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| Short Claims KISS Point Lead With Tri-State Triumph |
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June 6, 2009 -- With one event remaining, Brady Short climbed into the King of
Indiana Sprint Series point lead with a masterful victory at Tri-State Speedway,
Saturday. Short got past Blake Fitzpatrick with four laps remaining, then held
off a determined Bryan Clauson, to score his first KISS win. Clauson took
second, Fitzpatrick finished third, followed by Hud Cone and Nic Faas. “This is a pretty huge win this year,” Short said after starting the 30-lap feature fourth in his Indiana Stone Works Maxim. “It’s probably one of the best wins so far. Coming down to Haubstadt anybody can win. You’ve probably got 15 guys here that are capable and you just have to drive smart the first 15 laps, watch slide jobs and protect yourself.” After a brilliant fireworks show while the sprint car feature paraded four-abreast, the first lap was cut short when MSCS point leader Kyle Cummins somersaulted several times in turn three, and landed on another car before flipping twice more. Cummins was uninjured, but the incident also took Kevin Thomas Jr., Ron Gerhardt and Brandon Mattox out of the main event. When the field took the green, the real show began. Ryan Kaplan quickly opened a dozen car lengths on Fitzpatrick and Short, before Fitzpatrick steadily reeled him in. Running hard on the cushion, Fitzpatrick could catch Kaplan through turns one and two, but Kaplan was able to maintain his lead at the opposite end of the track and they repeatedly passed the starting line nose-to-tail. On the fourteenth circuit, Fitzpatrick got the run he needed off turn four and dove inside of Kaplan as they went into the first turn. Holding the bottom line, Fitzpatrick owned the lead as they exited the second turn. A lap later, Short took second from Kaplan in heavy traffic, but a couple of circuits more and Kaplan got into a wheel of a car he was lapping and careened into the wall. Continuing to work the highline after the restart, Fitzpatrick led Short and Clauson through packs of lapped cars until the 27th circuit. Working through turn two, the First Financial Maxim slipped over the cushion and bounced off the wall just past the pushoff lane. Running the inside groove only car lengths behind, Short and Clauson raced quickly past while Fitzpatrick gathered up his machine. Short and Clauson ran the remaining laps within feet of each other while negotiating slower cars, and even though Clauson was able to pull even, he wasn’t able to grab the win. At the finish, they were nose-to-tail, with Fitzpatrick a couple car lengths further back. “He was pretty tough,” Short said, referring to Fitzpatrick. “He was good up on the topside and that’s what I tell these guys. There’s a few guys that can run the topside pretty good but when the cushion gets like that it’s hard to keep consistent on it. That’s why you have to play it smart and choose the lines you want.” Fitzpatrick was clearly disappointed as the victory lane ceremonies were in full swing. “I thought my first win was coming,” he said. “That’s how it goes I guess. I kept seeing Brady sliding out under me and I was getting excited with a couple laps to go. I was just driving as hard as I could because I knew he was coming. I kind of jumped the cushion and got my right rear into the wall. That was about it.” Equally dissatisfied, Clauson explained, “We were able to find the low line early and creep up on a couple of guys. I knew when I got into traffic and didn’t clear Brady on the bottom, I knew that’s where he was going. He makes a living on the bottom a lot of places. I didn’t clear him and he was able to take the line away. I know that there was probably 10 – 12 times that we were racing side-by-side, nerf bar to nerf bar, but never touched. It’s a lot of fun racing with a guy like that. To lose one like that with such close racing and have a lot of fun, it’s a little bit easier to swallow.” Short’s victory gave him a 42-point advantage over four-time champion Jon Stanbrough, with only the final event at Paragon Speedway remaining. Stanbrough suffered through a frustrating evening as an incident on the first lap of his heat took him out of that race. Then, after racing from last into the lead in the B-Main, his right rear tire exploded with a handful of laps remaining and he missed the transfer to the feature by one position. King of Indiana Sprint Series Results Tri-State Speedway June 6, 2009 HEAT 1 1. Hud Cone 14 (1), 2. Nic Faas 17f (6), 3. Bryan Clauson 7 (7), 4. Robert Ballou 81 (3), 5. Kevin Thomas Jr. 9k (5), 6. Adam Nigg 25n (9), 7. Brandon Mattox 28 (8), 8. Eric Krockenberger 21e (10), 9. Jonathan Hendrick 68 (2), 10. Jon Stanbrough 53 (4) HEAT 2 1. Blake Fitzpatrick 10f (5), 2. Kyle Cummins 3c (9), 3. Matt Goodnight 39g (6), 4. Ron Gerhardt 98g (7), 5. Craig Budde 59 (4), 6. Kyle Thomas 19t (2), 7. Larry Trunnell 1 (3), 8. Kyle Krockenberger 7k (8), 9. Chase Stockon 32 (1) HEAT 3 1. Ryan Kaplan 27 (2), 2. Brady Short 36 (7), 3. Jeff Bland Jr. 38 (6), 4. Ricky Williams 11w (3), 5. Shawn Krockenberger 21k (4), 6. Kyle Robbins 17r (5), 7. Bub Cummings 71 (1), 8. Chase Briscoe 5b (8), Chris Gentry 26x (DNS) B MAIN 1. Briscoe (9), 2. Hendrick (10), 3. Robbins (3), 4. Cummings (6), 5. Mattox (4), 6. Stanbrough (12), 7. Nigg (1), 8. Trunnell (5), 9. Kyle Thomas (2), 10. K Krockenberger (8), 11. E Krockenberger (7), Stockon, Gentry (DNS) FEATURE (30 laps) 1. Short (4), 2.Clauson (7), 3. Fitzpatrick (1), 4. Cone (3), 5. Faas (5), 6. Ballou (10), 7. Williams (12), 8. Bland (9), 9. Goodnight (8), 10. Robbins (18), 11. Hendrick (17), 12. S Krockenberger (15), 13. Briscoe (16), 14. Cummings (19), 15. Budde (14), 16. Kaplan (2), 17. Cummins (6), 18. Gerhardt (11), 19. Kevin Thomas (13), 20. Mattox (20) KISS Points (after June 6): 1. Brady Short 610, 2. Jon Stanbrough 568, 3. Jeff Bland Jr. 530, 4. Nic Faas 521, 5. Dave Darland 505, 6. Bryan Clauson 481, 7. Shane Cottle 435, 8. Chris Windom 390, 9. Hunter Schuerenberg 373, 10. Jonathan Hendrick 361 The 2009 King of Indiana Sprints will be crowned following the final event, at Paragon Speedway, Saturday, June 20. The KISS feature will pay $2,500 to win, and $250 to start. The racing program includes street stocks, bombers and pure stocks. Adult admission is $15 and pit passes are $30. The pit gate opens at 4:00 pm, and the grandstands at 5:00. Hot laps will begin immediately after the 6:00 driver’s meeting, and racing starts at 7:30. More information is available at www.paragonspeedway.com. 2009 King Of Indiana Sprint Series Schedule Gas City I-69 Speedway Friday, May 15 Bryan Clauson Lawrenceburg Speedway Saturday, May 23 Nic Faas Bloomington Speedway Friday, May 29 Chris Windom Kokomo Speedway Sunday, May 31 Billy Puterbaugh Tri-State Speedway Saturday, June 6 Brady Short Paragon Speedway Saturday, June 20 |
