TRACKS: Scheffel Scores First Bloomington Victory, Hobbs Earns Fifth Street Stock Triumph
18 July 1999
BLOOMINGTON, IN - Once he got loose, there was no catching Columbus' Derek Scheffel. And when the checkered flags concluded the 25-lap sprint car feature race, Scheffel had earned his first Pennzoil Cup victory at Bloomington Speedway. Lee Hobbs won his fifth Indiana Street Stock main event this season, and Gary Trammell claimed his second UMP Modified feature at the Bloomington oval.Justin Marvel led early in the sprint car feature, with Jason Robbins, Casey Shuman, Jonathan Vennard, Kevin Miller and Levi Jones battling in his wake. Starting eighth, Scheffel had only advanced one spot by a restart on lap four. But when a hole opened on the inside of the second turn, Scheffel quickly pushed his Cunningham Engineering sponsored Maxim into it. Running nose-to-tail, he measured Vennard in second, and Marvel ahead of him, for two circuits before making his move. On lap eight, Scheffel took the high groove through the first turn, shooting around Vennard. He pulled even with Marvel on the next circuit, and they ran a lap wheel-to-wheel before Scheffel forged ahead as they race off turn four on lap 10.
Once out front, Scheffel quickly built a lead. He had twenty car lengths when Troy Link's spin bought out the caution at halfway. He opened a straightaway advantage before a two-car tangle packed the field again, with just three laps remaining. The defending Pennzoil Cup champion took the checkers six lengths ahead of Marvel, Carmichael and Vennard, with Pete Abel completing the top five.
With Scheffel's first victory at Bloomington, he joins Billy Puterbaugh Jr., Jason Knoke and Justin Marvel as first time feature winners in the sprint car division at Bloomington this season. Levi Jones earned the Bowler's Apparel Fast Time Award. Kevin Briscoe and Troy Link joined Scheffel as heat race winners. Kevin Miller took the B-Main victory.
Gary Trammell's second UMP Modified feature triumph at Bloomington came after a stubborn battle with Jack Taylor that wasn't resolved until they began to race their way through lapped cars. With Trammell on the inside, and Taylor working the cushion, they ran most of a dozen laps. Finally, Trammell surged ahead on lap 23. Taylor fought back, but when he got caught behind a slower car on the backstretch, John DeMoss stole the bottom lane, and finished second. John Davis and Brian Campbell rounded out the first five.
With his fifth feature win this season in the Indiana Street Stock division, Lee Hobbs continued to etch his name in Bloomington's record book. Hobbs followed Greg O'Neill for just a single lap before taking the lead in the fourth turn on lap two. Even with several caution flags keeping the field bunched, Hobbs ran comfortably to the checkered flag. O'Neill was second, followed by Steven Hunt, Perry Bruce and Terry Arthur.
Bloomington Speedway Summary
July 16, 1999
Pennzoil Cup Sprint Cars
Fast Qualifier: Levi Jones (11.650 seconds)
Heat 1: Kevin Briscoe, Pete Abel, Jason Knoke, Butch Winings, Levi
Jones
Heat 2: Derek Scheffel, Jason Robbins, Eric Burns, Robbie Rice, Brad
Marvel
Heat 3: Troy Link, Lennie Waltz, Justin Marvel, Kenny Carmichael,
Jonathan Vennard
B-Main: Kevin Miller, Bobby Smith, Casey Shuman, Gregg Dillion, Kevin
Chambers
Feature: Scheffel, J. Marvel, Carmichael, Vennard, Abel, Waltz, Jones,
Rice, Link, Miller, Burns, Smith, Knoke, B. Marvel, Robbins, Winings,
Dillion, Briscoe, Shuman, Chambers
UMP Modifieds
Heat 1: John DeMoss, Richie Lex, Donnie Parson, Dan Lewellen, Rodney
Harris Jr.
Heat 2: Lee Hobbs, Gary Trammell, Jack Taylor, Sam Brandenburg, Mike
Phillips
Heat 3: Adam Sasser, Brad Cummings, Levi Godsey, Ray Humphrey, Terry
Trammell
B-Main: Matt Tiller, John Davis, Brian Campbell, Tim Prince, Deron
Freeman
Feature: G. Trammell, DeMoss, Taylor, Davis, Campbell, Godsey, Prince,
Tiller, Phillips, T. Trammell, Cummings, Brandenburg, Lewellen, Ritter,
Humphrey, Sasser, Lex, Hobbs, Parson, Freeman
Indiana Street Stocks
Heat 1: Denny Campbell, Greg O'Neill, Jack Frye, Mel Bigham, Steve
Hollars
Heat 2: Lee Hobbs, Perry Bruce, Gerald Todd, Cory Brown, Roy Bruce Jr.
Heat 3: Trent Niflis, Steven Hunt, Kim Blevins, Jerry Hepworth, Terry
Arthur
B-Main: Greg Miller, Bill Scudder, John Hackler, Bill Brown, Jay
Baker, Travis Todd
Feature: Hobbs, O'Neill, Hunt, P. Bruce, Arthur, Blevins, G. Todd,
Hollars, C. Brown, Miller, Hepworth, R. Bruce, B. Brown, Niflis, Campbell,
T. Todd, Bigham, Hackler, Frye, Scudder
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