In the Groove
Monday, July 4, 2005
by Stacy Ervin - Independence Day weekend brought two nights of stellar sprint-car racing at two vastly different Iowa tracks.
On Saturday, July 2, the weekly show at Knoxville Raceway saw Wayne Johnson and Jake Peters take home the victories in the 410 and 360 cubic-inch divisions, respectively.
On Sunday, July 3, it was off to CJ Raceway on the Louisa County Fairgrounds in Columbus Junction for Sprint Invaders action. Jesse Giannetto dominated the field and seems to have dominance figured out at CJ.
Kicking off the weekend action was a nasty ride for Eddie Leavitt Jr. in turn one at Knoxville. In his 360 heat race, Leavitt and DJ Heskin got together and the contact sent Leavitt flying high into the air. When he came to rest, the entire front end of his machine was ripped from the car. There wasn¹t much left to see as it came by the grandstands on the wrecker. Luckily, both Leavitt and Heskin were reported to be OK.
There was some bad luck for 360 driver John Schulz, who picked up his first Knoxville win earlier this year. After the checkered flag flew in his heat race and he had finished fifth, his motor went up in a plume of smoke. Without a spare on board, Schulz and crew made a hasty exit from the Sprint Car Capitol of the World and returned home to Burlington to change the motor for Sunday¹s Invaders show.
The 360 B-Main provided the excitement for the night as the top three finishers put on a photo finish at the line for the fans. In the 410 B-Main, Bob Weuve got sideways at the start, was clipped by Jaymie Moyle and flipped in turn one. He, too, was reported to be OK.
Mains in both divisions were exciting, with heavy battles for the lead. In the 360 A, Josh Higday and Jake Peters set off on the early battle, but Frankie Heimbaugh brought out the yellow just when Higday had amassed a half-straightaway lead and the second-place Peters had put another half-straightaway on third-place Joe Beaver.
Tom Lenz brought out the second yellow when he hit the backstretch wall. On the restart, Pete Crall and Troy Meyer got together, jumped the berm in turn two and spun. When Crall's car came to rest, it was standing straight up on its tail, an odd occurrence for a sprint car.
With that cleaned up, Higday and Peters again took up the heavy battle for the top spot, with Beaver and Johnny Anderson racing hard for third right behind. When the dust settled, defending 360 track champ Peters crossed the line first to get his first win of the season and fourth win overall at the
speedway. It was good timing, as last week, Peters' tow rig was involved in an accident on the way to the track. After paying a tow truck driver to haul it in last week, the team was using a rented hauler this week.
The 410 A-Main was to see Colin Northway start outside the front row, but on the pace lap, Northway pulled back to his pits with motor troubles. At the start of the race, Kerry Madsen jumped the cushion in turn two and flipped. It was a tough break for him as he had been leading the points coming into
the night.
On the next attempt at a start, Jesse Giannetto spun in turn one to bring a yellow. When the race went green, Billy Alley chased down leader Tim St. Arnold in lapped traffic. But soon after, there was another yellow for a spin by Calvin Landis in turn one and another for a broken drive line on att Moro's machine. With two laps to go, Lynton Jeffrey brought another yellow when his car appeared to be headed straight for the fence in turn two.
On the restart, Johnson and Alley went wheel-to-wheel with Johnson taking the lead at the white flag. In victory lane, Johnson made note that the win was part of his daughter's birthday present.
On Sunday night, 32 Sprint Invaders headed into the CJ Raceway for more stellar action. Unfortunately, Stevie Walsh of New Zealand made the trip over from Knoxville for naught as he was sidelined in hot laps with rear-end troubles.
Driver swapping was popular at CJ, as Mike Houseman Sr. won the dash in his Y2 car, but did so with a broken water pump. When it came time to start the feature, he was forced to pilot his son Mike Houseman Jr.'s Y5 and start on the tail. Randy Plath opted to let Tyson Hart jump into his car for the
B-Main and it proved to be a good switch. Having to start on the tail of the B because of the driver change, Hart, a former Sprint Invaders champ, came through the field and got the final transfer spot to the A.
Giannetto led the entire distance of the 20-lap feature and proved, once again, that he certainly has the place figured out. It was a race plagued by cautions, though. The first one came on the original start when Josh Schneiderman spun in turn four. Then, Nate Mosher spun in turn two. Then,
Manny Rockhold lost the left-rear tire in turn four. After that, the race finally got going. But with three laps down, Doug Wilson and Hart got together in turn four causing Hart to stop. Just after that, Nick Eastin spun in turn two.
The final caution of the race came with seven laps down. Korey Weyant spun in turn two, but was not noticed by the flagman until a couple of laps later. Luckily, the other competitors managed to get around him. Under that caution period, Mosher and Eastin somehow got together in turn four as one
was trying to enter the pits off of the turn. Jimmy Davies also retired from the race at that point.
From there, the race finished off without incident and the Giannetto family celebrated in victory lane. Matt Rogerson was second, Jeff Mitrisin third, Ryan Jamison fourth and Skip Jackson fifth in Rich DeReu¹s No. 50. Schulz was sixth, Bobby Hawks seventh, Matt Sutton eighth, Wilson ninth, Weyant
10th, Matt Harms 11th and Bobby Mincer 12th.
It was especially great to see Doug Wilson and crew make the four-hour tow up from Missouri. The Wilsons have been absent from Knoxville much of the year, opting instead to run with the Winged Outlaw Warriors closer to home. Though he had some power-steering issues to work out and had to run the B, Wilson a former 360 rookie of the year at Knoxville, made a strong ninth-place showing in his first go-around at CJ. I love it when the nice guys do well.
|