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COONS BEATS 50 CAR FIELD IN 25
LAP USAC SPRINT CAR FEATURE by Windy McDonald |
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Phoenix, AZ (November 10) A turnout of 84 cars for the first round action in the Checker Auto Parts/Budweiser Western World championships at Manzanita Speedway led to a late start and then a rash of accidents had the races finishing well after midnight. When the final flag fell on the 14 event program, Jerry Coons, Jr. and Cory Kruseman stood in the winner’s circle. Jerry Coons, Jr., a native of Tucson, currently ranked eighth in USAC National sprint car standings, did his part in speeding up the show as he won the 25 lap USAC feature on Manzanita Speedway’s half mile track in a record time of 8:10.81 which translates to an average speed of 92.196 mph. He started fifth in the 25 car field, took the lead from Mike Spencer on the 16th lap and threaded his way through lapped traffic to score the first win of the year for his car owners. Spencer who is ranked sixth in USAC/CRA points held off Damion Gardner the USAC/CRA points leader for second. USAC national points leader Levi Jones finished fourth ahead of his nearest rival for the driving championship, Dave Darland. Rounding out the top ten were Jay Drake, Rip Williams, Bud Kaeding, Josh Wise and Tracy Hines. That gives those drivers a leg up on securing starting berths in Saturday night’s 40 lap feature. The points from Thursday night will be added to the Friday night points to determine positions Saturday night. While the feature was free of incidents the first competitive race, the “C” main, did not get through the first turn before a red flag stopped action after Matt Rossi slammed the wall and flipped. He walked away uninjured and after the restart it was ten straight green flag laps with Mike Martin taking the win over Justin Marvel, Dickie Gaines and Bob Ream, Jr. who all transferred to the “B” main. Darren Hagen went wire to wire in the “B” where four main event berths were up for grabs. Bud Kaeding, a two time Western World champion, finished second, Tracy Hines third and Josh Wise in fourth. Davis held off Bryan Clausen, Jones and Spencer in the first ten lap heat. The second heat went to Jeremy Sherman, the 2001 Western winner. Also transferring to the feature were Brad Sweet, Coons and Shane Cottle. Josh Ford took the win in the third heat by beating Jay Drake, the 2000 Western winner, R.J. Johnson and Gardner. Danny Sheridan was a wire to wire winner in the fourth heat with Dave Darland, up from eighth, taking second ahead of Ryan Pace and Rickie Gaunt. The fifth heat was won by John Scott over Cory Kruseman, Williams and Bill Rose. Jesse Hockett caught the fence and vaulted high in the air in an end over end flip on the first lap. He was not injured. While starting late the time trials produced the fastest field ever assembled for a Western. The Six year old one lap record was broken three times and 12 drivers were timed in the 18 second bracket. Damion Gardner, the tenth driver to qualify, was the first to break Brad Noffsinger’s one lap record when he tripped the clock at 18.520 but he was only third fastest in the 51 car field. Jones, the 37th driver to battle the clock, smashed the mark with a time of 18.301, 98.255 mph. Coons was next out and he was at 18.453. The old mark was 18.551. THURSDAY WESTERN WORLD RESULTS AT MANZANITA SPEEDWAY USAC SPRINTS (1/2 MILE TRACK)
Main Event: 1. Jerry Coons, Jr. 2. Mike Spencer 3. Damion Gardner 4. Levi Jones 5. Dave Darland 6. Jay Drake 7. Rip Williams 8. Bud Kaeding 9. Josh Wise 10. Tracy Hines 11. Rickie Gaunt 12. Bill Rose 13. Bryan Clauson 14. Shane Cottle 15. Jeremy Sherman 16. Brad Sweet 17. Danny Sheridan 18. Josh Ford 19. Charles Davis, Jr. 20. Dickie Gaines 21. Ryan Pace 22. Cory Kruseman 23. R.J. Johnson 24. John Scott 25. Darren Hagan (25 laps, time: 8:10.81, new track record) Lap
leaders: laps 1-15 Spencer, laps 16-25 Coons 1st heat: 1. Charles Davis, Jr. 2. Bryan Clauson 3. Levi Jones 4. Mike Spencer 5. Davey Ray 6. Seth Wilson 7. Jordan Hermansader 8. Rick Ziehl
2nd Heat: 1. Jeremy Sherman 2. Brad Sweet 3. Jerry Coons, Jr. 4. Shane Cottle 5. Jon Stanbrough 6. Mat Neely 7. Mike Leslie 8. Tracy Hines (10 laps, time: 3:14.23
3rd Heat: 1. Josh Ford 2. Jay Drake 3. R.J. Johnson 4. Damion Gardner 5. Bud Kaeding 6. Rodney Argo 7. Casey Shuman 8. Adam Mitchell
4th Heat: 1. Danny Sheridan 2. Dave Darland 3. Ryan Pace 4. Rickie Gaunt 5. Tom Hessert 6. Josh Wise 7. Mike Kirby 8. Ben Gregg (8 laps, time: 3:14.23)
5th Heat: 1. John Scott 2. Cory Kruseman 3. Rip Williams 4. Bill Rose 5. Darren Hagen 6. Tom Ogle 7. Chuck Buckman 8. Jesse Hockett
“B” Main: 1. Darren Hagen 2. Bud Kaeding 3. Tracy Hines 4. Josh Wise 5. Mat Neely 6. Mike Kirby 7. Mike Leslie 8. Jon Stanbrough 9. Jordan Hermansader 10. Tom Hessert 11. Casey Shuman 12. Ben Gregg 13. Davey Ray 14. Tom Ogle 15. Dickie Gaines 16. Mike Martin 17. Bob Ream, Jr. 18. Justin Marvel 19. Chuck Buckman 20. Rick Ziehl 21. Seth Wilson 22. Rodney Argo 23. Adam Mitchell
“C” Main: 1. Mike Martin 2. Justin Marvel 3. Dickie Gaines 4. Bob Ream, Jr. 5. Keith Williamson 6. Mark Deskovick 7. Brandon Lane 8. Ronnie Clark |
