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| Press Release |
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| GAINES TAKES SEASON OPENER !!! |
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BLOOMINGTON, IN (April 15, 2006) – For the second year in a row, Dick
Gaines II won the Bloomington Speedway season opener. Gaines returned to
competition on the red clay in the Danny Roberts owned 21x. They had
considerable success last season; and it appears that they’re headed in the
same direction this season. Matt Boknecht and Chris Hillman joined Gaines in
winning their first feature wins of the season.
Sprint Cars -- A total of 39 sprint cars unloaded to compete for the first feature win of the season at Bloomington Speedway. As is generally the case at Bloomington Speedway, many of the top drivers were on hand to insure that whoever got the win earned it. To start with, the only two four time Bloomington Speedway champions, Kevin Briscoe and Derek Scheffel, were there to take the measure of each other. However, there were a number of former Bloomington Speedway feature winners such as Kent Christian, Jon Stanbrough, Shane Hollingsworth, Jonathan Vennard, etc. Any of these guys could have won; and there were a number of other drivers on hand who are due for their first win at Bloomington. Sprint car competition began Kevin Briscoe, Kent Christian, Dick Gaines II, and Jonathan Vennard winning their heat races. Donnie Gentry and Bobby Smith won the "B" features. Based on a redraw of the top two finishers in each of the four heats, Stanbrough and Vennard started side by side on the front row while Dick Gaines II started outside of the third row. When the green flag waved, Jon Stanbrough jumped into the lead with Kevin Briscoe right behind him. Gaines was wasting no time in getting into the fray as he had already secured third place by the time that the first lap was in the books. On the eighth circuit, Gaines moved past Briscoe to take second. The duel then began that would last for the remaining 17 circuits. On the 16th lap Gaines took the lead; but Stanbrough stayed with him; but he was unable to find his way around Gaines. Following the race, Gaines commented, "The last few laps were tough; because I lost my power steering." Along with the veterans, was a driver making his debut on the red clay. Fourteen year old Dakoda Armstrong has been a protégé of Bryan Clauson’s for three seasons; and he seems to be learning. He became the youngest driver ever to win a USAC championship last season when he won the USAC Speedrome Regional Kenyon Midget championship. It is likely that this is a record that he will hold for a long time; because a driver in a USAC event must usually be 16 years old. However, when they took over the sanctioning of the Kenyon midget competition at the Indianapolis Speedrome there were drivers who had been competing in the Kenyon midgets; and they were "grandfathered in. Armstrong finished seventh in his heat race and eighth in his "B" feature. He may have had higher expectations; however, he got some seat time and he had a car to load back on the trailer. There have been much worse first nights. COMING EVENTS – April 21 ELLIOTTBRAND CLASH (Sprints $4000 to Win -- $300 to Start plus lap money) Also, O’Neal Wood Products Modifieds and Tire & Wheel Center Super Stocks ($600 to win with proper decals) -- General Admission $15 -- Pit Admission $25 April 28 HARF NIGHT ($5 General Admission for HARF members) -- Sprints – O’Neal Wood Products Modifieds – Tire & Wheel Center Super Stocks – General Admission $10 – Pit Admission $20 May 5 Super Oldies 105.5 & 102.5 WQRK & WQRJ Night & Koorsen Protection Service Night -- Sprints – O’Neal Wood Products Modifieds – Tire & Wheel Center Super Stocks – General Admission $10 – Pit Admission $20 RESULTS: SPRINT CARS AUTO HEAVEN AUTO PARTS HEAT 1: 1.(6) Kevin Briscoe, 2.(9) Jared Fox, 3.(4) Mitch Cunningham, 4.(5) Arin McIntosh, 5.(8) Adam Beliles, 6.(2) Justin Marvel, 7.(1) Dakoda Armstrong, 8.(7) Jack Farmer, 9.(10) Kevin Chambers, 10.(3) Eric Smith PAUL D. BAUGH LAW OFFICE HEAT 2: 1.(2) Kent Christian, 2.(3) Derek Scheffel, 3.(6) Shane Hollingsworth, 4.(5) Cole Whitt, 5.(4) Chris Windom, 6.(7) Mat Neely, 7.(1) Josh Cunningham, 8.(9) Brent Beauchamp, 9 (8) Kerry Kinser, 10.(10) James Mills WALNUT STREET AUTO SALES/CAMPUS RENTAL HEAT 3: 1.(7) Dick Gaines II, 2.(2) Jeremy Campbell, 3.(9) Chase Stockton, 4.(6) Bobby Stines, 5.(10) Donnie Gentry, 6.(1) Kenny Carmichael, Jr., 7.(3) Broc Burton 8.(4) Joe Gilbert, 9.(8) Brady Short, 10.(5) Steve Rone HEAT 4: 1.(5) Jonathan Vennard, 2.(8) Jon Stanbrough, 3.(3) Kenny Carmichael, Sr., 4.(7) Jon Sciscoe, 5.(1) Bobby Smith, 6.(2) Danny Holtsclaw, 7.(6) Hunter Schuerenberg, 8.(9) Chris Babcock, 9.(4) Dustin Beliles JB SALVAGE B FEATURE #1: 1.(2) Donnie Gentry, 2.(4) Kenny Carmichael, Jr., 3.(6) Broc Burton, 4.(3) Justin Marvel, 5.(8) Chris Babcock, 6.(1) Adam Beliles, 7.(11) James Mills, 8.(5) Dakoda Armstrong, 9.(12) Joe Gilbert, 10.(9) Kerry Kinser, 11.(10) Dustin Beliles, 12.(7) Jack Farmer JB SALVAGE B FEARTURE #2: 1.(2) Bobby Smith, 2.(1) Chris Windom, 3.(5) Josh Cunningham, 4.(7) Brent Beauchamp, 5.(6) Hunter Schuenberg, 6.(10) Eric Smith, 7.(9) Brady Short, 8.(11) Steve Rone, 9.(8) Kevin Chambers, 10.(3) Mat Neely, 11.(4) Danny Holtsclaw ROOTS RV FEATURE: 1.(6) 21x Dick Gaines II, 2.(1) 53 Jon Stanbrough, 3.(8) 10c Jeremy Campbell, 4.(4) 5 Kevin Briscoe, 5.(10) 34x Shane Hollingsworth, 6.(15) 88 Bobby Stines., 7.(3) 4m Kent Christian, 8.(16) 7 Jon Sciscoe, 9.(2) 26x Jonathan Vennard, 10.(5) 9 Derek Scheffel, 11.(12) 92 Kenny Carmichael, Sr., 12.(13) Arin McIntosh, 13.(19) 92c Kenny Carmichael, Jr., 14.(20) 17 Chris Windom, 15.(17) 51 Donnie Gentry, 16.(9) 17c Mitch Cunningham, 17.(18) 8 Bobby Smith, 18.(14) 29w Cole Whitt, 19.(7) 56 Jared Fox, 20.(11) 32 Chase Stockton Lap Leaders: Jon Stanbrough (1-15), Dick Gaines II (16-25 |
