In the Groove
Monday, May 30, 2005
by Stacy Ervin - Memorial Day weekend brought some excellent weather for sprint-car racing in Iowa and also brought some exciting finishes and first-time winners our way.
At Knoxville on Saturday, May 28, the weekend started off with extremely bright sunshine over the hallowed half-mile dirt oval. As day gave way to night, the on-track action was hot in both the 360 and 410 divisions.
In the 360 division, California racing legend Jimmy Sills joined the usual Saturday night crowd as he was getting in some extra laps before this Friday night’s Masters Classic for drivers age 50 and older. The veteran Sills put on a good showing in George Lasoski’s machine and should be a top contender at the Masters.
Top points men in the 360 division suffered a bit on this night and that allowed a new winner in victory lane after the 15-lap main event. A win for Brett Mather and the Burnham racing team has been overdue since one night last summer when the purple machine came oh so close.
At the beginning of the feature, points leader Larry Ball Jr. got the lead and looked like he would cruise on to yet another win. But shortly thereafter, he slowed to a stop with magneto problems and dropped from the event.
That handed the lead to former track champ John Kearney, who can also be counted upon to run away with the show most of the time. But this was not Kearney¹s night either. He slowed and allowed Mather to make the pass for the lead. When the yellow flag came out for a fire under the stopped machine of Jarod Smith, Kearney pulled to his pit with power steering issues. Earlier in the night, he had suffered motor problems and actually changed an engine between hot laps and his heat race.
Kearney’s heat was an exciting one, too. He led most of the way but was nipped at the checkered flag by Dave Hall, who had to take the extreme high line down the frontstretch to get by Kearney and a lapped car.
After Kearney exited the feature, the race was all Mather, who was suffering from an oil leak himself. It was a happy victory lane for the first-time winner.
And that gave way to the 410 feature, which saw Tim St. Arnold become the next first-time winner in Knoxville¹s victory lane. Though this 20-lap race went green to checkered, it wasn’t without its apprehensive moments for polesitter St. Arnold.
He kept the lead the whole way, but was chased by Billy Alley and Mike Reinke. While in lapped traffic, Matt Moro spun at one point directly in front of St. Arnold, but no contact was made.
After successfully dodging Moro, St. Arnold would have to deal with Ryan Anderson, whose smoking machine proved a big obstacle. St. Arnold tried many lines around the race track in an effort to get by Anderson, but the smoke and other traffic kept him from achieving the goal for most of the race. That allowed Alley to close, but after flagman Doug Clark showed the black flag to Anderson, St. Arnold was able to keep the point.
The first win for the veteran driver from Mitchellville was long, long overdue. St. Arnold has seemingly always been a better driver than his equipment gives him credit for. He has always been heavy on talent, but more often than not the luck eludes him. His win should open the eyes of those who have always thought of him as a backmarker. St. Arnold is the real thing and hopefully he will continue a run of good luck for a change.
Sunday night, May 29, saw the Sprint Invaders series, complete with several Knoxville regulars added to the show, invading the Louisa County Fairgrounds and Columbus Junction Raceway in Eastern Iowa.
Despite threatening skies and a brief rainshower just after the dash, the show was a stellar one, with Jesse Giannetto picking up the win.
CJ Raceway is somewhat of a throwback to a bygone era of racing, with a covered wooden grandstand which looks diminutive in comparison to Knoxville’s immense structures. There’s no pressbox, just an open tower in the infield. Temporary Musco lighting added some light where it was needed for this race. But despite the amenities the place may be lacking, CJ is not short on charm and a fun atmosphere.
That wooden grandstand provides a great opportunity to be surrounded by other fans, many of whom are boisterous about their favorite drivers. It also provides the opportunity to sit near the drivers’ families and consider racing from their point of view. On this night at CJ, it even provided a chance to sit near some current drivers who were just spectating, like Larry Ball Jr., and drivers of days gone by, like Bruce and Pat Moore.
A couple of surprise competitors were Mike Reinke of Wisconsin, driving Rich DeReu’s 50 car, and Wayne Johnson of Oklahoma, making his debut in the Steve Wares 10 vacated the night before at Knoxville by Bobby Mincer.
The 20-lap feature was a Jim Dandy, as Knoxville track announcer Tony Bokhoven would say. Polesitter Mincer, back in his familiar 15 car, and second-row starter Giannetto had a decent battle going for the lead early in the race.
With nine laps down, Josh Schneiderman spun out in turn two as the top-running pair was weaving through lapped traffic. On the first attempt at a restart, Nate Mosher spun in turn four. On the second attempt at a restart, Nick Eastin went on a series of wild flips through the air in turn four.
The next time the race restarted, Giannetto motored around Mincer and Mincer promptly slowed with what appeared to be ignition or magneto problems. He would drop from the race, ironically leaving Giannetto to fight off Johnson.
Another yellow flag with 13 laps down saw Mosher slow to a stop in turn four. Under this caution, John Hall and Rager Phillips also exited from the track.
But the caution didn’t slow the Bulldogg, who kept Johnson at bay for the win. Invaders regulars Matt Rogerson and Ryan Jamison were third and fourth, respectively. Fifth place was a great showing for Invaders star John Schulz, who came from the 16th starting spot after winning the B-Main.
|