Justin Zoch's Upper Midwest Ramblings from the STN
Monday, October 30, 2006
He might just be having the best season of any Sprint Car racer in the country. Jason Johnson etched his 22nd victory of the 2006 season on Saturday night, tying him with Jon Stanbrough for most wins, and pocketed $15,000 with a convincing win over Tim Kaeding and the other 97 hopefuls that attempted I-30’s Short Track Nationals. Although he lost the lead to Kaeding near the mid-point of Friday’s preliminary featch, Johnson was clearly the class of the field all night Saturday, pounding the cushion even harder than renowned topsider Kaeding…Kaeding, for his part, drove masterfully for 29 ¼ laps on Saturday night before busting over the thin cushion on the final lap and flipping to a stop. The checkered appeared before the red and Kaeding’s night was over. He bolted his seat into Donnie Cooper’s 01 for the first time around six o’clock on Friday night and headed out for his first laps at I-30. Seven hours later and Kaeding was in victory lane, batting a perfect 1000 at Little Rock. Kaeding said the best part of winning on Friday and locking himself into the A-main was that he ‘gets to sleep till noon tomorrow’…John Hillman was a crewman on the 01 and passed along that he’ll build a 360 to replace his 305 and run at Double X on Sunday nights in 2007. Hillman owned the 14c that Mike Trent drove for many seasons.
Jeff Mitrisin made his first ever start at Little Rock in the Vern Harrison/Steve Wares number 10 and it was the shortest track that the Knoxville veteran had ever run. Mitrisin showed steady improvement throughout the weekend but ended his event with a turn two cruncher in the last qualifier...Jody Rosenboom ran the Layton Performance K9 car and had a nice run going in his prelim heat races before bouncing through a hole on Friday night and hitting a tire on Saturday afternoon. It was the furthest from home the K9 has raced in over 10 years of car ownership. The Laytons recently purchased a 410 engine from IRA official and former racer Fred Ebler for next season and hope to make their first ever start at the Knoxville Nationals…Mitch Runge had run Little Rock before but not with an aluminum head 360. Last year, Runge brought his steel head motor. This year Runge won the Huset’s, Lake County and NMRA championships…Jesse Hockett will promote the Daniel McMillan Memorial at Double X Speedway for the 2007 ASCoT series on July 4. Hockett was a car owner this week and flew in the diminutive Californian Brad Sweet to run his family-owned 77. Sweet and Hockett raced several times wheel to wheel and each made the Saturday finale. Sweet went pitside in bizarre fashion when the fuel tank fell off his racer under red flag conditions for a Robbie Standridge flip…There are rumors of a trio of ASCS regional events being scheduled at Mineral City Speedway in Fort Dodge, Iowa. The racetrack itself is very nice, although the facility still needs work, but could draw a huge field of race cars. Let’s hope the rumors are true.
Jon Corbin drove the Smith/Corbin 33 car instead of Rex Brunner’s 15 at Little Rock. Corbin will remain in the 15 for 2007 and hopes to put together a 410 program to tackle Knoxville. Time will tell but he could be a force if he gets the program together. Corbin had two 360 wins at Knoxville this year and made the A-main in his 410 debut, only to give the spot up to his cousin Brian Brown…Gary Wright is rumored to be selling out as his primary sponsor, Southwest Express, is getting out of the racing business. This may not be the end of the Tall Texan, however. A few years back, Wright was in a similar situation and rebounded to win the ASCS title the next year. Wright once again went quietly into the A-main and quietly towards the front. Wright has only missed one Short Track Nationals A-main and he was absent from the entire event that season…Justin Barger traveled from his home just outside New York City to Cecil, Georgia, to run the PRA Big Car show on Wednesday night and then headed over to Little Rock to run. Barger, however, headed back home early after burning up too many tires and being involved in several small skirmishes on Saturday afternoon. He plans to head to the Dirt Track at Lowe’s Motor Speedway next weekend for ASCS Regional action…Jan Howard ran a car owned by Josh Lofton’s father to honor the up-and-comer who drowned tragically this summer. Howard installed his own engine in the racer. Howard’s Nats ended in a frontstretch pileup when Jason Meyers looped Doc Sloan’s D12 in turn four…Missouri’s Tyler Thompson was planning to sit out for the Short Track Nationals and put Tim Montgomery in the car but decided to race when Montgomery raced his own 32, albeit with a Wesmar from Thompson. On Friday night, Thompson missed the Last Chance Race because he was watching on St. Louis Cardinals wrap up the World Series. On Thursday night, Thompson was at the new Busch Stadium when the races were rained out.
Robert Bell wanted to send out a special thanks to Tim St. Arnold for allowing him to run his engine most of this season. Bell also noted that Travis Rilat gave him a free right rear tire on Friday night. Bell was impressive in Saturday heat action and ran third for much of the event before slipping to sixth in the late going…Don Droud Jr. was on hand helping his brother Rodney in his new ride, the Williams 2d, driven most prominently over the years by Mitchell Moore. Next weekend Don will be in Perris, California, in the Pace Motorsports 44 for the Oval Nationals…Jack Dover flipped in his heat race after pulling a huge wheelstand in turn four. A call was placed back home to Nebraska and his sister Tricia’s 305 chassis was driven down overnight. In his heat race on Saturday afternoon, Dover battled a problem with the brake pedal. Dover hopes to run full-time with the ASCoT in 2007…Wade Oliver was back in a Sprint Car after spending a whole season out on the road with Jason Sides…Kaley Gharst made his debut in a 360 but he’d probably just as soon forget it. Gharst and Nick Smith got into on the racetrack during a heat race on Saturday afternoon and after Gharst retaliated with his car under caution, the battle continued into the pit area. Gharst was asked to leave the premises immediately while Smith was allowed to stay for the Saturday night program. Gharst was back in the family 44G this weekend. Smith qualified for the finale…Wayne Johnson had a brief Short Track Nats when the left torsion arm fell off H&H 94J car on the final lap of his Friday night heat race. Johnson shot straight off the bank, flipped once and slammed hard into a dirt pile, badly mangling his chassis. Johnson was uninjured but walking gingerly on Saturday afternoon. Jerrod Hull reportedly parted ways with the team a few weeks prior to this event…Perhaps my favorite moment of the whole weekend was when the track announcer promised a vehicle would be towed if not moved immediately. The vehicle? A silver corvette with a vanity plate reading MUSCLES. You can’t make that up.
Dustin Lindquist has a lot of equipment for sale and is planning to go 410 racing in 2007. Lindquist will be a weekly competitor at Knoxville and also hit all the IRA, WoO and NST shows close to his Floodwood, Minnesota, home…Foster Landon had perhaps the worst weekend of all and seemed to be involved in a minor skirmish in just about every event throughout the weekend. Landon eventually ended his weekend by slamming into a push truck parked in the infield after spinning the car while dicing with Kevin Ramey in heat race action…Joey Montgomery is proof that there is redemption built into the STN format. With three complete shows, a solid showing on Saturday night can erase all the misery of the first two. Montgomery shucked a driveline in hot laps on Friday night and missed the entire program but a solid showing on Saturday evening put him into the A-main to join his brother Tim. It was Joey’s second consecutive start in the A-main…Justin Sturch was granted a provisional for the feature because he was the 2006 I-30 track champion. Sturch won his first feature event of the season on the final night of regular racing…Skip Wilson was the first flip victim of the weekend with a hot laps tumble on Friday night. One team had bets on the number of flips on Little Rock’s tacky Friday night surface. The winning number was lower than expected: nine.
Sam Hafertepe Jr. had a miserable weekend. On Saturday morning, crew chief Rick Ferkel decided the engine did not pass his leak test so they went motor hunting. They eventually borrowed one from trailer neighbor Sean McClelland but realized it would not fit after getting it installed. They then sought an engine from Cody Branchcomb but pulled out early in the Saturday afternoon program, never to return...Ryan Anderson also had a forgettable weekend. On Friday night, his driveline exploded, dinging his feet and doing severe damage, including breaking the motor plate. The team had to remove the engine to complete repairs and missed the Last Chance Race. On Saturday, Anderson qualified for the rubber down afternoon feature and was planning to just take a lap and pull in. However, on the first lap, he was involved in a melee that crunched his frame, requiring a weld job from Larry Pinegar before the Saturday finale…Tim Crawley had a great season at I-30, winning 13 times, but it has been almost a decade since he won his only Short Track title (1998). This year, he pulled out all the stops. He purchased a brand new Avenger Chassis and flew in builder Jay Jonas and had a brand new Dynotech engine that was delivered on Friday afternoon. The fan’s pick was quick all weekend but had engine problem while running in the top five on Saturday…Clint Garner had renowned engine man Robert Hubbard working on his brand new Parker 360 engine but flipped out of his qualifier on Saturday night to end his weekend. Garner will presumably be back at Knoxville’s 410 division, where he finished third in 2006 behind Billy Alley and Brian Brown, who very quietly snuck up to second behind Jason Johnson this weekend.
Sean Walden popped a driveline on Friday night and was finished for the weekend. Walden was planning on watching Arkansas football, who played in Little Rock for a rare game on Saturday night against the Short Track Nationals. [Cultural aside I just learned last week: Did you know that when Johnny Cash says “Sooey” in Folsom Prison Blues that it is a tribute to the famous Arkansas cheer? Cash is from Arkansas.]…Sean McClelland picked up a big win on Saturday afternoon when he snuck by Little Rock first-timer Dale Blaney for the win. McClelland plans to head back out on the road with the ASCoT in 2007; he finished sixth in points this season…Closed circuit to National 360 Sprint Car poll voters: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has to be the Wild Card for 2006. Is anyone more consistently exciting than this youngster?...Preston Peebles II appeared in his uncle’s 11P instead of Larry Haneborg’s 44x machine but hopes to still race the Coors Light entry for 2007. Peebles was impressive all weekend and nearly locked himself into the finale on Saturday afternoon…Fifteen-year-old Channin Tankersley was probably the most impressive youngster [I’d say rookie but Tim Kaeding, Dale Blaney and Jason Meyers are technically rookies] at the STN. Tankersley charged from the last chance races to the A-main on Friday’s rutty, muscle-up surface…Jake Simmons is from Terre Haute, Indiana, but he has made all three of his starts this season at I-30 Speedway. Why, you ask? His car owner lives in Houston, Texas, and it is about equidistant. Simmons formerly raced non-wing shows in his homestate.
That should suffice for this edition. The Short Track Nationals should be on your list of must events [mine is Chili Bowl, Knoxville Nationals and Short Track Nationals] for 2007 because this year, even though the weather was uncooperative, was just as good as the last several. Send me some news, notes, corrections and plans for 2007 to Justin@mompub.com and I’ll try to put a few columns together in November before heading south in December for PRI.
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