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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| Going back
to mighty Macon by Kirk Spridgeon |
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August 11, 2004....I’m admittedly not a big fan of the
blacktop tracks. I’ve gone to quite a few, but it has to be a very
attractive alternative for me to go. I hadn’t been to Indianapolis
Raceway Park in a few years, simply because the racing wasn’t very
good. With a repaving now behind them, the racing had reportedly
taken an upward turn. With the promise of a star-studded field, I
headed back to Clermont
Upon my arrival, I immediately walked into the pit boxes of
Kasey Kahne’s team and the RE Technologies team with a car for
Carl Edwards. Tyler Walker was in Kahne’s car and was the fastest
car in practice. When the car wasn’t of the same caliber for
qualifying, Tyler got out of the car in a fit of rage. He was even
worse in the feature, dropping out early and leading to a mob of
people surround Kahne as he left the track via the frontstretch
pathway. Edwards is the ultimate racer and a true testament to
perseverance. When his career wasn’t going anywhere, Edwards
placed ads in Speed Sport to find a ride. He eventually acquired a
champ car and competed in the series for a couple years before he
got a big break to race trucks down South. He does come back to
compete in the series whenever possible, noting, “These are the
coolest cars in the world. They’re fast, they’re tough to drive,
and they’re real shiny.” He mentioned that his dream was to win
one of these events. While talking to Carl, a fan approached asking
if he had any shirts for sale, which he didn’t. When I told him
that I’d only buy a champ car shirt from him because I’d never
be caught wearing a truck shirt, Carl tipped his hand by saying “I
hear ya on that one!” I think of Edwards as a true racer, but I
predicted his eventual first-lap slam into the first turn wall when
I saw him surge high to make it three-wide into the opening corner. “The Hammer” Mike Bliss made his return to champ cars
at a place where he once dominated. In the Zarounian car that has
seen countless victories, Bliss pulled off a qualifying run that put
him on the front row. In the hundred-lapper, however, Bliss got
passed right away by Bud Kaeding, and his backwards trend continued
until he went pitside. Kaeding has vastly improved on the asphalt
side of the coin, and he finds himself in prime position for the
champ car title going into the stretch of dirt mile racing. If not for Jay Drake, Dave Darland was easily the best car
on the track. Even with engine trouble in the latter half of the
race, Darland still raced hard with Jason McCord for the runner-up
spot. Darland was even forced to re-pass the HatWorld racer in the
waning laps. Rumor around the IRP oval was that the Hoerner 92 would
not be going to Nazareth, thus leaving Darland in the muck when it
comes to the points. The most interesting development before the race was the
news of Dave Blaney, the 1984 champion, coming back to race with the
big cars. Driving the legendary 29 with the “Spirit of Boston
Louie” riding along, Blaney nailed down a great qualifying run to
net a top-ten start, and, in true Dave Blaney fashion, he stuck
around all race long to score a top-five run. Although he never
charged to the front, he was steady enough to pass those drivers who
faded at the end. It was obvious to see how Blaney did so well in
this series before, as the long races require a driver to be of the
Blaney mold. At the end, though, Blaney barely held off the charge of
another experienced pilot in Chet Fillip. Afterwards, when I asked
Blaney if he could run Nazareth’s champ car race, he said, “I
have obligations to the stock car for that weekend, but as soon as
I’m done with this NASCAR stuff, I’ll have plenty of time to run
this stuff.” Fielding his own car, which is his own chassis, Chet
found the extreme low line to come from the consolation race all the
way to 6th. Fillip, a former Indy and Daytona 500
competitor, he also was a winner in the sprint division before
focusing solely on the longer races in USAC’s premier series and
the Kendall late models around Indiana. Right behind Fillip was Jerry Coons, Jr. in a car out of
Pennsylvania. A frontrunner every time out for this pavement-only
team, Jerry is also looking forward to a reunion with the RE
Technologies team for a dirt assault. After this top-ten finish on
the hard stuff, I would meet up again with Jerry at Macon on
Saturday. Bobby Santos III was another interesting face in the
top-ten, as he has jumped into the USAC scene with both feet,
running all three divisions on pavement. Now with Johnny Vance,
Santos was consistent throughout the hundred-lapper, ending within
the top ten. He’ll run both USAC Sprint races this weekend, where
he’s been an instant success. Vance was originally aligned with
Coons, Jr. before leaving Jerry high and dry after the season opener
in Phoenix. Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne, both owners of cars in the
series, were interested spectators along with people such as AJ Foyt,
Johnny Benson, Danny Lasoski, Erin Crocker, and Shane Hmiel. What may have been the best charge of the night came from
Eric Gordon, who finished 4th in the Hoffman car after
starting 21st. He looked to have something for the
leaders, but he stalled out behind McCord and Darland. The Hoffmans
had a busy weekend, choosing not to go to Oskaloosa after running
the champ car on Thursday and a two-car team at the Mopar Thunder.
They also have pavement races many hours apart this weekend with
Michael Lewis at the wheel. Friday’s schedule had another regular show at Gas City
that looked like it would be anything but normal. With a big race at
Eldora the following night, many thought that many outsiders would
come to town for more racing. Unfortunately, no strange faces filled
the pit area, but USACer Mat Neely took quick time in his revamped
car. A little help from new crew chief Bubby Jones helped
immediately, although Bubby won’t be in attendance at the track
for a week or two yet. With a race track yielding more mud than has been seen at
Gas City lately, two hot lap sessions were in order to get the track
to racing condition. Six cars went in the twelve-second bracket, and
the heats may have been some of the best I’ve seen all season. The
first heat saw Neely and Scotty Weir race side-by-side and
hammer-down for the top spot, lifting the front ends down each
straightaway as they battled. Brandon Petty took the second by
working the cushion, which has been a rarity at Gas City this
season. Michael Burthay made the feature after failing to get a
qualifying lap due to a broken driveline. With wheels dancing in the
air, Burthay took second from ninth, and he put on a show in the
feature. Critter Malone tipped his hand in the heat by getting to
second before three seventeen-year-olds raced in the top three of
heat four, with Donnie Adams, Jr. making a triumphant return from
injury with a heat race win over Jerad Parsons and Darren Hagen. When the track began to slick off in the feature, Critter
checked out on the cushion while Burthay was slicing through the
field in his trademark low lane, right around the tires. With the
help of a tangle that took out Matt Brun and a stoppage for Scotty
Weir, Burthay got into the top five and pulled an outstanding move
to pass point leader Shane Cottle on the last lap. As they came to
the line, both drivers pulled the front ends across the finish line,
and Burthay took an extra lap for his trouble of coming from the
rear. Bart Grider had a great run in the Crites car, giving the
Chalk chassis another good run and continuing his relationship with
the new team. Lured out of retirement, Bart ran second for a lot of
the race, and he and Cottle were within striking distance while
Critter was stuck in lapped traffic. A caution saved him, and he
took off again with a clear track. Kudos to Jiggs Thomason for his persistence with the track
surface. A struggle all year long to make a dust-free track that
provides grip throughout the night, Jiggs has tried everything to
make it better. The track tonight was as good as you will ever see
for the first half of the night, but it eventually ended in the same
fashion. As a fan, I just hope Jiggs continues to produce a track
that provides such great action early in the night, and that he is
willing to hit it with water again later in the night.
Unfortunately, it appears as though his problems are caused by a bad
batch of clay, but he’ll have to wait for the end of the season to
change that. Keep up the good work, Jiggs! Instead of going to the rubber bowl at Eldora, we looked
west for a second trip to the fastest fifth-mile track in the
country, Macon Speedway. With a track record the previous night of
10.3 for the midget of Mike Hess, the second night would be capped
with a fifty-lap feature for the top 24 cars in the 39-car field. With mini-sprints as an undercard, we got to see Friday
Focus winner Brad Loyet, the sons of midget racers Steve Knepper and
Kenny Brown, along with Illinois hotshoe Gary Altig and a top
Indiana racer in Bob Bourff. The mini-sprints were actually a blast
to watch, as were the dwarf cars, where T.J. Farrar was a
frontrunner. After an hour delay for a track that was too wet(what a
welcome sight), we got to see some flat-out hot laps. Tim Siner took
the first semi on a track that was quickly developing a thick
cushion and was still freakishly fast. Matt Sandy’s run from the
back of the semi fell short, as he finished sixth. The second semi
nearly turned ugly as Altig was all over the place from his pole
start, and lapped traffic made the final lap an adventure for winner
Chad Branson and other transfers Mike Neher, Greg Lueckert, and
Altig. With 50 laps on tap, Mike Hess came low off turn two to
grab the early lead from Kevin Doty and Adam Clarke. Quickly falling
into line around the cushion, Doty pressured Hess for a few laps as
the two traded slide jobs. In some of the best racing I’ve ever
seen, Doty and Hess criss-crossed back and forth until Doty got by
on the high side to lead lap nine. Craig Carey was an early spinner
in turn one as Hud Cone piled in, ending both of their nights.
Youngster Derek Rossio had already pulled in, a transfer to the
midgets after running sprint cars. Siner, who started 17th, was the guy on the move
as the race went on. Doty continued to run the cushion and began to
bounce off the wall as Siner approached on the low lane with Donnie
Lehmann in tow. Eventually, both moved by Doty as he still struggled
to find a smooth line on the top. Lehmann moved under Siner and Tim
spun himself out in an attempt to get back into the lead. Lehmann led the last six laps with no problem as Doty lost
the runner-up spot to rookie Brett Anderson. Anderson was impressive
as he came from 20th to place. Rich Camfield also came
from deep in the pack to post a top-five, and Siner recovered from
his spin to take fifth. Matt Hardin finally kept his Stealth midget moving as he
was among the battle at the front and eventually sat sixth. A former
micro competitor on the high banks, Hardin had to take the
opportunity for another chance to race there. Now with a car to run the dirt silver crown races, Justin
Allgaier is a name that every open wheel fan should know. He had
problems under the hood to take him from the 4th spot
during this race, but he has also seen success indoors at the Chili
Bowl while being an upstart in the full-bodied racers, including
some great showings at the Dream and World 100. Interested in racing
anything, Allgaier would be a great guy to pick up for any sprint
car team, as he just turned 18 and doesn’t even take up much room! While Hud Cone’s night ended in a heap at Macon, the next
night would give him five grand to cap it off. Leading early, Cone
was passed by the fastest car all night, Damion Gardner. Gardner
pulled a typical demonic move as he tried to lap two cars at once,
hitting Dickie Gaines squarely in the side without knowing what hit
him. Spinning himself out and spilling the Popeye’s chicken,
Gardner received a few words from Gaines, mainly wanting to know
“what the heck he was thinking.” With an open track ahead of him, Cone rode the cushion as
that was easily the fastest lane. Bryan Clauson stalked him, but
there was nowhere to go to make a clean pass. Kyle Cummins had a
good run going in the top-five before rolling over in turn two.
Hagen also took a tumble, but his was nastier, going end-over-end in
turn one during hot laps. With a slight bend to the frame near the
right-front shock tower, he ran the rest of the night and nearly
transferred to the feature. Mitch Wissmiller’s new F5 saw just its second race turned
into a podium finish. He’s looking forward to a trip to Lakeside
in just a few weeks. His brother, Kyle, also ran up front and won on
Monday at Terre Haute’s NASCAR night. Both towed to Oskaloosa
where Mitch fell short to Sammy Swindell for a transfer through the
semi, and Kyle made the show through the B and fell first. As always, Haubstadt had a good show, but it was
disappointing to see such dust during the B Main and a one-laner in
the feature. Unfortunately, it seemed as though modifieds took
precedence as they ran two more laps than the sprinters in their
heats, and their marathon B Main was not shortened while the sprint
B Main was, leaving AJ Anderson out of a very near transfer spot.
Seeing the injustice, MSCS added him to the field, but Josh
Cunningham, Kurt Gross, and Jason Holt were a couple quick cars who
had their possibilities stolen from them. In short, I’m glad I skipped the Mopar Thunder, as much
as it has given me grief. It’s a shame that we can’t see a
raceable surface for a big show. Unfortunately, it appears as though
starting positions were the most important part of the 50K to win
show. The good deal about that is it proved to be a great payday for
some of my favorites, including “The Pup.” Others including Bill
Rose, Davey Ray, Mat Neely, and Dickie Gaines were great names to
see in the top ten just for monetary help! Also, congratulations to Mr. Gaines for his great last-lap
victory at Oskaloosa! Always one of the best on a slick track,
Dickie is what I consider to be the epitome of the local Indiana
racer. It’s always a pleasure to be in his company, as he is one
of the most laid-back and friendly guys you’ll find in the pits. Wishing luck to those at Knoxville during the Invitational
race tonight and throughout the weekend, I’ll watch the SARA come
into Gas City. What will be interesting to see is how the West Coast
contingent deals with the home track experience of some of Gas
City’s best. Either way, it will be a well-paying show for the
locals and a chance to see some different drivers come in from
California to race at one of Indiana’s best tracks. Also, I’ll
probably go to Salem on Saturday and possibly go to Kokomo on
Sunday. |
