Upper Midwest Ramblings from Knoxville and Huset’s
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
by Justin Zoch - It was nearly a repeat of opening night one month earlier. Brian Brown charged from deep in the field to take a thrilling win in the 410 division (this time he came from 14th; at the opener it was 17th) and Josh Higday again cruised from the pole position to take an easy one in the 360 division. Brown’s night, however, was not easy as he lost an engine in hot laps, the same motor he hurt last weekend, and had to play catch up all night. Brown, however, has mastered the dry-slick surface and tore through the field and ran down leader Skip Jackson, who maintained second. Brown also has a new sponsor at www.thebigox.com… Kaley Gharst has also become quite proficient at passing cars in the slick and came from 10th to fourth after a very spirited (perhaps too much so at some points) duel with Dennis Moore Jr. to take his third fourth place finish of the season. Gharst has yet to miss the top four in weekly competition. On Friday night, Gharst was forced to dive under the grandstands when Daniel Avery’s racer careened into the pit stands at Morgan County Speedway in Jacksonville, Illinois. Several pit members were severely injured and the event was canceled but despite their severity, none of the injuries appear to be life threatening. It was a horrible night for racing but it could have been much worse.
One week ago, Dusty Zomer was perfect at Knoxville and won from the pole but crashed hard at Huset's, albeit with a backup car. This week, Zomer struggled in qualifying at Knoxville and had to work very hard to get to seventh and was perfect at Huset’s and won from the pole over Mark Dobmeier and John Lambertz, who found the rubber late in the race first and nearly had second from Dobmeier… Seth Brahmer returned from a month-long hiatus with a new J&J Chassis obtained from Pete Grove (which is why the 13 looks so familiar) and had a steady night that included a heat win and a 15th place run in the featch… Dave Hall told me before the races that he had discovered a poorly performing fuel pump a week ago and that it had made a large difference. It certainly did as Hall cruised to fourth, his best finish of the year. His cousin, Russ Hall, also made his first A-main start of his career and registered tenth… Pete Crall is getting real close to his first win and snared second this week and it appears that he’ll keep the number 1 instead of number 11 (Crall had been waiting for graphics to arrive before this hot streak)…. Saturday and Sunday were not kind to Jake Peters as he struggled from the B-main to 14th in the A-main at Knoxville and flipped down the backstretch late in the 410 feature at Huset’s on Sunday. Friday night, however, was Jake Peters Night in his hometown of Wagner, South Dakota, at Tomahawk Speedway. The red carpet was rolled out for Peters and he signed autographs for an hour, sold all his t-shirts and was greeted by “Welcome Home Jake Peters” signs on local businesses and even by a banner on a car driving through town. As his crewmen Justin Boese remarked the next night at Knoxville, “You’d have thought he’d gone off to war!” Jake Peters, appropriately, took the feature win at Jake Peters Night.
Sean Walden made his first Knoxville start of 2007 but he has been in town for much longer. Walden, who is from Arkansas, and his brother are living in Knoxville for the summer to race the 360 division. Walden was waiting on engine parts and has been supplementing income, and killing time, mowing lawns at the Knoxville Country Club. Walden made his debut this week but unfortunately lost the motor just one half lap into his first heat race. No word on when he’ll return to the track… Another black number 14 made his 2007 Knoxville debut this weekend as Randy Martin had the week off from Winged Outlaw Warrior duties. Things did not go much better for him, however. Martin blew the brakes out of it in a cloud of smoke in the B-main. He was finished for the night but the crew was much relieved the white blast was not from under the hood… Bill Balog, one week after attending Knoxville via the IRA caravan, elected for southern Iowa versus southern Wisconsin and the IRA at Wilmot. Balog was frustrated after his first visit to Knoxville and hoped to learn more on this trip… As for the IRA, with Donny Goeden’s win over Mike Kertscher, they are now four races and four winners. Brown and Higday became the first two to double up in either division at Knoxville this year.
While hanging out in Nashville, Tennessee, at Tootsies Orchid Lounge catching some honky tonkin’, I was elbowed by Ohio racer Kent Wolters, who was there on business. Wolters is so enamored with the famous joint (where country crooners used to slip through the alley between sets at the nearby Ryman Auditorium) that he wears a Tootsies t-shirt every time he races, which he did at Limaland on Friday night. Wolters was fifth… Counting the World of Outlaws stop, Skip Jackson, Brian Brown and Dusty Zomer have made every A-main at Knoxville this year. Conversely, there are five guys and one gal, Natalie Sather, who have made every 360 A-main… Glenn Freeland and Lynton Jeffrey parted ways two weeks ago and Freeland helped out Bronson Maeschen this weekend. Maeschen was quick time and the only car in the formerly magical 14-second bracket… Scott Winters was noticeably absent from Knoxville but turned-up at Jackson to take the Brinkman and Reed Need for Speed Challenge to come from the back but only made it to third behind Wade Nygaard and Bill Boles… The Mid-America 305 Sprints are at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa, this Wednesday. The 305s next race Knoxville on Friday, June 1, with the Masters Classic also on the card.
Best Moment: Robert Bell did a masterful job in his heat race on Sunday at Huset’s making his car as fast and wide as possible, holding off nearly the entire field for much of the event. You could feel a swelling enthusiasm throughout the grandstand.
Worst Moment: Clint Garner’s lost engine in hot laps. Garner was charmed last season and this year, he can’t catch anything close to a break. Garner was finished for the night before it even started.
Biggest Surprise: How fast Mark Dobmeier is at Huset’s. I had not been there for a weekly show since 2005, which I’m extremely embarrassed to admit, and I had seen the stats and read the box scores but had not realized just how good he is there these days.
Biggest Disappointment: Calvin Landis has been very fast this year but has seen little in the way of reward. For the second time this year, Landis looked to have at the very least a top-five finish secure and was sent pitside. This week, a torsion arm fell off while he was running third.
Most Important Thing: Brian Brown’s win and recovery from his early engine woes. Brown is going to be a factor in point chase by season’s end, he’s up to fourth, but if he would not have recovered nicely this week, things could have been very tough for him when August rolls around.
Next weekend will find this forum heading to Superior for the IRA’s first stop of the year on Friday night, back to Knoxville on Saturday for 410s and 360s, home to Knoxville for a family day of waterskiing on Sunday and then off to Steele County Speedway’s opener on Monday night with the USMTS Mods and the IMCA Sprints in town there for a six o’clock start. In the meantime, I’ve parked the minivan due to ludicrous gas prices and am collecting e-mails at jzoch@threewidemedia.com.
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