Three Kings

By Kevin Eckert

November 11, 2009 Speedway, Indiana: America hosted three major sprint car events last weekend. There was the 22nd annual Short Track Nationals in Little Rock, Arkansas; the 14th consecutive running of the Oval Nationals in Perris, California; and third annual World Finals in Charlotte, North Carolina. As winter descends on our continent, summer has again opened Australia and New Zealand to sprints and midgets.

Pushed back by a week, the Short Track Nationals brought 101 cars from 18 states to I-30 Speedway. Much applause is extended to Tony Bruce for banking $15,000 for a second straight year. Tony’s success is good for racing, because he is an independent who sees the Big Picture. At age 25, Tony competed 74 times on 41 tracks in 18 states, yet found time to promote two events. After a full pull with the World of Outlaws (nailing that elusive first win), Bruce recognized ASCS as a sensible alternative to someone from the center of America. His pit area brims with an optimism that is refreshing in an era when everyone whines about their pill draw. As his souvenir shirt might say: Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy.

Wayne Johnson, an Oklahoma native now residing in Iowa, was forced to choose between a Glenn Styres 410 at Charlotte and Al Christoffer 360 when Short Track Nationals bumped back one week. Selecting the second one, Wayne won his I-30 prelim (do they still pay $50 to win?) and grossed $10,000 for second on Saturday. Styres and Mason Hill filled Wayne’s vacancy with Brandon Wimmer, who made both Outlaw A-mains.

Jason Johnson, raised in Louisiana before becoming a Texan like his car owner Lanny Row, won the other I-30 prelim but flipped from Saturday’s final when a flat tire on leader Sammy Swindell scattered pursuit. From Friday’s win circle (eleventh of his stateside campaign), Jason revealed that Row will close The Shop Motorsports after 2009. Together for nine of the last eleven years (apart in 2002-03), Lanny and his Cajun Sensation compiled 69 wins on 41 ovals in 16 states.

Whenever someone stops the financial insanity of owning a race car, the question is not “Why?” but “Why not?” Drivers are a special breed of crazy because they risk death and dismemberment. But in the right situation, they can also earn a living and even raise children. But no sprint car owner can feed a family on what they net after expenses. The only people at a speedway crazier than car owners are the race organizers who burn thousands of dollars every time it rains. Think of them at Christmas.

Busiest man on four wheels (100 starts), Missouri’s Jesse Hockett thrilled the Arkansas audience with a patented charge from deep (row ten) to eighth-place pay of $2400. At the risk of poking holes in a $54,000 A-main purse, Hockett’s reward for advancing 12 spots was only $200 better than if he had taken only one lap, reminiscent of early Kings Royals.

Prior to postponement at I-30, Jesse flew to California to crash with Cody Darrah at Tulare and abandon Trophy Cup for Ventura, where he led until stopping for a red light that inexplicably turned yellow. Lawrenceburg was another weird outing. Upside-down in a multi-car calamity, Jesse jumped out to hammer the bend from his drag link and delayed the restart to lock it in gear. Soon as it fired, Jesse bumped the throttle and clouted the concrete when his fractured steering turned him hard right. Short Track Nationals saw Hockett surrender wrenches to renowned Rod Tiner and boy wonder Kyle Larson, who hustled Jesse’s personal Frankenstein on Friday from B-to-A before flipping on the final lap.

Chico, California’s Jonathan Allard teamed with Mississippi’s Bobby Sparks for sixth at I-30 after winning Thursday heat and Saturday qualifier. Allard will soon arrive in New Zealand along with Little Rock’s Ricky Logan, who made his hometown final. Sparks was the guy who in 1974, unleashed a 19-year old Sammy Swindell for his first laps of Knoxville, Manzanita and Ascot Park.

Missouri’s Dr. Christopher Sloan had two of 107 cars at Short Track Nationals and both made the final 40-lapper. Doc’s drivers were Danny Smith and Tommy Worley Jr. Smith took tenth on the I-30 Speedway that he visited 30 years ago while subbing for an injured and unheralded Bobby Marshall.

Nebraska’s Jack Dover closed the NCRA calendar by winning Wichita for Gary Swenson before bringing ol’ blue to the Arkansas A-main.

Terry Brown of the I-44 truck stop town of Joplin, Missouri returned to the ranks of car owner with Gary Taylor, a Washington native who has followed car owners to Colorado, Oklahoma and Mississippi. Brown was a sprint car winner with Charlie Fisher (’87), Gary Tapp (’88), Jason Earls (’91), Terry Gray (’92-93), Shane Stewart (’96) and son Toby, who brown-bagged a pair of WOW wins in 2006-07.

Ohio’s Ron Hammons, winning five times with J.R Stewart and four more with Dale Blaney in 2009, tapped Kaley Gharst of Decatur, Illinois to drive in Arkansas but they were done after Saturday heat races.

Alto, New Mexico’s Kyle Sager, a Renegade 305 winner in Las Cruces this year, acquired a Tony Stewart Maxim that he brought to Knoxville 360 Nationals and Short Track Nationals.

Texas travelers Marty Stanford and Junior Jenkins were two of Smiley Sitton’s 305 graduates at the Short Track Nationals. Junior jumped to 360s this winter, while Marty made the move in spring.

That provisional starting spots have tarnished the actual accomplishment of making a main event is difficult to dispute. They do little more than please a privileged few. And to throw slow cars in the lead path has changed many an outcome. Little Rock raised the risk factor by adding an A-main spot for Don Grable via raffle. Grable and fellow provisional Justin Sturch also received full starting money ($2200), no doubt irritating those who finished heats and qualifiers ahead of them.

Things That I Wish Would Go Away: Dick Cheney, provisional starting spots, Bud Selig, Geico insurance commercials, Al Davis, holiday roadblocks, Joe Lieberman, dead leaves, and that hollow noise that my car makes when I hit a bump.

Rain on the Razorback State kept Wayne Johnson from Charlotte and Jesse Hockett from defending his Oval Nationals win. But the event most affected by Little Rock’s rescheduling was the USCS Gumbo Nationals at Greenville, Mississippi. Marshall Skinner and Anthony Nicholson finished fifth and tenth Thursday at I-30 and second and fourth Friday at Greenville before returning to Arkansas.

Oval Nationals pulled 52 drivers from six states and Australia. Former prince of Perris, Damion Gardner passed his old Madera Produce ride driven by Mike Spencer after 36 of 40. The $12,500 triumph also served as successful homecoming for Davey Jones, who raised a family near his kid brother Tony in Corona before conjuring The Demon. Davey and Damion’s final Indiana laps of 2009 came in a Dan Drinan Dri-Bar test on Paragon pebbles.

Jerry Coons and Richard Hoffman also took part in the Dri-Bar demonstration with Hunter Schuerenberg and Jeff Walker. The 2009 Oval Nationals was the first in six years to not include the famous Hoffman 69, causing Coons to find a ride with Josh Ford. Jerry closed Kokomo in a Spike owned by New Zealand’s Denny Lendich, an 18-time winner with Sleepy Tripp in 1990-91.

Coons and The Demon (along with Jon Stanbrough, Daron Clayton, Casey Shuman, Thomas Meseraull, Robbie Rice, Bryan Stanfill, Tyler Franklin, Dane Carter, Bones Bourcier, Tony Funk, Craig Dori, Dan Laycock and a band of merry pranksters) converged on Brickyard Crossing to help Dean Mills live the dream of turning 40. A celebration of such scope has not gone off on that hallowed patch since Jim Rathmann won the 500 in 1960.

Bryan Clauson, a California native to the Sacramento suburb of Antelope, extended his incredible 2009 by opening Oval Nationals with a win (still $1500?) in his first Perris sprint race in four years. A week earlier, the eight-year Hoosier displayed his asphalt skill in Las Vegas by winning with Marc DeBeaumont’s midget, raising DMS data to two wins and two seconds in four races.

Anderson, California’s Keith Bloom blitzed from C-to-B-to-A in his first trip to Perris ever. In one Indiana month this summer, Keith made 14 starts on seven tracks that included the revitalized Lincoln Park Speedway, where Bloom won from dead last.

Bedford, Indiana’s Brady Short towed 2000 miles to his fourth straight Oval Nationals (finishing tenth) and brought a second car for Jeff Bland, an Oval rookie last year with Jim Whiteside.

Peter Murphy, a 1995 World Series winner at Claremont and Wagga in his native Australia, won eight of 21 wingless starts this season from his adopted home in Fresno. Oval Nationals lifted Murphy from C-main to within three spots of the A-main. This weekend’s $12,500 plum in Tulare is the most money that Murphy has been able to seek in central California without wings.

R.J Johnson of Phoenix, Arizona (not to be confused with the R.J Johnson who has lived in Florida, Tennessee, Texas and Iowa) has had a quietly exceptional season. Ricky Johnson’s prodigy won six AMRA midget races and four more with an ASCA/ASCS sprint car. And his opportunities are not over because Tucson has three straight nights (November 19-21) plus its New Year’s Eve affair, while Canyon has sprints and midgets on November 27-28.

Bruce St. James, the artist formerly known as Radio Flyer, cracked his first USAC/CRA A-main in three years Thursday at Perris. As we fellow Hall of Fame execs passed in the hall during Knoxville Nationals, St. James had this sage advice: “Stay black.”

Black Angus hatchet man Dennis Roth considered sending a second car to Oval Nationals for Jon Stanbrough before Indiana Underground committed to ship a second unit. Second in both Perris prelims, Stanbrough did not finish in the Saturday money. Roth was represented in Perris by Kevin Swindell, who flipped twice in three nights. So thoroughly did Dennis enjoy Tim Kaeding’s last-to-first run through Trophy Cup that he sent a rig to Charlotte, where Tim topped a C-main ignored by Speed TV. Short Track Nationals would have likely included Kaeding had bad weather not forced a choice.

I try not to be too critical of televised sprint car racing, because I know how valuable it is to sponsors. But they (Speed, ESPN, Versus, Diamond P, Diamond Joe) still don’t get it and probably never will. They’ll show one driver measure another for an inevitable pass, abruptly cut to a car all alone, and then return to the first two subjects, now in a new order. In-car cameras are a large waste of time. And anyone who orders a commercial break in the middle of the last World of Outlaws A-main of the year should be slapped.

World Finals was all-worldly with 57 pilots representing Australia, Canada and half of the 48 continental United States. Car count at The Dirt Track@Lowe’s Motor Speedway was boosted by 25 cars from Pennsylvania, plus Quaker State drivers Cody Darrah and Tim Shaffer. Speed TV’s piece on Cody crushing cars at his dad’s JK Salvage yard was pretty cool.

Pennsylvania Posse sheriff Fred Rahmer raced with the World of Outlaws in Texas (his first Lone Star appearance in 22 years) and North Carolina, where Rahmer finished fifth from row seven.

Pancho’s Racing Products in New Oxford, Pennsylvania (home to Lincoln Speedway) sent a new car to Charlotte for Sam Hafertepe, who was one spot (Joey Saldana) from winning his family’s Outlaw promotion at Lone Star Speedway. Pancho Lawler’s last known associates were Glenndon Forsythe (2006), Jonathan Eriksen (2007), Doug Esh (2008) and Mike Bittinger, who won four Trail-Way 358 features in 2009. Another breath of fresh air like Tony Bruce Jr, Sam Jr. made 80 starts on 45 tracks in 22 states this season.

New York memorabilia merchant Michael Heffner had Curt Michael back in the saddle for the first time since May’s Keystone Cup at Port Royal. Thursday marked Curt’s first Lowe’s laps since 2003. For the first time in six years, URC has a champion other than Curt. That rim riding someone is The Jersey Jet, J.J Grasso.

Kramer Williamson, winner of 66 URC A-mains and three titles, joined the World of Outlaws at World Finals. In his Hall of Fame career, Williamson had an especially versatile 1974 that won seven times with wings, once without (Tampa IMCA), against ARDC midgets at Penn National (in a George Ferguson Offy) followed by SMRC midget success at Bloomsburg in the Meiss 89. Meiss topped the previous Bloomsburg Fair with Kenny Weld before ‘74 SMRC wins with Williamson, Billy Osmun at Flemington and Jim Kirk on Penn National’s flat half-mile.

Nebraska’s Don Droud Jr. and Bernie Stuebgen of Indy Race Parts were fourth at Charlotte with USAC in 2004 and returned to crack Saturday’s World of Outlaws final for Pennsylvania’s Tom Buch.

Ohio’s Ron Gorby, who threw his America’s Best Value Inn support behind Michigan’s Jeremy Campbell for a 2007 World of Outlaws campaign, took Campbell to Concord and made Friday night’s A-main in Jeremy’s first laps in over a year.

Ohio’s Kory Crabtree logs as many laps as possible. He won twice at Wayne County and once at Lakeville this season while peeling wings for Lawrenceburg and Waynesfield whenever feasible. Concord was only second World of Outlaws appearance of Kory’s young career.

Crabtree’s fellow Skyline/Chillicothe competitor Keith Baxter was one of the surprises in the final World of Outlaws A-main of 2009 along with Bob Felmlee and Oregon’s Zach Zimmerly.

Minnesota resident Brooke Tatnell was the lone Aussie in North Carolina on November 7 and will open defense of his World Series crown in Brisbane on November 21. Brooke’s buggy is again built by John Cooley for Shane Krikke and wrenched by Shane Finch, who just completed his second season with Jason Sides.

The main obstacle between Tatnell and a sixth World Series crown will probably be Robbie Farr, who won his third straight Parramatta City show last week. In their August preparation for Gold Cup, Rob’s crew chief Nick Speed hot-lapped the East Coast Pipeline piece at Petaluma. Farr raised the number of Aussies who circled Silver Dollar in 2009 to six, following Kerry Madsen, Clem Hoffmans, Trevor Green, Paul Morris and Wayne Rowett.

Kerry Madsen, recently bagging Brisbane as sub for Todd Wanless, is driving for Western Australia’s Geoff Kendrick, who employed U.S pilots Brock Mayes (2006), Mark Dobmeier (2007), Chad Blonde (2008) and Tim Shaffer in 2009. Kerry and Kendrick will race Saturday at Manjimup Speedway.

Roddy Bell-Bowen, who made 23 starts on 16 U.S speedways in 2009, finished seventh Saturday at Parramatta City, matching his best stateside finish at Hartford, Michigan.

Matthew Reed, racing 26 times on 18 U.S speedways in 2009, was second Saturday at Avalon to match his best stateside finish at Mercer, Pennsylvania.

Bellevue, Ohio teenager Cap Henry, twice a winner with 305 cubic inches before becoming a 410 rookie in 2009, is four weeks into his first Australian adventure in Brisbane, Queensland. It has not gone well.

Wichita, Kansas crewman Brandon Ikenberry, a member of Terry McCarl’s team in 2009, went halfway around the world in South Australia to begin his sprint car driving career in Adelaide, Tolmer and Murray Bridge.

Davenport, Iowa’s Davey Ray, losing three months of 2009 to heal leg injuries incurred during the Chad McDaniel tragedy at Knoxville, won the Magic Man 34 that honors Mike Figliomeni in Perth, Western Australia. Davey defeated Nathan Smee, who had won three straight from Brisbane to Sydney.

Western Australia’s Dene McAllan did not finish the Magic Man 34. McAllan made 20 U.S starts this season, beginning with six midget appearances before belting into the Baldwin sprint car. Ninth at Lincoln Park proved to be Dene’s best for Baldwin, who returned to Oval Nationals last week with Justin Grant.

I just finished reading Mickey Thompson’s biography, learning how he created organized drag racing in 1955, how Bobby Ferro’s father was an accomplished desert racer, and how Michigan swamp buggy enthusiast Ted Nugent became such a good friend that he suggested a Thompson gun upon hearing of the threats on Mickey’s life that became very real on March 16, 1988. I was also unaware that the murder of Mickey and wife Trudy was eventually (19 years after the shooting) pinned on rival stadium promoter Michael Goodwin. On a happier note, The Munsters episode when Herman and Grandpa turn a coffin into a rail dragster was filmed at the Lions Drag Strip promoted by Thompson.

Colorado’s Sid Bubak, proprietor of Sid’s Golden 66, never approached Mickey Thompson for acclaim but to my knowledge, was never the target of a murder plot. Sid was my friend and Sid is gone, as a recent phone call from his son Rich did reveal. It was the 1986 Western World at Manzanita that prompted Sidney and wife Marlys to pool resources for one World of Outlaws season that forever affected the lives of Rich and his overwhelmed crew chief (come to think of it, since Mile-High Racing had no crew, I could not have been crew chief). Death did not come swiftly for Sid, but he lived long enough to see Rich race a modified coupe alongside granddaughter Jaime. For a guy who smiled so easily, Sid must’ve really been grinnin’ at Colorado National that night.

My new neighbors hope the leaves get raked at 4929 West 14th Street, Speedway, IN, 46224. But the business end of (317) 607.7841 and kevin@openwheeltimes.com says that snow will soon cover that problem.

Ok