahne, who became the second driver to sweep and open-wheel doubleheader at the track and only the fourteenth in 123 USAC Sprint/Midget pairings to do it since 1956, started fifth and took command on lap 15 from early leader Bobby McMahan. Troy Cline, a versatile veteran of SCRA non-wing sprint cars on dirt and NASCAR Winston West stock cars and USAC sprinters on pavement, finished second by 1.650 seconds. He drove his Haas/CNC Beast/Chevy. USAC W/S Sprint Car point leader Tony Hunt, 29, finished third, 1.799 seconds behind the winner, in the Scott Racing Beast. Hunt increased his point lead to 14 (799-785) over l998 W/S Sprint series champion Jeff Gardner. Earlier, Hunt had set quick time in a 31-car field and his 16.469 (109.296 mph) was a new track record. Cline set the former mark of 16.493 on March 24 this year.

McMahan and Gardner finished fourth and fifth respectively. Indianan
Jason McCord, Rick Hendrix, Ryan Flynn, Mike Aaby, Jr and 2000 W/S Sprint
Series Champion Todd Ellison completed the top ten. There were 27 starters
and 20 of them were still racing at the conclusion, with 17 drivers on the
lead lap. Three cautions for minor incidents caused the race to run 22
minutes. Dave Steele earned Hard Charger honors for gaining 11 positions in
his run from 27th to 16th.

The 14-car semi-main event to determine the final four transfers to the
feature had a four-car crash in turn three during the initial lap. Marc
Zieske, Dave Steele, Ray Evans and Bill Foland were the drivers involved.
Officials cancelled the race in the interests of time. They added all cars
still running after the first lap crash to the back of the main event.
Foland was the only driver injured. He was taken by ambulance to nearby
Santa Teresita Hospital in Duarte for medical evaluation.
Four eight-car heat races sent the top four finishers in each heat to the
feature. Gardner (from seventh) led the final two laps of heat one. Kahne
came from eighth to lead laps seven and eight. Cline came from seventh to
lead laps six-eight. Bryan Bullard started third and led all the way in the
final heat.

Kahne has raced on four USAC circuits on dirt and paved tracks this
season in addition to WoO winged sprints on dirt and a rear-engine Toyota
Atlantic car on road circuits. He recently completed a two-day NASCAR Busch
Grand National stock car test at Rockingham, N.C. He may have a CART test in
his future as well. "I like it all, dirt and pavement," Kahne stated. His
future in racing could lead to stock cars or Indy cars.

Kahne said he would like to follow the Tony Stewart path to national
prominence with NASCAR BGN and Indianapolis 500 rides and then a Winston Cup
career. "Hopefully I can race in the Indy Racing League. Doing it that way
would be the best of both worlds," he said in answer to questions from media
members following his twin triumphs.

Kahne will compete with the WoO at Las Vegas next week in the No. 83jr
Beef Packers second sprinter. He will race one of four Steve Lewis Beast/Ed
Pink Ford Midgets in the final three USAC Midget events of the year during
late November at Tucson, Irwindale and Las Vegas. Then the busy driver will
do more off-season testing in various types of racing vehicles before his
career path is decided. "It's a tough choice. Anything can happen," the
personable driver added.

Todd Burns started fourth in the No. 4 Villa Roma Sausage Chevy Monte Carlo, took command on lap 37 and won the non-point NASCAR Auto Club of Southern California Late Model 75-lap main event Saturday before 5,451 spectators at Irwindale Speedway. He thanked his crew and sponsor “for putting a good solid car under me all year.” It was his sixth Irwindale main event triumph this season.

Burns, from Riverside, outdueled fellow Irwindale competitor Kevin Wood
for the $1500.00 winner's check. Pole starter Wood led the first 36 laps and
finished only five yards behind Burns in the new Ford Taurus that replaced
the Ford he flipped and slid on its roof into the first turn in a crash with
Burns on August 25. Wood said, "My car got tight. We (Burns and Wood) had
a run in here last time (August 25) and I figured let's just have a good
clean race tonight. It's the first time out for this all new car."

A 36-car field included 13 visiting drivers from five tracks-Altamont,
Las Vegas, El Cajon, San Bernardino and Tucson-participated. Officials
cancelled the scheduled semi-main to save time in the busy program. The late
model event preceded the USAC Midgets and Sprint Cars open-wheel doubleheader
features. (See separate USAC stories.)

Thirty-three drivers started the NASCAR feature on the banked half-mile.
Three cautions for minor incidents caused the race to run 32 minutes.
Twenty-three drivers completed the full distance. The top nine finishers ran
all 75 laps. Craig Rayburn, an infrequent runner this season, came from
sixth starting spot to finish third in his new Chevy Monte Carlo ride. He
trailed runner-up Wood by a car length following a lap 71-73 caution period
allowed him to make up a 50-yard deficit on the two leaders.

Dave Hessing, Irwindale's 2001 Late Model Champion, came from ninth on
the grid to finish fourth. Tony Bargaehr was slated to start second, but he
pitted briefly on the formation/pace laps to correct a problem and he had to
start from the back in row 17. Bargaehr passed 29cars and finished fifth.
Track regulars John Jones, Richard Hooper, Mike Johnson, John Lathrop and
Altamont Speedway regular Verg Beaty completed the top ten.

Tim Huddleston dropped out of third place and parked in the infield on
lap 33. Mike Price was sixth on lap 46 when the starter black-flagged his
smoking Pontiac Grand Prix and he parked it in the infield. Altamont regular
Rick Ruzbarski, the fastest qualifier of the visitors with the 13th fastest
time, became the first retiree. His car contacted the second turn crash-wall
on lap 10 and pitted. Brian Kelley, third in track points for 2001, dropped
out after 37 laps.

Outside front row starter Mike Johnson took the six-lap trophy dash for
the six fastest qualifiers in a flag-to-flag run. Fast timer Burns came from
sixth to finish a close second with Rayburn third.

In late afternoon group qualifying sessions for the 36 cars present, cars
were divided into six groups based upon similar practice times earlier in the
afternoon. The six fastest drivers went out together to post their official
qualifying times. All of the laps by each driver were timed electronically
and the fastest lap for each driver set the main event lineup order. The
drawn inversion number (pulled by the quickest qualifier) was four.
Burns' fastest lap in qualifying was 19.102 and Huddleston was second
quickest at 19.220. Fourteen drivers qualified in the 19-second bracket.
The 15th through 30th quickest ran 20 second best laps. Three drivers ran 21
second times.

Fast Time: Todd Burns, 19.102.

Dash: Mike Johnson, Burns, Craig Rayburn, Tony Bargaehr, Kevin Wood, Tim
Huddleston.

Main: Burns, Kevin Wood, Rayburn, Dave Hessing, Tony Bargaehr, John Jones,
Richard Hooper, Johnson, John Lathrop, Verg Beaty, Barry Karr, Jeff Anthony,
Rob Chaney, Brian Koski, Dan DiGammarino, Glen Burke, Todd Conrad, George
Ruark, Steve Floyd, Greg Leonard, John Cran, John Ahrendt, Chris Peedan, Mike
Carver, Dave Lowenstein, Mike Nelson, Steve Dutton, Mike Price, Charles Kerr,
Brian Kelley, Tim Huddleston, Mike Ferre, Rick Ruzbarski.

WORLDCOM USAC WESTERN MIDGET CAR RACE RESULTS:

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Travis Miniea, 07, Mico-17.008; 2. Steve Paden, 01,
Farrier-17.198; 3. Dave Steele, 29, Tomassi-17.207; 4. Kasey Kahne, 9,
Lewis-17.224; 5. Rick Moss, 78, Moss-17.297; 6. Tracy Hines, 67,
Zarounian-17.352; 7. Michael Lewis, 11, Reed-17.361; 8. Aaron Fike, 32,
RFMS-17.380; 9. Alex Harris, 54, Harris-17.441; 10. Thomas Meseraull, 57,
TST-17.477; 11. John Starks, 51, Blue Dot-17.492; 12. Steven Robertson, 7,
Hartman-17.517; 13. Bobby East, 4, Consani/East-17.517; 14. Robby Flock, 76,
Fontana-17.522; 15. Josh Wise, 94, Wise-17.556; 16. Teddy Beach, 25,
Beach-17.604; 17. Wally Pankratz, 1, Pankratz-17.645; 18. Chuck Gurney, Jr.,
45, Baraldi-17.672; 19. A.J. Fike, 69, RFMS-17.674; 20. Shane Scully, 56,
Scully-17.690; 21. Travis Johnson, 80, Johnson-17.712; 22. Danny Ebberts,
14, Ebberts/Schlacter-17.719; 23. Matt Streeter, 97, Streeter-17.845; 24.
James Chesson, 22, Chesson-17.921; 25. Rory Price, 99, Price-17.936; 26.
Chris Rhein, 06, Rhein-18.157; 27. Glenn Carson, 26, Bock-18.296; 28. Mike
Whitcomb, 84, Whitcomb-18.345; 29. Michael Simpson, 911, Simpson-18.421; 30.
Randi Pankratz, 63, Pinkston-18.883; 31. Derrick Hearron, 27, Hearron-18.956.

FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. East, 2. Harris, W.Pankratz, 4. Miniea, 5. Moss, 6.
Johnson, 7. Simpson, 8. Price. NT

SECOND HEAT: (1 lap) 1. Paden, 2. Ebberts, 3. Gurney, 4. Meseraull, 5.
Flock, 6. Rhein, 7. R.Pankratz. 2:22.33

THIRD HEAT: (1 lap) 1. Steele, 2. Lewis, 3. Wise, 4. A.J. Fike, 5. Starks,
6. Streeter, 7. Carson, 8. Hearron. 2:20.48

FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Kahne, 2. Aaron Fike, 3. Scully, 4. Robertson, 5.
Chesson, 6. Beach, 7. Whitcomb. 2:20.60
SEMI: (10 laps) 1. Starks, 2. Chesson, 3. Flock, 4. Streeter, 5. Moss, 6.
Johnson, 7. Beach, 8. Price, 9. Rhein, 10. Carson, 11. Simpson, 12. Hearron,
13. Whitcomb. 2:57.69

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Kasey Kahne, 2. Dave Steele, 3. Michael Lewis, 4.
Travis Miniea, 5. Aaron Fike, 6. A.J. Fike, 7. Alex Harris, 8. Steven
Robertson, 9. Robby Flock, 10. Shane Scully, 11. John Starks, 12. Josh Wise,
13. Wally Pankratz, 14. Bobby East, 15. James Chesson, 16. Thomas Meseraull,
17. Danny Ebberts, 18. Matt Streeter, 19. Chuck Gurney, Jr., 20. Steve Paden. NT

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-8 Lewis, Laps 9-30 Kahne.
WORLDCOM WESTERN MIDGET CAR STANDINGS: 1-Ebberts-955; 2-Harris-919;
3-Wise-844; 4-Pankratz-749; 5-Meseraull-693; 6-Scully-683; 7-Streeter-600;
8-Flock-591; 9-John Sarale-370; 10-Danny Stratton-357.

USAC WESTERN SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS:

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Tony Hunt, 77, Scott-16.469; 2. Kasey Kahne, 4,
Consani-16.568; 3. Troy Cline, 11, Cline-16.683; 4. Jason McCord, 81, Bar
D-16.684; 5. Jeff Gardner, 51, Gardner-16.692; 6. Bobby McMahan, 26,
Espindola-16.721; 7. Scott Hansen, 33, Hansen-16.742; 8. Rick Hendrix, 97,
Hendrix-16.776; 9. Todd Ellison, 14x, Ellison-16.781; 10. Ryan Flynn, F1,
Flynn-16.824; 11. Tracy Hines, 27, Morales-16.836; 12. Mike Aaby, Jr., 07,
Aaby-16.881; 13. Marc Zieske, 10z, Zieske-16.934; 14. Damion Gardner, 20,
Gardner-16.945; 15. Mike Boat, 74, Boat-17.016; 16. Ray Evans, 82,
Evans-17.081; 17. Dave Fitzgerald, 32, Fitzgerald-17.104; 18. Kevin Kierce,
2, Swann-17.116; 19. Burney Lamar, 9, Humphers-17.121; 20. Bryan Bullard,
14, Pierson-17.248; 21. Dave Steele, 3F, Finkenbinder-17.270; 22. Chuck
Maddox, 23, Maddox-17.298; 23. Shauna Hogg, 5, Hogg-17.310; 24. Greg
Giardina, 31, Giardina-17.480; 25. Ivan Worden, 63, Worden-17.550; 26.
Curtis Brown, 17, Brown-17.581; 27. Anthony Simone, 10, Simone-17.723; 28.
Randy Mello, 25, Mello-17.731; 29. Kevin Urton, 21, Urton-17.808; 30. Bill
Foland, 101, Foland-17.885; 31. Chris Peterson, 18, Peterson-18.764.

FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. J.Gardner, 2. Hunt, 3. Urton, 4. Ellison, 5.
Worden, 6. Zieske, 7. Steele, 8. Fitzgerald. 2:19.83

SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Kahne, 2. McMahan, 3. D.Gardner, 4. Flynn, 5.
Maddox, 6. Kierce, 7. Foland, 8. Brown. 2:15.44

THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Cline, 2. Hines, 3. Boat, 4. Lamar, 5. Hansen, 6.
Hogg, 7. Simone, 8. Peterson. 2:17.58

FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Bullard, 2. McCord, 3. Aaby, 4. Hendrix, 5. Mello,
6. Giardina, 7. Evans. 2:18.00

FEATURE: (35 laps) 1. Kasey Kahne, 2. Troy Cline, 3. Tony Hunt, 4. Bobby
McMahan, 5. Jeff Gardner, 6. Jason McCord, 7. Rick Hendrix, 8. Ryan Flynn,
9. Mike Aaby, Jr., 10. Todd Ellison, 11. Mike Boat, 12. Bryan Bullard, 13.
Tracy Hines, 14. Damion Gardner, 15. Burney Lamar, 16. Dave Steele, 17.
Kevin Kierce, 18. Ivan Worden, 19. Shauna Hogg, 20. Anthony Simone, 21.
Chuck Maddox, 22. Dave Fitzgerald, 23. Greg Giardina, 24. Curtis Brown, 25.
Scott Hansen, 26. Kevin Urton, 27. Chris Peterson, 28. Randy Mello. NT

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-14 D.Gardner, Laps 15-35 Kahne.
WESTERN SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Hunt-799; 2-J.Gardner-785; 3-Flynn-642;
4-Bullard-631; 5-Cline-598; 6-D.Gardner-538; 7-McMahan-534; 8-Kierce-447;
9-Hansen-424; 10-Hogg-413.

NEXT WEEK: 200 LAPS FOR THE FOOD 4 LESS SUPER LATE MODELS!

THANKS!