Saturday, July 17, 2010

Indiana Sprint Week Concludes With A First-Time Winner At Tri-State

The seventh and final night of the 2010 Amsoil USAC Indiana Sprint Week unfolded at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt Saturday night and, while Jon Stanbrough wrapped up the weeklong points title, it was a first-time winner in victory lane.

Stanbrough entered the thirty-lap feature event nine points behind Levi Jones and needed to finish three or more positions ahead of Jones to erase that lead. Stanbrough started on the outside of row one and shot to the early lead while Jones started in row eight and would have to pick his way through the field. On lap two Bryan Clausen spun in turn three and just ahead of him on the exit of turn four the cars of Daron Clayton and Jerry Coons Jr. tangled and spun. Both Brady Short and Jones could not avoid these two and both went for a tumble. While Short was able to make repairs and restart at the rear with Clausen, the Tony Stewart Motorsports #20 of Levi Jones had suffered too much damage and was done for the night. And so was the drama of the point chase.

On the restart Dave Darland put a slider on Stanbrough into turn one and took over the lead down the back stretch while Clausen went to work on coming back to the front. The caution waved again on lap eight when Jeff Bland Jr. spun to the infield after contact from Clausen and Bland showed his displeasure with Bryan before taking his spot at the tail of the field for the restart. Once back to green Darland tried to open up a lead riding the steep cushion around the high-banked quarter-mile while Stanbrough now had his hands full with young Blake Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick slipped by Stanbrough for second at the mid-race mark and was cutting into Darland’s lead before the caution waved again on lap seventeen for a spin by Casey Riggs in turn four.

The race for the lead heated up on the restart with Darland riding the cushion and Fitzpatrick diving into the turns down low. On both ends the youngster would nose ahead briefly before “The People’s Champ” Dave Darland would charge back to the front down the straightaways. Just when it looked like Fitzpatrick might fade and have to settle for runner-up honors, that low groove came in and Fiztpatrick again showed Darland his nose. With four laps remaining Darland tried to block the challenge by using the lower line himself into turn three, but it didn’t work as Fitzpatrick shot ahead down the frontstretch. The kid from West Terre Haute would then pull away over the final three laps for the victory, his first USAC National Sprint Car feature win and only his second-ever Sprint Car feature win period, the other one coming at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville.

Stanbrough nipped Darland by inches at the stripe to finish in the second spot, Clausen capped off an amazing recovery to finish fourth while Damian Gardner rounded out the top five. Tracy Hines, Kurt Gross, Chris Windom, Hunter Schuerenberg and Danny Holtsclaw finished sixth through tenth.

Tri-State USAC Notes……Thirty-three traditional Sprint Cars were in attendance……California driver Justin Grant set quick time on the night with a lap of 13.137…..Two more Californians, Robert Ballou and Matt Mitchell both got upside down during qualifying. Mitchell was able to make repairs and compete during the night making the feature with a provisional while Ballou was done for the evening…..J.J. Hughes was scheduled to start on the pole of the first heat, but scratched after mechanical issues ended his qualifying run…..Stanbrough, whom the announcer called “The Silent Gasser”, edged out Brady Short by an inch or two for the fourth and final transfer spot in heat race number two. Officially the margin on the transponders was 0.007 seconds and, by the way, we had a kid in high school who had that same nickname, but he didn’t drive a sprint car…..The fourth heat took five attempts before the field would finally start clean with nobody jumping…..The B-Main ended in an exciting and the scary fashion. With the sixth and final transfer spot on the line Kevin Thomas Jr. threw a hard slider on Hud Cone going into turn one on the final lap. When Cone tried to return the favor into three, Thomas went low as well and the collision sent Cone into a terrifying series of barrel rolls up the banking and into the wall. One of Cone’s rear wheels was launched high into the air, clearing the wall and the billboards and disappearing into the soybean field across the road. Cone was speaking with officials in his crumpled wreckage and after a few minutes he climbed out of the car and walked to the ambulance to the relief of the large crowd. It was announced after the feature that the wheel had still not been found in the bean field……Fitzpatrick, who is usually a high-side hero, was obviously thrilled in victory lane and his response to the first question that he was asked on the PA was “How ‘bout that s&!t on the bottom!” Fortunately he was G-rated for the rest of the interview…..I counted twenty photographers in the infield tonight and one of them was “Photo Daddy” Dennis Krieger. Check the Speedblitz for some of his action shots from here as well as his other work…..Seventeen UMP Modifieds provided support for the show and it was Trent Young of Crofton, Kentucky, who went flag-to-flag for the win. Paul Miles finished second, Everett Bradham as third with Levi Kissinger and Brandon McDowell next in line……Modified driver Kelly Aldrich rolled his car once in turn four with three laps remaining in the feature.

This was my second trip to Tri-State Speedway having been here for a UMP Summer Nationals event a few years back. Track owner Tom Helfrich has a reputation for providing a perfectly manicured surface and he definitely lived up to that reputation again tonight. The track used to run a weekly Sunday night program featuring Late Models and Sprint Cars, but has gone to a Specials Only schedule over the past several years. Something that we might see other tracks doing around the midwest. If you ever get the opportunity to catch a show here, please do so, you won’t be disappointed! The World of Outlaw Sprint Cars will be at Tri-State on October 16th.

Not sure yet if we’ll make it a three-night racing road trip yet, or just return to home sweet home on Sunday.

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