Bloomington Speedway -- Indiana Sprint Week Results
BLOOMINGTON SPEEDWAY !!! SHORT SCORES FIRST USAC FEATURE WIN !!! FRYE WINS FIRST OF THE SEASON
BLOOMINGTON, IN (July 15, 2006) - It was Indiana Sprint Week night at Bloomington Speedway. As usual the pits and the hillside were full. Early in the evening the weather was a little warm; however, before the racing really got going a breeze came up. The rest of the evening was really quite pleasant.
The Bloomington Speedway staff always looks forward to Indiana Sprint Week because it gives us and our competitors the opportunity to show fans from all over the nation how a first class racing program is done. It's true that it puts each of us under a little extra pressure. However, since Mike Miles expects each Friday night's program to be run like it is sprint week, the little extra pressure is pretty much taken in stride. The one exception to this is probably, Mike's long suffering mother, Audie. You see, Audie answers the telephone providing fans with directions and weather reports. Since torrential rains had been falling within twenty miles or so from Bloomington Speedway, it is understandable that her assurance that we hadn't had a drop of rain all day was met with some skepticism. However, Audie held up under the load with her normal good cheer. Some of us speculate that raising Mike to adulthood might have prepared her for her Friday afternoon duties.
USAC SPRINT CARS -
Indiana Sprint Week is our premier sprint car program of the season. We always have a huge field of cars. A total of 59 fire breathing sprint cars were rolled off of their trailers to test themselves against the red clay of Bloomington Speedway. USAC is almost certainly the toughest sereies in the nation; and last night's level of competition was clear evidence of that.
Qualifications represent the first test for the competitors. Last week Jared Fox's father and car owner, Tony Fox decided to drive the car himself. In the pits last night before he went out to qualify, Jared joked, "Guys have been coming by all afternoon wanting to beat on me for what I did to them last week." However, Jared made believers out of them last night when he went out and set quick time. A quick time among the tough group of racers that was on hand last night was a remarkable feat. Josh Wise, Jerry Coons, Jr., Shane Cottle, Brad Sweet and Bobby Stines. Jon Sciscoe set 16th fastest time on the first lap of his qualification run. Unfortunately he got upside down on his second lap. However, he was uninjured and his team was able to get the car repaired in time to answer the bell in his heat race.
The fastest 32 qualifiers were scheduled to go into one of the four heat races. The other twenty-seven cars were divided into two non qualifiers' races. Josh Ford and Hunter Scheurenberg won the non qualifiers races while Jonathan Vennard and Damion Gardner won the other two tickets tow the heat races from the non qualifiers races. It is interesting to note that Gardner has set quick time week after week USAC/CRA competition. This is just another example of how tough Indiana Sprint Week competition really is.
Donald Brackett got his family owned sprinter upside down in his non qualifiers race. Obviously their evening was done.
Scotty Weir won the first heat while Levi Jones took the second heat. Josh Wise and Kevin Briscoe tangled late in the second heat ending their chances to transfer to the feature from their heat. They would have to race their way into the feature from the "B" feature.
Dave Darland took the third heat. Daron Clayton jumped the cushion and flipped down the front stretch. Although he was uninjured, his night was done.
Jon Stanbrough won the final heat over a very tough field of competitors.
Fast qualifier Jared Fox won the "B" feature with Shane Cottle, Bobby Stines, Mat Neely, Brandon Petty, and Kevin Briscoe joining him in transferring to the feature event.
When the green flag waved to start the feature event, Kent Christian took the lead from the pole; and, on the second lap, Chip Ganassi development driver, Bryan Clauson, took a very nasty flip in turn two. He took a sizable divot with the Keith Kunz Motorsports Bullet house car. His youth may spare him some of the discomfort that an older dirver would suffer; however, the Kunz crew will almost certainly have their hands full getting the car repaired in time to answer the bell at Tri State Speedway tonight.
When racing resumed Christian held the lead until lap five when last week's feature winner Bobby Stines took the point. Last year's National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Rookie of the Year, Brady Short, had started 12th; but by the seventh lap he was running fourth. On the 12th lap he took second to set up a battle between he and Stines for the feature win. Short passed Stines to take th lead on the 16th circuit; and he began to check out on the field. The speed that he employed to bring his mount from deep in the field to the lead was proof that he would be hard to beat; but everyone on hand was almost certainly surprised by the way that he checked out on the field. After each yellow flag Short immediately began to drive away from the field. It was clear that nobody had anything for Short last night. As if additional evidence was needed a final yellow flag flew with a handful of laps remaining. Brady had Jerry Coons, Jr. in the potent Hoffman car on his back bumper. Probably everyone on the grounds thought that Brady would at least have difficulty keeping Coons behind him. However, that wasn't the case. As with each previous yellow flag, Short began to pull away from the field. It's hard to believe that only a couple of seasons ago Brady won the Bloomington Speedway O'Neal Wood Products Modified championship and hand never driven a sprint car.
Thursday night's feature winner, Mat Neely, raced from his 12th place starting position to a strong second place finish. Jerry Coons, Jr., Kevin Briscoe, and Brad Sweet rounded out the top five.
Tire & Wheel Center Super Stocks:
Chris Deweese and Jack Frye got their nights off to a good start by winning the Tire & Wheel Center Super Stock heat races.
The redraw had little effect on the starting lineup for the feature. It merely moved Chris Deweese from the inside of the front row to the outside of the front row and moved Jack Frye from the outside of the front row to the inside of the front row.
Jack Frye led the feature flag to flag. Ben DuBois finished second in the points last season; but he hasn't been doing as well this season. When points leader Jeremy Hines had trouble in his heat race and would have to start at the back of the feature, Ben saw an opportunity to make up some ground on Jeremy. He finished third in his heat race and started fifth in feature. At the end of the first lap he was running fourth. At the end of the second lap he was running third; and he ran there until 22nd lap when he passed Deweese to take second where he finished. Deweese held on to finish thrid. Joe Lucas and Troy Clark rounded out the top five.
COMING EVENTS -
July 21 UMRA TQ Midgets - O'Neal Wood Products Modifieds - Tire & Wheel Center Super Stocks - General Admission $10 (Children 6 and under free and Children 7-12 $5 when accompanied by a paying adult)- Pit Admission $20
July 28 City of Bloomington Employees Night -- Sprints - O'Neal Wood Products Modifieds - Tire & Wheel Center Super Stocks - General Admission $10 (Children 6 and under free and Children 7-12 $5 when accompanied by a paying adult)- Pit Admission $20
August 4 South Central Building and Construction Trade Council Night -- Sprints - O'Neal Wood Products Modifieds - Tire & Wheel Center Super Stocks - General Admission $10 (Children 6 and under free and Children 7-12 $5 when accompanied by a paying adult)- Pit Admission $20
August 11 F.C. Tucker Night -- Sprints - O'Neal Wood Products Modifieds - Tire & Wheel Center Super Stocks - General Admission $10 (Children 6 and under free and Children 7-12 $5 when accompanied by a paying adult)- Pit Admission $20
RESULTS:
SPRINT CARS
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Jared Fox, 56, Fox-11.357; 2. Josh Wise, 20, Stewart-11.378; 3. Jerry Coons Jr., 69, Dynamics-11.422; 4. Shane Cottle, 10E, Edison-11.443; 5. Brad Sweet, 3J, Yeley-11.458; 6. Bobby Stines, 88, Stines-11.473; 7. Kent Christian, 4m, Miller-11.485; 8. Tony Elliott, 12, R&B-11.492; 9. Casey Shuman, 2az, Massey-11.498; 10. Shane Hollingsworth, 10, R&B-11.500; 11. Derek O'Dell, 11x, Farmer-11.516; 12. Bryan Clauson, 67, Kunz-11.537; 13. Brandon Petty, 11D, Walker/Guiducci-11.548; 14. Kevin Briscoe, 5, Briscoe-11.555; 15. Daron Clayton, 92, Clayton-11.556; 16. Jon Sciscoe, 11p, Sciscoe-11.573; 17. Mat Neely, 2B, 2B Racing-11.575; 18. Cory Kruseman, 67k, Kunz-11.581; 19. Brady Short, 36, Short-11.584; 20. Jon Stanbrough, 53, Fox-11.590; 21. Bryan Stanfill, 25, Stanfill-11.597; 22. Levi Jones, 21, Stewart-11.598; 23. Dave Darland, 11, Walker/Guiducci-11.601; 24. Dickie Gaines, 21x, Roberts-11.615; 25. Josh Cunningham, 6s, Cunningham-11.627; 26. A.J. Anderson, 34, Anderson-11.634; 27. Ryan Pace, 44, Pace-11.644; 28. Darren Hagen, 71, Hagen-11.660; 29. Scotty Weir, 22w, Weir-11.668; 30. Ted Hines, 12x, Hines-11.678; 31. Marc Arnold, 33, Arnold-11.721; 32. Kyle Cummins, 3c, Cummins-11.732; 33. Josh Ford, 73, Ford-11.750; 34. Danny Sheridan, 0x, Price-11.768; 35. Dustin Smith, 77s, Smith-11.784; 36. Hunter Scheurenberg, 35s, Scheurenberg-11.809; 37. Jonathan Vennard, 26x, Gentry-11.838; 38. Damion Gardner, 20c, Gardner-11.853; 39. Jimmy Light, 23, Light-11.861; 40. Johnny Rodriguez, 7R, Priestly-11.874; 41. Allan Ballard, 97, Ballard-11.883; 42. Donald Brackett, 4B, Brackett-11.909; 43. Tim Spindler, 2c, Rock Steady-11.922; 44. Chad Boespflug, 90, RGM-11.966; 45. Corey Smith, 66s, Smith-11.971; 46. J.T. Imperial, 7, Imperial-12.000; 47. Danny Holtsclaw, 3H, Holtsclaw-12.027; 48. Matt Westfall, 54, Westfall-12.054; 49. Jason Knoke, 77, Law-12.147; 50. John Dick, 68, Dick-12.338; 51. Bruce St. James, 7k, St. James-12.428; 52. Matt Laffoon, 6m, Melhi-12.463; 53. Arin McIntosh, 34m, McIntosh-12.544; 54. Rex Norris III, 63, Norris-12.552; 55. Kevin Studley, 57s, Studley-13.101; 56. Jeff Davis, 33D, Davis-14.805; 57. Jay Drake, 62, BWB-NT; 58. #67x, Kunz-NT; 59. #71x, Hagen-NT.
NON QUALIFIERS' RACE #1: 1.(1) Josh Ford, 2.(3) Jonathan Vennard, 3.(7) Corey.Smith, 4.(2) Dustin Smith, 5.(12) Jeff Davis, 6.(10) Matt Laffoon, 7.(5) Allan Ballard, 8.(8) Danny Holtsclaw, 9.(6) Tim Spindler, 10.(9) John Dick, 11.(4) Jimmy Light
NON QUALIFIERS' RACE #2: 1.(2) Hunter Scheurenberg, 2.(3) Damion Gardner, 3.(1) Danny Sheridan, 4.(4) Johnny Rodriguez, 5.(6) Chad Boespflug, 6.(9) Bruce St. James, 7.(8) Matt Westfall, 8.(11) Kevin Studley, 9.(7) J.T. Imperial, 10.(10) Arin McIntosh, 11.(5) Donald Brackett
AUTO HEAVEN AUTO PARTS HEAT 1: 1.(1) Scotty Weir, 2.(3) Bryan Stanfill, 3.(7) Brad Sweet, 4.(6) Casey Shuman, 5.(8) Jared Fox, 6.(4) Mat Neely, 7.(9) Josh Ford, 8.(2) Josh Cunningham, 9.(5) Brandon Petty
PAUL D. BAUGH LAW OFFICE HEAT 2: 1.(3) Levi Jones, 2.(2) A.J. Anderson, 3.(6) Shane Hollingsworth, 4.(4) Cory Kruseman, 5.(7) Bobby Stines, 6.(1) Ted Hines, 7.(8) Josh Wise, 8.(5) Kevin Briscoe, 9.(9) Jonathan Vennard
WALNUT STREET AUTO SALES/CAMPUS RENTAL HEAT 3: 1.(3) Dave Darland, 2.(4) Brady Short, 3.(7) Kent Christian, 4.(8) Jerry Coons, Jr., 5.(9) Hunter Scheurenberg, 6.(6) Derek O'Dell, 7.(2) Ryan Pace, 8.(1) Marc Arnold, 9.(5) Daron Clayton
CRYSTAL PURE WATER HEAT 4: 1.(4) Jon Stanbrough, 2.(2) Darren Hagen, 3.(3) Dickie Gaines, 4.(6) Bryan Clauson, 5.(1) Kyle Cummins, 6.(8) Shane Cottle, 7.(5) Jon Sciscoe, 8.(9) Damion Gardner, 9.(7) Tony Elliott
J.B. Salvage "B" Feature : 1.(1) Jared Fox, 2.(3) Shane Cottle, 3.(4) Bobby Stines, 4.(11) Mat Neely, 5.(7) Brandon Petty, 6.(8) Kevin Briscoe, 7.(5) Tony Elliott, 8.(2) Josh Wise, 9.(6) Derek O'Dell, 10.(15) Marc Arnold, 11.(10) Jon Sciscoe, 12.(12) Josh Cunningham, 13.(18) Hunter Scheurenberg, 14.(17) Josh Ford, 15.(13) Ryan Pace, 16.(14) Ted Hines, 17.(20) Damion Gardner, 18.(16) Kyle Cummins, 19.(19) Jonatnan Vennard
ROOTS RV FEATURE: 1.(12) 36 Brady Short, 2.(10) 2B Mat Neely, 3.(5) 69 Jerry Coons Jr., 4.(11) 5 Kevin Briscoe, 5.(3) 3J Brad Sweet, 6.(16) 11 Dave Darland, 7.(7) 2az Casey Shuman, 8.(20) 22w Scotty Weir, 9.(18) 34 A.J. Anderson, 10.(1) 4m Kent Christian, 11.(15) 53 Jon Stanbrough, 12.(4) 10E Shane Cottle, 13.(13) 67k Cory Kruseman, 14.(2) 88 Bobby Stines, 15.(24) 11x Derek O'Dell, 16.(17) 21 Levi Jones, 17.(23) 20 Josh Wise, 18.(6) 56 Jared Fox, 19.(21) 71 Darren Hagen, 20.(19) 21x Dickie Gaines, 21.(8) 11D Brandon Petty, 22.(14) 25 Bryan Stanfill, 23.(22) 12 Tony Elliott, 24.(9) 67 Bryan Clauson
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Kent Christian (1-4), Bobby Stines (5-15), Brady Short.(16-30)
INDIANA SPRINT WEEK STANDINGS: 1. Mat Neely (124), 2. Jerry Coons, Jr. (110), 3. Jon Stanbrough (103), 4. Brad Sweet (99), 5. Shane Cottle (97)
TIRE & WHEEL CENTER SUPER STOCKS:
TREE EXPERT TREE SERVICE HEAT 1: 1.(1) Chris Deweese, 2.(3) Danny Harris, 3.(7) Ben DuBois, 4.(4) Greg Amick, 5.(2) Travis Todd, 6.(8) Winston Howe, 7.(6) Steve Hollars, 8.(10) Greg Kendall
PERFORMANCE CONCRETE PUMPING HEAT 2: 1.(2) Jack Frye, 2.(7) Joe Lucas, 3.(6) Troy Clark, 4.(9) Gerald Todd, 5.(4) Marty Howe, 6.(8) Josh Burton, 7.(10) Roy Bruce, 8.(5) Kevin Arthur, 9.(3) Chris Hillman, 10.(1) Jeremy Hines
K & S ROLLOFF SUPER STOCK FEATURE: 1.(1) 2 Jack Frye, 2.(5) 55 Ben DuBois, 3.(2) 21x Chris Deweese, 4.(4) 3J Joe Lucas, 5.(6) 13c Troy Clark, 6.(11) 81 Winston Howe, 7.(16) 74 Kevin Arthur, 8.(7) 27A Greg Amick, 9.(18) 5H Jeremy Hines, 10.(13) 18 Steve Hollars, 11.(10) 0 Marty Howe, 12.(9) T15 Travis Todd, 13.(12) 04 Josh Burton, 14.(15) 44 Greg Kendall, 15.(14) 18B Roy Bruce, 16.(3) 19 Danny Harris, 17.(8) 51T Gerald Todd, 18.(17) 11H Chris Hillman Lap Leaders: Jack Frye (1-25)