Justin Zoch's Upper Midwest Ramblings, Part One
Tuesday, July 5, 2005
New title, same great racing. That was the modus operandi for All Star Sprint Raceweek, which replaces Ohio Sprint Speedweek, following a slightly ludicrous discrepancy between Wayne County Speedway and the All Stars. The midweek shows kicked off on a contentious Monday evening that saw Wayne County run their own show, the Pete Jacobs Memorial, against the All Stars at the Moran (Donnie and Co.) family raceway, Muskingum County Speedway. Each track had 30 plus cars in the infield but Muskingum clearly won the battle for quality cars and had all four members of the Jacobs family towing the company line. All Star cameraman Dean Mills suggested a Jacobs dash as a special attraction and Lee Jacobs bested his father Kenny, uncle Dean and cousin Cody in the affair…Needless to say, the Jacobs dash was less than well received by the folks at Wayne County but the rest of the week continued with politics gratefully quieted…Jeremy Campbell and crew decided to shave their heads during the afternoon before Muskingum County. The act of solidarity, which makes Campbell appear ideal for a So-Cal street punk band, worked as Campbell had a successful Raceweek, including a third at Fremont…One would be hard pressed to find six nights of racing that were as competitive or engaging as the six the All Stars put on throughout Ohio last week. I only made four of the six but I’m hard pressed to find a low spot…Paul May broke an engine at Sharon on Wednesday and borrowed a bullet from All Star head Guy Webb to run Fremont on Thursday. May made the A-main with his usual hard charging style…Marty Perovich got a hand from Phil Gressman all week long as the latter considers his next move. Perovich will run MASS and All Stars around Indiana all season long but plans to return to Knoxville next week for Twin Features. Perovich is currently living in Brownsburg, Indiana, and working near his good friend Joey Saldana’s shop…Kurt Winker made a one-night stop in the Kirian K car, not a Reliant either, at Fremont before heading to Gas City for Friday night’s MASS show in the Hartnell 48H. Winker came into the weekend second in MASS points to Kelly Kinser, who had to decide whether to chase the All Stars Raceweek points or extend his MASS lead. Kelly opted for the All Stars and made the decision pay dividends when he secured the weeklong title, and the KECO Cup, on Saturday at KC Raceway.
After giving one to Danny Smith on the last lap at Muskingum County, Chad Kemenah rebounded with a late race pass of Smith on Wednesday night at Sharon and then drove a miraculous, eventful race at Fremont to score his second Raceweek triumph. Kemenah lost the lead twice, once to Mike Linder and once to Byron Reed, before retaking it. Kemenah actually rode his right front into Rob Chaney’s cockpit, damaging both wings, on a yellow flag and then had to take a hard RIGHT turn in two to avoid the spinning Paul May and Mike Lutz. It’s perhaps the best race he’s ever driven as he had to utilize both grooves, which no one else did, and avoid disaster twice…The All Stars are awarding provisionals this season and Greg Wilson used one at Sharon while Mike Lutz took his at Fremont. I’m not a fan of free passes but the All Stars at least limit each team to two per season…Ed Lynch Jr. only made one appearance during Raceweek, at Sharon, and had a top-five going before losing the engine near the mid-point. Red hot Rod George was a disappointing no-show…Limaland was a near carbon copy of 2004 with the exception that Jac Haudenschild was driving the Beefpackers 83jr entry instead of Tim Kaeding. Haudenschild held off a rim-riding, crowd-pleasing Greg Wilson to take the victory, exactly as TK did one year earlier. Similarly, just as Kaeding struggled all week, Haudenschild had a nightmarish week, including a frustrating night at Muskingum when the team was sold gasoline instead of methanol. Crew chief Troy Welty has left the 83 team of Kaeding and was heading up Haud’s effort...As for Wilson, if he could have completed his pass at Limaland, he would have batted 500 for the week as he also won the opener at Attica and the finale at KC.
The Madsen brothers, Kerry and Ian, towed to Ohio for four nights of racing before heading back to race Knoxville. Kerry lived around Zanesville, Ohio, when he first started racing the States and his father has good friends in town, which helped secure Balderson Dodge as a sponsor for Ian. Monday wasn’t kind to Ian as a push truck ran over the right rear, tweaking the frame and ruining his week. He sat out Thursday’s show at Fremont. As for Kerry, his best finish was a sixth at Muskingum. When he returned home, he flipped on the first lap of the feature at Knoxville and lost the point lead to Wayne Johnson. It was the first time all season he missed the top four spots at Knoxville…Ricky Logan and Tyler Swank had a frustrating week in the Pete Grove 70 car but caught a lucky break when Tuesday’s show at Conneaut, Ohio, rained out. The generator in the hauler had gone down and the team would have missed the show. Logan scored tenth at Sharon…Bob Bennett has switched to Don Ott power as he chases the All Star Rookie of the Year title. Cody Geldart is currently leading the chase for the $10,000. We often forget that 17 year old racers are still 17 year olds. Geldart was seen racing the Sprint simulator, in full driving suit, during a lengthy break at Muskingum…Bob Felmlee has not missed a beat in 2005 after returning to racing following a near-fatal wreck in 1999. Felmlee set third quick time at Sharon, where he was quick time against the Outlaws. He spun on the first lap of the A-main but rebounded to have a successful week, winning the weekly show at Mercer on Saturday. When prodded what has changed in the last six seasons, Felmlee quickly noted the prevalence of traction control.
Kevin Huntley is certainly resurgent in George Fisher’s 2X and he nailed down a quick time at Fremont. The track received a half inch of rain in the afternoon and was tacky and fast, and extraordinary, all night. For those, like myself, who often malign Fremont’s dry-slick nature, Thursday was a welcome surprise and one of the best shows of the season. Fisher used to be associated with the Taylor Andrews 72 car that Dale Blaney drove but he is now a car owner…Fremont’s program was slowed when corner worker Randy Ford, track owner Jim Ford’s son, was hit by 305 Bill Kraylek while giving them on-track instructions. Ford was life-flighted to a neighboring hospital with multiple leg fractures and a dislocated shoulder. He is currently recovering nicely. A scary incident, particularly with so many close friends and family members looking on…Only two of the four 305 heats were completed before rain washed out the program with three laps remaining in the All Star feature…Shane Helms tossed his steering wheel at Bill Rose after a tangle between the two put Helms out of the B-main. Track announcer Brian Liskai had passed along earlier in the night that Helms is an ordained minister. A strange form of evangelism indeed.
Jason Dolick only made one appearance during Raceweek, at Muskingum County Speedway on Monday, and missed the A-main by one spot. This is his first year with a 410 after running 360s for several seasons. The previous Saturday, he led early and finished fourth at Mercer…Joe Cheeseman returned to the cockpit after a seven year absence. He made his Raceweek debut at Limaland but missed the A-main. He has previously only raced at Fremont’s weekly show in 2005…The midweek shows were relatively incident free as only three cars crunched wings from Monday to Friday. Scott Euler, Jeff Williams and Lee Jacobs, who took the hardest ride at Sharon, were the only one to test the welds.
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