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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
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| RACING
SCENE by Tim Kennedy |
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Los Angeles, CA. - I attended the Wed., April 16 3:00-7:00
p.m Midget test session at Irwindale Speedway. Steve Lewis
rented the track and had two of his Beast/Ed Pink Ford Midgets
practicing. J. J. Yeley, 26, drove the No. 9 and Bobby East,
18, drove No. 19. The session served as media day for Lewis'
Premier Racing Entertainment (PRE)-promoted $50,000 to win both USAC
National Midget Twin-25-lap races at Irwindale Sat., April 26.
The winner of the first 25 will have to start last (24th) in the
second 25 to collect the huge $50,000 bonus. Lewis told us more than 45 Midgets have been entered so far for the second such race promoted by PRE. Dave Steele won the first $50K to win both 25-lap Midget features at Indy Raceway Park last September. Dave received $62,000, including regular USAC purse, lap money and contingency money. Total purse at Irwindale April 26 COULD be $82,700. Lewis entered three drivers-Yeley, East, and NASCAR BGN driver Kasey Kahne in No. 91. Other entrants include Lewis' 2002 championship driver Dave Darland in a new ride-the No. 32 Alan Budnik-owned Beast/Van Dyne. NASCAR truck racer Jason Leffler is entered in a No. 40 Beast owned by Larry Trigueiro. He bought the car from Phil & Mike Reed after Michael Lewis drove it to victory as No. 11 in Irwindale's 2002 Turkey Night 100-lap Midget Grand Prix. Lewis is entered in a new ride. Aaron Pollock, the 3/22/03 PIR/CWC feature winner, entered his No. 64 Drinan/Esslinger. The test session at IS April 16 was a series of test laps by East and Yeley with one car at a time on the half-mile. Most laps were 17+ seconds, but Yeley ran a 16.92--the one-lap track record is 16.874 (106.673 mph) by Tracy Hines on 7/3/99. Yeley told me he and his wife Kristen flew to So Cal Tuesday night and she was visiting her family in the area. The No. 9 Midget is a new 2003 Beast and the No. 19 for April 26 also is a new chassis. East practiced in the 2002 Beast No. 19 that he raced last Thanksgiving. With the April 16 temperature 73 degrees at 3:00 p.m and 66 at 6:00, the test session approximated the expected April 26 weather for practice and qualifying. The Lewis team, led by builder/racing wizard Bob East, tested shocks and springs. Interestingly, the Lewis PRE team utilized two data acquisition system black boxes attached to the roll cage of East's No. 19. The electronic black boxes were used years ago by the Formula One Jaguar team. I asked East how many Beasts he has built over the years. He said he doesn't number each chassis the way Bob Trostle did with his sprint cars. East estimated he has built 700 to 800 Beasts and counting. USAC fields are full of Beasts. He mentioned that Dave Darland's 16-year old son Trenton, a new USAC Ford Focus Indiana series driver, is now driving the No. 9 Beast dirt chassis that his dad Dave drove to victory in the Belleville, KS Nationals last August. Dave bought the chassis and put a Ford Focus engine in it for his son to begin his USAC racing career. Talk between test runs turned to talk about the recent PIR/CWC races on March 22-23. I asked East what caused the two Johnny Vance-owned Beast Silver Crown cars to veer at speed into the first turn outer wall during the 100-lap race. Bob said his son Bobby's brand new No. 3 car broke the left front brake caliper and caused the car to veer right and hit the wall hard. Bud Kaeding's year old No.2 Beast had a tire go down and pull his Vance team car into the first turn wall hard as well. Both cars are now back at the Beast shop on Gasoline Alley St. near the Indy Motor Speedway for repairs. East said USAC drivers Johnny Heydenreich and Dave Ray still work in his Beast shop building and repairing Beasts. The next S/C race will be in Indianapolis during May. Lewis said his three-car Midget team at the PIR/CWC race on March 22 "cost ourselves the race. We put in the wrong gear and had no speed on the straights". Lewis has printed 6,500 copies of the 62-page color Twin 25s Irwindale collector program. Midgets No.29 and No. 9 adorn the cover. Steve told me each patron entering the track April 26 will receive one of the beautiful programs FREE in thanks for attending what is hoped will become an annual event at Irwindale. The second edition of the USAC Midgets $50K Twin 25s at IRP will be run in September during the Formula One weekend in Indianapolis. Steve said he hopes to expand his Midget Twin-25s for $50K to a third race at a track in the South. Lewis said he again has purchased an insurance policy as he had in force at IRP last September to cover the payoff of the $50K bonus. The policy is with Hole in One Insurance, of Atlanta, GA. The firm covers things such as golfing holes in one and basketball half-court shots. The policy costs an "unspecified percentage" of the potential pay-out and is underwritten by the famous Lloyds of London firm. The $50K to win both features Mopar Irwindale Twin 25s is presented by Mission Foods and PRE. Associate sponsors are Automotive Service Excellence (ASE), Racer Magazine, Edelbrock, K & N Performance Filters and Superior Super Warehouse. Lewis said blonde twins Kylie and Katie Huffman will be flown in to serve as Twin 25s hostesses as they did last year at the IRP first Twin 25s for $50K. About 30 Pomona-based PVQMRA quarter midget racing stars of tomorrow (ages 5 to 16) will be racing April 26 on a one-twentieth mile track in Irwindale's parking lot from 8:00 a.m to 3:00 p.m. A regular USAC Ford Focus Midget program also will be part of the Saturday night, April 26 racing. The last Ford Focus race at Bakersfield Speedway had 22 Ford Focus Midgets in competition. Parnelli Jones, the 1963 Indy 500 winner, will be present signing autographs April 26 at the Twin 25s and his famous No. 98 Hollywood Spring & Axle Midget will be on display at IS on loan from the Justice Brothers Museum. All of the above attractions make Irwindale's Twin 25s not just a race date, but a memorable racing event or happening. Racer Magazine has posted $5,000 lap money for each main event lap April 26 for drivers in the top three positions--$50, $30, $20-or $100 per lap. Racer Magazine added $5,000 for a total combined points fund to be paid to the top three drivers overall in points after both 25 lap features--first $2,500, second $1,500 and third $1,000. General admission tickets are $20 and reserved seats are $25 for an event that should fill all 6,500 seats. Advance ticket sales exceed 700 as of April 16. Speed TV Channel will tape the April 26 race for a subsequent telecast. Lewis said the April 26 USAC Midget race will award full points and purse for both 25 lap mains--$2,500 to winner of each race, $1,200 for each runner-up, and $700 for both third place finishers, down to $225 for 24th place drivers in each 25. FORMAT: All cars will run two qualifying laps (5:00 p.m) with the ten fastest qualifiers automatically starting in the first 25 lap main. If car count exceeds 50 then qualifiers 45 and higher will race in a transfer race and the top six finishers will transfer to the back of qualifying races. The first 12-lap qualifying race will start odd position number cars 11 and higher straight-up, with the top seven finishers transferring to the first 25 lap main. Eighth place driver will be the first alternate for the second feature. The second 12-lap qualifying race will start even position cars 12 and higher straight-up, with the top seven finishers transferring to the first 25 lap main. Eighth place driver will be the second alternate for the second feature. The first 25 will start 24 cars straight-up according to qualifying times with the exception the six fastest qualifiers will start inverted. The second 25 lap main will start 24 with the winner of the first 25 lap race starting last (24th). Cars finishing second through tenth in the first 25 will start inverted in the second feature in positions one through nine. Cars finishing 11th through 24th will line up behind the first nine cars in order of their finish in the first 25. Alternate starters and cars not taking the checkered flag in the first 25 will start in the back of the field with the exception of the winner of the first 25, who MUST start last. |
