Race fans in the tri-state area were given an opportunity to see something different Saturday night as The USAC Sprints and Midgets rolled into 34 Raceway near West Burlington. There could have been more. More fans and more cars would have guaranteed a return visit in 2010, but I am pretty confident that the good number of fans that did attend will tell you that they enjoyed every lap that the seventeen midgets and twenty non-wing sprints turned on the 3/8-mile oval. Plus, the roster of sixteen IMCA Stock Cars showed the died-in-the-wool open wheel fans that the "taxi cabs" can put on some pretty darn good racing as well!
Danny Stratton and Zach Daum started from the front row of the thirty-lap midget feature and, along with the fourth-starting Levi Jones, the battle was three-wide for the first two circuits. Stratton would be credited with leading lap one before Jones took over on lap two. Bryan Clausen quickly caught the lead trio and was ready to make it a four-car tussle for the top, but he caught the one and only ripple on the otherwise perfectly prepared racetrack and bounced his way through turn one on lap five temporarily losing touch with the leaders. Jones pulled away a bit while Clausen recovered and around mid-race when Bryan slipped past Daum for second he now had a full straightaway between himself and the leader.
That gap was noticeably shrinking each lap and on lap twenty Clausen was ready to make a run on Jones. Just as Clausen made the pass in turn one it became evident as to why the lead had disappeared so quickly as the left rear tire on the Tony Stewart Racing #21 of Jones had now gone flat and he slowed going down the back stretch bringing out the caution. On the restart Daum tried to keep pace with Clausen while the battle to watch was for third where Dave Darland, Brad Kuhn and Tracy Hines were swapping the position out lap after lap. As the white flag waved though Darland slowed and would never see the checkers that waved over Clausen, Daum, Kuhn, Hines and Henry Clarke.
Midget Notes…..Clausen started sixth on the grid……Kuhn came from row six to third……Sprint Car driver Kyle Robbins started Clausen’s back-up car in the main event, but pulled in after one slow lap…..Darland was the fastest qualifier at 15.726…..Heat race winners were Kuhn and Kellen Conover…..Kurt Mayhew was a scratch for the night.
Nineteen USAC Sprint Cars thundered to the green, but on lap two a pair of non-related incidents would bring out the red. Casey Riggs caught the rough spot in turn one and put his car over on its top, then seconds later I caught the car of Tracy Hines out of the corner of my eye going end-over-end at the end of the backstretch. Both drivers climbed out uninjured and in fact when the caution waved on the first attempt at a restart, Riggs was able to rejoin the field after his crew made some quick repairs. Dave Darland looked to be the man to beat in this one early on until Levi Jones picked his way toward the front. Jones began to work on Darland on lap fifteen and the next five laps definitely gave the crowd their money’s worth as the two veterans raced each other side-by-side and through traffic for the race lead. Jones completed the pass on lap twenty-one and he pulled away from the pack as once again Darland was forced to retire to the pits late with mechanical issues. With Jones well on his way to victory the fans focused on another entertaining battle for second and third featuring point leader Damion Gardner, Shane Hmiel and Chris Windom. Windom, from nearby Canton, Illinois, had a large cheering section on hand and they were waving their hands with delight as he found some late race speed to charge past both Hmiel and Gardner over the final five laps to claim the runner-up spot behind Levi Jones. Hmiel nipped Gardner for third on the final lap while Terry Babb rounded out the top five.
Sprint Notes…..Jones started fifth while Windom came from row number five……With all of the big USAC names on hand it was a bit of a surprise when veteran driver Terry Babb went out late and set quick time in qualifying with a lap of 14.905. Babb is the current point leader in the 410 winged sprint division at the Jacksonville (Illinois) Speedway on Friday nights…..Sixteen-year-old Blake Nimee took a hard tumble in turn one during the third heat race and climbed out unharmed…..Area announcer Jake Croxton loves to head east to watch the non-wing sprints run and his knowledge of this segment of the sport shined tonight. If you wouldn’t have known that he is one of the regular announcers at 34 Raceway you would have thought that USAC brought him along with them……This event should be well documented from a visual standpoint as we counted fifteen photographers in the infield during qualifying and heat race action. I’m betting that the "Photo Daddy" Dennis Krieger clicked off some great shots.
The IMCA Stock Cars were on hand for a track points race tonight as well and they seemed to find the tacky track with a cushion to their liking with minimal caution flags and plenty of two and three-wide action. David Schrier, Sky Griffith and Abe Huls raced three-wide for the lead in the early laps of the twenty-lap main event. Huls, who started eighth, snared the lead on lap three and pulled away while the rest of the field waged war behind him. The only caution of the race flew on lap ten when John Brockway and Brett Timmerman tangled in turn two, and it didn’t take long for Jeff Mueller to get to second after the restart. With the laps winding down Mueller was closing in on Huls and it looked like we would be treated to a battle between these two fine Stock Car pilots. But with three laps to go something broke on the left front suspension of Mueller'’ #77 and he could no longer stay with Huls who cruised through the final three laps for the win. Mueller was able to nurse his ride in for second just ahead of Sky Griffith, while Kirk Kinsley and Chris Webb, who had started eleventh, completed the top five.
A big thanks to promoters Jeff and Amy Laue and their entire crew for taking the chance on bringing in such a unique event and, again a big pat on the back for just the right type of track preparation for the USAC competitors. I never felt a spec of dust on me all night long and the drivers could find a bite from top to bottom and back again from the first set of hot laps until the final checkered flag. Here’s hoping that this event returns in 2011 and hopefully on a night when the POWRi midgets aren’t running as well just three hours down the road.
Plenty of racing action in the week ahead. Make sure that you check the Schedule at PositivelyRacing.com so that you don’t miss out on a big event near you!
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