The were several special events scheduled for our area on Thursday night including Columbus Junction, Maquoketa, Webster City and Deer Creek so I was a bit disappointed when I learned just last week that I would have to be out of the state that evening. To ease the pain I kept telling myself that at the very least I would not be faced with having to make a decision as to which one of these specials I would attend and then sit there and wonder if I should have gone someplace else. Yes, I know that is a lame way of thinking, but hey the season is starting to wind towards an end and missing a race night can be stressful!
As luck would have it my travels took me through Indianapolis this week and, with the Brickyard 400 coming up this Sunday I figured that there must be something going on in the area on Thursday night. Sure enough the Lucas Oil Raceway Park, formerly known as IRP, was kicking off the Brickyard race weekend with a tripleheader featuring the USAC Midgets and Silver Crown cars as well as the Jegs CRA All Star pavement Late Model series.
This was my third visit to this beautiful facility that features a 0.6 mile progressively banked pavement track with the NHRA drag strip positioned behind the spacious grandstand and I arrived just as the first heat race for the midgets was set to push off. There were 22 midgets on hand to run 30-laps in the Rich Vogler Classic and pole-sitter Mario Clouser would lead the field to score lap number one. As the leaders entered turn one on the second circuit, the second and third running cars of Darren Hagan and Bobby Santos III made contact and both made hard contact into the softer-barrier wall. The real crash was yet to come though as the cars behind them checked up, but Adam Kramer did not and he hopped a wheel launching him high into the air and into the catch fence. Kramer’s car both spun and rolled along the top of the wall and along the fence until it came to rest just past the original two cars that started the melee and, after a moment of hushed silence, there was a great deal of relief when all three drivers emerged from their rides with no serious injuries. As I wandered down toward turn one to check out the fence repairs, four ladies who were with Kramer were still obviously shaken up and were taking pictures of the fence to show Adam why he might want to back away from the big tracks and I am sure he is talking them back out of it today. The fence repairs took nearly forty-five minutes to complete, but it did its job keeping the sharp looking #2 from leaving the ballpark.
On the restart “The NorCal Ninja” Kyle Larson came out of nowhere to take the lead from Clouser as Larson had originally started the event from the seventh position. His lead was short-lived though as Tracy Hines’s bright yellow #24 was noticeably the fastest midget on the speedway tonight blowing past Larson on lap four and then again pulling away from the field on a late restart for the dominating win. This would be Hines’ 13th career USAC victory at this track making him the new leader in that category. Larson would finish in the second spot with Kody Swanson third, Kyle Hamilton who won his first USAC National Midget race recently at the Grundy County Speedway in Illinois was impressive in the fourth spot while Clouser filled out the top five.
Eighteen Silver Crown cars would line up for the JD Byrider 100 with a fresh, but frustrated Bobby Santos III starting from the pole. Let’s just say that he took out his frustrations by kicking butt in this one lapping all the way up to the sixth-place car in a green-to-checkers 100-lap race that took just 36 minutes and 48 seconds to complete. Kody Swanson was nearly a half-lap back in second with Bobby East making the big move on the night coming from row five to finish third. Kyle Larson delivered another consistent run finishing in the fourth spot while Tanner Swanson rounded out the top five.
I was very impressed with the professional presentation of the Jegs CRA All Stars Tour event, especially with the young announcer who, unlike the Raceway Park veterans, knew that by announcing the starting lineup before the cars were circling the track it would allow the fans to actually hear who was driving what and who they were sponsored by. I must say that I knew absolutely nothing about this series coming into the evening, but I do know now that they have a large base of young drivers, and actually “very young” might be a better description as three of the 26 starters were just 14-years-old. Honestly, given the late hour, I normally would not have stayed since it was almost midnight by the time this 100-lapper took the green, but the fact that Ames, Iowa, driver Nate Caruth was in the field kept me in my seat along with a few others. At 18-years-old Caruth was one of the old codgers in this one and he started from the 16th position. Brent Downey would set the pace for the first twenty laps with Daniel Hemric breathing down his tailpipe. From Kannapolis, North Carolina, Hemric had won five of the eight races on the series in 2012 so it was no surprise when he relegated Downey to second on lap twenty-one. Kyle Benjamin raised some eyebrows back in February when the 14-year-old from North Carolina won a couple of races at New Smyrna Speedway and he soon moved to second in this one chasing Hemric. Benjamin was able to stay even with Hemric on a couple of double-file restarts, but each time Hemric was able to shake off the kid and he cruised in for the victory showing that the old guys (Hemric is 21) can still get it done. Michigan driver Chris Koslek started ninth and finished third, Colt James was fourth and Downey took fifth.
Young Kenzie Ruston of El Reno, Oklahoma, the first female to win a race in this series here in October of 2011, was up to third and challenging Benjamin for second late in the event, but got shuffled out of the top five on the last restart. Caruth, who has wheeled his Modified to many wins on the dirt tracks of the Midwest the past couple of years, was steady and finished ninth. With all of the young talent on display I will definitely pay attention to this series going forward.
Southern Iowa Sprint Speedweeks are just around the corner as the annual Arnold Motor Supply 360 Nationals kicks off at the Knoxville Raceway next Thursday night with over one hundred drivers pre-entered. Hope to see you there!
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